Chapter 13

Catia knew she and Boyd would have to have a long discussion.

She sent a message into town to tell them she had a personal emergency and that she would be back after lunch. Personally, she got sick of some of the crap people tried to foster onto her to sort out. She was going to have to tell Boyd that he had also inherited new duties.

She would have to make it clear to the others that he was in training for the next year, so he wasn’t bothered. Catia and Boyd moved to a small office that had some very comfortable chairs in it.

Boyd guessed that his change of status would also be life-altering for him, but he wasn’t sure what was involved. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t believe in magic but getting a handle on the fact that he was supposedly capable of doing it was a bit disconcerting.

He had no idea what could and what couldn’t be achieved with magic, as these people knew of it. He watched as Catia pulled a thin book from a shelf. It looked a lot like a hardback dad-to-day diary. Catia handed it to him before sitting back down.

“This a Primer. It contains the basics of how to do most spells. It has starter spells that most novice mages can do. Most people struggle with the spells that relate to the disciplines they don’t have.”

“Since you have four symbols on your medallion, then that means you are capable of being a High Mage. High Wizards like me have six, wizards have five, and mages have three symbols and gems that represent the magical disciplines. Novices, or rather, Novice Mages, have one or two gems or symbols.”

“All magical items are designed to boost your magical abilities. They must have that gem you see in the middle of your medallion. It is called a Quaz crystal. Why you ended up with an entity or spirit when you received the medallion is beyond me.”

“They were not designed as mage items to boost magical abilities, but as protection items for the wearer. The Quaz crystal was used because it is the best way to make sure the spells put on the item stay charged for as long as required.”

“The fact you now have symbols on it is also unheard of. I have a ring that also contains the gems that represent those symbols. It was previously mine, but it has not told me who it wishes to go to. I suspect it will now go to you.”

“One of the most common gems found on items is a diamond. It represents the discipline Lore and is also represented by the open book symbol. It is associated with retrieval, retaining and analytical processing of information. It gives you better control of the magical energies used to form and activate the spells.”

“The Hill symbol you have is at the top, so it is your primary discipline and represents Earth. Emeralds are the gems most commonly used for Earth. It lets you realign and arrange the base or inert elements of a planet.”

“You also have Nature, the tree. It is the second most common discipline found. Gems made from opals or agates are used for the Nature discipline. It lets you control and manipulate living things like people, plants and animals. Sometimes the coloured minerals in the gem are used to denote your preference for one of the aspects. All healers have the Nature discipline.”

“The fourth symbol, the torch, represents the Energy discipline. Rubies or sapphires are used as their gems. As you can guess, this lets you control energies relating to heat, electrical and magnetic and magical energies.”

“Hence, that makes you a very powerful magician as far as the width of disciplines you can call on. However, the more items of power you wear, then the stronger you are, the more control you have, and it increases what you can do.”

“So why give me a ring too?” Boyd asked.

“Because I’m quite certain that it will want to go to you. The magical artifacts decide who can wear them. It has been more than fifteen thousand years since magical artifacts were last made. The medallion has indicated that you can wield four disciplines, which means that you can claim a full set of magical items if you can find them.”

“You should also have a diadem and a wand, but for whatever reason, so far, the making of new items is beyond me. I suspect that because I’m more inclined towards medicine, it’s not in my job description. My current items have Nature as my primary discipline, and to me, this feels right.”

“The ring I wore has Nature and Lore on either side of the Quaz crystal. However, I know items with the disciplines in a different order will go a mage as long as they are the same. I think this just means that the less dominant traits are more equal in strength rather than you only have one strong suit.”

“So, if I read the book, it will tell me more about what I’m capable of doing,” Boyd asked.

“Yes, I’d rather give you some time to gain some knowledge before you really start experimenting. I would also prefer that what you are, stays in the family for a bit. I will have to tell the Queen, but she has no control over what magical people really do.”

“Our entity is what keeps us honest. Even so, some of us are more honest than others. Those with fewer gems and magical items tend to be given more leeway by their entity than those of us who gain higher items and have more traits.”