Abuse of Magic

"Master Joseph, why are we at the butcher?" asked Derek, uncomfortably watching the hanging meat swing gently in the breeze.

"You are going to get an education." Joseph was glad to see that there were fewer flies after he insisted the meat was cured in smoke.

They had several talented young girls with them that Joseph was hoping would make good doctors and nurses. They were part of his father's slaves that had only arrived the day before, and were ready to advance in training.

They were going to spend two hours every day, dissecting, explaining, drawing what they saw at the butcher. Joseph had a glass maker construct a crude microscope and was teaching them about cells. It was terribly clunky, but made explaining about bacteria a lot easier. If only he could get one strong enough to let them actually see bacteria, it would be even better.

Stephan was training his visualization of his healing magic so that he could heal easier. The knowledge that there were different types of tissues and cells had already given his healing magic a huge boost. He needed less mana, and was able to heal faster. When Derek asked him about it, Joseph overheard him mention that it was the difference in using a giant sledge hammer to break a rock instead of a mallet and chisel.

It took several days for him to get them to understand nutrition, poison, and cellular diseases. He was using a ton of information his previous life had learned in pre-med before switching over to dentistry.

One of the girls, Becky, was adorable. She became overwhelmed at the thought of cleanliness keeping germs at bay, and almost became OCD when it came to insisting everyone clean constantly. Joseph was finally able to get her to calm down a little, by explaining that some germs were useful, despite her hesitation, and ended up putting her in charge of the midwives.

After two weeks of spending several hours a day with Stephan and the aspiring doctors, Stephan didn't show up one morning. He had finally entered a mage trance. Word spread among the mages like fire. Joseph sent two of the girls to watch over him, and to start putting what he had taught them into practice. He put Becky in charge and gave her a medical book that he had been working on writing. It had drawings explaining the workings of the human body, since no one had volunteered to be dissected…

He focused on Derek the next week.

"I know you've been jealous that I started with Stephan and now he's in a trance, but don't worry, I'm going to focus on you now."

"Master Joseph, did Stephan really achieve a mage trance because of your teachings?"

"Well, I can't help but think they're related, at least a little," Joseph said with a laugh.

"No, I mean... Sorry, it's just, so few mages ever achieve that state in their life time. I guess I'm still just in shock."

"Really?" Joseph was shocked. "No wonder Stu was so surprised."

"Did this Stu also enter a mage trance?"

"Oh, no, I mean I did."

Derek stared at him before sighing, and then, with a chuckle, "Of course, you would have, Master Joseph."

"Yes, so far I've been in a trance once for FOOD and once for FIRE. My second teacher Selena can probably enter a trance for FIRE whenever she wants to, so it didn't seem like that big of a deal."

Derek's mouth was open, but nothing was coming out.

Stella said, "Master Joseph, I think you broke him."

"Darn," Joseph muttered.

"Twice..? …and for different runes… and this Selena, can just… whenever..?"

"Oh, look Stella, he restarted."

"Ah, so he did."

Derek took a moment and then just sighed. "I still have a long way to go."

"Master Joseph, your sighing appears to be contagious." Stella was smirking at him.

Joseph hung his head for a moment, and when he looked up, Derek was looking at him with the oddest look Joseph thought he had gotten up to this point.

Then, he bowed and asked, "Please, let me see the place you wish to go to someday, Master Joseph."

Joseph laughed. "Of course. All of my people will be with me. I always take care of what's mine. Now today, I want to teach you about rocks. Just trust me on this."

Derek nodded.

"Rocks can be divided into 3 main categories depending on how they are made…"

Training with Derek went extremely fast paced. The man seemed to have had a switch flipped during that first day of EARTH practice. He absorbed what was taught to him like a sponge. All of Joseph's previous knowledge on rocks, ores, crystals, and even basic inorganic chemistry, Derek got as broad overviews, before Joseph started getting into more detail.

Stephan woke up after two days of trance and slept for another. The girls actually appreciated the practice on caring for someone incapacitated, when they knew he would survive. They made a lot of changes to their procedures. Joseph gave them a few ideas but he never became a resident, or worked in a hospital, so it was pretty general advice. They still appreciated it though.

Stephan was almost crying when he came to find Joseph and Derek training after he woke up. Apparently, mage trances were a big deal if they could move Stephan to tears. Joseph was reflecting. Derek had him tell him about Selena and his own trances, and Stephan also got that strange look in his eye. It passed quickly, so he wasn't going to worry about it too much.

Derek entered a mage trance after that week of training. When the mages in the camp found out about Stephan, they had only considered it blind luck. They man had been working incredibly hard and had made a lot of improvement. But when Derek followed him after only a week, they couldn't ignore it any longer. They were stunned. Several more came to sign personal contracts. Joseph's personal students were up to eight now.