Chapter 371: Madmen and Professional Mages

Chapter 371: Madmen and Professional Mages

From the top of Rowan Keep, a lookout called down an alarm. "Something just left Sedgewick and is coming up the road fast. It'll be here in a few minutes." That brought a quick visit from the decurion on duty who watched through the telescope. From Sedgewick to Rowan Keep was ten miles. Anything that could make it in a few minutes was travelling fast with the aid of magic. "Red roan and the rider is in in white, that's an imperial courier. But damn that's a big horse, and moving twice what it should be. Keep an eye on it and let me know if anything else happens." He dropped down the ladder and ran to alert the Centurion.

"Courier with their tail on fire, sir. Might be important, if we hurry, we can get to the front gate to meet them."

Marcus jumped from his desk and the two of them ran to the gate, along with two squads and a few curious onlookers. Maybe it was a high-level courier showing off his mount's speed, but it was equally likely that something horrifying had happened and the Legion would be marching to war in a half hours. When told the description of the Courier, Marcus relaxed but kept his thoughts to himself.

Ben hadn't expected a big greeting, but he wasn't going to pass up a chance to show off a little. They'd made the trip from Sedgewick in record time, at well over 100 miles per hour, and Mudhead wasn't even at top speed. His ability, Run like the Wind, more than doubled Mudhead's speed, as did the Horseshoes of the Traveling Oatburner. He started slowing the horse at a mile out, and came in at a leisurely fifty miles per hour, stopping easily in front of the crowd. He bowed in the saddle and almost fell off as Mudhead also bent a knee and then straightened.

"Something important, Courier? Or just taking that beast for a run. That can't be the same horse you had before, can it?" Marcus was eyeing Mudhead. The color and markings were the same, but his horse was taller and somehow, much faster. It wasn't even winded after that run.

"Getting used to a few upgrades, what can I say? It would be a poor courier that didn't enjoy a fast horse. But my reason for visiting is to talk to the Baron and check on your teleport upgrade. Our mission to the Fae Realms was successful and now it's time to get back to work."

Billy pushed his way through the crowd. His eyes appraised the horse and courier, noting the increase in power of each. "Good attitude, there's a lot to do, starting with knocking some sense into a few heads. I'm getting a lot of static from some of the Emperor's finest mages who don't seem to agree with my plans." The two walked to the teleport stone in the center of the keep, now with new walls surrounding it in a much larger courtyard. The stone couldn't be moved, so the keep had been rebuilt around it.

Two dour faced mages, dressed in traditional robes of Mage Guild teleport specialists were staring at the large round stone in another section of the courtyard. Ben recognized the stone as the one they had stolen from the ghouls. Surrounding it and arguing with the two Guild Mages were the professors who hoped to build a college in Gadobhra. The walls of the courtyard were filled with intricate diagrams done in multicolored chalk with many calculations. Ben saw that in several sections, the equations ended with '?????' or 'Help?!' indicating weakness in the theory. Volminous was waving his hands around and shouting.

"Of course we don't have a complete set of calculations! You need to give us the Master Code for this location so we can finish them. How can we calculate mana expenditure and dimensional friction without the exact code!"

Neither mage seemed moved by his arguments. "If you need the code that badly to help you with your mathematics, perhaps you should have calculated that first?"Explore the labyrinthine roots of this substance at Nøv€lß¡n

"That could take months, with thousands of ethereal measurements to the nearest three locations in the empire, and we'd need the codes for those locations! You can't actually expect us to recreate all the work done by Vladimir TwoSouls, Detrick the Mad, and Damien Franklin just to upgrade a teleport stone!"

"Oh, but we aren't. You've chosen to do this work yourself, rather than employ trained guild mages. Don't blame us if you find the work to hard. And I will tell you once again, that unless this work is done by an accredited mage with the proper credentials, we will not be handing out Master Codes for teleport locations! Nor can we approve that stone for use, it isn't finished. The rune carving is properly done, but the runes will never stand the strain of that much mana being used on a daily basis. You need to reinforce the runes with a proper conductive metal of a matching Tier! Plus, an expanded teleportation array, for which you don't have the components. Preventing this type of half-assed hedge wizardry is the main reason that the Guild was formed in the first place."

Billy interjected before the professors could start another rant. He'd been listening to them argue with the guild mages for two days. "Yes, and you'll help out, but only for a million gold. Seems to me that having a monopoly on teleportation was also a reason to form the guild. Easier to extort money from hard working Barons."

