Chadwick’s next three days were a whirlwind of activity for him. Sal convinced the Chief Mage to assign him to the message decoding instead of teaching one of the non-magical personnel how to do it. Since he helped make the new message stones anyway. He already knew the system and wouldn’t need much training. He just had to promise to begin turning over the decoding as soon as he found a student that could feasibly take over his enchanting duties.
Chadwick took his chance to fill in any missing gaps he could think to ask about while he worked with Sal to teach him the latest coding system. There were limits on what they could say, but it still gave him some valuable clues.
Sal warned him that he should be careful to hide his enchanting knowledge. If he was going to make any enchanted items to bring with him, the Chief Mage would likely recognize most common ones. And would start to ask further questions, ones Chadwick wouldn’t be able to help but answer.
First, Chadwick decided to re-make the bag that Sal had tasked him with. That was something that no one would recognize. No one had ever made one before, as far as Sal knew. And Chadwick could hide the rune symbols under a thin layer of metal. It would stop the enchantments being accessible and he wouldn’t be able to add or remove items, but he could remove the layer of metal once he was away from the tower.
Once the bag was made, he could load up on as many items as he needed. Sal even had the bright idea of loading Chadwick up with the perfect materials to make whatever other items he might need.
By fudging the reports, Sal had slowly stashed quite a collection of various materials. The Chief Mage normally kept a very close eye on what materials Sal used. But he had kept the odd thing aside by “failing” to enchant something every now and then. The Chief Mage just assumed he was suffering the normal failure rate of enchanters when they lost focus and materials got destroyed. Sal hadn’t messed up an enchant in years though. He just kept roughly the same failure rate as he had in his younger days.
The one thing he couldn’t risk trying to pretend to mess up was the necklace materials. The Chief Mage watched those like a hawk and the one time Sal had actually messed one up during his first year of doing that job, the Chief Mage had stormed into his office and subjected him to rigorous questioning. He even made Sal go through the trash to pick out the dust that was the only thing left of the failed necklace.
Sal gifted all his stashed materials to Chadwick as soon as the bag was finished. But not before marveling over the completed bag and testing it out with childlike delight. It had been a project he had spent years trying to get created, after all. Chadwick had even improved on his original design. Sal was thoroughly enraptured with the final product.
While Sal couldn’t give him one of the completed necklaces or any materials for one, he did give him a stack of paper that had the instructions for making a new one. It did require bones from some specific creature and the Chief Mage had made sure that Sal never knew what it was. He just got the completed pieces without ever knowing where they came from.
Sal never brought up the fact that he had seen Vander’s memory book in Chadwick’s office that first day. It disappeared from sight somewhere around the time the bag was completed, so he was fairly sure he knew where it went. He just didn’t want to know for sure, because then he couldn’t be made to answer.
Each time Sale came for a lesson on decoding, something that had to be taught verbally as they weren’t allowed to write down the code for fear of it falling into the wrong hands, he saw Chadwick working on some new piece of equipment. It would disappear into the bag and then some new raw material would be in his hands. He never saw enough to know what all these items were.
Both of them were operating on the basis that the less they knew, the less they could be forced to say. It made for a lot of quiet companionship when not discussing practicing the decoding.
Chadwick had meals delivered for all three days so he could get as much done as possible. On the last morning, he visited the kitchen.
He arrived a good hour before they normally served breakfast and found the stewardess sipping a cup of tea and overseeing some girls who were bringing bread out of the oven.
“I wasn’t sure you would actually come,” she began, spilling her tea as she shot to her feet, “good lord lad, who did this to your eye?”
Chadwick made an effort to smile, even though he had barely slept for three days straight, “oh, I did that on purpose. Don’t worry, it’s just a mage thing.”
She looked at him dubiously for a while, taking in the bags under his eyes. But then she shook her head and muttered, “get’s stranger here every year.” Then she stepped over to one of the ovens and fished out a large tray that had been keeping warm there. Adding the contents to a large basket.
She handed it over to Chadwick who raised an eyebrow when he saw that there was far more than cookies in there.
“Oh, don’t give me that look boy. I’m not going to sit by while a lad gets sent off to war with nothing but cookies. I had to make sure you had some things that would last as well,” she said, trying to maintain her stern demeanor, but starting to tear up a little at the end.
The basket also had a loaf of fresh bread, cheeses, salamis and several glass jars of fruit preserves.
Chadwick thanked her as sincerely as he could manage, even though he had a million other things on his mind. She really was just trying to be good to him.
