CHOP CHOP CHOP
"Ouch!"
"Huh?"
"Eh... nothing, I just pinched my finger."
Both figures, Jerry. The inept/capable wizard compared to the age and experience of his colleagues chopped ingredients for soup. His blue robe was set aside for the moment, now wearing a plain shirt and sporting rolled-up sleeves. The girl next to him was incongruous for this reality. Like a coal left in the snow, Nyx stirred the cauldron, temporarily ditching his leather vest and just having the black top. For sanitary reasons after spending three days among corpses.
"That's what ya getting for dunking my hands in boiling water.." the shape-shifter in disguise commented, his voice amused. His voice. It's finally back... after so much time. In hell, drowing in that disgusting wet void. Running around the forests of this new chance at life like a broken wind chime. "And where did you get the rooster?"
In a tin pot with water, a headless bald bird was waiting for its turn to join the soup. "I pressured some guards to sell it to me. I gave them one bomb and a silver coin."
The deal was pretty shitty. "A silver. For a chicken? Isn't that a bit much?" he said confidently. "Seems a bit -- generous. Didn't Dörk say food was cheaper?" Nyx's eyes hadn't left the mixture in the pot, which he had stopped stirring when the foam had subsided.
Jerry had approached Nyx and taken the spoon, tasting a little soup. "I suppose a hot meal is better for a living man than silver for a dead one." He twirled the spoon between his fingers, licking his lips at the taste of the broth. "It needs more celery. And we can throw in the chicken."
"Aren't we supposed to cook it at the start?"
"I could. But I need boiling water. By the way, can you bring some more?"
"The pump outside, right?"
The man nodded.
"Take one of these pots. It's clean."
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"I have magic in my bones-- Hoep, hoep dy thoo--"
"Can you please stop that..." Callahan had been following the road. Then he ran into Dörk, who was apparently bored and not keen on seeing the general. Too bad the barracks were in a short sight. Now he was begging/ordering his colleague to stop singing.
"Oh well, okay. You win." He chuckled at Callahan's hopeless attitude. "Anything you want to do today?"
"Supposedly we need more material, so we're going north-east of the wall to cut down some trees."
Dörk just raised an eyebrow provocatively. "Little derogatory action for you, isn't it? They need a wizard for that?"
"Nothing like that, no, but the soldiers want two wizards to accompany them. Just in case, you know."
Dörk agreed with the idea. "Even better." He smiled, anticipating a phenomenal idea. "Even more phenomenal—take Nyx with you. She needs more action. Plus—she used to be a woodcutter." Plus, that way she can prove what can she do. JACKPOT moment for me—her. Dörk thought excitedly, happy that he could continue with the original scheme he had started with.
First: make Nyx look great in front of people.
2nd: promote her for some benefits.
3th: to be continue.
And now she never the less ,has her voice back. It will be much easier for her to mingle around and make high up friends. Hmm... What else... Some new armor? A shiny sword...? Blaah... I don't think that's her image.
The barracks gate was in sight, where a few soldiers were moving barrels back and forth. Irrelevant to what the soldiers were doing a second ago, Nowak was talking to the officers, just leaving the hall of his office.
His hand shot up, stopping Lenny and another younger officer. "Nice afternoon, huh?" Nowak was first to strike up the conversation.
"It was okay, I'm not complaining. Sorry I was late this time. I was in the middle of a breakthrough with my bodyguard..." Dörk's rambling lame excuse was going to take a few minutes, which was actually detrimental to the general's brain cells.
"Glad that's happening." His words were friendly, but again, his tone was derogatory. "Anyway, I have a few needs I wish to explore and learn whether some of your mages can assist."
His eyes sparkled, not because they had something cool to do, but rather that he didn't have work to do. "Sure, sure! I'll be happy to talk to the rest of them. We're meeting for lunch and gossip. Ask them for what I may?"
The general grabbed one of the papers Lenny was carrying, searching intently through the lines on the page. "We lost a few trebuchets in the assault, so we need help. See if anyone knows how to help with the craft or... anything."
"Of course! Of course! Count on me." Dörk turned to the man of similar age. The coordination of the program and meetings was relatively under control, as Dörk managed to meet with the general in the morning and evening. It was more difficult for the general to see the wizard arrive on time.
"And I want to talk about some opportunities we can pursue. You and me."
A drop of sweat ran down the wizard's face. "Like what?"
"Again, we'll talk later."
"If possible, General. Some soldiers have asked for assistance this afternoon." The wizard, who could imitate a bear just by wearing a fur coat, spoke to the general. "My name is Callahan. We've met before, but we haven't been introduced to each other."
The general just nodded. "I have no problem with that, but thank you, Sir Callahan. And yes, if you would like, you can assist. But they have already left. Right, Lenny? Jill?"
They both nodded in agreement.
Dörk couldn't just stand on the sidelines of the conversation. "Well, in that case, we'll join you after lunch if we can." His voice, intended to be sweet, only annoyed the two men.
