by Jay Boyce
She felt Jeremy’s hand on her shoulder and looked up to meet his eyes as he spoke softly, “Hey, no matter what the churches say, you don’t have to save the world alone. The rest of us have some say too, you know.”
Nodding, she put her hand over his as she affirmed, “I’ll try to remember that. Thanks for taking a break to talk to me.”
He laughed. “Not that you gave me much choice when you charged over to heal me. Thanks for that, by the way.”
Her smile was a bit strained as she remembered what she’d done to him, but she nodded again and said quietly, “It’s no problem. I hope I helped. Anyway, I’d better get going. Have a good day, Jeremy! Remember to eat a lot today!” He looked a little confused at her cryptic statement, but he nodded, watching as she left the practice yard before turning to walk over to his target and retrieve the arrows he’d embedded there. She began her trek down a floor to her workshop once more, pondering what she’d just done.
As she found herself standing in front of her workshop door, she was about to pull her key out when she realized that even if she couldn’t justify breaking into anyone else’s room, she could at least pick the lock to her own without any problems. Pulling a little metal out of her ring, she fashioned it into two long, thin picks like she’d seen in movies. She knelt down to peer into the lock, using light magic on the picks to make them glow slightly so she could see what she was doing. Her fellacai took off down the hall to play while she focused on the lock.
She fiddled with it for a few minutes before she finally gave up, frustrated. She couldn’t even get the tools to open a simple lock like her workshop door. Annoyed, she molded the metal so that it formed the right shape as the key, popping open the tumblers as she stood up and crushed the metal into a ball again before throwing it back into her ring. “Stupid locks,” she muttered darkly before glancing around and mentally calling her fellacai back. They came winging around the corner, happily following her into the room to play in her garden.
Closing the door behind her, she walked over to her sitting area as she sighed, “Hopefully I’m better at woodworking than I am at lockpicking.” At least no one was around to see that failure or find her awkwardly kneeling and staring at her own workshop door. One semi-public failure to think things through was more than enough for the day, as far as she was concerned.
Deciding that she needed to get to work, she began pulling out all the different branches she’d taken from the cemetery. With her mana sense active and writing supplies in hand, she began the process of labeling all of the different magics in each one to figure out which was most suitable for her purposes today and have it organized for the future.
When she was done, she pulled out a single branch, staring at it for a moment. To her vision, it glowed with five different colors- pink, violet, lavender, orange, and dark green. It had everything she needed and more: contractual, compulsion, illusion, life, and nature magic. If anything would hold the enchantment she wanted, this would be it.
Positioning the branch so the end was hanging off the side of the table, she engulfed the end in a tiny wind bubble to catch any dust that came off, then created a tiny water saw before shaving off a ring-sized slice of wood. She cut around ten slices before she put the branch away, considering what basically looked like rough wooden coasters. Piece by piece, she picked them up, using her tiny saw to carve smaller and smaller circles out of the wood, in effect creating different sizes for her rings. They were still rough, but she sent the magical sawdust she’d created into the dirt of her garden to nourish it.
Taking one of the rings, she pulled out another tiny piece of metal, sharpening it as much as she could before using fire magic to heat the tip of it. On the inside of the ring, she half burned and half carved three miniature symbols: an open eye, a broken chain link, and a shield. Setting the tool down once more, she sent water to smooth the rough edges of the ring, then infused pure mana into it. She was satisfied to see it sink into the wood, giving a shine to the ring.
Calming her breathing with the knowledge that she’d done everything she could to prepare the vessel, she began to pour her magic into the wood, speaking aloud to focus her thoughts on what she wanted. “No illusions will fool me, no orders will bind me, my mind is protected. See through untruths, obey my own conscience, shield me from prying eyes.” She repeated the words like a mantra, feeling more and more power draining from her as she focused on the wood.
Finally, she felt the tether to her magic snap, and there was a blinding flash of light. Blinking away the bright spots, she absently healed her eyes as she stared down at the wooden ring in her palm. It looked like any other polished wooden ring, but when she activated her mana sense, it glowed with violet, pink, lavender, and a shimmering white. “Did it actually work?”
Looking down at the ring, she realized she had no idea what her creation was capable of.
Chapter Thirty-Two – Testing
It was obvious that if she wanted to know what her ring did, there was only one thing to do: test it on someone. The only problem was that campus was mostly deserted since school was canceled. Well, except for the fact that Jeremy was in the courtyard above her, she belatedly remembered. Groaning at her forgetfulness for a second, she quickly left her workshop, locking it behind her with a quick flick of magic before she rushed up the stairs to the third floor to see if Jeremy was still around.
To her relief, the soft thud of arrows pounding into the target greeted her ears as she ascended. It seemed Jeremy was still abusing himself at the range after she healed him. She thought he might have taken a break since he went to collect his arrows, but from what she saw as she peeked around the corner, he’d retrieved them simply so he could shoot again. He half jumped when he heard her soft sigh, the arrow he’d nocked flying away from the target and shattering against the wall as she winced.
