"If that were true, why make it secret?" I said. "No, they weren't all caught. And we need to catch them all. Sacrifice our enemies to save the future."
He seemed shocked that I used the Inquisition's motto.
"Miss Bedwen… Are you sure that's the right idea? After all, the people who said that would have burnt you at the stake."
"And that's how they survived for a thousand years. Look; nobody would have done that with you if you were still part of the Inquisition. When you left them, laudable as that was, you left your wife and children exposed. While grandma may have died accidentally, what happened to Billie and Mom was certainly no accident."
"That's a very… dark perspective," he observed. Then he silenced me with a gesture, continuing, "but it is a viable survival strategy. But, Miss Bedwen, we don't live in Saint Conrad's time anymore. You can't just kill your enemies to protect and avenge your family. Even if you manage to kill them all, the government will then hang you. And without you, the family would lose the protection again. You wouldn't want them to live like outcasts, would you?" He said, caressing the photo.
"Now we're talking. Yes, very good points. Which is why we will not kill all of them, obviously. Destroying a cult by killing its members is pointless, anyway. You would need to cut all the hydra's heads, or they'll regrow and become even more dangerous. And I don't have the time to chase everybody around the country."
"So what would you like to do?" while he seemed relieved that I wasn't going on a killing spree, grandpa was still worried.
"Well. You mention Saint Conrad, who helped King Alfred fight the invaders who killed his daughter by organizing an army and destroying them, then building a fleet and occupying the Finister islands, killing all those who participated in raids, thus making them part of the Kalmar Kingdom. While we can't do the first part, we can do the second part."
"If there was anything to invade, the government would have caught them already."
"No, I mean starve them of resources. Without the people tilling the land for food, the traders who purchased the iron for swords, and the shipwrights who built the ships they used, those pirates couldn't continue. If Saint Conrad had just killed them, they would have returned in a generation. Instead, Kalmar got a very loyal Navy, and the raids on our western coasts stopped. That's what we need to do to the Learners. We need to destroy their base. We need to make it impossible for them to recruit — by making mental magic reversible."
He seemed relieved.
"That’s an ambitious goal. In that case, Miss Bedwen…"
"Call me Dana. At least in private. I'll call you Gramps."
"OK, Miss Dana." He smiled as he said my name. I guess we're close now. "I'd like to write you into a will, anyway. And your brothers. And for that, I'd like a sample of your blood. To establish parentage."
"While you may trust the people around you, Gramps," I said, "I wouldn't want anybody else to know about this. Such a test would call a lot of attention. And you writing a new will could send the wrong message."
"Don't worry. I'll do the test myself. And nobody will see my will. They won't even know I wrote it. It will be a holographic will."
I gave him a sample of my blood. Although blood can be used for harmful magic, the amount I gave him was certainly insufficient to inflict much harm.
After he bandaged my hand (rather, put a small plaster and some gauze on it), I headed to the dorms. Thankfully, it was a Sunday, so I could come into the building with the previous day's dress with no one noticing. I didn't want that kind of rumors about me.
I changed out of the dress into my usual clothing. It couldn't be used for another event anyway, so I just threw it into the bin. It's not like I would need to wear a dress anytime soon. Never would be a good time.
Tomorrow was an important day for me, as I would officially start working.
12
I spent the rest of the day in the library, reading everything I could about dark magic. I had already received a solid base from the mandatory courses I attended, but I had never been that interested in magical theory before.
"Preparing for the Initiation, I see?" the librarian asked. I gave her a dark look. What made her think she could just ask me personal questions like that? But I may need her cooperation in the future, so I decided to be friendly.
"I've been considering it for the last year," and decided not to do it. "It's always good to know what I could gain with Initiation. It's a big decision, you know. So I'd like to know the theory solid before I decide either way."
She nodded.
"Sure, Miss Bedwen. You should consider such a decision seriously. A dark mage with your broad understanding of theory could go far. Maybe even become universal."
