“It is, although I believe that the creator of that brooch used its simplified version to allow it to summon a temporary mount. I have both of the spells, although I’m quite surprised you haven’t come across the ‘temporary mount’ spell yet. I thought that the guild at East Fork would have it, but it seems I was wrong.”

{This book and its chapters were all originally posted on Royal Road. If you read it anywhere else, then you are reading a version that was posted without my (the true author's consent.}

“I’ve read every book that had spells in it in their library, but I found no mention of any of these spells.”

“A shame,” the old man sighed. “I remember meeting their guild master once and if my memory serves right, he was a second-tier fellow. Quite a braggart too. Anyway, I do have those spells if you’re interested, although not for free.”

“I figured that would be the case.” Regis smirked as he pulled out a bulky wristwatch-like item, handing it over to Master Felix.

“This is...”

“Put it on and try it out. I’m sure you’ll find it more than enough as a payment.”

The old man accepted the wristband with the rune-covered coin in the middle, strapping it onto his left wrist before channelling arcana into the item. A round shield of shimmering energy appeared on his arm, its circular edge glowing with several colourful threads of intertwined energies.

“Amazing,” Felix said elated as he studied the shield. “It seems to be a highly altered arcana shield. I hope you don’t mind if I cast ‘charlatan’s wisdom’ on it?”

“Be my guest.”

Master Felix didn’t hold back and a moment later his eyes widened. Regis too looked at his empowered creation with great pride.

{Shielding Wristband}

{Item rarity: rare}

{Item quality: well-made}

{Armour type: medium}

{Shield value: 45}

{Elemental resistance: 10 Ai, Da, Ea, Fi, Li, Na, St, Wa}

{Armour Value: 12}

{Durability: 125}

“A marvellous creation,” the old man said. “It would indeed serve as an appropriate payment for those spells and more.”

With that, the guild master dismissed the shield and walked over to another bookcase, searching for a good minute before pulling off two more relatively thin books. He handed them over to Regis with a content smile.

“One of these is a rarer collection of second-tier spells, including the temporary mount spell. The other one has ten of the rare tier three spells that I believe to be essential for any third-tier spellcaster. While I officially can’t give them to you, I can allow you to have a look at them.” Master Felix said with a wink.

“I appreciate that.” The loremaster accepted the books, opening the first to quickly read through its pages.

Some of the spells listed in the book were familiar, but the ‘temporary mount’ and the ‘elemental orb’ spells were new to him, along with the so-called ‘fertility control’ spell. Both the ‘temporary mount’ and the ‘fertility control’ were obvious in their purpose, but the ‘elemental orb’ was rather strange. One could consider it the apex of second-tier spells, a true ultimate magic of the rank. It would cost seventy-five arcana to cast and would form a roughly basketball-sized orb of elemental energy which would float a meter and a half above the ground for half a minute.

During this time, it would spew out a seemingly infinite number of elemental bolts at anything its creator deemed a threat in a twenty meter range. ‘This thing is basically a sentry-gun spell. I’ve got to figure out how to replicate this using runic magic.’ Regis thought to himself while closing the book, only to open the one with the tier three spells. As he began to read the description of the different spells, his eyes twitched. Tier three seemed to be the border between the powerful and downright broken magic a spellcaster could wield.

The very first one he read about would allow a mage to create a miniature meteor shower to dish out at his enemies. Sure they would first have to collect small pebbles, draw a rune on them and infuse the stones with arcana, but if one did all that, they could walk around with a literal bag of pseudo-meteors. Another one would create a patch of cloud about fifteen metres above the caster in a thirty-diameter area, summoning a mini lightning storm to smite their foes with.

Spells like these took up most of the book, along with the familiar mount, greater healing, dome of arcane protection and the gateway spell which could create a portal between two places at a maximum distance of one hundred kilometres. Not as powerful as a real gateway, but it could come in handy in a bad situation.

