Cassia's Mentor

“What’s this?”
It had been three weeks since the somewhat flighty Taldan girl had arrived, three weeks of interrupted lessons, half-completed projects, and endlessly ignored textbooks. Nasrin sighed, and looked up from the tome she had been perusing, to see what Cassia had gotten into this time. “That’s a gun. I found it in the market... oh, must have been a year ago now, I suppose. I don’t think it even functions. Why?”
Cassia turned the weapon over in her hands, examining each line of the musket, the way the metal bolted into the wood, the tooling marks still evident from when it was created. “What does it do?”
Nasrin sighed again, this time putting the book down. “Aren’t you supposed to be cleaning? I understand that you have virtually no interest in your studies, but you could at least do the basic chores you were assigned.” Cassia had been sent by her family to study under Nasrin, as a personal favour to the Abasi clan, and Nasrin could see why - the girl had talent, that much was obvious, but she just didn’t have the focus a wizard would need in the long run. Raw talent and intelligence could only get one so far in the ways of magic, at least the ways that Nasrin, and the Abasis, had learned it. It wasn’t in the blood for any of them, it had to be wrought from the universe itself, forced into existence, and wielded with precision and patience.
“Yes, I know, and I will, I just found this while I was putting away some things on your workbench. What does it do?” Cassia repeated, seeming entranced for the first time since she had arrived.
“It fires bullets, little metal bits, similar to a bow, but with significantly less strength or talent needed. I tried to get it to work a few times, but there’s something wrong with the firing mechanism, and I don’t have any actual use for the thing. Put it down, and get back to cleaning.” At that final prod, Cassia reluctantly lowered the weapon back onto the workbench, and got back to her chores. Satisfied that Cassia was finally doing as she was told, Nasrin grabbed her book, and left the room, seeking quieter quarters to finish it in.
 
Four hours later, Nasrin had returned to the workshop, having just dined on a perfectly acceptable lunch in town, and having taken a refreshing walk after. Her head clear, she had thought she might finally have the patience to try to deal with Cassia again, and get it through to her that she needed to buckle down, or this apprenticeship was not going to work out.
What she found, upon entering the workshop, was two things that left her agog - One, the workshop was spotless. From the workbenches, to the shelves, to the alchemical beakers, there was not a speck of dust to be found, and almost everything was where it was meant to be precisely. Mere hours ago, the room had been a disaster - part of the reason Nasrin had agreed to take on an apprentice was an acknowledgement that she was terrible about keeping her workspace, or for that matter, anywhere she inhabited for any time, clean. She thought it would be a fair trade, teach the daughter of old friends, and in exchange, the girl would help out around the place, maybe bring a bit of order to the chaos of her workshop. Unfortunately, Cassia had been just as committed to her chores as she had been to her studies - that is to say, indifference would have been a stark improvement.
The second thing she found was Cassia herself, sitting on the floor, two books open, one on either side of her, and the musket in carefully placed pieces laid out in front of her. She was focused intently on one book, comparing intricate diagrams with the components of the weapon, and slowly piecing it back together. Cassia had not, in the entire three weeks she had been there, focused so intently on any single task, and especially not on any text or study material that had been passed off to her.
“What... What happened her?” Nasrin stuttered out, still slightly stunned at the immaculate condition of the room.
Cassia seemed startled at the interruption, not having noticed that Nasrin had even entered the room. “Oh, Nasrin! While I was cleaning, I found these books about guns in your collection, and I thought, maybe if I was done my chores, I could spend a bit of time on this instead, so I made sure everything was put just right before I got too distracted. Did you know that the formula for making black powder is actually quite simple? Now that the workshop is clean, we should be able to put it together with relative ease! And I was thinking about it...”
Nasrin raised her hand in a stopping motion, beckoning Cassia to slow down. “Cassia, I appreciate you getting your chores done, but you’re not here to learn how to use guns, you’re here to learn how to manipulate the very nature of the universe itself. Why the sudden enthusiasm for that thing anyways?”
Still putting the musket back together while talking to Nasrin, Cassia continued almost precisely where she ended when Nasrin cut her off. “Like I said, I was thinking about it, and I think I can use this as a focus for my spellcasting. We use focus components all the time, to let us concentrate whichever essence we’re drawing up to a single point, but this, at least I think, could be a focal point for any kind of targeted spell, like how some wizards can imbue an arrow with a spell. Except, you know, without having to be able to fire a bow and arrow, which I was always pretty bad at. At least, that’s what Aber Yaasew suggests might be possible.” Cassia finished with enthusiasm, having picked up one of the two books in front of her, this one titled “Modern Weapons: The End of Magic, or a New Frontier?” by the aforementioned author.
“Okay. Slow down. That... Is very advanced magic you’re talking about. People train for years before they can embed a fraction of a spell into a weapon, and you’re talking about adding magic to something that, as a matter of it’s very function, explodes. I’m willing to discuss theory with you, but we have a lot of work to do before I’d even consider letting you try anything like that. Finish putting the musket back together, and we’ll see if we can’t... direct this new found enthusiasm of yours into the basics, maybe work towards that, hm?” Nasrin didn’t see any way in which Cassia would hold onto this for more than a day or two - it was obviously the excitement of yet another passing fancy, but what was the harm in entertaining the girl, if it meant she’d actually pay attention for a few days?
 
