Mage Hunter (Lost Tales of Power Book 8)

by Vincent Trigili

  “Eyes down indicates defeat and submission. Eyes up conveys respect.”

  “Yes, sir!” I said as I straightened up. Every style and every teacher had their own opinion about how to bow. The reasons didn’t matter, only that you did it in the required way.

  He smiled. “I am impressed. When Raquel said that you had some training, I was not expecting this level of mastery.”

  “It wasn’t good enough,” I noted.

  “Smoke Style was the correct way to open the fight, but you maintained it for too long. To win a fight, at some point you need to attack.”

  I nodded. “I didn’t see an opening that I was confident enough to take.”

  “You may never get one, and you may have to create one, as you’ve just seen me do.”

  It was easy for him to say that; he was faster, stronger and better-equipped. “Yes, sir.”

  He shook his head. “I’ll teach you, but the only way you will make progress is to start taking chances. Here in the ring, it is safe to fail. Use that protection and fail as often as necessary, so that you can succeed when you face a real adversary.”

  I nodded.

  “Now let’s try that again,” he said, falling back into his stance.

  I returned to Smoke Form and waited.

  He moved in and out, attacking and backing away. Again, I never saw an opening. It was becoming frustrating. I had to use Smoke Form to keep him from hitting me, but by the time I saw an opening and decided to take it, he had moved away again.

  Over and over this happened. He never committed to an attack long enough for me to counter. As the battle wore on, my muscles began to grow weary and my patience thin.

  Finally I’d had enough and switched to Fire Form with a scream. I charged him with kicks flying left and right, trying to distract him for long enough to allow me to get close.

  He spun and swung his tail up and across my path, but I was ready for that and leapt, using the momentum of his swing as a lever to launch my attack. I cocked back my arm ready to strike at his head, but he spun out of sight so fast that for a moment I thought he had teleported.

  As I came down from my jump, he brought his leg around for a kick. I allowed myself to fall all the way to the mat, passing under his leg. It worked and I dodged the kick, but now I was on the ground.

  I screamed and jumped to my feet, flailing about with my arms, and then leapt towards him, hoping my unconventional jump up would distract him for long enough.

  It didn’t. Just as I drew near enough to strike, he tapped my chest with his claws. Had it been a real fight, the slash across my chest would have been lethal.

  I cursed but fell back. My heart was racing and my blood boiling. Had I not given up my implants, I could have taken him. How could I have been so foolish?

  I turned and bowed stiffly to Lythiran. He had won the bout and was still my instructor, though I didn’t deserve one. I was weak and pathetic.

  “Well done!” he said with a smile.

  “I’m dead; how is that well done?” I asked.

  “You read the fight correctly and switched to Fire at the right time. Admittedly it didn’t work out perfectly, but that’s why you were sent to me. You have a strong foundation, which is good, as that will save us several years of training.” His wide smile was a bit unnerving, with his forked tongue and jagged teeth.

  I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. He simply could not understand what I had given up and how far I had fallen.

  “Now, go have some dinner and a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow we will start your training.”

  36

  07-04-0065 — Lyshell

  I chose an empty table in a dark corner of the cafeteria. Having eaten little since regaining my taste buds, I was nervous about what was on my plate. I had decided I needed to overcome my fear of new foods, and selected a small portion of everything on offer to quickly and efficiently give me a broad exposure.

  That had seemed logical when I was standing in line for my dinner, but faced with actually trying the food I was having second thoughts. My stomach was in full protest mode, demanding that I stop worrying and just eat something. Until now I had pretty much stuck with bread and water, but I knew that couldn’t last. I needed real food.

  I selected a nice red pepper, which was small and curved. I chose it partly because most of the other students had passed it up. I turned it over in my fingers. I knew that peppers could be hot, but I had no memory of what that meant. It certainly didn’t feel hot, so it couldn’t refer to temperature. I knew some people ate these and enjoyed the experience, while others seemed to be in pain when they consumed them.

  Well, there was only one way to find out. I took a bite of the pepper. At first there was nothing, just the texture of the pepper and a very mild taste. As I chewed, though, things changed dramatically. My eyes and nose began to water and it felt as if my throat was constricting, but that was nothing compared to the sensation in my mouth.

  My mouth was on fire. Pain seared through me and only my training prevented me from crying out. I reached for my glass of water and drained it, but that brought only partial relief and seemed to spread the pain down my throat.

  “Here, eat this,” said a fellow student. He picked up a piece of bread from my tray and handed it to me, along with a container of milk from his own tray. “It’ll help.”

  I stuffed the bread into my mouth as fast as I could and chased it with the milk. My eyes continued to run so I raised my hand to wipe them, but the student who had joined me at the table grabbed my arm.

  “You really don’t want to do that, mate.”

  The bread and milk had helped considerably. “Why not?”

  He smiled and handed me a damp cloth. “Wipe your hands down well first, otherwise what you just felt in your mouth will happen in your eyes.”

  I stared at him. I couldn’t imagine how horrible that would be. “And people eat these on purpose?”

