Bookworld Online: Marsh Man

Bokuboy

It only took me two tries to make a full size enchantment for each of the three enchantments that I had created the night before. That wasn't going to be sufficient, however. I needed to make them much smaller, so I worked for several hours to reduce them down to the four inch size and successfully carved them and infused them.

I covered one with a sliver of wood to hide the enchantment and put it on a thin cord to hang over the neck. I didn't activate it, because I didn't want to hurt myself or make myself flee the room. I chuckled as I wrote Greta's name on the edge and then I treated it with fortifying waterproof potion before I tucked it into my suit coat pocket that I had hung on the chair behind me.

I did the same to the second one and wrote Victoria's name on it, since it did something different than the one for Greta, and tucked it into my other pocket. The last one I covered and hung over my own neck, and it also did something different. I wasn't going to be smug about it, however. They were untested and I could only hope they worked as well as I had designed them to.

I put on the coat and left the dorm mansion after informing Hope of where I was going. I walked at a quick pace to get to the botany workshop and Greta was already there waiting for me. She gave me a warm smile and looked around to see if anyone else was around, then she let out a sigh and hugged me.

“I'm sorry that I've been so emotional whenever I see you.” Greta apologized. “It's the shock of everything that happened... or could have happened... that's got me so worked up.”

“It's not your fault. You're not a combat mage.” I said and she eased her hold on me to look into my eyes.

“Most mages aren't combat mages.” Greta said. “It takes a certain mentality to face danger constantly and...” She stopped talking when she realized who she was talking to. “I wish I had some of your bravery.”

I reached into my suit coat pocket and took out the four inch wide circle. “Ask and you shall receive.”

“What's this?” Greta asked.

“Peace of mind.” I said and hung it on her neck.

“It's just a piece of blank wood.” Greta said and her fingers caressed it. “It's very nice.”

I chuckled and leaned close to whisper in her ear to tell her what it was and what it could do when she activated it with her magic. Her arms went around me again and she held on tightly as I spoke to her.

After thirty seconds, Greta took a deep shuddering breath and let it out as she let me go. “David, thank you.”

“I want you to be careful when you activate it to test it, since it'll work on all men and not just those you want it to work on.” I cautioned her.

“I... I know.” Greta said and lightly touched the finished wood. “I won't activate it if you're within the short range.”

“You will if you're under threat of attack.” I said and her eyes widened. “Don't hesitate because I'm near. You do it as soon as you have to.”

“But... what about...”

“Your safety comes first. Even if I'm right beside you, activate it and we can worry about the after effects later.”

Greta closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. “I don't want to cause you pain if you're next to me; but, I promise that I won't hesitate if I'm in danger.”

I nodded and waved at the botany workshop. We went inside and walked over to Victoria's office.

“Perfect timing.” Victoria said and handed us guild mage robes. “We're going to a guild controlled area and they are going to be very watchful for anyone that isn't wearing their colors or belongs to one of their departments.”

I looked at the plant cultivation logo and nodded. We put the robes into small bags to change into them later and I handed Victoria the enchantment medallion that I had made for her. Greta gave me an odd look and I shook my head, because I knew that she was wondering if it was the same as hers. I explained out loud what the enchantment did and Victoria's eyes nearly bulged out of her head.

“Wait, wait, wait! This makes ALL men ignore us? All men?”

I nodded. “If they get too close, they'll either decide to walk around us or they'll be pushed away.”

Victoria looked like she was going to be sick. “Wh-why would you do this to me?”

I almost laughed at her reaction. “We're not going there to show you off or to flirt. We're going there to get samples of virulent grass and we're going to be under a lot of scrutiny.”

“I know that, I just...”

“You wanted to use your charms.” Greta said and she nodded.

“If things get crazy or if we're discovered, I want you both to use twice as much magic to activate the wood medallions.”

“What? Why?” Victoria asked.

“It'll fill the large magic reserves I added to them and activate the concealment enchantment. As long as we move slowly after that, no one will find us.” I said.

“David, this is great and all; but, they are going to check us before we're allowed into the compound.” Greta said. “They're going to find out we have these enchantments.”

