...
It took half an hour for the Masters of the Hall to appear. They did not look the least bit happy when they came to stand in front of the apprentices. Harrison unlike the others did not stiffen under their disapproving gazes. He knew he had prepared carefully and would pass.
The Grand Master looked the most disappointed as he said, "Thank you all for coming for the Mastery Exams today. I had high hopes for you all when I approved your applications for the exams. Only to be disappointed in all but the youngest of you. Congratulations Heir Potter you have passed the first exam. The rest of you failed miserably. Your masters should be ashamed of you."
"That's not possible," one shouted.
Another snarled, "He must have cheated. There is no way such a little kid could have passed a Mastery exam."
Harrison quipped back, "Maybe someone with your level of intelligence and drive couldn't. However this will be my third Mastery earned. I have worked hard for every step. Maybe you should take notes."
Or not. He doubted that this boy would be allowed to take the exam again. The implications that the Grand Master gave said that they had failed beyond the typical high 70s that most apprentices failed at their first exam. Their Grand Master wouldn't have said anything if that had been the case. Harrison had to wonder if the failure was below the typical test pass.
The second one lunged for him making to tear out his throat. There was a flicker in his green eyes but even as he shifted in preparation for a fight. Only for the older boy to be hauled back by the collar of his robes.
It was one of the unfamiliar masters who stepped in. The Grand Master said with a dark look, "That is the final straw for you. You are officially removed from the Spacial Hall and Guild. You will no longer find solace or aid from anyone who are welcome here."
As soon as he was released by the unfamiliar master he was forcibly removed from the building. The others gaped openly looking like fish out of water. When the Masters turned their gazes upon them, the apprentices scampered off with their tails between their legs.
"Apprentice Potter follow me," ordered the Grandmaster as he strode off.
Harrison had no trouble keeping up with the man as they went down unfamiliar hallways. It didn't take them long to reach a door and enter the room. Inside was an obviously magically enlarged room. All along the walls were boards that held notes. On them were questions and formulas. He recognized the formulas for different spacial magic equations. While Arthimacy wasn't required for Spacial Magic it did come in handy.
For his part Harrison was far from a master in the subject. However one of his Battle Mage teammates ingrained the intermediate studies into each of them. This allowed them to at least do silver level apprenticeship work.
The Grand Master instructed, "Here is where Masters ask for aid on projects they are working on. Here we will ask you to show what you bring to the Guild as a Master. As a part of your application you had to detail your process in your chosen project. Now what do you have for us?"
Harrison activated his spacial ring bringing out the two stones. They were taken from a hotspot on a magical layline. On the stones were small Rune sequences. First thing he did was charge them with his magic before handing them to the Masters.
They examined the charged stones curious and tracing the runes. A few minutes passed before the Grand Master asked, "These sequences are unfamiliar to me. What are they for?"
Harrison answered easily, "They are required for opening a portal."
"What?" Came the sharp question.
Portal traveling had been lost for many generations. Everyone who has tried previously failed spectacularly. And in the beginning he had been no different. If it wasn't for asking for Ancient Rune books from the Black Family Library he doesn't think he would have found it. Trial and error with Keller was what got him to this point. Durant had not been happy about the amount of rooms they had destroyed.
Before they could protest his use of such dangerous and predictable magic he held up a hand.
With as much confidence as he could muster he said, "Portal magic is dangerous yes I know this. Probably better than anyone else in this room I would think. However these stones have been tested over and over again with both human and animal volunteers. This includes myself."
The Grand Master was still mildly looking ill Ashe put up a protest, "Still the last project of this magnitude destroyed half of the Guild Hall. Maybe this should be taken outside."
Harrison however stood firm as he said, "I am not ready to completely patent this. So unless you are willingly to pay for the damages incurred with the possibility of it getting out before I'm ready it should be done here."
The Masters seemed to have entire conversations in looks. He didn't think they were using Mind Magicks but they were annoyed. With his insistence on doing this inside in particular. It made him want to smile but he kept his composure. Too early to show his hand just yet.
Finally not willing to pay him for an invention not yet proven they agreed to keep it in the room. Even if they put up several protective spells on the boards. For his part Harrison ignored them and instead focused on setting up his demonstration. It was difficult to notice unless one was really looking for it but one stone was slightly smaller than the other. It wasn't by much. Only the keenest eyes would notice the detail, one he asked for from the goblins.
