Chapter 196: Zero-Level Mages

    As I prepared for a few hours in the dreamscape, I dwelled on the orcs in the Coliseum. They were impressive physical beings, taller than an average Telhian by nearly a head and broader of the shoulder by half again. The entire event was to reassure the people of Telha that the legionnaires were superior to the elite orc warriors. From the brief enhancement, I knew the tattoo spell forms would make them formidable opponents, and in one-on-onebat, I was confident the average legionnaire would be at a disadvantage.

    I entered the dreamscape and studied the book on alchemy, poisons, and powders. I was preparing for my attempt at the healing salve and decided to work on creating myconid powder on my own. It was not difficult; you just needed to take chunks of the flesh of the myconids and store them in a sealed jar in a warm ce. The material would rot overnight, producing the spores. You washed the spores with purified water, stirred the contents, and skimmed them off the surface as they were not water-soluble. Then, you carefully dried them in the sun before sealing them in a bottle.

    Of course, I could always order the myconid spores already prepared from the Imperial Alchemy College. As a Chancellor, Zyna appeared to have arge spending allowance that she didn’t utilize. Still, I thought it best to practice purifying the spores myself. The text noted that there were also a few different species of the fungal men, and the spores had slightly varying properties.

    After finishing my evening’s study, I created the most fearsome orc from the Coliseum. He stood around 6’3”, about two inches taller than me. His ripped torso heaved with deep breaths as his dark brown intelligent eyes studied me. I could see Konstantin in the corner of my eye, itching to try his mettle against this new opponent.

    I equipped the orc with the same broadsword and wooden shield from the arena before we started. His strikes were heavy but telegraphed. Maybe I had overestimated the orcs, or the dreamscape had not replicated them correctly. Thebat looked more impressive from a hundred feet away. I allowed the manifestation to mimic the speed and power enhancement I had observed briefly from the tattoos. Before I realized what had happened, the tendons on the back of my hand had been sliced, and I dropped my ck de and was forced to freeze the orc.

    I puzzled out what had happened. The orc had leveraged his de for the opening, hadn’t attempted a killing blow that I was prepared for, and had settled for just a disabling blow. The legionnaires they had fought in the stadium received several shes across their armor. I healed and manifested my parade armor onto myself before continuing my practice. The fight tilted in my favor, with my only real disadvantage being my limited vision with the helmet. If I faced two opponents, tracking both would be a nightmare. I removed the facete, but it only slightly helped. I preferred my original open-face helm to this ceremonial armor one.

    Discovering these things in the dreamscape was better than my first fight with the armor. My old helm had a wider facial opening, protecting only the cheeks and neck. I definitely needed more practice with the new helm and hoped Zyna could convince the diator to train me. I could try to visit the Imperial Legion Hall training yards outside the armorers.

    I spent hours with the orc, refining his skill, speed, and power with just a thought. I even let the orc get ustomed to my air shield for a few rounds, removing the surprise advantage I had gained from it. The question was how urately the orc’s abilities were recreated based on my observations.

    I had created him from observing four orcs fighting for their lives. But perhaps the broadsword was not their favored weapon. Or maybe they hadn’t gone all out or were young and inexperienced. No. They were veterans, as they had a multitude of scars on their bodies. This orc was alsorger and more dangerous than the orc vers Maveith had created in the dreamscape who killed his sister.

    I exited the dreamscape, this time even more motivated for my physical training. I consumed a major earth essence and a major essence of constitution. The earth essences were still not agreeing with me, but I was motivated to consume all of them and finish imprinting the new spell form.

    I entered themon room to find arge crate. Apparently, Ignis had stopped bytest night and dropped off my weapons. I started going through the crate, seeing the round shield on top matching the parade armor but still having Zyna’s Kraken crest. I tittered as it seemed Zyna was keen on marking me as her property.

    The elven daggers and hand axes had been cleaned, sharpened, and given simple sheaths. I inspected each weapon and had to agree the craftsmanship of the Caelorian elves was far superior to anything in the Telhian Empire. The final weapon in the crate was a short sword in a scabbard that matched the armor. On drawing it, it was clearly a runic weapon, albeit not dungeon-forged. I frowned as it was slightly shorter than the magebane de. This meant the magebane would not fit as I had nned in the sheath.

    Zyna exited her room and looked at me, arching her brow, surprised. I realized she was ready to go to ss, and I was not armored as I had gotten engrossed in inspecting the crate. Fifteen rushed minutester, I was ready and descended the stairs with her.

