You tell him your spells. Well, all of them expect your summoning spells and time slowing spell (or does it speed you up?). It is best to have an ace in the hole, after all, and the spells are quite valuable. Anyways, Mannkev listens quietly as you list your spells, until you mention the Blizzard spell. Then he reacts, asking if you had ever cast it before. When you answer in the negative, he immediately forbids you from casting it. You quickly promise you won't, and he calms down.
Thus, your new time as an apprentice began.
You were not given a grand room, or an extravagant wardrobe. No, everything was quite simple. Your room remanded you of your old one at the inn, except a little bigger. The food, was stew and bread, for breakfast, lunch, and supper. It wasn't much different from how you used to live.
Magic training, however, was not the same. It took up almost all of your time, and you started with training your base magical power. This mostly involved lifting rocks and moving them in the ways he directed until you were exhausted, and you think he was surprised that you could lift a whole six of them, but your growth rate was unremarkable besides that. You are slowly, but surely, getting better.
However, your training to modify spells was different. As soon as you started, something just seemed to click within you. You only worked with your fireball and ice spike spells, but by the end of the week you could do so much with them. Split them into pieces, shoot them into different directions, change the size and shape, from needles of flame to a wall of ice. Hell, you could probably make a fireball the size of a house if you had enough base power! No wonder Mannkev puts so much emphasis on it. On that note, while he didn't say anything, you could tell he was surprised by how quickly you got it.
On Saturday Mannkev gives you leave to do whatever you want that day, which you use to finally get started on that shrine. There wasn't any time during the rest of the week, but fortunately for you, the dwarven merchant from before was still in town. He explains to you how to make a shrine (it needs to be made of stone, and the bottom must be uncarved), after showing you his on, along with the many symbols and runes that should be put on it. He even makes a long list for you, because there is so many!
When you actually start building the shrine in your room, however, you don't even need the list. The earth rises from the floor at your command, and you fall into a trance-like state, unaware of what you are doing, as if you are in a dream. Moving, shaping, crafting, you don't even notice when you start adding symbols that aren't even on the list, when you start crafting a throne and the being siting on it. Far bigger then the small shrine that the merchant had, this one dominates the room, taking a full quarter of it, blending fluidly from hard, craggy, mountain stone, to delicate, intricate runework and sculpting. When you finish adding the final touches, a wave of power washes out of the shrine, knocking you out of the trance.
And then you hear a voice. A loud, booming, awe-inspiring voice, that practically screams power. A divine voice, one that you do not hear with your ears, but with your mind. It stuns you into silence. There is no doubtime who it is.
"I HAVE BLESSED YOU FOR A REASON. FATE DOESN'T CARE FOR THE GODS NOR THOSE UNRELATED TO ITS CHOSEN, WHOLE HOLDS HAVE BEEN DESTROYED SIMPLY TO ENTRAIN THRM. FATE IS UNDEFEATABLE BUT ITS MORTAL SERVANTS AND CHOSEN ONES ARE NOT. NOT EVEN I CAN FIGHT FATE, BUT THROUGH YOU, I CAN STOP SOME OF ITS DESIGNS. I WOULD NEVER ORDER MY FOLLOWERS TO BRING THE CURSE UPON THEMSELVES, BUT YOU ARE ALREADY CURSED. I CAN NOT HELP YOU TOO MUCH, EVEN I AM NOT UNRESTRICTED. STILL, I AM NOT CRUEL, I WILL REWARD YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE."
"YOU HAVE CRAFTED AN IMPRESSIVE SHRINE, AND CONSECRATED THE WHOLE AREA, YOU WOULD HAVE MADE A GOOD PRIESTESS HAD YOU NOT GAINED THE CURSE. TODAY, I WILL GRANT YOU YOUR FIRST REWARD. YOU WILL BE CLOSER TO THE EARTH AND ITS STRENGTH."
And with that, you suddenly feel more connected to the ground beneath you, and the shrine in front of you. A sense of infinite patience, unimaginable strength, and slow power briefly fills you, before fading away, leaving you at peace.
But your peace doesn't last long, because Mannkev rushes into your room, breathing heavily from, presumably, exertion. "What... happened... here? What did you do?" He asks angrily.
How do you respond?
[] Write In
[Trait Gained: Stonekin]
OCC: This update just didn't want to come out.
