Bookworld Online: Marsh Man

Bokuboy

When I escorted Vanessa into the classroom, I saw that both teachers were sitting behind the desk. Nothing was written on the chalkboard behind them, which meant that there was nothing to indicate who would be teaching us first. I sat Vanessa at her desk and sat beside her and waited for everyone else to sit as well.

After a few minutes, the bell rang and the female teacher named Mage Heather Montgomery stood up. “Today, my husband will be teaching you the most basic enchantment to add a damage value to a weapon.”

“Ooo!” A few of the girls cooed and she smiled.

“Don't get too excited. It's very difficult to add enchantments to weapons after they are forged, especially when you don't want to weaken them, or worse, ruin them for use.”

“I thought you said it was the easiest to enchant?” One of the girls asked with her hand up.

“I said it was the most basic, not the easiest.” The teacher said. “As long as the metal is hot, you can make alterations to it to add the enchantment.”

Another girl put her hand up. “Wouldn't that mean you have to be there for the forging?”

“Not necessarily.” The male teacher named Mage Black Montgomery said.

“That's cryptic.” Lorna said and a few of the girls nodded.

Black grinned at them. “I'll tell you the secret if that'll ease your minds. You cheat, of course. You temper the blade yourself by simply heating it up, adding the enchantment, then cooling it off.”

“That seems like a lot of work for a simple enchantment.” One of the other girls said.

“Of course it does, because it is. We're only teaching you the basics, so we'll handle the details. All you need to worry about is the process and the contents.” Heather said and turned to the chalk board behind her. “The first of which is the damage rune.”

I immediately copied down the rune she drew onto the board. It was essentially an arrow that was as long as it was wide and with a squiggly line through it that joined the ends of the arrow. When turned on its side, it looked like a pyramid with water in front of it.

“Now, the measurements on this must be exact. The sides are equal in length and the wavy line is also the same length.” Heather said and drew the parts beside each other to show that they were the same length, even though it didn't look like they were when assembled. “The only exception is the middle line bisecting it. It has to be on the bottom turn of the wavy line or it won't be the right length.”

“Wow, this is really hard.” One of the girls said as she tried to copy the design. “How many waves are in the line?”

“Four, two high bumps on each side of the bisecting line.” Heather said and pointed to each. “They also can't exceed the dimensions of the rune. If they do, it won't work.”

“I think we're going to be at this for a while.” Lorna said as she looked at her paper and then back at the board.

“That's why I'm teaching first today.” Heather said with a smile. “Did any of you bring the measuring and marking tools assigned for enchanting?”

Only half of the class raised their hands, which included Vanessa and not myself.

“Mr. Drake, I thought you wanted to learn all about runes and enchanting officially?” Heather asked and then her mouth started to move as she mumbled something.

I felt her magic flow over me, so I cast Dispel and she only jerked this time and didn't gasp. “That's twice you've cast a spell on me, Mage Montgomery. If you cast anything else against me, teacher or not, I'll have no choice but to attack you back.”

Several of the girls in the class gasped.

“Wh-what?” Black Montgomery stood up and glared at his wife. “HEATHER! What are you doing?”

“N-nothing! It's nothing! I swear!” Heather said and the man winced at the blatant lie.

“By the Son's Light, get your ass out of this classroom!” Black said and grabbed her by the arm. “You did this during the last class, didn't you?”

“N-no.” Heather said, her head ducked slightly.

Black growled at her and walked over to the door of the room as he dragged her behind him. “I'm not even going to ask what you were trying to cast.” He said and opened the door and pushed her out. “Go back to our apartment in the teacher's residence. I'll deal with you this afternoon.”

“No! It's not what you think!” Heather exclaimed. “I was only...”

“It doesn't matter.” Black said and slammed the door in her face.

Heather flinched back from the force and looked scandalized, then her face fell and she walked away.

“I'm terribly sorry about that.” Black said as he walked over to the desk. “Mr. Drake, if you care to press charges on her for using magic against a student in blatant disregard of academy rules, I'll file the paperwork immediately after class.”

All of the girls in the class turned their heads to look at me.

I could almost feel the weight of their gazes on me. “It seems you are more capable than the administration staff here. I'm confident that I can leave it in your hands.”

Black smiled as the girls around me seemed to relax. “Thank you, Mr. Drake. I'll be sure to impose upon my errant wife the severity of what she did here.”

“As long as you don't hit or torture her.” I responded and he laughed.

“Oh, no. I've never hit my wife... or any woman for that matter.” Black said. “A good verbal berating, a reminder of who she represents, and a reiteration of her vows to uphold the standards and values of the Montgomery Family, should do wonders for her attitude.”

