48 Devices (2/2)
It did little to help.
”Jarek! Where's my medicine?”
”In the second desk drawer Khan.” The boy's head popped up over the desk. His apprentice had been going through some of the simpler devices, creating a respectable pile of functioning items.
”I looked there already and call me Master.”
”Behind the paperweight. It always slides back.” Without waiting for a response, Jarek returned to his duties.
Nikolai grumbled at the boy's attitude, but managed to pull out a packet containing ground up poplar bark. It worked wonders on the pain but left him feeling quite drowsy.
They worked in silence forgetting the time and before he knew it, Nikolai looked up to see the twin moons rising in the distance. Scratching at suddenly dry eyes he leaned over the desk to see his apprentice dozing off amidst neatly sorted piles. Little slips of paper had been placed to indicate what each group of devices were.
With a soft smile, Nikolai lifted the boy, grunting under the weight. Jarek was undergoing a growth spurt gaining a few inches over the last year. Tottering out of the door he handed his apprentice to the boy's bodyguard with instructions to circumvent the noisier parts of the mansion to reach the boy's chambers. As both Ataman and apprentice, Jarek's situation was a unique blend of authority and submission, which meant Nikolai was forced to prepare suitable quarters for a General under his command. To temper the prestige so the boy didn't grow with an inflated opinion of himself, his mother lived with him, making sure that his personal life was strictly controlled.
Luckily, Jarek was diligent and easy going, a pleasure to teach, although he remained shy in the face of strangers. Jarek still found it difficult to behave normally in front of Elya, stuttering and constantly fidgeting. Nikolai still felt some sympathy for the awkward boy, memories coming to mind of his own teenage years, as he realised girls were far more different and interesting than he'd ever known.
With the departure of his apprentice, Nikolai studied the two devices which he believed could be completed in time. The first was a small mirror following a which he'd cobbled together after Galicia. It was capable of looking through walls if fed with enough energy. This version contained refined spell structures and greater functionality, able to penetrate even thicker walls. It would have taken another two weeks to finish the device but he could use some techniques he'd developed for the initial design to get it ready in a few hours.
The second was an almost complete Imperial Shield. A talisman capable of generating a bubble that was able to withstand a fully powered strike from a Thunder Lancer. This particular piece was missing some spells which regulated the magic so it was only possible to a crescent barrier in front of the user. Nikolai had no way to fix it, but with a few tweaks it would at least remain stable for several minutes before having to be regenerated.
”Milord. Commander Petrov requests an audience.”
Distracted, Nikolai waved, telling the guard to let Petrov in.