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

the basic cantrips and concentrated on the conjuration class cantrips as well.”

“So is his majestic in the conjuration class?” Devol asked

The apprentice shook his head. “Nah, he is a diviner like me. But cantrips can be learned by anyone, no matter what their natural talent falls into. It is merely harder outside your class.” He smiled as he extended his other hand. “If you think me being able to use fifty spells is impressive, he can do about two hundred—all the conjuration cantrips and some transmutations, and he has all the upgraded basic ones in the constitution class as well.”

The young swordsman was taken aback. “Man, that is…huh,” he muttered. It seemed logical that scholars who worked primarily on Mana arts would know far more than the average person, but that was still amazing, especially for someone who probably didn’t focus on it for their profession, merely as a secondary hobby. He looked at Asla, who had lowered her hands and now stared at them as her tail waved slowly from side to side. “What about you, Asla?”

The wildkin raised an eyebrow. “Cantrips aren’t my specialty.”

“No, I mean your majestic,” Devol replied and gestured vaguely with his hand. “Jazai mentioned you had one earlier on the way here.”

“Did he now?” She focused on the young scholar with annoyance and narrowed her eyes.

“I also saw you training earlier,” he added quickly in an effort to take the heat off his new friend. “You made a large scratch on the floor like you attacked it with metal claws or something.”

Asla pursed her lips. “We aren’t supposed to reveal the secrets of our majestic.”

Jazai sighed and scratched his head. “Yeah, to nobodies and enemies. But we will be working together soon so he’s an ally.” The girl refused to meet his gaze and her tail drooped to brush the ground. He grinned a little as he reached for his book. “I can always simply show him, you know.”

“Don’t you dare!” she snapped and her tail raised almost vertically as she extended a claw. She composed herself quickly, shook her head, and sighed. “Fine. Take a look.” She unlatched a pair of dark leather gloves from her belt and placed them on her hand. Devol noted a set of three claw-shaped stones on the knuckles of each glove, pure white with small, edged patterns etched within. “I’m in the constitution class.”

“Like Wulfsun?” he asked. She glared at him and he backed away.

She made a visible effort to relax. “Yes, like the captain. However, my majestic is not primarily defensive. It helps me tap into my more…animalistic abilities.”

“Most wildkin majestics are like that,” Jazai explained. “No one seems to know why, but those that can be traced to the wildkin lands or particular tribes seem to focus primarily on bringing out the more animal traits of the wielder. They are probably the only majestic that can be considered a type or class of their own.”

“Pay attention,” Asla called. Devol startled when she dropped to all fours. Her irises assumed a sharper and narrower shape and a faint glimmer of orange Mana similar to the color of her hair flickered around her. Curious, he used Vis to enhance his sight and observe her and was shocked when an orange outline formed and took the shape of a large cat.

Before he could ask what it could do, she leapt at him with surprising speed. He drew his majestic instinctively. The claws on her gloves clashed with the edge of his blade and the bright light flared instantly. Her eyes widened as she landed and retreated hastily. “What was that?” she demanded.

“My majestic,” he stated as the light faded and he lowered his sword.

“I felt that…I needed to get away,” she muttered, pushed to her feet, and shut her majestic down. “What does it do?”

“We don’t exactly know yet,” he replied somewhat sheepishly.

“Don’t know?” She looked at Jazai for an explanation, but he merely shrugged in response.

“It certainly does something,” the apprentice stated. “He was able to get through Wulfsun’s big shield with it.”

“Really?” Asla asked, clearly surprised. “Interesting, but if you don’t know what it does, you are handicapping yourself.”

“I know,” Devol conceded. “That’s why I came here to train and learn more about it.” He smiled and lifted it again. “Maybe we can find out more together?”

“Are you sure?” Jazai asked. “Are you still in good enough shape to do that?”

“I’m not one hundred percent but I still have some energy and Mana to spare for now. I’m sure Wulfsun will be back soon, so we might as well make use of the time.”

The other boy shrugged, approached one of the trees, and sat beneath it. “All right. I’ll watch and make sure neither of you hurt the other too badly.”

“You’ll have to participate eventually,” Asla insisted as she focused on Devol and brandished her claws.

“No doubt, but I’ll let you two have fun for now.” The apprentice raised a hand and lowered it quickly. “And go!”

The three youngsters sparred and trained together for a few hours and the earlier awkwardness between them began to fade as they learned more about one another. Wulfsun, unbeknownst to them, hadn’t left. He and Freki were able to conceal themselves in the brush and observe them through the evening, both happy to see the early signs of a team bond forming between them.

Chapter Eighteen

Several days passed and Devol and his new teammates continued to train together. This was quite different than the normal sword practice and Mana study he had done at home. Battling a skilled and speedy wildkin and a talented Magi—who could read his thoughts if he was not careful—had proven to be a rather interesting and intense experience. In that time, they awaited word from Nauru on when they were to depart but they had not seen the grand mistress since the day she put them together.

On the evening of his eighth day at the Templar Order, he followed Wulfsun, who had asked him to