Chapter 3: Dinner_Millennial Mage

Chapter 3: Dinner

 The sun was setting as T and Lyn walked the city streets, towards food and introductions.

 T had theforting weight of money in a pouch at her belt, while still retaining the hesitancy of the recently destitute. This money would have to provide for her until her first trip, as well as outfit her for that venture. She still had no idea exactly what that entailed.

 Thankfully, Lyn was leading them purposefully towards their goal, so T wasnt dyed or sidetracked by her many musings. I really do need to focus on my surroundings more In school, her introspections had kept her away from too much notice and allowed her to skirt the attention of many who might otherwise have called upon her or used conflict with her to elevate their own positions. Out in the real world? It was likely to get her killed.

 As if to highlight the veryck of awareness she was contemting, T was suddenly led from the busy, if rtively quiet, main streets into a crowded courtyard, filled with people, tables, and portable kitchens.

 Mature trees stood, pleasingly distributed throughout the space. She noticed several braziers as well, though they were unlit since it was a warmer autumn evening. Ceramic tes, magically altered to release gathered sunlight in an even glow, provided afortable, if not bright, illumination.

 There were people at every table, but no table was truly full. While the seating was biased towards the center of the space, the food-carts, for thats what the cart-bound kitchens were, encircled the lot, doing brisk business.

 Many passersby ducked into the area to buy food before continuing on their way, but some stayed, grabbing a seat as others vacated it, creating a slowly rotating, constant group of people.

 It reminded T of the Academys dining hall, if the people had been excited to be there and the food had ever smelled this good.

 She inhaled deeply, instantly imprisoned by the rapture of sulent smells.

 She couldnt distinguish the smell of any one dish, or even one stall, among the milieu, but thebination was a joy and a half.

 Lyn was staring at her again. Are you ok? You look like a starving dog presented with a steak.

 T grinned. It has been far too long, since Ive had a meal that smelled this good.

 Lyn quirked an eyebrow. You still havent.

 Ts grin broadened. What do you rmend?

 They made their way over to a particrly overburdened cart, lorded over by arge, but not truly rotund, woman. Mistress Lyn! Good to see you? The woman came around to the front of her cart to enfold the much smaller Lyn. And who is this waif you bring to my kitchen?

 Her reply came out muffled. This is Mistress T. Shes new to the city. As Lyn was released, she turned towards T. Mistress T, this is Gretel.

 T began to bow. It is a pleasure to meet you, Gret- But, she was cut off as Gretel scooped her up in an overpowering embrace.

 Wee, child. She turned, and picked up a meat pie, thrusting it at T.

 T took it, marveling at how thick and sturdy the crust felt. Not a drop of filling was evident on the outside, as she took the proffered food. Oh! Ah What do I owe you for this?

 Gretelughed. Girl, that ones on me. If you arentpelled to buy more after you eat it, well, thats my fault for making them too resistible. She winked.

 T smiled and took a bite.

 There were no words for the culinary delight, which the pie epassed. It was a light, cream, vegetable, and poultry mixture, with exactly the right blend and ratio of spices.

 Gretel served several other customers, while T devoured her own acquisition.

 When she was, once again, up in the queue, T sang her praises of the offering.

 I like this one, Mistress Lyn. Will she be about for long?

 I hope she will be, at least every so often.

 T nodded her assent. I can promise Ill be back. How much for another?

 5 copper.

 5oz copper. So cheap? How? How? These are amazing!

 Gretel smiled in response. My customers usually get five or six. She gestured to the other carts in the area. We try to make our portions small, so that our patrons can enjoy arge variety. She leaned in close, as if sharing a secret. But, tell you the truth, most who try mine just fill up right here. She straightened and winked again.

 Mistress Lyn, can I buy you a few?

 Oh! Sure? That really isnt necessary, Mistress T.

 She waved away the objection. Nonsense. Ill take ten. She dug around in her money pouch, before pulling out a 1oz silver coin. Can you make change?

 Easily. Gretel took the silver, verifying the weight, and returned four much smaller silver coins, a tenth of an ounce each, and ten 1oz coppers. So, you can easily try some of the other stall, if youd like. I cant hog all the good customers, now, can I? She winked yet again.

 After tucking the coins away, T gave a slight bow. Thank you.

 Gretel handed over the ten small pies on a wooden tter. Mistress Lyn knows what to do with that, when youre done. I look forward to seeing you again, girl!

 T gave a wave as she followed Lyn towards one side of the courtyard. As they approached, T was able to guess where they were heading.

 One table was a bit emptier than others. A striking woman sat on one short side of the long, rectangr table.

 T could not tell her age, or much else about her, because most of her features were obscured by the most all-epassing, intricate set of spell-lines T had ever beheld. The woman, herself, was clothed as if she were expecting to cast, meaning with as little covered as possible. In all fairness, however, the intricacy of her inscribings, and their pervasive nature, left the woman looking as if she wore a skintight outfit of woven silver, copper, and gold.

