Book of Kings

Shorts 01 - 01

"I like history," Amou said while he wrote with his quill, "it may even be my favorite subject."

We were sitting opposite sides from each other at a table in the house the Grand Magister allowed me to stay in.
He was staying at the school normally, even with the privilege that came with staying at the greatest of school in the country it didn't compare to what Eeming had given me, in my opinion.
He still had a big living space, his own room, and even a private bathroom though it was small and he had no kitchen of his own and I imagine washing oneself in the small bathroom was uncomfortable.
The school had its kind of prestigious cafeteria, and just a bit down the road was a public bathhouse which was free for anyone associated with the Mages Guild.
This wasn't the first time I had invited him over to do our assignments together. He already knew a lot of which we were learning, and I appreciated his help a lot.

"I like history too..." I muttered.

I could have said more but I was too focused on rewriting the essay I had on the life of Gian-Marco I, the seventh king of Eizon.

Because just earlier this very day, on one of my regular visits to Eeming's home, when I would actually see him, the topic of my history teacher Vico Prav came up.

"So, how do you like Vico's classes? Does he still ramble on and on and on?" The Magister had said while he swayed his head side to side, spilling some of the tea from the cup he held in his hand.
"He sometimes gets off-topic, but I do enjoy his classes," that's what I said out of politeness but I didn't mean it although history was in fact one of my favorite subjects.
Prav always strays so far from where he started that I almost never learned anything about history in his class.
I was sure that he always wanted to talk more but thankfully, most likely due to his fat stature, he was limited on how much he could talk after a while of doing so.
Most of what I have learned came from books I read outside of school.

"Magister, do you maybe have a book about King Gian-Marco?"
"So that you'll get a better grade on the paper you have to write about him? Write something about him that isn't commonly mentioned in others maybe?" He said raising an eyebrow.
Surprised I said, "yes, how did you know?"
"Gian-Marco is one of Vico's favorite subjects, so every school year it's the first essay," he explained.
"I've already written a part on it during a bit of free time I had in the school, I think there may be missing something to give it a finishing touch."
"Can I see?" He asked curiously.
"Of course."
I unpacked the papers from the bag I still had with me and handed them to him.

He shuffled through them fast.
Either Eeming was an extremely fast reader, or he didn't really read what was written on them.

Slowly after going over the last page, he said, "maybe reconsider what you wrote."
"Which part?" I said surprised again.
"Well... Vico is a devout man of the church and your wording about what King Marco did to people when he left the throne and became a bishop seems... a bit harsh."
"But that's the truth? And I'm an avid church member myself, I even go to church twice monthly. I don't think Mister Prav would accuse me of bias or heresy," I looked at Eeming somewhat confused.
"Just trying to help, you do want the highest grade you can get, don't you?" He took a sip from his cup.

Now that my mind has been on Eeming, there was another thing that was stuck in my thoughts for a while.
On another visit a few days ago I then asked him, "could I ask you a question that has always been on my mind?"
"Shoot," he nodded leaning back in the chair that was standing in his luxurious dining room.
"What classifies as an 'element' that a mage can manipulate? There is a boy in my class named Amou, and he can wield ice and since then I wondered what else mages can do."
"Basically anything," he shrugged his shoulders, "water, dirt, wind, fire."
"Metal?" I added.
"Well, not metal directly."
"...no?" I staggered to say.
"Maybe unrefined metal but nothing that has been to a smith."
"So, if I had a dagger in my hand, I couldn't lift it?" I asked confused.
"Nope," he confirmed dryly.
"How come?"
"There are... uncertainties in elemental magic. Even with hundreds of years of research, we still don't know a lot of basics in magic. You'll learn all about it next year. Just have some patience, and you'll learn about what you can't do. Exciting, don't you think? Wait, that's not exciting at all!"

Not metal directly.
When I got home that day, I looked over the dagger once again.
It looked like it was all metal, blade, and grip.
How did I pull it then?