Pondering briefly, Eric debated on how to best prepare for the tournament. Unlike Ryan or Jun, who could simply purchase a new weapon and upgrade their gear, Eric"s primary mean of attacking was magic, and Lucy still refused to teach him new combat magic. Fortunately, the only other mage in their group, Rob, was only a few skill levels behind Eric and he still hadn"t learned any spells better than Eric"s Wind Dart or Wind Blade spells. So it seemed that at the very least he wasn"t falling behind any other mages when it came to the power of his spells.
Still, there had to be something he could do. Upgrading his falchion or bow were both bad options. Having spent the last two weeks in game playing with Jun and Ryan, Eric recognized that his archery and swordsmanship weren"t as advanced as either of his friends. While he was the second best archer in the group, and the third best swordsman, neither option would allow him to win the tournament as he would most likely be defeated by one of the two if he chose to rely on archery or swordsmanship.
Not wanting to settle for 2nd place, Eric discarded the idea. If he wanted to win, he needed to rely on magic, and possibly martial arts. Firming his resolve, Eric began to walk towards Lucy"s manor. If he couldn"t figure out a method, then he simply needed to discover a new one, and who better to ask for advice than his teacher?
Arriving at Lucy"s manor, Eric opened the door. Instead of heading for the cla.s.sroom where he normally spent his time, he headed slightly further in, stopping just short of the first set of magical wards and traps.
"Master?" Eric called out, rapping his hand against the wall.
Waiting a minute, Eric cautiously called out again, "Lucy? You there?"
Hearing no answer, Eric was about to give up when the sound of a door being slammed open heralded an annoyed looking Lucy, who appeared at the far end of the hallway.
"Yes, student?" Lucy asked, her posture indicating just how thrilled she was at this interruption.
"Sorry. I"m not interrupting anything am I?" Eric asked guiltily, aware of the late hour.
"Oh not at all. Just preventing me from delving further into the great mysteries of magic, and my study of Synthesia Astrorum Infernalium. But no, you"re not interrupting anything at all," Lucy responded, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Two weeks ago, a comment like this would have sent Eric running back to the study. But by now he was used to his teacher"s venomous tongue. So instead he cheerfully greeted her.
"Well as long as it wasn"t important, I suppose. Would you mind if I ask a question?"
Rolling her eyes, Lucy stuck out her hand. With a sigh, Eric dropped a handful of coins into her palm, watching regretfully as he saw his money fly away.
"What"s the question?" Lucy asked, stowing the money in one of her robes interior pockets.
"Is there any way for me to get stronger immediately? Ideally by noon on the 18th, so in two days," Eric asked.
"You"re registering for the militia tournament?" Lucy asked in surprise, immediately inferring what Eric was asking about.
"Yeah. But I"m not sure how to prepare for it. As a mage, I can"t just buy a better sword or thicker armour and become stronger like a warrior can. So I was hoping-"
"I"m not teaching you new combat spells," Lucy said flatly.
Eric seethed, "Why not? It would benefit Tonbura as well. I"m going to be going on the militia expedition. The more powerful I am, the more goblins I"ll be able to slay. Doesn"t that benefit you as well? Why are you purposefully keeping me weak?"
Lucy snorted, "Is that what you think I"m doing? Purposefully keeping you weak for my own amus.e.m.e.nt? Do you really think that I"m so incompetent a teacher that I would prevent my student from learning?"
Recoiling slightly, Eric almost backed down. But after a moment he firmed his resolve and stared at his teacher with a fiery glint in his eye, "No. But I know that you hate otherworlders and would rather not teach me at all. The only reason you agreed to take me on is because of Arthal"s letter. If you really wanted to teach me, then why do you refuse to teach me combat magic?"
Hearing this, Lucy deflated slightly. Regarding Eric carefully, she let out a weary sigh, "Mirna, this is why I hate outsiders. You haven"t a clue about magic or teaching and yet you act like you know what"s best for you. There are legitimate reasons for why I haven"t taught you combat magic yet."
"Well then why don"t you tell me those reasons, because so far all you"ve done is teach me about mana circulation and the proper ways to infuse mana and create runic formations. And also take a large amount of my money. Not that what you"ve taught me isn"t helpful, but I need to become stronger now, not in several years," Eric replied, still angry with his teacher.
"There are two main reasons I haven"t taught you combat magic yet. The first is that your basics were too lacking. While you haven"t experienced it yet as the spells you"re using are still low level, the more runes you use in the casting of a spell, the greater the chance something goes wrong. Have you ever experienced mana rebound?"
