The Arctic Knight was the name given to the bearer of Iyckel’s Blade. Archmage Iyckel the Arctic Storm had a great affinity for the Font of Ice. Iyckel’s Blade has been lost to Illandrios and its whereabouts are unknown.
The Everburn Knight was the name given to the bearer of Izynia’s Blade. Archamage Izynia the Everburn had a great affinity for the Font of Fire. Before the loss of the Arctic Blade, the two were often paired. While Ice and Fire are opposed, the swords granted their wielder immunity to their own magic, and the magic of their opposing Fonts. Together, the bearers could wreath the battlefield in frost and flame, heedless of harming each other.
-Bladed Knights by Kysin, the 195th High Librarian
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“Professor Lonin asked me to consider taking you as an apprentice,” Professor Underbrook said.
When he didn’t say anything after that, Kole asked, “And what did you tell him?”
“I told him I’d consider it,” Underbrook said. “I’ll be honest with you. I don’t like have apprentices. It’s a lot of responsibility, and you may have noticed, that’s not really my style.”
Kole definitely had noticed but didn’t say as much.
“But I do like you,” Underbrook said. “I think you’ll make a great battle wizard—now that you got past your whole ‘can’t actually do magic’ thing. It would be a shame if you had to join Lonin’s eggheads because you couldn’t find a mentor you could trust.”
“So that means you’ll do it?” Kole asked, not quite sure where his teacher was going with this.
“It means...” Underbrook said, drawing it out. “I asked Professor Lonin to keep searching for a mentor for you and that I would mentor you until he did.”
With those words, a massive weight was lifted from Kole’s shoulders. To say it was a weight he didn’t know he was carrying would be a gross misrepresentation of the truth. He’d been very aware of that weight. Always in the back of his very active mind had rested this task, but he knew he lacked the means to accomplish it.
And now, he had an answer.
“Thank you!” Kole said, having to hold himself back from shouting his gratitude.
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“I’m not committing to taking you on as my formal wizard apprentice mind you,” Underbrook said, holding his hands up to forestall Kole and temper his expectations “That’s a much larger commitment. That’s separate from the mentorship requirement for the adventuring program. Usually, wizard’s take on their mentees as formal apprentices, but it’s not actually a requirement. I’ve asked Lonin to continue to search for a mentor for you. I can help you learn how to fight, I’ve no interest in delving into traditional wizardry, and you may have gotten past your current roadblock, but eventually you’re going to need some expert aid.”
“That’s fine!” Kole said, none of his gratitude lost. “I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.”
Underbrook smiled now, glad to have not crushed all Kole’s hopes.
“I too often leave my problem for Future Underbrook to handle,” he said. “He is, after all, much wiser and more experienced than me.”
Underbrook assigned Kole some reading to get done by the end of the semester in his capacity as his mentor and told him that they’d start working together more once summer break began.
“I’ll coordinate with Tigereye,” he said. “We’ll take you and Miss Wood on a few trips through the summer.”
Kole had been ecstatic before, and hadn’t even thought about the implications that Tigereye, Zale’s mentor, and Underbrook seemed to be friends of some sort and would likely mentor their students together.
Underbrook saw Kole’s joy increase and smiled more himself.
“I knew you liked her,” Underbrook said. “Tigereye owes me five silver.”
“What?!” Kole asked, suddenly horrified. He didn’t even deny the first statement. “You bet on the students?”
“Gods yes,” Underbrook said. “It’s the only way I can survive all this teenage drama. I’ll tell you this though, no one thought Doug’s stunt with the carrot would work. Archdruid Cecily really cleaned up on that bet.”
Kole didn’t know what was the most shocking about that, the fact that the professor bet on their dating lives, that they knew such minor details such as Doug’s attempt to woo Mouse with a purple carrot, or that anybody—even an Archdruid—thought the carrot would work.
“Don’t tell anyone,” Underbrook said. “This is strictly under the bounds of the mentor mentee code of secrecy.”
“Is that a thing?” Kole asked.
“It is now,” Underbrook said. “I really shouldn’t have let that slip.”
Kole smiled, thinking of a way in that moment to get a dig back at his new mentor.
“Sure thing, Peabody.”
Underbrook’s face became serious, and Kole knew in that moment he’d never seen the whimsical professor so free of mirth as he was seeing then. Even in battle, Underbrook always tried to add levity to the situation he even spent a portion of the last PREVENT class lecturing about the importance of it.
“I don’t know where you learned that name, but the mentor mentee bond of secrecy is now totally a thing, and if you spread knowledge of that name, you’ll have to pray to the gods Lonin finds you a mentor because while I wouldn’t harm a student, I can fail you and drop you as my mentee.”
“Got it,” Kole said, expecting a response, but nothing like that. He added, I haven’t told anyone. I swear. Lonin let it slip, but I don’t think anyone else knows.”
“Good,” Underbrook said, suddenly back to his jovial self. The conversation then suddenly took a swift turn, “Oh, by the way, I need you to swear on this truth orb.”
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