She unexpectedly hugged him, and it felt… nice. He got to enjoy being just a kid again for a moment. He took his leave and went to add most of the basket to his spatial bag, enjoying a cookie while he walked upstairs.
The tower was a flurry of activity that morning as a lot of people were assigned to this particular trip to the warfront. Chadwick felt he had prepared as completely as he could manage and stuck on some sturdier travel clothes that were provided now that he was a mage.
They hadn’t had any in his size, so they tailored some down for him and he had picked them up the night before. He now looked like a mage, granted a rather smaller one than expected.
He was ready an hour before the carriage was due to depart, and just waited by the dock-house. They would apparently all cross as a group. Then the carriages would depart as soon as the baggage was loaded from the barge to the wagons.
He got a somewhat pleasant surprise when Mage Sloan also showed up in travel clothes and carrying a much larger pack than Chadwicks.
“Oh my, is that you boy? I haven’t seen you since we arrived, didn’t recognize you with that colorful eye, which I would love to hear the story of one day,” said Sloan.
“Good morning Mage Sloan, it has been a while. Are you going on another round through the villages?” Asked Chadwick.
Sloan grimaced, “no need, we’ve covered all the territory we need to until a few years from now when the next batch goes. I’m headed to the border.”
“Ah, my condolences, I’ve heard it’s not very pleasant this time of year. Elvera is not enjoying the weather I hear,” said Chadwick.
Sloan gave a nod, but then froze, looking Chadwick up and down. “Who gave you a Mage’s travel clothes? Are you going somewhere? Oh no! Did something happen to your parents?”
“Last I heard they were fine,” said Chadwick, “I can tell you about them during the carriage ride if you wish.”
“During the carriage ride…,” Sloan said slowly. Taking a closer look at Chadwick. Realization lit up his face, “oh lad, I’m so sorry.”
Chadwick just waved away his concern, “I wouldn’t worry about me. I’m definitely not the boy you once knew who was almost eaten by a giant wolf. This situation is barely a 2 on your old scale.”
Sloan just continued staring with pity, but then he did pause to say, “I never did get to thank you for not mentioning that. And I’m glad my lesson stuck.”
“I can see why you wouldn’t want to volunteer information,” said Chadwick darkly.
“Ah, yes, Perhaps you understand a bit more now why many of us say ‘rules are rules’. If I’d had a choice, boy…,” Sloan trailed off.
Chadwick just gave a dismissive wave, “I understand, believe me.”
They both turned as the Chief Mage came out and was shortly followed by a dozen young Mages. None quite so young as Chadwick, but he recognized many of them from classes he had taken with them.
“Ah, it seems everyone is here. Good. Line up and show me everything you are bringing with you,” said the Chief Mage.
The statement sounded harmless to an outsider, a caring old man making sure his juniors were well-equipped. Chadwick knew what it really was. The Chief Mage was trying to spot any potential trouble. Anyone who might be trying to find a way around the necklaces.
Chadwick dutifully laid out his only pack in front of him and flipped open the top. On initial inspection it was just neatly packed clothes and a small package of cookies. Only a small portion of what the kitchen had given him.
The Chief Mage only briefly looked through each pack until he got to Chadwick. He looked over the boring pack suspiciously. And after rifling through it for a moment, pointed at the pack and quietly asked him, “are these the only things you intend to bring with you?”
Chadwick could feel the compulsion to tell the truth activate, something he had just recently realized was actually in the first necklace he had already been wearing, albeit much weaker. It seemed only certain people had a method to enforce the truth. Such as the dockmaster with his enchanted blue rod.
“Yes, Chief Mage,” he responded.
The Chief Mage still looked suspicious, seemingly convinced Chadwick was up to something. “And is anyone else bringing anything for you? Or are you in any way bringing anything, or planning to bring anything, other than what is here?”
“No, Chief Mage,” he answered.
The Chief Mage actually seemed surprised by the answer. “I’m starting to think I’ve overestimated your abilities lad. Or severely underestimated them. And it worries me that I’m not actually sure which it is. Very well, the final question before you go. Tell me precisely where the memory book that you used is.”
Chadwick felt the compulsion wracking his brain, and he couldn’t do more than shrug as his face started to twitch and then his whole body began to shake. Not a word would come out. The Chief Mage was obviously used to seeing this and continued smoothly, “cancel that last request.”
Chadwick felt immediate relief as the demand for action that he couldn’t complete left him.
“Let me ask a different question, do you know where that memory book is?” The Chief Mage asked.
“No, Chief Mage,” said Chadwick firmly.
