Mind Forged: Book One of the Enchanters of Xarparion by T Michael Ford Read Free Book Online Page B

what separates us from the other wizards. To start with, the description the Headmaster gave me at the test was that only wizards have magic. After about ten minutes with Rosa, I found that to be completely false. Everything and everyone has magic, it’s one of the many building blocks of the world. What the orb test really does is find the ones who can channel magic.
    From what I have learned so far, a wizard can collect magic from either themselves or the runoff magic from the area around them. They can then channel the collected magic through their bodies in what appears to mage sight to be magical veins or conduits. With this, they can bend the magic into almost any shape they want.
    Enchanters , on the other hand, don’t have the same system. We are unable to project magic like the others do. Instead, we shape the magic that’s already in an object. By doing this, normal items can take on new qualities or even magic powers of their own. I seem to be naturally gifted with items made of metal, but with other materials, stone, wood etc. I always seem to have more trouble.
    Mind you , that does not mean that I haven’t had my fair share of problems with metal. In fact, the first week was a nightmare for me as I was trying to learn how to control my magic. Rosa had me perform enchantment after enchantment to no avail, not even matching the one I did on the pot. I don’t know how many practice rods I destroyed, but she was forced to order them by the hundreds. It wasn’t ‘til I learned how to use my mage sight that I could even start to get them right. Once I learned that, I could just watch her and do my best to copy what she was doing. Working with my mother, I learned to watch and memorize from watching her tend to the injured. But even with what she called a ‘natural talent’ for enchanting, I still have a very long way to go before I can hope to do what she can.
    Rosa also took the time to teach me about the world, more precisely, about the kingdoms of the world. She had me sitting on a bench in front of a large map she pinned to a wall, using a long stick as a pointer.
    The stick landed on a ring in the center of the map . “This is Xarparion; you will note that it does not show up on maps that are not made by us, so average people don’t know where we really are.”
    She pointed to a jagged area shaded in green a fair ways from Xarparion. “This is Anshea, your home kingdom. We have never really had problems with them so our relations are solid.”
    She pointed to another area shaded in orange. “This is Ocance; they don’t really like our kind, so try to stay away from there. But even though they look down on us, we still have a trade agreement that is very profitable for both sides.”
    The next area was in blue and bridged the gap between the two others . “This is Elcance; they are a good people who are very fond of magic. In fact, that’s where almost all wizards reside if not in the tower or on assignment. In reality, that’s not more than a handful at any given time but still, most own land there.”
    Those three kingdoms only took up a third of the area around Xarparion, the rest was in black. She pointed to the black area. “This land has been lost. It used to be the great kingdoms of Normount and Wereia but is now controlled by goblins and the undead as the seat of power for The Lifebane. But even with their close proximity on this map, it would still take them months to march here.”
    She talked some more about the world’s history, but I could tell that something else was on her mind. She must have heard that because she quickly wrapped things up to speak with me about it.
    “ Alex, we need to talk about something.” Oh crap, what did I do? Did I track mud in or ruin something?
    “ No, it’s nothing you did, but let’s go sit upstairs and talk for a bit.” I quickly settled into the same chair that I was in the first night I came to her door, and she did the same.
    “ I can’t