Mark of the Fool

Chapter 22: Tests by Moonlight

Footsteps creaked across the deck.

Good morn- A pause. Afternoon, I suppose.

A middle-aged womanhalf of the couple that attended the ceremony the night beforedrew up beside Alex and Theresa, and leaned against the rail, yawning. Late evenings get harder as you get older, just to warn you two. Of course, I never seem to learn. She laughed. Are you vacationing in Generasi?

Uh, studying, actually, Alex said, throwing another glance over his shoulder. The skinny mans eyes burned into Theresa then flicked to Alex and the newcomer. Sliding off the barrel, he gave a quick nod and made for the stairs leading below deck.

Another small wave of jealousy stirred in Alex, but now it was joined by a feeling of creepiness.

Ooooh, you got into the University? the woman brightened, with all traces of tiredness disappearing. Youre both very, very fortunate. Both my husband and I were born in Generasi, but weve only ever toured the University.

Oh, are you both wizards? Alex asked.

Oh my, no, she chuckled. Could never wrap my head around all that spell array and circuitry stuff, and my husband has enough mana to maybe fill a shot glass. We work as administrators for the ruling wizard council. Were not very high in the office, but high enough to be worked to the bone!

Sounds impressive, Theresa said.

Alex tried to force the image of Alrics mayors assistant being punched in the face from his mind.

Its mostly pens, ink and candlelit nightsnot the fun sort either. Oh, and not enough vacation time of course. Still, its nice seeing all those young wizards in the city, walking toward bright futures. Together.

She gave them a meaningful look, and Alex couldnt help but blush. He made sure his face was turned from Theresa.

Whats it like? The city? she asked, giving no hint of embarrassment.

Oh if youve never been, I shant say, the older woman giggled. Telling now would be like telling you the ending of a book before you get there yourself. Its something my husband and I are used to now, so I shouldnt rob travellers of the magic of seeing it for the first time. Trust me, though, youll love it. Just take my advice: book a sky-gondola when you arrive. Will you be staying on the campus?

Alex looked over his shoulder to his sister beside the captain. The wind carried her voice over, and he could hear her asking exactly how sails worked. He smiled. Maybe for a bit. After that, well be buying a place for my sister, myself andTheresa.

Dont forget Brutus. She tapped him on the arm.

Oh, I could never forget Brutus. I dont think anyone could. Could you? he asked the older woman lightly.

She didnt laugh. An odd look lay on her face. Buyingproperty, you say? Young man, you wouldnt happen to be a noble, would you?

No, why?

Its justhmmmm, do you have coin?

Alex blinked, his cheeks flushing. He felt a little insulted.

Not to assume anything, the woman said quickly. But its just thatyoure so young.

Oh, we have coin. His voice had a little more heat than hed intended. His parents had ensured theyd be well off, and it hurt a little to have that questioned.

Ah. The older womans hand flew to her mouth. I apologize, that must have sounded positively dreadful. Its justmy husband and I are near retirement now, and weve been blessed with fine careers. Its allowed us to vacation from Generasi many times. See our children. See many sights.

She paused. Weve seen many, many young folk climb aboard a ship for Generasi looking to begin a life, but its a difficult thing to achieve there. Youre a student at the University so that would exempt you from some of the bureaucratic process, but property is very expensive in the city. Ive seen just as many disappointed faces on the return journey, orworsecramming themselves into tenaments and just scraping by. Im sorry, but Im only trying to spare you from disappointment.

Alex bit down on his anger. Likely, she meant well, but her assumption that his fortunethe material sum of his parents liveswouldnt be enough made his teeth grind nearly as hard as they had in front of the dungeon core. He pulled himself away from the emotion, acknowledging it and trying to let it pass.

Feeling his anger couldnt be helped, but acting on it and making an enemy before hed even set foot in the city could be avoided.

Well have enough, he said through a forced smile, calling upon his Mark to guide him and make it look genuine.

