--- Roric

Because Elise was often busy with her training sessions now, Roric had very few chances to meet her and have a chat. He began to feel a bit lonely, being always by himself, and wondered if something was bound to happen anytime soon.

His days had become boring, to say the least. He was allowed entrance to the royal guards' quarters to keep his body in shape, whenever he desired so, but there really wasn't much to do in general. There were times when he would just slack off on a terrace, a short distance from his room, craving for some kind of contact with other people. Nobody in the palace seemed interested to do the same, however.

It was right when his hopes were on the point of fading that he finally met someone. The boy was resting on a stone bench, as usual, when he heard some sudden noises coming from the corridor. He ran in that direction, to see what was going on, finding a person crawling on the floor in a sea of papers.

"Damn it. Damn it. Damn it!"

It's Mary. Looks like she needs help with those. Well, isn't she the one who talked to me the most recently? I'd better...

"Need a hand?" Roric greeted her. "Sorry. I couldn't help but notice you."

The young Mage turned to him, her face red. "Ah... I... I guess. Thanks."

The boy knelt beside her, and started piling up the documents. How exactly she was planning to carry all that stuff around, with her apparently frail build, was a mystery to him.

Right. This girl is here on the behalf of the Circle. I bet she works hard.

Mary's eyes were lively, yet tired. For some reason, the young warrior asked himself if she managed to get enough sleep. The answer, clearly, was no.

"This is too heavy, you know. What are these? All reports?"

"Almost all of them," replied the girl, still panting a little. "I still have a lot of things to do today... So I thought it would be great if I could bring them to my room all in one go."

Roric chuckled. "Should have asked a servant if it was too much for you."

"I... No. It's something I must do on my own, without being a burden to anyone else... Even you helping me here is-"

"Don't mention it. I'm free most of my time, anyway. Here, I'll carry it for you."

With a grunt, Roric lifted the pile of papers. It weighed a lot, reinforcing his first impression.

Yeah, this girl has it harder than me.

"No! I can do it alone! I-"

"Let me do the lifting. I mean it."

Mary open her mouth as if to speak back but in the end she didn't, and just invited the boy to follow. They went up a couple of floors, into the area where the guests resided.

"So..." went on Roric. "How are you? Do you do this every day? It must be exhausting."

"I don't mind it... It's my duty, after all. I'm fine, really."

She pulled her hair to the side, and kept walking. The light made the dark bags under her eyes even more evident.

"Still, you don't look so well. We only met once before, but I had already noticed it. You should sleep a couple of hours more, at least."

The apprentice hesitated for an instant with her reply, this time. "There's no need to be concerned about me. It's just a part of the job."

"If you say so. Take it a little easier, or you'll get sick."

Their conversation died for some time, until Mary finally stopped at a door and took out the key to unlock it.

"Please, come in. It's a bit of a mess, sorry..."

What is she saying? I can't really see much disorder in here...

It was true, there was a table littered with other papers and stuff, but the rest of the room was tidy. An over-organized person like Mary was bound to live in a place like that, after all. Roric left the pile of documents on a free shelf and started taking a look around, lingering on the titles of the magic books.

Arcane reflections... Basic barriers... Fundamental explosion theory... Wait, explosion?

"Don't look at them!" exclaimed the girl, all of a sudden. "Ah... My apologies. Those come from the tower, and the librarians wouldn't like the idea of someone outside of the Circle peeking into our secrets..."

"Secrets? I thought your magic wasn't exactly something you hide."

The young warrior was perplexed, but quickly accepted when the Mage offered him a chair to sit.

"You see... Since ancient times, the Circle has always been very cautious about revealing our methods to others. Well, it applies to knowledge in general. They believe only certain people have the right to wield it."

"You don't seem to share the same views."

Mary glanced at him in a curious way, perhaps surprised by the fact that he wanted to hear more.

"Maybe," she said. "I mean, this is the root of the many problems between the Circle and the Order of Light... They, on the contrary, share. They would teach the commoners about our magic, given the chance. A lot of caution is necessary."

"Why?" asked Roric. "Because it's dangerous?"

"Yeah, and also because someone could use it against us."

"Like... Weapons?"

For someone who says it's not alright to talk about this, her eyes tell the opposite. She's clearly eager to explain more.

After a couple of uneasy moments of silence, the girl stood up nervously and took a deep breath.

"Do... Do you want to see something?"

The boy blinked one or two times, before answering. "Sure. I won't speak of it to anyone, don't worry."

With a relieved expression, Mary turned the other way and walked towards a closet, bursting it open. It seemed to only contain vests and books though, nothing too flashy and... Nothing that resembled a weapon, even. For the first time, something came to Roric's mind.

Now that I think about it... Mages do fight, right? So, even Mary... No, there's no way she could. Just look at her. She clearly studies a lot and trains hard, but she doesn't give away the idea of someone who knows how to wield-

"Here," she said. "Since you helped me with the papers, I'm going to show you a piece of my equipment. You like fighting, don't you? This is something normal people rarely get to see."

"But there's nothing out of the ordinary in there."

"Were you expecting an armory of some sort?" the girl laughed. "It's true, the thing I'm referring to is related to combat, yet..."

"The Circle has special weapons, then?"

"No weapons. Just instruments. Wait, where did I..."

