“Master Isor, Tailyn Vlashich is here to see you.” At that moment, the office door opened, and the elder’s aide peeked in. He paled when he saw the mages.
“Tell him to come back later,” Isor snapped.
“Let him in,” said the mage with a nod at the piece of paper. “It looks like he earned himself a reward, too. Hm… One thousand, three hundred gold. Not bad at all for ten years old.”
“Master Mage, come on, what does he need a reward for?” Isor asked nervously. He’d already spent the boy’s money in his head. “The kid just happened to be passing by, and he got lucky to be protected by the temple. Don’t worry, I’ll pay him what he deserves.”
Forian very nearly lost his temper. The worm was daring question the wisdom of the god’s decision? The lix spawn wasn’t aware that the god never made a mistake? As long as it decided that Tailyn influenced the course of the battle, it wasn’t for him to disagree!
“Have Tailyn brought in, otherwise, I’m going to assume that you’re refusing my student his rightful reward!” Forian shot back coldly. It was done. The word had been said, and the rest of Tailyn’s journey to become a student was merely a formality.
Isor’s skin turned whiter than Forian’s mantle. Tailyn was studying under a mage? And not just any mage, but a second-class investigator, a favorite of a department dean? That was impossible! What could the useless clod have done to grab the eye of someone like that? Forian’s power was not Isor’s to dispute—the elder had seen for himself how the mage had immobilized an entire army of lixes with a single blow. But Tailyn was different. He was a stupid ten-year-old from a tiny village! What could the academy want from him?!
But there was a reason why Isor was the town elder. He know how to deal with emotions. Tailyn would get his reward, but the guards could kiss theirs goodbye. After all, they only ever drank it away in the taverns.
“Of course, Master Investigator. By all means, call in Tailyn.”
The boy walked into the room and paused when he saw the mages, having assumed they’d already left town. Bursting to show off his new skill, he jumped right in.
“I followed your instructions, Master Forian. Even more! I—”
“You’re here to report back to me?” Forian barked roughly.
“Oh, I’m sorry… I… No, not that…” The boy was taken aback, though the correction was a fair one. “The god told me I earned eight percent of the loot. I’m here to collect it.”
A twinge of greed swept through Isor, though the mages’ intent gaze made it clear that he wasn’t going to be let off the hook. Instead, he handed Tailyn the list of loot and a coin. The god would add the right sum.
Nothing was going the way Isor had planned it. Once again, the investigator mage was ruining things for him.
“I’d say giving that kind of amount to a ten-year-old child would be foolish and unwise,” the mage said. The city elder’s breath caught in his throat—was Forian really going to suggest they cut the reward, leaving a pittance for the boy? How had he not thought to suggest a share for the mage himself? Berating himself for missing that trick, the town elder made a mental note to pull it with the guards.
“Like I was saying, this loafer doesn’t deserve—” Isor started, though Forian cut in, continuing his thought.
“It strikes me that Tailyn would be better off with the loot you received from the lixes rather than the money. That would be smarter. After all, where else is my student going to find magic items in this hole? Esteemed God, I ask you to recalculate Tailyn’s reward!”
Isor watched, his mouth gaping wide, as the list of loot changed in front of him. Never before had he witnessed firsthand the workings of the divine will. Of course, everyone got messages and went through an initiation, but for the god to respond to a summons by someone who was still just human, well, that was new. Isor would have tossed the piece of paper away like a poisonous viper if that had been an option. But the god might have been offended.
“A ring and a hundred and five gold,” Isor said, reading off the changes. The ring appeared right there next to the coin. In a hurry to get rid of it all, he held it out to the boy. “Here’s your reward. Take it!”
Tailyn accepted the god’s gift with thanks. He’d seen for himself how the ring had appeared, and he still couldn’t believe what was going on in his life. After ten years of meaning nothing to anyone, one thing after another was happening. It was enough to make anyone wonder.
“I don’t think there’s anything else for us to do here. Just don’t forget my letters—the baron had better get them no later than tomorrow. Tailyn, let’s go. You can check your reward out later,” Forian said, stepping out of the room. The boy hurried after him like a well-trained puppy. Finally, Isor could wipe his brow, shakily pour himself some wine, and down it in a single gulp without so much as a grimace. Never again did he want anything to do with mages. And he needed to be done with the crystals, too—they were getting more and more dangerous each time. The whole thing had even cost him Dort. Although, the elder had never really cared much for his son, who had been yet another mouth to feed. They were practically innumerable, everyone wanting something from him.
“Master, the guards are here for their reward,” his aide said, peeking through the door once again.
“Get rid of them!” Isor exploded, cutting loose his pent-up rage. “I’m not seeing anyone else today! They can come back tomorrow, or better yet, in a week. I’m not here! Where is the damage report? And send those damn letters to the baron. Why are they still on my desk?”
Meanwhile, the author of the letters was just leaving the elder’s palace, having long since forgotten about Isor. One thing they taught you at the academy was to clear your head of everything that didn’t need to be there.
“So, what trouble did you get yourself into this time?” Forian asked the boy. For some reason, he suspected that was precisely what had happened.
“No, nothing like that,” Tailyn replied hurriedly. “I did everything exactly the way you told me to. I unlocked the attributes, asked the god not to complete the initiation…and then I asked for the ability to recharge cards.”
“Obviously, the god refused,” Keran said, an invisible shadow flitting behind his partner. The mage couldn’t wait to get out of the city, finish the job the dean had given them, and get back to the academy. Nothing about the arguments, children, and other nonsense in the town interested him in the least. Although, getting a good look at the boy would have been interesting. Only partially initiated… Keran had never heard of that.
“I’m afraid the god actually agreed,” a frowning Forian replied before the boy could say anything. “Tell us everything that happened word for word.”