Sybilla was now the new apprentice of the Sorcerer Radikor and carried the letter from her new Master, which invited her to join his company, instructed to her to find another member of Radikor’s Company in the city of Dor-Gata, and to prepare for a journey across the Scar. Sybilla searched the city of Dor-Gata for a Squire of the Holy Order of the Knights of Trinomion, and the city guard directed her to look for the Squire at the Blacksmith’s shop.

  “The potions shop and spell-books library is across the bridge, Sorcerer. Only warriors can use the weapons and armor we make here.”, the merchant warned Sybilla.

  “I’m looking for one of my master’s company. A squire of the Holy Knights. The guards said he was in here.”, Sybilla explained.

  “There’s no squires here, but there is a Holy Knight. He arrived this morning. He’s in the forge talking to the master smith. Take the door to the back.”, the merchant instructed.

  Sybilla went to the back of the forge, and saw a tall man with a trimmed dark beard and trimmed dark hair talking to the master smith. The tall man wore shining armor, a knee-length coat made of metal scales, with a large crest strapped to his back and chest, his arms, his legs were covered in narrow armored plates, and around his waist he wore an armored belt that sheathed a sword on one hip and a black crested helmet hung beneath the sword. A satchel hung on the other hip and two books were strapped to the satchel’s outside pocket. Over the tall man’s shoulder, he gripped a strap that held up a shield that shined without any light shining on it, at least no light that Sybilla could see with her eyes.

  Sybilla used her magic sense on the Tall man and she detected powerful magic from all his armor and sword, but the most powerful magic she sensed was something hanging around his neck. When Sybilla noticed that his gloves had no magic aura, the Tall man glanced at Sybilla, as if he could tell what she was doing. The tall man turned his attention back to the master smith. The two men appeared to be debating over a pair of armored gloves sitting on the middle of the table between them.

  “I’m sorry my lord, but if I even say I allowed a Holy Knight to sell his Holy Gauntlets for scrap bronze in my shop, everyone will call me a liar.”, the master smith pleaded.

  “I already said, I’m not a Holy Knight, I’m not a Lord, and there’s no such thing as Holy Gauntlets. I can show you the scripture. These are just bronze gauntlets.”, the tall man argued.

  “The Gauntlets are in excellent condition, you should just keep them, or give them as a gift. But I’ll only buy iron. I have no need for bronze.”, the master smith concluded.

  The tall man sighed, and accepted the master smith’s decision, as he turned his attention towards Sybilla. The Master-smith returned to metal work, and the tall man departed through the front of the shop, as Sybilla followed.

  “Are you Radikor’s new apprentice? Do you have his letter?”, the tall man asked Sybilla.

  Sybilla presented the letter to the tall man, and he examined the letter as he seemed to check the letter for it’s authenticity.

  “Sybilla, my name is Rodring.”, the tall man introduced himself.

  “Pardon, my Lord, but why did you say that’s you’re not a Holy Knight? You have a Holy Knight’s armor, a Holy Sword, and you don’t look like a squire.”, Sybilla asked.

  “Why? Because I’m old? I have not sworn my oath, until then my rank remains squire. I inherited the sword and armor from my father. And don’t call me Lord.”, Rodring explained.

  “Do we get to see Master Radikor now?”, Sybilla wondered.

  “Not yet. You need to prepare to travel across the scar. Follow me.”, Rodring instructed.

  Sybilla followed Rodring to the Potion shop, but when they reached the entrance, Rodring explained he would not enter a place of Sorcery, and Sybilla would have to proceed alone, while Rodring waited outside. Inside the potion shop Sybilla saw the witch, and she asked to see the letter from Master Radikor. After Sybilla presented the letter, the Witch provided Sybilla with Boots of Travel, Bracelets of Spellcraft, a travel belt with four small satchels, and knee length dress made with protection magic. Sybilla took the boots, the bracelets, and the belt, but she hesitated to take the dress. When the witch noticed that Sybilla didn’t want the dress, she asked Sybilla why the armor had a problem.

  “But I don’t want to wear boob armor.”, Sybilla pleaded.

  “But Master Radikor said his new apprentice needed armor made for a girl. You’re going across the Scar, that place is dangerous, and you need protection.”, the witch argued.

  Sybilla reluctantly accepted the dress, and put on all her new equipment.

  “I can’t feel my ass.”, Sybilla realized.

  “Just let it go. You’ll never make a mess, because it all gets sent to another dimension. It’s called an Advent-guard belt. All adventurers use them, even that Holy Knight waiting outside. Also helps prevent enemies from finding your camp sites.”, the witch explained.

  Sybilla departed the potion shop and she could sense Rodring using something like Magic sense on her new boots, belt, bracelets of magic casting, and dress of protection.

  “Boob armor? I guess it’s gonna be one of those adventures.”, Rodring explained.

  “I didn’t ask for boob armor.”, Sybilla protested.

  “At least you have some protection. You’ll just have to make this work until something better shows up.”, Rodring suggested.

  “If you’re a warrior, don’t you protect the company of Master Radikor?”, Sybilla asked.

  “I may have armor and a sword, but I’m paid to be a healer and that’s more important than battle if people can still be injured, even when there is no threat.”, Rodring explained.

  “You’re getting paid?”, Sybillla asked Rodring.

  “I could reach the Holy city on my own, but arriving with no coin is a different kind of problem for me. If I were a a true Holy Knight like my father, I would accept missions from the Church. Until then Radikor is a reliable customer, and his money is clean.”, Radikor declared.

