“Well, crap.” Quartz took a step back, and we knew he was in deep trouble.

  The intelligence of Old Sergeant was especially evident as it seemed to hover in place and glare at Quartz. Its eyes narrowed, and a very hostile and unsharklike gleam appeared.

  Quartz took another step back and the movement must have triggered a bite instinct because Old Sergeant lunged forward.

  But Quartz was not alone.

  Simon attacked, Biff struck it with his club, and even Steven, Wilma, and Adriana cast spells at it. I don’t know what worked and what didn’t. I was focused on the shark, which had just come within my striking range.

  I swung the staff and moved at half the speed I would swing in the air. Still, I managed to land a hit. It didn’t do much damage. In fact, whatever damage was inflicted didn’t move the needle on its health points bar.

  But using my Staffcraft skill, I let go with the only spell I thought had any hope in the world to defeat such a beast.

  It was not one of my most potent spells. As a matter of fact, it was on a copper ring around my staff, so that tells you something about its mighty energy right there. However, the Staffcraft skill allowed for the use of a free spell through the staff, and I learned during orientation that it did not need to be an offensive spell. By using the unusual mage skill, it had a chance of augmenting the spell effect in unexpected ways.

  I was counting on that.

  The spell was not even one I was searching for moments ago, as I considered options such as Thunderstrike and Firestorm from my more powerful SUS rings. But the spell had been a gift from another mage when I was collecting spells.

  I cast our only hope. I cast…Levitate.

  Okay, so hear me out. I realize Old Sergeant was immune to first and second-level offensive spells. But this was not classified as offensive. When was the last time you heard of a mighty mage attacking a foe to death with levitate?

  Right? Never. It was a utility spell that could be used in multiple ways, including defensively if you were falling. I just had a very unique idea in mind for it.

  The first thing I did was turn Old Sergeant over onto his back. I had read somewhere that sharks grow lethargic and fall asleep on their backs.

  Well, Old Sergeant did stop moving. But I think he was simply startled at the ridiculousness of his situation because he quickly began to thrash his tail and shoved a whole lot of water around.

  Apparently, boss sharks could ignore tonic immobility. I learn something new every day.

  I let him thrash around as much as he liked. I just changed his orientation to point up.

  Thanks to his tail thrashing, he swam up rapidly, at least he did, until he realized what was happening and then twisted around to swim back down toward us again.

  But I kept his motion going and flipped him back around again, and he swam even further toward the surface, thinking that he was heading down.

  That was when I began to worry about how deep we were compared to the spell's range. If he broke the spell, we’d be back to where we were. And that was bad.

  “Everyone, get out of here. Get back to shore!” I shouted.

  They all started moving. Steven was helping Biff, who was still in bad shape. Adriana and Wilma both looked at me. I nodded, and they followed.

  Quartz walked over and stood by my left side. Bido moved to stand on my right.

  “Now, that spell was as stupid as I could ever imagine working.” Quartz managed to say before bursting into fits of laughter.

  I had to maintain concentration, and the dwarf’s cackling did not help. And neither was Bido, who started whooping next to him.

  The shark kept twisting and diving, and I kept changing his direction.

  “I can keep this up all night, guppie.” I snarled to myself, working to maintain my focus as it got further and further away.

  Bido stopped laughing first. “Umm, Gwydion. What is the range of that spell?”

  Quartz stopped laughing suddenly as well.

  I was concentrating too hard on it to respond.

  Quartz said in the kind of calm voice you reserved for wild animals and crazy people, “How about we slowly make our way toward shore in shallower water, and you keep it in your comfortable range.”

  “Good idea,” Bido agreed.

  It was a good idea. So, I kept directing it closer to the surface but still near us as we began to make our way toward the shore.

  Quartz carried me up the rock face as I maintained concentration. There was no way I was doing both. But he seemed to have no issues with traversing rock, even underwater. My trip up the cliff was far easier than my trip down it. And Quartz carried me as if I weighed almost nothing.

  Old Sergeant began to thrash around the surface as we got into shallower water.

  Bido noted, “Not to alarm you, but there are a lot of sharks gathering around us and Old Sergeant. If you get attacked, can you maintain your hold on it?”

  “Not sure.” I managed to say through clenched teeth as the strain of holding the spell increased.

  The Levitate spell was intended to be used in the air. There are a lot of restrictions on movement when you are twenty feet above the ground and nothing to push against but the wind. But Old Sergeant was strong and had the whole bay to push against. He had tons and tons of water to thrash around. Magic could defy some laws of physics in our world, but it did not always ignore those laws. I felt the spell starting to fray. The shark’s magical resistance may have also contributed to the strain.

  Quartz moved closer to me and swiped at something I could not see behind me. Bido said something, and there was a flash behind me.

  I would trust in them and maintain my focus. I had plenty of range now to play with, and I was afraid the spell would not continue to last if I did not find a way to stop the shark soon.

  So, with a burst of will, I levitated the shark up to the very surface. I pushed and strained, but the shark was too heavy for the spell to lift it further. I kept turning it over and over, trying to get the gills out of the water, but I was only partially successful since one gill out meant one gill still in the water.

