Magical Essence Ch 04

College ramped up on me. After seeing how the last story was rated I decided to give the series a bit of a rest, but now with a good amount of time (and due to a lot of people's requests) I am writing the series again. Thank you for all of your comments, and I am glad that the chapters thus far have piqued this much interest.

Unfortunately (or not, depending on how you look at it) my writing style seems to be hard for some people to grasp. I am considering editing some of the previous chapters (for both my stories) in order to clean them up a little bit. But this is as long as time permits. I am not going to sacrifice new chapters for that. Enjoy, and thanks for the support! Be sure to keep voting and most of all leave comments!

Scene One

Gavin struggled to sleep as much as possible, but the events from the past few months have caused him to become an insomniac. The nights where sleep does overcome him only last a few hours at a time, usually lasting less than four hours, and always ending with a failed forced attempt to fall asleep. He stood up in the middle of his room and looked into the mirror noticing the subtle changes to his appearance. He had allowed his hair to grow long, and now carried various scar-burns from spars with Eliza and Merik. The muscles on his body were more toned now (not that he was scrawny before) and his childhood scars glowed as bright as ever. He brushed that thought from his mind, and caught himself gendering a bit too long at reflection in the mirror.

As he shook it off he leaned into the cabin's door pushing it open and started his jog out into the fields. Eliza had warned him never to leave the compound (as he referred to it) without being escorted by herself or Merik. 'The risks outweigh the rewards', he thought to himself shaking his head. Eliza was only a few years his senior and she was already sounding like an old woman. These past few weeks have really been a test to his patience. Meredith was allowed to roam around Tevrin without any type of supervision and yet Gavin had never actually been into the city.

"Meredith", he mumbled. She had been on his thoughts for awhile now. Ever since the incidents with Jordan he had not spoken with her for more than a minute's time. Then tension had built up so much that Eliza refused to train them together, and they were both now split apart. On several occasions (even though Gavin refused to see) Meredith attempted to apologize to him, but each time he brushed past her consumed in what task had to be done at the time.

Meredith felt abandoned. Before Gavin was discovered to be an Arch Mage Meredith's training was the center of attention for Eliza, but now, she was simply on the back burner. Even though Eliza participated in training she could always sense the mentor's thoughts being about Gavin.

He approached the entrance to the compound and slowed down his pace. As he looked at the iron gates a rage built up inside of him, something that has seemingly been happening more frequently lately, and he looked past the gates towards the city.

"Why should I be locked up in here?" he said to himself. "I did not ask for this, I did not ask to be an Arch Mage." He muttered some curses to himself, and pushed the gate open with two open palms. The city was only a few miles and given his condition it would take him less than an hour to jog there. He started walking up the road thinking his actions over and over again to himself. Before Meredith and he were fighting she spoke of Tevrin's night life which included several bars, sparing rings, and other events of interest to unwind the apprentices.

That settled it for him, and he started a quickened pace towards the city. There were several hours left before he needed to be 'awake' in the morning, and he was sure that he would be able to get back by dawn. The chill of the December air hit his skin hard, and he pulled his cloak around his body as he continued to jog. He had lost several pounds of fat over the past few weeks from his jogging routine, and has become more cut and defined.

Eliza and Meredith have both noticed the subtle changes even if neither would mention it around him. Meredith watches his meditation and exercise routines from afar. Her feelings were split between envy and lust which caused more than a fair share of sexual tension. Meredith was by far not ugly herself, though being the only female apprentice did not help her situation at all, and many of the male apprentices feared her more than ogling over her.

Gavin reached the city limits in just under an hour. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and proceeded to walk through the gates. Before he realized it a guard had emerged from the gatehouse pointing a staff in his direction. Gavin stared down the guard for a few seconds, and put his hands at his sides. The guard signaled from his perch and two others surrounded him.

"Where are you going to these late hours apprentice?"

"My apologies to rouse you I am merely walking", Gavin replied.

