Interlude - Melli

It really is everything I thought it would be. The All Seeing Eye, the ultimate source for magical knowledge. It's hard not to crane your neck to look at the great cathedral, multiple stories of books, and exhibits. Legions of my fellow mages scramble, and work hurriedly at desks and stations. Each pushing the boundaries of magic in search of new more profitable uses for the poweres we weild. Of course those in the main cathedral are just hopefuls. Eager to get a grant from the government to continue their studies. I'd be one of those soon.

I would.

My guide points out the various sections of the cathedral devoted to the various orders. There tucked into the far eastern corner were the battle mages, my future collegues.

I enter into the testing chamber, a boring brick bunker, where the three protectors were waiting for me. On the thick table before them were my tests and formuli dissected like a cat. To the side there is a long casting range where a straw dummy waits for his inescapable doom.

"Welcome Melli." Says a kindly old man on the left. He’s bald, and has striking blue eyes. He sits next to a rather large man, with a thick bearish beard. He’s heavily muscled and has to be at least eight feet tall. To his left is an even more bizarre man, who seems to be made of nothing but vapor. This is Cidrian The Thief, his appearance was at least distinct enough for me to recognize. I'm sure I knew the other two protectors as well from their published work. Just not their faces, though you think someone would comment on a prominent scholar being a giant!

"Thank you for having me masters." I say, really truly meaning it.

"Congratulations are in order." The kindly man, says with a kindly smile.

"I got in?" I gasp, curling my hands around the sleeve of my robe.

"Oh goodness." He gasps, and laughs to himself. "No I'm sorry for that. I meant for you stars. Clearing a dungeon is quite the feat."

The bear huffs.

I turn to him. "You don't think so?" I ask, offended. This man has no idea what I went through in that dungeon. Heck I hardly know, so much is a blur. Just The Herald saving from the pit he’d dropped me in.

"I don't think you earned your stars through hard work and study." He says, not cruely, but still. Ouch. He gestures to some papers on the desk. I imagine it's my list of stars. "I see nothing here to aid you as a mage."

"There are a few magic stars." I say, failing to keep the defensiveness out of my voice.

"Magical stars are a crutch." He says. "There's nothing you can do with them that can't be recreated with a proper formula."

The kindly man sighs, and puts his hand on the Bear's. "Proper formula, proper stars can all be obtained from her time with us."

"I'm sorry." The bear says, trying to reign himself in. "We prefer to have applicant's who's stars reflect that they've already gained a certain mastery of their powers. A complete education."

It then struck me. This was the exact same thing Elizabth was disparaging the Herald for. We had stars, but we hadn't earned them. We'd earned them but not from our genius or skill. From.. dumb luck? Maybe a certain attraction to risk. "I have a complete education."

"Yes!" Says the kindly man. Glowing. "Your whole town took up a collection to see you ward under a traveling magician. Oh it's just the sort of thing you see in story books."

"Thank you, they were all very generous." I hope I can some day repay what they all did for me. "And Master Kalibo was the model of a mentor. I have a letter of recommendation from him." I gesture to the pile of papers on the desk.

The bear at least did not object to that.

"Tell me." The Bear says after taking the time to read the letter. "Why are you applying to join the battle mages?”

You see most wizards want to join the diviners. The most powerful and useful thing you can do with magic is predict the future. Economics, war, weather, the royal family can't get enough of them. It's by far the largest and most well founded of the orders. In truth the order of Battle Mages is amongst the smallest of The All Seeing Eye's orders.

You see all mages in The All Seeing Eye belong to the government. In exchange for the research funding, and access to resources The All Seeing Eye offers, all mages can be called to service at any time. For Diviners this means predicting the price of grapes three months from now. For Battle Mages it means serving in a war.

"Because I want to serve my nation." I say, trughtfully. "I want to defend it against the enemies of humanity, to act as a shield for my king and country."

The kindly man nods warmly at this, the bear just seems to pity me. The vapouras Wizard I think is just there to fill the seat. "Why not join the army then?" The Bear says. "They have constant use for mages."

I nod, having expected this question. "I think my capacity to grow is better served here, than in the army."

"There's where I'm not to sure." The Bear says, setting down a piece of paper like the gavel of a judge. "We got your test results back, and they're..."

"Not what we expect from a candidate." The kindly man said, and my stomach drops. If I've lost him...

I take a look at the test, I'd taken a few days ago. There's no denying it's a failing grade. "I'm I.." I try to think of something to say.

"It's not just the test scores." The Bear says. “We've looked at the formulas you've submitted, and they're... substandard." He presents one to me, the amount of red ink correcting mistakes or pointing out flaws was more than the black ink I'd used to pen the spell.

"I don't understand." I say. "All my spells work, those aren't theoretical formulas."

The bear nods. "Oh yes, but they're terribly inefficient. So much power, or mana is wasted. They produce the effect you want, but your crafting has much to be desired. I would see you try to refine some of these spells before applying again."

"Again." I gasp. The thought of failure had never entered my mind. I'd never let myself fail, and now I had... I had some kind of demon expecting me to succeed as well. That felt a little strange. Would he hurt me if I returned in disgrace? Would he... punish me?

"But that is why we have the practical exam." The kindly old man say. I’m starting to think he’s not kindly at all, just a coward. "Sometimes even we miss the true function of a formula. Who knows how many geniuses we would have rejected based in their formulas."

But those mages, probably passed the standardized test. "So I may perform a spell?" I say.

They say I can and present me with the fire spell I crafted. I have to copy It down exactly and before I absorb the page they look over to make sure I didn't try anything funny. When they approve I hold the page up, my eyes glow and the ink glows before it suddenly vanishes from the page, now engrained with the magical circuity within me.

"Okay." I say, facing down the range. I draw upon my well of mana and send it through the formula I'd created. The mana flows through glyphs within my body changing form, composition, until it reaches the other side and flows into my staff. You don’t think the herald would mind me using the reward money to buy it do you? I mean he kind of owes me a new one anyway.

The spell exits my staff and rips into reality a wave of flame more intense and powerful than anything I can produce on my own. I feel from so far away a pull, The Herald and his skill enhancing my own. The wave rolls forward melting stone and covering a wide swath of the range. I sense it now, mana clogged in the corners of my body, heaps of the stuff venting out of me to no effect, no wonder I can only cast this twice a day. Everything they said made sense, but what didn’t make sense was the utter waste that laid before me.

My judges all look surprised, no more so than the bear.

I look at him with a smile. Didn’t expect that, did you?

He looks at the copy of the formula, checking for mistakes me might have missed. Then he checks my stars to see if I did indeed have a hidden talent somewhere. Then he checks my profile to see if I'm the lost daughter of some god.

He won't find any of it there, because my power comess from a slimey little potion merchant a city away.

Eventually he leans forward, and for the first time he looks interested in me. "How did you do that?"