“You will need a sheath, and you might as well take the one it came with. The sheath is known as the Empty Spathe, and it will make the sword invisible and intangible to any but you once you wear it.” He motioned with his hand, “Go ahead, try it on.”

  I buckled the scabbard around my waist.

  “Hey, where did it go?” Biff asked. He had wandered back over to me, curious why I would be looking at swords.

  I looked down. The sheath was before me. True, it glowed a gentle yellow against my robes, but it was still there. “You can’t see it?” I asked him.

  “No. I saw you buckle it on, and then it just disappeared.”

  Isaac said, “Lift the scabbard and hand it to Biff while you still wear it.”

  I did so, and it passed right through Biff’s hands.

  “Excellent!” Isaac said, seeing how pleased I was. “Follow me.”

  We walked nearly halfway around the room. I passed by all the potions, but not the shelves of books. That had been in the opposite direction from where we had just walked.

  “Now I know you are a gem prodigy, so choose one from this chest of 28pt gems and place it in the first slot on the blade.”

  He had stopped in a section of the chests, and as I discovered, there were chests full of magical gems.

  Chests full of them.

  The specific chest he motioned to was quite large and made of dark mahogany with bands of silver around it. When I opened the lid, the chest brimmed with 28pt gems. It was amazing to see so many. In the absence of knowing what to take, I felt the urge to pick up a 28pt diamond. I inspected it, called upon what seemed to me an obvious power under the circumstances, and then said, “This is the one.”

  I withdrew the blade and ignored the three open sockets on each side of the base of the blade and instead inserted the diamond in the base of the sword’s hilt. The entire blade glowed white and hummed with a low, soothing tone.

  “What did you give it?” He asked.

  “It is now the Holy Sword of the Servant, a holy blade. It will produce Holy Light twice a day on command, magical light can be called up to seventy feet in radius around me at will, and the blade will do double damage against corrupted, infernal, and shadow creatures that it strikes.” I explained.

  He looked very pleased with my choice.

  “You may choose two more 28pt gems, or you may choose six more ten-point gems to fill out the sockets. The choice is yours.”

  “The offer is gracious and the choice is easy. I will gladly accept two more of the 28pt gems.”

  “Wisely chosen.” He said, and was then curious what I would choose.

  I searched through several known gems, using casting points a bit more freely than I should. But after a few minutes, I chose two, an emerald and a rainbow colored fire opal. I placed them both into the slots closest to where the blade met the hilt, one on either side of the blade.

  I explained to both Isaac and Biff, “The emerald permits ambidextrous two-weapon fighting, so I could fight with my staff in one hand and the sword in the other. The opal provides me with Darkvision and Stealth upon command. Both are multi-use powers, so I can use them as often as I need.”

  “Excellent. I think you can easily hold your own against normal attackers. But be wary, your skill may be that of a high-level warrior, but your health, stamina, and specialty skills are not. Long combat could still be an issue for you.”

  I would fill the remaining slots with gems when I got back home. I knew from my previous review of gemstones that powers that benefit weapon use are numerous. I also had a 28pt diamond that dropped from Blinky, and there were several options that could benefit me, including a Scorching Light spell usable twice a day.

  My plan for the 14pt gems, at least for now, is to insert yet another diamond to give me quickdraw and second strike skills. An amethyst will give me double damage against spiritual creatures and permit me to bring the sword into spiritual combat if I am unfortunate enough to fall into that trap. A sapphire would grant me a special ability called Watery Ways that gives me free range of movement in water, as if I were in the air, and also perpetual water breathing. These should offer me maximum bonuses when in melee combat. And other than my staff, which is OP compared with my peers, my current actual spell casting warfare is underpowered.

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  Pulling me out of my own personal thoughts, Biff asked, “Are we ready to head back, Gwyd?”

  Isaac asked, “Don’t you want a gift, young brawler?”

  “Me?” Biff asked.

  “Are you not the patron’s bodyguard? The right hand of Keelwell’s Commander of Special Services?”

  “Well, yes.” Biff replied.

  “Then I think the archmage would grant you a boon. What do you desire?”

  Biff looked at me.

  I said, “It's your call, buddy. I have no idea what kind of fighting stuff you can use and a chance like this may never come again.”

  “Well, I have my gauntlets, and I fight best hand-to-hand.” He said out loud.

  “What weakness would you like to remedy?” Isaac asked curiously.

  “Gwyd, remember back to Shark Bay?” Biff asked.

  “Oh yes. I certainly do.”

  “You all almost died because it chomped me up like a guppy.” He said sadly.

  “That is hardly fair. None of us would have survived a single attack; it chewed on you like a doggy toy long past when we would have survived.” I replied.

  “Exactly. I was helpless, and Steven kept healing me or I would have died right then and there.” He turned to the Majordomo. “Is there something that could help me stay up and fight to protect my friends instead of them putting themselves in harm's way to protect me, no matter what the cost?”