"Your excellency, as we have told you, this is delicate work that only a few people can do. Of course it is expensive. You are the person wanting a Tier Four teleportation stone, so the burden is on you to pay for it."

Billy's face turned red. "No, I don't want it! You're damned paper pushers want it and want me to pay through the nose or fail to complete this fortress."

Ben took the opportunity while they were arguing to look at the equations, and compare them with a book from his ring. After a quick look at Experimental Theories of Teleportation and Why the Mages in the Empire are all Idiots Vol. 1, he walked over to Billy and waited for a moment to enter the conversation politely.

Copulcius went first, the stone glowing as he emptied his mana. They'd each donated 1000 at dawn, and now threw almost all of their mana into the stone, trading exhaustion for a small amount of gold. It also looked good on your overall record when it came time for promotions. The apprentice whistled softly, recorded the number, and called out, "Six-Thousand, four-hundred and forty-three mana."

Orland helped him to stand and patted his shoulder. "Well done. I see that earning Extra Mana 3 has increased your reserves. You're pushing me hard this time."

Again, the apprentice called out the total. "Six-thousand, seven-hundred and fifty mana." Orland was white as a sheet and was trouble standing. Ben handed him a mana potions from his pouch. "Well done sir, but please, accept this to help with recovery." It was gladly accepted and Ben gave one to the other mage and then with a wink, to Jolo, the apprentice. "My turn now. Time to earn that bottle."

Ben cracked his knuckles, stretched, and then placed a palm upon the teleport stone. It glowed, and he began pushing his mana into it. As the process went on, the two mages looked at each other, and then at the small crystal Jolo was using to measure the input. The apprentice gasped and shouted out excitedly, "Twelve-Thousand, Five Hundred mana, exactly."

Ben straightened up, not seeming to be taxed at all by the expenditure. "Always glad to help out. And please, don't worry about my share beyond some wine and cheese from the merchants to help with our recovery."

"As he says, Jolo. Be a good lad and purchase some bottles and snacks while we converse with our brother in mage craft."

As the boy ran off, Orland turned to Ben. "Zounds, man! We had no idea you had attained such a lofty tier. Forgive us if we said anything rude."

Ben smiled. "No harm. I downplay my abilities, it makes it simpler to move about. Something Diego taught me."

"Oh, of course, of course."

Ben gestured to the current teleport stone. "It occurs to me, while speaking on the failings of their makeshift stone, to wonder about how well this stones array is faring. The keep is seeing a lot of traffic and it might need to be repaired soon. Not before the Baron defaults of course, or is forced to pay the proper cost, but either way that stone will need to be inspected. Knowing ahead of time might open up opportunities."

Both mages nodded. Opportunities could be turned to profit quite easily. "Let's find out, shall we. Jolo, have you been taught the cantrip used to levitate the stone for inspections?"

"No sir, I think that is a Journeyman cantrip."

"Well, you get to learn early then, the three of us are quite fatigued after doing our duty to the Empire. Let me walk you through the Destabilization and Inspection cantrips and then you can reverse the process after." Ben and Copulcius ate cheese and sweetmeats, enjoying a bottle of sweet red wine as Orland instructed his apprentice in the spells needed to lift the stone four feet in the air and expose the teleportation matrix beneath it. Ben had seen diagrams in Uncle Damien's books and new the general theory, but had never seen a working array. He took a step forward to peer at it.

"Overall, it seems in good shape. The decision to put a Tier 2 stone in this keep is certainly justified. But I notice some darkening of tube seven and some deterioration of the runes on the copper accumulators. I can't help but think truesilver might have been a better choice. Costly, but cheaper in the long run."

Orland nodded. "Agreed. I think this stone will be fine to retain here, not that I'd let the Baron know that. A little work to replace those accumulators and a large bill to the Guild, and it will be fine. Go ahead and lower it down, Jolo, and use the Restabilization cantrip to return it to service."

Ben sat with his new friends for a few hours, trading news of the Mage Guild for tales of his recent travels in the Fae Realms He promised to send both of them copies of his upcoming scholarly paper that detailed the runes he had observed in his travels, carved into the gateways used to travel between realms. Sadly, he had to to travel to his meeting with the Baron but they made plans to meet for lunch in Wolfsburg in four days. The mages would return to the Guild soon, give their reports, and then travel back in nine days for the ceremony where Baron William would either pay up a million gold or forfeit the city of Gadobhra for not paying his taxes. Ben insisted on bringing the wine for that occasion.