  Next to him stood a second student, somewhat smaller. The one who was speaking had blond hair and a fair complexion, while his companion’s skin was olive and he had brown hair. They both appeared to be humans and fairly young, probably only fifty or sixty years old.

  “That your first Capirina pepper?”

  I nodded. “First pepper of any kind.”

  “Well, you picked a doozy, that’s for sure. My name is Stones and this is Warthog.”

  His friend rolled his eyes. “My name is Dave.”

  They sat down at the table, placing their trays across from mine.

  Stones looked at me. “Can you believe he actually chose the name ‘Dave’? He could have had any cool name he wanted, but no, he picks Dave.”

  “I like the name,” protested Dave.

  I recalled reading about the tradition. When magi are promoted into the actual school and out of the prospect phase, they choose a new name. It’s supposed to signify their transition into their new life as wizards. From what I’d read, it seemed that they usually chose names related to their powers.

  “Stones? So you’re a terramancer?” I asked.

  Stones nodded. “And you?”

  “Ranger.” Turning towards Dave, I asked, “You?”

  “Terramancer, as you can tell by my name.”

  I hesitated, unsure how to take that. Was Dave the name of some famous terramancer I should know, or perhaps a deity from some religion?

  “I can?”

  Stones burst out laughing. “Don’t let him trap you like that.”

  “What’s your name, then?” asked Dave.

  “Lyshell, pleased to meet you,” I said. I was not sure I was pleased yet, but they had saved me from the pepper.

  “Lyshell? What has that to do with nature?” asked Stones.

  “Oh, I haven’t changed my name,” I said.

  Stones smiled broadly and Dave rolled his eyes again.

  “Well, let’s see. You have dark skin, dark hair, dark eyes… how about Blackie?”

  I could feel my mouth d
rop open, and Dave punched him. “Really, Stones!”

  My skin was much darker than was common, but that was not something that was usually mentioned in polite conversation.

  “Well, it fits!” protested Stones.

  He looked ready to argue, so I said, “I think I’m going to keep ‘Lyshell’.”

  They looked at me in surprise.

  “Or maybe I could be Bob - you know, on account of my skin,” I said. If they were going to poke fun, I would give it right back.

  Dave smiled broadly, but it was Stones’ turn to roll his eyes.

  “Bob, I like that. Good choice,” said Dave.

  I looked around my tray, not sure what to try next. The pepper had reminded me why I hated trying new foods. I sighed, trying to work up the confidence to choose something else.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Dave.

  “Nothing,” I said.

  “Ah, come on; we’re all telepathic here, so we know you’re lying,” said Stones.

  I smiled. “Since we’re all telepathic, we know it doesn’t work that way.”

  “He has you there,” noted Dave.

  I shrugged. What harm could it do to tell them? “I’ve spent decades eating nothing but high-protein vitamin paste, so I’m not sure what’s good to eat,” I said.

  Dave nodded as if that were the most normal thing in the world. “I bet the pepper has you a bit gun-shy. Here, try this first.”

  He pointed to the half-cheeseburger I had picked out. I knew it to be a common staple among humans and had even eaten some, but never with my own taste buds. Well, I had to start somewhere. I took a deep breath and tried to prepare myself for another assault like the pepper; another breath, and then a small bite.

  I could almost feel my eyeballs trying to pop out of my face. Wow! The juice from the meat, the crisp lettuce, the tomato, and so many other flavors: it was unlike the pepper in every good way possible. I took a second bite, this one much bigger, savored the flavor and chewed slowly.

  Stones was grinning from ear to ear. “Good choice?”

  “This is amazing,” I said, taking another bite.

  “White robes, no new name, unfamiliar with the food — is this your first day?” asked Dave.

  Swallowing another bite, I said, “Sort of. I’ve been here for a couple days.”

  “Well, at least you won’t starve now,” said Stones.

  The cheeseburger restored my confidence to a degree, and I worked through most of the rest of the samples I had taken, but nothing came close to that burger. Dave and Stones were good-natured and acted as if they’d known me for years.

  “Why protein paste?” asked Stones.

  “I was in a special military unit. Let’s just say I didn’t have the freedom to eat anything like this.” It would probably be best to keep it to myself that I’d been a mage hunter.

  “Man, that sounds rough,” said Stones.

  “Good thing we found you, then,” said Dave.

  Stones nodded. “Yep. We can teach you about all the fun you missed!”

  Something told me that wouldn’t be part of Master Raquel’s plan for me. “Perhaps you can, but right now I have to get back to my room. I’ve a lot of reading to catch up on.”

  They nodded. They probably did too, at a guess, but I also was probably correct to think they would somehow run out of time before they got to it.

  I took my leave of them, deposited my dishes and made my way back towards my room. I was thankful again for the various signs, otherwise I would never have found my way back. The building was filled with twisting, winding corridors that seemed to defy any sense of logic or design. It was as if someone had poured water on the ground and made corridors wherever little rivulets had appeared.

  My apartment was in the more modern section of the Academy, for which I was immensely grateful. I knew that most of the students would be housed in the primitive caves and did not envy them.