She wasn’t a mage, so she probably wasn’t aware of arall’s opinions on being called universal. I could have yelled at her or insulted her, but instead, decided to be diplomatic.
"Universal magic does not exist. It's a myth. There are spells both dark and light mages can do, but they are still quite different in how they're done. There is no universal magic."
"Well, you could make it universal if you find the Sources and combine them." She laughed, and left me, having made the last joke. I was left, shocked at the idea that occurred to me.
Of course! The legendary Sources of Magic! One of the goals of the Inquisition had been to destroy the Source of Darkness, to eradicate all dark mages and their magic. If the Source exists, I could destroy the light one; if they didn't, and I could prove it, that would mean that magic can't be destroyed. Either way, I win.
The university library wasn't very good at legends, either. But the Inquisition Archives would be a much better source. They had collected most legends and fairytales, trying to find anything that would let them find the Source. Most of the information should have been declassified, but then most things that should have been declassified weren't. And now I was going to have access to everything, in its entirety.
Which is why I was so excited about going to work on Monday. I was giddy at breakfast, and Gramps even observed, "You seem to be in a good mood, Miss Bedwen."
"Oh please, Gramps, call me Dana, I think we agreed on that."
"We agreed to do it in private," he said cautiously.
"Well, we are at home, among family, I'm sure Billie wouldn't mind. Would you Billie?"
Billie, who had been distractedly playing with his food, looked up.
"Oh?"
"Billie, you don't mind me being your niece, right?"
"Would that mean you playing more with me?" he asked, seriously.
"Sure, I will play more with you, uncle Billie. I just won't call you uncle anymore."
"Just play more with me," he demanded and went back to his plate.
"So, you see, Gramps, Billie doesn't mind."
"OK, Miss Dana," he said.
I could live with that. I don’t know why he insisted on being this formal, but I’ll consider it a quaint trait.
"So what has you this excited, Miss Dana?" he asked again.
"I am starting work today, and it's a great opportunity for me to learn a lot about alchemy. I will get a lot of experience and it's going to be great. It was quite hard to get this opportunity." I ate another bite of the perfectly crisp bacon Bettie had made for me and asked: "So, will I see you in class today?"
"Yes, I will be giving you a lecture. Last week was an exception" grandpa said.
"Great, see you then," I said, finishing up the big plate of bacon and scrambled eggs and heading towards the door, ruffling Billie's hair on the way out. "See you at dinner, Billie. Be a good boy."
He looked at me.
"Bye, Dana. See you!"
If he wasn't in a grown-up body, he'd have been a very cute kid.
After grandpa’s class, I went to the old alchemy building. After going through the security guard, I was escorted to an office that was attached to a lab. The office wasn't very big, but it was not shared, a luxury allowed only to lecturers at th
e University. So, all in all, quite good. Of course, that was probably done for bullshit security reasons. But still. It was good to not have an office mate.
"Will I be getting a tour of the facilities?" I asked the security guy.
"Yes, Miss Bedwen, you will," he said. "Capt. Greggs is going to come and show you around at 12:00."
"Is there anything for me to do meanwhile?" I asked.
"Just get comfortable," he said.
The meeting with the captain was in an hour, so I just inspected my office. It had no windows, but plenty of shelf space for books and documents. The desk occupied half the office, but it was still easy enough to get around it to sit. As there were no windows, I was sitting with my face towards the door. I took the notes I had collected out of my bag, organizing them in the empty folders. Having an office was nice. I was probably going to try to do my thesis related work here, too. I didn't get this much privacy anywhere else. I should probably get the reference books from the library. Or maybe (this is just incredible for me) buy it with the project money. After all, having a research library was necessary for the research, right? And who would notice if I just added a couple of books I needed for my personal use to the order? As long as I didn't take them home with me, that is.
By the time Capt. Greggs came, I was immersed in my notes checking the calculations I had made the day before. Translating the symbols of light magic to dark magic was quite hard. There seemed to be many differences in energy expenditure, even among the spells that had the same effect, depending on whether dark or light magic was used. So much for "universal" magic.
