Chapter 3

The duke sought out Roland, after resting for a couple hours. Roland was getting ready for dinner when a servant informed him that the duke was seeking him. Curious, Roland thanked the servant after finding out where the duke was, and went to him.

"Ah, Roland. Thank you for coming so promptly. I wanted to discuss magic with you, if you have some free time," the duke said when Roland presented himself to the duke in the library.

It was a generous room, and two full walls were full of books, scrolls, and parchments that were placed in an orderly fashion. The duke was sitting by the fireplace in the only comfortably stuffed chair. A huge imposing desk stood off to one side.

The duke quizzed him about his magic, what he had learned, and how far along he was. For almost thirty minutes, the duke grilled Roland. At the end of those thirty minutes, Roland felt truly wrung out.

A servant came in and announced that supper was served. The two made their way to the dining room.

"Roland, you have a good grounding, but you seem short in several areas. You say that a wizard is tutoring you? I wonder if this is deliberate, or is just an oversight," the duke said in a musing sort of voice.

"What do you mean by 'short', your grace?" Roland asked a bit concerned.

"I did not mean to worry you. It is just, when I was coming up and learning the art, more attention was given to the weather magics and the elementals. You have only a basic grasp of the concepts. You should be better able to control your immediate environment," the duke replied.

"After supper, I would like to practice your combat magic, if you are up to it. It sounds like you are doing well, but I want to see for myself the level you are at," the duke finished as they entered the dining room.

Berandal bowed slightly as the duke and his son entered the room. The duchess was already seated at the table. Soon, everyone was seated and was enjoying venison steaks, boiled cabbage, potatoes, and corn meal biscuits. Several different wines and ales were offered for drink.

"A most excellent supper, my good Berandal. I am going to commandeer your son for a bit longer, I am afraid. He seems to have a good sound basic training in magic, and is well on his way to becoming a master magician. But he seems weak in certain areas. I want to test him on a couple other things as well," the duke said in an aside to Berandal.

Berandal nodded and Roland found himself as companion to the duke once more.

The duke asked for a large area to be used in a carefully controlled exchange of combat magics. Roland thought a moment, and asked how large an area. After hearing the duke, Roland immediately thought about a fairly large area beneath the castle. At one time there was a dungeon, and other rooms under the castle. They had fallen into disuse long ago. There was a large room that had been used to muster the soldiers and guards who stayed mostly underground, guarding the prisoners.

When they arrived, after a lengthy trip through the castle and down three flights of stairs, the duke pronounced himself satisfied with the size of the room. Next the duke started casting protections on the walls.

When that was done, he cast containment spells. After showing Roland one such spell and asking him to help, the job went quicker. The duke nodded after examining Roland's work.

"Very well done, Roland. I have to say, you are most competent at casting. And the spell was fairly complex, too," the duke complemented.

"It was not a difficult spell, your grace," Roland responded simply.

"Good. Now then, you know how to draw a personal circle of protection, or a shield?" the duke asked.

Roland nodded. "Excellent. Then let us begin. I want you to cast a circle of protection, then start with your weakest attack spell, and then keep going until you have exhausted your spells, or you breech my circle, understood?" the duke asked again.

Roland nodded, and did as he was told. When he saw the duke was ready, he started gathering energy and then cast his first spell. It hit the duke's protective circle and bounced off to the side of the room, where it was absorbed by the spells now embedded in the walls.

So it went. Spell after spell. Finally, Roland was tiring. The duke called a halt, and walked over to Roland after dismissing his protective circle.

"Not too bad. Your tutor has done well by you. You are weak in holding stored spells, though. As far as I could tell, you only had three spells stored for use. Is that right?" the duke asked, and Roland nodded.

"Well, I have ten spells stored. Seven offensive, two defensive, and one transport spell of escape. You should practice casting and holding more spells. The only way to improve your abilities is to stretch them to the limit," the duke said as they started heading back up into the main castle.

Soon they rejoined Berandal and the duchess, along with the two footmen, and the guard captain, in the library. Berandal and Roland usually spent time after dinner there, reading or discussing future plans.

"Your son has a good basic grasp of magic, and is more than competent at combat magic. He is a little weak on weather magic, teleporting, and elemental control. I am still somewhat surprised at the gap, to tell you the truth.

"He will get better at teleporting as he practices it. As for elemental control, I can guide him a little, while we are here. Control over the elements is a must, if he is to go much further in his career as a magic user," Duke Taft said with a nod.

They talked a bit through the evening, but the day's work, and magic had exhausted Roland. He excused himself and went to his bed. The next morning, he rose even before the servants came to wake him.

He was already waiting with anticipation for his tutor, Gorman, to arrive and begin his lessons. He would ask about training in the four elements, Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. There were also the Elementals themselves to study. Sort of spirit beings who represented these particular powers.