Dragon Sorcerer 1- Chapter 23 (Patreon)

Chapter 23- Rescue

My first thought was to check on Cami. She might be angry with me over whatever little human thing was upsetting her but I wouldn’t let anything happen to her. I pushed my horse away from Lisella. The priestess called out, “Wait Nico, you need to stay here where we can protect you.”

I looked back. “I’m not some foolish knight racing off into unknown danger but I want to be closer to Cami so I can protect her.”

Serius had already circled around with his horse and come back to us. “You needn’t worry. I’m a grand magus and quite capable of protecting my soon-to-be apprentice. Besides what are you going to do to protect her? You aren’t even trained yet.”

My eyes closed to little slits as I stared at him intently. “You have no idea what I’m capable of.” For just a moment, I considered attacking them. There might be no better time with the adventurers split. Lisella was so intent on riding right next to me that a surprise attack would almost certainly prove lethal. Then I’d only have to deal with the mage. Of course the speed of my transformation was still too slow, so I needed to bide my time.

Cami looked uncomfortable, hopefully because of the wizard’s words and not because I rode up to protect her. A second later she confirmed my suspicion as she said, “Magus Serius, respectfully, I haven’t made a decision about who I will select as a mentor.”

The mage’s bony shoulders shrugged beneath his gray robe. “Hope springs eternal in the old.”

I chuckled. Then I looked at Cami. I felt how our being at odds had affected me and that feeling echoed within me. I was being prideful. I knew it. Cami might only be a human, but she was a good servant and deserved better than this. This connection between us meant something even if I hadn’t figured out exactly what it was.

I spoke softly so as not to be overheard while leaning in closer to her. “I’m sorry.”

She pulled back with a look of surprise on her face. Hopefully, she didn’t need me to go into any more details. Just saying those two words had left a bitter taste in my mouth.

She leaned forward and threw her arms around me. It was rather awkward since we were both astride horses but she then whispered, “Me too.”

Suddenly, the world was right again.

You have learned the importance of unity with your bonded. You are stronger together, never let petty differences stand between you. You may not always agree, but you are partners in this.

Acknowledging the importance of maintaining a good relationship with your bonded has increased your bond to level 3. From here on out your bonded will gain 1% of your stat points in each stat rounded the nearest whole number with a minimum of 1. The survival of your bonded is important.

By strengthening the bond you have gained 1 DKP.

Hmm… partners. I wasn’t so sure about that. Perhaps the gods created system was in error. I’d never heard of any such thing in the dragon dream, but how could Cami and I be partners. That implied we were equals and well…

My thoughts were interrupted as I heard Lisella ask, “Well are you going to scout out what’s happening?”

For a moment I wondered if she was speaking to me. Had she somehow discerned I was a dragon and was now asking me to fly overhead. It would explain her fixation with trying to become my mentor. But then I felt a surge of magic from Serius. Between his hands an eye appeared floating in the air. It was oval shaped and about the size of an avocado but was transparent so unless you knew to look you could have easily missed it.

The wizard gestured towards the north and the eye streaked off at maybe three times the speed of a racing horse. It was difficult to gauge exactly. He turned to Cami and said, “That is the Arcane Eye spell. It’s Tier 3 magic but you should be able to learn it quickly if you have a talent mentor. The lower levels are easy.”

“What does it do?”

The wizard was concentrating then and didn’t seem to hear her question so Lisella answered. “Don’t mind him, his attention is on the eye now. It allows him to see…”

“And hear,” mumbled the distracted wizard.

“Yes and hear if the caster is skilled enough, anything which is around eye. That way he can scout out ahead of us without any danger. He likely had other ways to further enhance the base spell so that it can see into the ethereal plane, see invisible things, and perhaps detect traps or hidden spaces.”

We all were looking at the wizard who suddenly looked concerned. “It’s a group of ogres and a troll. They were destroying a caravan.”

Lisella gestured with her hand as to say that was no big deal. “Ogres will be easy pickings for the others. Even a troll won’t stop them. How many are there?”

“No something is off about these. Hold on I’m casting Identification though the Arcane Eye.”

As the wizard said that, I was suddenly very intrigued. Identification was a very useful Tier 1 spell. I paid close attention as he was casting it and felt more than saw how he made it work. It was almost too easy, then something clicked to place in my head.

You may choose to add the spell Identification to you Tier 1 Innate Spells. Do you wish to do so? Note you may only ever know six Tier 1 Innate Spells and while it is possible to change them out later it will cost you DKP to do so.”