He came to the office, the doors of which I left open, exactly at 12:00.
"I see you have started work already, Miss Bedwen. It's nice to see such dedication to the work," he said.
"Well," I smiled, standing up, "any good alchemist starts with the literature review. I couldn't sign up for this project without some initial research."
"How thorough of you," he observed. "And now, the tour of the facilities. I'm sure you will be more familiar with the alchemical devices in the lab than I am."
"Shouldn't there be an alchemist who will show me the lab, then?" I asked.
"Oh no, Miss Bedwen. You are the only alchemist we have in this project."
The only alchemist on the project? Me, an inexperienced student? While I never doubt myself or my capabilities, it seemed strange to have so much trust placed on somebody who hadn't finished their formal education. So much for a highly funded government project. They probably couldn't afford a real alchemist.
"I'm sorry," I said. "But I thought I would be working under a more experienced alchemist. I never worked on such a wide-ranging project before."
"We were looking for somebody who would start the project. Do some initial research, all that. This project is in the beginning stages right now. But, due to the sensitive nature of the project, we've been recruiting covertly. All the information on this project is on a need-to-know basis."
So this was a moonshot pet project.
"How much funding does this project have? And can I see the research plan?" I asked.
"You are here to write the research plan, Miss Bedwen. Funding allocation will be decided based on your project plan."
Great. I was working on a secret project with no funding. At least I got a salary; it was in my contract. But I hadn't started working here for money, but to improve my CV. So I needed this project to work well enough to get recommendations.
"The access to the Inquisition Archives I was promised. Will I get it?"
"Of course, Miss Bedwen."
Well, at least I could start with a literature search.
"I also need a budget to buy books," I said. "Unless you're happy for me to be working on your super-secret project in the library. And maybe losing some notes, too."
"Of course, Miss Bedwen. If you write a list of books you'd like us to purchase, with justification, we'll make sure to acquire them for the project."
I looked around the lab. It wasn't too bad. The equipment was top notch, although I couldn't see much use for most of it, except for the microscope.
"And I need full access to all artifacts found in the Forg islands. You told me you found more of them."
"Well, the buttons are the only artifact we have access to. We’ll get access to the other objects after studying the buttons. I will place them in the lab, under lock and key. I will give you a key, and you will have to log in every time you use it, but we can arrange full access."
I would have to work with that. I certainly hoped I could see the rest of the objects found. As he promised.
The list of books I wrote for Capt. Greggs was quite extensive. For most of them, the justification I wrote just said "general literature". He read the list and raised his eyebrows.
"That's quite an extensive list, Miss Bedwen," he said. "Are you trying to build an entire library here?"
"Well, Captain," I said. "I need general reference books on dark magic and alchemy and light magic to be able to work without going to the library to maintain some degree of secrecy. As you knew when you hired me, I am still a student, and I have a lot to learn. Which is why I need to start the project by looking at what is already known. By the way, when could I get access to the Inquisition Archives? Although I can get most things from general books available to the public, I think this project will require an extensive search of all the available literature."
"The Inquisition Archives have been examined by many specialists before you," he said. "Don't you think all the interesting things would have been found by now?" he asked.
"Well," I said. "Sometimes you need to know what you're looking for to find it. And I know what I'm looking for."
"Fair enough," he said. "It will take about a week for me to arrange it, but I will be able to give you access. I will, however, buy the books on the list by tomorrow, so you can start working on that."
That was fast. Nothing in the University was this fast. Maybe they didn't have as little funding as I had come to believe. Maybe I could really do something with this. As I didn't have much to do, I went to see Billie and played with him for a couple of hours, after which I went to Grandpa's library. He came to find me at dinnertime.
"I see you're taking your plan to revert mental magic seriously, Miss Dana," he said. "So you really think this is possible?"
"Well," I said "reverting the magic is probably easier than to find the Source of Magic."
