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

given him some lessons, although he never let him keep one until the sword appeared. He saw a small silver glimmer in the head of the mace and it became weightier in his hand as he connected to it.

“You see the color of his Mana?” Wulfsun whispered to Zier.

“I did.” The scholar nodded. “Another sign, it seems.”

Devol swung the mace to adjust to the change in weight, then raised it and increased the weight as he repeated the arc. This time, it almost made impact with the floor and he grimaced. He did not doubt that he would have cracked the stone with the rivet if it had done so. He used both hands to lift it and noted how heavy it was now. As he struggled with it, he wished he hadn’t made it so heavy and it lost weight drastically so he was able to raise it easily over his head.

“Well, that seems to work as expected.” The commander tapped the table. “Put it down and try another.”

Devol nodded and complied. “I’m curious,” he stated and looked at the two Templars. “Do either of you have a majestic?”

Wulfsun grinned. “Aye, both of us do.”

Zier glared at him for a moment before he sighed. “Indeed, we are among a handful of Templars who have a majestic. Most here make do with exotics.”

“Can I see them?” he asked excitedly. “I saw Mr. Lebatt’s. While I’m not sure what it does yet, it looked impressive. I want to see some others if I can.”

“Don’t bother.” Jazai snorted and glanced at the scholar with an aggravated tone to his voice. “He’s never shown me, no matter how much I pester him about it.”

“Mine is an orb,” the dryad responded and his apprentice’s jaw clenched. “My realm of Daosith holds majestics in high regard, as many do. We have about forty known majestics, and each noble family is blessed with one or more. In my family, I was chosen to take care of one of ours.”

Jazai folded his arms as he stared at his tutor in exasperation. “Why do I have the feeling you did that to spite me?”

“There is no need to be so vague, Jazai,” Zier responded cheerfully. “I did do it to spite you. Now go and fetch a kinship scroll, if you would.”

The boy rolled his eyes and exited the room. “Perhaps I should write to my father about you.”

“I’m sure he could use the laugh,” the scholar retorted before he returned his attention to Devol. “Now then, continue with the others. Once you have tried them all, we shall work on the next part of the trial.”

He nodded and examined the different objects available—a shield, a pair of glasses, rocks in several different colors, a rifle, scissors, a doll made of cloth and one of plastic, a deck of cards, a long wooden staff, and a number of other odd objects as well. “Some of these would make poor weapons.”

“Truly a warrior, aren’t you?” Zier sighed and received a questioning look from the boy and an irate one from Wulfsun. “This is a world of Magic. Just because something may not appear to be practical…well, that falls into the hands of the user rather than the object itself.”

The commander looked around the table and he frowned at the dolls. “Even I have to admit, some of these are weird choices. I did tell them to make the rivets simple, I suppose.”

“Keep going until you try each one, young Magi,” Zier instructed. “And let us know if one appears easier to use than the others. Remember, we’re looking at the abilities and connection, not the items themselves.”

He looked at the long table with a frown. This would probably take a while.

Jazai returned to the chamber and watched in silence as Devol tried to resonate with what appeared to be a camera. He stopped beside Wulfsun with his arms folded and a scroll in one hand as he observed the attempt with a mixture of amusement and sympathy. “He’s still at it?”

“Aye.” The giant Templar nodded. “Zier is making him try every last one of them.”

The assistant shook his head. “He made me do the same thing, although I found mine after only a few different items.” He patted the book attached to his waist. “Kind of convenient that it turned out to be the same type of majestic.”

Wulfsun nodded again. “We had that in the vault for a long while. I’m glad it finally found a user.”

He smirked. “Glad to take it off your hands. However, Zier keeps making me use it for menial tasks.”

The commander gave him a knowing glance. “It’s probably his way of training, yes? Besides, it’s not like you can keep it if you merely have it for appearances. Gotta get practical use out of it eventually.”

Jazai sighed. “I know, I know.”

“There are only a couple left,” the Dryad stated. “Finish this and we can continue.”

“Hey, Zier!” his assistant called and held the scroll up. “I’m back.”

His tutor looked at him over his shoulder. “Just now? Where have you been?”

“Looking for one of these damn things,” Jazai retorted and waved the scroll in the air. “We have very few left. I had to get this from the supply you keep in your quarters.”

Zier nodded and returned his focus to the young Magi undergoing the trial. “I’ll make a note to order more.”

Jazai lowered his arm and looked at the scroll. “When was the last time we had a kinship trial? Asla, wasn’t it?”

“And you before that,” Wulfsun told him. “But before you…probably two or three years before you arrived.”

“We aren’t exactly using them at a frenetic pace,” the boy muttered. “I didn’t see Asla’s trial, so this will be my first time to see someone else go through theirs.”

“I’m interested to see which one comes up,” the commander mused and stroked his beard. “I got a splinter on some kind of transmutation ability.”

“You also have a gambling problem,” Jazai retorted and ignored the