"You do understand that there is a curfew for all first degree apprentices such as yourself. We are in our full right to take you into custody."

Gavin thought quickly, "I am not a first degree apprentice, and I am insulted that you would think so because I simply picked the wrong tunic in the middle of the night. I am nearly a fifth degree."

There are six degrees to apprenticeship. The first and second degree apprentices are bound to their mentors at all times, and were not allowed to carry possessions with magical enchantments, or magical properties. Some of which include staffs, wands, and spell scrolls. The third degree apprenticeship marks the start of the schooling routine which lasted up until the end of the fifth degree. The sixth degree of apprenticeship could take years to accomplish, and requires an applicable quest to be completed which is given by both the mentor and The Council (which includes the ambassadors, and other delegates from Tevrin.)

The two guards looked between each other but neither lowered their staff. At this Gavin simply put his finger into the air, and casted a spell creating a small light source which floated above him. This satisfied the two guards, whom bowed, and returned to their posts. The ability to cast all spells with one's hands marked the move to the fifth degree apprenticeship. Most fourth degrees learn this early on, but take time in order to learn how to cast all spells in that manner.

It only took a few minutes but Gavin quickly found his way to one of the night clubs that he heard about from Meredith. The club was named 'The Grail' and seemed interesting enough to venture inside. Inside was something that Gavin had not even imagined to see. There could have easily been a few hundred gathered around the dueling ring, and several more scattered around at various tables. He passed his hands across his face and distinguished his spell as he moved to sit down at one of the tables. He watched the duel in progress taking note on the two fighting styles of the two Magi.

"What can I get you?" an attractive young woman seemed to appear from nowhere to take his order. Her eyes were a deep green color, and she had long red hair that stopped just short of the bottom her perfect hourglass figure.

"What would you suggest? This is my first foray into this whole club scene", he gave a small smile, and looked up into her tantalizing eyes which seemed to beckon his gaze.

"We have a lot on our menu", she returned the smile brushing a piece of hair from her face, "but on a cold night as the such I would suggest a warm cup of hot chocolate."

"Then I accept your suggestion", he nodded to her as she began her stride towards what had to be the kitchen. Gavin caught her talking to a few other of the young women whom worked at club, but decided to return his attention to the dueling match. He had never seen an actual dueling match before, and generally was wondering what it entailed exactly. The two Magi rounded the ring in an attempt to disarm, cause a submission, or force their opponent out of the ring. Generally all three rules apply but only one needs to be in play for it to be an official match.

Tevrin took dueling seriously, and all official matches were recorded for statistical purposes. In order to be even recognized for a sixth degree quest a apprentice must have at least one hundred dueling matches under his belt. This does not include any matches that are during Olympic sanctioned events including the preliminaries and training.

"Your cup of hot chocolate has arrived sir", the waitress had once again had been able to sneak up on him. He looked up from the match, smiled, and placed the money on the table. She shook her head quickly, "There is no payment tonight someone has picked up your tab."

"Oh, really? Could you please point them out to me?" he looked around the room intently before realizing that the person was already standing in front of him. His face caught a hint of redness, and nodded slightly in approval.

"Would I be able to find out her name so I could properly thank her?"

"Her name is Sophie. May I sit?" without waiting for a reply she took up the seat across from Gavin. There was something about this apprentice that interested her, but she could not grasp exactly what that was. She took him at face value: a complexion that proved that he had indeed been outdoors, a hidden muscular physique, and a plain face. The abnormally long hair most definitely interested her. He was not afraid to let himself go, but yet, was in tune enough to keep his body in shape.

"Please to meet you Sophie. I am Gavin", he replied taking a sip of his hot chocolate. The warm liquid traveled directly to his stomach causing him to warm from the inside out. This cup seemed a little too good though, and Gavin ventured to think that there might be a sort of spell on it. Either way, though, it was not stopping him from finishing the mug. He took the sleeve of his shirt across his mouth to rid the excess froth.