Without hesitation, I trigged the yes and felt the magic rush into me. I gasped as it felt like ice had just run down my throat and then spread through my veins. Both Cami and Lisella reached out to me. The priestess asked, “What’s wrong, Nico.”

The sensation was strong but only lasted for a moment before it passed. I shook my head. “Oh, it was nothing. I just learned how to cast Identification.”

The wizard’s eyes popped open then. “What? That’s impossible boy. No one can learn how to cast a spell after only seeing it cast once. I don’t care what kind of prodigy you are. Learning magic is a rigorous, academic pursuit.”

I shrugged. “Believe me or don’t. I doubt you’ll ever understand how little I care about what you believe.”

Cami elbowed me lightly as I said that. With our connection I realized that she was pointing out when I was putting my foot in my mouth as the human’s liked to say. I wasn’t quite sure why such an expression meant a bad thing. How else was one to clean out the little rocks which could get stuck in your claws? Oh well, I’d chose to trust her.

“Err… what I meant to say is that this is a spell my mother wanted me to learn and I just know she would have been proud of me.”

Lisella and Serius stared at me for a second. The priestess said, “Even divine magic which is in part bestowed by a god or goddess isn’t learned that quickly. From what I’ve heard pact magic is much the same as there is always some sacrifice which must be made. But we can worry about that later. What’s happening with our friend, Serius?”

While they were talking I took a look at my new spell.

Identification- Tier 1 spell. This spell enables the caster to identify people, monsters, animals, or inanimate objects. The spell is automatically successful against any target within ten levels of your own, unless other magical protections exist. This spell may be channeled if you possess that skill. Mana: 5 (base). Cast Time: 2 seconds. Cool-Down: 15 seconds. Range: 100’ + 10’/level.

Indeed that seemed useful. I wasn’t sure how the spell would determine what my level was but I figured I’d find out. With that I cast it at Lisella.

Name: Lisella Forlay

Race: Human

Age: 31.2

Class: Grand Priestess of Miseria

Level: 20th

Further information is not available as your level is not high enough and you do not possess the Channel Mana skill. Well at least the system considered my level to be above ten. I was worried that it might use my human class and screw me over.

Cami said, “Are you listening, Nico?”

The three of them were staring at me. My eyebrows raised. “Did I miss something?

Cami answered, “Magus Serius just informed us that the monsters are much higher level than they should be. The ogres are between level twelve and fourteen and the troll is level sixteen.”

“Is that too much for them to handle?”

Serius shook his head. “In those numbers yes. I’m going to have to draw some of them here. They have a caster of some sort but he must be wearing a charm because I can’t Identify him.”

Lisella climbed down from her horse and pulled out a two foot long mace. It looked like it was made of pure gold but was likely just enchanted. She started casting spells then. They felt like what Galbrecht had cast before but perhaps even stronger.

Divine Armor

Blessing of Miseria

Divine Strength

Harm’s Buffer

I felt the magic empowering me and grinned. I liked this strength. From the expression on Cami’s face she was enjoying it too.

Then Serius cast a pair of spells.

Group Flight

Haste

When the first spell landed on me, I realized that I started to hover a few inches off the ground. I was no stranger to flying but this was a new way for me. I grinned. The second spell made my blood rush and I felt like everything around me was moving so slowwwwly.

The wizard looked at Lisella, “Done?”

“As much as I can. I need to save mana for battle and still have some for healing.”

He nodded. “I don’t really have many buff spells prepared so this is all I can do, but at least I do have some battle magic ready.” Then he looked at me and Cami. “You two will stay behind Lisella. You’re students and thus our responsibility. Obey her orders as though she spoke for the emperor because in a sense she does for students of the university.”

He turned but then suddenly looked back. “I guess you can’t be defenseless.” Then he fished his hand into a bag on his belt. It again must have been a spatial bag because he pulled out items too big for the pouch. He handed over a dagger to Cami.. “That’s enchanted and will cut into most monsters. It also has a small fire enchantment. Only use it if you have to.”

Then he tossed me a pair of metal bands. I caught them but when I did, I realized they were shaped to go around human hands like a second set of knuckles.

“You have training as a monk right?” He didn’t wait for me to reply but instead said, “Those will allow you to hit beings which can only be damaged by magic and will let you hit harder. Again only use them if there is no other choice. If things go badly use flight and haste to flee.”

Then he was gone, stepping through a magical door in space which appeared.

Lisella said, “Get ready we’ll have incoming soon.”