Insulator

2.6 - Water Mage

/Sleeper/

I ended up finding a job working for an old man. He was a blacksmith, so I helped him with all of the hammering and heavy lifting that he struggled with. He couldn't pay much, but he also provided food and a place to stay, so I was more than happy to help him out. He was very grateful and happy to have company.

I was on my way back to the shop, after transporting a bunch of heavy weaponry to a customer, when I heard a voice.

"You look thirsty" the stranger said, handing a bottle towards me. He wore a mage outfit, green and blue instead of the usual red or yellow colours. "I've seen you going all around this town. You're quite the hard worker."

"Thank you so much!" I said, drinking it. "It's really good, what kind of water is this? I don't feel hungry anymore either."

"Hahaha, thanks. I'm Mizu, a water mage, and this is a special water I made. I wanted to be able to create a special kind of water that cures hunger, so that I could become self-sufficient! I'm rather proud of how far it's come!" the mage said excitedly.

"That's amazing!" I replied. "I'm Sleeper."

"What brings you here?"

"Hmmm... I was just wandering around. I'll need to get clothes, supplies and stuff eventually, but I need money first. What about you? Do you live in this city?"

"No, I'm a traveller too! I'm from a city of mages. Someone destroyed a lot of our inner city, so a lot of us left to get revenge. That's what I'm supposed to be doing, but I just used it as an excuse to travel."

"It was just one person that did that? How?"

"From what I heard; it was a single bottled magic spell that did it. I don't know how exactly that works, as they said it exploded after he left, so he must have sabotaged it or something. They said he didn't even seem to be that strong of a mage, so it's a bit of a mystery actually."

"A bottle, you say?"

Mizu walked with me back after my delivery, but when we got to the old man's house, we saw two guys there. The old man was on the ground, dead, and the two thieves were trying to put everything of value into their bags.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" I sternly asked, walking closer.

One of them was waving around a sword that had blood on it. When he noticed me, he slowly inched towards me. The other was further in the shop and stayed quiet.

"We work here. There's no need to be alarmed. Keep walking" he said cockily, his ill-intentions clearly visible.

"I highly doubt that. I've been working for the old man for the last few days and I've heard nothing of this."

"And? Whatcha gonna do about it?"

I turned and looked at Mizu. "Sorry about this."

I started taking my clothes off, while still standing outside the shop, mid-street. "These clothes were given to me by the old man, so I would prefer not to damage them." I handed them to Mizu, and walked towards the man wielding a blade.

He swung at me, but he had a poor eye when it came to choice of weapon.

It's not an easy task to cut someone like me, but the old man was such a skilled blacksmith that I wouldn't be surprised if he'd made something that could. The blade this guy was swinging, however, was very dull and incomplete.

I parried it with my right arm and then punched him in the face, knocking him over. I crouched down, looking over him as he lay on the ground confused and in pain.

"Why did you have to do something like that..." I said, as I began to use my ability. A thin layer began to form around my skin, around the entire outside of my body. I activated my magic, igniting it, fire burning around every pore of my body.

I reached my hand over to him, and with just one finger, gently poked where his collarbone was. I left my finger there for a few seconds, the fire burning him and leaving a severe mark. I did it again in a new place, in order to keep the symmetry.

I then stood up and gave him a strong boot to his stomach. I didn't know if he was still conscious or not, but he wasn't going anywhere fast anytime soon.

I turned to the man left in the store.

"Wait, it wasn't me! He's the one that killed him! Please stop!" he shouted in fear.

"I can't do that. By pairing with him you are equally to blame. After it happened you showed no intention of trying to make things right, so you get the same punishment."

He shot a fireball at me, his last-stitch effort of keeping me away. I was the worst matchup for a fire mage, though.

I branded him in the same way.

I didn't attack him anymore, and after letting them calm down and rest for a little bit, I sat them both down to talk, placing a book on the table in front of them. Mizu came and gave them each something to drink, but continued to remain silent and just watch.

"The old man was rather passionate about his work. In this book he made notes of all of his techniques and discoveries, so that he could pass his knowledge down to the next generations. He never married or had an apprentice to pass it on to. Perhaps one day he would have found a good successor, but we'll never know, now."

"I'm really sorry..." the mage whimpered. The other one just growled angrily and muttered insults.

"It's time for you two to take responsibility. You are to take his place and learn his craft. It's good work, with a nice house to live in, and income from reliable customers. You can make a life of it, and I'm sure the old man would appreciate doing so, as a means of making amends for what you've done."

"And if we don't?" the angry one asked.

"I'm only giving you one chance. If I find out that you stole his stuff and left, then I will find you and kill you myself. What you have done is already an offense that could deserve death, but the old man always wanted his work to continue."

"You're not going to kill us if we take over his work then?" the mage asked, a sense of relief in his voice, as he showed signs of guilt, unlike the other.

"That's right."

"We'll do it. Thank you so much for giving us another chance" the mage said, bowing his head towards me. He looked at the man next to him, trying to get him to bow too, but the angry man refused.

The four of us then went to the town cemetery and dug a grave for him. I went and bought new clothes to change into, and we went back to his house. I left the clothes he had given me in his room. They were not to be worn until one of the two was ready to truly replace him and take his place. Lastly, I gave them a bag of money.

"One last thing. This is the money we received from our most recent sales. I have taken my share already, so the rest is yours. I imagine it will take some time to learn his craft, but it should last you a fair while before you will need to worry about selling anything for income. Take your time to learn everything correctly. Don't rush or try to cut corners, as the old man cared very much about keeping a high level of quality with his work. I wish you both the best, and will leave it to you to do the right thing."

I walked away, and Mizu just smiled and waved at them, walking with me.

"The man with the bottles..." I asked. "You're following him, right?"

We were both looking for someone to travel with, so it was only natural for us to pair up. I liked the idea of a kind, water mage there to keep my flames in check.