Fantastic Schools, Volume 3
Page 38
Master Landis turned to face me. “Why didn’t you ask me first?”
He sounded calm. I wasn’t reassured. “It was my idea,” I said. “I had to be the one to test it.”
“You tested it on Lilith,” Master Landis said. His tone was so flat I knew I was in deep trouble. “And you could not hope to predict all the effects.”
“I ran the calculations,” I said, “and I brewed the potion myself. It worked.”
“Yes,” Master Landis agreed. He glanced at my sheet of calculations. “Your brewing was masterful. The technique might not be easy to adapt to more complex brews, but ... it certainly opens the door to more research. It will change the world.”
“Thank you, sir,” I said.
“Master Pittwater said you had potential,” Master Landis added. “I see he was right.”
I beamed. “Thank you, sir,” I repeated.
“That said, I do not want you carrying out any further experiments without my permission,” he continued. “Blood is a dangerously volatile substance. You could not be sure your blood was untainted, as Irene pointed out. You work in a potions lab. You work next to two magicians. The risks were quite high, higher than you seem to realise. I do not want you to repeat the same mistake. Do you understand me?”
It was hard not to feel chastened. I didn’t dare look at Lilith. “Yes, Master.”
“I think you can consider yourself a formal apprentice from this moment on,” Master Landis said. “If, of course, you wish to do so. We’ll perform the formal oaths on Monday. That’ll give you a day to decide if you want to stay. If not ... I look forward to hearing what you make of yourself.”
It was hard not to jump for joy as he turned and walked out the door. I was an apprentice! A real apprentice! If I charged more blood, under his supervision, I could brew! It was going to be great! I sobered as I looked at Lilith, who’d been oddly silent as the older magicians spoke. If she didn’t want me to stay ...
“You did well,” she said, tonelessly. “Congratulations.”
I sat down facing her. “Do you want me to stay?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know.” Lilith stared at her hands. “You won’t find it easy.”
“You didn’t make it easy,” I pointed out. “Why not?”
“Father believes in this place,” Lilith said. “He thinks ... he thinks the future will be born here. Not everyone agrees. Lots of people think he’s a traitor for coming here. They think he sold out for sunshine and rainbows.”
I nodded in understanding. Magicians joked about sunshine and rainbows in the same way mundanes joked about fool’s gold ... and sneered at those who took it for real gold. If Lilith was right, Master Landis’s enemies saw him as selling out for nothing. They would probably have been a little more understanding if he’d sold out for a big pile of gold. And yet ...
“They don’t seem to like you,” I said. “Is that why?”
Lilith looked pained. “Yeah.”
I was tempted to point out that probably wasn’t true. Or not entirely true. Lilith was pretty enough to have suitors prepared to overlook her personality. And some of those suitors would have enough power to protect themselves. And yet ... I could understand why she might have few friends. It wasn’t easy being related to a teacher, even when said teacher wasn’t held in high regard. I had a feeling there were political issues I was missing.
“Well ...” I made up my mind, although in truth there had never been any real doubt. “I’ll stay.”
I stood and held out my hand. “Adam, Son of Don and Martha,” I said. “Pleased to meet you,”
Lilith blinked, then shook my hand. “Lilith, Daughter of Landis,” she said. “But then, you knew that already.”
“I didn’t,” I said. “It never crossed my mind.”
“Here’s something that should cross your mind,” Lilith said. She pointed a long finger at the potion I’d bottled for later. “What you’ve accomplished, here and now, is a game-changer. A world-changer. You’ve unlocked something no one knew how to do, until now. And word is going to spread. Father is going to tell everyone about his brilliant new apprentice and what’s he’s done.”
She stood, brushing down her stained dress. “And what’s going to happen,” she asked, “when the world realises what you’ve done?”
“I don’t know,” I said.
“Nor do I,” Lilith said. “And that scares me.”
I watched her go, feeling the ground shift under my feet. Lilith had a point. There was no way the technique would remain secret. It was just too useful to be buried in a vault and forgotten. Master Landis had probably gotten a lot of sharp and sarcastic comments about his willingness to take me as an apprentice. His own uncertainty about the situation had probably been why he hadn’t put Lilith in her place long ago. Unless I missed my guess, he’d be delighted to show off what I’d done—and what he’d achieved, through me. Anyone could use the technique. Who knew where the chips would fall?
And yet ...
I grinned as I returned to tidying up. It didn’t matter. The future could take care of itself. I’d made it! I’d become an apprentice, with a genuine chance of making my mark on the world and ... hell, I’d already made my mark on the world. I could do nothing, for the rest of my life, and my name would still be hailed and cursed as a world-changer. The first mundane to serve as a true alchemical apprentice, perhaps; the first mundane to prove that technology and magic could not only co-exist, but work together. And I’d managed to prove myself to someone who’d loathed me just for existing.
My smile grew wider. The future looked bright and full of promise.
I couldn’t wait.
About the Author
Christopher G. Nuttall is the author of the Schooled in Magic series, the Zero Enigma series and many others, covering everything from high fantasy to alternate history, military science-fiction and thrillers, He currently lives in Edinburgh with his wife and sons.`
Website: http://chrishanger.net/
Blog: https://chrishanger.wordpress.com/
Afterword
If you enjoyed this volume, please consider leaving a review.
Also check out:
Fantastic Schools, Volume 1— Follow a girl trying desperately to find her place in a school of dark magic, a band of witches desperate to prove they can be as good as the wizards, a school of magical monsters standing between the evil one and ultimate power, a businesswoman discovering the secrets of darkest evil ... and what happens when a magical education goes badly wrong.
Includes stories by: Christopher G. Nuttall, Thomas K. Carpenter, Mel Lee Newmin, Emily Martha Sorensen, Aaron Van Treeck, Steven G. Johnson, George Phillies, Benjamin Wheeler, Frank B. Luke, G. Scott Huggins, Bernadette Durbin, Roger D. Strahan, Erin N.H. Furbym and Denton Salle.
Fantastic Schools Volume 1
Fantastic Schools, Volume 2—Follow a mundane teacher striding into a world of magic, a spy on a mission, a guided tour of a magical school, a school dance for monsters, a dangerous reunion ... and many more.
Includes stories by: Christopher G. Nuttall, L. Jagi Lamplighter, J.F. Posthumus, Christine Amsden, James Pyles, Becky R. Jones, Morgon Newquist, Tom Anderson, Patrick Lauser, James Odell, Misha Burnett, Audrey Andrews, Paul A. Piatt, David Breitenbeck.
Fantastic Schools Volume 2
For more books about Fantastic Schools, check out the Fantastic Schools and Where to Find Them website and the Fantastic Schools Book List:
https://www.superversivesf.com/fantasticschools/fantastic-schools-book-list/
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