He scoffed. “Someone is always trying to bring that one back.” He paused. “But it sounds like this time it is for real. With Twilight and these invasions.” He looked even sadder. “I’m sorry you young ones have to live through these days.”

  I didn’t know what to say, so I was silent.

  He pondered his own thoughts for a little while, and as I fidgeted in my seat, preparing to politely take my leave, he collected himself.

  “You know, you never asked me about enchantments or even if I learned anything from Damascus’s book.”

  He was right. I was so stunned to get it that I never even asked him what he may have learned from it over the course of what, perhaps, a century or more of owning it?

  “I’m sorry, master. Do you have any insights that wouldn’t rob me of the fishing trip?”

  He laughed. “Okay, so it was not fair of me to test you like I did, but I was thinking about either giving the book back to the dwarves myself or chance it on someone. And there you were, dropped into my lap with skills that I recognized from the very book I had hoped to locate.”

  He pointed at a locked chest on the opposite side of the room. It was about a foot square and made of a strong wood such as oak. “Please bring that here.”

  I walked over and picked it up. It was heavier than I expected it to be. He had me place a cloth down on his long table before I set it before him.

  He waved his hand and cast a spell. “I just use Ashram’s Key anymore because I used to lose my own keys regularly. As meticulous as I am about my research and writing, I can be absent-minded about other things.”

  The chest opened smoothly as if its hinges were well-oiled. Inside was a selection of faceted rocks that filled the chest to the top. I saw at a glance that some of them were cut in the magical 7pt style. In fact, the other stones present were either 14pt or 28pt styles. If these were magical, just like gems would be in their place, the chest represented a fortune.

  “Choose three stones of different types and different makes.” He told me.

  I assumed he meant different kinds of stone and the three different magical faceted styles. I did as he asked. I was not as much of an expert on stones and rocks, but I doubted that any in here would be of plain varieties. I recognized a Tiger Eye, which I took as a 28pt stone, a 14pt black onyx, and a yellow stone that was a 7pt, but I did not know its origin.

  “Interesting choices.” He said out loud. “Do you know what all these are?”

  “I recognize the Tiger Eye and Onyx, but I do not know what the yellow stone is. I thought it could be a citrine, but it is far too opaque.”

  “You have a good eye. A little education and you can be a rockhound in no time.” He picked up the yellow stone. “This is a yellow jasper. Not especially common despite jasper being readily found in most places around our kingdom.”

  He set them before me so that they were arranged with the 7pt faceted stone on my left and 28pt on the right, with the 14pt onyx in the middle. “You will notice that they are all faceted in the magical cuts and not raw or cabochons. I would like you to inspect them as you would a gem. I presume you look into them, and then you can use a casting point to choose special features.”

  I shook my head in wonder. “That is exactly what I do.”

  “Then proceed with the lowest first and highest last.”

  I picked up the yellow jasper. It felt cold to the touch, as most stones do. I relaxed my mind and then looked into it.

  Nothing.

  I spent five minutes inspecting it. I started passively and then began to push. At the end, I even used a casting point to see if that was what I needed, but nothing happened. The casting point left me, but I could not sense the stone’s powers.

  I sat it down. “I’m sorry, master, but if that was the easiest one, I found nothing.”

  He did not seem disappointed. “I expected a lot from someone who has done nothing more than open the cover of that book. Try the same with the onyx. You don’t need to spend so long, just give it a minute and see what you learn.”

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  After a minute, I did feel something. I used a casting point again, although I feared I might yet need my points before the day was over. “By the end,” I said slowly, “it was as if I felt a swirling breeze in my head, but I could not grasp it. It eluded me. But unlike the jasper, I did feel something after expending the casting point.”

  He pointed to the Tiger Eye stone but did not say anything. I picked it up and immediately felt something. I used a casting point, and as I stared into it, I saw magic. It was not as clean and smooth as looking into gems, but I did see that there were choices of features in this stone.

  With a bit more concentration, I discovered that there were three features I could choose among to call forward in a similar way as I was used to with gems. The spell effects were Shapeshift Feline, Climb, and Darkvision. I could pull these out and use their effects once per day for four hours each.

  “That’s amazing!” I said and told him what I discovered.

  “You are truly a prodigy. It took me years of study to do what you just did. I never did get the faintest response out of a 7pt or 14pt. With study, I feel assured you could master the 14pt stones. Perhaps even the 7pt stone would be a possibility someday.”

  I still held it in my hand and just stared at the beauty of it. It was like looking at the combination of a kaleidoscope and reading a history book. It was color and history.

  “Since you already put the point into it, choose a power in the stone.” He encouraged.

  I was most interested in the shapeshifting ability, but getting stuck in the form of a panther for the next four hours was not ideal. I chose Darkvision but did not activate it.

  “What did you choose?” He asked.