“And do you know of anyone who would know where it is?” Asked the Chief Mage.
“No, Chief Mage,” he answered promptly.
“And what did you do to your eye?” asked the Chief Mage.
Chadwick felt the compulsion rise up, demanding he spill all the details. For this case, he decided this was worth actually putting his mental resistance to use and he shoved back against the compulsion long enough to say, “changed the color for decorative purposes. It makes me look dashing.”Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
The Chief Mage snorted with derision, but seemed to lose interest at this point, “very well. You are all free to catch the barge off the island and then take a carriage to the war front. Make the tower proud and be sure you report to General Bracks when you arrive.”
Chadwick felt the first compulsion to prepare for this trip fade and a new one to report to Bracks settled over him. It wasn’t pressuring him to do anything right now. But he could tell it would reactivate the moment they arrived. Or if he deviated from the direct path to the war front.
They all marched onto the barge and Chadwick smiled to himself, mostly everything he had told the Chief Mage was the truth. The bag was all he was bringing with him. He really didn’t know exactly where the book was, how the spatial bag worked was still a little bit of a mystery to him. It wasn’t really ‘in the bag’. It was somewhere floating in space, or however exactly the spatial magic worked. Knowing the runes didn’t mean he completely understood how the bag’s magic worked.
Mostly he was smiling because he had actually managed to lie in the face of the compulsion.
The fact that the Chief Mage still suspected him of getting away with something wasn’t really a concern to Chadwick. The next time he saw the old man, he would kill him before any conversations took place.

The trip to the border was going to take four weeks of boring travel. Most of the mages and soldiers guarding the convoy had brought entertainment with them. Many bottles of alcohol, sets of dice, cards and various games that were popular in other parts of the kingdom were brought out on the very first day.
Chadwick had little interest in most of these things. Especially after he discovered his eyes could spot the magic most of the mages used on their dice to cheat with. Even one of the soldiers had an enchanted set.
The magic in the dice held his interest for a moment since it was surprisingly subtle. It didn’t guarantee certain sides came up, but just nudged the odds a little when the owner was the one that last held them. It even provided a way to nudge those odds further. He found it jaded his view of mages slightly that all the conditional magic he had seen for making people’s lives better, or for essential parts of running the kingdom, was far less carefully designed and implemented than the dice. Somewhere, there were mages who could manage such an elegant piece of enchanting. Who spent their time selling dice to cheat people with.
The card games were equally boring for Chadwick as the games largely required not knowing what your opponent had. And he couldn’t turn his eyes off. His opponents may as well have just turned their cards over and shown him. At least then they would know he could see them.
Some students that had been in his launching class at one point and saw his dismal fake performance, using the rigged dummy Taverish had made, decided to badger him into playing cards with them.
Chadwick had seen people hustling others at games before and the practice was almost banned in his village. In the end, the mayor never ended up having to intervene to make it a law because Chadwick’s father, Alver, would always come along when a visitor graced their inn’s tables. He had somehow heard of every scam under the book and could spot a cheat with ease. Bothe the lumberjack would take it from there. Catching of cheats ended up making the two unlikely men, a wiry scribe and an enormous lumberjack, somewhat friends.
Hustlers and cheats would find themselves knocked out, then waking up in the woods mostly naked. Their ill-gotten gains mysteriously vanished. Somehow very few of them showed up in the village after that. No one knew if the ones that didn’t return survived. The villagers considered it a fun game and they usually drank away whatever winnings they took from the cheat. Turning the visits of cheaters into a celebration.
Chadwick agreed to the badgering by his fellow mages, but warned them they wouldn’t enjoy the activity. He could feel their almost predatory gazes, they viewed him as an easy source of money. Not realizing he didn’t even have any money. His outward appearance of possessions was lacking anything of interest. But they insisted they would work out betting odds once he was in the game.
After a few practice rounds to show Chadwick how the game was played, in which they cheered him on for his beginners luck — a standard part of a hustlers routine — they suggested odds. Turns out they did see something of value in Chadwick, a serving boy.
The first bet was a small silver piece against five minutes of his time a day for the duration of the trip. The lucky winner wouldn’t have to set up their own camp each night. Chadwick would have to do it for them.
Chadwick collected himself a small silver piece from that first round and then decided he didn’t appreciate the looks he was being given. Or the assumption that his only worth was serving these teenagers, who must have rich parents if they were throwing gold and silver around during card games.
Chadwick had five small silver pieces in his hand by the end of those rounds and was considering what enchanting project he should use them for, since silver was an excellent material for enchantment, if a bit more expensive than most people were willing to spend.
