Chapter 38
Practical Applications
During lunch the next Saturday, Kevin and Chris were discussing the upcoming war games and defensive strategies.
“I especially liked the idea of sending the arrows back on the enemy, although it was a bit scary to be on the receiving end,” Chris said.
“Yeah, I sort of liked that one, too. I’ve been thinking about trying to ignite the ends as I return them, sort of like flaming arrows. What do you think?”
“I like it.” Chris nodded. “Maybe you should try it the next time we practice.”
“Yeah,” Kevin agreed. “But one thing is really bothering me about all of this.”
“What?”
“Defending against the arrows takes all of my concentration. I have to block everything else out. Someone could walk up behind me and I’d never even know they were there. If this were real, I’d be completely vulnerable.”
“Don’t forget, if it’s ever for real the rest of us will be there to watch your back. Besides, it’ll get better with practice. It always does,” Chris assured him. “Give it a little time.”
“You’re probably right.”
“Maybe you should try holding your seeing eye over the battlefield so that you can see what’s happening.”
“I don’t think I can manage that yet, but it would be a good defensive strategy. Maybe later,” Kevin said as he ate the last bite of his sandwich. “Want some coffee?”
Chris nodded. “I’ve been thinking about something else. One of the things that you want to do is to appear invincible so that the other sorcerers will be afraid to challenge you, right?”
“I’d like to, but that’s a tall order, and I have no idea how realistic it really is.”
“The key word here is ‘appear’. You don’t have to be invincible, just appear to be. That’s a totally different thing.”
“I’m not following you,” Kevin said with a frown. “What do you mean?”
“I’m talking about showmanship. Sometimes athletes intimidate their opponents by the way they dress, the way they walk, the way they stand, and so on. It’s all advertising. I was thinking that you could add a little pizzazz to your performance, make it look easy, like you could do all of this in your sleep. That would give the impression that your powers are so strong that these things are hardly worth your bother,” Chris answered. “Do you see what I mean?”
“I think so, but I don’t know if I could pull something like that off.”
“Sure you could. I sat in on several commercial rehearsals when I was in college. There are things you can do to create the illusion of supreme competence, even superiority. All it takes is a little practice.”
“Sorry to be eavesdropping, but Chris has something here. It’s worth a try,” Glendymere said.
“But how do I do it?” Kevin asked both of them. “What should I change?”
“One thing that might help is if you’d stop thinking of yourself as an accountant.”
“Huh?”
“Remember when we first landed on Terah? You had lost your glasses. When Steve asked you if you needed them, you said that they were just for looks, so you’d fit the accountant image.”
“Okay,” Kevin said with a slight frown.
“Back on Earth, I bet you got up every morning, put on a suit, picked up your glasses, slid a serious look on your face, and stepped into the persona of the young accountant, right?”
“Well, I hadn’t really thought about it, but yeah, I guess so.”
“And you’re still doing it.”
“What do you mean?”
“When you start working with magic, you dip your head a little, bunch your eyebrows, and set your mouth in a straight line, and you usually sort of clench your fists. You never smile. You never loosen up. You’re the epitome of a young executive taking his work seriously.”
“This stuff is serious, Chris. If I mess up, bad things can happen.”
“But after you learn how to do something, after you’re comfortable with it, you need to relax and have fun with it.” He looked around for a moment and then pointed to a small boulder on the other side of the river. “Suppose you were going to lift that rock. Here’s you.” Chris held his arms down to his side, clenched his fists, tilted his head forward, frowned, glared at the rock, and strained. “You don’t need to do all of that. You’re not picking the thing up with your muscles. It isn’t heavy to your mind. Try it like this.”
Chris turned sideways and stood casually with his weight on one leg and the other slightly to the side. He turned his head so that he could see the rock out of the corner of his eye, smiled, bent the elbow of the arm closest to the rock, and raised his hand with his palm open and his fingers curled slightly upwards. “And lift the rock,” he said as he flipped his fingers up. Then when you want to set it down,” he said as he turned his hand over and patted the air, “Almost like you’re doing it all with your fingertips.” Then Chris stepped back and looked at Kevin. “Now which one makes the sorcerer look stronger?”
Kevin nodded. “Okay, I see what you mean.”
“Every time you start to practice, put on the sorcerer persona, not the accountant one. Loosen up. Do it with flair. Strut your stuff. Show the world that this stuff is so easy a baby could do it. Play the role.”
“I’m not sure I can carry it off without looking really stupid,” Kevin said, “but I guess I can give it a try.”
~ ~ ~ ~
That evening, while they were all relaxing in the sitting room, Steve said, “We’ve been so concerned about getting to Camden that we haven’t given a lot of thought as to what’s going to happen once we get there.”
“What do you mean?” Karl asked.
“What’s going to be expected of Kevin as the Seated Sorcerer of Camden? Does he have any regular duties? Or does he just sit around waiting to meet with the council once a month? And as his friends, do we have roles that we’re supposed to fill? Or do we just fade away into the background? Should we even show up at castle? Or should Kevin arrive on his own? Anyone from Terah would have a pretty good idea of what to do and what to expect. None of us has a clue, and I’m afraid it’s going to be pretty obvious.”
