Chapter 145 - Champion of Magic

"Why do you persist in this... vagrant lifestyle?" The queen asked. "You could claim any land as your own, and most would welcome you as a protector or a powerful ally against their enemies. You could live like a king."

"I have no interest in that. Kings are dull, courts are duller, and castles—even worse. Protecting people gets tiresome too. My attention is on Sonder now; in all my years, I've never had an apprentice quite like her."

"One crafted in your own image?"

"Something like that, yet not entirely. And soon, if not already, Sonder will sense it too. She doesn't fit anywhere neatly, much like I don't. She belongs to no people, no creed, and she won't stay here."

"Why are you so certain of that? Have you set something in motion, or will you use force as you did to enter here?"

He chuckled. "Me? No, no. I've done that once; I won't do it again."

The queen began to circle him, her eyes critical. "I still wonder why you use something as blunt as fire. A master of the arcane who has lived as long as you could destroy without resorting to such crude elements."

"I could, and I can. But I choose not to."

"And why is that?"

"Because what would be the point? Over-refined magic could crowd out the diversity of wizardry. I'd hate to see that happen. I like seeing magic used in the mundane, even the trivial. I enjoy watching people innovate for both defense and harm."

"Defense and harm? Most would favor only the former."

"Perhaps, but given the choice, they'd often pick the spell that harms an enemy over one that merely defends. If I gave someone a choice between absolute attack and absolute defense, which do you think they'd choose? And what would become of all offensive spells then? Fireballs, ice blasts, lightning summoning?" The mage settled onto a nearby rock, looking thoughtful. "If I sat out for a century and perfected offensive and defensive magic and simplified it for anyone to use, do you think I'd leave space for other types of combative magic?"

"Any elf skilled in magic could do the same," the queen countered.

"Elves?" He laughed. "Within a year, they'd be lost in their own sense of time. No, I can keep focus without falling into that trap. There's a reason why shorter-lived races drive development—technologically and magically. I respect them for it. What has Celadon achieved in the past hundred years? From the looks of it, nothing. Just as I have done, but that's intentional. You, on the other hand, seem less than content with it." After a pause, he looked at her. "Perhaps I, and by extension Sonder, simply don't fit with Celadon."

"And what makes you so sure of that?"

He lifted his staff and pointed to the sky.

The queen's gaze followed, and she saw the smoke spiraling up through the trees.

"Oh no," she murmured before vanishing into the earth, using her swiftest means of travel—burrowing through the earth faster than any creature could run.