  Sybilla and Rodring travelled back across the bridge and through the city of Dor-Gata, to wait for the company to assemble. The side of Dor-Gata that faced the scar was reinforced like a fortress’ wall. The City Guard patrolled the city wall moving between watch tower to watch tower, sending alert signal’s every hour, with archer’s shooting flaming arrows, and trebuchets launching barrels of burning oil at any movement within the Scar. Whenever the arrows or barrels hit their target an inhuman scream could be heard from the direction of the Scar. A patrol arrived from another city along the wall, bringing several injured guardsmen to the city’s hospital, and the city of Dor-Gata had to sound an alarm.

  “Is there something we need to worry about?”, Sybilla wondered.

  “Perhaps. Each of the wall cities has a sending stone. So to an extant, they can talk to each other and see each other. If Dor-Gata believes there is a threat, the company will be delayed. But if the wall is breached and Scar spreads to the rest of the world, that would be the end of the world. What do you know about the Scar?”, Rodring asked.

  “When the Scar was corrupted by the forces of Evil, the Demons invaded and spread a blight on the land, darkness in the sky, and this region is known as the Scar. The Holy Knights of Trinomion led the alliance and the alliance’s armies built the wall to contain the Scar and watch the demons. But if Sorcery is strongest in the Scar, and you can’t enter a place of Sorcery, how are you able to be hired to assist a company to cross the Scar?”, Sybilla asked.

  “The scripture teaches that Sorcery came from demons, but nothing from demons is a gift because if the demons give you anything it’s actually a curse, and not your fault. The scripture also teaches that people have the freedom to defend themselves. Radikor studies magic and sorcery, but the only place to even see a Demon is in the Scar, and if the Scar was a place of Sorcery, why is it full of Demons trying to possess people in the Scar? The Scar is not a place of Socery, because it’s really is a place of Demons with different rules. Humans don’t belong there, but the Alliance will not ignore the threats in the Scar.”, Rodring explained.

  “So Radikor studies Demons to copy their Sorcery?”, Sybilla asked.

  “Oh he kills Demons to harvest their body parts as ingredients to craft artifacts. Then he sells the artifacts and raw materials to pay me. And I like getting paid.”, Rodring confessed.

  Sybilla and Rodring arrived at the city gate where Radikor’s caravan of horse drawn wagons were arranged. Radikor hired wagon drivers, horse riders, and all of the hired workers had weapons. A giant warrior in wild armor inspected the wagons from front to back. The warrior’s beard was tied in the front, his long hair was tied in the back, a giant axe almost as tall as him was strapped to his shoulder, rested across his back, and the strap wrapped around to the opposite hip. A wagon prepared for inspection until it’s axel broke. The wagon tilted into the mud, when the warrior ran up to the wagon to lift it out of the mud as the driver replaced the wheel and axel. Rodring walked up to the warrior to offer help, but the warrior revealed he was able to hold the wagon up the with just one hand.

  “Sybilla, this is Thraxor, second in command of the Company.”, Rodring introduced.

  “Sybilla? You’re Radikor’s new apprentice. Honored to meet you.”, Thraxor greeted.

  Sybillia’s magic sense allowed her to see immense magic power within Thraxor, from within the axe strapped to his back, and Thraxor and Rodring knew she was sensing magic.

  “You’re a Sorcerer.”, Sybilla challenged Thraxor.

  “He’s also Radikor’s brother.”, Rodring revealed.

  Thraxor raised his free hand to his mouth and pressed a finger to his lips as he glanced at Sybilla and gestured for her to remain silent about either knowing he was able to use Sorcery or that he was Radikor’s brother. Sybilla suspected Sorcerers with long lineages have the benefit of family experienced with Sorcery, however she still wondered what reason a Sorcerer might have for keeping their Sorcery a secret. Sybilla suspected that their company’s journey through the Scar was more than just poaching Demons for profit, but might also secretly be a family enterprise.

  “Rigo is waiting in the back wagon for Sybilla.”, Thraxor informed Rodring.

  Sybilla followed Rodring while Thraxor remained to help repair the damaged wagon. When Sybilla saw the back wagon she thought it was abandoned, but Rodring continued towards the destination at the back of the row of wagons. Rodring instructed Sybilla to enter the back wagon while he remained outside, just as he did before at the Potion Shop. When Sybilla entered the wagon, she found herself inside a castle. Sybilla turned around to look back and she saw Rodring still waiting. Sybilla wondered why she couldn’t sense any magic, but only magic was capable of making a castle appear inside a wagon.

  “You are not in a castle. You are in a dream, my dream. I am Rigo, and I will teach you healing magic, which you will need.”, Rigo explained.

  Sybilla turned around to look into the Castle and she saw a gaunt old man sitting with his eyes closed, legs crossed, and his hands resting on his knees. Rigo sat on a cloud and Sybilla suspected that normal rules didn’t apply to within a dream. Rigo’s clothes were black robes so dark that Sybilla wasn’t certain if Rigo was just hiding in shadows, but Sybilla reminded herself that this was just a dream. Rigo stood up as the cloud vanished, he conjured a cage with a rabbit inside and he then conjured a sharp tool with sickle like blade.

  “All creatures have a life force, in the spirit realm this life force can be observed. In my dream I am able to allow you to see it. Life force can look like the creature it belongs to like this animal, or it can show you the truth.”, Rigo explained.

  “Such as demons?”, Sybilla asked.

  “Yes, but that’s an advanced lesson for later. For now watch.”, Rigo replied.

  Rigo waved his free hand in a circle projecting sorcery from his hand into a green light in the shape of the circle, and then he began tracing his hand to points around the circle.

