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Chapter 14: A Mage\'s Mark

Father\'s office always was to Cael something akin to a lair of a legendary dragon. Full of wonderful and mysterious treasures, carefully sorted and arranged on shelves, decorated with heavy burgundy drapes and lit up by dozens of magical, eternal candles in golden chandeliers. A huge oaken desk stood near the only window, its waxed surface is shiny and clean of any clutter.

And behind it, in a wooden chair as hard as the man himself, sat the dragon. Even without standing up, he looked below at anyone standing in front of him, including his eldest son.

That didn\'t diminish Cael\'s good mood, though. Not after his victory.

"I\'ve examined the medallion you had found with tools, Cael," Gianni spoke, as grim as always these days. "You were wrong in your assumptions. The magic on it is not from the school of Illusion, but from Divination. It\'s a Sending Amulet, an amulet which could send messages to its pair."

Cael\'s eyes widened. He thought this would take his father longer than the couple of hours that passed since Cael showed Gianni the spy\'s body and passed him the medallion.

"I wonder how many he found out and passed to Nuvoloso." Cael frowned slightly. "I should\'ve called him out when I first saw him…"

"No, you shouldn\'t have!" Gianni slapped his palm on the table, then clenched it in a fist. "Your couple of weeks of training don\'t make you a battlemage, son. You don\'t know how to access threats if they don\'t wear their Mage\'s Mark on their forehead!"

A Mage\'s Mark—a sign that your rank in wizardly had been evaluated and approved. Only a mage at least two ranks higher than the rank you wanted to get could give you one; if there were none like those, you needed approval of three mages one rank higher.

Father wore his pinned to his lapel, like a medal. A round silver token, no more than a coin, with three topazes in a triangle—one for each of his ranks. On the other side, Cael knew, were engravings of his father\'s name, and the name of the mage that gave him the Mark.

It was against the law and the mages\' code of honor to forge fake marks, or to give them out to the unworthy. Punishable by death, usually in an unfair duel between someone with a fake Mark and someone with a real one.

Cael finally pulled his eyes away from his father\'s Mark and towards his face. His brows furrowed stubbornly. "This man was the first rank mage, at most. His mana pool was stronger than that of commoners, but not as much as, say, Vittorio\'s!"

"And you think you can tell it so well, boy?" Gianni raised his brows. "I asked you to tell me if you see the spy again, not to chase after him, risking your life! You were lucky that he wasn\'t more powerful. What would you do if he won? If he took you prisoner and brought you to his master? I doubt you\'d have the strength to either kill yourself and withstand torture."

Cael cringed from the mental picture, and from the lack of faith his father had in him. Though, the latter wasn\'t new.

"I know myself and my enemies, Father," he spit out. "Just like the books about the art of waging war say. I knew I could, and would, win. I didn\'t search for the man without estimating his power!"

Gianni leaned back in his chair and looked at Cael with a deep, unnerving scrutiny.

"Your mana pool had grown in leaps and bounds since you recovered from your disability. Your skills have improved, too… Fine. You think you are a mage now, Cael? A real mage?"

And Cael didn\'t even spend his latest upgrades yet—didn\'t have time.

"What do you think, Father?"

His father snorted. "Insolence won\'t help you in a fight, boy. Nor would it help you pass my test."

Cael gasped. "A test… *The* test? For my Mage\'s Mark?"

"Yes. I don\'t think you are ready, but I think you are ready to get your nose brought back to the ground."

"Or I will get my Mark, Father." Cael grinned. "You better make an order at a jeweler. I want rubies." It would be appropriate.

Gianni scowled at him. "Leave now and spare me any more of your foolishness. You have a day to rest and prepare. And no more looking for fights, you hear me? There could be other spies in the city. They are like cockroaches…"

***

For the sake of preparation, Cael returned to his room. Not to train, but to not be disturbed during choosing his upgrades. He also got himself some paper and a quill and sat down at a table to write stuff down.

*System, it\'s time to use my upgrades! What do I have available amongst talents and spells?*

*You can choose one of the next talents you already know about: Elemental Affinity, Trial of Tooth, Artifact Appraisal. You also have new spells and abilities available for purchase, and a new special talent made available by your life\'s experiences.*

Cael wrote all that down, then paused.

*Huh? What do you mean?*

*A part of my inner composition had adapted to your experiences, forming a new talent that reflects your inner desires or needs. This might happen again in the future, but I might not predict when or how. I don\'t have control over that function.*

"I wonder how many more surprises you have, System?" Cael muttered. "Tell me about this talent, then! And about the other new stuff you mentioned, too. Time to write it all down."