Chương 169: Chapter 164 - Magical Meetings

((This chapter is long, it was initially two chapters but it didn't sit right with me, I always try resolve something, or introduce something, in every chapter, I didn't feel the second half did this well)) The wall around Maggie was progressing slower than Alric would like. The builders had raised it above shoulder height, fitted the frame for the trough opening and begun setting the rails for the river door. Now they needed time for the mortar to harden.

Watching men lay the remaining stone would not make it happen faster, and the foreman seemed more afraid of Alric than Stromni, as the dwarf liked to point out. Herbs needed to dry and mortar needed to set. Apparently, fun involved preparing something carefully and then leaving it alone, which felt less like fun and more like punishment for being excited. Gwyn expected him that afternoon.

Alric had put on his grey jacket, found his cloak and was searching the office for the list Seren claimed to have left on his desk when someone knocked.

"Come in," Alric said, lifting a stack of Vale's cask reports and looking beneath it. Margaret opened the door with Battery standing behind her, his shoulders drawn inward and both hands caught inside his sleeves.

"Do you have a moment?" Margaret asked, letting the door go and standing straight. Alric found the list beneath his herbal notes. Seren had put it exactly where she said she had.

"Of course," Alric said, gesturing toward the chairs as he sat behind the desk.

"Seren said you were looking for me yesterday."

"I was," Margaret said, entering with a small lift of her chin.

"You were apparently here, but no one would tell me that."

"I knew where I was," Alric said, shrugging and gesturing to the desk. Margaret rolled her eyes and moved to the chair opposite him. Battery followed, though he remained standing until Alric pointed toward the second chair. Battery sat carefully and placed both hands on his knees. He looked toward Margaret rather than Alric.

"So… we have an issue," Margaret said, adjusting her robes and taking a deep breath. Alric looked at Battery, he did not seem injured, although that was deceptive. Battery could look exhausted while eating, studying, resting or being told he had three days away from the brewery.

"Is Battery alright?" Alric asked, leaning forward and resting one forearm on the desk.

"I measured his mana this morning," Margaret said, turning slightly toward Battery.

"You said you were going to do that weeks ago, after he had rested." Alric said, tilting his head.

"I did measure him weeks ago, we've tested a few times now," Margaret said, pressing her lips together and letting a breath out of her nose. Battery looked down at his hands.

"Alright," Alric said, moving the herbal notes further aside.

"So...?"

"As much as an ordinary trained journeyman, mage," Margaret said, folding her hands across her lap. Alric looked at Battery again. That sounded like good news.

"That's excellent." Alric said, smiling and using both open hands to gesture at Battery.

"If you've grown so much, why so solemn, what issue?" Battery gave him a small, uncertain smile. Margaret looked at the wall and took a deep breath.

"Usually, it would take about ten years," Margaret said, lifting one shoulder.

"Battery struggles with the mana measuring device. A mage pushes as much mana into it until they cannot push more. Battery filled it to journeyman levels, but he was nowhere near his limit." Margaret glanced at Battery, and he confirmed it with a shrug without lifting his head.

"I made him do it again," Margaret continued, holding up two fingers, then three, then five.

"Then again after that. Each attempt was slow, but the amount remained almost the same." Alric looked between them.

"How many times?" he asked, lowering the list to the desk.

"Five," Margaret said, closing her fingers and resting her hand in her lap.

"I stopped because the test was tiring him and because it felt irresponsible." Battery shifted slightly in his chair. He looked tired now that Alric knew to look for it, although Battery had looked tired since they met.

"Five ordinary mages' worth?" Alric asked, sitting back slowly.

"Not quite, probably more." Margaret said, giving him a faintly offended look.

"He cannot push out enough mana to get a good measure... Even allowing for that, he pushed more mana into it than I have." Alric studied Margaret properly. She was not smiling or exaggerating. Margaret had enough pride to make understating someone else's capacity more likely than the alternative.

"How much beyond that?" Alric asked, bringing both hands together over his stomach.

"I do not know," Margaret said, pressing her lips thin.

"Only person I know with more mana is you." Maragret took a deep breath before saying, "He may have the capacity of an archmage," She glanced toward Battery before lowering her voice.

"But not the control, or the speed."

"Ah," Alric said, looking down at the desk. The charcoal question beside eggshells no longer seemed important.

"Why can't he put it into the device?" Alric asked, turning his attention back to Margaret.

"Because his mana is too dense," Margaret said, touching two fingers together as she considered how to explain.

"Hard might be the better word, although mana is not truly hard."

