Chapter 206: Double the Mage
If audio player doesn't work, press Stop then Play button again
Chapter 206: Double the Mage
Double the MageThis chapter was first shared on the Ñøv€lß1n platform.
While his last lesson with Father Andrew had hardly been riveting, practising his penmanship for a full bell, Martel saw the benefits of being able to write well. And he could think of worse ways to spend two hours. Sitting down at his desk, he looked at the old priest.
"Get your parchment and quill," Father Andrew mumbled.
Martel grabbed both, ready to write.
"Today, we'll look at arithmetic."
Martel barely suppressed an audible groan. He spent the next bell writing down numbers, staring at equations while an aged clergymen yelled calculations at him.
***
While an unpleasant start to the day, Martel had no further classes past noon. An obvious opportunity to work and gather more silver to pay for John's remedy, except none was available to him. Martel had to face another unpleasantry; getting enough silver by working for Master Jerome would take ages. He had three choices. Either find more people to borrow money from, perhaps wait until next month when Maximilian would have more, or seek employment outside the Lyceum.
The latter would be faster, assuming he could find someone in need of his services. He was not going to cheat at gambling, as he had tried once; nor would he engage in prize fighting. Such illegal pursuits had only brought him grief. No doubt he could perform other tasks for Kerra, but Martel trusted her less than rotting fish. That left him with one other idea. He opened the drawer in his desk and pulled out a small note detailing an address.
"No thanks." As Martel sat down at the table, she did as well. He glanced at the weapon rack, holding a quarterstaff, a bow staff, a few swords with different lengths, and an axe.
In the silence that appeared between them, Flora gave him an appraising look. "I must admit, I did not expect you would come by. You seemed dismissive of my offer when we last spoke, even if you never said as much."
She was perceptive, Martel noticed, much like Kerra. He should probably consider his words carefully. "I like to keep my options open. Even if I'm not ready to wear your colours, I thought we might begin with working together on a less formal basis. If you have any tasks in the city, guarding something or protecting someone, I'd be interested in joining you for those."
She continued to watch him with her calculating expression. "That could be. Now that it's just Marcus and me, until we get reinforcements from Aquila, opportunities are scarce. If I could spread the word to our liaisons that we offer two mages, that would help with what jobs we might accept. Especially as between us, you and I have a good variety of spells at our disposal."
"I'm not afraid to fight, but I don't think I can be involved in ambushes and tasks like that," Martel specified. Self-defence was one thing, but being the instigator of violence violated both his principles and the law.
"I think we all learned our lesson on that," Flora remarked dryly. "Given our rather tenacious position, we are looking at much simpler jobs. Guard duty, collecting debts, providing a neutral force in tense situations, and so on."
"Sounds good to me."
"But if we bring you along, we must be able to rely on you." She leaned forward and gave him another scrutinising look. "No leaving halfway through because things take an unexpected turn, or you have to be back at the Lyceum. On the job, we stick together."
"If I'm in, I'm in."
The earthmage smiled. "I'll let our contacts know of our new offering."
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
Chapter 206: Double the Mage
Double the MageThis chapter was first shared on the Ñøv€lß1n platform.
While his last lesson with Father Andrew had hardly been riveting, practising his penmanship for a full bell, Martel saw the benefits of being able to write well. And he could think of worse ways to spend two hours. Sitting down at his desk, he looked at the old priest.
"Get your parchment and quill," Father Andrew mumbled.
Martel grabbed both, ready to write.
"Today, we'll look at arithmetic."
Martel barely suppressed an audible groan. He spent the next bell writing down numbers, staring at equations while an aged clergymen yelled calculations at him.
***
While an unpleasant start to the day, Martel had no further classes past noon. An obvious opportunity to work and gather more silver to pay for John's remedy, except none was available to him. Martel had to face another unpleasantry; getting enough silver by working for Master Jerome would take ages. He had three choices. Either find more people to borrow money from, perhaps wait until next month when Maximilian would have more, or seek employment outside the Lyceum.
The latter would be faster, assuming he could find someone in need of his services. He was not going to cheat at gambling, as he had tried once; nor would he engage in prize fighting. Such illegal pursuits had only brought him grief. No doubt he could perform other tasks for Kerra, but Martel trusted her less than rotting fish. That left him with one other idea. He opened the drawer in his desk and pulled out a small note detailing an address.