"Gavin? You mean,

the Gavin

?" Sophie said a bit loudly, but she leaned in closer to speak a little more privately, "You can not be serious." Her eyes widened with wonder and awe that some children are able to achieve. She was not waiting for an answer though, her facial expression demanded it, and her hands moved to interlock with his wrists in a subtle embrace.

He hesitated a moment considering her reaction to his name, "How exactly do you know my name?" This, of course, was not the reaction that he expected, in fact, it was the direct opposite. This was the type of reaction that would have normally caused him to immediately get up and walk out of the room. But he generally was intrigued about how exactly she knew his name. The thought of the grapevine had never crossed his mind.

"Where have you been the past few weeks? The news about you putting that Jordan in his place has spread across all of Tevrin. You're a star among stars", Sophie was most definitely interested in Gavin now. Her elbows were propped up on the table, she indeed broke the embrace, but did not lead her hands far from his. "Jordan is here right now, you know, across the club", she pointed in the direction, "at one of the private booths over there."

Gavin's eyes followed her gesture to confirm that it was indeed Jordan. He was sitting with a group of people that included his two apprentice-mates that were with him that day at the compound. He spent a few moments studying Jordan and the rest of his posse before taking another long sip from his mug. He turned back to Sophie looking directly into her eyes. There were many parts of his body right now telling him not to do what he was about to, but the mind grasped a hold and he moved to bid her farewell for the night.

"I believe it may be time for me to retire for the evening. Thank you for the mug Sophie, and you were a darling, but I think I will take a walk outside in the fresh air", and with that Gavin stood up pivoting directly into the path of Jordan. It seemed that one of Jordan's mates had informed him of Gavin's presence, and he had immediately made a stride over to his table. Gavin calmly put his mug down on the table watching the other mage walk towards his vicinity.

"You! How dare you show your face here", Jordan nearly screamed, causing the low roar of cheering to slowly quiet down. The spectators were now watching the confrontation between Jordan and Gavin. The dueling match had almost instantly become irrelevant, and all eyes were now on two Magi.

Gavin turned his head slightly and tipped the mug with his finger, "Great hot chocolate. Almost hard to pass up." was his only reply. One of the things that he had been taught in the past few weeks that one can never have enough patience. Gavin most definitely did not want to cause a scene on his first night out of the chicken coup. Eliza would already not be pleased with the escape from the compound, but if a conflict arouse he most definitely would never be let off the lease again.

"You, runt, have caused us great embarrassment over the past month and a half. Do you think I am just going to let you walk out of here?"

Gavin studied the spectators, and now the duelists whom of which had simply stopped their match. He reached for another sip of his mug before remembering it was empty and finally looked directly into his adversaries' eyes. Eliza was going to freak, but the scene had already been created and Gavin was not about to get crucified for no reason: Go big or go home.

"What do you suggest? I am all ears."

This took the other mage by a bit of surprise, and a grin spread across his face. The boy pointed behind him at the ring which had already been cleared from the prior duel. It had indeed seemed that the whole club was eagerly awaiting the spectacle that was about to happen. There were several cheers coming from various tables surrounding the two, and Gavin took the time to look around.

He laughed slightly, "Well then, I guess I should not keep my fans waiting, right?", and be broke rank to start walking towards the ring. The crowd bellowed. The whole experience was surreal to Gavin. He had not expected to be entering into a duel with a fourth degree apprentice and especially the one that he had indeed embarrassed. This was sure going to be a night he would soon not forget, and Eliza make sure of that the next morning. There was no use stopping now he had already been spotted by a few dozen people and she would find out one way or another.

The stage was indeed set. Gavin had produced his wand from within his tunic and went through an elaborate stretching routine that gained both laughter and cheers from the crowd. He spun his wand across his fingers a few times waiting for Jordan to enter the ring, and as he did, the spectators erupted into a loud cheer. It seemed that Gavin might have underestimated Jordan's popularity a bit, but nevertheless, the show would still go on.

"Are you ready runt? This is going to be quick and painless."

