Chapter 10: Lesser Arcane Ward
Caden woke up as the morning sunlight pierced into the veiled tent, basking him in some much needed warmth as he groggily began to sit up and rub his eyes. It had been a week since the battle of the bandits and Caden had practiced diligently. The past few days or so Lucian had been helping him try to form the spell, and he was very close now. He was bright awake as soon as he thought about it. 'Today's the day I use my first real spell!' He hyped himself up and quickly began to get ready, washing up his face a bit and putting the robes over his undershirt as it came down to his knees, and then grabbing his staff and rushing out of his tent.
Caden ran all the way to the clearing they had been training at yesterday. He hoped to do it before the camp got packed and moving again, not wanting to wait until they set up camp for the night much later. He could train while they traveled, true, but he wouldn't be able to really test his spell inside a carriage. It seemed Lucian had the same idea, because as soon as Caden stepped into the clearing, the Wizard was already there waiting along with another man—a big man—Ajax. Caden stepped over and gave a quizzical look to Lucian as he gestured to Ajax with his head.
"He's here to help test the strength of your new spell. I can cover the magic side of the testing, but Ajax here would be better suited for the physical side. While I can use magic to enhance my strength, I think it'd be good for you to see how well it can hold up to such a big man." Lucian said and nodded to Ajax who grinned.
"And I get to pop a big magic bubble! It's good deal for me as well, little Caden." Ajax said, wishing to test his mettle in a manly contest of his muscle vs magic. Caden of course agreed it would be cool to see. He was ready to show this brute his true power! The boy thought with a slight smirk as he began to channel his magic to his staff and hum. His mana sea creating a rhythmic pattern in it's vibrating wave as he began to slowly sync it back up with his voice.
The Wizard calmly watched and listened as Caden attempted it. "Keep focused. Go slow and steady, no need to rush it the first time. Once you get it right once, it will be much easier, like you can just 'feel' that it's right. For every time after, that feeling will stick with you."
Caden nodded and closed his eyes. He kept a steady hum as he reached further within himself to grasp that faint inkling of power. His mana wave slowly, steadily, inching closer to it's destination. It took another 15 minutes, but finally something inside of him resonated. He felt a heat inside his stomach he had never felt before, only faintly when using one of the basic elemental waves. This was a whole other beast entirely. He began to sweat as a white, glowing, transparent bubble began to expand out from his staff's tip and around him. It started slow, just the size of a water bubble and then got bigger, and faster too, as the feeling began to click into place.
"You're doing it!" Ajax shouted in glee with his deep baritone voice. As Lucian kept silent and watched the scene of his student's first true spell activation. The bubble finally stopped expanding until it was one meter around Caden in all directions. Except below, of course. The boy slowly opened his eyes to the sight before him with a look of awe. His eyes opened wide and curved up in happiness.
"I did it!" He said with a gasp.
"You did good, kid. Congratulations." Lucian told him with a relaxed smile while Ajax laughed uproariously. Walking up and slapping his palm down on the bubble which resisted his impact, creating a ripple effect around the glowing sphere that distorted Caden's view for a brief moment.
The boy then snapped his head over to Lucian with an urgent command. "Quickly! Throw a fireball at it or something!" He said with a perverse grin on his face as he waited. Lucian chuckled and began to hum as a small orange orb about the size of a hand formed at the tip of his staff which he pointed to the bubble and the boy in the middle.
"Make sure you keep the connection steady. If the bubble vanishes right before impact, I don't want to be the first Wizard to have killed their student in a spell-test." The Wizard said, pretending Caden didn't pick up on the point that some Wizards have actually killed their apprentices in other accidental ways. 'Surely that won't happen, right?...' Caden gulped.
Ajax quickly jogged to the edge of the clearing to watch the spectacle with wide eyes and a grin as Caden focused his entire being on supporting his bubble. If it broke, it wouldn't be for a lack of mana, that's for sure. He gave a firm nod to Lucian who responded in kind, before letting his hand-sized fireball go and launch itself with great speed to the bubble.
BOOM!
Within a second, a deep blast resounded in the clearing as the flames were parted by the stalwart bubble. Inside, Caden saw red and then felt the impact and had staggered back slightly as the shockwave slammed into him, greatly dispersed from his ward. There was a large crack near the point of impact that he left be for Lucian to see the damage. Ajax rushed forward as Lucian began to approach as well.
"That was awesome!" Caden squealed immaturely as his jaw about broke from the huge smile on his lips.
"Aha! Such great power!" Ajax also gushed, looking enviously at the bubble. If only he could have such a strong defense, then he would be invincible!
"Indeed, the spell worked as intended. Though there was quite a bit of damage too. Had you tried to take the fireball I used a week ago back on the gate of the fort, it would have broken and injured you at the very least. It will likely be enough to keep you alive though in such cases. Also remember, you can repair the damage by simply applying more mana through your connection with it." Lucian said in a lengthy speech as Caden nodded and absorbed all of the lifesaving tidbits given.