  “This is a soul weave, it can heal scratches, burns, and bruises on any injured creature, and can be used by any sorcerer. But it has limitations, it must be applied before a creature dies to have any effect. You can even use it on yourself. Now you will make one. Your bracelets will assist you.”, Rigo instructed.

  Rigo opened his hand allowing the soul weave to shrink and return to him as he closed his hand around the smaller soul weave as it vanished. Sybilla attempted to duplicate Rigo’s spell, a green light projected from her hand as she drew a circle in the air. Sybilla’s drawn circle was lopsided, and green light shifted between blue, yellow, and red light as the connection points stopped with some inside and some outside of her intended circle. Sybilla’s focused to keep the circle from fluctuating. Sybilla’s spell worked but did not look like Rigo’s.

  “Can I try again?”, Sybilla asked as she finished the soul weave.

  “You’ve already exhausted the majority of your mana, you wont be able to cast again until after you rest for a while. We will test this soul weave.”, Rigo argued.

  “How will we test my soul weave?”, Sybilla wondered.

  Rigo raised the curved blade and stabbed the rabbit.

  “Apply your weave, if this creature dies, then you fail. Wrap the injury in your weave. While you can still control the weave use it to control the injury. Concentrate on stopping bleeding, and then mending any severed flesh. If the creature’s life force accepts your weave, it should survive.”, Rigo explained.

  Sybilla realized she could move the soul weave, and it fully responded to her instructions completely understanding her intentions as if it were an extension of her will. She directed the weave around the rabbit as Rigo instructed, and it allowed her to control the animals flow of blood. It became a simple matter of ensuring that each time the creature’s heart beat that the blood stayed in the animal and flowed in the correct direction. Through the soul weave Sybilla knew that the rabbit wanted to live, and that allowed the soul weave the mend the injury. When Sybilla was done, the rabbit appeared as if it was not injured at all.

  “The test is over, Necromancer.”, Rodring declared as he observed Sybilla’s test.

  “Master Radikor needs a Necromancer?”, Sybilla wondered.

  “I am a Necromancer, but I’m here as a cook. I hope you like rabbit stew. Tell the Holy Knight you passed for me.”, Rigo laughed.

  “I heard you, and I’m not a Holy Knight yet.”, Rodring reminded Rigo.

  Sybillla departed Rigo’s wagon simply as of walking through a door, but still uncertain of the magic she had witnessed. Sybilla attempted to cast another soul weave and realized it faded before she could finish conjuring the entire weave. She suspected that Rigo’s warning that another soul weave would not be available until after some rest.

  “Casting spells when you deplete your mana is dangerous. Casting under such conditions requires the sacrifice of some life force, but it can also cause your spells to become unpredictable, or even unstable, and in the worst case scenario a spell produced with blood magic can even suffer diminished effectiveness.”, Rodring warned.

  “I mean no disrespect, but what does a Holy Knight know about Blood Magic? I thought your religion forbid sorcery?”, Sybilla argued.

  “Well, Sorcery happens when mana is exchanged with the spirit realm to manipulate the energy around a Sorcerer to conjure the physical manifestation of spells. Sorcery is demonic because of the exchange. Blood Magic either quickly or slowly erodes the body, with either poison or physical damage to cause spell enhancement. Blood Magic does not require any spirit exchange, because it sacrifices life force. Sometimes to heal an injury caused by magic or curse requires a counter spell, and the incorrect counter spell will have undesirable effects. But I’m not here to instruct you in Sorcery. It’s time for you to see Radikor.”, Rodring explained.

  “So if I can heal myself or even another with a soul-weave, why does the company need a healer?”, Sybilla argued, as she follow Rodring.

  “You and any other Sorcerers can heal someone who is injured but still alive, has a functional brain, and has at least a heart beat. But a soul weave cannot remove a curse, and cannot revive the dead. My faith allows the High King to hear my prayers, and souls that haven’t passed into the afterlife might be brought back to life.”, Rodring declared.

  “You can raise the dead?”, Sybilla realized.

  “I just told you I ask The High King, and The High King resurrects them. The High King restores them to life, not me. And that’s not raised from the dead. Raise-Dead is what Necromancers do. Its as different as Witchcraft is from what I do, and as Warlocks are different from Wizards.”, Rodring explained.

  “Who taught you about all the different magics?”, Sybilla wondered.

  “My father taught me, he wrote about all his battles against the Dark Arts in his book. He passed on all his knowledge, sword, and armor to me”, Rodring revealed.

  “So would you also kill witches, wizards, and warlocks, if your Holy Order told you to kill them? Could I become a victim of the Holy Sword?”, Sybilla challenged Rodring.

  “Only Warlocks need to be killed, because they make a pact with demons. If you remember, today you met a witch, a sorcerer, and a death mage, and I also work for a sorcerer, as a healer, because the High King will sometimes answers my prayers.”, Rodring explained.

  “So if you learned everything about fighting demons from your fathers, could you get paid more for fighting demons?”, Sybilla asked.

  “So to be clear, I am not paid more or less if one person or everyone in the company is healed by me. I’m paid to be here and follow Radikor, but if everyone dies, Radikor doesn’t have a reason to keep paying me. So in an indirect way I want to protect the company. But I don’t need pay to fight demons. I’m not a poacher, I only work for one.”, Rodring confessed.

  Sybilla sensed a powerful magic presence and seemed to be approaching. Sybilla realized Rodring also sensed it and recognized who the powerful magic belonged to. A man approached dressed in a black armor, with a sheathed dagger hanging from one hip and a curved sword with it’s sharp edge turned down, and tied to a satchel on the opposite hip. The man wore a hooded cloak, over what looked like armor made of shadows. The man was almost as tall as Thraxor but almost seemed more like a walking shadow himself, until he lowered his hood. Sybilla suspected that his armor exuded some like of illusion effect that made attacks against him more difficult, on a target that’s hard to even find. Sybilla wasn’t even trying to detect magic, and she could tell this man was covered in magic.

