The Archmage's Apprentice (2/2)
With that said, the counter lady goes into the room and contacts the city guard. The guard on the other side asks a few simple questions, "First Name?"
She looks at the application form the boy just handed her. "Ryll," She answers.
"Occupation?"
"An unaffiliated mage… attempting to sign up for a perfectly legal and licensed gambling ring."
"Age?"
She has to think before answering, "He looked around 10 years old, but he said he was 91 on the form he handed me.
"Ah," the guard says, "a 2nd gate mage… and a talented one at that."
There's a short pause before the guard keeps talking with a noticeable sigh in his voice, "Don't worry madam. The city guard is quite familiar with this mage, and we know exactly how to take care of it. He's not a criminal, but make sure to keep him occupied while we come to your location."
She feels her heart unclench, and she nods her head frantically. Once she composes herself, she tucks the far-speak medallion away again, then goes back to talk to the boy.
Not knowing what else to do, she tells the boy, "I'm so sorry. When I set down your signup form, I accidentally brushed it off the cabinet, and it fell into the fireplace."
She pulls out another form and says, "I'm sorry to trouble you."
After she gets another form filled out, she goes back into the records room, shuts the door, then presses her ear against the crack of the door, waiting for a commotion to happen.
Indeed, not even a minute passes before some people start shouting in the main reception area. The receptionist peeks her head out the corner and sees a tall, old mage in fancy robes pinching the young, rustic mage's ear and lifting it up. The room is briefly filled with the boy yelping and crying out, "I'm sorry!"
"Sorry for what!?" the old man growls out.
The boy looks up and grins, "I'm sorry for getting caught."
"!!!" The old man tugs harder on the boy's ear.
Seeing this, the brunette wipes the sweat off her forehead and thinks, "Ah! I knew it. The boy really did steal a license...! Wait... is that the archmage?!"
As old man Kalastros walks out with Haalfrin onto the street, the whole hall hears his old, crotchety voice scolding out, "I told you over and over that while your body is this small and weak! I know you're strong for your rank, but an average 2nd Gate mage could kill you with that tiny body of yours!"
"...if they get lucky...," the boy mutters.
"What was that?"
"..."
Frowning, the archmage slings the little boy over his shoulder and says while he prepares a teleportation spell, "You're 91 years old already. Stop acting like a rebellious child and get back to your lessons!"
While his master is taking out materials from his robes and burning them for his ritual cast of teleportation, Haalfrin's eyes glaze over for a moment as his mind enters his soul realm. Looking up at his Yiir Fate Name, he pulls out a little instrument his master gave him.
He holds the little hourglass up, and the sand seems to have been frozen in place, with most of the sand being on the top. After using a quick spell to activate the enchantment on the hourglass, a few grains of sand trickle down to the bottom.
"Hmm…," Haalfrin mutters apathetically, "Well, I already know the reason why I keep surviving battles is partly because of the Blessing of Das. That Blessing gave me a lot of Fate pushing me to survive calamity and die peacefully in bed… However, testing your luck by tempting Fate (like putting myself in danger) can wear down that blessing of luck."
He then frowns looking down at the hourglass, which barely changed from before. 'The last time I measured my Fate was… about a decade ago… and only about 0.1% was shaved away… What a bummer. I'll have to find something more exciting later.'
'Well,' he thinks, 'I also feel restless unless I'm using a weapon.'
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After Haalfrin's eyes snap back to reality, he sees himself sitting on a bench with his master standing in front of him with his hands behind his back. The archmage looks him directly in the eyes and asks, "You were checking your Yiir again?"
Haalfrin looks away without answering, though his downward-turned head and his closed posture says everything the master needs to know.
The archmage sighs and has a lost look in his eyes. The old man then turns around and says, "I'll be heading back..."
Haalfrin perks up, sensing the unusual behavior from his master. Is something wrong with him? Did something bad happen?
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Feeling like he needs to know more about his master's strange behavior, Haalfrin goes to the servant's section of the tower, where the master's eldest servant is having his day off. As compensation for bothering the old fellow on his resting day, Haalfrin stops by the kitchen and grabs a piece of cake, as well as a fat golden coin.
"Bayviir! Are you there?" the young master calls out.
An elderly-looking gentleman in a servant's attire opens a small wooden door and responds, "What can I do for you, young master?"
"Is the archmage sick at all? He was acting strangely."
The butler's hands shake momentarily, and he almost spills his gifted cake on the floor. "W-what? I don't know what you're talking about."
Haalfrin put his hands on his hips and says, "You know I asked you because you suck at lying. Now… you know I can find out any number of ways. If you tell me, then I might not have to waste any more time."
Beyviir lets out a pent-up breath and motions for Haalfrin to come in. "F-fine." Once Haalfrin is in the door, the old butler closes the door and says solemnly, "The old master... He nearly died this morning. He suffered a heart attack."
"WHAT!?" Haalfrin cries out in shock.
"Yes, young master. The royal doctor was here and said that the old master wasn't going to make it. However, he mysteriously recovered… just after his heart stopped beating."
Haalfrin immediately puts down his things and storms off to go talk to his master. How could the old man have something like that happen and NOT tell his apprentice?
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Considering how he might have contributed to his master's heart attack by stressing him out over the years, Haalfrin represses the urge to slam Kalastros's door down – instead, opting to knock "politely" with a little extra force.
A moment later, the door swings open, revealing the old master, who is sitting comfortably on a chair on his balcony, overlooking the city with a nostalgic look on his face.
Of course, his reverie is interrupted by Haalfrin's urgent and anxious voice, "Master! I heard you had a heart attack earlier! Why didn't you tell me? Are you all right!?"
The old man puts down his drink and doesn't answer immediately - rather, he keeps his gaze out the window… though his expression becomes a little sadder.
"I'm all right...," Kalastros replies solemnly, "It's just... I felt myself die. I really did die... but I didn't."
Kalastros sees his disciple's confusion, but he turns his head back to the window and continues, "I saw the white phoenix and everything, so I know I died... but I'm still alive."
Haalfrin has a bad feeling in his heart, but he lets his master continue speaking.
"Remember what I told you about my deal with that death reaper?" Kalastros asks. "He told me that so long as I saved you that day that he would give me an extra 100 years of life."
Haalfrin finally widens his eyes in understanding. "So master you..."
"Yes. I officially have a hundred years left to live," Kalastros lets out an amused face, "It's... strange knowing exactly when you're going to die. You know… Being a high-ranking mage, I've lived for so long that it felt like I was going to live forever sometimes. It's weird being able to put an exact date on my death now."
The archmage then turns his chair to face Haalfrin. "There's still so much left to teach you, and I only have a hundred years left to do so."
He sighs again and doesn't speak to Haalfrin after that. Haalfrin bows his head seriously and bids farewell.
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Once Haalfrin gets back to his room, he lays down face-first on his bed and thinks carefully about his own future.
'Oh wow,' the student realizes, 'I'm going to be with my master longer than I was even with my Kareen Clan.'
He turns again onto his back and holds up his arm, examining his Kareen tattoos. 'I'm wanting to die so bad because I want to be with my family…, but at this point… Kalastros is my family too. Should I really be wasting all the time I have left with my master making him worry about me?'
Haalfrin turns his head to the side and looks at the pile of textbooks and scientific journals he's behind on reading. 'I should at least make his life a little easier and enjoy the time we have together.'
A small spell is enacted, and the textbook on the top of the pile floats over to him, and he cracks open the first page while thinking heavy thoughts.
'I've decided I'm going to put off trying to die... at least until my master passes away. Until then, I'll just learn what I can and make him proud instead.'