Scholar of Magic (Art of the Adept #3) - Michael G. Manning Page 0,1

new buttress had already been completed on one side and a heavy iron temporary brace was already in place on the other side to take up the slack as the damaged buttress was removed.

“Would one of you like to do the honors?” asked the instructor.

“Honors?” asked Stephanie, who had finally gotten out of her chair.

“Now that the metal is exposed, we can accelerate their work by changing the properties of the iron,” said Duncan.

“He wants us to weaken it,” added Will helpfully.

Stephanie sniffed. “No thanks.”

The instructor grimaced. Having a sorceress do the job was preferable since using her power wouldn’t shorten her lifespan, but the young noblewoman didn’t have much concern for the problems facing engineer wizards.

“I’ll do it,” volunteered Will.

“Are you sure?” asked Duncan, barely concealing his relief. He had even less desire to use his magic if he could avoid it. “For something this big we usually prefer to have a sorcerer on hand, for obvious reasons.”

But at least he has a good reason, thought Will. “Anything she can do, I can do,” he announced.

“You’re aware of the cost?”

Will nodded. “It won’t cost me anything. Talk to Master Courtney if you don’t believe me.” Alfred Courtney was the head of the Research Department at Wurthaven and one of the few people who knew some of the details of Will’s unique capabilities.

The engineer nodded. “He said something to that effect, but it’s hard to believe. Very well, show me what you can do.” He waved a hand in the direction of the crumbling buttress.

Will moved closer, until he was standing directly beside the exposed iron. Working from memory, he constructed the sixth-order spell that would allow him to manipulate the metal’s material properties. At the same time, he expanded his outer shell and began to absorb as much turyn as possible. He waited until he was at capacity before channeling the energy into the spell and releasing it upon the iron. Its appearance changed before his eyes, and the iron began to look dry and powdery on its surface.

Will motioned to one of the workers, who tested it with a cold chisel. The brace flaked and fell apart as though it was brittle stone rather than solid iron. The man nodded at Duncan. “It’s good.” Then he addressed Will, “How long do we have?”

“It’s permanent,” said Will.

The instructor stared at him. “How much power did you invest? You should have used a temporary transformation.”

“It didn’t cost me anything,” repeated Will. “This way we don’t have to do it again later.”

Duncan studied him with curious eyes. “Aren’t you tired at least?”

Will shrugged. “I’m not opening my gate—my source—to get the turyn. I absorb it from the environment. It does take some effort, but I don’t get tired according to how much turyn I use. It has more to do with how much focus and concentration it requires.”

“I’m not sure that makes sense,” replied his instructor.

“It’s like the difference between digging a hole with a shovel and reading a book,” said Will. “For most wizards using magic is like physical labor, because they’re using up the turyn that keeps them alive. I’m not doing that. I’m using ambient turyn that I absorb, so for me the fatigue comes mainly from concentration. It’s a purely mental exercise, so I don’t get exhausted as easily and it’s more of a mental fatigue.”

Stephanie broke in, “The important thing is that we know how special he is. Otherwise he’ll be forced to tell us, again and again.” She punctuated her words with a sour grimace of disgust.

Will ignored her, studying the dam with his eyes rather than giving her remark any attention. After a second he remarked, “Knowing that this buttress can’t support any of the load makes me feel nervous.”

The instructor nodded. “That’s a natural reaction, but not to worry, that’s why it’s designed with double the tolerances needed. The buttress on the left and the temporary brace we’ve installed are each capable of handling the load by themselves, just in case either one should fail. We’re perfectly safe until we finish