One boy, who looked close to being an adult, was far better dressed than the others. His name was Raveh and Chadwick was vaguely aware that his family was wealthy. Even though he had the same design and color of the mage travel outfit on, it was obviously made of much nicer material and had several additional flairs added to it. He was the only one that hadn’t bet against Chadwick so far, preferring to sip his wine and enjoy the show.
Raveh peered into his cup at one point and sighed deeply, “oh, woe is me. My cup is empty! How ever shall I solve this!”
One of the poorer boys made to stand up, but Raveh held out a hand to stop him, “I think I see an elegant solution, one appropriate to our setting. A wager!” The boy's speech was slow and elegant, but with the occasional dramatic flair. He had clearly played to a crowd before.
Raveh continued, “you see, I need someone to keep my cup refilled during the journey. And I see you are in need of gold. So, perhaps one gold piece against you tending to my cups whenever I require.”
Some of the other boys gaped and sputtered a bit, that was enough money to buy a house in a smaller village.
Chadwick just quietly said, “that’s a lot of money. And I did warn you I would win before we started. Are you sure you want to do that?”
Raveh got a slight sneer on his face, “boy, my family made their fortunes from games of chance. Luck is in my blood. Bet. Or leave.”
Chadwick shrugged and dealt the cards. He could already see he had a hand that was better, but then he caught a flicker of magic. He saw that one of Raveh’s cards had changed to a different one. He stared for a moment, unsure if he should expose the cheating.
“Hah, regretting your choice now boy? You can feel the very weights of fate turning against you? My family has won the rights of servitude to men better than you many times,” said Raveh imperiously.
That decided it for Chadwick, two could play at this game. He reached out with his particle magic and just dissolved the swapped card into such small pieces that it just disappeared, at least as far as the other boys would see. Then he carefully stuck two cards together so they looked like one seamless one and drew the next card for each pile.
He placed one card on his own pile, then the double-card onto Raveh’s. Then he separated the two cards again with a little mental nudge. Now Raveh’s pile had four neatly stacked cards again. The stack no longer had the card that Raveh had swapped in.
Chadwick saw another flair of magic and the top card on Raveh’s pile swapped. He could see that if Raveh still had the other three cards he thought he had, it would be a winning hand. Instead, it was just garbage.
“Another card?” Chadwick offered. Normally each player would be deciding now if his current four cards would be a winner and either stopping or adding one more. Which might have given the dealer his winning cards.
Neither player had picked up their cards, so to the other boys it looked like they were both purely leaving it to chance. Of course, Raveh thought he now had a perfect hand in his four cards. So, he waved his hand in a negative.
“Let’s see how your luck manages with four cards farm boy,” said Raveh. Then he flipped over his cards and spread them out, saying, “as you can see, I have an unbeatable…”
He froze, his hand was garbage and now the whole table had seen.
Chadwick flipped his over, it wasn’t an amazing hand. But it beat Raveh’s.
Raveh spluttered for a while, “but…I had,” and then cut off with a glare at Chadwick, “very well then boy, perhaps we should have taken you at your word.”
Chadwick cleared his throat meaningfully and her out his hand, “I think I’ll take my gold now. With the understanding that I stay out of your games from now on, yes?”
Raveh seemed to consider this, then slowly placed the gold into Chadwick’s hand, “yes, I think it best you don’t even talk about cards. None of us could afford that.”
Most of the boys in the circle seemed to completely miss the threat. Just looking puzzled at Raveh’s choice of words. And the intense stare he was now giving Chadwick.
Chadwick just nodded, “consider all cards forgotten about.”
Raveh looked sourly at the gold piece in Chadwick’s hand, but nodded his assent and proceeded to ignore Chadwick until he left the circle.
As Chadwick walked away, he heard Raveh behind him, “now, as you can see gentlemen, my cup is still empty. And I have another gold piece here. Who else would like a chance at it with the same wager as the young entrepreneur who just earned his future in one round of cards?”
Chadwick was certain he would see someone filling Raveh’s cup by the end of the night.
He strolled over to his pack that was hanging on the edge of one of the carriages, he activated the hidden enchant and dropped the gold piece in.
“Hide that better lad, that’s a lot of money to most folks,” said Sloan. Who had been sitting up in the driver’s seat of the carriage and smoking a pipe. Something he had taken to doing most nights and often would sit out with the drivers during the day, since the other mages tended to complain about the smoke.
Chadwick shrugged, “nobody will find it. I have my ways.”