She dove into her wardrobe again and began rummaging inside. After much more time than Roric would have ever expected, the young apprentice took out a long object protected by a purple bag of the same shape. Before his curious gaze, she opened and tossed it to the side, revealing a plain, metallic staff. It seemed completely normal, except for two rings carved into its surface, near one of the tips.

It could be a handle of some sort... No, wait, the rings are too small to be the right size. Even her hands wouldn't fit.

"This is my rune-staff. You may think it's just a mere walking stick now, but trust me when I say that it can do much, much more."

The tone of Mary's voice revealed that it was a really special object to her. Roric came closer, examining the instrument. It was made of a material that went beyond his knowledge. His inspection made him notice countless tiny veins in the metal, similar to those he would usually see in wood. The girl even let him take it for a couple of seconds to assess its weight.

"I give up. This can't be steel," observed the boy, scratching his head. "It's also too light to be bronze or any other material I'm familiar with."

He returned the staff to the young Mage, who smiled back in satisfaction.

"It's made from a chunk of star-metal, the rarest in the world. It's chosen for its special property of binding with the energy of a person after the appropriate ritual," she explained. "This form of attunement serves two purposes. The first and most important is that only I can use my rune-staff."

That was probably why she had even let him touch the instrument. Mary didn't know that Roric possessed a special power, but the star-metal didn't give out any kind of reaction.

"What about the second one?" he inquired. "And I don't see any rune on that thing."

The girl chuckled, like a very educated person who had suddenly been asked the most trivial of questions.

"Wait, wait. Let me finish," she said. "As I was telling you, there's a second reason for us Mages to use these... What do you know about arcane magic?"

"Close to nothing," lied Roric.

Well, it's not like I could tell her I'm an Elemental. I don't like the idea of betraying her trust but... One of the predecessors of her Archmage has killed countless people like me. Even if she is friendly now, I can't tell how her views would change.

Mary however only seemed to be waiting for a chance to put up a show. She made a quick gesture, closing her chestnut eyes, and a luminous globe appeared on the palm of her hand. It was a little bigger than a coin, of a bright violet colour, still potent enough to light the entire room while floating in the air. An instant later, it vanished.

"What... What was that?" asked the boy, trying to understand the meaning of the demonstration.

He also tried to seem shocked by it, since it wasn't remotely the first time he saw magic.

"A simple lantern-spell, something they teach to the apprentices," answered Mary. "Now, watch this."

She took the staff and concentrated for a moment. One of the two rings in the metal began glowing of the very same light Roric had just witnessed, then the girl relaxed and conjured a second orb over her free hand.

"See what I just did?" she said. "I told the rune-staff a spell, and now it remembers it."

With a gentle movement of the instrument, a second light appeared above the upper tip and the ring went back to normal. Now there were two lanterns active at the same time.

"Wait," stepped in Roric. "Could it be that... You can't do more than one at once without your staff?"

Mary let her magic orbs fade and put down the staff, excitedly.

"Exactly!" she exclaimed. "Rune-staves allow Mages to go beyond the limits of our powers. Let's say... I wanted to create an energy box and put the light inside, to make a lamp. The amount of concentration required to shape the Arcane would be too much, even for something apparently that simple. It would come out too unstable, and blow up."

"Really?" wondered the young warrior, understanding why a book on explosion theory was necessary. "So, the more spells you know, the more your staff will become useful?"

The girl hummed affirmatively. "Given enough time to prepare them, yes. As a Mage grows in power and knowledge, the circle allows them to carry even more rings. The ritual and the cost is great, of course. Currently, the Archmage is the only one who has six. They say he can weave the spells together in wonderful ways."

"What about the runes? I still haven't seen them."

"You were probably too surprised, or the light blinded you. Let me try something else."

She's so resourceful. I can see she loves what she's doing so much.

With another flick of her wrist, Mary conjured a square-shaped crystal, of the same colour as the lantern-spell from before, and then went on to store it into her staff.

"Watch carefully," she whispered, putting the tip of the instrument just a few palms from Roric's nose.

That time, the boy wasn't distracted. As the glow of the ring faded, he could clearly see a bunch of ethereal inscriptions lifting off from the metallic surface. It was just a moment, still noticeable even for someone who didn't possess his reflexes.

"I think I saw them, now. Thanks." he confirmed.

The young Mage put away the rune-staff and thus their short lesson came to a conclusion. A minute later, she and Roric were staring at the pile of papers again.

"So... Do you need help for something else? As I mentioned, I'm free," said the boy.

He didn't want to give the idea of being too interested in Mary's offensive spells, but he had some curiosity and spending time with her could satisfy it. The Circle, however, valued secrecy. That girl had already infringed the rules that day to show him the instrument.

It's not right to take advantage of her trust to learn about this stuff. Maybe it's better if we say goodbye and leave it for another time. Still... There's not much else to do here at the palace. She...

"In truth..." replied the apprentice, "Since you are here, I'd really appreciate if you came to the tower with me."

"What for?"

"It's a bit embarrassing to say, but... I have an exam today. Even if you aren't allowed in the inner chambers, it would help me having a friend waiting outside."

"A... A friend?"

Mary blushed and turned away from him, hiding her embarrassed face behind a patch of brown hair.

This girl... She's really out of place in this den of prowlers. No wonder she too was looking for someone to talk at the banquet. It's... Way different from how Elise has become.

"Sure," said Roric. "Lead the way, Mary."