Chapter 10: Begin

The book had steadfastly refused to divulge its inner secrets to Whelp, no matter how hard he tried. The itty-bitty pictures in it weren’t even of anything! Just squiggles, laid out in boring lines, marching across the page one-by-one. 

He had tried eating one of the pages — that was a mistake. It tasted bitter; dry and terrible. Whelp had needed to wash his mouth out with some of the Biter Clan’s precious water after; he had to sneak out and steal some. They were running low, but Conquer was going to trade more of the red sand for supplies with the humans soon. 

Whelp wondered why Conquer was willing to trade with humans when he despised them so. They were pathetic, worse-off in every way than the proud and mighty orcs. Surely his father was just taking advantage of them, using their weakness against them. It made sense. Whelp nodded to himself, flipping the pages of the book back and forth.

He looked around to make sure that nobody was watching him. All clear. He carefully, slowly tore out another page of the book and crumpled it into a ball. Then, swiftly, before anyone could see, he stuck it into his mouth.

Maybe this time it would work.

Learn had made it! He felt euphoric, giddy with satisfaction. He had been nervous when he left the testing room. The exam had covered many topics he wasn’t familiar with — complex mathematics, engineering, histories. On the one hand, he was ashamed that he knew so little, yet he had felt a surge of excitement from his Command — there was so much left for him to learn!

His name had been separate from the rest of the sponsored students, paired with one other name in a separate section labeled “Apprentices.” There were no instructions as to what he was supposed to do, so he waited, reading over the list again and again. The excitement didn’t fade, to his surprise.

Farai hadn’t made it. He felt bad about that, the girl was earnest. And she had strength, if she had really managed to drag herself to the Forum year after year to attempt. Maybe as Learn made his way up the hierarchy he would be able to pull some strings and get her in. But he was getting way ahead of himself.

He was an apprentice. He didn’t even know what that meant, or why it was different from being a student.

After several moments, he was approached by an elf. Young, with his hair braided in complex patterns across the top of his head. The elf’s ears were pierced all along their pointed lengths, tips pointed downward by the weight of all the metal.

“Learn?” The elf asked. Learn nodded, and the elf’s face broke into a wide grin.

“Perfect! I have no idea where I’m supposed to be right now. I’m sure if I hang out around you, we’ll stand out even more. Maybe someone’ll tell us what to do then.” His voice was rushed, words bumping into others like a horde of drunken toddlers.

“Mhm.”

“Oh!” The elf shocked. “I didn’t introduce myself. My name’s Gawain Frozen Dewdrop in the Morning. You’re becoming quite the figure around here, aren’t you?”

“Mhm.” Did this elf ever shut his mouth?

Gawain grinned dopily, before leaning in toward Learn conspiratorially. He held up a hand in front of his mouth.

“So how long have you been using Satisfaction’s magic?” He whispered.

“Haven’t been.”

Gawain reeled backward.

“What? Then how did you get apprenticed?” That’s interesting, Learn noted. The elf thought that being able to use codified magic was something that made him special here. Maybe he was right. But then, why was Learn here.

Learn shrugged. He looked at the door the rest of the sponsored students had gone through, while they had been left to wait. It was shut. Learn had nothing against Gawain, but he wanted to begin his studies, wanted to know what he was supposed to do. He stalked over, leaving the elf talking.

As he reached for the door handle, he was interrupted by a small hand grasping his. Two long, wrinkled fingers and a thumb, with a surprising amount of strength in them.

“Tut-tut,” an oddly-accented voice spoke. Learn yanked his hand back, pulling the goblin’s off. He didn’t like being touched without warning, and this was the second time a strange goblin had ignored his boundaries.

“The hell are you?” He asked. The goblin folded his arms. The lower half of his face was covered with a thick, woolen scarf, folded over several times and piled around his shoulders. His eyes were sharp. He gave Learn the distinctive impression of someone who knew more than anyone was comfortable with him knowing.

“Language, apprentice! We have a reputation to uphold here.” the goblin gestured across the room, toward Gawain, who was now talking to another elf, bedecked in bright colors and gilded decoration. “We wouldn’t want our good friend Magister Aethyn to get any wrong ideas, now would we?”

Learn didn’t answer. The goblin sighed.

“Learn, I’m Lrfshmn. Magister Lrfshmn. You are to be my apprentice. Congratulations on this esteemed privilege.” Sarcasm dripped down from his clipped voice.

“Okay…” Learn answered. “Which means?…”

Lrfshmn sighed. “I will be teaching you Satisfaction’s school of magic. I assume you are familiar?”

Learn shook his head.

“Oh, Mylwyldgrn” the goblin muttered under his breath. “Bugger. Starting from the beginning then. Come with me, please.” The goblin began to totter unsteadily. Learn had no choice but to follow.

——

“What is this system?” Learn asked, picking his way over the objects littered all over the floor of Lrfshmn’s office. He attempted to take a step, and a crunching noise underneath his timid foot told him he had failed. The entire office was full of various odds and end, strewn about randomly.

This office was a nightmare; Learn could lean down and pick anything up and use it as a weapon. He couldn’t find a single place with clear footing. One misstep and he would slip and fall.

Lrfshmn slowly settled himself down into a large stool behind a book-covered desk. He grunted in appreciation, and he let out a satisfied sigh.

“Satisfaction — in Goblinish she is known as Mylwyldgrn, in Talk, I think, Know?” Magister Lrfshmn asked. Learn nodded.

