Chapter 1

Roland finished writing, and looked at the page. It was the last page of his second Spells Workbook, and it was full! He blew on the page to help the ink dry. The Wizard's Guild had been true to their word. He had gotten a tutor to teach him magic; and he was doing much, much better than he had expected. In only three months, he had completed requirements for a 'first year' student's course, at any School of Magic. As a matter of fact, he was close to completing the second year level.

His tutor, Gorman Tantleman, strolled into the room.

"You are an outstanding student, Roland! I was hesitant about becoming your tutor, but now I am glad that I did. You have exceeded my expectations. At this rate, you will be a qualified journeyman magician in another year, perhaps less. That is two and a half years ahead of the normal time needed to advance to that rank!" he said.

"Thank you Master Tantleman. I am pleased I am working and learning to your satisfaction," Roland replied with a grin.

Gorman chuckled at Roland. "False modesty does not become you. Leave it at the door, along with your ego!" Gorman said, but laughed, taking away any sting.

"I have been practicing the spells as you suggested. I think I begin to understand why you wanted me to practice as I do. I saw a challenge in town, yesterday. Now when you have me preparing and holding spells at the ready, I won't moan and groan... as much!" Roland replied with a smile.

"There was a duel? I hadn't heard about it. Who was it?" Gorman asked curiously.

"Well, the party who did the challenging I'd never seen before. He was dressed in dark brown. Everything was dark brown: his shirt, his pants, even his boots. His cloak was dark brown, too.

"The other was Baron Avril Maklin. Witnesses were called for. I was lucky enough to join with three others, to watch. The match lasted perhaps 2 minutes. Baron Maklin fell pretty quickly. I only recognized the spells for the main circle, and the circles of protection that they drew. After that, everything was new to me," Roland said, still awed by the magical duel he had witnessed.

"It can't have been to the death, or I would have heard about it almost as soon as it happened," Gorman said musingly.

"It was until one or the other could not go on. The Baron wanted it to be to the death. The other, the man in brown; said it would be to the first who yielded by voice, or by inability to continue. Since you can't force a duel to the death, the Baron agreed. Just as well. The 'man in brown' took him down quick!" Roland said, still remembering vividly the quick duel.

Roland looked at Gorman Tantleman. He saw a man of about 30 years of age, going gray at the temples, with ice blue eyes. He was a short man, at only 5' 5" tall. He more than made up for his lack of height, with his abilities in magic. He was very powerful, and had made Full Wizard, years ahead of his peers. Roland could not have found a better mentor or friend. Yes, they had become friends in the three months that Gorman had been teaching Roland.

"Strange that Maklin lost so quickly. As much as I despise the man, he is competent with magic. While not at Wizard level, he is well past Magician level. I would have given a lot to have been there when the pompous ass was taken down!" Gorman said with a chuckle.

"It was almost frightening, the way the 'brown man' took him down so fast," Roland said with a slight shiver.

"'Brown Man'? You call him that because of his clothing?" Roland was asked.

Roland nodded.

"I never learned his name. I have taken to calling him 'the brown man', because of his mode of dress," Roland replied.

"Never take anything for granted. This man has already made an impression on you. Rest, this weekend. On the first of next week, I am going to start drilling you in Combat Magic. You have the power and ability to be a good Combat Wizard. That being that inhabited your body may have given you more than you know," Gorman said, slowly stroking his short graying beard.

"Berandal and I will be at the castle this weekend. The roof has finally been repaired. Most of the south tower roof had to be removed and replaced. Now the work is being finished up in the main hall.

"Father says it will be fit to live in, in another month! We are also planning a trip to the valley again, in a couple weeks. I will need lessons for the days I will not be with you. I still can't believe that we own an entire valley!" Roland said excitedly.

"Yes. You and your father came into money differently than most. Both of you were wise to invest as you did. Also, the Guild appreciates the work your father has provided by hiring us to strengthen the castle with spells. I'm sure you will notice benefits over the years with the integration of those spells," Gorman commented.

