The Magic of Recluce - L. E. Modesitt [42]
Myrten looked more like an angry buffalo. “Think it’s funny, do you…?”
I couldn’t help grinning, and, strangely, he grinned back. “Young-old magister, you’re still a good kid…”
A good kid? Not sure I ever would have called myself that. Or a magister. Me? But…
Outside of the physical training, things got worse…or didn’t improve.
Magistra Trehonna left, and was replaced by a smiling man named Lennett, who immediately launched into discussions on the theory of order. The theory of order? Who cared about the theory of order?
Magister Lennett did, it turned out. And he insisted that we did, especially Tamra and me. Tamra smiled sweetly and asked polite questions.
“Does that mean that a chaos-magician must employ order?” Her voice was almost dipped in honey as she leaned toward him. She eased forward on the gray pillow where she sat.
How she had found a gray pillow, I didn’t know. The rest of us used brown.
“Exactly!” bubbled Lennett. His eyes danced.
My stomach turned at the sickly-sweet tone.
“Even to manipulate chaos requires the use of order. In essence, a chaos-magician sets up a fundamental conflict by his very existence—”
“They are at war within themselves?” asked Tamra.
That was obvious, but why did Tamra keep playing up to him?
“…why chaos-magicians have short life-spans unless they use other methods to artificially prolong their existence; and few have the talent. Fewer still can master the order-chaos conflict on that plane.”
I thought about reading the book my father had tucked away, but I never got around to it. Besides, in traveling, I suspected, I would have more than enough time to read.
“…and—Lerris!”
“Yes?”
“Can you explain the magic-reality strength theorem?”
I repressed a sigh. “That’s the idea that the greater the magical composition of a construct, the less strength it has compared to something made out of natural materials by hand, rather than by magic.”
“And what does that mean?” Lennett smiled and looked around the room.
Myrten was running his hand through his unruly black hair, while Dorthae looked at Myrten, and Krystal looked toward the afternoon clouds. Sammel tried to stifle a yawn.
Tamra smiled brightly. “It means that magic can diffuse strength or material over a greater area, but cannot build things that last.”
So…what else was new? Chaos-magic was great for destroying things, but you still had to hire stonecutters and masons to build anything.
“That is not precisely correct, as you”—he glanced from Tamra to me—“will discover.”
Myrten snickered.
“Order magic can be used to enhance natural strength, both by providing a defense against chaos and by strengthening the internal order of substances.” Magister Lennett shook his head. “But that is really a subject of advanced study. The important point, as Tamra has noted, is that an equivalently-armed individual can prevail against a number of magical constructs, provided…provided you are adequately trained and weaponed.”
“Magister?” asked Sammel. “What about cases like the power of the ancient wizards of Frven? Or the White Knights?”
Lennett shook his head. “You are confusing two aspects of chaos. In pure destruction or chaos magic—that is, loosening the bonds of order which hold all materials together—chaos cannot be successfully opposed except by three factors. First is will. Your will to survive prevents any direct magical attack on your person except by the strongest of the chaos-magicians. You are still subject to temptation, and that is another issue entirely. Second is the natural strength of materials. A young person generally has greater resistance to magic, as does a building built of the strongest stone and best-braced timbers. Third is order magic itself, which can suffuse all things with a strengthening of internal bonds…”
What Lennet said was probably true enough, but it was also generally meaningless. Only a strong magician would ever try a personal attack. Anyone using magical constructs would not employ them unless they were equipped with superior weapons. The White Knights had swords that would have made