Chapter 11: Sorcerer 3

For the record, all that Savren was required to do was light a candle. However, it wasn't just the candle that was lit. The flame burned brightly for the briefest moment like a new star, then it melted the candle, the candlestick holder, the table, twenty six flagstones, three statues, incinerated a tapestry, and singed the tips of his Master's hair. The scorch marks alone would take weeks to scrub off the walls and ceiling of the casting chamber. Lady Esmerelda stood with crossed arms and blew a stray singed hair out of her face. In the months since his Offering, he had noted an increase in not only his capacity to store magickal energy, but strangely enough, his ability to channel such energy increased as well.

"My apologies Master." Savren sputtered at the devastation wrought with a single spell.

"I see we are going to have to start back at the beginning." She took her hair into her hands and restored it slowly. "Your power reserves have been greatly enhanced, as well as the level of power in each casting." She motioned for him to follow. "You are not to use any magick for the time being. I will work up a revised training regime for you. In the meantime, I want you to meditate and study on how your abilities have changed."

"Yes Master." Savren bowed and returned to his room. His room was different from when he was a childe, the most prominent feature being the desk and bookcase. When a new supplicant was accepted for training, she or he was assigned one of the trainee rooms, spartan in nature, with a simple bed, wardrobe, and clothing provided by the school. Students were often gifted with an allowance from their sponsor, which allowed them to personalize their rooms if they wished. The allowance was small, and most students purchased books and writing supplies which were stored in a trunk at the foot of each bed. A desk and bookcase were often moved into the student's room after making their Offering, signaling their elevation to adult responsibilities. For Savren, that meant a black oak desk and cedar bookcase. He took a seat at his desk, opening a leather-bound book and began to study a spell. His collection of spells has grown over the years; however, by his very nature he could only learn a handful of them at one time.

His encounters with Lady Trelyana were few and far between. She did not exactly avoid him, but she did not seek out his company either. It was frustrating to say the least. He would lay in his bed, late at night, his mind always on that night. His hand would always stray down to his penis, and found it quite hard. Masturbation was a punishable offense for a male when they were caught. For the most part, it wasn't a regularly enforced rule, but here in the Eastern Duchy, it was. It was worse since he was in the heart of the Duchy and in the Black Tower. The door to his room would always bang open, startling from him from his slumber. A pair of Mages would be there in the opening, and neither would be looking too pleased. They would enter on silent feet, closing the door behind them. On the first offense, the boy would be given a very rough spanking with a heavy wooden paddle. Second offense was a heavy whip. Third offense was a heavy caning. Most boys would have learned their lesson by the second punishment.

This was Savren's twelfth offense. It didn't matter if he had an orgasm or not, it was the fact that he was caught engaging in a punishable behavior. The lead Mage, a human woman by the name of Atreia, only shook her head as she looked down at the boy and his offending member. The younger Mage, a Sun Elf named Morning Calm, looked disgusted and highly offended. They had learned that punishing him physically wouldn't help, and he actually enjoyed being flogged on top of that. The only way they could discipline him was through 'emasculation' spells. Atreia withdrew a ring and fixed it around the base of his penis. She spent a touch of power to activate the ring, then the two left. Savren sighed as he tried to get some rest. He didn't bother to look. There was nothing there...

Months stretched out as he slowly regained his balance in his magickal abilities. It was an extremely difficult period of readjustment, but he persevered and was able to resume his studies according the plan outlined by his Master. After several hours of meditation and study, he changed into padded armor and took up the steel bound quarterstaff, a gift from his mother, and reported to the training hall for his scheduled period. He enjoyed these brief interludes in his magickal training, where he could practice on his staff work. The training hall was mostly empty, with the exception of a few of his friends practicing their own staff work under the tutelage of one of the various Marshals that maintained law and order in the Prefecture. He adjusted his training uniform before approaching the group.

"Welcome student." The marshal spoke. She peered at his collar closely. "Good, you are in the advanced class." She pointed to one of the boys present. "Kaylis, go and spar with Savren." A dark haired youth retrieved his staff from the wall rack and moved across the great hall towards the sparring circles that were in the center of the hall. Along the walls were several alcoves with doors that led to shielded rooms where magick could be employed in combat. Banners lined the walls of the training hall, each signifying the many regiments sponsored by the Grand Duchess for inclusion into the Imperial Army.

Kaylis bowed and stepped to one of the sparring circles and waited. Savren approached the circle and bowed to his opponent. He took up his quarter staff and waited. Savren knew of Kaylis, but did not include him in his close circle of friends. The young man came from the Western Prefecture, and was in training to take his place amongst the hierarchy of the Necromancers.

"I heard you chose Lady Trelyana to assist in making your Offering." Kaylis spoke, his staff flashing out to be intercepted by Savren's.

"Indeed." Savren replied, his own staff lashing out. The two staves slowly started tapping each other, the sound of the wood on wood clicking rhythmically, slowly speeding up.

"A pity Lady Trelyana had to leave the school."

Savren blinked, and the hard wood staff of his opponent rapped him soundly on the head. Savren stepped back and rubbed his head, feeling the knot that was slowly rising. Kaylis returned to a ready position at the far end of the training ring and waited. Savren shrugged the blow off and returned to a ready stance to match his opponents.