Scene Two

Merik walked through one of the side streets of Tevrin. It was hard for him to sleep with the burden of Gavin on his mind. The mere fact that he could be in the presence of an ArchMage was enough to make him ecstatic but that was the bonus that allowed him to be around Eliza. He had never felt such feelings for someone before.

'

She is amazing'

, he thought to himself as he pulled the robes around his body. The night chilled quickly and the streets of Tevrin were known for gusting every once and awhile. He could not get his mind off Eliza. She was the first female Magi that he had ever met and she could very easily bury him in a duel within the first few seconds. He admired the great strength that she had simply for taking the ambassador position. Tevrin had strict laws about Magi and one of them resided around gender.

In the olden times any person with magical prowess was permitted to go through the proper ranks of training which included females (whom more often than not proved to be the better of the three genders). One of the principals of the Magi were that they held themselves to higher moral standards than any normal human. Magi were expected to admire, respect, and understand all forms of nature. The 'originals' mentioned nothing about the gender of a Magi and thus this is something that held true for several hundred years.

Unfortunately there were always bad apples in the bunch. As the human race evolved and further developed the role of women was seen as being in the home. Women were seen simply as vessels for the bloodline, and a means to take out repressed feelings (be it sexual or not) of their mate: a counter-balance of sorts. The woman was a nurturer not a fighter, and thus man became the central icon of human civilization. The king ruled the land and the queen simply stood at his side.

The Magi community despite declaring themselves independent of human civilization indeed soon followed the same logic. The woman were slowly phased out of all official training programs, and were simply used as work-slaves. This happened with the majority of Magi-populated cities except Eliza's home. Tevrin was one of the first to follow the newly discovered discrimination, and enacted several laws against woman utilizing magic. It was not until the recent pressure from Eliza's home-state where some of these laws were revoked.

But Merik did not just admire Eliza for her mind. Eliza had long brown hair that stopped just past her waist line, and great blue eyes that reminded Merik of getting lost in the sea. She carried herself well and never under-dressed for any occasion including a simple leisure activity. She hid the majority of her olive skin under various assortments of robes, cloaks, and ribbons. He never understood this and thought that a woman of such beauty should be free to show without worry.

He shook his head clear of his thoughts. He indeed thought about Eliza too much, and it began spilling over into some of his real responsibilities. He had requested to make a journey back to his Darque (his home-state) to search for a suitable apprentice for next term.

Merik heard some cheering from inside one of the clubs, and walked inside. He avoided the club-scene simply because he wished not to be held accountable for anything that happened while inside. Being an ambassador meant he had had to watch over the populous and help enforce laws. He believed firmly that apprentices should have the proper time to unwind in whatever fashion they decided, but the majority of The Council did not agree (including Eliza.) The first two degrees of apprenticeship had a strict curfew; third, fourth, and fifth degrees were allowed out until 2AM.

He walked through the colorful beaded entrance while scanning the area for the two combatants. The whole room had rushed the ring and were readying for the bout that was starting. Merik made his way towards the ring as the knot in his stomach grew deeper, 'Is that Gavin?' he thought to himself. The fears that were bubbling in his deep insides were soon verified as he saw the focused face of Gavin.

"Gavin!" Merik tried to yell above the crowd. He pushed his way as quickly as possible through the hordes of people. "Gavin!", he yelled once more, but the sound of the crowd had muffled his screams.

The match had already begun.

Scene Three

The crowd roared as Jordan begun the match with a quick take-down attempt. The spell was aimed square into Gavin's chest, but his unique reaction times allowed for an immediate dismissal. He quickly answered with his own missile spell followed up by lightning shock which briefly grazed Jordan's shoulder. The older apprentice shrugged off the pain.

'He is quick', Jordan thought to himself between the exchange of casts, 'almost too quick.' Jordan threw a quick disarm attempt and followed up with the slow spell. This was something that Gavin had never encountered and the blue aura coursed through his veins.