Chapter 58

The promise of a gift exhilarated the two men. Zale saw his possibilities as endless, but the caveat of something within Er'Vati's power made the limitations apparent. For Shai, it was the glimmer of hope. He'd not only achieved the dream of his entire ancestry, a feat that would last for generations to come, but he might be able to save his people. "Honorable Er'Vati, I know not what gift or power you possess, but what I seek is simply the salvation of my people from their crisis."

Er nodded once. "Naturally. Due to certain reasons, I cannot physically stop the enemies in Egypt. You will have to handle that yourself. Instead, I'll give you something to help," she said.

Her attention turned to Zale. "And what do you want?"

In the last few months, Zale had seen more of the world that he knew existed. Secrets, magic, and death. Death was around every turn. This last experience was the worst, and Zale knew he'd been inches away from being snuffed out, whether by the forge or the presence, he wasn't sure. "I want knowledge."

"Don't we all," she meowed with a roll of the eyes.

Zale pointed at her. "I want all your knowledge," then he motioned to the library with a sweep of his hands, "You've read every book in here, haven't you?"

If Er had eyebrows, they'd have risen. "So, I request my gift to be you."

Er couldn't contain her laughter. She fell on her back, kicking all four legs in the air. "Stupid! By the gods, you're a character!"

She laughed until her air was expelled, then rolled back onto her belly, stretching out. "Listen up. The whole reason you're here is so I can find someone worthy of being my master. I can't just give that away. It defeats the whole point, moron. I seek only two things: a master and knowledge."

"What happened to your previous master?" he asked, arms crossed with a scowl at the cat's blatant disrespect.

"If I had shoulders to shrug, I'd use them," she replied and left it at that.

"Back to the matter at hand, I refuse."

"What about you gift me the knowledge of immortality then?"

"If you knew what that meant, you'd know it's a dumb request. It's like asking to know the meaning of life. 42, by the way. Anyway, denied."

Zale sighed. "Fine. There's no information about magic in our world. I've read some of these books before, but I need to progress after this. Can you help me with that?"

Er rolled the idea around in her cat-sized brain for a bit, the seconds not ticked off on the sandless hourglass. "I can manage that. I shall return momentarily," she said, then whisked away on the book.

"What are you thinking?" Shai asked, seeing his friend's face twist in thought.

"Just that there is so much. Everything is happening all at once. We honestly know nothing about anything when I really think about it. Yet, I've put my life on the line multiple times now. It's just…Well, it's nothing like I was expecting. I read about sorcerers, making progress towards immortality, getting stronger, some things about different kinds of magic, all sorts of different artifacts and plants, and…well, I've read some things. But I see it's quite the rabbit hole."

Shai nodded in agreement. "I had not known it was such a complicated thing either. I had it in my mind that I would be the same as the hunters. I could have the power to defend my country and lead my people. This is all beyond me," he admitted.

Before they could discuss much else, Er returned. "I've given it some thought and decided on your gifts. This is rather unusual," she added, jumping from the book to stand at the edge of the table closest the two.

"Usually the candidates already have a specific request. I don't have to think of a gift for such vague requests," she said, not quite complaining, though Shai still apologized.

She waved his words away with her tail. "Whatever. I've decided. For Shai, I will gift you a one-off tool. It is the Elyon Spear. It has the destructive ability of what you would call a world tier hunter. While it is powerful, I believe you will find a different use for it than just killing. You'll understand once you've met the enemy. I will also grant you the knowledge required to use it.

"For Zale, I have decided to be generous. You're getting a communication talisman. It can be used to contact anyone with another talisman. Namely, me. After use, it takes a day to recharge."

"So I CAN talk to you," Zale said triumphantly.

"Well, you can ask me things. Whether I want to answer or not is another matter. The last thing, since you both went through a rather roundabout method of becoming sorcerers, I will give you the knowledge you need to wield your new-found mana. I hope you both will prove to be as interesting as I hope."