“Good point,” Karl said. “And who do we ask? Just asking the question …”
Kevin nodded. “I’ll mention it to Glendymere tomorrow morning. Maybe he’ll know.”
“And if not, maybe he’ll have some suggestions as to how we can find out,” Chris added.
~ ~ ~ ~
The next morning, Kevin brought up Steve’s questions as soon as he and Chris arrived in Willow Canyon.
Glendymere was quiet for a couple of moments, and then said, “I should have thought about that. He’s right. As far as the everyday work that sorcerers do, it’s pretty much a matter of using your skills to help people do what needs to be done. You might be asked to help build a dam, or clear a field, or find a child who has wandered away from home. Sorcerers who apprentice with other sorcerers get plenty of experience in the ‘grunt work’. I don’t think you’ll have any trouble picking up on it, but I’ll set up some practice with those kinds of things. Just give me a few days to get it together. But as to the other stuff, the non-magical duties, I don’t really know. Let me see if I can find someone who can explain how the government works in Camden and what role you’ll have to play. “
When Kevin and Chris went outside to practice, Glendymere asked Blalick to send a note to Laryn explaining that their guests needed someone to explain the government of Camden to them and ask if she had any suggestions. He wanted to see if she came up with the same person that he had thought of: Tyree.
~ ~ ~ ~
Monday morning, while they were taking a break from preparing for November’s war games, Theresa asked Glendymere how many sorcerers there were on Terah.
“I have no idea,” Glendymere answered. “Most of the humans who left Earth and came to Terah were sorcerers, so a lot of the people here have magic in their
family history. Over the years some of the families have pretty much lost the trait, some families have a little talent, and some have a lot, but unless a sorcerer’s ambitious and wants a seat on the council, he probably wouldn’t be that well known outside of his village or district.”
“What do they do?” Karl asked. “I mean the ones who aren’t on the council.”
“It depends. Some prefer not to depend on sorcery for their livelihoods. They lead pretty much normal lives. They might hire out for individual jobs such as helping a farmer clear a field in exchange for a portion of the crop. However, anyone who has completed an apprenticeship in sorcery is supposed to register with their town director. They would probably be asked to help out in an emergency, but it’s up to them whether they do or not. Sorcerers are under no obligation to risk their lives unless they’ve been hired by the town or district.”
“How do they get hired? I mean is there some kind of list of sorcerers and the ministers choose from the list?” Chris asked.
“Not exactly. Usually a novice sorcerer writes to the seated sorcerer to let him know that he’s interested in serving as a district or town sorcerer, and asks to be considered if any openings come up. Then, when an opening comes up, if the applicant can demonstrate that he has the needed skills, and if no one else has applied for the job, he gets hired. If there are several applicants, they hold a competition to determine who gets the job,” Glendymere explained.
“What kind of competition?” Kevin asked.
“Someone from the district, either the minister or some other local official, meets with the seated sorcerer to come up with several tasks to test the skills that are most needed in that area. Then each of the applicants is asked to perform those tasks. After everyone has finished, the local officials usually decide which applicant gets the job. The seated sorcerer has to be there, but it’s more in an advisory capacity than in a decision-making role.” Then Glendymere turned his head towards Kevin and said, “Since you’ll have to help plan and supervise every district competition, you’ll need to know the needs of each of your districts. The local representative may have a good grasp of what a local sorcerer needs to know, but a lot of times they don’t. Not all districts are the same.”
“What do you mean?” Kevin asked.
“Districts along the borders or near major rivers are often targets for slavers, so their sorcerers see more military action. They need someone who can hit targets with energy bolts, deflect arrows, disarm the enemy, and do all of this while flying. Districts in mountainous regions need sorcerers who are good at search and rescue, so they need someone who is skillful with the seeing eye and who can support someone else while flying. Sorcerers who excel with the outstretched hand are usually matched with inland farming communities where there are fields to be cleared and a lot of construction work to be done. Although all sorcerers should be competent in each of the three major areas, their level of mastery will vary. If a district is really lucky, they’ll find a sorcerer who has the skills they need, who is able to think on his feet, and who is willing to work for what they’re willing to offer, but more often than not, they have to settle for the one they can afford.”
“But how do you test a sorcerer’s skills?” Kevin asked. “Say the district was a farming community. I have no idea what tasks they would need a sorcerer to perform. How could I come up with an appropriate competition?”
Karl laughed. “Farming is about the only thing I do know something about. First, have the sorcerers clear a small stretch of land, and choose the rockiest land you can find, and if there were a couple of massive old tree trunks in the way that would be even better. Then see if the sorcerer could water the field using water from a stream or pond. For a third test, you could have the sorcerer help build a silo.”
“Not bad. I had a little trouble with the word ‘silo’, but that would be a good competition. In the first test, a good candidate would clear the land and the farmer wouldn’t have to clean up before plowing. A poor one would leave the field riddled with debris. As for watering the field, an unskilled sorcerer probably wouldn’t be able to do it at all. One of medium skill might get some water over the field, but it would probably just get dumped. A highly skilled sorcerer would handle a little at a time and let it drizzle down. It would take a lot longer, but it would be a lot more effective.