    Zyna seemed amused by my hasty dressing. “I talked with Ignisst night when she dropped off the crate. I didn’t realize it had been almost five years since ourst conversation. I was surprised you didn’t join us. We certainly were not quiet.”

    “I was using the amulet,” I replied truthfully.

    Zyna considered and nodded. “Be careful not to fall into that counterfeit realm. Too many students at the Mage College who use the dreamscape amulet end up preferring their time there over reality.” I nodded as I could easily see that happening.

    “Ignis was impressed with the elven weapons.” I didn’t respond as I sensed Zyna was leading the conversation somewhere. We reached the ssroom, and she probed, “You keep surprising me with the depths of your dimensional space’s capacity.” She entered the ssroom without waiting for a response. Was Zyna going to leave it at that or pry further?

    For the next three days, she never mentioned my dimensional space again. I began to learn to hate standing watch for three-hour blocks of time, but I got good at standing still. I found a use for the tower shield, bracing it on the floor to support my body weight. I could glean little more from the sses that I couldn’t learn from the books in my dreamscape. I was also d Zyna never used me for target practice in front of the ss, as she had alluded to.

    In the afternoons, I practiced my alchemy skills. The healing salve I crafted shed brightly when I catalyzed the ingredients with my aether. It meant it would have a good shelf life and a decent potency. It could only close wounds and slow bleeding. Repairing muscles, vessels, organs, or bones was beyond its scope. It would be helpful if mypanions were injured, or if I bottomed out my aether, I could use it on myself. I ced a small vial of the paste under my cuirass to carry in case of emergencies. Based on my estimates, it should be viable for almost a month.

    I received three different types of rubbery myconid hide. The fungus men were prevalent in the Endless Dark. The spores were just as easy to gather as the text indicated. You just needed to carefully dry them in a space without wind, as they readily took to the air. The problem with a lot of the powders in the alchemy book was that you needed to be careful when deploying them so that you were not also infected.

    My earth affinity had passed 25, reaching 28, and I still had all six minor earth essences to consume. I had gained nine points from the six major earth essences so far. I would receive another three to four points from the minor essences as I was getting diminishing returns. I knew that eventually, only apex earth essences would elevate my affinity.

    I had also consumed myst major constitution essence, a major strength essence, and three minor coordination essences. The rapid consumption of so many essences was wearing on my strained aether channels. I didn’t think I could continue at this pace for long, even though my body was sessfully metabolizing them, I was feeling exhausted. Maybe I just needed to focus on the lesser essences for a time. Also, my stockpile was not infinite and was rapidly dwindling.

    As thebat field trip drew closer, the mage aspirants, Flora and Livia, became increasingly anxious each evening. Their nerves affected their appetites, which had started to diminish. After finishing their cleaning, I cooked dinner while Zyna spent time in themon room mentoring Renna, Livia, and Flora with their magic.

    Zyna had mentioned to me in private that Flora was the only one of the two mage aspirants who had a chance of creating a proper spell form. Although Livia had a strong aether shaping attribute, shecked the manual dexterity in her hands to trace the spell forms in the air rapidly. You could trace it without using your hands, but that took a lot more skill.

    The morning finally arrived when the mage aspirants would be transported to the western viges to hunt minor nuisances. Thankfully, I was permitted to wear my old legionnaire armor along with the helm. As I reported, neen Imperial legionnaires in their shiny armor stood in the stable yards. They gave me disdainful looks for my lesser armor, but no one spoke up. I carried the smaller round shield adorned with Zyna’s crest, which is probably why they bit their tongues.

    A stout legionnaire approached me, “Zyna’s sentinel?” He didn’t wait for me to reply and asked, “Can you ride?”

    “Yes, legionnaire,” I replied respectfully.

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    “Gather a horse from the stable hands. We ride to meet the carriages in an hour.” He turned and left me to organize the others who had been assigned to this duty.

    The young, stable hands led me to the mounts I could choose from. Most of the mounts in these stables were owned or already assigned. Looking at my choices, I missed Ginger and wondered how she was doing. Maybe I could pay for a message sending to one of the stable boys and find out. I carefully inspected my options using what I learned from Lucian. I selected a massive dark gray stallion for his size and temperament. Of course, the horses here didn’t have a name, so I gave him one: Typhoon.

    I quickly realized why Typhoon had been avable. He was easily distracted by everything: other horses, grass, talking, animals. I was constantly working to keep his attention focused on where we were going. I was given orders to ride at the rear of the procession when we reached five covered wagons. Zyna was riding next to the teamster in the first wagon. Each covered wagon had six mage aspirants, a teamster for the horses, and one mage instructor from the College.

