We made one more stop for the magical ink. I bought their entire supply of fifteen vials for one platinum each. I did not haggle over his price. It made the proprietor very happy. I asked him how long it would take to make more. He said that if he closed early, he could have another twenty completed by noon tomorrow. I said I would pay two platinum per vial if he could double that to forty vials. That was 80 platinum or 800 gold. He assured me that he would have them. I asked him to deliver them to the front doors of the museum at noon tomorrow. Exactly.

  When we walked out, Sarah’s eyes were huge. “It costs a copper for a regular bottle of ink! I fetch them for the mages all the time.”

  “These are very special bottles of ink,” I said.

  “Being a mage is expensive.” She said. “My parents thought I would be making them money someday. I think I will be living at home forever.” And she did not look thrilled with the idea.

  I laughed. “Mages do alright for themselves. And with your sense of business. I think you will do better than most.”

  “You think so?” She asked.

  “Yes, Lady Sarah, I do.”

  She grinned and insisted that we head back to the university, taking a roundabout path. “No need to flash your yellow the whole way across the plaza,” she stated.

  “I agree with you as usual,” I said.

  “That is wise, enchanter.” She added with a grin.

  Thanks to Sarah’s companions, Red and his grandfather were located and redirected to the museum, arriving just a little after noon. They were shown into the lobby, where we were just finishing putting bags of gemstones and crystals in all of our extradimensional adventurers' packs.

  “How did it go?” I asked.

  Red and Simon both grinned. “Very well,” Red said. But he didn’t elaborate.

  “And how about you, Master Downwin?”

  “Very well.” He said with a smirk, but he didn’t elaborate, either.

  “It must run in the family,” I said with a shake of my head.

  I explained that we had another shipment to pick up tomorrow at noon in this location, and we would need the items placed in sacks or magical storage in order for us to transport the goods. We could only take what we could carry.

  “I’ll handle it,” Red said.

  I handed a primed copper SUS to Biff, Landal, and Adam. “Add a useful skill or spell to this ring as a gift to your apprentice guides.”

  They were thrilled to do so and took their apprentice guides off to the side to talk to them.

  “I asked Sar to come over to where I sat down on a large marble staircase that led up to the second level.”

  “You all tried out?” She asked in her direct manner.

  “Sort of, but not for the reasons you may think. What year are you? I asked.

  “I have two years to go. I bumped up a year when I was younger.”

  “Unusual to be a senior apprentice at that age, isn’t it?” I asked.

  She smiled proudly. “A bit.”

  “What is your best spell?” I asked.

  “My best spell is the Fountain Drying spell. I could do that in my sleep. But my favorite is the bathing spell. I made that one up, myself.”

  “I was impressed. When did you make it?”

  She looked at me like I had two heads. “Today. I never thought about it until then. I just sort of saw how it could work, and I made it.”

  She was a prodigy.

  I pulled out a small tome I had in mind for something else, but I gave it to her. “Do me a favor. As you create new spells, write them down in detail with drawings and descriptions for any wyrd, word, will, or way you use. Keep a record of this and share it with nobody except your master. Will you do this?”

  She nodded to me. “Yes.”

  “Good. It will be valuable to you and maybe others someday. Until then, I will give you two presents in addition to the tome. The first is a blank copper Single Use Spell ring. This copper ring is primed and ready for any spell you desire of the First or Second Element to be put into it. Once the spell is inside, anyone who wears the ring will understand how to cast the spell, even if she is not a mage. You decide what goes in there as long as it is a first or second-level skill or spell. It could be from any guild. I know I suggested it be one of your spells in your guild, but any could work.

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  “The second is a gift to protect you. It is a Fifth Monk Meditation skill known as Avoid First Strike. If your life is threatened, this skill will make the intended attack on you miss. It is not foolproof, but it is quite powerful, and it could save your life.

  I handed her my spare gold ring for this skill.

  Her eyes were wide. Receiving such magic as an apprentice was rare and unexpected. “Share this only with your master and use it only in a life-threatening situation, not to avoid soup spilling on you in the hall dining room.”

  “Thank you, Gwydion. Thank you for all of this.”

  “Explore your magic, obey your master. Some of your insights will be truly unique, and some of your ideas will be dangerous and reckless because of what you do not yet understand. Learn and master the basics. Expand your knowledge carefully. Read everything you can. Build on the shoulders of the masters before you. And keep being creative.”

  She nodded her understanding but did not say any more.

  The others were done, and we needed to go. I shook her hand and said, “I can be reached in Keelwell when you get older. Look me up when it's time for your journeys to begin. If your master asks about this odd journeyman you toured, you may say it was the treble patron enchanter of Keelwell.”

  I joined the others. And even after careful packing, there were still extra bags that would not fit. Since Red and Simon insisted their backpacks were also full, and Red’s grandfather, Master Downwin, indicated that his bag was full of cloth, we each grabbed a couple of bags to carry. I only held one extra since I was bringing us home.

  I nodded to Professor Fawcett and said, “Someone will meet you here at noon tomorrow, but it probably won’t be me.”

  “We’ll be ready.” She promised.