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She searched his face again, and he could tell by her blush that she was a little embarrassed. Well, you know your business. Again, I apologize. I should go and drag my husband out of bed before he sleeps the whole day away. Enjoy the morning air, both of you. Ill see you at lunch andif notthen hopefully during dinner this evening.

The woman quickly made her way to the back of the ship.

Theresa watched her go. Awkward, she muttered beneath her breath.

Yeah, he agreed, turning back to the sea. Actually, she reminded me of something that I wanted to ask you about this evening. Can you meet me on deck tonight? And bring your great-grandfathers sword? And your knife?

Her eyes searched him for a moment. I can, but why?

I want to try some things with He let the statement hang in the air.

She nodded, seemingly knowing hed referred to The Mark. Well meet after the others have gone to bed. We can leave Selina with Brutus.

Twin-blade Lus sword gleamed in the moonlight as Theresa drew it from its sheath. Now that he had time to look at it closely for the first time in years, Alex couldnt help but be amazed at how beautiful its steel was.

Like polished silver.

Actually Theresa paused, then slid the blade back into its sheath. Its probably safer if we do it this way.

Yeah, good point. Alex imagined The Mark spoiling his concentration while he held a sharp blade. He shook away images of severed fingers flying overboard.

Before I give you this. She looked at him seriously. I want you to understand something: this isnt a stick. This isnt a knife. This isnt a toy.

Yeah, its your great-grandfathers sword. He said respectfully. Ill treat it with respect, Theresa.

Thats not the only reason to treat it with respect. Her eyes were as grim as grave stones. This is a weapon. Pure and simple. A bow is for hunting, targets, fishing and war. A spear is a hunters weapon, and a knife is used in most parts of our lives. But Ill tell you something my grandfather told me: a sword is different.

She raised up the blade until it was level with his eyes. A sword has one purpose, Alex: killing. Its a tool of battle. Its not the first tool of battle: thats usually a bow or a spear because even though a sword has bite, it doesnt have reach. People use them as a decoration, but that isnt its purpose. Its true purpose is for killing monsters and people: treat it with the same respect you would one of your spells.

Alex nodded quietly.

Theresa watched him, then handed him the sheathed sword.

Gingerly, he wrapped his fingers around the hilt.

Nothing happened. No interference from The Mark. So that meant he could handle weapons. Or swords at least. What were its limits, then? Would it only react if he attacked someone with it?

Theresa, how do you strike with a sword?

Thatsthats like asking how do you use a knife: therere lots of different strikes.

Whats an easy one?

Hmmm, Ill teach you a push cut. First, make sure both feet are planted on the

He dropped into second position from the Spear-and-Oar Dance, only wavering a little bit on his bent knees. Does this work?

Something passed through her eyes. Yes Her voice warbled a little in what sounded like a suppressed laugh. That works. Now bring your sword up- She drew her knife and held it in position before her. -into this guard. This lets you strike and defend against strikes coming from above.

He watched her form then carefully raised the sword into guard.

The Mark did not like that one bit.

It flooded him with memories of the absolute clumsiest moments in his life. Tripping over his own feet during the harvest festivals dances. Nearly falling down the stairs when hed been running out the door as a young boy. Leaning too far over the railing of a bridge while he was fishing and plunging into the stream below.

The images slammed into his mind so hard, that he didnt have any idea where he was or what he was doing. He tried to get past them like he had when casting his forceball, but he couldnt. Hed had lots of experience and practice casting the forceball, and that had helped him improve or avoid failures, but hed had zero experience with swordplay, so there was nothing for him to draw from. All he had was The Marks flood of wrong things to do.

He stumbled backwardhis hands flailing as the sword went flyingand tripped on a heavy rope on the deck, flipped over a nearby barrel, and landed flat on his face on the other side.

Groaning, he curled up and nursed his aching nose and aching pride.

Alex? Theresas feet quickly approached him. Her boots were in front of his face. His teacher crouched down in front of him, holding the sword. Are She was desperately holding back laughter. Are you oka

A low chuckle burst from her mouth.

He groaned feebly in response.

From across the deck, he could hear soft snickering coming from the few night crew sailors nearby, concealing their laughter. Trying, at least.

