The Trickster's Test {Prinxiety}

Chapter 8

Third Person

"While no one can prove Catara ever really existed, there is no doubt about the impact her story has had on the world. Not only was it the first tale to bring attention to corruption, but once it was found the concepts of the condition held true in real life, it became a cautionary tale to all those who wish to learn magic. Corruption became feared, and magic was no longer taught or practiced to the same extent."

"Alistair, you know I respect you greatly," Virgil started calmly, not wanting to set the old man off on yet another rant about how no one respected people his age or the stories he had memorized.

"Because I'm amazing," He agreed, completely cutting the prince off.

"But you never really explained what corruption is, why people are scared of it, what causes it, or why I need to know any of this," It was a common enough occurrence for the tutor to launch into one of his lessons without the right context or proper explanations.

Alistair turned to him, eyes widening to a comical amount, almost completely taking up the thick lenses of his glasses, "Of course you need to know this! Everyone should read or learn the story of Catara to prevent such a disaster from ever occurring again. I shouldn't have to say that by now, boy!" He tossed a book at Virgil, which happened more often than most would suspect, "But since you asked a question for once instead of sitting silently and awkwardly throughout the lesson, I'll provide you with the answers you seek."

He wraps the book with his decorative walking stick. It was a book on magic, one he had thrown not so accidentally, it seemed. Virgil opened the book to the marked chapter, Alistair reading along from memory.

"Corruption is an infection. It is a disease brought about when a mage becomes consumed by their magic. The name for this condition was widely popularized by Noelle Greyshen's work, The Legend of Catara, and has affected a large number of magic users throughout history," Alistair recites, leaving Virgil to struggle to keep up as he went along, "Does that answer your question? If not, I suggest reading further because I have some work to catch up on."

"Sir Alistair, if it wouldn't be too much of a bother for you to answer, can't anyone learn magic?" Roman had made a valiant effort thus far to stand by the door much like a statue would, without moving or talking, but that could only last for so long.

Alistair smiled, "Well, nice of you to finally show a sign of life. I never got your name."

"Roman Garcia. It's a pleasure to meet you," He introduces.

"It's nice to meet you too, Roman, especially since no one's called me 'sir' in a long time," While Virgil knew he didn't mind him leaving out the title because they were close enough to do away with it, he still felt as though the jab was directed at him, "And yes, theoretically anyone can learn magic. However, the difficulty of it and the lack of experienced mages in recent years would make it pretty hard to do in this day and age, unless you planned on teaching yourself."

The elderly man didn't seem to notice nor care that he had crushed Roman's dreams a great deal, wandering off into the bookshelves without a proper goodbye. There was no telling if he'd come back or not, so Virgil tended to wait a little while. He made it a rule to stay for five minutes, and after that leave, even though he still couldn't be sure by then.

Of course, that was evidently three and a half minutes too long for Roman, "What are we waiting for, Virge?" He whispered.

"I'm making sure he isn't coming back, because if he does and I'm not here I will never hear the end of it," Virgil explains quietly, flipping through the magic book without absorbing any of the information inside, "You can't even imagine how long that lecture went on last time..."