Edmonte's Story by Kazen II Kad (book recommendations for young adults TXT) 📖

at the back of my mind for future reference.

It was dawn of the third day when we caught sight of Kyrun – Kash roused me from my slumber to let me see the flame tower which served to guide ship to the port city. It was a little speck of orange light from where we were and I could not imagine how a ship could see it at all. Anyway, when the sky was lighted enough, we made our way to Kyrun without having our breakfast because that would be our first agenda once we arrived at the port city.

I could have asked Kash to accompany me all the way to Islandville of Soparto and back but I held my tongue from voicing such request and Kash did not offer me his assistance as well so when breakfast ended, we went on our separated ways. Kyrun was a whole new place for me and I could have tour the place before I set for Soparto. Yet, I was thinking that I would be coming back to the place anyway so I went straight to the harbor to book myself a passage to Islandville. Luckily, I got one that left within an hour so I paid the ticket and board the ship.

My first sailing on a ship was normal and peaceful. Throughout the one week journey, I spent most of my time in the sleeping quarter reviewing my magic book or playing with Iris and her brood. Sometimes when the sea was smooth, I spent a few hours on the deck, savoring the feel of the breeze on my face. When I found myself on land again, I was thinking of booking a passage on a ship that would go through bad weather just to elevate the boredom of sailing.

According to Kash, the first thing a traveler should do when arriving at a new town was to secure the lodging issue so I went about Islandville looking for a cheap yet decent place to stay. After scouting around and talking to the locals, I finally found one. When I get my room, I went about setting barrier and wards so that nobody would come stealing my stuff. Iris and most of the other butterflies decided to stay behind so I only had a few of the butterflies with me as I began my sight-seeing.

Islandville was really different from than Bedin of Estrey Region. Not only the buildings were structured differently, the sight of the society here also far from what I could see of the capital city of Estrey Region – more people wore robes here than in Bedin. Besides, the influence of magic usage was quite strong here with most of its premises boasted warding spell and other protective magic; definitely the Land of Magus. From the inn where I lodged, I followed down the street and looked at any and every interesting sight along the way. An hour of walking and I chanced upon a commotion.

At first I had no idea what was going as some people came running from in front followed by some people shouting ‘Danger!’ and ‘Out of the way!’. Curious onlookers including myself did not heed the call and went to see what the commotion was all about. Walking a little bit and I saw the cause: a man was swinging around an ornamented sword, near to a stall which displayed antiques goods. Moreover, from the sword, I could sense an evil spirit. That was to say, the man was being controlled by the sword. I could mind my own business and let the local authority control the situation but I could not let an evil spirit loose either.

Ignoring the other people around me, I stepped forward and hold out one hand towards the direction of the enraged man. Then, I chanted a spell which paralyzed the man – actually, it was a spell to lock the spirit of the dead. While the man was immobilized, I drew nearer and took the sword from him. Instantly, the man slumped to the ground, unconscious.

“Someone takes this man to a healer,” I said to no particular person before I turned my attention to the sword and put another layer of spirit-binding spell on it. While I was doing that, a pair of knight came into the scene.

“Disperse! Disperse!” one of the knights said while the other one went towards my direction.

“Well, it seems everything is under control so can you tell me what’s happened?” the other knight asked me.

“I also don’t know what has happened. When I come here, I saw that man was being possessed by the evil spirit from the sword so I bind the spirit so that it won’t possessed anyone who touches the sword. Here you go,” I wanted to give the sword back to the dealer who backed away, not wanting to touch the sword. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“You can take it,” the dealer said.

“Sorry but a mage like me have no use for a sword like this. You guys want it?” I turned towards the knight.

“Uh…You can keep it,” the knight said before he turned to join his partner in inquiring the other bystanders.

Obviously, they all afraid of the sword although I already bind the evil spirit with a double binding spell. It seemed like the sword stuck with me until I found a way to get rid of it, although I could not carry it around with the blade showing. Sighing, I turned to the dealer. “Do you have a scabbard?”