I guess thats a failure? she asked when shed finally gained control of herself and held out a hand to him.

Well he grunted as he got to his feet. I guess the swords not a good idea. But were not done yet.

A pure weapon was out of the question. But what about something with a more general use? He looked at her hunting knife. How about we try your knife?

They took up position on the cleared area of the deck again, this time with Alex gripping Theresas sheathed knife. She stayed very close to him this time, with her hands spread out to catch him if he toppled.

Alright, now bring it up like I showed you. She watched him closely.

Grimacing, Alex brought the knife into guard position.

Nothing happened.

Okay, were getting somewhere. He sighed with relief. Slowly turning toward Theresa, he kept the position of his body and hands as close to how shed showed him as he could. Were getting somewhere.

Again, it occurred to him that he should hold the knife in similar positions to how he would if he was using it for everyday tasks. A person couldnt very well cut a rope or skin a carcass hanging from a rack without holding a knife in front of themselves, could they?

Hrm. Theresa watched him closely before stepping back and raising her sword into guard position. Strike at my blade.

Carefully, he tapped her sheathed sword with the knife.

Alright, now do it faster.

Another tap. No complaint from The Mark.

Hmmm, unsheathe the knife. Theresa said, drawing her sword.

He startled. Uh, are you sure about that? Again images of severed fingers drifted through his mind.

If anything goes wrong Ill knock it out of your hand, okay?

He looked at her for a long moment. He didnt like the idea of waving any sort of weapon toward Theresa, but better to know The Marks limits now, rather than later during some nasty situation.

Okayjust, be careful. Steadying himself, he slid the knife from the sheathe.

Her eyes hardened. Now strike my blade hard.

Taking a deep breath, he stabbed toward her sword.

The Mark flooded him.

Images of failures rose, the strongest was him tripping over the barrel minutes before. His concentration and balance were ruined, and he wavered on his feet. But the memories werent as aggressive as when hed used the sword. He felt the position of his body, his feet stumbling around over the deck and suddenly, Theresa was there, catching him.

The images cleared shortly, leaving Alex in her grip. Her knife lay on the deck.

That he panted. Hold on.

She let go and he bent down, taking up his notebook that hed laid on the deck nearby, and flipped it open. He wrote a new entry:

Strong interference with direct combat. The more focused the action on direct combat, the more strong the interference. Full weapons cause the strongest reactions. More general use items grant more freedom.

Sword: full weapon

Knife: weapon, tool, kitchen implement.

He thought about what this might mean for other areas.

Forceball is a utility spell. Can use for multiple actions once spell is cast. Only problem is when used on direct combat against another.

Direct combat spells out of the question? Maybe. Maybe not. Test later.

If combat spells not an option, focus on utility spells used for indirect combat? Defensive spells? More research needed.

He closed the book.

When they got to Generasi, hed need to experiment with different sorts of spells and skills. For now, the dance seemed like a good option. The Mark didnt seem to mind when he was using the mop. Hopefully, the dance would give him a way to be evasive in combat, but using a weapon with it would probably be a bad idea.

Well, maybe the mop is your weapon of choice. It seems like youre best with it. Theresa offered with barely concealed laughter.

Yeah, it wasnt all that ba- He paused. Wait, mop?

He hadnt told her a word about the dance practice the night before.

She froze as he slowly turned to look at her.

Didwere you spying last night?

He thought back to that feeling of being watched.

N-No, she lied badly.

Liar. Wherewhere were you? he choked. Images of himself dancing around with a mop came to mind.

Her eyes flicked guiltily to the staircase. Gel-Dor told me about the dance and uhsuggested I watch the deck when the others went to bed.

Alex stared at her in horror. Youyouyou

I wanted to tell you earlier, but there were so many people around and I didnt want others to hear of your she shuddered. Gloriousmop slinging.

She broke down in helpless laughter.

Im going to kill you! he promised.

Not unless youre using that mop!

In a fake rage, Alex chased Theresa around the deck until they were scolded by the nightwatch.

It was a familiar feeling to both of them.