“Jade!? What are you doing back here? Next time, say something instead of sneaking up on me! Do you know how dangerous that could have been? I could have shot you!” In his surprise and anxiety, he started scolding her. She found herself laughing softly, shaking her head at Jeremy, who looked shocked that she could laugh at the moment. “This isn’t something to laugh about, Jade!”
Shrugging helplessly, she replied, “I didn’t interfere with your arrow because it wasn’t hitting anything. If it was aimed at me, I’d have stopped it or stepped behind the wall. You wouldn’t have hurt me.” She was still grinning at his dismay, but he seemed to have calmed down a little as he realized she was prepared to dodge his shot, if it came down to that. She finally came completely out from behind the wall, walking over to him and inspecting his hands for any wounds, but it seemed he hadn’t gotten to that point yet.
“You know rest is important for the body too, right?” He hurried to stick his hands behind his back, looking like a little kid who’d been caught red-handed. Sighing, she shook her head, “I’m not mad, just concerned. If you only train the same muscles over and over, your body becomes unbalanced. It’s better if you rotate what you work on and allow your body time to rest. That’s why our classes are only every other day. While practice is important, allowing your body to recuperate is just as necessary.”
His hands fell back to his side, clutching his bow tightly still as he nodded, scratching the back of his neck with his free hand. “Yeah, okay.” He sounded reluctant, but it was obvious he could see the sense in what she was saying. Now that that was out of the way, he came to the realization that she probably had a purpose for interrupting him again. “Anyway, did you need something?”
Brought back to her original goal by his question, she nodded. “Actually, I do.” She held out her open palm, showcasing the polished wooden ring that...looked normal and boring against her palm. Putting aside the lack of appeal, she explained, “I’ve enchanted this ring with what I hope is increased resistance to hypnotism, compulsion, illusions, and overall mental resistance. My magic took, but I have no idea if it actually works.”
; “So you want me to put it on and have you test your magic against me.” Jeremy caught onto her plan immediately, eyeing her and the ring warily.
Hedging, she finally nodded again. “Well, yes. I just want to run a few tests to see what it does. I promise you’ll come to no harm. Basically, I’m going to order you not to speak, and I’d like you to try to do so until you can. We’ll have to test it both with and without the ring to see the comparison. Is that...okay?” Her voice was hesitant, because she figured she was probably asking a lot of someone to test her new creations, no matter how potentially beneficial it could be.
Jeremy looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding. “I’ll do it.” Setting his bow and quiver down at the side, he turned back to her and asked, “So, with or without the ring first?”
Smiling happily, Jade pulled out her pocketwatch as she replied, “We’ll do without first.” Her eyes went up, catching his gaze as she layered her voice with light hypnotism, “Don’t speak.” She watched him, seeing the obvious struggle in the tick of his cheek.
Fifteen seconds later, he finally spoke. “That’s rather unpleasant.”
Wincing in sympathy, she apologized. “I’m sorry to put you through this. On the bright side, it should help you train your mental fortitude.” He nodded, taking a deep breath, obviously readying himself for her next words as she layered them with compulsion magic, “Don’t speak.”
It took eighteen seconds this time before he grumbled, “That was even worse. What was the difference?”
She explained immediately, “Hypnotism versus compulsion magic. Okay, for this last one, I need you to tell me what you see.” She flicked her fingers behind her back, pulling out five arrows that she laid illusions over before pulling them in front of her for him to see and setting them on the ground. “Please describe these objects.”
Walking closer, Jeremy stared down at the five arrows. He pointed at the leftmost arrow first, “That’s just a normal arrow. Next it’s a blunt head arrow with blue fletching. Then it’s a black shafted arrow that looks like the tip’s been coated in poison. This one has golden fletching and a golden tip, and this last one…” He paused, staring at it. “It looks like a normal arrow, but my mind is telling me there’s something wrong with it.”
“Okay then.” She proffered the ring to him as she gestured to the arrows. “Now put it on and tell me again.” He warily took the ring before testing where it would fit and ending up with his second finger. As soon as it was on, he looked back down at the arrows again, his eyes widening. She prodded, “What do you see?”
Shaking his head, he spoke softly, “I can’t believe... They’re all normal arrows except the last one, which is made out of pure metal. This is the truth?” He looked questioningly at her, and she nodded. He scratched the back of his neck again as he muttered, “Makes you wonder what else isn’t what it seems…” Looking back up at her, he gestured for her to continue. “Come on, then; let’s finish this up.”
Nodding, she met his eyes as she spoke once more, “Don’t speak.”
He struggled, but to her surprised delight, it was only five seconds later when he asserted, “That was much easier to break free from.”
Grinning, she nodded. “That’s the whole point! That means it’s working!” Happily, she compelled him, “Don’t speak.”
It took him longer, though only by another two seconds. “I’m free.” She was ecstatic! If this were generalized, it meant that the ring not only greatly increased his ability to see through illusions, it cut the time he was compelled and hypnotized down to a third.