“I’ll go and see. In the meantime, can you check if any of the other wares are dangerous? I don’t want the same thing happening again. It’s bad for business,” the dealer said before he went to look for the scabbard. I did as he requested and found none of the other hazardous though a few were possessed with spirit, which I did not tell the dealer when he came back with the scabbard.

I guessed the other vendors along the street saw what happened and asked me to have a look at their merchandize of weapons, armors, trinkets and all sort of stuff to see whether any spirit dwell in them. After being approached for the eighth time, without making progress with my sight-seeing, I finally told the vendors that I was going to charge them some money if they approach with their request. The fact of spending their money on intangible stuff stopped them from approaching me so I was able to enjoy the remainder of the day without much hassle. It was already sundown when I got back to the inn.

My plan was to spend two days sight-seeing and another to think about my future – whether to follow Master Raul’s footstep by selling necromancy goods and service, or seek solace to practice necromancy to a higher level somewhere. Anyway, I still got one more day to enjoy so after breakfast, I continued the sight-seeing, this time taking the opposite street from yesterday. Luckily, there was no commotion to disrupt my peace and I could enjoy my time all throughout the morning. When noon came, I went to have a meal at one of the street café.

“Excuse me, young man?” someone greeted so I turned towards the direction of the voice to see an old man in his late fifties or sixties, clad in a richly embroider white and gold robe. Behind him were the two knights from yesterday.

“Can I help you with anything, sir?” I asked.

“Are you the young man who helps the antique seller down by the Merchant Street yesterday?”

“Yes, that was probably me. My name’s Edmonte and I am a necromancer from Estrey,” I introduced. “If you don’t mind me eating my lunch while we talk, you can have the seat,” I invited.

“Thank you,” the old man said and sat on the chair opposite of mine. “Let me introduce myself; my name is Olsen Hirscher, Arch mage of Soparto.” I almost choke on the cider I was drinking when I heard his title. I might be a country bumpkin but I knew the title of the advisor to the ruler of Soparto in matter of magic. That was why he was richly clothed. I wondered if I did something wrong to bring the arch mage towards my attention. After all, I did not know much about Soparto and its law. “I’m sorry if I surprise you. You see, I establish Magus Association roughly a year ago. It is an institute for those who want to learn magic and I’ve been looking for capable mages to join the rank of tutor. I’ve heard you’re a mage so I want to invite you to join Magus Association.”

“I must remind you, sir, that I practice necromancy.”

“Necromancy is also part of magic practices and people have the liberty to choose which magic branches they want to practice.” Indeed. I chose to practice necromancy despite my ability of Second Sight could be used for other magic practice.

“What can the Magus Association do for me in exchange for the service?”

“You will have your own place for sleep, research and study. We will support all living and research expenses as long as you’re with Magus Association. And you don’t have to search far and wide to find your apprentice. We can discuss any other additional benefits if it’s within our power to do so. If you agree with these conditions, you can come to the Magus Association Institute at the Uptown Section of Islandville with this,” the arch mage said as he handed me a leather-bound parchment. “I’ll be expecting you anytime,” he added before he went away from there, followed by the two knights.

I was left alone to enjoy my meal and to ponder on the matter afterwards.

I kept telling myself that I was going to return the parchment to the arch mage as I made my way to the institute the next day. I spent the whole night thinking the matter over, weighing the pros and cons of accepting the offer. In the end, I still had not come to the conclusion because a part of me still not confident enough to teach new apprentice necromancy when I was just an apprentice myself not so long ago. Yet, here I was on the way to Magus Association Institute in my black robes and with staff.

Arch mage Hirscher told me he was still looking for tutors for Magus Association so I assumed the institute was still in the process of establishment, I did not expect it to be in full operation when I arrived at the three stories building which was as big as the Estrey Regional Troop Headquarter, and the compound was surrounded by nearly five foot tall stone wall. There was a huge label ‘Magus Association Institute’ chiseled above the open gate. I went to the guard stand to announce presence as well as intention of coming here – I doubted the place was as laid-back as it seemed with no protective wards against intruder.

“Mm, excuse me,” I greeted, catching on the attention of mage knight who was in the guard hut.

“You seek magic training, kid?” the mage knight began to asked until he saw that I