“Devising skill tests isn’t hard once you understand what the sorcerer needs to be able to do. Talk to several of the local people, not just the officials, and see what they need. Then pick the most important tasks and set up the competition, but once the competition begins, don’t take your eyes off the test. Anyone can claim to be a sorcerer, and there’s nothing more dangerous than a little magical ability. You may have to intervene to keep bystanders from getting hurt.”
“Assuming I’m good enough to protect them,” Kevin said.
“When you devise the tests, give some thought to all the things that can go wrong, and set up the field so that the spectators are a safe distance away. Remember, you’re in charge, so you can do it any way you want to. Suppose one of the tests involves energy bolts. Set up your targets on the other end of the field, away from everybody. It won’t be all that hard to protect the observers if you just think it through.”
“How would you test a sorcerer’s skill in battle? Set up some war games? Maybe against the local military unit?” Darrell asked.
“Possibly, but that could get rather dangerous,” Steve answered. “Someone would have to make sure that no one got hurt. Guess that would be your job, Kevin.”
“There would be more to it than that. Most sorcerers can handle deflecting arrows, but the test would be how well a sorcerer handles multiple tasks. How would he fare if he had to defend against another sorcerer as well? You would probably have to get directly involved if you wanted to find out, and at the same time, you would have to provide protection for the army as well as the spectators.”
“I can’t do all of that by myself!” Kevin gasped.
“Not yet, but you will be able to. That reminds me, I’ve invited my friends to come back in early January for a second round of war games. I thought it might be a good idea for all of you to have some experience fighting a group that was backed up by magic, so I’ve asked Jonquin to come in January, too.”
Chris frowned. “Isn’t it a bit risky letting another sorcerer know that Kevin’s here?”
Darrell nodded in agreement. “From what we’ve heard, there’s probably quite a bit of money being offered for information about where he is, and that’s assuming that Jonquin doesn’t want to kill him himself.”
Glendymere looked confused for a second and then he said, “You’re thinking Jonquin’s human. He’s not. He’s a dragon.”
“You mean we’re going to have to go up against a dragon?” Darrell sputtered.
“No, Kevin will be going up against a dragon. All you will have to worry about are the elves and dwarves. It should be quite a lot of fun.”
“You do have the strangest idea of fun,” Chris muttered.
Glendymere ignored him and continued, “But before we can start preparing for the games in January, we need to get ready for the ones that are going to take place in November. Now, if there are no more questions, let’s get back to work.” Glendymere stood up and stretch out his wings.
“I have one more quick question,” Theresa said. “You keep saying ‘he’. Women can be sorcerers too, can’t they?”
Glendymere nodded. “Yes, of course. Actually there are several on the council. Anything else? Good. Now, I want to try something a little more interesting today.” A large stick popped up from the ground and traced a circle about thirty feet wide in the dirt. “I would like for Joan, Chris, and Karl to spread out around the circle and shoot arrows towards Kevin. Then I want Darrell, Theresa, and Steve to try to cross the circle and reach Kevin. I don’t care whether you spread out, or if you try to rush the circle together, but try to get in. Kevin, I want you to collect the arrows and
stack them next to that boulder, and at the same time, prevent anyone from crossing that circle.”
“Isn’t that a little risky? I mean, what if we hit one of the three who are trying to cross the circle?” Joan asked as she picked up her bow.
“Don’t worry. Kevin won’t let that happen,” Glendymere said.
“You’ll make sure no one gets hit if I miss an arrow, right?” Kevin asked mentally.
“Of course, but it does no harm for them to think that you’re doing it all yourself. After all, someone has to have confidence in you, and right now that someone doesn’t seem to be you,” Glendymere answered Kevin privately. “See if you can put on a show while you’re defending the circle. Go out there and, as Chris says, ‘Strut your stuff!’”
~ ~ ~ ~
While Kevin and Chris were eating lunch that afternoon, Kevin said, “You know when Glendymere was talking about the sorcery competitions this morning? He mentioned rescue missions, remember?”
“Yes?”
“Well, one of the skills he brought up was the ability to support someone else while flying.”
“Yeah, I noticed that, too,” Chris said hesitantly.
“I’ve never tried to do that.”
“Let me guess,” Chris said with deep sigh, “You want to try it now, right?”
“Well, I need to learn how to do it.”
“And you’re thinking I’m going to agree to let you experiment with me?”
“I know how to catch you if you fall.”
“That may be true, but I don’t much care for the idea of falling in the first place,” Chris said. “Look, your first attempts at something aren’t usually all that successful. Let’s start with something else, like maybe a big rock. Then once you’ve got the hang of it, we’ll give it a try. But when we do, I want Glendymere around.”
“Why?”
“Backup, just in case you happen to have a moment of panic when you drop me.”
“I don’t freeze up as bad as I used to,” Kevin argued. “But if it’ll make you feel better, I’ll try flying with a rock after we finish eating, and if that goes well, we’ll get Glendymere back out here and see how it goes with a person.”
The Master's Chair (The Chronicles of Terah) Page 48