  “Hey Boss, your new apprentice is ready for you.”, Rodring greeted the arriving man.

  “Greetings Sybilla, welcome to my company. I am Radikor, Master Sorcerer. Do you have any questions before I explain your job as my new apprentice?”, Radikor asked.

  “Well I’m off to the temple to pray before we go through the scar. We will not see another temple for a few days.”, Rodring declared and departed.

  “So why do I need to wear boob armor?”, Sybilla asked Radikor.

  “You didn’t choose that?”, Radikor wondered.

  “I didn’t know I had other options”, Sybilla argued.

  “Wasn’t Rodring with you?”, Radikor verified.

  “He was until we reached the Potion Shop. Rodring wouldn’t enter a place of Sorcery and said we would have to find something better later on.”, Sybilla explained.

  “I think the Witch at the Potion shop ripped me off. Rodring was the only one looking for the a smith to sell his used armor, which was why I sent him to meet you next to the potion shop. The dress you wear has magic mixed into the dye, and the protection will not fade until the dye was worn off. No other enchantment will protect you for as long. The only better armor is heavy armor like Rodring’s or Thraxor’s, if you’ve already met Thraxor.”, Radikor suggested.

  “So I’m stuck in a dress with boob armor?”, Sybilla realized.

  “It’s better than nothing. That’s like walking naked through the Scar.”, Radikor laughed.

  “So what’s my job? Master?”, Sybilla asked.

  “Let’s start with my spell books.”, Radikor decided.

  Sybilla followed Radikor to the third wagon, where Radikor showed Sybilla three colored locked chests. The first chest was red, the second chest was blue, and the final chest was black. Radikor raised his hand at the blue chest, waved a few times to the left, a few times to the right, and a few times to the left, which caused the blue chest to unlock and the lid slightly popped open. Radikor raised his hand and the lid lifted itself open, revealing shelves of spell books. One shelf slid left, another went right, and the third shelf followed the lid upwards.

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  “You lock them away with magic?”, Sybilla realized.

  “Well I am a Sorcerer.”, Radikor explained as he proceeded to open the red chest.

  Radikor gestured for Sybilla to look at his collection of spell books from Wizards, Witches, Arcanists, and even a few historians. Sybilla quickly realized that Radikor didn’t write any of them. All of his spell books were written by other spell casters.

  “Are you planning on writing a spell book?”, Sybilla asked.

  “That would be nice, but crafting artifacts and trading magic supplies takes up most of my time. For now I have a task for you, and also a test. Examine this.”, Radikor instructed as he presented his dagger cased in its sheath to Sybilla.

  Sybillla picked up Radikor’s dagger, a judged it was too heavy to be used as tool for cooking food. The dagger’s grip could be held upright allowing it to have the most reach, but also held upside down to be effective at stabbing. The cross guard guard was wide and balanced allowing the weapon to be handled with just one hand and to reverse the grip as needed. When Sybilla drew the blade she became aware that she was holding a magical artifact, and the dagger’s sheath prevented her from sensing the weapon’s magic. The blade had no curves and had two razor sharp edged with a yellow stone encased in the blade’s core between the two edges.

  “That should be enough.”, Radikor announced as he raised his hand.

  The dagger turned into a bolt of electricity, jumped out of Sybilla’s hand, into the sheath, the sheath also turned into electricity, the combined electric bolts jumped into Radikor’s hand, and reverted back into a sheathed dagger.

  “So the book with the instructions to craft a dagger like this one are in the red chest. The spells needed to locate the instructions are in the blue chest. You will need this.”, Radikor explained as he presented a magnifying lens to Sybilla.

  Sybilla looked through the lens, and realized it didn’t magnify at all, and she thought it was broken.

  “That’s a seeing stone. It will allow you to see the words and understand anything written in any language, but it’s not my best one, so it’s interpretations are not very consistent. It will also allow you to see in the dark. I got that spell right the first time. In time you will be able to craft your own artifacts like mine.”, Radikor explained.

  Sybilla accepted the seeing stone, and wondered how Radikor even knew she wanted such a dagger for herself.

  “Why would I just want a weapon? I’m here to learn magic.”, Sybilla argued.

  “Well you’re my apprentice, and I sell the the parts needed to craft magic artifacts like this, and I sell them a lot. Everyone wants magic weapons.”, Radikor concluded.

  “I can’t argue that. I’ll get started. What about that black book chest?”, Sybilla asked.

  “Those spell books need to be checked by Rodring, for curses or demons. Getting possessed by a demon, just because you open a box or turn the page of a book is not fun. The only remedy is an exorcism and those are not fun. Well dinner is at sun set, I think we’re having rabbit stew. If you need to take a break just let either me or Thraxor know. He’s the giant warrior with a battle-axe, and he’ll be inspecting the wagons. The chests are magic and will lock themselves if you leave. Only me and Thraxor know the combinations, but that’s a secret, to stop theft. I’ll be crafting charms to sell. We leave in the morning.”, Radikor planned and left Sybilla alone with the spell books.