 It was beautiful.

 They approached, and T set their tray down in front of a couple of empty seats, beside the woman. The inscriber lifted her gaze from her own tter of simple foods to regard Lyn and T, and T felt the telltale tingle of Magic. Her eyes showed her minute ripples of power across the womans face, indicating that shed activated her mage-sight.

 Mistress Holly, this is Mistress T. Lyn gestured to the seated woman. Mistress T, Mistress Holly.

 T bowed slightly. A pleasure to meet you.

 Youre cast quite dry, arent you?

 T hesitated, then quirked a smile. I suppose I am.

 Hollys head tilted to an inquisitive angle. No? Interesting. If casting didnt strip you of your anciry lines, what did? She leaned closer, even as T sat. You must tell me.

 T cleared her throat. Ium She swallowed, nced to Lyn. I was teleported here.

 Lyns eyes widened, slightly, but she didntment.

 Teleported. That seems to be true. But why would you only have your keystone reced Hollys eyes snapped back to Ts own. You didnt, did you?

 No?

 Be decisive. I cant see the truth of your words if you have no confidence.

 No. I did not have my keystone reced. It was maintained through transport.

 Holly pushed herself backwards, just a bit, nodding happily. I knew it. I knew it. There is hereal aspect to your keystone, as if anothers power was forced through it. Why it didnt break your gate Ive no idea, but I suppose by Hethrons thirdw Her mutterings slowly faded below Ts ability to hear them, and she turned to Lyn.

 Is she always like this?

 Hmmm? Oh, yes. Shes quite brilliant, and so most of her conversations are with herself. Lyn shrugged. But shes the best, and I quite like you.

 Hollys eyes narrowed. Still not giving you a discount.

 Lyn rolled her eyes. Lets eat. Im starving.

 Thus, as night truly fell upon the city, T sat with new acquaintances, surrounded by the sounds of revelry and the hum of conversation.

 This just might be possible. I might just be able to work free of this burden.

 * * *

 T licked her fingers clean of herst meat pie and leaned back,fortably stuffed.

 Holly finished thest of her own food, savoring a fruit tart, which had been covered with fluffed cream.

 Now. Give me some blood.

 Tszyfort shed away in an instant. What.

 Holly held out her hand, palm down, revealing a circle of bare skin, surrounded by vaguely familiar silver scripts. Your blood, Mage. I need it to ess your scripting records.

 T looked to Lyn, but the woman just shrugged. Its how she operates. My understanding is that it allows her to directly ovey the schema on her client within her vision, instead of having to doparisons.

 T found herself nodding. That does sound easier. She nced at the hand, still extended her way. If a bitgross.

 Holly rolled her eyes. Well? Mistress Lyn did bring you here for this, right? Lets see what we have to work with.

 Reluctantly, T pricked her own finger, willing a spark of power into the blood just as she pressed a drop down upon the empty circle of Hollys flesh.

 She had a moment of odd disjointment, but it passed as quickly as it hade. Her skin is much tougher to the touch than Id have guessed.

 As the blood came into the circle, silver scripts all over Hollys body flickered to life, their power then flowing into lines of copper or gold. I see. The older woman stood. Come, now. Stand up. Let me get a good look.

 Feeling incredibly self-conscious, and aware that they were in a highly public ce, T stood.

 Holly began moving her about, looking at various parts of her like an alchemist deciding if an herb was worth processing. Holly made an appreciative sound as she inspected Ts hands but scoffed as she looked elsewhere.

 Finally, Holly poked her in the side of her left breast, just softly enough to avoid leaving a bruise. Whoever designed these was a gifted idiot. She snorted augh as T rubbed the side of her chest discreetly. And he was likely in love with you.

 T froze. What?

 Holly waved away the question but then seemed to answer it anyway. Much of this is incredibly clever, and well structured; the majority of your surface inscribing is interlinking hexagons of protection, each of three parts: first, a strengthening of the inner and intra cellr bonds, silver to sense for stress on those bonds with copper to be activated to counter the stress; second, inscribing to reform bonds, if they are broken despite the aforementioned work, again with silver and copper acting in concert; and finally, a mild enhancement of signal speed through your nervous system, when your heart rate rises, again silver to copper. She shook her head. Such a stupid trigger. That should be passively on, all the time, with gold so that itsts longer. That way would actually take less material on average, and we could increase the effectthough youd have to get used to it

 T blinked. But the other two features?

 Hmmm? Oh, those are quite well executed, but youve no obvious defense against magic.

 T nced away. Ive found a different method for handling that.

 Care to share?

 Not at the moment. She looked down. Something shifted subtly in the air around Holly, and T felt an odd, subtle pressure from the womans presence.