"Sure, sure..."
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"And where are you from?"
Nyx was trying to strike up a conversation between himself and Jerry. At that moment, the golem was rummaging through the things left behind in the wizard's squat house. Through the open door was the kitchen, where Jerry was still watching over for the soup to get done.
"The city of Lemthot. Further west of Elth, where we met. Where are you from?"
Jerry just had to stab him in the stomach like with knife. "I don't remember. Far to the east. Exactly where, I don't know..."
"How come?"
"Jerry, I died and spent decades in hell. For a short time, I didn't even remember who I was." Nyx had shot the vib down, his body didn't stop, not completely numb but for a few seconds carrying the again the feeling of hell in his head, but the fog in his mind had cleared.
"Yes... Sorry." His muffled voice came from the other room.
Back at Nyx's pole, the golem glanced down over a wooden ball. Picking it up, he could see more clearly it had a drilled hole in the bottom. Strange... what was it for? A little twirling between his fingers and a few tosses up and down revealed nothing special of the object. Nothing special until an idea struck him.
As before, he gently charged the thing with mana. He aimed at a chair. Launching the ball once he'd extended his finger like a snap. The ball flew pretty well. Nyx instantly saw the clue. Somehow, the round shape didn't follow a perfect line, but curled around the intended straight direction. And smashing the window leaving a hole and flying out into the street.
KRACK
"Eh? What was that?" Jerry's voice was heard, the sound of the floor creaking as he entered the room.
He caught Nyx already on the window. She stepped wrong on the threshold and hit her face on the pavement. "Fuck! Son of a bitch... Jerry! Wait to see what I got!" Jerry had just moved closer to the window when Nyx climbed back inside.
"What?" His mouth was slightly open, staring at the window, Nyx, and finally, the wooden ball. "What you gonna use that for?"
"Just watch." His tone was simple. His movements were smooth, loading the ball and launching it, hitting one of the four wall of the room. Jerry could see the same serpentine movement in the air as Nyx did before.
"Heh... That's something. Strange, but something. Are you doing it on purpose or--"
"It happens on its own!" The golem's eyes were wide with amazement himself. At first, things flew badly, weakly, or exploded. Now, this ball showed a new line of advancement. He picked the ball back up and showed it to Jerry. "What do you think?"
He took the object from the golem's fingers without hesitation. "It has a hole," he said intrigued. "Maybe that's why it spins in the air." Jerry followed suit. Aiming at the same wall, his cast was faster. "It flew straight," he jerked both eyebrows . "Which means you're doing something or you have something."
Nyx pulled up a chair, leaning his weight on the wood. "So it's my fault but not my fault... And I do what now?" The anticipation in his voice was clear. This spell, as useful as it could be for men, was not attainable to the golem.
"I don't know. But it's obvious we've hit a roadblock." He copied the girl's action, sitting down next to her on an identical chair. "Maybe you were right, maybe we need to look for something else you can become good at." He scratched his beard, his mind rolling like a stack of book. His eyes shifted mechanically to the golem. This spell, the next , what could she do and which ones? If she can cast at all. "Well... How about... I teach you how to shoot fire."
His suggestion lingered in the golem's mind. But before the conversation could go any further, the door to the house opened. There was some small commotion from some men, and moments later they came into the dining room. About six skybinders had entered.
"Greetings, Jerry." Some repeated the greeting, others nodded and shook hands with him. "Oh, you forgot to set the table again." A particular wizard spoke. He had no beard, but his mustache was long, extending several inches past his chin. He was balding. Tall and slightly thin, he looked older than Dörk.
The man in crime could only agree. "I did. But I thought we could eat outside. Like we usually do?" Jerry suggested to the man while the rest of the people sat down around them, some greeting the golem and sitting on chairs or the couch. Overall, the house Jerry picked was nice and spacious. The yellow walls mixed well with walnut furniture.
The wizard talking to Jerry only winced at the boy's suggestion and sighed.
They both stepped away, walking down the hallway and through a door way out of sight of the wizards and golem left in the dining room. "So... How's it hanging?" Nyx just had to keep quiet, but the silence was a bit uneasy.
Two of them just chuckled. One took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a drag. "Pretty okay... this morning wasn't very busy," he said, reaching out to open the window. He stopped when he saw the broken glass.
"Hehehe—my fault." Nyx smiled at the gentleman. "I was just practicing a bit and I... yeah." He tucked his long hair behind the ear.
"HA... As if we do not understand that. Klarens, do you remember when I set the barn ablaze?"
"The best day of my life."
"Tell us about it," the two men said to the group.
The two of the men had shared with the group.
"Or me when I first tried to purify water." The man scratched his forehead, his eyes widening at the old memory. "I killed our cow." He laughed heartily.
And everyone followed suit. "That's funny," Nyx added to the conversation, not shy about joining in the chatter and laughs.
"Yes, it was. The worst beating of my life from dad." He cringed at the memory. "And what are you practicing?"