“Yes, good. Anyway, Satisfaction — get used to calling her that, they won’t listen if you call her anything else — Satisfaction gives us a system in which to access power.

“We think that it has to do with our Commands. That’s the current theory, but it’s bloody complicated. Lots of arguing, lots of debate.”

The goblin’s voice was raspy, but it didn’t sound weak to Learn. It was the sand sweeping over the desert, rough, but powerful. It could wear down the strongest stone with enough time.

“The Command, or something else, makes no difference.” Lrfshmn coughed, a nasal sound. “What it means, is that with enough focus and payment, we can create workings more complex than a normal Tasked.”

Learn shifted, squatting down onto his knees before the goblin. Even then, he was taller than the small, seated form.

“A query, apprentice. Orcs wear their Commands as badges of pride. The rest of us do not. Why do you think that is?”

Learn answered, slowly, thoughtfully. “Know what someone gets power from doing, can stop them from doing that thing.”

Lrfshmn sat up, tenting his long, spindly fingers together. Learn noticed that the tip of one was missing, a stump, long since healed over. The backs of the hands were criss-crossed with stripes, bruises, and scars. Whatever this goblin did with his life, it clearly was not without risk. What’s under that scarf?

“Bloody good, Learn! A normal Tasked is limited to things that directly fulfill their Command. Rule has a divine right to the monarchy, as will Inherit after her. Mold excels at creating beautiful pottery, and Brawl excels in the pits.”

“Satisfaction lets us — myself, Aethyn, Archmagister Lysselia. You — get around those restrictions. We can do nearly anything, given the right attitude and components.”

Lrfshmn paused. Learn squatted there, silent. Apparently disappointed, the goblin continued to speak.

“What we give up in raw power, we get back in versatility. And all it takes is three simple things.” He held up his hands, holding up the two fingers on one and one of the other. “A verbal component, a motion, and the toll. Input those, apply your will, and you have a spell! It’s all quite simple, on the basest level. That’s why babes such as Aethyn can work their way into Magister positions. Why, when I had applied, I had to work my arse off to make Magister. I poured my blood and sweat — mostly blood, quite a lot of blood in fact — and I earned my Magistership.”

Learn nodded. Maybe he’ll notice he’s rambling without me interrupting. Or perhaps the goblin was passing along wisdom, cryptic, yet with hidden meaning. He should really focus more.

The goblin swept off a portion of the table, sending a cascade of trash onto the floor. “Now, where did I put that damn thing…” His green hands finally settled on a small object that Learn couldn’t quite make out.

“Here.” Lrfshmn tossed the thing, and Learn jumped to catch it. He looked at it. It was a rough, dark lump of charcoal that left streaks on his hands.

“Now, apprentice. Move your free hand in a way which suggests the concept of ‘upward movement.’ Don’t think too hard about it, just use the first motion that comes to you. This is the spell I tend to teach my new sponsors — it’s one of the simplest.”

Learn, confused, made a fist, then opened it, splaying his fingers upward. He looked, puzzled, at the goblin.

“Yes, yes.” Nodded Lrfshmn. “Now, I need you to do two things. Focus on the concept of ‘fire,’ and make that movement. Feel the coal, feel the concept, fire. Then, while you’re doing that, say one simple thing — a command word, if you will. I suggest “whoosh.”

Learn felt ridiculous, but he tried what the goblin suggested. He stared at the chunk of coal, thought about fire — Scorch, when she was alive, would often light small fires that she would then hunker down next to, singing songs below her breath. He held that image in his mind — and he whispered whoosh under his breath while flapping his hand open.

Nothing happened. Learn frowned, and did it again. This time, he felt something similar to that sensation which he had felt several times now, that sensation that his Command was doing something, pushing him in a direction. It filled Learn with joy — he had failed, but he was on the way to something. He was certain now, he would be able to learn Satisfaction’s school. He looked up at the goblin with wonder on his face.

“Hmm. Disappointing.” Lrfshmn muttered. “For your first week, I’ll want you to practice with this until you can light a flame. Don’t be worried if it takes a while, the casting state of mind takes a fair amount of time to become comfortable with. But once you do figure it out, it’s bloody easy to do again and again. You just have to break down that damn wall first.”

Learn nodded. Lrfshmn reached for a book, and began leafing through it, licking the tip of his long finger as he turned the pages. Learn looked at the book — to his surprise, there were very few words. A lot of shapes, runes, and diagrams that didn’t make sense to him. He would have to see if he could get access to it later, figure out exactly what it was saying. He couldn’t bear for there to be such a tome that he couldn’t access.

After several moments, it had become clear that the goblin had dismissed him.

“Um.” He started. Lrfshmn looked up, startled.

“You’re still here? I thought I dismissed you.”

“Didn’t.”

Lrfshmn scratched at the front of his face through the thick scarf. “Very well. Dismissed. Go practice.”

Learn stood, looking around at the room again. Shifting his perspective, he noticed the potential within it. The room was a mess, but there were so many new things in here, things he didn’t understand. Yet. The goblin did. Learn would get the information, one way or another.

First, he needed to figure out where he was going to live. Someone had mentioned room and board, but this building was a maze of immobile stone. Branching paths leading to different directions, leading up! There was building on the top of this building.

Learn accepted that he was going to get entirely lost. This building, much like all of this knowledge, was new to him. He picked a direction, and began to get lost.