The Captain gave him a go-ahead on the revenge action, but how was he going to pull it off? And was it worth the trouble, really?

Would the consequences of restoring his beaten up pride measure up to the price paid for it?…

Joe was a fool. But he was a fool that could look into himself from time to time. The lethal danger would never be a reason for his gnawing hysterics to worm their way into his mind. At least, that was the hope he had.

It was the pride. The pride came back to taunt his Spirit.

Joseph sighed. Then another thought knocked on his brain.

Alchfrid gave him permission, but he never told him how to deal with Mages in the first place…

“That senile old tree!!”

The second scream was making rounds around the port now.

What would people think, Honey?

The people are lying drunk on the square, Memory.

Joe slouched back and stared at the ceiling of the port building. Now that he released his bottled emotions, he could figure out his plans for the day.

Stay away from Evalyn and her cheerleaders - point number one. He had to learn more about her and the Magic in general. Maybe she acquired abilities that are not Magical at all.

Roth might know.

Point number two - rendezvous with Xander and Ralf, as soon as possible. It would be a good idea to share the information with them.

Also, ask Xander about his progress. If he even had any…

No need to question Ralf about the same, no thank you.

Point number three - restock his inventory. Joe kicked himself mentally for not taking the armsmaster’s advice while he was still on the ‘Morning Star’.

Point number four - get some bloody sleep…

 

*****

 

His dreams were chaotic and unconnected. One moment Joe followed someone with an iron pipe, who then fought a blonde female arid in some kind of arena. During another dream, he saw skyscrapers.

Dozens of skyscrapers.

Then two women appeared, wearing strikingly similar faces. They disappeared very quickly.

The final scene that Joe could vaguely recall was, of all things, a flying, giant metallic worm.

New day, new challenges. Exercise, shower, something for breakfast, the Arsenal. This routine had already placed itself into Joe’s life as the familiar and almost meditative one.

His only available crewmate this morning was the wind. The entire ship stood silent and devoid of life. Not entirely - Joe noticed Pat a few moments before the breakfast, hurrying in the direction of the exit. But aside from the rat-faced doctor, he saw only a couple of people. Irfan was one of them.

The hunter greeted him with a nod. Joseph returned the gesture and asked if the arid needed anything. Irfan shrugged and replied that he was fine.

Joe then decided to leave the hunter to his own matters and move on.

The door to Roth’s room was open. The doctor himself did not appear to be in the Medbay.

Joseph rejected the thought of asking Ailuros for directions. The little spirit deserved more respect than Joseph was giving to her. He had more than enough time to find Roth all on his own.

He put a hand on the closest wall.

It was a strange feeling - standing in the ship, still as a mountain. He could always catch the subtle vibrations coming from the steel walls whenever the ship for thrusting forward towards its destination. The pleasing sensations of the movement would help him relax from time to time, especially when he wanted to take a break during an exercise.

The metallic sound, coupled with even steps, signalled that the person he was looking for found him first.

“Ah, Joe! Good morning, young man!”

“Doctor.”

Roth appeared at the entrance to the Medbay. He carried the large case with him, labelled with the green cross sign.

The doctor put the case on a bed.

“Is anyone sick?” Joe inquired.

Roth glanced back at the case and smiled.

“Fortunately, no. I needed to get my tools checked and calibrated, that is all. Want to share a cup of morning coffee with me?”

Coffee? They had coffee in this world?!

“Sure!”

The fresh smell swooned Joe off his feet. Right now they were in Roth’s room. When the half-iron man pulled the satchel with coffee beans from behind the bookshelf, he put a finger to his lips. Joe nodded. He was ready to bury the secret with him.

After a few minutes, Roth returned from the Kitchen with two steaming cups.

“No milk, but can’t have everything. For your health, Joseph!”

“For your health, Roth!”

“My health is beyond recovery, I’m afraid.” The doctor giggled.

That would be a good start to lead the conversation in the right direction, Joe figured.

“Are there no Mages that are capable of fixing the damage?”

Roth took a sip. Then he put his cup down and lingered on the answer.

“There are…” he closed his eyes. “…But I am afraid that my body will not be able to make it through. The procedure is not instantaneous. The implants and prosthesis have to be removed first, and only then a Mage will be able to perform the treatment.”

His half-smile had an air of melancholy around it.

“Another issue is finding the professional Life Mage as a pirate. This is the real treasure hunt, young man,” he chuckled. “Mages among the criminal crowd are not unheard of. It’s the ones that have the required knowledge and experience that are rare. Exceptionally rare.”