"Hard mana," Alric said, testing the words while rubbing at his jaw. Margaret gave a small, impatient sigh.

"I told you before that he gathers mana like a man pulling mud through cloth," she said, opening one hand toward Battery.

"Where your mana is like water, his is like porridge." So, he has a big capacity but a small… nozzle?

"So he has a large amount with a small way out?" Alric asked, shaping a narrow gap between his finger and thumb"That is crude," Margaret said, lifting her chin slightly.

"But probably close enough." Battery's mouth twitched before he lowered his head further.

"It explains his Water Spout spell," Margaret continued, resting one hand on the arm of her chair.

"He takes far too long to form it, but once the spell is complete, he can hold it longer than anyone I've ever known."

"Did filling the station do this?" Alric asked, leaning forward again.

"I don't know, I think so, I didn't know Battery before," Margaret said, she ruffled his hair affectionately and he pushed her hand way.

"His control has improved, and his recovers so much faster but..." She glanced toward Battery, and she seemed sad.

"There is an old saying," Margaret said, turning back to Alric.

"An alchemist is a failed mage." Alric's suddenly became more alert paying more attention now. Battery went very still beside her.

"I thought it meant alchemists were failed mages, so they turned to potions," Margaret said, lifting one shoulder with a faint huff.

"Another little insult the Magery uses because well… it just likes doing that."

"Don't the alchemists look for mages from poor backgrounds?" Alric said, lowering both hands to the desk. Margaret narrowed her eyes at him.

"Who told you that?" she asked, turning toward him and lifting her chin.

"Pavise," Alric said, Alric put his right hand on his knee and the his left elbow on the desk.

"He explained adventurers leave when alchemists start asking after impoverished mages, because it usually means someone is preparing for war." Margaret answered with a slow nod.

"I didn't know that." She said considering the point before continuing, "The Magery or any mage guild will judge how quickly mana can be moved, shaped and cast," she said, gesturing toward Battery with an open palm.

"Someone who cannot do that is declared poor, no matter how much mana they may actually possess." Alric remembered sitting opposite Pavise while the guild master explained potions, wars and families selling next year's seed for a bottle that might already have gone to a noble's hunting party. He remembered the other warning as well: alchemists drained impoverished mages. Battery had come into his mind then because Battery filled the brewery's station every morning.

Alric had pushed the comparison aside by telling himself that Battery was learning and that the situations were different. The difference had been easier to believe when Battery was not sitting in front of him.

"Then I think you stop filling the brewery station Battery," Alric said, turning fully toward Battery and leaning on his elbow.

"I'll handle it my..."

"I don't want to stop," Battery said, lifting his head quickly while his fingers gripped the robes over his knees. Alric opened his mouth before he realized Battery had never interrupted him before, and he almost never looked directly at Alric. Alric gestured with a palm upward and a nod for him to continue.

"Poor mages… or rather mages who come from… backgrounds are not treated well," Battery said, rubbing the cloth between his thumb and finger.

"I was tired before the brewery too. At least now it is for something." Margaret looked toward him. Battery swallowed but continued.

"I am learning," Battery said, pushing his chest forward.

"People need the station and they need beer. No one else wants to spend every morning filling it, but I can."

"That does not mean you have to," Alric said, shaking his head while keeping his voice level.

"The workers call me the brewer's mage," Battery said, and a shy smile appeared before he looked down again.

"Some people wave to me in the street now." Alric leaned back while Battery's words settled. The boy had spoken as though people waving was a payment on its own. Alric quickly realised in his case, it was. He remembered the bruised knuckles, the many knicks, Battery had also filled out.

"You can still have that without filling the station," Alric said, gesturing toward him with both hands.

"But that is why they call me the brewer's mage," Battery said, raising his eyes again.

"I want to be useful here." Margaret drew in a quiet breath.

"Battery you cannot harm yourself over this," she said, sitting straighter and giving Alric and Battery a slightly huffy look. Battery turned his face away and studied the floor, "It was only bad at the start, now, I can fill the station and walk here. Even do classes." He added a shrug at the end. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Alric looked at Battery for several breaths. He was nervous, but just as resolute as when they met.

"If you want to keep doing it, you can," Alric said, resting one hand flat on the desk.

"Margaret decides how much and when. If you change your mind, you stop, and nothing else changes."

"Thank you, Mister Alric," Battery said, releasing his robes at his knees and giving one firm nod. That settled the brewery, although it left the larger problem sitting in the room.

"We need to look into making your mana easier to move," Alric said, sitting back now.