  In my new home, I spread out the books and looked around. As I’d figured, there was little in the way of personal items. Someone must have visited my former apartment and gathered my clothes and a few other things. It didn’t take long to organize what I had.

  There was a computer terminal in the room and instructions on how to create an account. When I had set one up, I pulled up a map of the facility. I had to find a place to do some shopping. I’d need some of the basic necessities and a tablet, something I could use to get information when I was out and about.

  37

  07-05-0065 — Lyshell

  It was hard to get out of bed the next morning. Everything hurt - again. This time it was from the workout with Lythiran; if there was any residual pain from the surgery, it was completely masked by the results of the exercise. I tried to ignore the stiffness and managed to get dressed. At least the white robe was a simple outfit.

  Throughout the time I had spent as a cyborg, I’d never really slept. I would plug into a regeneration station for repairs and perform general maintenance regularly. That was simple, scheduled and predictable; this primitive concept of sleep was anything but. It was hard to get to sleep and even harder to wake up. The doctors told me that was because my body was used to receiving sedatives and stimulants on a regular basis, and it would take time for me to learn to self-regulate again. I think that was doctor-speak for, ‘We can’t help you; you’ll just have to get over it.’

  I stumbled down to the cafeteria, trying to shake the cloud from my head as I walked. I was happy to see I had arrived before most of the crowd. I took a simple meal with some water and ate as fast as I could. If Stones and Dave showed up they would probably want to talk, and I wasn’t ready for that. Social interaction would require a lot more brainpower than I had available just then.

  I succeeded in escaping from the cafeteria before they arrived and made my way down to the practice chambers. When I arrived, I saw the wizard in purple robes whom Master Raquel had spoken with the previous day. I couldn’t recall if she had used his name but, thankfully, being a lowly student I was expected to use his title anyway.

  “Excuse me, Master,” I said, trying to sound humble. I didn’t know if he was one of the Korshalemian wizards who expected a level of deference or one of the more laid-back magi from Vydoria. He was much older than Grandmaster Vydor, at least in appearance, so was probably from Korshalemia.

  “What is it?” he said.

  “Master, I know space is tight down here and I heard your orders from Master Raquel. I thought you might like to know that I’ve only been ordered to practice down here for four hours each morning until she returns in a week or so.” I figured there was no reason for him to lose the room for a full day when I’d be in it for only a few hours.

  He eyed me for a moment then gave a slight smile. “Thank you.”

  I nodded, bowed and retreated into my practice chamber. Master Raquel had given me some equipment to help with my testing, namely a camera and display unit. Magi had the power to hide from sensors, and this camera would let me know if I’d mastered that art. I also had my books to practice lifting, and a room to teleport across. I couldn’t see how I was to practice telepathy alone.

  I set up the camera and focused it on myself. First I’d try hiding; that seemed to be the easiest place to start.

  The book said that all magi can hide from electronic sensors through a simple effort of will. No one is sure how it works, but there seems to be some misdirection involved. The mage can’t be seen because he or she looks like something else, something the eye expects, such as a pebble on the ground. The human eye watching the screen and the computer both filter it out.

  I knew from experience that you could also see hidden magi by watching the crowds around them. People would walk around a spot for no apparent reason, or stop to interact with empty air. If a magus truly wanted to hide, he would have to make sure that no one gave him away like that.

  I spent hours trying to disappear from the screen. I tried thinking ‘pebble’ or ‘rock’, anything that
might be expected in an image of a stone room. Nothing worked.

  I opened the book and turned to the section on the basic powers to reread the part about detection evasion. There must be something I’d missed. I had studied it thoroughly last night before bed, or so I had thought.

  Sitting on the floor cross-legged, I read out loud, “Basic powers are different from spells. When casting spells, a magus has specific gestures and words to say. Using basic powers, a magus merely decides they don’t want to be seen or wills an object to move, and it happens.”

  I closed the book and huffed. “Some help that is.”

  I sighed. It would be nice to simply disappear. My old implants could trick computers into thinking I was someone I was not, but anyone watching the screens would be able to see me as clear as day. While I was thinking about how invisibility might have changed some tactics I’d used in the past, I noticed that I was no longer on the camera.

  I was so shocked I almost fell over. I checked the camera to make sure it was still working, and it appeared to be fine. There was nothing out of place in the image, and I could find nothing wrong with the unit.

  “I actually did it!” I told the camera. I willed myself to appear on the screen, and I popped into the video. I decided I did not want to be seen and was gone again. I repeated this several times until I was sure I could do it whenever I wanted.

  “Well, I guess that’s what they meant by ‘willing it to be’,” I said to myself.

  Satisfied that I had learned this skill, I packed up and went back to my quarters to drop everything off, and then headed for the shops. I had an hour to kill before I needed to head to my lesson with Lythiran.

  What I wanted was a datapad, one with a lot of internal memory and processing power. I needed something to replace my former permanent connection to datanet, some access to information. I couldn’t stand being ignorant of so many things. I didn’t know what my account would have access to, but based on the free reign I had of the library, I should be able to research quite a bit.