Eric nodded his head at this, causing Lucy to smirk, "Well mana rebound for most lower level spells isn"t too severe. It usually just entails a loss of mana and consciousness - though you can remain conscious with sufficient willpower or mana. Higher level spells, however, will have far more damaging effects if you allow the mana to rebound. The Fire Field spell, for example, is an advanced level spell: it requires a minimum of four runes to construct, and should even one of the runes fail then the entire spell will rebound upon the caster, causing bodily harm or even death," Lucy explained.
"So you"re saying that I suck at magic."
"Yes."
"Ouch. Not even going to try and spare my ego there?" Eric feigned a hurt expression.
Lucy rolled her eyes, "As a proper mage trained in the traditional way, I can"t teach a student combat magic before they"re ready. It would be dangerous for both themselves, and those around them. And unlike those hacks in the Rimestone Circle, my students will be proper mages, not simple artillery pieces who don"t know the first thing about real magic past blasting whatever they see to smithereens," she nearly spat this last part, venom dripping from her voice.
"Fair enough," Eric conceded, not willing to anger her any further. "What about the second reason?"
Lucy laughed, "The second reason I haven"t taught you any combat magic is because you"re simply not powerful enough to handle higher level magic. Your elemental dart spell is fairly close to the pinnacle of what you are currently capable of casting. In order to learn more powerful spells, you"ll need to become more proficient with both Arcane and elemental magic, and your mana pool needs to grow bigger. You"re actually pretty close to being able to cast journeyman level spells, but until I think you"re ready, I won"t be teaching you any."
Eric groaned at this, "So there"s no way for me to get stronger for the tournament?"
Lucy smiled wickedly, "Did I say that? I don"t recall saying anything of the sort."
"But you just said you won"t teach me any new combat magic," Eric began.
Lucy cut him off, "Who told you that the only way for a mage to become stronger was to learn new spells? We have equipment too, just like warriors and all those other meatheads who beat each other silly. What do you think wands are for?"
"Errrr. I thought wands were just to make it easier to cast spells?" Eric said uncertainly.
"Wands are far more than that. Although to be fair, technically we"re talking about focuses. All wands are magical focuses, but not all focuses are wands. It"s an important distinction. For example, that rosary your friend carries is a focus that enhances divine spells. Anyways, a focus is to a mage what a good sword is to a warrior. It enhances their natural skills, allowing them to bring out more power, and customize their spellcasting to their own preferences. The wands you otherworlders all use are just simple focuses, constructed from a wood that has a decent level of mana conductivity, and a minor magical gem that enhances the users mana circulation."
"So if I get a focus then I"ll get stronger?" Eric asked.
"Don"t you have one already? I thought all otherworlders were issued a wand before being sent here."
"Errrr no. Mine blew up when Arthal was teaching us how to cast magic," Eric said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head in an embarra.s.sed manner.
Lucy looked shocked, although she did her best to hide it, "Do you mean to tell me that you"ve been casting wandlessly this entire time? Even in combat?"
"Um, yes? I didn"t think wands were necessary."
Hearing this, it took a moment for Lucy to come to her senses. Shaking her head slightly, she looked at Eric in a new light.
"Focuses are absolutely necessary for most mages. But most mages use a focus to help them cast spells, especially in combat where a lack of focus could mean death. However, if you don"t need a focus to help cast spells, then you can get yourself a focus that focuses purely on increasing the power of your spells, or one that modifies your spells in some way. Either way, there"s no reason not to use a focus of some kind."
"So you"re saying I should get a focus then."
"Yes. You could also get yourself some enchanted items, like that robe your friend has. You should be able to afford something with a minor defensive enchant, though it probably wouldn"t be much better than that leather armour you"re wearing," Lucy replied.
"Which would you suggest then? A focus or some enchanted gear? I doubt I have enough money for both. And where would I buy them? Vindammer Town?" Eric asked, throwing questions out one after another without pause.
"For you? I"d recommend a focus. Like I said, enchanted items are expensive, and they won"t be all that much more effective than the leather armour you"re wearing right now. On the other hand, a focus that enhances your wind or arcane magic would improve your destructive power by quite a bit. As for where to purchase them, obviously you"d buy them from me, you idiot. Where else do you think you"d buy magical items in a backwater village other than from the village mage?" said Lucy.
"You run a shop?" Eric asked incredulously.
