Origin (Scales N' Spells #1) - A.J. Sherwood Page 0,133
his head and regarded him for a moment, blinking as if this question didn’t compute. He often looked at Cameron that way, for some reason. “Cancelled magic?”
“Sure. Say they trap us with a spell, or they’ve got a binding spell on us, is there any way to cancel that? Odds are if they ambush us, that’s what they’ll try. That’s what they did the first time I was almost kidnapped, at least. They were trying to throw binding spells and acid spells. Mostly they missed, but if those are used, I want a way to cancel the spell.”
“Ah. I like your idea. I think there’s a way to break a spell?” Gunter frowned a little before he got up, going over to a huge tome that looked like a dictionary. He pulled it free from the shelf with a grunt of effort before hauling it back. “I always underestimate how thick this book is. This, my friend, is a list of all known spells.”
Cameron eyed the book with wide eyes. “You’re telling me that even with a list like that, we still have missing magical knowledge?”
“A great deal of it. Think of it this way. If you were to list every single invention from the beginning of time until now, how long do you think that list would be?”
Oh. Well, put into that kind of context… “And is that just a list?”
“No, it also tells how the spells and potions are made. Ingredients, power levels, variations, sometimes a brief history too. Hence the thickness.” Gunter set it on the table with a grunt. “I think it’s possible to choose something that will allow you to quickly mix up a spell or potion, break free of whatever spell is holding you. Or possibly undo the damage of an attack before it can make things any worse.”
“Is this something that can be simple enough that I can carry the elements around? Like, something that will fit in a messenger bag so I can easily have it on hand at all times?”
“That’s the goal.”
That sounded promising. Cameron would rather not be just a sitting duck if something happened. But his mind was still thinking in gamer’s logic. “Can I work up something that’s kind of like an AOE effect?”
Gunter was back to staring at him blankly.
Yeah, okay, that hadn’t been clear. “I mean, instead of cancelling one spell, can I create an area around me that cancels everything? Like an AOE circle in a game, where the effect is within a certain radius of the caster.”
“Ahhh. Now I understand you. Ja, ja, this sounds possible. In fact, even better. I’m not sure if we can make it portable enough to carry, but I’m up for the challenge.” Gunter looked it too. In fact, he looked almost giddy with the idea of cooking up new magic.
It was part of the reason why he and Cameron got along so well. Any lab experiment was always more fun with a buddy. Cameron might be a little giddy himself.
“We’ll need to factor in Alric’s power when we figure up the power levels,” Gunter muttered to himself as he started flipping through pages.
“Sorry?” Cameron tensed a little, surprised to hear that. Surely the story hadn’t gotten around the castle already about how he and Alric were connected.
“When you bond properly, you’ll be drawing on his power more heavily then you are now,” Gunter explained, still flipping through pages with intense concentration, as if he knew what he was looking for and it had to be in here somewhere. “So we need to keep it in mind while experimenting.”
Oh. Um. It was a foregone conclusion that he and Alric would bond and become mates? Uh….Cameron wasn’t so sure of that.
And he had no ready response to Gunter’s assumption. None at all.
Alric tried not to glance at the clock for the hundredth time, but failed miserably. Just like all the other times he’d fought it.
17:36.
Less than a half an hour.
He’d gotten a text from Cameron after he left Gunter’s dungeon that he was planning to grab dinner at 18:00 sharp and he would very much like it if a certain king could happen through the dining hall at the same time so they could enjoy dinner together.
And then a leisurely dessert in Alric’s chambers.
It was the perfect end to a somewhat long day. The only things keeping him in his office were some reports that he needed to look over and a possible email from Rodrigo. It was just now