Walking into the backyard of her small workshop/house, Nasrin braced herself for the conversation to come. It had been over a year now since Cassia had arrived at her doorstep, a year since the flighty, airheaded girl had buckled down, and dedicated herself to her studies, finally. And now Nasrin hoped that all that progress was not for nothing, because it was time to let Cassia go - not by choice, but by circumstance.
Cassia was doing what she was always doing when she wasn’t actively studying or doing her chores - firing that ridiculous musket off in the makeshift shooting range she had put together in the back. It had been months now that she had been practicing with it, and at least weeks since she had first managed to channel a bit of magical essence into the firearm. She didn’t even need ammunition anymore, firing projectiles of pure force straight from the musket. Nasrin quietly approached, and sat down in a chair behind Cassia, watching her fire the gun over and over. “Your aim is getting better” Nasrin commented, once Cassia stopped for a moment to clear a jam in the weapon.
Having missed her entrance, Cassia jumped slightly at the intrusion, but hid it well when she turned. “You shouldn’t sneak up on someone with a gun.” She chidded. “It’s a good way to be accidentally shot.”
Nasrin shrugged. “I have a shield spell up, I doubt your force bullets could get through. At least not yet. Cassia, come sit, we need to talk.” Her face grew serious, and not the “do your chores” or “what did you break now” serious look that Cassia was accustomed to. Cassia moved to the chair beside Nasrin’s, and lowered herself into it.
With a final deep breath to steel herself, Nasrin started. “I have to leave. I’ve been contacted by some old associates of mine - there’s something happening up north. I don’t know what exactly, but I know it’s important if they’re contacting me now. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone - I don’t even know if I’ll make it back. If some of the rumours I’m hearing are even remotely true, there’s some great danger coming.”
Cassia jumped in, “I’ll come with you! I can help, I’m more powerful now, I know enough to...”
Before she could finish the sentence, Nasrin raised her hand, as she so often did, stopping Cassia. “No. The kinds of things I suspect I am about to face, you are not ready for. Someday, perhaps, with study, and focus. But now? I would be leading you to your death, or worse - and yes, there is much, much worse. No, I... admire your bravery, your willingness to jump at the chance to come with me, but having you along would put us both at grave risk.” Nasrin continued, “The best thing you can do, for both of us, is return to Taldor. I have contacts at several of the colleges in Oppara - I’ll send along letters of recommendation for you. Continue your studies. Become the wizard I know you can be. And the next time something like this happens... Well, I could do with you, and your utterly ridiculous musket, at my side.”
Tears were flowing down Cassia’s face by the time Nasrin finished. This was too sudden, Nasrin was the first person who let Cassia explore things other than books and spellcasting, and all the glory Nethys could offer. Now she was going off to fight who knows what, who knows where? “But... Can you at least tell me where you’re going?”
Nasrin shook her head. “No. To be honest, I don’t know exactly where I’m going. My old adventuring group has called for me though, and we made a vow to each other that we would be there if called. I know that if I’ve been called though, it must be dire, and I cannot leave you, or your studies, in limbo waiting for me to return. I don’t know that you’ll thrive in Oppara - they have rather old fashioned views of magic there - but you’ll persevere. I’ll sending you when this is over, let you know I’m alright, that the crisis has been averted. If it’s in a week, come back, we’ll resume. If not, I will not watch all the work I’ve put into you go to waste!” A small smile crossed Nasrin’s face as she said the last sentence, just infectious enough that Cassia returned it, though the odd tear still fell.
 
By that evening, Cassia was packed. She stood on the front step of the small house, knowing this may well be the last time she ever saw it. “Please, be safe out there Nasrin. I do not want to spend my life wondering if I could have saved you, had I only studied harder.”
At that, Nasrin did chuckle. “Cassia Abasi, if the difference between my life and death is nothing more than you having opened a few more books, the entire world itself may be doomed." A gentle smile fell upon Nasrin's lips. "Be well, learn much, and don’t be afraid to follow your own path. I doubt very much this is the last time we are fated to meet.” With that, Nasrin made a complicated motion with her hand, and vanished, the teleport spell taking her to some far away danger.
Nasrin now gone, like a bandage being ripped off, Cassia took a deep breath. This was not how today was supposed to go. She was supposed to learn more about illusion spells today, something that had eluded her to this point, but now, a brief journey to the nearest inn was in front of her, and then, with the break of dawn, the long trip north. Steeling herself, Cassia turned towards the little path away from Nasrin's home, that would lead to the road, that would lead to Taldor. Time to go home.