  “I wanted to explore the shapeshifting feature, but decided to be cautious and practical. I decided upon Darkvision.”

  “Very sensible of you.” He said.

  “But if I can work these the same way I do gems, I can change the feature at will and set it into a socket or remove it as desired.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Well, I had to spend another several years to learn the highly secret and rare spell to remove socketed gems and stones.”

  He seemed to come to another decision. “This box is yours. It is full of stones that have all been magically cut for you to use and explore. I’m sure some of these will help you in your defense efforts. You will find effects from time to time for which there does not appear to be a corresponding mage spell. But I’ll leave those surprises to your own enjoyment.”

  The grandmaster looked over at a large bookshelf in one of the stacks in the middle of the room. “That shelf, both sides, is filled with lore around enchantment. It is one of my concentrations. At my age, I have pretty much all of the guilds represented except necromancy and shadow arts, of course. Look and see if any books interest you.”

  I rose and walked over to the shelf. It was a master’s collection. I was certain I had seen some of these in my own master’s library and also in the guild hall library. Every major patronage or classical area of study was represented. I was especially pulled toward the section on sockets.

  “I have the ability to create five-socketed magical items,” I said out loud. I have wondered if I should explore the lower sockets or expand into the higher ones.”

  “Since you are musing out loud, I will offer my thoughts.” He said from where he had turned in his seat to watch me.

  “I suspect that a one socket spell could be useful for you, especially around these stones, since magical rings max out at 28pts, and the best use of these stones is 28pts. I will also caution you that higher levels of magical cuts were attempted, but they exploded and were incapable of containing the magical potential. I don’t know if it was me or a natural limitation. Damascus seemed to focus on the 28pt stone features almost to the exclusion of the others in the text. But that could have been illustrative as a teacher rather than the limits of the stones. I just don’t know.”

  I listened to his advice and would heed it until I had read the books and perhaps sought out the only source of greater knowledge that may have been available to me, other than the archmage if he ever returned, and that was the dwarves. I did want to share, so I mentioned, “As you know, I am a Dwarf Master, but we did not discuss what in.”

  “I saw the diamonds on your forearms and assumed dwarven gem mastery.” He replied.

  He really was observant.

  “That is another whole story. Yes, I am noted as such, but for the test, I had to create three rings of Dwarven Copper.”

  “You make objects using Dwarven Copper?” He asked. “You have mastered its production?”

  “I have,” I answered.

  “Then you are not limited to the 21pt cap on metal rings.”

  “No, I am not,” I said with another smile.

  “Fascinating.”

  I looked for a few more minutes, sighed deeply, and returned.

  “I need hours and hours to look through your volumes. Perhaps if the city stands and we all survive, I could return to spend time with you.”

  “I would like that very much. And you still owe me.”

  “Master?” I asked, confused.

  “A ring of teleportation to Keelwell.”

  I laughed. “Of course! And you are welcome any time. The city may be hip deep in goblins in less than a week, but there is always room for you at my home and shoppe.”

  I withdrew one of the Limited Group Teleport rings that Isaac had made. I assumed that he would need his apprentice to come along to help him, and so that is the ring I handed over.

  “This is actually a Limited Group Teleport ring that will take you to the fountain in the Round. You know the location?”

  “I do. I have been there many times over the years, but not in the last fifty or so.”

  “Unfortunately, the fountain was damaged severely when the Deathlight fell upon the city a few days ago, and the undead invaded.”

  “Surely you jest!” He said in alarm.

  “No. Yet another story for us to share on the occasion of your or my visit.” I replied.

  I drew a simple map from the Round to my shoppe. It was nearly in the Round, so it would not be much of a walk for him. Still, he never moved from his chair the entire time we met.

  “If you require assistance in carrying anything or even getting a cart, look for a guard or any mage, or a young kid wearing a yellow hooded cape, and ask to be brought to the Patron or to Sundance Memory, and you will be assisted. People are pretty friendly in Keelwell, especially to strangers in the Round.”

  “That’s a little different than here in the capital.” He noted.

  “So I observed. But speaking of which, I must depart. I have errands to run, and our time went on far longer than I had planned.” I made eye contact with him, “For which I am dearly thankful and indebted to you, grandmaster.”

  “Nonsense, boy. You fulfilled a dream of mine held in limbo for more than two centuries. It is I who am indebted to you more than you can ever know.”

  I bowed deeply, gathered up the books, which I placed in my backpack along with the chest of stones. I was glad I spread our coins around because I would not have had room otherwise, I feared.

  I saw myself out. The apprentice who had been waiting on him was seated in the chair below the sage’s nameplate and was dozing.

  I nudged the chair, and he jumped.

  I smiled and said, “Your master is ready for you now.” I flipped him a platinum piece and walked down the stairs to my colleagues waiting in various degrees of patience for me.