Free Battle Mage: The Dark Mage (Tales of Alus) by Donald Wigboldy Jr Page B

wanted me to follow in her steps, I think, and she knows more than just the elements that I seem stuck with so far.”
    “Can you heal instead?”
    Giving him a look like he was crazy, the girl retorted, “Healing is nearly impossible for a wizard who uses destruction magic. Fire is my strongest element therefore making me an unlikely healer.”
    A silence rested a moment between them before Palose stated, “I knew a caster that specialized in combat magic, but he could heal.”
    “That isn’t supposed to be possible,” Sylvaine stated with a frown and shake of her head in disbelief. “How can he maintain a balance between the two?”
    It was Palose’s turn to shrug. “I really don’t know. He was unique. That much I am sure of, so maybe he would have had problems in the future, but since he is dead I guess that it no longer matters.”
    “He was a friend?” she asked lowering her voice in concern and showing compassion in her eyes. Being friends with too many people or the wrong ones seemed frowned upon by the masters of the city. He wondered why and doubted anyone would ever answer him truthfully on the matter.
    Since he had rarely felt that close to anyone especially while in school, it was an easy answer, “He thought we were. I’m not so sure, but I ordered his death either way.”
    A slight gasp from the girl revealed her surprise. “How could you do that? It couldn’t be easy to sentence your friend to death.”
    Thinking for only a moment on his actual feelings about the incident, Palose decided, “It was easier than you might think. He was responsible for getting me killed. I kind of owed him one for that.”
    “You mean nearly got you killed,” the girl clarified for him in error.
    He shrugged. “Close enough anyway. But enough of that talk. Whether we were or were not friends, his decisions brought me here.”
    Forehead wrinkling in doubt, the apprentice asked, “Is that for good or ill?”
    “I am still deciding that,” the young man answered with a slight smile as his eyes flicked to hers.
    Again her eyes dilated oddly as a serene look took the girl’s face. She leaned closer and again she kissed him on the lips, but as Sylvaine sat back he could see that the girl had done so without any true thought. Her eyes cleared quickly, but a little frown crossed her face as she asked, “What were we talking about again?”
    Shrugging his shoulders, the mage replied, “We were just deciding if coming to Ensolus was a good thing. I think this is where I can find my true path as a caster, if nothing else.”
    “Who is your teacher, Palose?” questioned Sylvaine gently without trying to pry if he preferred keeping such information to himself. People in Ensolus were often close mouthed about who they knew, though apprentices were less so being young and still learning their way around society.
    “Technically Warlock Atrouseon is my master but, as I came fully trained to combat magic, he more or less guides what to study than actually teaches me anything. He is an expert in necromancy and I think our bond may help me to become as strong in the school as he is,” the mage acknowledged without explaining their true bond, which he was still exploring for himself.
    The girl was quiet a moment before admitting, “I have heard of him from my teacher Eloria. She doesn’t seem to like him that much, but I have heard that he is influential enough to hold even the emperor’s ear.”
    “He works on projects for the emperor, I suppose, though I have never witnessed him speaking with the emperor. He also leads a research team among other things, so I know that he has some power over others.”
    “Do you like having him as your teacher? Eloria can be very demanding. When I fail at new magic, her temper can be pretty harsh, though I have learned many things from her,” the apprentice quickly amended looking fearful that she had admitted such a thing to a near stranger. There was a strange bond between them