"If the station made it hard, there must be a way too..."

"No," Battery said, lifting his head, he sat up straighter and his hands moved to his thighs. Margaret turned toward him. Alric stopped with his hand still open.

"You don't want…?" Alric asked, lowering his hand slowly.

"If I have the choice, I…" Battery said, holding Alric's gaze despite the colour rising along his cheeks. Battery swallowed before he said more. His fingers tightened, but his voice did not disappear.

"I never want to be a noble's weapon," Battery said, pressing both feet firmly against the floor. Margaret drew herself upright.

"Not every noble will treat a household mage as a sword," she said, lifting her chin as a faint edge entered her voice.

"No, Mistress Margaret," Battery said, lowering his gaze toward her hands.

"But the ones who want an archmage..." Margaret's expression lost its offended edge. She opened her mouth, then closed it again as he she shifted backwards. Battery had her there, and she knew enough nobles. Alric understood Battery's reasoning far too easily. A poor mage could be fed into alchemical work until exhaustion became his profession. An archmage who could release power quickly would attract nobles, armies and people who spoke about duty while deciding where someone else should stand during a battle.

People here would call that noble service and speak of the honour involved. Alric came from a world that had also found respectable words for deciding where useful young men should fight. Battery wanted neither future, and Alric could not find a reason he should be forced into one.

"What do you want to learn, then?" Alric asked, shifting his weight back into the chair.

"Useful magic," Battery said, relaxing his grip by degrees.

"Useful like what, exactly?" Alric asked, moving one hand between them.

"Moving water, lifting stone, flattening fields?"

"Flattening fields," Battery said, sitting straighter as his answer came without hesitation.

"That would be useful." He seems more certain about flattening fields than being an archmage. Is Battery another weirdo?

"Fields," Alric said after a long silence, nodding slowly as he rubbed at the side of his jaw.

"Yes, I can see that. Roads too, building foundations, drainage and irrigation." Battery's growing enthusiasm showed in a quick series of nods.

"That is the atelier's purpose," Alric said, turning toward Margaret and shrugging with one hand up.

"Practical magic in trade, production and public works."

"Practical application of mana," Margaret corrected, rolling her eyes although the corner of her mouth moved.

"That was the respectable wording you somehow came up with in a dockside tavern."

"Good tavern that, and same thing," Alric said, giving her a dismissive wave.

"It is not the same thing on official papers," Margaret said, smoothing one hand across her skirt with renewed dignity. Alric looked toward Battery again.

"Then you learn useful magic," he said, resting both hands on the desk.

"We do not try to soften anything unless you ask."

"Thank you," Battery said, lowering his head while a small smile remained.

"Who knows about his mana?" Alric asked, turning back to Margaret.

"The two of us and now you," Margaret said, lifting one eyebrow.

"Good, we tell no one about this then." Alric said, nodding as some of the tension left his shoulders.

"Officially, he produced an ordinary result very slowly," Margaret said, folding both hands together. Battery's shoulders lowered as he breathed out, and Alric understood the feeling. He also understood why mages valued speed. Battery could take several minutes to form a spell, which would make him nearly useless if someone stood nearby throwing fire. From behind a wall, with time to prepare, that might matter less. A mage capable of holding Water Spout for more than an hour might hold an earth spell just as long.

He might build a bank, deepen a ditch or flatten enough ground for a field without stopping. In a siege, he could do rather more than that. Alric did not want to think about what Battery could do in a siege. Unfortunately, Alric's mind didn't work like that, and he immediately started considering how terrifying Battery could be in a siege. Battery wanted fields, and that was what Alric would help him learn.

Alric folded Gwyn's list and put it into his pocket without mentioning walls, ditches or any of the other uses an army might find for an endurance mage. Margaret didn't stand when he put the list away, which meant there was something else. Alric waited.

"There… are a few other things," Margaret said, still with both her hands folded.

"But I think Battery requires a different approach." Alric nodded, putting his left elbow on the desk and resting his weight against it again.

"So, if Battery never wants to be a typical duellist," Margaret said, gesturing with her head toward Battery.

"Then we need a new curriculum." Battery had been looking toward his knees. His head lifted, eyes moving to Margaret with sudden attention.

"Most mage training is built around speed," Margaret continued, folding her hand back into her lap while she watched Battery.

"Small spells first, then faster spells, then casting while someone else is trying to interrupt you. Battery will spend years being bad at that." Alric nodded slowly. That was close to how people had taught everything in his old world as well. Decide what a successful person looked like, make everyone run toward the same point, then act surprised when some of them were better at entirely different things.