    I guessed each group would have one mage and four legionnaires to guard the young mage aspirants during their hunt. The mages were expected to fight only with their spell forms, as none could cast true spells. This whole experience reminded me of when our training legion was sent to hunt brown goblins.

    The carts rolled evenly on the paved roads as we left the capital. After five hours, we turned off the primary road, and the roads began to get rougher and were just packed earth. The wagons began to bounce some, but had some springs connecting the axles to cushion the trip. I was certain many of the pampered mage aspirants were unfamiliar with this rough travel by the unhappy looks on their faces.

    Flora and Livia were up in the first wagon with Chancellor Zyna. Other than a passing smile from the two when their wagon passed, I did not see them again until we pulled into a sprawling vige about twenty-five miles from the capital. The mood in the vige was somber as the locals watched us arrive. It was obviously not the first time this procession had arrived in their vige. A few legionnaires in worn Imperial legion armor lingered near arge wooden structure that was a tiny local Legion Hall.

    The battered mage aspirants left the wagons, rubbing their bottoms and walking unsteadily from the trip. Zyna scanned the group of thirty-one young mages, the other instructors standing behind her. The legionnaires and I remained mounted in arge circle around them. Zyna addressed the mage aspirants, “Wee to the vige of Crestview. They will be hosting you tonight, and at first light, your mage instructors will take you to hunt. Each instructor was selected for their spells to locate targets for you. Each of your groups has at least one mage aspirant with a healing spell form and two with offensive spell forms.”

    The young mages looked at the others who had been traveling in their wagons, realization forming on their faces. Zyna continued, “The others in your group have utility spells. Your job is to work together and bring down the local predators harassing the outlying farms.”

    Another mage instructor stepped forward, taking over the speech. I could tell this graying man inspired the same level of fear that Zyna did. “You are going to be constantly evaluated from sunrise to sunset tomorrow. Those of you who show promise will be given additional instruction on how to cast true spells. For others,” his tone became ominous. “This may mark the end of your time at the Mage College.”

    Nervous whispers rose among the young potential mages. From Zyna, I understood that the warning was empty. Each mage aspirant would be granted at least an entire year before facing expulsion from the College. By the end of that year, most of the expelled mage aspirants would have imprinted two or more spell forms onto their core. They would then either transition to another of the Imperial Colleges or enter service to the Empire. Anyone without noble blood would somehow find a way to serve the Empire.

    The instructors shuffled the mages into arge inn that was out of ce for such a small town. I followed the mounted legionnaires to the stables behind the Legion Hall. I rubbed down my horse while the others left their mounts in the care of the stable boys. Typhoon had been easily distracted the entire ride, and I got snickers from the other three men who rode with me at the back. Still, earning the trust of your mount could be the difference between life and death. After rubbing down the gray, I fed him arge dungeon apple.

    I passed through the training yard where a few local legionnaires were practicing. After dropping my packs in the bunk room, I returned for some practice. I learned there were only fifteen local legionnaires, and they were not part of a magepany. They just supported the local magistrate and ran messages to the capital. The small garrison was at half strength as fourteen of their number had been sent to reinforce Macha.

    I practiced with four but found no worthy opponents among the local legionnaires. Maybe mybat skills were advancing as well. I skipped the meal in themon room and returned to the bunk room. I was a bit sour when I noticed my saddle bags had been moved and most likely searched. I only had the standard legion travel gear in them, but still, I wondered who among these men was spying on me.

    I ended up not staying in the bunk room and instead spent paying for an evening in the inn''smon room. All the rooms were packed with the mages but arge silver to the owner, and I was allowed to sleep in a tiny cook’s room that was currently unupied. Only needing a few hours of rest meant I was wide awake shortly after midnight. I sat in the fire-litmon room reading my beginner alchemy book the rest of the night.

    Zyna was the first down the stairs, well before dawn, but only after the cook had started her work in the kitchens. The smells of baking bread and frying meat drifted from the back room as she worked, humming to herself. Zyna looked mildly surprised seeing me. “Mage Judice set wards. There is no need to guard the inn.”

    “Some legionnaires went through my travel packs,” I said, closing the book, irritated.

    Zyna’s eyes widened in mild surprise. “Interesting. Anything missing?”

    “No,” I said, making the book vanish.