"No thanks." As Martel sat down at the table, she did as well. He glanced at the weapon rack, holding a quarterstaff, a bow staff, a few swords with different lengths, and an axe.
In the silence that appeared between them, Flora gave him an appraising look. "I must admit, I did not expect you would come by. You seemed dismissive of my offer when we last spoke, even if you never said as much."
She was perceptive, Martel noticed, much like Kerra. He should probably consider his words carefully. "I like to keep my options open. Even if I'm not ready to wear your colours, I thought we might begin with working together on a less formal basis. If you have any tasks in the city, guarding something or protecting someone, I'd be interested in joining you for those."
She continued to watch him with her calculating expression. "That could be. Now that it's just Marcus and me, until we get reinforcements from Aquila, opportunities are scarce. If I could spread the word to our liaisons that we offer two mages, that would help with what jobs we might accept. Especially as between us, you and I have a good variety of spells at our disposal."
"I'm not afraid to fight, but I don't think I can be involved in ambushes and tasks like that," Martel specified. Self-defence was one thing, but being the instigator of violence violated both his principles and the law.
"I think we all learned our lesson on that," Flora remarked dryly. "Given our rather tenacious position, we are looking at much simpler jobs. Guard duty, collecting debts, providing a neutral force in tense situations, and so on."
"Sounds good to me."
"But if we bring you along, we must be able to rely on you." She leaned forward and gave him another scrutinising look. "No leaving halfway through because things take an unexpected turn, or you have to be back at the Lyceum. On the job, we stick together."
"If I'm in, I'm in."
The earthmage smiled. "I'll let our contacts know of our new offering."
Chapter 206: Double the MageDouble the MageThis chapter was first shared on the Nvl1n platform.While his last lesson with Father Andrew had hardly been riveting, practising his penmanship for a full bell, Martel saw the benefits of being able to write well. And he could think of worse ways to spend two hours. Sitting down at his desk, he looked at the old priest."Get your parchment and quill," Father Andrew mumbled.Martel grabbed both, ready to write."Today, we'll look at arithmetic."Martel barely suppressed an audible groan. He spent the next bell writing down numbers, staring at equations while an aged clergymen yelled calculations at him.***While an unpleasant start to the day, Martel had no further classes past noon. An obvious opportunity to work and gather more silver to pay for John's remedy, except none was available to him. Martel had to face another unpleasantry; getting enough silver by working for Master Jerome would take ages. He had three choices. Either find more people to borrow money from, perhaps wait until next month when Maximilian would have more, or seek employment outside the Lyceum.The latter would be faster, assuming he could find someone in need of his services. He was not going to cheat at gambling, as he had tried once; nor would he engage in prize fighting. Such illegal pursuits had only brought him grief. No doubt he could perform other tasks for Kerra, but Martel trusted her less than rotting fish. That left him with one other idea. He opened the drawer in his desk and pulled out a small note detailing an address."No thanks." As Martel sat down at the table, she did as well. He glanced at the weapon rack, holding a quarterstaff, a bow staff, a few swords with different lengths, and an axe.In the silence that appeared between them, Flora gave him an appraising look. "I must admit, I did not expect you would come by. You seemed dismissive of my offer when we last spoke, even if you never said as much."She was perceptive, Martel noticed, much like Kerra. He should probably consider his words carefully. "I like to keep my options open. Even if I'm not ready to wear your colours, I thought we might begin with working together on a less formal basis. If you have any tasks in the city, guarding something or protecting someone, I'd be interested in joining you for those."She continued to watch him with her calculating expression. "That could be. Now that it's just Marcus and me, until we get reinforcements from Aquila, opportunities are scarce. If I could spread the word to our liaisons that we offer two mages, that would help with what jobs we might accept. Especially as between us, you and I have a good variety of spells at our disposal.""I'm not afraid to fight, but I don't think I can be involved in ambushes and tasks like that," Martel specified. Self-defence was one thing, but being the instigator of violence violated both his principles and the law."I think we all learned our lesson on that," Flora remarked dryly. "Given our rather tenacious position, we are looking at much simpler jobs. Guard duty, collecting debts, providing a neutral force in tense situations, and so on.""Sounds good to me.""But if we bring you along, we must be able to rely on you." She leaned forward and gave him another scrutinising look. "No leaving halfway through because things take an unexpected turn, or you have to be back at the Lyceum. On the job, we stick together.""If I'm in, I'm in."The earthmage smiled. "I'll let our contacts know of our new offering."