“Not if they have a built in passive blocking enchantment.” I said and both women stared at me.

“David, there's no such thing.” Greta said. “If we had some way to block enchantments from being detected, the large families would be enchanting everything they owned with their family enchantments and would probably buy off many other families to get their enchanting secrets, too.”

“Who says someone hasn't done that already?” I asked and they both looked surprised. “They wouldn't tell anyone, would they? That would defeat the whole purpose.”

Greta and Victoria exchanged looks and then chucked.

“You're right, we wouldn't know if anyone's already done that.” Victoria said.

“We better get going.” Greta said and we left the botany workshop to go to the academy's front gates. We boarded an unmarked carriage and rode to the Mages Guild. It was a compound that was similar in size as the mage academy and we had the carriage drop us off down the street. It stayed there and we moved off into an alley to change into the guild robes. Once we were disguised, we went over to the closest checkpoint to enter the Mages Guild grounds.

“Sign in, please.” The guard standing there said. He held a hand out to us as he mumbled several spells. We signed in with barely legible fake names and nothing appeared to be wrong to the guard, so he opened the gate for us and we entered.

“I can't believe that worked.” Victoria whispered. “I thought the enchantments would have at least glowed a little.”

“He didn't even ask if we had anything on us.” Greta said with a shake of her head. “David, you have your knife on you, don't you?”

I pat my left side where the sheath hung under my armpit.

“I really want to complain to the Grand Mages Council about making entrance to the grounds stricter.” Greta said with a chuckle. “If I was still a member, I'd be pissed that someone could get in so easily.”

“Neither of us are members anymore, so screw them.” Victoria said. “They didn't realize the talent they've been ignoring and forced us to leave, so it makes sense that they would ignore threats to their own security.”

“Unfortunately for them.” I said and noticed a large group of mages in the distance. “We should split up and go to the dumping area from different directions.”

“I want to argue that; but, you're right. It'll look odd with all three of us from the same department going together.” Greta said. “It would leave any department short if three or more people left at once.”

“All right. I'll go that way.” Victoria said.

“Activate the main enchantment as you move off. The amount of women we can see is minuscule and you'll pretty much disappear.”

“David, stop torturing me.” Victoria said with a smile and walked away.

“Greta, go that way and do the same thing when you take the corner.” I said and pointed.

“David.” Greta whispered and her hand reached out and rested on my chest. “Don't... don't get caught.”

I gave her a smile and put my hand on hers as I pushed a bit of magic through it.

“How can you share like that?” Greta asked.

“I learned a different way to use magic, of course.” I said and let her hand go as I stepped back. “See you soon.”

“I better.” Greta said and walked off.

I waited until she took the corner and then walked towards the main guild building. I ducked into an alcove and activated the full enchantment I wore. My body shimmered and then faded as I pretty much disappeared. I used my stealth technique and crept along to go inside when someone opened the door and I made my way over to the first desk.

The men I could see were all looking away from where I was creeping and the two women in sight were simply ignoring me, since I looked like the scenery behind me. I went around the closest desk and the woman that sat there didn't notice me. I looked over her desk and her desk blotter just happened to be a full map of the facility.

I held in my laugh, because she had written directions on it to get to those places, and I easily found the potions department and read the directions. I was tempted to kiss her for helping me so much and decided that I didn't need to scare the woman with a phantom kiss on the cheek, even if it would be funny to see her reaction.

I shook my head and pushed that thought out of my head. I'm definitely spending too much time around women that tease me to get a reaction, because I'm doing it now, too.

I left the lobby and followed the directions to get to the department. It was a huge growing area inside and the smell was just as prevalent as it was in the botany department. I found the office easily and looked around before using Sense Magic. Nothing appeared, so I opened the door very quietly and peeked inside. The secretary didn't notice, so I pushed the door with my hand and stepped back.

The secretary jerked when she noticed the door and quickly came over to look outside the office. I slipped inside past her and went to the inner office door. I opened it slightly and the man inside was looking down at his desk. I slipped in through the door and slowly closed it. I cast the lock spell on it and then walked over to the man.

This part was going to be fun.