  “A brawler who seeks not a weapon of power or violence, but a defensive tool so he could help his friends?” The Majordomo recited out loud. “I’m not so sure if you are not as remarkable as the patron you serve. Yes, I have just the thing.”

  Isaac led us over to a glass case full of jewelry. He withdrew a simple and unremarkable gray stone on a heavy, leather thong. “This was a gift to a cleric many centuries ago from a divine messenger. When you wear it, so long as your intentions are noble, you will double your natural health points, and even should you fall below the point when you would pass away, you would continue to fight until your duty is fulfilled and then pass on to your next great adventure. No healing would bring you back, but few powers across the Shallowlands would see you fall before the end. It is known as the Amulet of the Last Selfless Act.”

  Isaac held it out to Biff. “But understand that when its final power is activated, there is no going back. And your duty and actions must remain noble, or you will lose the amulet, never to find it again.”

  Biff reached out and accepted the amulet. He stared at it, and his lips moved, but no sound came out. When he was done with whatever he was saying silently, he lifted it and placed it around his neck.

  His whole body flashed in a golden and white light. I swear he grew another inch and even broader. He looked good, and the smile on his face was priceless. It made both Isaac and me smile; we couldn’t help ourselves.

  After Biff received his gift, Isaac stared at us both for a long moment and came to a decision. “There is one more gift I wish to give you, Gwydion, but I implore you to only use it in absolute emergencies. He led us both back to the section with chests of gems and walked past them to a shelf with a rather ordinary-looking wooden box sitting on a shelf.

  He placed his palm on the lid of the box, and I saw that there was a faint outline of a right hand that was a kind of engraved impression.

  Isaac recited, “I am Isaac Oldton Pendragon, and I release this gift to another.”

  The lid clicked open, and he stepped aside to show me five flawless, 49pt elemental gems. All five momentarily sparkled in the candlelight and seemed to call to me for attention.

  “These have been held by the Archmage for centuries. I have seen him use only one of them, and it was to summon a legendary water elemental that he departed with on some mission for the Aquatic Elves, perhaps sixty years ago. Even among 49pt gemstones, these are special.”

  He pointed to the lid. “Close it, speak your name, and that you will open this only if you have great need.”

  I did.

  “You can open it in the same way if an urgent and life-threatening need arises. But beware that these gems permit direct communication with special legendary elementals and are unlike other 49pt gems.” He warned.

  “I will. Given the power in ordinary 49pt gems, these must be especially powerful and dangerous.”

  He seemed to hesitate for a moment and then shrugged his shoulders. “They are your burden now. Carry it wisely.”

  I took the box carefully and placed it in my ever-present backpack.

  Isaac escorted us out by way of the teleporter. The same flash and nausea hit us both.

  Biff and I stepped off the summoning circle, but Isaac remained. He said, Please stay here, I will be right back. Don’t step on the summoning circle.”

  And he vanished.

  About five minutes later, he reappeared with three books under his arm.

  Isaac walked us back to the atrium. Before we departed, he handed me one of the books he carried. It was relatively thin, with a gray leather binding. “This is a book on elemental magic. It is intended for apprentices who have not yet achieved their first spells, and there are no spells hidden in its pages. When you have time, read this over, and I will offer to train you in the basics of elemental magic, especially basic attack and summoning spells across all elements. I believe that, given your work, such knowledge is helpful for you. In order to start the training, you will need some time and at least five and preferably twenty spell points available. You cannot afford to dive deep into one element but must gain knowledge of all five.”

  He then handed me the second book. It also had a gray leather binding, but was about twice the thickness of the apprentice book. “This book is more advanced and is an introductory text for older apprentices being prepared to work on their first elemental summonings. It is full of important knowledge and protocols, summoning and binding, as well as compelling and controlling elementals. Again, no spells are hidden in its pages, but you really should get up to speed on this volume as soon as you can.”

  He then handed me the third volume, and it was the thickest of the three and covered in a golden colored leather binding. “This is a book on summoning guild transportation spells. Many in there may be too advanced for you, but I would like you to spend time on the first half dozen chapters. In particular, there is a one-point spell called Circle Location. If you learn that spell, you can pick a single summoning circle to travel to. I suggest you bind yourself to your own home circle first. If you have two slots, I will allow you back in here and bind to the archmage’s circle. It will allow you to transport back and forth between them, from one to the other at will, with the expenditure of a single casting point. Because you are required to bind to the circle in person, it will allow you to travel here whenever you wish. However, The Tower defenses will be raised when you arrive, and when you are here, you will be held in a protective summoning circle spell in a kind of stasis until you receive permission to travel freely, and that must come from the Archmage since this is his demesne. I can release you, but I cannot grant you full access. You have the ability to grant similar passage and access to others in your shoppe, which I advise you to do only reluctantly.”

  “Thank you, Isaac. For all your help.”

  We departed the Tower and went back to Sundance Memory. I was more proud of my best friend than I had ever been, but neither of us said anything as we walked back. We both looked forward to washing up and turning in early.

  At least, that was the plan.