  Sybilla started with the closest spell book, and she quickly found the seeing stone did in fact help Sybilla understand the words of the spell book, but the seeing stone was trying to just give the meaning of the individual words. Whenever the author included an allegory or metaphor as an example, the seeing stone was nearly useless. When Sybilla found a wisdom spell designed to give the recipient better memory and reasoning capabilities, she wondered if she had rested enough to be ready to cast spells again. As soon as Sybilla started following the instructions of the spell she waved her hand in a circle and a magic spell began to manifest, the first step was followed by a smaller circle within first circle, then she needed both hands to pull the larger circle into the shape of an eye. The colors of Sybilla’s magic were still inconsistent, but her spells still worked. Sybilla applied the wisdom spell to the seeing stone, and she read in the spell book that a successful cast would last for at least a few hours, and after the enchantment wore off it needed to be cast again. Sybilla expected her attempt at this spell to only last a few minutes.

  Sybilla eventually reached a finding spell as Radikor had instructed, and she studied it over and over, to prepare for casting after she finished resting. When the wisdom spell wore off, Sybilla decided to just focus on the functional parts of the finding spell which could still be successfully translated. The finding spell if cast successfully would allow a recipient to give the location of the desired object, as long as the spell caster could provide the exact object they were looking for. If Sybilla only thought she wanted to find a spell in a spell book, then any page of all the spell books around her would be identified. Sybilla knew that the result of that spell was the same as her current situation, she already knows the spell she’s looking for is in a nearby spell book. But because she had seen the dagger, and at least two properties, the instructions could be specifically located.

  Sybilla prepared to cast her spell after she finished resting. Sybilla focused her mind on the instructions to make an enchanted blade that obeys its user. Sybilla began casting and drew a circle and an elongated diamond shape running through the center of the circle. The spell held, and Sybilla applied it to the seeing stone. When Sybilla looked through the stone she saw four spell books in the red chest were marked with an aura, but when Sybilla looked without the seeing stone the aura of light vanished. Sybilla pulled all four spell books from the chest and decided to examine each of them to compare which one is the closest to Radikor’s dagger.

  Sybilla opened the first book from the red chest, and she found the design of turning a magic staff, with a focussing stone on top, and simply using that staff as the handle of blade. This weapon design reminded Sybilla of Thraxor’s axe. If a sorcerer was big and strong enough to use big weapons and wanted to conceal the fact that they were a Sorcerer, that would hide the sorcerer’s staff. Another benefit this weapon provides is that the Scorcerer can fight enemies up close or cast spells without having to carry a separate weapon. This weapon’s only flaw is that it’s large, heavy, and impractical when fighting indoors in any place with limited room as with either a long blade or magic staff.

  Sybilla opened the second book from the red chest, and she found the instructions of enchanting a blade such as a sword or axe with a temporary enchantment. And the methods for specially increasing a weapon’s striking power, and allowing a weapon to gain the ability to inflict burning, freezing, or electrocution. The instructions included warnings against applying burning effects to weapons made of wood, or electrocution to metal weapons intended to be held. The instructions recommended application to arrows, other projectiles, and even thrown weapons. This seemed closer to what Radikor instructed than the first weapon design, but Sybilla decided to keep looking at the other two weapon designs.

  The third book selected was titled “Malodor’s guide to the Weapons of the Holy Knights of Trinomion”, and the cover contained an illustration of a Holy Knight in his full armor with his sword drawn ready to strike, and his shield guarding his front as if he were facing the artist of the illustration. Sybilla knew the book wasn’t what she was looking for, but she wanted to read it anyways. Sybilla learned that every Holy Knight has a helmet, an armored coat, armored boots, and belts that carry the Holy Sword and Shield. Sybilla also realized that holy gauntlets were not mentioned at all in the book, so perhaps Rodring was telling the truth when he said his gauntlets were just normal armor. As a Holy Knight increases his rank completing missions for the Church, his armor and sword become more powerful and unlock new forms, which result in a Holy Knight gaining super strength and super speed. A Holy Knight of the highest rank of “Martyr” is expected to be impervious against any attack either physical or magical in nature. The most terrifying ability of Holy Knight is the area around the Holy Knight depending on their rank will prevent the use any hostile magic against them. A Holy Knight with higher rank, provides greater range, and even though this area effect is centered on a Holy Knight, the disenchantment shows no impediment to their own magical abilities. While the book contained everything the author knew about the Holy Swords of the Knights of Trinomion, including every possible measurement, weights, and materials. It didn’t actually contain the process on how to build such a sword. Sybilla thought this situation was be like having an image or list of ingredients for food, but not the actual recipe. Sybilla suspected that if a skilled enough sword smith had this information they could make a weapon that looked like a Holy Sword, but would not know how to enchant their crafted blade with any Holy power.

  Sybilla opened the fourth and final book just to discover that it contained the instructions to place either a ruby, a sapphire, or a citrine within any common blade, and doesn’t have to be a dagger. These weapons gain one of three possible magical enhancement. Ruby grants burning, Sapphire grants freezing, and Citrine grants electrocution. While the enchantment effect is permanent, whenever the weapon and it’s enhancement are being used by the wielder, it will continuously drain the user’s mana. If the user does not activate the enchantment or does not have enough mana to spend on the effect, the blade will just be a normal blade with no magic enhancement. As an object it contains no mana and no will to exist in another state. These weapons’ fundamental nature is a simple function to be used as a tool. Sybilla looked for anything in that instruction book that allowed an owner to control such a weapon while in the hands of someone else, specifically to summon the weapon back to their hands. Sybilla suspected when Radikor summoned the dagger back to his hand, Radikor cast a spell separate from the nature of the dagger.