"What do you want to change?" Alric asked, sitting back and bringing both hands together over his stomach.

"Focus on magic circles," Margaret said, lifting her chin slightly.

"And well, slower spells with larger effects." Battery straightened. His eyes flicked to Alric, then back to Margaret, then returned to Alric before either of them had said anything. The movement was quick enough that Alric briefly wondered Battery would have liked tennis.

"The magic circles are still drawings on paper," Alric said, raising one finger while giving Margaret a cautious look.

"I know that," Margaret said, rolling her eyes and adjusting the edge of one sleeve.

"We are studying them, Mister Alric. I did not say I intended to do anything beyond paper tomorrow." That was reassuring, though the fact Margaret needed to say it suggested that she knew him too well.

"There is very little written about them that I trust," Margaret continued, resting two fingers against the arm of the chair.

"What we have are copied circles, incomplete notes and people repeating what another person told them. That… is why I want to study them myself, we need… some money though." Margarets eye's shifted downward when she said this. Alric paused, he was used to Margaret being more confident than this, leaning forward and returning his elbow to the desk.

"How much?" Alric asked simply.

"I need to buy books, on dwarven runes where I can find them…" Margaret began but was still avoiding eye contact.

"How much Margaret?" Alric asked, his expression turning bored.

"Three gold, I think." She said with a small frown. Not an insignificant sum them. Thirty wagonloads of grain, thirty thousand street sausages.

"I'll get it to you, why do you think he will be good at this?" Alric said with a small shrug, he owed Battery he knew, the brewery could run itself because Battery was there.

"Uhm… thank you, I'll be careful with the money. Battery is patient, careful and does not become bored when a lesson takes time," Margaret said, glancing toward Battery with a small smile.

"Drawing the circles also gives him something to work on without being judged by how quickly he moves mana. As for casting, if a spell takes him longer, I would rather teach him spells where the result is worth it." Battery's mouth moved into a shy smile. He lowered his gaze again, though his shoulders remained straighter than before. His ears had a rosey tint to them. Alric could see the sense in it.

Battery was never going to win a contest where two mages stood ten paces apart and tried to set the other on fire first. Give him time, paper and something large enough to justify his capacity, and the contest changed. Margaret took a quiet breath.

"But I can also only do this with your help," she said, folding both hands together while giving him a serious look. Alric rubbed at his jaw.

"Because of the runes?" he asked, tilting his head toward the copied sheets on the shelf behind him.

"Because of the runes," Margaret said, following his gaze and giving one firm nod.

"My ability is not as useful as it sounds," Alric said, looking down while raising one finger between them.

"I can tell you what a rune says. I cannot show you how a wrong one differs from the right one." Margaret frowned.

"You know when one is wrong?" she asked, leaning toward him and tightening one hand around the chair arm.

"I do, but I cannot tell you why it's wrong," Alric explained, moving his raised finger slightly with a small smirk. Stromni had drawn the correct rune on paper, placed the badly stamped pickaxe beside it and waited. Alric had stared until his eyes hurt and learnt nothing except that annoyance was not a recognised method of translation.

"That is plenty," Margaret said, sitting back and smoothing both palms down her skirt.

"You can tell me whether the marks mean what the notes claim." Alric nodded. Between the two of them they possessed one useful understanding of runes, though it had been divided in a way that made neither part useful alone. It was an inconvenient arrangement.

"Do you have some strange magical eye?" Margaret asked, narrowing her eyes while leaning slightly to one side. Alric looked down at the desk.

"Something like that," he said, rubbing his thumb against the side of his finger, he had a slight smirk. Margaret waited for him to add more. Battery waited as well, though he tried to hide it by looking at Margaret instead.

"You are very irritating sometimes," Margaret said after the silence had stretched long enough for her to get the hint, rolling her eyes as she settled back into the chair.

"I have been called worse, by the king no less," Alric said, looking up and grinning. Margaret let out a small breath through her nose, which was not quite a laugh but Alric considered it a win nonetheless. She adjusted her robes again before continuing.

"I would like to test some of the staff for magical aptitude," Margaret said, resting her hands together across her lap.

"Which staff?" Alric asked, putting his elbow on the desk again, his eyebrows going up.

"The ridiculously pretty maid, among others," Margaret said, lifting her chin and gesturing toward the office door.

"She watched one of Battery's lessons in the courtyard. I am almost certain she was tracking his mana." There was no need for a longer description. Headquarters did not have several women who made armed men forget where Brannick was standing.