"I was glad to speak to father on your behalf, or the Guild's, anyway. I hadn't realized there were so many spells that could be used in homes," Roland said thoughtfully.

"You have grasped the basic spells quickly. I have thrown second year spells at you, and you learned those very quickly, also. I am going to start you on spells that will benefit others, such as those spells cast upon your castle.

"I am also going to start training you in Combat Magic, as you are a target, now," Gorman said, holding up his hand when Roland started to speak, "Seriously. You and your father have gotten a lot of attention because of your good fortune.

"Already, two serious attempts on your father's life have been halted by the guards your father hired. You need to learn to protect yourself, and your family. You have access to great power, Roland. Using it correctly and rightly is where your training will focus, now," Gorman finished a bit grimly.

Roland was startled at the tone his teacher took. Was there a hint of jealousy in there, somewhere? No, that wasn't it. There was something, he just couldn't identify it. He shrugged, mentally. It would come to him eventually.

Roland finished his classes for the day. He packed his books and other materials into his bag and started for the Forrester' Inn. That was what he and his father had been calling home, until the castle was ready for them to move into.

The castle already had guards living in the castle's compound, twenty four hours a day. There had been break-ins and sabotage of construction, early in the rebuilding and repairing. One of the first things Berandal had done, was hire the Wizard's Guild to help repair the wall surrounding the castle.

After that, he had hired guards to keep the castle safe from people trying to steal lumber, construction equipment, and tools. There was also a live-in crew of workers who spent 7 days a week working on the castle.

As Roland left his teacher's residence, he picked up the two guards that his father had hired to protect him. Roland was put off at first, but soon realized that his father was correct. He did need guards, if only to keep people from trying to worm money out of him with stories of ill health, disaster, death, illness in family, etc. The requests went on and on.

Roland had become friends with several students at King's Academy Of Magic. That was the school that Roland had been hoping to attend. But, as he grew in magical knowledge, he realized that he was surpassing students who were already a couple years his senior in the study of magic.

He walked towards the inn he had stumbled onto just a few weeks ago. He waited there for the evening bell to ring. It signified the end of the day's lessons at the Academy, which was just a short walk away.

The King's Inn was located in a good section of the city. It was rumored that the King used to frequent the inn, when he had been a young man. Roland looked around. He saw that the table that he and his new friends normally sat at, was empty. He grinned and waved to the innkeeper, as he walked over and took a seat. As was usual, he was the first to arrive.

Roland looked around the great room. The long bar took up one side of the room. When it got really busy, there would be three people behind the bar handing out drinks, and taking in money. There was one long table that was at least 20 feet long in the middle of the room, running its length. Wooden benches were on either side of the long table.

There were twenty tables total, in the room, with four chairs to a table. He ran his hand over the table where he was sitting. The craftsmanship was of a good quality. His guards took up their positions behind him.

The King's Inn was accustomed to guards. Minor nobility and their children used this inn frequently. As a matter of fact, the inn itself had three guards at all times. Roland used his 'mage sight', to look around. He was still unused to this ability. He was always amazed when he did and saw magical things. At least he could control it, now.

He saw and was able to identify most of the spells that were in the main great room. There was a new one though, and he frowned at it. Someone had cast a seeing and hearing spell in the great room. That should have been impossible.

He got up, and walked to the innkeeper.

"Hello, young Roland. Ready for your pitcher of ale already? Still a bit of time before your friends show up," the innkeeper said by way of greeting.

"No. I was wondering about that spell of seeing and hearing, over near the corner," Roland said, pointing at it.

"Spell? There should be no spell there. Are you sure?" asked the innkeeper anxiously.

"Yes. I can recognize such spells when I see them. With all the protection you have on this inn, I would have thought it almost impossible to do, yet there is sits," Roland said, pointing at it again.