 Fine, fine. She looked back down at T and the pressure faded. The poor boy seems to have been afraid to take your feminine curves into ount. It is almost like he built it around a mans body, roughly your size, and pped it onto your skin. She shook her head, again, before poking the side of Ts breast once more. So much unused surface area! And, in this case, unprotected. She scowled. He likely didnt want to be seen as focusing on your chest. She nced down. Or your hips, so he ignored them. Another huff escaped her. All it did was highlight his attention all the more.

 T was quite flushed with embarrassment but decided to press on. And the rest?

 Hmmm? Oh, no human is a t in, so he had to ount for curves in the hexagonal connections, and he did quite well in modifying the scripts for rotational orientations.

 T blinked, trying to follow. She only had the most basic understanding of inscribing theory.

 And Im losing you. Holly sighed. He did a good job. She nced at Ts head, clearly focusing on something only she could see. Good use of standard mental enhancements, here, but again with the heartbeat trigger. She sighed, once more. His true genius came in the implementation of your hands! She grasped Ts hands. I dont know why you only want your expressions to originate, here, but Im not here to judge.

 T did notment on the obvious contradiction.

 Holly looked at Ts right hand, obviously seeing inscribing where there was only nk skin. You focus on gravity maniption for attack and submission, but not area of effects! She held the hand out towards Lyn for a moment, before thetters raised eyebrow seemed to remind Holly that there was nothing there for anyone else to see. Oh, right. She looked to T. Can you actually control this?

 Yes? What do you mean?

 The structure of these spell-lines is incredibly dependent on your ability to attenuate your focus. You must be a savant, incredibly lucky, or ridiculously stubborn.

 How would luck factor it?

 To not have killed yourself with these or been killed as you tried to use them.

 T cleared her throat. Well, it did take quite a while to get them to work as I wanted

 So, stubborn, then. How many targets have you been able to indicate?

 She hesitated, not wanting to admit the truth. Well, if Im not willing to tell her the truth, I probably shouldnt let her work on my inscribings Three or four, at a practice range, but I have difficulty getting more than one, while under pressure.

 Holly nodded, as if satisfied. That makes sense. Especially with the odd methods of your mental enhancements. Imagine, throwing a Mages thinking to the wind as soon as they need to be at their most disciplined. She shook her head.

 T frowned. Wait, faster thinking made it harder?

 Different thinking made it harder. Faster connection speed doesnt speed up your mind so much as reduce time between thoughts. That will change how you think as much as how fast.

 Tactually understood that. So, you can improve on this?

 Holly snorted. Can a fish swim?

 I suppose thats a yes

 But Holly had already returned her attention to Ts hands. Despite thews, its genius how he got around the difficulties of

 T stopped listening. She knew how her magic worked, and that it had been a pain to learn how to use the unusual style of spell-craft, but she had never regretted the choice. Her magic was precise and efficient. She was a scalpel next to headsmans axe of most gravity maniptors, and she sipped metals.

 Ts mind returned to Holly when the woman snapped her fingers in front of Ts nose. You arent listening at all, are you?

 T cleared her throat. Well, I do know what my scriptings do. She sat back down at the table, as Holly didnt seem to need to inspect her directly anymore.

 Holly sighed. We have a lot to discuss, and there is much we can improve. Your designer only thought of your inscribings as multyered, without truly embracing the potential of three-dimensional workings. I see otheryers for muscle and bone spell-lines, and that shows a depth of thinking. Holly smiled briefly at her own pun. But they could, and should, be intertwined, unified.

 IveIve never actually been able to test out those otheryers. She nced to Lyn, who was staring at her with shocked fascination. Deeper inscribings werent rare, per se, but they were unpopr because they could be very painful, and if they werent done perfectly, they led to magic poisoning at a much faster pace than even the most frivolous Material Creator would experience. I hadnt decided tomit to using them, yet.

 Holly waved the objection aside. Dont be foolish, of course youd never get these as they are. Youd be dead in a week.

 T hesitated. They arent that crudeare they?

 No, no. Ill get this worked up for you in just a day or so. There was a strange light in Hollys eyes.

 T leaned back, suddenly wary. Ummm What will this cost me?

 Hmm? Holly was already moving her fingers through the air, as if manipting something T couldnt see. Oh, my alterations to your pattern wont be cheap, but they will be worth it. The spell-lines themselves should only cost 4 or 5 ounces, gold, but with the modifications, I wouldnt be surprised if you only need refreshing for your passive scripts every year or so, but Ill know more after I finish the changes. She nced to Ts hands. Though, of course, your own use of the active abilities will force more regr inscribing of the lines around the functions for your hands.

 T nched. 5oz, gold. Just for the inscribings? How much would this crazy person charge for the schematic? I only have 5.5oz of gold for inscribings and to outfit myself for my first job. She nced at the empty wooden tter. Well, 5.5 oz, less fifty ounces, copper.