"Lessa?" Alric asked, rubbing two fingers along his jaw while looking toward the door.

"I do not know her name, but I cannot imagine anyone else fitting that description," Margaret said, lifting one shoulder with a faint huff.

"If she is alright with it," Alric said, lowering his hand to the desk and giving Margaret a firm nod.

"The test is harmless," Margaret said, sitting straighter as an offended edge entered her expression.

"I mean if Lessa is alright with being tested," Alric clarified, turning one palm upward while shaking his head.

"She works here. We don't decide for her." Margaret looked at him for a moment, then rolled her eyes again.

"Yes, Mister Alric, I will ask her," Margaret said, smoothing one hand down the front of her robes with renewed dignity. Alric accepted that. Lessa could refuse and another minor argument about how strangely he treated servants had been avoided before it gathered enough momentum to require Seren getting involved. The thought of testing people sat uncomfortably with him.

Margaret had said about mages rejected for being slow, then found the conversation with Pavise about the alchemists throwing out impoverished mages after using them up. Alric placed both elbows on the desk. He pushed his fingertips together and held his hands that way, looking down while he tried to arrange the idea without making it sound as dangerous as it probably was.

"I have a suggestion, if you are willing," Alric said, pressing his fingertips more firmly together.

"It may be dangerous." Margaret's eyebrows rose.

"Dangerous how?" she asked, leaning back while one hand caught the cloth over her knee.

"Mostly in how much work it could become, I think." Alric said, glancing up before his attention returned to his joined hands.

"But if anyone can turn mana into money, it is probably me." Margaret's frowned, her lips moved to the side but she did not disagree.

"How would you feel about teaching the poor mages the alchemists use and spit out?" Alric asked, keeping his fingers together while he looked toward Battery.

"The ones they push away when their mana is too hard." Margaret tilted her head. She looked at Battery, then back at Alric.

"Battery would be the test case," Margaret said, loosening her grip on her robes and opening one hand toward him.

"I suppose he would," Alric said, releasing his hands and giving a small shrug. Battery's eyes began moving between them again. He had not said anything, but there was more interest than worry in his expression now.

"We are not going to find many trained mages who want to work for a brewer," Alric said, putting his left elbow on the desk while rubbing one finger against his cheek.

"They already have guilds, patrons and noble households waiting for them. If everyone else is dismissed or used up, magic could become something rare in the future simply because no one bothered teaching the people who were different." Margaret lowered her gaze to her hands. She stayed quiet long enough that Alric considered explaining further but stopped. The whole point was simple enough. There were people with mana who had been told they were poor mages.

He had work that needed mana and a worrying ability to make work multiply.

"I can find ways for them to earn money," Alric said, lowering his hand from his face and pointing it toward her.

"Not all at once sure, but useful magic has value. If they can do something people need, the atelier can pay for itself."

"I do not think it is a bad idea," Margaret said, lifting her gaze she glanced at Battery before pushing her shoulders back.

"I am doing it anyway." She gestured toward Battery. He lowered his head, but the smile was visible before he managed it. Alric leaned back.

"Then this is only planning ahead, the heating stones alone open possibilities, things like clean ovens and such." he said, spreading both hands and shrugging. Margaret's expression became more serious as she sat straighter and pointed one finger across the desk.

"You need to learn basic defensive magic," she said, keeping her finger aimed at him.

"I do not want to wave my hands around and wear robes," he said frowning, leaning back while raising both palms. Margaret looked down at her own robes. She ran one hand along the sleeve before looking at him again.

"There is nothing wrong with robes," Margaret said, lifting her chin with a deeply offended look.

"And a mana shield does not need you to wave your hands around."

"I have guards," Alric said, lowering one hand and gesturing toward the courtyard with the other.

"Mostly for physical threats, you aren't moving around with a mage, so it comes down to you," Margaret said, counting the points on her fingers.

"You have excellent control and more mana than any sensible person. Shielding should not take you long to learn." Alric looked upward while he tried to find a good objection. Time was the obvious one. He had a distillery waiting for mortar, herbs waiting to dry, a tailor expecting him that afternoon and apparently a future collection of rejected mages who would require profitable employment. He was about to explain all of that when Battery spoke.

"Magic is fun," Battery said, lifting his head while pressing both hands flat against his knees. Battery held his gaze up long enough to make the statement properly, then the colour began rising along his cheeks and he looked toward his hands. The boy had interrupted again, which meant he believed it enough to push through every habit telling him to remain quiet. Alric's objection died in the face of Battery's enthusiasm.