A New Light (The Astral Wanderer Book 1) by D'Artagnan Rey (best romance ebooks txt) 📗

Zier Nightbloom, head of scholars in the order.” He turned to the dryad and gestured toward the boy with his head. “This young Magi is Devol. He came looking for us.”

“I see.” Zier looked at Devol, who saw a faint glimmer of white and green in his eyes. “Hmm…impressive for your age. You are here to train?”

He nodded and drew his blade. “Yes, sir. I recently acquired this majestic and need help to determine its origin and abilities.”

“A majestic? Are you certain?” the scholar asked.

He shook his head but immediately nodded, a little confused by the question. “I’ve shown it to others like Wulfsun. They agree that is what it is.”

Zier closed one eye and peered at the sheathed sword. He removed a hand from behind his back to stroke his chin. “To come here for that? It’s rather unorthodox.”

“He’s here on good authority,” the commander explained and stared into his comrade’s opened eye. “Trust me. Vaust brought him in himself.”

“Ah, so he has returned then,” the dryad commented. “Good, I need to speak to him. But before that—”

At a loud clatter in a room behind him, the scholar sighed and looked over his shoulder. “Is something amiss in there?”

“Everything is just fine!” a young male voice called in response. The speaker had an accent and stretched the j’s and i’s, but Devol could not place it. “I’ll be there in a second.” A moment later, a boy emerged through the doorway, dressed in blue and white robes. He had dark skin, sharp green eyes, and hair twisted together in long braids.

The large tome under his arm looked almost flesh-colored from age and wear, and a newer book with a dark leather binding and a golden eye embossed on the cover was clasped shut and bound to his belt. “Is this what you were looking for?”

Zier took the tome and examined it. “Indeed it is. Well done,” he said with a nod and opened it. “How you manage to find these long-lost treasures is astounding.”

“You were reading that a month ago, Zier,” the youngster replied and shrugged with a small smile on his face. “Not long-lost so much as misplaced, although why you left it in the map area is a mystery to me.”

“Humph.” The scholar sniffed and flipped through the pages. His assistant finally noticed the visitors.

He nodded at the giant Templar. “Hello, Commander.” His gaze shifted to Devol. “Oh, someone my age.” He approached him and proffered his hand. “Nice to see another boy here.”

“Nice to meet you,” he replied and took his hand. “I’m Devol Alouest.”

“I’m Jazaiah Filsaime, but you can call me Jazai.” They shook hands and studied one another curiously. “So what brings you to the order?”

“He’s here to train,” Zier answered before the others could. “He’s showing some initiative, unlike a certain someone.”

Jazai frowned and rolled his eyes. “You know, Zier, when you’re that obvious, you can merely say ‘you.’”

“I’m trying to leave you some dignity,” the dryad retorted and continued to flip through the pages in the book.

His assistant sighed and focused on the newcomer. “My father and he were buddies in the academy or something. He brought me here to keep up with my studies when he had to go abroad.”

“And have you done your part?” Zier asked. “Do remember I’ll be writing to him soon.”

“You don’t write,” the boy replied. “You send him messages with an A-stone.”

“We’re both busy men,” the scholar countered and peered at him for a moment. “And the question still holds weight. I’ll be testing you by the end of the month.”

“You still need to teach me more about rune placement and functions,” Jazai retorted and smiled wryly.

“Indeed so.” The dryad nodded and returned to his book. “I’ll make sure you can call yourself an expert by the test, so it will be no blame on my part if you fail.”

“That hasn’t been a problem so far.” The boy chuckled, stepped beside Devol, and leaned closer. “I think he was hoping I was a wide-eyed know-nothing he could simply lecture all day. He’s become somewhat irritated about the fact that I’ve excelled in every trick and test he’s thrown at me.”

“Certainly not, young Jazaiah,” Zier responded. “Your intellect is a sign of your talent and your father’s teaching. It’s merely the ego and personality around it that irks me.”

The boy chuckled again. “He’s basically saying I’m a jerk but a smart one, at least.” He looked at Wulfsun. “So is he your new apprentice or something, Commander?”

The giant shrugged. “We haven’t gotten that far. We came here to start the next part of the tests.”

“Really?” Jazai’s attention turned to Devol. “So you just did the doors?”

He nodded. “Yes. Did you take the tests too?”

The boy nodded with a broad grin. “Yeah, little over a year ago. I got through using Vello on the keyhole and it took me less than ten minutes.”

“Vello?” he asked and frowned when he recalled his attempt. “That was the one I couldn’t do.”

Jazai nodded a little smugly. “It’s probably the hardest one, but I thought— Wait, the one you couldn’t do?” His smile faltered and he gave the newcomer a bewildered look. “So you got through with both Vita and Vis?”

Devol nodded. “Yeah. I think Vis was the easier of the two.” He screwed his face up in thought. “Although I didn’t mean to open it with Vita. It simply happened.”

The other boy’s expression was incredulous, and he looked at Wulfsun for confirmation. The Templar now wore a sly smirk as he nodded.

“That’s…uh…well, it’s damn good,” Jazai acknowledged. “It looks like I might have some competition around here.”

“Oh yeah. But you did say it was nice to have someone your age,” Devol recalled and gestured over his shoulder. “And I saw a girl—a wildkin—who looked about my age.”

“Asla?” the young assistant frowned and peered in the general direction of the arenas as if he could see her through the walls “Well…she certainly counts, but she’s not exactly a very extroverted