 Holly paused, ncing to Lyn. What rate will she get?

 Lyn cleared her throat. That is confidential.

 Holly waved a frustrated hand. Fine, fine. She turned back to T. Ill get you the basics for your first two jobs, if you swear toe straight back here, and not let another inscriber muck up my work. Ill take a day to finalize the schema, and three days to do the actual inking She began muttering to herself again, but T had, once again, hit a mental block.

 Three DAYS of inscribing? She supposed if it were really only required every year or so, that would total less than she had been expecting. It was the same with the cost of the work, itself, but it was front loaded, and she did not have enough money as it was. She cleared her throat, drawing Hollys attention back. I will need at least half an ounce of gold for another necessity.

 Hollys eyes narrowed. More secrets, eh? She drummed her fingers on the table as she finally sat down once more. Or, perhaps, the same secret. She looked into Ts eyes, but T nced away. Fine. 5 oz gold, with a promise of prompt return, and She nced to Lyn, then back to T. 8oz gold upon your return. Fair? Ill finalize your inscribings, then.

 After two trips, T should have an additional 11oz gold, before any expenses, so she should be able to afford it, but She looked to Lyn.

 The other woman sighed and shrugged. Shes the best, honestly. Most of our Mages wont let anyone else work on them, if they can help it. After a moments hesitation, she added. Well, in truth most are satisfied with her apprentices.

 Holly scoffed. Of course, they are. Most just want to throw fireballs or some other simple nonsense. She gestured to T. This creature wishes to do true magic. She grinned. You will y a golden harp beside their hide drums!

 A harp is easily drowned by the sound of drums T opened her mouth to reply, but Holly cut her off.

 A long bow beside a wooden club, then, if instruments arent well known to you.

 T tried to object again, as the instruments in question were so basic the assumedck of knowledge on her part could only be insulting, but Holly overrode her, again.

 But as I was saying, you will need at least three days to adjust to even the first stage of enhanced signal speed, both in your own head, and in your nervous system as a whole. She scratched an itch behind her left ear. I bet youll have at least three cardiac arrests, before your brain and heart work out a new rhythm. Expect LOTS of hups, too.

 Ts face hardened. Excuse me.

 What did you expect? Id leave your involuntary mental functions alone? That would be dangerous! Imagine, enhancing only a portion of your mind. Youd be lucky not to fry within your own skull.

 That is not what I-

 And moving! I cant wait to see you try to walk. She patted Ts arm Youre young, though, that part should limate in a matter of minutes.

 Hold on a mo-

 Yes, this will be a work of art, my next masterpiece will reside on the canvas of your power. Lesser Mages will not be able toprehend your majesty, when Im done. She stood, in a rush, turning and striding away.

 Wait a minute!

 Holly ignored her but called over her shoulder. Mistress Lyn, youre her handler, right? Book her two jobs, leaving in a week, and returning as soon thereafter as possible. Make them safe, or Ill never get my money. Bring her by the shop tomorrow evening.

 Lyn called a vague sound of affirmation.

 T spun on the woman. What do you mean, ok? I didnt agree to anything!

 Lyn shrugged. You wont get a better deal, and honestly, Id be surprised if any other inscriber would take you, now that Holly is interested.

 T glowered. Youve tricked me.

 Into the best inscribing this side of heaven? Yes, yes I did. The clerk looked almost smug.

 Shes going to kill me! You heard her.

 She wont leave you dead. Its not hard to restart a heart, if it actually goes that far.

 T growled. I dont like being backed into things.

 This is for your own good.

 You didnt understand any more of what she said than I did.

 I didnt need to. She has never failed to improve the magic of the Mages she works on. And I figured that she would be fascinated by yourunusualness.

 Ts eyes narrowed. You said she was better than average. A dawning sense of understanding was growing within her. You knew that shed be like this.

 Lyn quirked a smile. And you knew that a fresh graduate shouldnt really be getting a Mages rates. She winked. Ive got to ensure we get your true worth from you, or Ill look bad.

 Ts mouth dropped open. Youknew?

 Suspected. You know: one of the reasons a mageling is paid less is that their inscribings, and their use of them, arent fully worked out, yet. She shrugged. Mistress Holly will take care of that. Lyn smiled, again, patting T on the shoulder. Ive just helped you be who you wanted me to believe you were.

 T groaned and put her head into her hands. I suppose I deserved that.

 Lyns voice had just a hint of sympathy in it. It wont be so bad, Mistress T. Come on. Let me buy dessert. You can stay at my ce, tonight.

 T looked up hopefully. Are you sure?

 Absolutely. Youve a busy week ahead.

 Reluctantly, T followed the other woman to a nearby food cart to select a constion.

MillionNovel

Chapter 3: Dinner