"The Source of Magic?" He asked. "Do you really believe in that nonsense? It's just fairytales and legends."
“The Society of Learning spent a thousand years trying to find it." He raised his eyebrows at me using the alternative name of the Inquisition.
"If they haven't found it in a thousand years, why do you believe you will find it?" he asked.
"The Source of Magic was one of their foundational beliefs. We've since have come to believe it's all nonsense, but we still don't know where magic comes from. Finding where magic actually comes from would disprove everything they said, and starve them of followers."
"That's certainly ambitious," Gramps said.
"Which is why I'm trying to reverse mental magic instead. Easier than finding the Source of Magic."
Who said revenge was easy? There's a reason it is supposed to be served cold. Patience was never my forte, but I was still going to do my best. I wanted my family to be rich and successful; for me to be rich and successful. And even if I ignored grandpa, and Billie, if we became rich enough to escape Crow Hill, somebody would discover who my mother was. So I had to make sure they remained safe by preventing any risks from the truth being discovered.
13
My life became very busy when I started working. With all the books Capt. Greggs bought for me, I certainly had a lot of material to study. Add to this Prof. Derwen's library, which I was also working on — and the project just absorbed me, my life became very regimented, something I was used to, but not at this scale. In the mornings
after waking up, I would dress and walk to grandpa's house thinking about the previous day's work and organizing my ideas. I would then have breakfast with grandpa and Billie. I now had most of my meals with them. Not just because it saved me money, but because it saved me the time and energy required to buy and cook food. Billie liked it, and Bettie was a much better cook than I was. On the days I had classes, I went to all my classes and spent the rest of my time in the office; I even did my class homework there. On the weekends, when I couldn't go to the lab or to the office, I went to grandpa's house, played a bit with Billie, and spent the rest of the day in grandpa's library. It was exhausting but exhilarating at the same time. My mind was giving its hundred percent, concentrated on the topic. I was not advancing that much though, in any of the work I was trying to achieve. My knowledge of magic was still very much theoretical. One of the issues I had was that I couldn't really test most of my ideas. So instead, I made Grandpa try the spells. I couldn't really see what he was doing, other than the end result, and he didn't really understand what I was saying since I was trying to translate dark, applied material magic terms into light, interpersonal and animal magic. It brought us lots of frustration and made him testy.
"Why don't you do it yourself?" he asked me at some point. "If you go through Initiation, you could just learn to do everything yourself. And that could give you a new edge in the study of alchemy."
"I don't want to," I said. "My only interest has only ever been alchemy; I don't want to do magic."
"Don't want to or can't?" grandpa asked.
"Don't want to," I repeated. He didn't seem to believe me.
He looked at me with that look he sometimes had. I prepared myself for some questioning.
"What's your level of magic?" he asked.
That certainly wasn't a topic I wanted to talk about. My level of magic had been tested when I was a teenager. I had the lowest level of magic possible, level one. The examiner even tested twice. He had never seen anybody below two. Becoming a mage in a world where magical strength matters more than skill, where magic is more a craft than it is science, was not something I wanted to do. Not when I had alchemy. Alchemy, the science I could work at using my intellect and grit. I didn't need strength for alchemy. The only limits were the physical nature of matter and my mind's ability to conquer them, as well as a willingness to work. Not so much with magic. But I never told anybody that. As a kid, before the test, I had wanted to be a mage. But when my mother tried to console me, I just told her that magic is stupid, the test was stupid, and I didn't want to work at it, anyway. Sour grapes, you'll say, but I really convinced myself, and my mother. She didn't seem to believe me at first, but when she saw me dedicate my efforts to alchemy, learning all I could with my dad about machining, working in our school's tiny lab trying to make better cleaning chemicals, she seemed to believe that was really my dream. It really became my dream. Alchemy, I could control. With formulas and calculations, I could experiment and change the very nature of matter. I always wanted to be exceptional, and as a mage, I would be mediocre at best.
The Apprentice's Path: The Alchemist #1 Page 10