Lorna took in a sharp breath and then covered her mouth.

“Ah, I see one of you remembered what it means to break a solemn vow to a family.” Black said.

Lorna nodded. “She... she could be disowned and... depending on the breach, she could be stripped of her titles and social status and possibly sold to recoup any losses to the family.”

“That's it exactly.” Black said. “By law, it's usually a sale back to her original family. It's essentially a ransom to keep her.” He gave us all a look and his eyes settled on me. “Family vows are both strong and weak in that sense. It's why there are usually a lot of negotiation between families before a betrothal is approved and why they are usually done years in advance of the announcement.”

“It gives them time to back out.” I said and he nodded. “Both families benefit, don't they?”

“Usually they do.” Black said and sat on his desk. “Not always, however.”

“Was yours?” I asked and he nodded.

“I actually like her, so that was a huge bonus right there.” Black said. “She's human, though. I'm sure she likes me as well; but, that doesn't mean we get along all the time.”

“Not love?” Lorna asked.

“Ha! You're a member of a high ranking family. What do you think?”

“The odds... are low.” Lorna admitted, albeit reluctantly.

“Right you are.” Black said and motioned to us. “Out of the 20 girls in front of me, maybe one of you... possibly two of you... will actually enjoy the company of your betrothed. Love is another story.”

“Is it really that rare?” Vanessa asked in a whisper.

“Is it really that rare?” I asked for her.

“It's not rare for people to fall in love.” Black said and then chuckled. “Being able to marry that person with the approval of your families? It's very rare.”

Vanessa turned to look at me and her eyes told me what she was thinking.

“It's all right. I'm sure Helena will approve.” I whispered to her and Vanessa relaxed.

“Now, shall we get back to practising drawing this rune?” Black said and waved at the board. “If you need to use measuring tools, go ahead. Just be aware that this is only practice. When you go to draw the actual rune, it has to fit inside the enchantment I'll be teaching in the next class and it will be significantly smaller.”

I raised my hand and he nodded to me. “Will we be practising on wood first and then on metal later?”

Black nodded. “You'll need the practice to get the movements and the tool usage down. Wood is the best for that.” He smiled. “Normal wood, I mean. We won't waste wildwood on practice.”

“How will we know if the enchantment will work if it's not wildwood?” One of the girls asked.

“I said practice. When I can see that you've got the enchantment ready and in a usable state, I'll have wildwood daggers brought in for you to use. If it works on them, we'll try it with metal daggers.” Blake said. “For now, draw out the rune and try to get it as close to equal in all parts as you can. After you do it a few times on your own, I'll come around to each of you to give you pointers and advice.”

I raised my hand and he nodded to me. “I've already drawn it at the right size.”

Black had a disbelieving look for a second, then he remembered my boast from the last class. He walked over to me and looked down at my paper. His eyes widened at the very small and very accurate reproduction.

“All right.” He said and went back to the desk, opened a drawer, and took out a square piece of wood and several carving tools. “Why don't you practice...”

“I have my own tools.” I said and took out both sets I had. One was for normal carving and one was for miniature carving.

When Black came over with the piece of wood for me to use, he saw the tools and he stopped walking. “Where did you get those tools?”

“I had one of the blacksmiths in the city center custom make me six sets.” I said. “My fiance knew they would be a valuable commodity, so she arranged for him to contact the mages guild and he's sold them a hundred sets for carving the enchantments on the kracken tube ammunition.”

“I... I bought one. They've been very useful.” Black said and gave me the piece of wood. “How long...”

“Give me a few seconds.” I said and quickly carved out the rune with the large tool and then right beside it with the smaller version.

“Good god.” Black whispered at the perfect carving. “You even put the correct angle on the grooves for the best magic channelling.”

“I've been doing this for a long time.” I commented.

“Can you help your classmate? She will definitely need your help with instruction.”

“I was going to anyway.” I said and he nodded. “Can you show me the entire enchantment?”

Black looked like he was going to refuse and then he turned to look at the classroom door. He sighed at what his wife had done and went back to the desk. He opened another drawer and took out a piece of paper. He glanced at me and wrote a few things on it, then he brought it over to me without a word. He walked over to the next desk to observe the girls there.

“What is it?” Vanessa asked in a whisper.

I looked at the paper and it was an enchantment, except that it wasn't. I saw the new markings through it as well as several other runes. The note beside it said that it was his wife's house crest and that surprised me.

“It's a family crest.” I whispered to Vanessa and she leaned in close to look as she rested her head on my shoulder.