"Is that so hard to believe? I happen to be an enchantress you know," Lucy replied.
"It"s just hard to imagine you providing good customer service," Eric replied, his eyes dancing with a mischievous light.
"Just for that I"m doubling the price of everything," Lucy responded curtly, her face devoid of emotion.
"Ah no! It was a joke! A joke!" Eric pleaded, clasping his hands together as he begged her to reconsider.
Seeing this, Lucy"s face broke out into a s.a.d.i.s.tic grin, "You"d best be more careful with your jokes, boy. Not everyone is as nice as me you know."
"No they"re all far nicer," Eric muttered under his breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
Following his teacher, Eric was led towards a room on the first floor of the manor. Entering the room, he was greeted by the sight of numerous gla.s.s display cases, lining every wall of the room. Inside the cases were various items, some glowing faintly with various rune formations visible upon their polished surfaces, while others simply sat inside the cases.
Pausing to observe a metal gauntlet with rune formations criss crossing over every available surface, Eric was suddenly pulled towards another side of the shop, an invisible force hauling him over to Lucy"s side.
"This is where I keep the minor focuses for mages below the intermediate level," said Lucy, the light fading from the runes she"d used to pull Eric over.
"There are four focuses here that might suit you. I"ll ignore the two focuses that help with infusing mana into rune formations as you apparently don"t need those. That leaves these two," Lucy said, taking out two objects from the display case.
"The first focus is called the Bigflame Wand, it enhances the power of fire magic. It"s best suited to those who specialize in fire magic like myself, and will be of great help in killing goblins," said Lucy, pointing to a wooden wand, roughly nine inches long with a red gemstone on the end.
Eric nodded, "I know some fire magic. I don"t tend to use it too much for fear of burning down Stillwood forest though."
"Burning down a forest is a rite of pa.s.sage for fire mages, don"t worry about it too much," said Lucy, turning to the second object.
Before Eric could even begin questioning his teacher about this outlandish statement, she"d already begun describing the second focus" properties.
"This focus is called the Quickwind Dagger and it enhances wind magic. Unlike the Bigflame Wand which increases the power of fire magic, the Quickwind Dagger increases the speed at which you can infuse mana into a rune formation. It"s a little more tricky to use as a result, but for someone who can perform wandless casting in combat, it"s not a bad choice," Lucy explained, pointing to an athame, just under a foot long with a shining metal blade, and a white crystal the colour of seafoam embedded in the hilt.
Looking at the two focuses, Eric"s gaze was inexplicably drawn to the athame. Picking up the weapon, he used it to draw shapes in the air, tracing the form of various runes.
"How much is the Quickwind Dagger?"
"Forty Sricks," Lucy responded.
Eric winced, "And the Bigflame Wand?"
"Twenty-five Sricks."
Checking his inventory, Eric let out a regretful sigh. After numerous lessons with Lucy. He only had twenty-two Sricks left.
"What"s the matter?" Lucy asked curiously, c.o.c.king her head to the side.
"I don"t have enough money I"m afraid. I"ll just have to fight without a focus," Eric said, looking regretfully at the two focuses sitting on top of the display case.
"Anyways. Sorry for doubting you. I was just feeling a little hard done by, but I"m fairly sure you have my best interests at heart. Mostly anyways," said Eric, giving Lucy a smile. Turning away, he began to make for the door, only to be grabbed once more by that invisible force and dragged unceremoniously back towards Lucy.
"I won"t allow my only student to embarra.s.s me in front of Alistair and those dunces from the Rimestone Circle. It"s not like I"m ever going to be able to sell a piece of junk like this, so just take it," Lucy said, shoving the Quickwind Dagger into his hands.
Staring at the dagger, Eric was about to say something when Lucy pushed him forwards.
"Weren"t you leaving? Hurry up and go! I"ve got important research to do and I don"t need you interrupting me," she informed him, pushing him hard towards the door.
With a smile, Eric slid the athame into his inventory, making his way for the front door. As he was about to exit the manor, he turned around, catching Lucy"s eye, as she was still standing in the hallway, watching him leave.
"I"ll pay you back for sure. And I promise I won"t let you down. Thanks, master," Eric said, performing a short bow.
Lucy went scarlet at this, "You"d better not embarra.s.s me, brat. Now get! Before I lose my temper!" she threatened him, raising her hands in preparation to start casting a spell.
Laughing, Eric left the manor, closing the door and leaving the embarra.s.sed mage behind.