He placed the smaller of the two stones to one side. In the straightest line possible six feet to the right went the larger stone. A quick spell later and blood was flowing from his finger. In the space between the stones he started layering stabilizing runes. By the time the first layer was written and charged with magic the Masters had gathered to watch with curious eyes.
Ignoring them he continued to write two more layers of stabilizing runes. Then he sat back on his heels watching as the blood sank into the floor. It only took a moment before a grey line of magic shot from the left stone to the right. They glowed in the grey light of his magic waiting for the invokation. That was what had gone wrong so many times before. Spellcasters had tried to open portals when it was needed to be done by an invoker.
On his hand the stars began to glow faintly as he called upon his talent. All the Masters had put significant amounts of space between them and the stones now. They didn't want to be too close in case it exploded. Magical accidents were nothing to laugh at especially Spacial Magic.
"Spacial Magic: Portal," as simplified and to the point as he could get it.
When it came to Invokations a wizards first had to call out what kind of magic. This was then followed swiftly by what you needed. It was simpler than Spell Casting but could not be used in the same way. Most invokers didn't have any battle skills.
Harrison had a strong talent in Invoking and a medium strength talent in Spell Casting. This allowed his to be more pragmatic than most. There were so few invokers left that there could be more uses to their side of magic but it was simply lost to time. He spent half of his time researching different uses. Portals once patented could replace floo networks if they had enough invokers.
A door like wall of grey magic appeared between the stones. Six feet wide six feet tall. Exactly how he had wanted it to be. From this side of the portal he could smell the scents of Keller's office. His Master had been expecting this and the agreed his office was the safest place to open a portal. Thus he had gone back to his office to ensure no one unsuspecting would enter it. The consequences of opening portals with objects or living beings in the way was still untested and Harrison wasn't particularly keen to learn them.
Before anyone could react Keller stepped through his hazel eyes taking in everything at once. When they fell on Harrison pride entered them before being masked. Joy filled the child no matter what his face said. That look was equivalent to a shout of happiness from his Master.
The Grand Master said surprise lacing his tone, "You left the Hall, Keller. Where does that go?"
Keller replied easily, "It goes straight to my office. You're welcome to go through the portal. It's perfectly safe."
"The wards?"
This time Harrison answered, "Bypassed completely. So far we haven't found a ward that it won't bypass."
"This will definitely cause issues with the Ward and Curse Breaking Guilds," muttered one Master.
"The implications of this," said another quietly.
"Do you really think it's safe."
"Keller came through just fine."
"It's Keller though. He's not normal."
That made Harrison's hackles rise in defense of his Master. A sharp look was given to him from Keller. He understood. Do not say anything. People would believe what they wanted. Yeah he knew that better than most.
The Grand Master ignored them in favor of stepping through the portal. This caused the others to cry out in fear for him. Master and apprentice shared a triumphant look. It only sharpened when the Grand Master returned through the portal safe and sound.
Harrison brought his right hand up and invoked, "Invoke release."
Just as quickly as the magic had come it was gone. Leaving only the stones faintly glowing. Harrison immediately picked them up and dispelled the magic knowing the sensitives of the world could have sensed what he had done. Dispelling it however would only give them the briefest of impressions. Even those would be gone after a few days. Given who his father was and who he was close to Harrison couldn't afford to be careless.
The Grand Master looked to the other two who nodded. It seemed they were all in agreement then. For his Mastery he hoped otherwise heads would roll. Keller was not kind towards idiots.
The older man said, "We are all in agreement then. Harrison Potter from this moment you are no longer an Apprentice but a Master of Spacial Magic. Congratulations young man."
His grey apprentice robes turned to the black with grey stars robes of a first level master. If he chose to climb the ranks of his Mastery the stars would change in color accordingly. A slight grin plastered itself on his face. He had done it.
Despite having expected the burning sensation on his forearm he still hissed when it started. Pushing up the sleeves of his robes he saw the three Mastery marks.
One was that of a quill dark red in color. This was the Inscription Mastery tattoo. His first and closest to his wrist easily covered by long sleeves.
His second Mastery tattoo was that of a Nordic Rune. While the rune itself changed from person to person based on their personality it always remained Nordic. For his part Harrison's was the Rune of Ansuz also called the Rune of Insight.
The newest tattoo formed by the burning of magic was similar to his talent mark. Grey and black stars went from one side of his forearm to the other.
Mastery tattoos could not be faked or replicated in their world. They were created by Lady Magic with her blessing. Anyone that had tried to fake them were severely punished by Lady Magic. Stories of this happening had pretty much faded into myth but men like Keller would still warn anyone they could.