“I don't see an enchantment.” Vanessa whispered. “Is it hidden?”

“Yes.” I whispered back and pointed. “There's the damage rune we're learning today.” I traced it with my finger. “This is a magic channel, this is the direction it flows, and this...” I kept moving my finger and talking.

Vanessa listened attentively as I explained the different parts and she started to understand how intricate the full enchantment was. When I didn't point to certain lines or markings, which were obviously runes of some kind, she asked me what they were.

“They are coverings to hide the real enchantment.” I whispered to her. “What better way to hide a family secret than in plain sight?”

“But, wouldn't all enchanters figure it out?” Vanessa asked. “If families hide their secret enchantments inside their family crests, wouldn't everyone know what they are?”

“I'm pretty sure that most people don't even bother looking for enchantments in such an obvious place.” I responded. “Also, even if they did find it and decoded it by removing the mess, they wouldn't be able to use it.”

“What? Why not?” Vanessa asked.

“Most of them wouldn't bother fixing the mistakes or rearranging it. They might not have enough magic to empower them, either. If they did, the enchantments are too complicated for anyone except a high ranking mage or someone on the mages council to activate and use.”

“Oh, wow.” Vanessa whispered and her hand touched mine. “You know a lot about this stuff.”

“Not really. I know how to pull the parts apart and how to figure out what they do; but, I don't know any of the meanings.” I whispered back. “It took a lot of trial and error to work it all out and to train my mind to do it.”

“Aww.” Vanessa breathed as she lifted her head to look into my eyes. “I had hoped that you could give me more secret knowledge like with the potion brewing and I'll be able to do it right away.”

I chuckled and she gave me a bright smile.

“I guess that's a no, huh?” Vanessa whispered in a teasing tone.

“Unfortunately, only time and practice can get your hand steady for this kind of work. On the plus side, it's paper and wood. You can easily draw out what you need and then can carve out what you want.”

“I guess that's not too bad as long as you give me tips and tricks to use.” Vanessa whispered and I nodded. “Good.” She squeezed my hand and moved it over to in front of her. “Show me how you got it so perfect on the first try.”

I raised my eyebrows at her and she laughed softly.

“Yes, I know you did a trick. That was way too fast for it being the first time you saw it. Please show me what you did.” Vanessa begged.

I thought about denying it, then gave her a knowing smile. “The tip of your thumb is always the same length.” I whispered to her, turned my hand over to take her thumb in my hand, then used my fingers to wiggle the top of her thumb at the knuckle.

“Oh. My. God.” Vanessa whispered as she stared at her thumb and wiggled the top on her own. “Oh, my god. I have an automatic measuring device right at my fingertips.”

“Mind blowing, isn't it?” I asked and she nodded several times. “Let me show you how to use it.”

“Yes, please.” Vanessa breathed.

For the rest of the first class, I showed her how to use her thumb to give her perfect measurements and by the time the bell rang, she had reproduced the rune perfectly.

“Very well done.” Black Montgomery said when he saw her paper. “I'll have no reservations about giving you carving tools to use after the short break.”

“I think I'd rather use David's.” Vanessa whispered and looked at me. “If that's okay?”

“She's going to use my tools.” I said and the teacher nodded.

“Thank you, David.” Vanessa said and glanced around, then she leaned in and kissed my cheek.

“We don't have to wait.” I said and slid my piece of wood over to her. I drew a line beside my carvings and motioned to the rest of it. “Draw out half a dozen of the runes and then I'll show you how to carve them.”

“Right away.” Vanessa said and we did just that.

Needless to say, we were done barely half an hour into the next class. I raised my hand and Black came over to us. He saw Vanessa making the final carving of the wavy line and his eyes widened. He glanced at the six of them and how much Vanessa had improved in such a short time.

“I really should get you to do more.” Black said and then he chuckled. “I don't want to watch you sit there and do nothing for the rest of the class, though. Go on and get out of here.”

“Thank you.” Vanessa said and we packed up our things.

“I won't be showing the class the simple version of the enchantment until next week and that's only if they can get their carvings to a good level.” Black said. “It might be a short class for you then, too.”

“It will be.” I said and didn't tell him that I had already figured out the basic enchantment from the family crest he had given me and I also didn't tell him I had also improved it and made it cheaper to infuse and to activate. “See you next week.”

Vanessa and I left the classroom and she wasn't sure what to do with herself, now that she had so much free time before lunch.

“You can come with me to the library.” I suggested. “I'm working there with the librarian to fix up the map room.”

“There's a map room?” Vanessa asked, clearly excited.

“I think Eludora is going to like you.” I said and escorted her over to the library.