Recruited Mage by David Fredric Read Free Book Online

workshop as it had saws and other tools but on benches going down the sides of the workshop were very complicated metal devices; in all of them were springs and cogs but they also had a deadly feel as in a few I saw razor sharp spikes and arrows. At the far end were a few instruments that looked like the stock of a crossbow but at the back were a large spring but no bow. The man stood in the centre of the room. “Welcome to my workplace, my name is Echar Tain but you are to call me just ‘Tain’. You will be lost in what you are doing in the army and this is it; you are the first Risina Engineers. It is complicated and precise work and it will be hard.” He stopped, and then walked to the back of the workshop and picked up one of the crossbow things I had just seen. “You will be developing things like this;” he said. He brought it to us and we looked on as he grabbed a crossbow bolt from the wall, pulled back the spring and slotted the bolt in to place. Before aiming the thing and firing it at the wall. The bolt shot out and embedded itself into the wood of the wall. He had done all this in about ten seconds, which was so fast, compared to crossbows, which according to a book on weapons I had read could only fire two bolts in a minute. “Now try not to touch anything as I light a fire.” ain gathered some firewood from a woodpile in a corner and started to light a fire in a fireplace next to it. As he was doing that we slowly walked around in awe of the objects in the workshop. One of them, that I found most interesting, was a machine that, when I turned a handle at the back even slowly, two fins at the front spun fast creating a powerful wind that almost pulled itself along the table. I was fascinated and spent the entire time until the fire was up and burning brightly working out how it worked. It was quite simple; the handle turned a big cog that turned a small cog, which turned the middle of a big cog and so on about five times. “You’re Interested?” Said Tain who had come up behind me, making me jump. I nodded to him and so he called the other three over to take a look too. He picked it up and handed it around. It was very light.
    Very clever.
    I jumped at his voice and got some weird looks and I apologised quickly. Yeah, I suppose. But stop doing that. Leave me alone. Fine! “
    So does everyone like it?” Tain asked and we all nodded enthusiastically. “Ok, then I will let you into a secret tomorrow. But before that I must talk about a lot of complicated things and even before that we must introduce ourselves. Let’s just spend a while talking and getting to know each other.” So awkwardly we set about trying to start the conversation. One of the twins stepped forward and held out his hand.
    “I’m Rador” h e said as I shook his hand.
    “Pleased to meet you Rador, I’m Sam” I replied politely.
    “I guess we will be very acquainted by the time we have been finished with” he said humorously.
    “Well I won’t last long without friends I am sure; have you seen some of them!” I said, trying to keep up the good humour and held out my arms straight out. “Some of them are this big!”
    “Yeah! You can hide behind me and Oldross if we can hide behind you!” We laughed awkwardly then we joined the other conversation.
    “And that is how I got here” finished Donal, and then started again but this time to all of us. “So where you all from?” He said. The twins said they came from Atwell and I remembered the sign. Donal came from Risina and I obviously said Almon. Then Tain stepped forward.
    “Now come and sit by the fire,” He said and sat in a big armchair by the fire. He pointed to a worktable next to his armchair. We all hopped onto it and looked at him expectantly. “As it comes in battle you kill or get killed. For us it is no different and maybe even worse. You are to specialise in testing our newest ideas. Some of the latest devices will be brought here for you four to test in