  Sybilla believed that she had the correct spell book to pass her test, but she was also concerned that if she couldn’t perfectly match the expected qualities she observed Radikor’s dagger demonstrated, then she might not pass her test. Sybilla cast the finding spell on the seeing stone once more and then began looking through the stone searching for the summoning spell. Sybilla looked for the spell within the books around her, but found nothing. When Sybilla looked at the remaining books in the red and blue chests, she also saw nothing. Not even the black chest showed any hint that the summoning spell existed in there. Sybilla wondered if the finding spell had failed, but the seeing stone was still active, and that made Sybilla think that the spell she was looking for did exist. Sybilla looked up and saw a magical glow, but the seeing stone was pointing at the city of Dor-Gata. Sybilla looked through the stone and saw the Temple, she saw Rodring in the temple and the book he carried on his hip. Sybilla wondered if Rodring knew the summoning spell or if he simply had a similar spell in his book. Rodring looked back at Sybilla, and Sybilla wondered if Rodring could see her, or was aware she could see him. Rodring’s mouth moved as if he were speaking to Sybilla, and appeared to realize that he was aware of her. Sybilla couldn’t hear Rodring, and didn’t know how to communicate back with him, as Sybilla realized she could only see Rodring. Rodring looked directly at Sybilla, tapped his ear, and seemed to wait for a response. When Sybilla wasn’t able to reply, Rodring drew the Holy Sword, and tapped the blade on the holy shield, as the shield was still hanging on his back. Rodring’s action caused the seeing stone to lose all of the spell enhancements and the seeing stone reverted back to it’s original functions.

  Sybilla decided that she had the correct answer for Radikor’s test, but when she put the seeing stone down so she would have free hands to put the books back into the chests, she realized the sun was setting. Sybilla realized simply holding the seeing stone allowed her to see in the dark, as Radikor explained before. Sybilla set the answer spell book aside, but packed the other books as she originally found them. Sybilla tried to shut the red chest, but the chest would not lock, and then Sybilla remembered that the locks were magical and she had to leave to lock the chests. Sybilla wondered if she should look for Radikor or if she should just go eat dinner and find him afterwards.

  When Sybilla reached the wagon at the end of the row she found Rigo standing next to a large metal pot hanging from a three sticks over a fire, Rigo poured diced vegetables from a bowl into the pot, which contained a boiling stew. When Rigo saw Sybilla, Sybilla knew that Rigo was using magic sense, and something near Sybilla caught Rigo’s attention.

  “What is that? You have something burning with magic.”, Rigo informed Sybilla.

  “Radikor gave this to me.”, Sybilla explained as she revealed the seeing stone.

  “Is that a seeing stone? What did you do to it?”, Rigo wondered.

  “I used spells to improve it, or at east I think I did.”, Sybilla explained.

  Sybilla offered the seeing stone to Rigo, but Rigo held up his hand gesturing that he would not touch it. Thraxor arrived without his axe, but instead had two women at his side, each woman was holding on to each of his arms. The two women laughed and whispered into each of Thraxor’s ears, But when Thraxor approached the row of wagons, he stopped having fun and sensed the magic from the seeing stone.

  “Ladies, sorry but I need to get to work, we’re about to have an emergency. It’s not safe here. You should probably go back to the brothel. And if you see any guards tell them to sound the alarm.”, Thraxor informed the two women.

  Thraxor walked up to Rigo wondering what happened since he left.

  “Who used double cast?”, Thraxor demanded.

  Rigo pointed at Sybilla, Sybilla presented the Seeing stone to Thraxor, and Thraxor hid his face in his hand.

  “This is bad. Radikor is gonna lose his mind.”, Thraxor realized.

  “What’s double cast?”, Sybilla wondered.

  “When certain spells are cast on the same enchanted object, it has a chance for two possible results. It has a high chance of attracting demons, and there is also a chance it can explode. So that has to stay outside of town.”, Thraxor revealed.

  “Explode? I’ve been holding this thing in front of my face!”, Sybilla realized.

  “Well if it hasn’t exploded yet, it probably won’t unless the correct counter spell is applied. Only Rodring knows how to do that. Sybilla, think carefully. What spells were cast on this seeing stone?”, Thraxor asked.

  “I first used a wisdom spell, then I used two finding spells, but I had a long rest between each cast. But Rodring did something and took all of it’s magic away.”, Sybilla recalled.

  “But Rodring has been in town all day.”, Rigo agued.

  “If someone pointed a finding spell at him, he can counter-spell. So that means three blue spells and one red spell. I think we can just hide it, until after the demon attack. We need to find Radikor.”, Thraxor reasoned.

  Thraxor called the wagon drivers to prepare for demon attack and send someone to find Radikor. Rodring arrived and was concerned that the city guard had sounded an alarm.

  “Why don’t we just throw the seeing stone in the path of the demons and hit it with a counter-spell?”, Rigo suggested.

  “It’s had four spells on it already, we’re too close to town to try that.”, Thraxor argued.

  “Are we fighting demons or not?”, Rodring wondered.

  “Yes, we’re fighting demons, Rodring.”, Thraxor declared.

  Rigo threw a pile of bones onto the ground and the bones turned into dust. The dust surrounded Rigo and then turned into metallic armor. Rigo’s new armor had the visage of skulls etched into the shoulders and knee guards, and the rest of the armor looked like the ribs of a skeleton. Rigo reached for a nearby satchel, and revealed three vials filled with a blue liquid, and a fourth vial filled with a red liquid. Rigo moved the four vials into pouches on his belt.

  Rodring knelt down and reached for one of the two books in his hip. Rodring flipped to a page marked with a ribbon and as he focused on the page his eyes began to glow. Rigo shut the book, closed his eyes, and whispered a few words in a language the Sybilla didn't understand. As Rodring drew the Holy Shield, the outside of the shield began to glow with the same light from his eyes. Rodring used his free hand to place the helmet on his head, and Sybilla saw his eyes glowing with divine fury from under the helmet. Rodring finally drew the Holy Sword and glowing light shimmered down the blade.