"Distractions will get you killed my friend." Kaylis smiled wryly.

Savren grinned and spun his staff around the center point and leapt into the fray. Both staves blurred in activity as the two advanced students fought furiously. Imperial law forbade the males of the population to actively take up arms; however there was the need for the male to be able to defend himself when the situations warrant it. Quarterstaffs were the weapon of choice amongst the male population. There were Freeman battalions amongst the Imperial Army, but those were strictly regulated, and they were usually irregulars, support, or archer units. Marshals were usually retained by the school to oversee the training of the young male mages and sorcerers of the Empire. Savren, and a few others like Kaylis, had the benefit of mothers who were in the military and could provide the basics of instruction to their sons, so that they were more able to deal with the fluid situation of combat. In rare instances, the young trainees were inducted into the ways of using the short, long bladed leaf spear, to complement their basis in staff work.

Savren spun the staff slowly with one hand out to his left side, and angled his body with his right hand out, palm facing his opponent, one of the basic ready forms of Zha-sen, the accepted marital art of the Dragon Riders. Kaylis slid his right foot out as he brought his staff to face his opponent, his hands holding one end of the staff and the butt cap facing his opponent. Savren sped up the spinning staff, shuffling forward as he spun with the force of the spinning staff. Kaylis blocked the weapon once, but had to retreat as Savren reversed the spin of his staff to knock Kaylis's out of position. He followed the attack up with a second, spinning the staff around his abdomen and finally reaching out to tap his opponent on the side of the head with the spinning weapon. Kaylis backed off and shook his head, then spun himself and used the staff as a spear, attempting to score a disabling hit on Savren. Savren blocked the strike with a downward stroke of his staff, leaping up to dropkick his opponent out of the ring. Kaylis tumbled backward out of the ring as Savren landed in a defensive stance. Kaylis rolled back and popped his body forward, landing on the balls of his feet before bouncing forward, spinning his staff around his body before extending it into a side strike. Savren spun his staff in a counter fashion, blocking the strike and forcing his opponent back again with and elbow strike to the solar plexus. Kaylis fell backwards and landed with a thump. Savren danced away, his staff arched for a killing blow.

"HOLD!"

Savren held and retreated, and then stood and looked at the Marshal. She knelt down to check out Kaylis, who stood shakily. While the fighting style was not the issue, the level of violence unleashed was. He stood quietly as the Marshal berated him for the unwarranted increase of combat.

"This matter will be referred to your Master young man. You could have seriously injured Kaylis."

"Yes Marshal." Savren replied. "I'm sorry about that Kaylis."

Kaylis shrugged it off. "No problem. I keep forgetting who your mother is."

"That is all for today." The Marshal spoke. "And next time you decide to up the ante, you and I will go a round boy." She warned.

Savren bowed respectfully. "Yes Marshal."

The trainees filed out of the hall and made their way to their respective rooms, changing for the afternoon meal. It was quiet as usual as they ate, instructors making their rounds to see to that the students spent their time eating, and not talking. Savren felt a bit of sorrow at the fact that Lady Trelyana was not present, his hand often strayed to his collar where a different token hung instead of his mother's, but he focused on his meal until one of the instructors tapped him on the shoulder.

"Your Master will see you after your meal."

Savren bobbed his head in acceptance of the order, and then quickly finished the meal. It lacked the flavor he normally found with such meals, but then again, he did not have Lady Trelyana watching him. He realized that he did miss Her, and that part of him yearned for Her touch upon him. He stood quietly and took his empty tray to the serving line where a pair of servants took it from him wordlessly. Without another thought he turned and approached the main table where his Master sat along with several other senior instructors. He waited patiently for his Master to acknowledge his presence. It was several minutes before her eyes flickered to his and she nodded imperceptibly. She stood and motioned for him to follow her to her office. She sat in her chair after a few moments and ordered him to sit in one of the two chairs before her desk.

"I am sure that you know that Lady Trelyana has been called away on urgent business." She began. "I know how you feel about her. She is quite the dominant, is she not?"

"She is very... intense." Savren replied.

"On other matters," She began, "I believe I have found out the cause of your increased abilities. Yes, they do stem from your Offering, but not in the way you would think." She paused and looked at him. "As you know, all those who are able to wield sorcerous powers have an internal reservoir with which to draw magickal power for their spells. Your own internal reservoir has been increased, along with a rather unique secondary reservoir that can function as a backup to your main power pool. I believe this extra power pool can only be filled by pain."

"Pain?"

"Your Offering was potent in both pain and pleasure. Your main reservoir will recharge normally when you rest, but this reserve can only be filled with your pain and suffering."

Savren blinked. It seemed strange, yet relieving to find out why he his simple spell exploded in such a fury.

"The simple fire spell was boosted by my reserve?"

"In a sense," She replied. "Your level of power has been increased to near Adept level, but you are still a noviate in experience." She shook her head. "It almost seems we will have to start from the very beginning with your training. A few corners may be cut in this, but the core criteria will have to be enforced."

"Yes Master." Savren took a deep breath. "I guess there is no time like the present to begin."

"A commendable attitude Noviate." She said, rising. "I will summon a conclave of Masters to assess your current level of training to your ability level. Return to your chambers until you are summoned."