Clapping in her glee, she triumphantly declared, “Wonderful! Last test, and I don’t need you to do anything but stand there.” She turned around so her back was to him, then opened a tiny illusion scrying window in the air behind him, staring intently at it. She was a little annoyed that she could still do so, but was mollified by the fact that even though everything should have been perfectly clear, the area around Jeremy was fuzzy and indistinct, as if she was viewing through murky water.
She could vaguely make out Jeremy turning as he called out, “Jade, are you trying to scry on me right now?” She let the window snap closed, turning to look at Jeremy, who’d turned back to her when the window closed.
Nodding, she said, “I was trying to figure out if scrying was possible, since the ring was supposed to block it.” She sighed, shrugging. “I guess making everything around you blurry is as good as it’s going to get for now. It’s better than nothing.”
Pulling the ring off and holding it out to her, he replied, “It probably helps with detection, too. I don’t know that I’d have noticed you were doing it on my own.” Taking it back from him, she nodded slowly as she studied it and he went on, “All in all, what you have there is pretty amazing. I know a lot of people would pay huge amounts to have something like that.” He paused, then finished, “Especially with who’s in town right now.”
Looking up at him, she smiled softly, “Yeah, that’s kinda half the reason I’m making them. Thanks for helping me test it out. I think I’m going to go try and make more.”
“Good luck, and let me know if you’re ever selling them. I’ll be first in line.”
“Will do.” She turned to leave, then glanced over her shoulder at him as he reached for his bow, “And remember what I said about alternating your training!” He laughed a little helplessly as she made her way back down to her workshop.
She could have used her key, since she knew she was fairly useless with lockpicking tools, but she chose to practice molding the metal into the shape of the key instead. Who said she needed to do things the traditional way? Honestly, if she wanted to, she could reshape the metal of the lock to an open position. She paused in the doorway, frowning down at the metal. What was to stop any metal mage from doing the same? Absolutely nothing. If they could make the lock, they could break it just as easily.
“How has this not been a problem in the past?” she mused aloud as she walked back over to the window, being greeted by her little ones upon her return. She stood next to the garden, absorbing what scraps of sunlight she could for a bit before she went back to her little workstation, looking at the branches she’d laid out. She swept the rest of them back into her ring, no longer feeling completely comfortable leaving things lying about. She’d have to ask Eric why people weren’t utterly paranoid about it.
She supposed it was also a possibility that people figured a metal mage could have access, but the least they could do was try to restrict access to everyone else. She figured a water, earth, or wind mage could just as easily make a disposable key out of their respective elements. Maybe this was another point in favor of taking as many mages in as possible and making them productive, respected members of society. If you weren’t desperate, you were slightly less likely to use magic for less than honorable means. Give them a good life so they don’t have to turn to crime for luxury.
Shaking off those thoughts, she returned her attention to making rings, alternating chowing down on food from her ring to replenish her energy, since the sunlight wasn’t a good option at the moment. She didn’t know when the next time would be that she was given so much time alone to work, or when the rings would be necessary, so she figured she needed to mass produce as many as were humanly possible now.
It was hours later when she felt the slight tug of magic from her ring nudging her to produce one of her mirrors. As she inserted mana to accept the call, she saw Camille’s face come into view on the other side. “Hey Camille, what’s up?” She smiled a little tiredly at the princess, who was frowning slightly at her.
“Jade, do you have any idea what time it is? Where are you?” Her voice held a slight note of accusation.
Panicking slightly, Jade yanked her pocket watch out to look at the time, realizing she had all of five minutes before she was supposed to be at tea. Despite the fact that they’d said ‘around two,’ she knew they expected her to be a little early. “I’m so sorry, I’ll be right there.
Just tell them not to shoot at me when I fly over the walls.” Camille looked like she might be about to say something, but Jade promptly cut the call and beckoned her little ones. “Quickly, time to go!”
Her fellacai fluttered over to her, attaching to her hair as she collected all the rings she’d made into her ring of holding before running out of her workshop, haphazardly locking it behind her as she pounded down the staircase. Thankfully, there was no one around to interrupt her headlong flight out into the rain, where she immediately lowered her gravity and jumped into an air bubble before sending it skyrocketing into the rain above.
The world was a blur of water as she pushed her air bubble faster than she’d ever gone before, using water magic to sluice through the sheets of rain like an arrow. Below, all she could see were blurs of light reflecting off the water, which gave no indication of where she was. Thankfully, there was one landmark that was visible even in the rain: the shining white castle. It was her lighthouse, guiding her to the correct location.
She only slowed down when she was practically at the castle, the lower speed allowing her to pick out the gardens and the bubble of air hovering over one section of it. A glance at her pocket watch showed that she had one minute to spare, so she quickly descended right outside the bubble before releasing hers as she stepped inside.
“Jade, you’re right on time!” Will grinned as he walked over to greet her, Camille still looking rather annoyed beside him.
“Only because Camille reminded me. I got a little lost in my creative process,” she admitted honestly, which seemed to mollify Camille a bit as she came forward, hugging her.
“It’s fine. You’re here now, which is what matters. Now come on, we’ve got a tea party to get through.” Her voice was hushed, but she looped her arm through Jade’s and began to lead her further into the bubble and around the bushes.