“So,” Master Felix hummed with an unveiled pride as he watched the loremaster finish reading the book. “What do you think of those spells?”

“I think they’re downright broken. If it wouldn’t be for the high arcana cost, I can’t imagine any third-tier spellcaster just not spamming these on their enemies.”

“I admit, they are truly powerful. However, all of the kingdoms had agreed that tier three and above combat spells shall only be used in large wars.”

“It’s understandable,” Regis sighed. “With this kind of power, people could end smaller disputes in a rather nasty way.”

“Indeed. That is why I wanted you to learn at least some of them so that you would understand the power you now wield. I was not the only one to notice your true rank and word will get around fast. That should prove to be a deterrent on its own, but I must still warn you. The old lords do not take kindly to the large amount of outlanders taking up lordly mantles. That young Vidal lass might be fond of you, but the rest of the nearby nobles are not.”

“Let’s hope they won’t do anything foolish then. Either way, I should get going. I don’t want to take up more of your precious time and besides; I have a lot of things to think about.”

“That I believe,” the old man nodded. “Farewell and visit soon.”

“I will, Master Felix.” Regis shook hands with the guild master before leaving the study.

His return to the gateway was unhindered, the apprentices along the hallway giving him a curious look at best. After returning to Thornfell, the dark elf let out a sigh of relief when he looked at the lively atmosphere and the Landwaker tree that was blooming again. Regis walked over to the bakery to buy a bun with spiced apple puree filling, eating it with a content smile as he walked across the bridge.

“You seem awfully cheerful.” He heard a familiar voice as Salvador greeted him from the balcony of the spellcasters’ guild.

“I just came back from Atraune with a nice book.”

“It must be something good if you were willing to travel so far for them.”

“A journeyman ranked ‘rare’ grade enchanters’ tome along with a spell book containing tier three spells.”

“Well, well. Those really do sound like good books to have around,” Salvador agreed with a smirk forming on the corner of his lips. “Dare I hope that the guild will receive a copy of either of those tomes?”

“I’ll see what I can do, old man.” The loremaster said with a wave of his hand as he continued toward his manor.

“And do come by sometime to have a look at the new apprentices when you have time!” The guild master yelled after him as he watched the loremaster walk away.

Back home, Euric greeted him with the usual slight bow, leaving to find his wife after the dark elf asked for some tea to be brought over to the study room. Once in his study, Regis pulled out the books from his satchel and placed them on the desk. He started with the journeyman ranked enchanters’ tome, carefully reading through each and every page of it. To call it a fascinating read would be an understatement as the tome held a plethora of enchantments that could be counted as true game-changers.

The ‘radiance’ rune for example was a unique one that relied on divine energy, but in turn, would provide a ridiculous ability to wield literal ‘slightly nerfed’ divine power. It would make someone like Quentin a holy avenger while someone like Lithia could become a lesser saint, healing and blessing people left and right. Another runic diagram would have enabled the item it was infused into to cut spectral creatures. An ability Regis was familiar with thanks to his own phasing strike that also dealt additional spirit damage. This diagram also revealed to him the spirit rune he lacked from his elemental arsenal.

The single issue with the enchantment was that it required a spirit element stone better known as a soul stone. However, the dark elf was more than prepared for that. He spent some time practicing spirit extraction with Osmond during the past month in preparation for the time when he would finally be able to start the creation of golems after reaching journeyman rank in his enchanting skills. Due to his mastering the spirit extraction spell, he also gained the spirit element affinity, which enabled him to create elemental stones of the same attribute by imbuing them with the ambient spirit energy of the land. ‘Now we won’t have to be afraid of ghosts any more.’ He mused while turning to the next page.

“Milord,” he heard Dana’s voice from the other side of the door. “I’ve brought you the tea you asked for.”

“It’s open,” he answered. “You can come in.”

Dana walked in with a tray in hand, placing it on the empty part of the desk.

“Do you need anything else, sir?” She asked after putting down the tray.

