Chapter 26: ~Loyalties.~ (1/2)

***Norfolk, Sarn-Valley***

I am in my basement with a bowl of chocolate pieces in my hand. A spinning globe of glass hovers in front of me and it's one of my newest creations. It has the size of a football which makes it about adequate for my purposes.

The globe is a spying tool which enables me to have my eyes and ears anywhere I want within a certain radius. For the time being it has a very limited range. But it's enough to follow the people in my mansion.

I was watching since this morning when Celestial dropped the bomb of world domination on her unsuspecting parents. They took it as bad as I had suspected. The kitchen turned into a living hell and I noted to myself to be careful around Idala. She has some pretty scary techniques. In the end though, to my amazement they didn't run directly towards the academy.

Not yet at least. Though they insisted to stay in this mansion to have a close eye on Celestial and to protect Liandra.

Watching through the globe is similar to a real life tv-show. So I lean back while enjoying the view.

Celestial is on the training ground in our garden. She is driven by her wish to utilize her new technique to the fullest. A big chunk of rock is her target and she is thrusting her flat palm towards the rock which actually creates small shock-waves.

Is she trying to create a fake Palm of Buddha? You were watching too many movies dear. On the other hand... those shock-waves are pretty impressive on their own. I don't want to stand in front of her while she is doing that.

Oooh! Daddy is incoming from behind! Watch out witch!

“Celestial. We will restart your training today. What are you even trying to accomplish by casting those shock-waves?” Arduin folds his hands and stares at Celestial.

Fool! She wasn't casting anything! She just executed a purely physical movement while slowly moving and thrusting her hand towards the rock and explosively releasing all her power at the last instant. That was simple brutish strength!

“Sorry daddy. But I guess casting spells doesn't fit into my training schedule.” She smirks at her father.

“Then prove it! If you defeat me I will acknowledge that you are right to concentrate on that new technique of yours.” He enters a fighting stance.

“Whenever you are ready daddy. I wanted a training partner anyway. Ascathon isn't an interesting opponent.” Celestial raises a hand to signal her readiness.

“Why not?” Arduin arches an eyebrow.

“He always makes excessive use of barriers and other tricks to avoid head to head combat when I drag him out to train with me. It's a little annoying.” Celestial shakes her head.

I would be flattened like an insect if I wouldn't do that brutish witch! And who in his right mind would step in front of a train to stop it if he could simply sabotage the rails!

Daddy just shrugs his shoulders and attacks with a fireball. It's smoothly executed and followed directly by a swiftness spell. His body blurs and he reappears behind Celestial who is casually wiping the fireball out of the air with her bare hand.

Then Celestial turns and charges towards Arduin. At that moment though he has his next spell ready and a small tornado lifts Celestial into the air.

Whooo! Nice thinking. I underestimated my father in law! Up there, her brutish strength is useless and by using wind-magic he avoided the problem of her magical defence.

I guess he is aware of the passive resistance which is offered to someone who practices his battle-aura.

But Celestial isn't defeated and starts to execute her technique from earlier in fast succession which blows her out of the little tornado.

She makes a perfect landing and charges for her father again.

Arduin doesn't bother with mind magic and after a few words a dense wall of earth is raised between them. I admire his resourcefulness.

Mind magic is a very restricted and dangerous art. If you don't execute it properly, it fails and you have to face a magical backlash. The same goes if you try it on someone who is powerful enough to block it.

So you are very foolish if you use mind-magic in combat without being one hundred percent sure that you can overpower the mental defence of your opponent.

Celestial is unconcerned by the wall and blows right through, stopping her foot just an inch in front of Arduin's face.

“So what do you think father.” Celestial smirks at Arduin.

“I will rethink my opinion of this technique. Though you still have a little work before you if you want to use it in actual combat.” Arduin's image wavers and disappears while Arduin's real self appears about five meters to the left.

Hooh! My father in law created a fake image of himself during the fight. I didn't realize when he did it. On the other hand my globe doesn't give me an accurate and realistic view. Seeing something purely as an image with sound is quite a loss compared to the real thing.

“You were just hiding! That's the same as Ascathon! Don't you....”

Celestial continues to complain but I switch the channel. Watching the bickering scene is no fun. I hope she never develops a way to see through tricks like that. She will be the ultimate enemy of a mage.

Maybe I should start to develop a technique to stand up to her. Being bashed up because you are physically too weak is no fun at all.

I find another interesting channel. Stefan is correcting the homework of Violetta and Liandra while Idala is watching him intensely. The old scholar obviously isn't comfortable with it.

After a few seconds he looks up. “You have a question Mrs. Jasmine?”

“I just asked myself why someone like you isn't on his way to the academy right now? I heard about the reasons for your leave.” Idala leans back in her chair.

Stefan shrugs his shoulders. “I am a curious guy. But I am no stupid guy.”

Idala shows surprise. “If you would explain that further?”

Stefan places his pencil on the desk. “I was ruined by the Academy. Then I looked for a new job. But with a bad reputation by the Academy you are doomed. I had given myself up when I came here. But Ascathon gave me a new purpose. How could I bite the hand that pulled me to my feet again?”

“But couldn't you redeem yourself if you mentioned this house to the Academy? The Inquisition is fearsome, you know?” Idala arches an eyebrow while trying to make sense out of the old scholar.

Stefan begins to chuckle. “I don't fear the Academy or the Inquisition any more. They are barbarians without any knowledge. What I fear is the owner of this house!”

He stands up and walks over to the big grandfather clock at the wall and opens it. “Did you realize what these things are?” He looks at Idala.

Now she shrugs her shoulders. “They are artefacts which show the time?”

Stefan chuckles once again and points at the magic circuits inside the clock. “Those are magic circuits. And they are more sophisticated than everything I have ever seen. Do you know the biggest secret of the Academy? The holy grail of artifice?”

“The Gates?” Idala looks interested now.

“Yes! The Gates! The creation which is said to be the biggest blessing and the greatest threat of magic. The reason why the academy abolishes almost all artefacts. But the Gates are children's toys compared to this!” Stefan stabs his finger wildly at my magic circuit without touching it.

“But it's just a thing that shows the time?” Idala looks confused.

Stefan closes the clock again with great care. “All spells can be reduced to their most basic elements. You know that? Even the greatest military-spells can be cast by an appropriate magic artefact. Even a commoner could use these artefacts if they were made with that purpose in mind.”

Idala nods, so Stefan continues. “The gates are thought to be the epitome of magic devices. They are stuffed with magic circuitry to the brim! And even then it requires a highly skilled magician to control them. But they are just child's play compared to this ….technology.”

Ooops. I guess I should have held back a little more. Combining logical circuitry and magic circles is a little too obvious.