  Another flash and slash from my comrades. If they had not accompanied me, I would be inside a shark by now.

  On a sudden inspiration, I tilted Old Sergeant straight up. It surged forward with its tail swinging madly back and forth. I used its strength and anger to push itself out of the water and then leveled it out horizontally once more.

  Thanks to his thrashing, he was entirely out of the water. His gills were in the air, and given his physical mass and lack of vertical flexibility, he could only thrash about in the air from side to side.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  It took a little time, but I watched as his life points slowly at first, and then more rapidly, began to drop. Old Sergeant lay still within five minutes, and his cognito went gray.

  The AL whispered into my ear. Enchanter Gwydion earns a spell or skill point to be placed as desired for completing the Old Sergeant quest. You have earned an attribute point for solving the Keelwell Harbor Mystery quest. You have earned an ally in the Keelwell Harbor Master and a reward of 1000 gold pieces redeemable at the Harbor Master’s offices. Spell and skill points must be reclaimed at a guild hall or sanctuary. Ability points may be claimed immediately. Additions and notes have been added to your Book of Quests that remain unread.

  I thought my answer to the AL. Please place the ability point into life.

  I saw how quickly Biff went down, and he was far more robust than I was. I figured that adding more points to my life ability and, therefore, my health score couldn’t hurt.

  The spell or skill point could be used to acquire a new spell or skill. I had quite a few options given to me by my sage friend Davon that interested me. And I just earned another thousand gold, which would be helpful for more magical creations.

  I felt a tugging at my sleeve. I looked down, and Quartz pulled on it while he pointed out toward the dropoff.

  “What is it, Quartz?” I asked, alarmed, looking where he was pointing, but seeing only darkness.

  “I think I may know where your pearl is.” He said quietly.

  “Where?” I was still looking where he was pointing.

  He tugged on my sleeve again. I looked down, and he had an object in the palm of his hand. It was perfectly round and at least as big as a marble shooter. It was black and glinted with an internal luster.

  “Quartz! You found it!” I said excitedly. “Where did you find it?”

  He shuffled his feet. “Well, actually, I picked it up from one of the giant oysters that had been holding Biff when he fell. He didn’t notice it, which was perfectly understandable given his distraction at the time, so I thought, Quartz, here is the very pearl that your new friend and true gentleman, Gwydion, was searching for. So I said to myself-”

  “You mean we never had to go to the dropoff? You already had the pearl?” Bido asked.

  “You better hope Biff doesn’t find out,” I said, wide-eyed.

  He handed me the pearl. “Now there’s no reason to say anything about this to good old reliable Biff.” He began. “It would just bring up bad memories, and who wants that?”

  Quartz had such a sincere and compassionate look on his face that I almost missed his lip twitching.

  I didn’t reach for it. “You are something else,” I said and shook my head.

  “That’s the spirit.” He said as he flipped it to me. I caught it out of pure reflex.

  As soon as I held it, the AL whispered into my ear. Enchanter Gwydion earns a reward for completing the Lustrous Black Pearl quest. The reward is redeemable at Alexander’s Alchemicals in Keelwell. Additions and notes have been added to your Book of Quests that remain unread.

  It felt great to have that quest requirement fulfilled. I just needed to hand this over to Alexander to complete that quest and retrieve my reward.

  “Thank you, Quartz. That means a lot.”

  “You can owe me.” He said.

  “But not that much,” I replied in Dwarvish.

  He laughed, and we walked the last few yards to shore, dripping wet and leaving sloshy, muddy footprints in the sandy marsh. The others rushed over to us, cheering and talking rapidly about the shark and our time underwater.

  Everyone was excited and talked about how brave Biff had been and how horrifying the attack was. As we were talking, a boat came over to where we were located, not far from the levitating body of the giant great white shark.

  A voice echoed across the water to where we were gathered. “Who is responsible for this-” the voice paused for a good five seconds, “this floating shark?”

  They all looked at me. I shrugged my shoulders and walked over to the shoreline. “That would be me. Enchanter Gwydion Istari.”

  “Row me over there, boys.” Came the response from the boat.

  A few minutes later, a man in uniform stepped nimbly ashore and walked over to me. He extended his hand and pumped mine several times excitedly. “We have had a growing bounty on Old Sergeant for years. Nobody who went after him ever came back. Until now, that is.”

  A few other men had come ashore with the man in uniform. He said, “Where’s my manners? Mage Gwydion, I am Assistant Harbor Master Francis Blaten. With your permission, we will remove the shark, and you can retrieve the reward at the Harbor Master's office anytime after sunrise today.”

  “Reward?” Quartz piped from the back of the group.

  “Yes, a reward Gwydion has earned on his quest,” Adriana replied.

  “But-” Quartz began.

  Bido elbowed the dwarf and whispered. “Do you really want to draw attention to yourself right now with Biff over there?”

  Quartz murmured something and stepped away from Bido. He turned and examined a patch of marsh grass, which he began kicking enthusiastically.

  We stared at him until he looked back over at us and said, “What?!” He turned and went back to kicking the marsh grass some more.