Nyz didn't say a word, just lifting the wooden ball still in his hand and firing it at another wall. "It doesn't fly straight. Sometimes it explodes in my hand, or it flies off course. I did my best with this ball."
One of the wizards closest to the ball just picked it up off the floor, throwing it back to Nyx. "It has a hole in it, so it's not balanced."
Nyx shook his head. "That's not it, Jerry can throw that ball straight to the end of the earth compared to me."
The man with the cigarette shook the burnt tobacco out the window before saying anything. "Do it again," he said to the golem, his eyes now fixed on Nyx. "We'll follow it with our magic. Detekuje magii (Detect Magic)" the man whispered.
This time Nyx took up center place in the group. He slowly charged the ball with mana--
"Stop there."
One of the men said.
"Yes, I saw it too," another continued.
"What?" Nyx asked the whole group. Was it that easy to figure out the problem? Well, it was now or never. "It's my mana, isn't it? Or what?"
"It is and it isn't." The man took one last drag on his cigarette before stubbing it out with... his tongue... and chewing on the butt? "You have a problem—a natural one and a simple one. 'Mage hand'. " A quick shake of the hand caused the ball to slip from the golem's hand and float toward the man. "It's the frequency you're working at."
"Working frequency? What ?" The golem's question was followed by him sitting down, turning his full attention to the man, just so someone else could answer.
"Do you know anything about frequency and power?"
Nyx racked his artificial brain for an answer. He understands frequency—you plant a sack of potatoes a day—ehhh.... "A little—but not in this frame of mind." If he could, Nyx would have broken a sweat of embarrassment.
"For 'Catapult' to work, you have to saturate the object evenly with your mana. Using the sign later on, the mana manifests itself on the surface of the object, creating a—how should I put it..." The guy scratched his chin.
"Coating!" Another guy added to the explanation.
"Yes! Exactly," he nods to his fellow, nodding in thanks without breaking his speech to the golem to hear. "The coat is usually something aerodynamic—a sphere or ellipsoid for making the object fly straight. Now back to you. The sign is okay—if you had continued, I think you would have done it correctly, we'll see when you do it again. But because of your frequency, you spread it bad, in clusters, pressed uneven."
"Anyway, let's see if you understand. Let's say we have a water pump. Simple, right?" Nyx nodded his head. "So many times we pump per minute—that's frequency. Now imagine the water coming through the pump pipe. That's mana."
Nyx listened, trying to keep up with the man's explanation. "What about power?"
"That's just liable for blowing stuff up your face. Caused by mana clusters and triggered by the sign. No need to get over it. Making the sign just makes the clusters to shoot out and break the surface."
These guys are confusing me... "So the problem is—I'm not operating at the right 'frequency'?"
"And you're putting too much mana at a low frequency. Imagine... you're watering a garden. The garden is square." Another man tries to explain, drawing in the air. "Let's say you water it down in rows, it doesn't matter. And you move the sprinkler over the row once. Same with the others, but the ground isn't watered properly. So what do you do?"
The sudden stop of the explanation broken with the wizard's question disturbed his concentration, but the answer was obvious. "I water it again—I increase the frequency?"
"Yes! You guessed it!"
"But..." the same man who was explaining about the garden cut short the gulp of felicitations to continue his explanation. "Now you're watering too much—the earth and plants are ruined. What you do?"
Nyx just scratched his forehead. From low frequency to high frequency was the right answer a few moments ago. What else needed to be changed? The man saw that the girl had hit a snag. Yes, the answer was not a obvious one, but Nyx had managed so far with whatever the wizards explained. "You want to change how much water you spread. You'll need to balance the frequency and mana you volume you push so it can be even."
In his rocky head, his silicon synapses made the connection. "So I push mana but not even. And—using the sign or even before, it can explode because of it or to much mana...?"
CLAP-- CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP
Then the wizards began to applaud the golem. "You understand." The wizard in front threw the ball back to Nyx. "Shoot it." However, looking at the ball, it appeared to be spinning. It wasn't the ball, but the image was slightly distorted in Nyx's mind. He was stressed. Of doing things wrong again. Of making the wrong move despite all his explanations. After answering their questions correctly--.
"Come on, I'm hungry!" one of the group remarked, laughing. Trying to pull Nyx back to the goal line with a joke.
Now he knew the problem and had the solution. The golem had placed the ball between his palms. "That's good. Really good. She can feel feedback in one palm while pushing from the other," one explained, happy with the ingenuity of the young mind.
And it was irrefutable. Pushing her mana through her right palm to her left, Nyx could feel the energy coursing through . The surge of mana. It caressed the level, not resembling the feel of ignition or shield. But as they had explained, he amplified the frequency at which he pushed.
"Do you think you did it right?" one of the wizards asked.
Showing the ball from between his palms to the wizards. "Yes, it looks good." A tenth of a second later, the ball flew true, sparking another round of applause.