  Radikor finally arrived and demanded Thraxor follow him into the darkness of the Scar. The other wagon drivers, along with Rodring and Rigo watched the horizon as the sound was filled with Thraxor’s and Radikor’s voices. Radikor stabbed his cutlass into the ground, then threw his dagger into a piercing impact next to the cutlass, and Thraxor buried the haft of his axe into the ground.

  “You had one job. To watch the caravan, so can we leave in the morning. But now we might be responsible for a demonic attack, on a wall city. If Dor-gata finds out it was us, I might lose my trade license, the other wall cities might not give me another chance, everyone here loses their job, and everyone might die tonight. So where was the person I put in charge? Were you at the brothel looking for wenches?”, Radikor asked to clarify.

  “You said you didn’t care about what I do with my time.”, Thraxor argued.

  “When the work is done, that time is yours. When we’re going into the Scar that time is mine. When nobody knows who you are, whatever happens with those girls at the brothel doesn’t matter. But when an apprentice sorceress summons demons, everyone cares about what we’re doing.”, Radikor explained.

  “Is this my fault?”, Sybilla wondered as Radikor and Thraxor continued to argue.

  “People will think something bad happened and you cried out to a demon, which is why most magic schools failed. Competition between students almost always results at least one student seeing the school is unfair, because games are rigged by politics. All the students are in danger, if even just one student resorts to dark magic.”, Rodring explained.

  “Hey! Your dinner will be extra veggies for that insult.”, Rigo retaliated.

  “If just one student resorts to a demon pact.”, Rodring corrected his explanation.

  “But Rodring has a point. The masters all realized that no instruction is just as dangerous as competition of magic schools, so most disciplines employ the master and apprentice system. So the only competition is finding a master, at most a master might have two apprentices, with one senior apprentice who usually needs less instruction and the two apprentices will almost always have different roles, so they never compete. That’s how I am, I cannot return home until I have paid my master’s debt to Radikor.”, Rigo explained.

  “A Master Necromancer owes Radikor?”, Sybilla wondred.

  “No. My current master is chef. My journey as a Necromancer is circumstantial. That’s just the culture of my tribe.”, Rigo explained.

  “So if they think I’m having trouble, I might summon demons?”, Sybilla wondered.

  “No they’re afraid you might summon demons because of Radikor’s first apprentice, who couldn’t even surpass Thraxor, and Thraxor doesn’t even practice.”, Rigo explained.

  “That’s not the story I heard. Rohdahk went missing in the Scar, made a demon pact to survive, became a warlock, and the demon demands blood sacrifices, but Radikor got named for losing his apprentice.”, Rigo explained.

  “You heard a story? But you were there, I was there, we went looking for Rohdahk, and he didn’t want to be found. And you know how important having an apprentice is for Radikor, he ever gave up on Rohdahk.”, Rodring argued.

  “Rohdahk didn’t want to be found by you, because we all know what you do to Warlocks. But if he is hurting people, I would try to stop him too.”, Rigo agreed.

  “So what does Radikor need from me?”, Sybilla asked.

  “An Apprentice is what makes a Sorcerer more than just a Sorcerer, having an apprentice means that Radikor get’s to be called a master. That’s why Rohdahk is kind of a riddle to us. Of all the masters whose an apprentice could learn Sorcery from, Radikor has lots of spell books, only has time for one apprentice, and he’s independently wealthy, enough to hire all of us.”, Rodring revealed.

  “That last quality is a really big deal, because a master with financial problems, is under pressure to send their apprentice to pay their debts.”, Rigo realized.

  “So why not just find a new master?”, Sybilla asked Rigo.

  “That’s what Rohdahk did. And a master can ask an apprentice why they changed masters, or how they already know how to do something. If a master thinks their apprentice is lying or is dangerous. The master can throw the apprentice out. I’m not trying to return to my master, I just want to return home. We can only guess what happened between Rodahk and Radikor, but Radikor doesn’t talk about Rohdahk.”, Rigo revealed.

  Six city guards riding on horses, searching with torces, arrived from the direction of Dor-gata, led by their guard captain.

  “All you men will follow us, you will join the defense of the city. But not you death mage.”, the captain ordered, as he looked at Rigo.

  “That’s not going to happen, captain. Because the city is on the other side of the wall behind you. We’re not in the city, we’re inside the Scar.”, Rodring argued.

  “And the demons are on their way. You would be safer inside the walls. Are you the master of this caravan, Holy Knight?”, the captain demanded.

  “The master is talking to his chief warrior, that way. Do want his answer?”, Rodring asked as he pointed in the direction of the darkness of the Scar.

  “Who are they yelling at?”, the captain wondered.

  “Each other, I think. I’ll work with you here, but not for you. Allow protection for all of us, and I’ll see who is willing to join in the city’s defense.”, Rodring offered.

  “How many women? How many death mages?”, the captain asked.

  “Just one of each.”, Rodring revealed.

  “I accept, lend us all the fighting men that you can.”, the captain agreed.

  “If anyone wants to hide behind the city wall, stand with the city guards. I’ll explain to Radikor where you are.”, Rodring announced, but no-one stepped forward.

  “All of you would face certain death in the Scar?”, the captain realized.

  “We travel through the Scar for weeks, without any fortress.”, Rigo explained.

  “And is your job worth fighting demons?”, the captain argued.