    Zyna sat across from me. The cook rushed out an early meal for her. “I wouldn’t worry about it.” She dismissed my sour expression. “I am certain anything of interest you have is secured.” She attacked the greasy sausage and hard-boiled eggs.

    I waited until she finished her meal as the other mage instructors arrived for breakfast. Clearly, they intended to wait for the young aspiring mages and then scold them for being slow. “What’s the n for today?”

    Zyna was sipping some fruity wine whose sweetness I could smell across the table. “My fellows scouted the surrounding farmsst night. The only real danger was arge bear and its cubs, which moved south. My group will be hunting arge fox about five miles south. It has taken down a few sheep in thest few weeks and is preparing to give birth.”

    As expected, the instructors berated the slow-arriving mage aspirants as they arrived. “Should I saddle Typhoon?” I asked Zyna, who was carefully observing the interactions.

    “No, you will be on foot with us. You can trust the other three legionnaires with us. There is no need for paranoia. This will be a simple walk in the woods.” Zyna said, standing as she gathered her small flock of young mages, including Flora and Livia.

    An hourter, I was walking next to Zyna at the rear of our group. She had talked to each of the other legionnaires in our group. She calmly informed me, “The legionnaire who searched your pack is a cousin of First Citizen Justin Cicero. I will not have him disciplined, but I am surprised at his boldness.”

    I grumbled as it looked like I was not free of the First Citizens. The mage aspirants at the front hunted small game as we proceeded, restraining squirrels with wind magic and killing birds with sprays of ice needles. It seemed a lot of needless death as the animals were not even harvested. Zyna exined, “They are trying to match the kill count of the other groups. The group sent to the grain stores will have the opportunity to kill dozens of rats. There is some prestige to killing the most creatures.”

    We reached the fox den, and Zyna confirmed it was inside, allowing the mage aspirants to n the attack. Of the six mages they had, one could thicken the air to slow down a target. One mage could see in the dark. Another mage could pull water from the air to form small ice needles but the velocity was not impressive. Flora could grow entangling vines, and Livia could heal injuries. One mage could jump over ten feet in the air, and another could stun on touch.

    The ice mage seemed to take the lead and had the others prepare a trap for the poor fox. Flora grew vines in front of the den, and the jumping mage was going to serve as bait to lure it out. Watching their efforts when the fox did not cooperate and leave its den was a littleical. None of the six were brave enough to enter the den, with Zyna frowning and us legionnaires watching at the edge of the clearing.

    The stunning mage was eventually goaded to enter the den. This caused Zyna to go on alert and step forward, ready to rescue the mage if required. As he took tiny steps toward the entrance, the fox had had enough. It barreled out of the den, its jaws closing on the poor man’s head. Now, I would admit the fox was not small, easilyrger than the mage and over a hundred pounds.

    It barreled into him,tching onto the mage’s shoulder and neck with his long maw. In his panic, the mage forgot to stun the fox, and hispanions tried to save him with a storm of icy needles, but they had little effect as the air mage had thickened the air around the fox to slow it, and that affected the ice needles as well. The ice needles harmlessly pelted therge fox, who was pinning the mage to the ground. Seeing it was surrounded, the fox released its grasp, and bounded into the woods, its belly obviously swollen with a litter.

    The vines Flora hadid out only momentarily slowed the creature, snapping due to the fox’s superior strength. Ance of fire from Zyna struck the fox, burning a hole in its side and throwing it into a tree with a loud crunching thud. Livia was already huddled over the injured mage, trying to heal the bite punctures.

    Zyna was frowning as she approached the group. “That was a poor showing. You didn’tmunicate and panicked when the fox showed itself. I am disappointed.” She turned away from the mages. None of these mages were sons or daughters of the nobility. They were allmon-born, like Flora and Livia. Zyna had been in the same position decades ago, and she expected more from them. I thought the fault was their instructors and not the young mages.

    The walk back to town was in silence. The mages were fed and got to hear of the sess of the other groups as they slowly returned. One group killed two wolves; another had in seventeen giant rats and twenty-four small rats. The third group managed to track the two green goblins down but needed the legionnaires to chase them down in the woods. Thest group located and killed a giant mole eating the roots of the trees in the orchard. Our group only had killed three harmless squirrels and a few birds minding their own business.

    We stayed another night in the town. I slept in the spare cook’s room again, and in the morning, our procession returned to the capital. All the young mages had been bloodied, if you looked at it, and Zyna now had a clearer idea of which among them could be potential war mages. When I traveled to hunt gnolls with Renna and the true mages next week, I expected the danger level to be much higher.