The Wizard continued on, granting Caden a nod of approval. "Also, congratulations. You are a true Wizard's apprentice now. I won't have to worry about you that much next time something like a bandit raid occurs. At the very least, you won't die. Even if your attack potential is low."
Caden smiled appreciatively. He knew that if a Wizard like Lucian had actually wanted to kill him, his measly bubble wouldn't be able to stop a strong spell meant to kill him. Even that fireball from a week ago wasn't at it's full potential at just the size of a basketball. But Caden would take what he can get. Even if it's just the 'Lesser' version, it's still enough to make common soldiers look like a joke.
"My turn!" Ajax said as he pulled out his personal axe, which he usually leaves back at camp during battles, and began to hack and slash at the bubble with his monstrous strength. The bubble had already been repaired as the first strike slammed onto it and rebuffed the axe-head, sending a retaliatory shock through Ajax's arm from the impact. As if he had hit a wall with it. At the failed attempt, Ajax got red in the face and sent strike after strike, almost to no avail, as finally a small crack formed after his last strike.
"Ahahah! I'm too strong!" Ajax gloated in victory at his small accomplishment as Caden also began to laugh at how poorly it went for the brute. Lucian shook his head and began to walk to the edge of the clearing, having had enough of the childishness.
"C'mon, the caravan's probably already waiting."
...
The column set back off as they began their travels anew. Caden sat at the front of the carriage, still giddy from finally learning his new spell. He was sure he probably wanted to learn the fireball spell next. Or something cool like a lightning bolt. He wasn't quite sure yet, but he was definitely going to pick something like that. Lucian was resting back inside the carriage so he had the time alone to his thoughts.
As the caravan slowly continued on, a light drizzle began to fall down atop his head. Caden looked up to see dark grey clouds amassing into the distance, and the faint rumble of thunder alluding to a storm approaching. Caden ignored it for now, just hoping the rain wouldn't give the wagons and carriages trouble due to mud. These wagons and wheels were from Atlas, though. They likely had small enchantments on them to improve their rugged terrain and weather endurance. So Caden just went back to his thoughts.
'Perhaps I could use the spell twice and create a double bubble!...Or would that not work? I guess some experiments are needed next time I get the chance. Also I need to figure out how to make a personal spell sometime. I should come up with a signature spell that decimates my enemies. Yeah...that'd be—' Caden thought was interrupted by the sound of yelling. The rain had begun to come down much harder as thunder and lightning raged above them. The sound of a hatch opening gave Caden rise to his master's curiosity.
"What's going on?" Lucian grilled him with a loud grumble.
"I don't know— I think I hear an argument up ahead. Perhaps it's to do with the storm." Caden told him with a curious look on himself.
Lucian sighed. "Just stay here." The Wizard got out of the carriage and summoned some magic from his staff to create a faint shield of mana to keep the rain off and a glow of light to give him a better view through the storm. As he approached the source of the yelling, he found Demetrius and Noros in an argument. "What's going on?"
"I'm commanding the caravan to turn back. The way ahead is blocked." Demetrius said calmly.
"Blocked?! What's wrong?"
Noros broke into the coversation with a harrumph. "Demetrius doesn't want to just wait out the storm and have us turn south to enter the Forest of Lost Faces! He's a madman!"
"We simply can not afford to wait. The river's been flooded. There won't be a way to cross it for a week, at least, and we can't wait that long. Aren't you also on a mission? I suppose you can't get there late, can you?" Demetrius defended himself quickly with a list of points in his favor as he turned his steely gaze back to Noros.
"Flooded?" Lucian asked, more to himself as he began look past the duo into the distance. The river which had once only been a few dozen meters wide had since grown in scale to where the bridge was only barely visible near the middle of the now raging torrents. He stared in disbelief. "How did this happen? Did the dam upriver break?"
"Perhaps that old dam really did break. Those old dwarven constructs were usually of better make than we would build, so perhaps it was sabotaged!" Noros said with his brows furrowed.
Lucian shook his head. "No, I doubt it. It's more likely it was slowly breaking over a long period of time and the sudden surge in water level gave it just enough pressure behind it's weight to push it's integrity to the brink. That old dam is hundreds, maybe a thousand years old."
"Or older." Demetrius chimed in, turning to glance at the Wizard. "I don't suppose you can whip some spell up and make us a new bridge, now can you?"
Lucian scowled and shook his head. "No. It would take at least a week itself to make one big enough to cross this behemoth. That rivers at least a hundred meters wide. I just simply don't have that much mana, and Caden doesn't know the spell, either."
"Alas...it is such a pity..." Demetrius sighed exaggeratedly. "I guess our only option is the Forest of Lost Faces after all..." His mouth curving at the corner just the slightest amount. Lucian only nodded with a grimace as he turned his gaze further south where a deep fog clouded the forest's edge.
"Damn."
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