  “I’m gonna say…yes. But that’s just me, because my job is unique, and I fight demons for free. You have your answer, captain. Now go back to your city, and shut the gates behind you. The demons will be here soon.”, Rodring warned, and the captain led the guards home.

  Radikor and Thraxor picked up their weapons and returned from the their argument in the Scar. Thraxor returned to the middle of the row of wagons, instructed the wagon drivers to reorganize the wagons to protect the wagons carrying the most valuable merchandise, instructed Rodring to explain what the City Guards wanted, and instructed Sybilla that Radikor wanted to see Sybilla in the Scar. When Sybilla found Radikor she presented the spell book, hoping that she had correctly passed her test, even though she imagined summoning demons was a different kind of failure.

  “This is the correct book, so you pass. Show me the seeing stone.”, Radikor instructed.

  “I’m sorry I put all of us in danger.”, Sybila apologized, and presented the seeing stone.

  “Save any sorries for after the battle, my apprentice. I need you to focus on learning to fight demons with sorcery. I was hoping we would have more time to build up your spell casting capacity. Have you learned the difference between red spells and blue spells? How many spells do you know how to cast?”, Radikor asked.

  “Sense magic, Soul Weave, Wisdom, and Finding. I think Blue spells are helpful in solving problems, Red Spells are for attacking enemies.”, Sybilla answered.

  “Well that answer is close enough. If we survive, I’ll tell you the right answer. The first spell I want you to know is Impact Force. This spell turns a small amount of you mana into a projectile to hit an enemy at distance. Yes I want to to stay away from the enemy more than I want to you going near any demons. Watch me.”, Radikor instructed.

  Radikor turned facing to Sybilla’s side as if he was aiming at an imaginary target a the far horizon. Radikor aligned his hands as of he were holding into an imaginary box with one hand pressing on the top of the box, and the other hand holding the box from the bottom. Each hand began moving in a circle, as if Radiator was making the box spin in his hands, and then Sybilla saw the the magical projectile form between Radikor’s hands. When the projectile was formed, Radikor released the spell, the magic projectile shot forward at Radikor's target, and impacted with an explosive crash.

  “You must focus on the target for the entire time of casting. If you cast too quickly the spell will have less impact, but if you build up too much power the enemy might try to attack you back. The next spell I will teach you now is how to gain and cast burning enchantments. If you read this book, you should have learned that it’s dangerous to apply burning to wooden weapons. Your bracelets can hold a burning enhancement for the entire duration of the spell. You will need to cast again when it wears off. Watch me.”, Radikor instructed.

  Radikor crossed his arms and swept his arms outwards and upward, and begun casting the next spell. Radikor then swept his arms back together crossing them opposite of where he started. Radikor then lifted his arms into a reversing helix as he continued to cast, and Sybilla realized that the completed spell matched the sigil of fire. Radikor held the spell in one hand, drew his cutlass, and slowly passed the blade through the spell coating the blade in the burning enchantment.

  “The main difference between red spells is they use significantly less of your mana, so long rests are not needed between casting attempts. If you combine the Burning Enchantment and Force Impact, the effect will be more powerful than a catapult launching a barrel of burning oil. Now you try.”, Radikor instructed.

  Sybilla imagined a target far into the darkness of the Scar, and began sweeping her hands to draw the sigil of fire to cast the burning enchantment. When the spell was complete, Sybilla applied burning enchantment to one of her bracelets. Sybilla began swirling her hands in a circle casting the force impact spell. When Sybilla released the spell it didn’t fly in the correct direction, and had to change direction to attempt to hit Sybilla’s intended target. The Spell needed to change direction three more times before it managed to get close to the target’s location. Sybilla hoped that practice would make her aim better. The fire-bolt finally hit near Sybilla’s intended target and as Radikor claimed, the result was an explosion of fire and the flash of light allowed Sybilla to see the horde of demons, marching towards the city.

  “Are all those demons here for me?”, Sybilla wondered.

  “No. Not just you. The city is full of people who feel jealously and hedonism. The Two Deadly Sins of this Universe.”, Radikor explained.

  “Only two? I thought there would be more, like maybe seven.”, Sybilla suggested.

  “Seven? That’s a lot to remember. What are the other five?”, Radikor asked.

  “Gluttony, Sloth, Lust, Greed, Envy, Wrath, and Pride.”, Sybilla explained.

  “Well those first three are about making the self happy or satisfying human urges, that’s just Hedonism. And the other four are about having more wealth, being more powerful, or more prestigious than another, that’s just Jealousy. You know what? We don’t have time to debate philosophy, because the demons are attacking. So when you write you own book about Sorcery and protecting yourself from demons, you can write seven. For now, just survive. Bring this book back to Thraxor, and he’ll tell you what to do next.”, Radikor instructed.

  The light from the fire-bolt faded and Sybilla returned to the row of wagons. When Thraxor saw Sybilla she surrendered the spell book, as Thraxor continued to direct the efforts of the Radikor’s company and to prepare for the demonic attack.

  “Rodring, Rigo, you two will join Radikor in the Kalavahn Pass.”, Thraxor ordered.

  “Really you’re leading the defense this time? Not me?”, Rodring wondered.

  “Radikor wants to test if I will follow instructions and the demons are coming here, because Sybilla is here. Radikor plans to hit the demons when they are unprepared, we all know that Radikor only needs a few to counter an enemy’s march.”, Thraxor explained.

  “Radikor does realize that we need Kalavahn pass in the morning? And I’m confused because I didn’t do anything wrong, but it feels like I’m being punished?”, Rigo asked.

  “What’s the difference? If we fight demons here or over there?”, Rodring argued.

  “I should have left with the city guards.”, Rigo realized.