“No, thank you. I’ll be busy for the following few hours so if anyone is looking for me, just tell them I’m working.”

“Understood, milord.” Dana acknowledged before turning around to leave.

Regis poured a cup of tea for himself, taking a sip as he continued on reading. Several other useful runes were recorded in the tome, the last one truly worth mentioning being the rune of ‘ascendancy’ which would be used in the runic circle of transcendence. According to the description, it was a ritual circle meant to augment one’s attributes if they weren’t shardwakers, theoretically levelling the playing field between ordinary people and shardwakers.

I’m sure Salvador could make use of this to help the apprentices develop faster and further even without a shardwaker’s mark. We could also use this to strengthen the guardsmen since not even a tenth of the new recruits possess a sigil.’ He thought to himself while closing the tome. While some of the enchantments were less noteworthy, he would still spend some time studying them in hopes of using them to further develop Thornfell.

The supposed ‘common’ tier three spells Master Felix granted him in the book he now held were also quite something. He found a spell that was able to summon an arcana blade for close-quarter fights, a spell that could create several floating arcana daggers to hurl towards his enemies along with a few similarly arcana efficient mid-range combat spells. After studying them for a short while, Regis was sure that he could replicate them with his now-boosted rune collection.

While most of these are meant for neutral spellcasters, those fire and ice shrapnel spells are still good stuff. No wonder mages are thought of as glass cannons. They can decimate a small army on their own before running out of arcana, but once they do, they pretty much become dead weight. Either way, it will take some time for the others to be able to use these. Doesn’t matter. I should be more concerned about putting those new enchantments to good use. Who knows how long we have until the shit hits the fan.’

Being done with his musings, the loremaster pulled out a couple of empty books from a nearby drawer before fetching his own endless tome, spending the next few hours copying the books he wanted to share with Thornfell’s guild.

“I’ll have to ramp up the barrier magic of the restricted section to make sure these won’t get into the wrong hands.” He grumbled while finishing the last tome.

With the matter of the books out of the way, the loremaster left and locked the study, entering his workshop. He spent some time trying and several times failing to re-create some of the tier three spells using runes, his arsenal of silent magic growing with several new pieces by the end of his experiments. The dark elf also managed to create a ring of ‘temporary mount’ and was mighty proud of his work. Casting charlatan’s wisdom on the simple-looking ring revealed a pleasant description.

{Ring of temporary mount}

{Item rarity: rare}

{Item quality: ordinary}

{Charges: 5/50}

{Durability: 100/100}

{When used, it can summon an ethereal mount for 30 minutes.}

‘Not bad. I could have made it look a bit fancier, but I’d rather have function over form. It’s starting to get late,’ he thought to himself. ‘Hopefully, Dana is already close to finishing dinner.’ Accompanied by the sound of his slightly growling stomach, Regis locked up his workshop and headed over to the dining hall, finding it empty. The sounds coming from the kitchen made it obvious that his maid was still hard at work. He opened the door and found Dana stirring what he believed to be apple soup judging by its scent.

“Milord,” she turned to him surprised. “Do you require anything?”

“No,” he shook his head. “I just wanted to find out how ‘s dinner coming along.”

“It should be ready in another half an hour.”

“Perfect,” the loremaster nodded before grabbing a piece of freshly cooked steak potato. “I’ll wait in the dining room. No need to rush.”

The following half an hour could have very well counted as torture for the dark elf as he sat alone in the dining room with only the smell of the steadily cooking dinner accompanying him. Not long after the younger Dana and her father joined him, the maid brought out the food, serving it up to the small group.

The apple soup was still hot, but it went down surprisingly fast, followed by a serving of roasted meat with steak potatoes. Regis thanked her for the meal and headed over to his bathroom to take a bath before falling into his bed. Sleep came easy to him, however, it didn't last long. Around four o’clock in the morning, a hurried knock on the door woke him up, Euric’s voice calling after him from the other side.