Joe nodded. What professional would lower itself down to the level of pillaging and slaughtering?

“Doctor Roth… how does one fight a Mage, usually?”

The doctor put his cup back on the table. His gaze pierced through Joseph.

“Why would you want to know that, young man?”

“I’m afraid I drew the ire of one…”

Roth’s face relaxed, but his eyes remained intense.

“Who?”

Joe told the doctor a short version of the recent events.

After he was done, Roth clamped his fingers together and lowered his chin on them.

“I understand…” A nostalgic fog appeared in his eyes. “Unfortunately, I only have experience in University duels. There isn’t much I can help with if the Mage is a seasoned battlefield veteran.”

“Anything. Anything will do, doc.”

Roth sighed.

“Let me think… To perform a Spell, a Mage has to keep himself in the specific state called Flow. Do you know what a normal flow state is, Joe?”

Joseph rubbed his chin. He heard something like that…

“Is it when you focus on the task, to the point that you don’t even notice how quickly time passes?”

The doctor nodded and lifted his cup.

“Precisely. As a normal person would call it - being in the zone.”

Roth took a sip. Joe waited for the continuation.

“Flow as a Magical term is similar, with very few differences. First, and the most important one - Flow for Mages does not require the same commitment.”

“So they don’t need the full focus, just enough for a Spell?”

Roth smiled.

“The more, the better, as they say! The more immersed Mage is, the more potent Spell is. Quite a simple rule, isn’t it?”

“True, true.”

Roth put his cup on the table and raised his index finger up.

“Second component for a Spell is Path! Path is very important. You can’t break the reality over the knee just by using your Will! You have to keep the Mind working too!”

Joe was pleasantly surprised to see the doctor being that passionate about the subject.

“And Path is what you use to justify your Spell to the World and to yourself! You can’t have fire without the source, Joe!”

His mind went back to the conversation about Symbols.

“And if there isn’t one, Mage has to create it from a scratch?”

“Exactly! Perfect answer, young man! Concepts are tricky - everyone has their own definition of them, even if differences are minimal. A Spell takes the concepts from the one who performs them - or from the Mastermind, if there is a group of Mages together performing the same Spell. Path requires powerful imagination as well - your Mind has to be strong enough to bypass the restrictions of the Conventional Logic!”

Joe caught himself continuously nodding, as if he was back in college on a lecture. Even if unfamiliar terms flew right by his head, the information was worth it just for the knowledge about the Flow alone.

“Third component - Mage affects things that he can perceive! In rare cases, a Mage can use Mind only and disregard his senses entirely. But is that Mage can pull that off, he is above your pulling weight, I'm afraid. But you know, if you blind your opponent, the Mage only gets four senses to choose from!”

Roth froze in his place. His eyes jumped back and forth.

“...That wasn’t too bloodthirsty of me, was it?”

Joseph rapidly shook his head.

“No-no, you are fine, professor!”

The doctor grinned. The salty smell of red filled the room…

But that was probably just Joe’s imagination.

Roth put the empty cup down. Joseph did the same on his side. He wanted to learn about the duelling experience that the deathmage had.

“Doctor, how did you do in duels?”

“...Poorly.”

The state of absolute zen that Roth radiated could paint even Buddha himself green. Shivers ran down Joe’s body.

The doctor waited out a pause. Then, unable to hold back, chuckled.

“My performance in the direct combat was always terrible. Enough to scrape by if the need arises, but among the ‘Morning Star’ crew, I have the least amount of experience. Even Pat has more years on me.”

Joe felt the shock swelling up within him but said nothing.

“But the duels… oh, I loved duels. I was the worst at them, but I loved them shamefully. Turning your opponent into a pig, lighting his trousers on fire, getting lost in group-on-group chaos…”

Roth had fallen into his dreamy memories. Joseph’s excitement fired up.

“...Exploding the clothes on female students…”

God damn it.

The doctor probably realised that this entire time, the look that Joseph sent him was one of silent reproach. Roth coughed and half-smiled sheepishly.

“Forgive me, Joe. These are my fondest memories. The University was a beautiful lawless frontier…”

“I understand. But what about the duels, doc?”

“Right, right. Well… what do you think one should do to win in a duel between Mages, young man?”

Joseph leaned back in the chair. The first order of operation would be to knock Mage off-balance, definitely. If Flow is the main driver behind the Magic working its… well, Magic, then shattering the mental state of a Mage is a priority. As for how to do so…