  Looking around, I asked, “Is everyone ready?”

  Each indicated readiness, and so I activated my ring to take us back home to the Fountain. I included all seven of us in my intent and felt the familiar tug. It was not as surprising as the last time, although it was just as uncomfortable.

  We arrived with a crack sound as we displaced air and broke through whatever dimensional space that allowed the magic to work through, and people nearby jumped or shrieked. We were far enough away from the fountain that we did not bump into anyone, but I mentioned to Red, “We will need to set this area up for transport and encourage others to use it in the same way space is set aside at the capital.”

  Biff said, “But let’s make a little sign like ‘keep off the grass’ rather than chucking people into the water.”

  There were mumbles of agreement from everyone except the merchant and the monk, who didn’t see the concern.

  “Let’s get this material back to the shoppe and then I’d like a brief meeting with Master Downwin and then Red and Simon,” I instructed.

  As we walked across the Round toward St. Michael’s Way, Red said, “Simon and I will set up in Meeting Room Two. You can meet with grandfather in room one.”

  I handed my bag and backpack to Biff, who led everyone else and the extra bags to the lower levels to get sorted. Some of what we had brought with us could be used immediately, and other items would take some work.

  After we had entered the room and the door was closed, the Gray Master asked, “What happened that dirtied your boots, robes, hands, and face?”

  I rubbed at my cheeks and saw that some dirt and dust came away. “Oh, that,” I said. I thought about avoiding the story, but given the shared confidences about his former life, I told him what happened.

  “He is a dangerous enemy.” The Gray Master said.

  “True. But less so than a horde of goblins.”

  “I acknowledge that. But he also comes from an unsuspected direction and is driven by pride and revenge. That is dangerous in any ambitious man. In a powerful mage, it is nearly always fatal.”

  Bella knocked at the door and entered.

  Master Downwin raised his eyebrows and then looked behind him dramatically.

  “You offer good counsel with genuine care. I treat you with that respect in mind.” Bella said. She turned to me. “Listen to him, Gwydion. This Master Ichabod Drammult is more dangerous than you want to admit.” She nodded and departed.

  Master Downwin raised his hand. “Do I need to say anymore?”

  “No, you both made your points.”

  He slapped his thigh. “Good, then let’s talk business.”

  “Gray or colorful?” I asked, differentiating his two roles.

  “I like that. Both, actually.” He said.

  “Of course,” I replied.

  “I am who I am.” He replied. He pointed to the carpet bag. “You are young, so you start taking the rolls out and placing them on the long table.”

  “I’ve seen how you move,” I argued, but I still got up and began emptying the fabric rolls onto the table.

  I felt the material as I placed them side by side. “This really is smooth and comfortable,” I remarked.

  “And durable and usable for magical enchantments. There is no finer cloth save Elven weave, perhaps.”

  “So you like to say before you quote me a price,” I stated dryly.

  “You injure me!” He said with a hurt expression.

  “Not you, just my money pouch,” I replied.

  “Oh, stop whining. It’s city money, and my prices are fair. Now, see the vibrant Merino wool colors? I think you will find that each of your journeyman's guild colors is represented, along with an extra bolt of yellow for the Irregulars and two bolts of black as requested by my grandson for whatever devious ideas he has planned for the goblins.”

  I also pulled out of his magical bag a large sack, which I held up and looked at him for an explanation.

  “That is filled with Merino Wool thread, which your clothes designers will need so that your enchantments hold true.”

  I was not so sure about that, but then again, I was not so sure he was wrong, either.

  “That is fourteen bolts of the finest Merino wool at two hundred gold each, and ten spools of the finest Merino wool thread of each color at two gold each-”

  I interrupted. “Oh, don’t pretend you haven’t worked out the price already.”

  “You are being rude, and that will cost you a 25 gold rudeness tax on top of my time and troubles.”

  I sighed. “How much?”

  “You take the fun out of sales.” He complained.

  “I need a shower, and I still have to sit through your grandson’s stories and sales.”

  He smiled widely. “Yes, he is good, isn’t he?”

  “Okay, you win. You both win. So how much was all of this?”

  “Let’s call it a round 3,000 gold for our troubles.”

  Bella, please ask Biff to bring six bags of 500 gold to meeting room one. I’ll let him know when to bring it inside.

  Yes, Gwydion.

  “Done.” I agreed.

  He frowned. “No haggling?”

  “Well,” I began. “I could ask you to bring me three thousand from the Gray Treasury if you want to haggle-” I began.

  “No, no. That’s fine.” He said with a salesman’s smile.

  “Or I can ask Bella to remove several of the sacks that I asked her to fetch.” I offered.

  “No, no. I’ll accept your generosity.” He said with an even thinner smile.

  “You earned it. These will be a great surprise for the journeyman and worth the cost to keep them safe.” I added.

  “I imagine that the cost to have them enchanted will be even more.” He stated.

  “I may be able to work out some of it in trade. But yes, it won’t be inexpensive.”

  He sat back and smiled.

  “You are going to make me ask you, aren’t you?” I said.

  “Yes, yes, I am.” He replied smugly.