The Mageknight

chapter 3

The next day, Jace was awoken at the crack of dawn by Sorin. "the early bird gets the worm." Sorin had said cheerily, and they both made their way downstairs for breakfast: buttered toast and orange juice. Jace didn't know who cooked it, but it tasted wonderful. The butter just the right creaminess, and the toast was toasted to perfection to get that crunch as satisfying as possible. After the meal, he glanced into the kitchen, but to his surprise, he found no one there. no evidence of a cook or chef, and in fact, no evidence that there had been any cooking done at all.

After breakfast, Sorin asked Jace to go to the nearby town and fetch his equipment at the blacksmiths. "I have some work to do, so I won't be able to come with you. And don't worry about the payment, it's already been covered. Just go and get your sword and armour. "As Sorin went upstairs to do something, Jace went outside and followed the same route they had taken yesterday, to the blacksmith's. luckily, he met no trouble along the way and he safely made it to the blacksmiths. As Jace entered, he was greeted by Rowan, who was standing near an anvil behind the counter, hitting something very forcefully with a hammer."Hello, Jace. You come here for your equipment? I've got it here. Just finishing up the sword." Said Rowan. Somehow, with each stroke of the hammer, the raw metal shaped itself into a sword-like structure. Then, Rowan plunged it into a barrel of water and showed it to Jace."Here ya go. And I got your armour here somewhere too. One minute." And he rushed off. Jace looked down at the sword he had been handed. He felt an immediate connection to it, as he realised that it was his. He lifted it, and he was surprised at how light it was. Probably because it was hollow. Jace was just wondering how Rowan had hammered a block of steel into something so beautifully wrought when Rowan came back and handed Jace the chainmail. It too was wrought perfectly, with no faults in the individual cufflinks in the chainmail. "th-thank you." Jace stammered. "but, if you don't mind me asking, how did you do these so quickly? And they're so well made as well.""Now, that is a trade secret." Chuckled Rowan. 'I wouldn't want to tell you that."

After Jace left and came back to the house, he placed his equipment on the dining table and asked Sorin about Rowan."ah. Rowan is blessed by Purphoros, the god of the forge. He has been ever since he was a child. It's the reason why his hair is red. It used to be black, can you believe it!" Sorin chuckled. "I can understand why he didn't tell you, and I implore you not to tell anyone. It's Rowan's secret, and he doesn't want anybody knowing.""Okay," said Jace. It not like he had anybody else to tell. gods were all over the world, and many had different names. they only ever did something or blessed someone, every once in a while. once a decade, or so. some only ever did something every century or so, like Akroma. Rowan being blessed by Purphoros was a very rare thing, but it wasn't that special. he could be a blacksmith, but being blessed by the god of the forge meant he couldn't be anything else."well, let's get started on some sword theory, and you can try it out when you practice against me. Here, have this book."Sorin produced a book from behind him and handed it to Jace."let's get started. Let's sit in front of the fireplace. Here's a pad to help you write, and here is a pen as well."

Jace took these things from Sorin, looking at what Sorin had called a pen quite closely. He had never seen it before. He tried it on his note and found that it worked better than a quill, yet it didn't need to be dipped in an inkpot. Jace put it down as another strange thing and sat down on the floor in front of the fireplace. Sorin proceeded to stand and teach Jace about basic swordplay. Jace wrote down everything Sorin was saying. The different blocks, how to swing your sword without nicking yourself, keeping a guard up, swinging and keeping balance. Jace paid special attention to the last one.They had a sword fighting session after that, and Jace fared a little better than last time. he didn't know if he had improved, or if Sorin was going easy on him though. After lunch, Sorin and Jace sat on chairs in front of the fireplace, and Sorin explained about magic. "I won't teach you magic just yet, but I want to explain how it works. So, Magic comes from something known as the arcane pool, a source of mystical power that one can channel to affect real-life things. Only those who have been blessed, or have been in contact with magic can channel this power. We call the power "mana". Those with our certain birthmark" he pulled back his sleeves, and showed a mark etched into his skin that looked like Jace's, "can channel this mana quickly in short bursts. Wizard can do the same thing, but it takes them years of practice to be able to achieve the same power as us with the mark. That is why only those with the mark can become Mageknights."