Read Online Journeyman (A Wizard's Life) by Eric Guindon - Free Book Online Page B

a moment, while out of sight, to cast his spell to reveal magic. He then went upward once more, looking at the metal wizard. It was a mess of enchantments, as was the mansion itself. One of the enchantments he saw was a ward against the Cleaver on the metal form itself, preventing Benen from dispelling the magic directly on it. But when the creature used the Cleaver to try to cut apart Benen’s own spells, he was able to break up the incoming attacks. They were in a stalemate, with both able to counter any magic the other tried to cast.
    “Just talk to me for a moment,” Benen demanded of the metal being.
    It extended a hand toward him and metal darts started flying at him. He dodged them. The thing had a dart launcher in its arm!
    What sort of Southren machinery is this thing?
    Benen gave up on being polite and simply flew toward the balcony the thing stood on, evading darts as he went. To the metal being it looked like Benen was charging at it, but when it moved to avoid being hit, Benen went past it and into the mansion.
    Once inside, Benen turned around and waited for a moment. The metal being tried to come in through the door, but Benen had other plans. Once it was in the doorway, he charged at it, grabbing it and lifting it along with him. It was heavy! He barely managed to move it the three metres he needed. Once the balcony was no longer beneath them, Benen let go of the creature. He watched it fall the twenty metres to the ground below, where it flew apart in pieces as it hit.
    Benen flew back to the balcony and walked into the mansion.
    “Now will you talk to me?” he yelled.
    There was no immediate response, but after a few minutes an older man, livid with anger, came into the room.
    “How dare you!?” he screamed at Benen. “Years of research and work destroyed in minutes by your impudence!”
    “It attacked me!” Benen was not about to apologize for defending himself.
    “Because I do not welcome guests!”
    “Well, this guest doesn’t care. I need to talk to you.”
    The wizard looked Benen up and down. “I don’t know you.”
    “And I don’t know you, but I know that you are harassing a village to the south of here: Gronin.”
    “Gronin is mine!”
    “I’m not trying to take your territory from you, I’m telling you to stop extorting from them.”
    “Extorting?! Is that was they told you? What I take from them is my tribute!”
    “Call it what you will, it has to stop.”
    “No!”
    “Yes!”
    “It is lawfully mine to take,” the wizard insisted.
    “You will st— er, what? Lawfully?”
    “Yes.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I have an agreement with this village. They pay me tribute in exchange for services I render.”
    “They did not mention this to me.”
    “They probably don’t remember. It was signed by their ancestors four hundred years ago.”
    “Can I see this document?”
    The wizard sighed his exasperation and led Benen to a study. There, framed and preserved, was a charter. It outlined that in exchange for his assistance in levelling the land for the settlement and for his continued work in ensuring moderate favourable weather, the wizard Tawn would be paid tribute every harvest. It went on to specify which goods and in what quantities. Benen could not deny the agreement’s validity.
    “What if they decide they don’t want your services anymore. Would you leave them alone then?”
    The wizard smirked. “If they want. But they had best know what they’re doing, this area was a desert before I helped things along. If I stop maintaining my magic, it will return to desert, eventually.”
    Benen did not see this as a good solution either.
    “I’ll return to the village and tell them their options. I’m sorry about your, er, servant? Guard?”
    “It’s a vessel I project into,” the wizard said with pride.
    “Impressive,” Benen said.
    “Thank you. I will rebuild it, I just have to retrieve the pieces and see what the damage is.”
    “Please, allow me. It’s