“Hah, look at you. Still barely taller than the day I found you in that tiny village. Yet you already have the confidence of a veteran mage,” said Sloan.
“Do you miss traveling out there? I notice you spend most of your time in your old favorite spot,” said Chadwick.
Sloan gave the carriage bench a rub with his hand, “I always did find it more comfortable up here than inside those blasted carriages. So, boy. Perhaps you haven’t gained much in height, but you seem to be putting on a little muscle that I could’ve sworn you didn’t have a few days ago. And if that eye is decorative, I’ll eat my pipe. I’ve no idea how you would’ve said what you did to the Chief Mage.”
“The less said the better, I suspect. You have quite the pair of eyes on you yourself,” responded Chadwick. He had been consistently adding to his muscles as they traveled. Setting them up with the same upgrades he had been used to during his final years in the memory book. It was slow because muscles had to be adjusted much more gradually than eyes. He had some ideas for stronger bones as well, something Vander was very thoughtful about when he suggested it in their last few days together.
“You learn to keep them peeled when you do the rounds of the villages for a few years. We were not always the most popular visitors, coming to take away people’s children and all that,” said Sloan.
“Not always safe on the roads themselves as I hear it, though not many would be dumb enough to attack a mage,” said Chadwick, leaning up against the carriage.
Sloan snorted, “I try not to underestimate the depths of stupidity some will sink to. Several groups of bandits don’t exist anymore in places that hadn’t seen a mage in almost ten years. Perhaps they didn’t believe magic existed and figured me an easy target. They don’t believe anything now.”
Chadwick just nodded approvingly, there was no jail in their village. You either received such a beating you wouldn’t consider stealing again. Or, if you still didn’t learn, you got strung up by the neck.
“Perhaps leaving a survivor would have been smart,” mused Sloan, “discourage others in the future.”
Chadwick shrugged, to him the only good bandit was a dead one. He had picked up some fairly solid views during his time with Vander. “Tell me, Mage Sloan, did you ever get that brandy you had asked the dock master about?”
Sloan sighed wistfully, “he was only able to get me a few bottles. And if I had known this trip was coming. I would have saved them all. A pipe just isn’t the same without it.”
Chadwick smiled, “never understood the fascination with pipes myself. Tell me, do you think Elvera would begrudge you a drink from her personal supply? Especially if it was from some of the bottles she never realized she had left behind when she went to the front?”
Sloan frowned at Chadwick, “you best not be teasing me boy, Elvera and I take our brandy very seriously. I saw what you packed, there was none in there. Also, she and I have been sharing a drink for more than 20 years now. So, I can safely say she wouldn’t mind at all. She still owes me a pouch of tobacco as I recall it.”
Chadwick just nodded thoughtfully, “as long as she won’t mind then. Just don’t ask me how I did it.” Then he reached into the bag that he had just dropped the gold coin into and fished out two glasses. He placed them onto the seat next to Sloan, then reached back into the bag.
Sloan was just staring at the glasses, “if you really can put brandy in that glass boy. I promise I will not ask a single question about how you managed it. The brandy would far outweigh the curiosity. Though I may regret that when the brandy is gone.”
Chadwick just grinned and then pulled a large glass bottle out of the bag, giving one glass a generous pour, then putting just a tiny amount in another, “always did want to try this.”
He put the brandy bottle back into the bag, picked up the two glasses and handed the large one to Sloan.
Once Sloan had carefully sniffed the brandy, his eyes lit up. He reached out his glass and clinked it up against Chadwick’s, “to a boy of many mysteries.”
Chadwick tilted his glass to Sloan then sipped the brandy. He gave a slight gasp, then, in a raspy voice said, “not sure I understand the appeal.”
Sloan had relaxed back into his seat, saying, “it grows on you lad. You should feel the warmth in your bones any moment now. It does you good on a cold night like this.”
Once Chadwick’s throat had gotten past the burning sensation, he did feel the warmth flowing through him. “Ah,” he said, “this reminds of those horrible Siyene yellow peppers. Though in a much nicer way.”
Sloan swirled his brandy for a moment, eyes locked on Chadwick. Then he said, “I’m going to assume you read about them in one of the books you transcribed. And not that you have actually tried them. Otherwise, I have far too many questions and there would not possibly be enough brandy in that bag to sate my curiosity.”
“Care to place a wager on that Mage Sloan?” said Chadwick with a cheeky grin.
Sloan looked from Chadwick’s bag to the glass of brandy in front of him, “something tells me I should never wager against you, boy.”