The Hunter Mage

CHAPTER NINE

"What do you mean you don't know?" Vivk was red, at least the sort of his face that peeked from the mask which was just his nose and mouth. "Do something," he said looking at Vernon.

"Um, what should I do?" He asked, looking at Madame Jessica and then the dwa-Vick.

"Anything, anything magic like but since it's unusual to you, try doing something like forcing yourself to sneeze or poop but not actually forcing yourself just the sensation of when you try to do all those." Vivk blabbed on, trying to explain to Vernon.

Vernon just stared at Vivk like he just grew an extra horn. If Vivk started hard enough he could see the steam flowing out of Vernon's ears at his confusion.

"I don't understand," he replied, not wanting to try what he thought Vivk wanted him to do for fear that he might actually poop on himself.

"Are you sure he has magic?" Vivk asked, glaring at Madame Jessica.

"Don't look at me," she retorted. "But I am sure he has, he wouldn't be here otherwise. I have to go." She said and made to leave but Vivk tried to stop her.

"Where do you think you're going? Don't leave me with- with this! How am I supposed to figure this out?" He cried but Madame didn't stop.

"How would I know? After all, it is your job. Figure it out, I've got my hands full." She said and took the turn Vernon and she had just come through.

Vivk sighed, "Get inside!" He stepped aside but not completely away from the door but just enough to give Vernon access to walking in. He looked left and right, out of habit, and closed the door.

The room was very bright and Vernon figured it was the same bulbs in the cafeteria. The room was quite big, bigger than his quarters but not as big as the cafeteria.

There was a machine at one corner of the room and Vernon wondered what it was used for. There was a table with a chair. The table was filled with all kinds of stones that Vernon had never seen before. Some were big and some were tiny but they were all about hand size even the biggest stone could still fit in his palm.

At the edge of the room was a glass covering. Nothing was in there, it was just a section demarcated by the glass. He stood waiting for some kind of command from Vivk who after closing the door just went behind his desk.

He looked like he was looking for something, Vernon wondered what he was looking for but didn't ask any questions, he just stood staring and waited for what would happen next.

Vivk finally found what he was looking for; he let out a sound of triumph and immediately began to head towards Vernon.

Vernon instinctively took a step back, instantly fearful about what Vivk was going to do to him especially since he couldn't see what Vivk heard. "Stand still," Vivk commanded and held Vernon's arm to keep him in place.

Vernon squinted and tried to pull away from Vivk's grasp but to no avail, the dwarf grip was strong. "Don't move so much, I don't want to injure you more than necessary."

"What?" Vernon heard the word injure and his body immediately had a mind of its own. With all his might he tried to pull out of the dwarf's hold and this time his arm budged but only because the dwarf jumped out of the way.

The dwarf swore under his breath. "What did I say about staying still?" He made an attempt to take Vernon's hand again but the boy wouldn't let him. "Chill, I am not trying to do anything…" Vivk's voice drowned out as it began to take effect.

"What's happening?" Vernon asked as he staggered then almost immediately he let out a piercing scream and Vivk gasped but just as the pain came, it faded almost immediately.

Vernon felt Vivk's hands holding him up to prevent him from falling. "What was that?" He asked, rubbing his arm. He looked down to where he had felt pain and saw blood. "Ah! Why did you do that to me? What did you even do?"

"Calm down! I just injected the pain flower serum. If you had stayed still you wouldn't have shed any blood." He didn't seem angry but his voice made Vernon feel bad.

Vernon rubbed his arm some more. "Why would you do that to me?"

"To determine if you have any magical powers," Vivk muttered absent-mindedly as he walked away.

"And do I have? What is pain flower serum?" He wasn't feeling any pain anymore and he was no longer bleeding but still, he rubbed his arm.

Vivk banged his hand on the table, he needed to think and he knew if he didn't answer all the boy's questions he would keep asking them. "Yes, you do but the problem is, even you don't know what it is and that is the strangest thing." He paused for a few, putting his hand on his chin as he stared into the distance.

Vernon waited for the dwarf to say more and just when he was about to speak up to remind the dwarf, Vivk started to speak again. "You know the pain flower right?"

He nodded, Nevil had a few in his garden. He loved them but Nevil's mother always warned them about touching them. Apparently, the liquid could cause intense pain, and most times people tend to have an allergic reaction to it. Some ended up with blisters while others didn't but the pain was always the same, excruciating.

The only reason she let Nevil grow some in their garden was because her son loved it. "Yes, I know what a pain flower is." He added for emphasis.

"And you know that it can cause pain?" Vivk added, staring intensely at Vernon as he spoke.

Vernon nodded again, waiting for some more explanation. So, he just felt the worst pain of his life. What was the purpose of that?

"Well, I was able to extract serum from the flower juices. Making something that works effectively without leaving blisters." Vivk announced feeling very proud of himself.

"Okay? What does that do?" He still didn't get the whole serum thing but he figured Vivk made something using the pain flower.

Vivk sighed, he knew the boy didn't understand what he had just said like he wanted but at least he looked like he understood a bit. "Well, you mages have a certain reaction to pain, especially a lot of pain. At first, I thought it was only emotional pain but you have the exact same reaction to physical pain too. Your eyes glow and ninety-nine percent of the time you display your powers."

He didn't add that Vernon was the one percent that didn't but the glow in Vernon's eyes was unlike any he had ever seen, it was bright and healthy and it told of things to come.

"So, something is wrong with me?" Vernon asked, twisting his fingers as he looked down.

"Well, I would certainly not say that there was something wrong with you but this is clearly not normal and I haven't seen anything like this before," Vivk explained.

"Oh!" Vernon felt a wave of sadness hit him. Practicing magic had been the only source of relief he had from the fact that he was taken away from his home and now he didn't even have that but maybe now they would let him go, a small voice piped in but he doubted that.

Vivk saw Vernon's expression and tried to make him feel better. "But however, that does mean abnormal is bad and maybe this isn't abnormal, just new, okay?"

Vernon nodded but he wasn't feeling any better. He looked up at Vivk, wondering what next. He had not been able to determine his magical powers, he wanted to know what that meant for him.

"So right now you're stuck without an armband until we discover your affiliation. You can leave, join the training at the courtyard…" He paused for a few minutes and he scribbled down something on a piece of paper. "Ask for Captain Robbin and hand the captain this. Robbin should know what to do from there." Vivk stretched out the paper to him.

Vernon accepted the paper but didn't move an inch, just stayed staring waiting for more information as he had no idea where the courtyard was.

"What are you waiting for? Go! Vamos!" Vivk squealed, shooing Vernon away with his hands. He sat down and he looked like he was ready to work. Vernon wondered what he did when he wasn't stabbing poor children with the pain flower serum.

Vernon took a step back. "I don't know where the courtyard is." He slowly began to approach the door so that Vivk would yell at him.

Vivk sighed and rubbed his face with his palm, "Go back the same way you came, do you remember that?" Vernon nodded. "Good, you should see one of the Madame ask them for directions, they would show you. Now, for heaven's sake please leave."

Vernon nodded and stretched his hand to the doorknob. He immediately saw that it was lower than normal and he snickered at the thought that the door was specifically made for Vivk.