  After another moment, we all turned back to Mr. Blaten. I said, “I don’t think I need Old Sergeant for anything; you can take him back when ready. Can you get ropes around him at his height?”

  The gathered sailors and harbor workers assured me they could handle it.

  Wilma sidled up and said quietly, “You may want to snag a component out of Old Sergeant. One of his large teeth is glowing and is some kind of spell component, probably for alchemy, but it could also be thaumaturgy.”

  I had forgotten that one of Wilma’s spells helped her locate rare or valuable components. I had a similar spell given to me at my orientation, but forgot to use it yet again. A tooth from Old Sergeant must be a component.

  She added. “Not sure if Quartz will want his magical shield back, but in addition to it, there is also a weapon and a gem inside Old Sergeant’s stomach that appear magical.”

  “You are amazing,” I whispered to her. She smiled and backed away.

  I walked over to where Assistant Harbor Master Francis Blaten was conferring with his men.

  “Excuse me, Master Blaten,” I began.

  “Oh, please. Francis is fine, lord mage.”

  “Actually, I am only an apprentice mage. I will sit for my journeyman trials later this morning.” I admitted.

  His eyes grew large. “That is truly astounding. We have had mages, warriors, and many regular citizens who have been unable to accomplish what you did today.”

  “Thank you. It was a team effort.”

  He looked over at my group and nodded. “Even still, it was well done.”

  I had already said thank you, so I skipped a bit. “What is your plan with Old Sergeant?”

  “He will get boiled down, and a skeleton will be made out of his cartilage for the harbor museum.” He said proudly.

  I nodded in approval. “That would be an interesting attraction.”

  He smiled. “It is bound to be the most popular since the wax mermaid exhibit.”

  “Yes, I can see that.” I cleared my throat. “I am pleased to donate it to the city for your use.”

  “We appreciate that.” He said with a grin and began to turn back to the boat.

  “But I would like to remove a couple of things first,” I said.

  He hesitated. “What do you mean?”

  “I’m sure you would understand, but there is one tooth that I would like to retrieve along with my companion's chewed-up shield, a special weapon, and a gem that is deep in its gullet.”

  “Well, giving you a memento seems only fair. I can only imagine the kinds of things in its stomach.” He looked at me sidelong. “And you only want a specific weapon and a gem?”

  “And the broken shield,” I added.

  “Hmm. Too bad. I have a feeling a chewed-up shield could be popular.”

  “Hold a minute.” I turned to the group. “Hey, Quartz, do you want your bent-up shield back?”

  “Nope.” Was the muted reply followed by some more Dwarven cursing and kicking of grass.

  “Tell you what. I’ll have my companion come over to indicate what we need, and you can keep the chewed shield and any other unusual and interesting artifacts inside the great beast.”

  He stuck out his hand, and we shook. “Done and done.” He said.

  I walked back to the group so we could get started on the second quest before dawn limited our options. “Hey Wilma, could you please point out the tooth we need and describe what you can about the gem and weapon.”

  “Of course.” She said and walked over to the Assistant Harbor Master. They spoke for a moment, and she turned and called back for me to swivel Old Sergeant more in our direction so his jaws were closer to the boat and shore.

  I did, and while she handled that, I gathered us all back together again. “Okay, I can’t begin to thank you enough for your bravery and help with our oyster hunt. It was a little more exciting than any of us foresaw.”

  They all laughed, and Steven punched Biff in the shoulder good-naturedly.

  “Yes, it was very successful. In the excitement at the very end, I was able to find what I was looking for.” I pulled out the lustrous black pearl and handed it around so they could each look at it. Quartz cursed a bit more in Dwarven but waved it away.

  “Congrats. I’m sure it will serve you well.” Quartz said as he kicked the grass a little harder.

  I started to ask just what he was doing, but then decided I probably didn’t want to know. After everyone else had a chance to inspect it, I said, “The next two quests involve collecting some viper venom, and for just a single minute at Springtide Sunrise, there will be purple blossoms from a rare Springtide Flowering Lavender Sunburst that we must harvest while it is in full bloom. We won’t know exactly where they are, but they should be in the area.”

  “They only bloom for a minute?” Adriana asked.

  “Yes, and it gets better.” I removed a leather satchel from inside my robes. “In this bag, I have small but very sharp silver blades that must be used to cut the blossoming flowers. If we do it right, they will remain in bloom. Cut as long of a stem as possible to protect the blossoms.”

  I handed out the thin blades. Sundance had helped me make them, and Steven had blessed them to purify them from residual magic. Biff had helped me sharpen them. Unlike most of our clothing, the blades were dry, having been protected in an oil cloth within the leather satchel. Not that saltwater would do them any harm with such a short exposure.

  We each took a blade, but we were one short because Quartz was with us. When Wilma returned, she said that she had her own silver dagger that should work fine. Just to be sure, Steven Blessed it.

  “These giant Marsh Vipers are very dangerous, so keep an eye out. We will swing back and forth across the marsh from here to the city walls and back to the shores until we locate one.”

  “Oh, Quartz?” I said.

  “Yes?” He replied a bit petulantly.

  “As an official member of our team, I have a gift for you.”