章 7: Jack of All Trades
Rosa felt her head swimming all over again. Cyn, the pyromancer she had been looking for, was now sitting in front of her, with a small wooden table filled with small glass ornaments. Each one was a unique animal, and they were detailed enough to look alive. The wanderer himself looked like it was just another day as he waited for customers, his trademark smirk betraying nothing about the oddity of a man who had just arrived the day before with nothing to his name now owning a stall. He was tapping his foot rhythmically as people passed by, showing neither impatience nor boredom.
"How... did you end up here?" Rosa asked, feeling like this was some prank being pulled on her.
Cyn shrugged nonchalantly. "I ran out of funds, and I figured I should earn a bit. Desert towns like these have plenty of glasswork, so custom ornaments seemed like a good idea."
Rosa shook her head, feeling like she wasn't being told part of the story. "But how did you buy the glass if you were out of money? And why do you need the money? I thought you were going to meet up with a friend and leave right after? And even if you could make custom glass ornaments in a matter of hours, how did you get a stall to sell them?"
"I believe I can answer half of that, at least." A man's light voice resounded. A priest with his left arm in a cast and an eyepatch had arrived without Rosa noticing. He leaned forward and offered his right hand in a customary handshake. "I am Father Luperan, of God's faithful. Nice to meet you, Miss Dupardoner."
Rosa took the man's hand and shook it, feeling extremely out of place with the man's appearance. If Cyn gave the appearance of an unkempt wanderer, this man felt a bit straight-laced, with his grey hair combed perfectly and his church robes clean of any sand or dust. The handshake was gentle but firm. His right eye was focused on her unwaveringly, and the young mage felt like she was being seen through. "Father Luperan? I don't think we've met before."
"Indeed, I would think not," the father replied, smiling politely. "The mages of Dove don't often practice religion, though my doors are always open. Cyn mentioned you when he came to my church, so I had a feeling I knew who you were when I saw you. As far as the stall and the glass, I had some broken glass that my church had no use for, and this stall is usually where I sell items and advertise for the church. I loaned it to Cyn under the premise that any profits made were split evenly between us."
Rosa looked over at the pyromancer curiously. Was Cyn religious? He didn't seem the type. As if to answer this, the wanderer threw his hands up in a gesture that seemed to suggest he would explain later. "I see," she finally said, looking back to the father. "You must be the old friend Cyn mentioned visiting. Where do you know him from?"
Luperan coughed lightly, "His mother has a history with my family, and we've known each other for a long time. I make a habit of checking in on him from time to time, to make sure he doesn't get into too much mischief. In turn, he knows I become worried if I don't hear from him for a long time, so he tends to check up with me whenever he 's nearby. Though to be fair, it's unusual for him to ask for a means to raise money. This joint venture is a first for me." The father tilted his head and looked at the pyromancer, his gentle smile remaining. "With that said, I cannot complain if it benefits the church."
"But how can someone make glass ornaments so quickly?" Rosa asked, her eyes darting to the various animals on display. The dragon in the center was particularly amazing, a wisp of glass smoke rising from its nostrils.
Cyn chuckled as he reached into a wooden box near the completed ornaments and carefully pulled out a small pile of broken glass. "I have a few tricks for that. Though I don't suggest you try them yourself." He moved a pile of tools around on the table with his free hand, and closed the hand holding the glass shards into a fist.
After a minute or two, Rosa felt the temperature in the air rise ever so slightly. She only felt it because she suspected she was witnessing a display of pyromancy, but she couldn't imagine what would happen next.
When Cyn reopened his hands, a gust of hot air assaulted the surroundings. It felt like the lid had been opened on a large oven. "Normally to melt glass you need temperatures exceeding hot magma," the pyromancer explained as he worked, his hands moving quickly. "However, you can still make glass soft at lower temperatures. It would still need a special oven, unless of course you can magically superheat the glass with a bit of pyromantic knowhow." He took the largest glass shard and set it on a round stone, the red hot glass forming around it and becoming a small pedestal. With his free hand, he grabbed a tool and started free forming the glass, moving it to his desires. "I should mention, shaping the glass is still pretty hard. I had to practice for ages before I got the forms right," Cyn added, his eyes focused on his work. "I'm sure you could use magic to shape it, but I find it takes some of the uniqueness away from the final piece."
After just a few minutes of shaping and remolding, Cyn had completed another glass ornament. Rosa was amazed at how quickly the piece took form, almost as if Cyn had perfected the act over hundreds or thousands of hours of practice. The final product was an intricate model of a phoenix, fiery wings and all. To Rosa, it rivalled masterworks she had seen from her father's collection.
It took a while for the ornament to cool, during which time Cyn removed the small stone he had used to form the glass base. Luperan made no comment, only smiling cheerfully as a few customers watched. When the display was over, the people clapped politely and a few ornaments on display were bought. After a time, Cyn handed the ornament over to Rosa. "Here, it's not much, but take it as a thanks for the time we spent travelling together. If you need me, feel free to stop by again. I'll be around a few more days."
Rosa took the ornament, which was still warm to the touch, and reflexively hugged it. "Thank you... may I ask something, Cyn?"
"Hmm?" The pyromancer replied, his hands already reaching into the box of broken glass.
"How is it you don't get burned? You handle fire like it cannot hurt you. You handle hot glass like sculpting clay. When you demonstrated that fire pillar to my father, your hand did not get burnt. And you even burned through Emil's ropes that were binding your hands when you first met. And it's not just your own fire, either. When I was training my pyromancy and set you on fire, you brushed it off like nothing."
"Ah, that," Cyn replied, scratching the back of his head. "I'm afraid I can't teach that. I was born with it. I'm sure there are ways to magically protect from fire, but I don't need those. It's just how I was born."
"You were born immune to fire?!" Rosa asked, incredulous.
"Something like that..." the pyromancer responded awkwardly. "Tell you what Rosa, the stalls are a bit crowded here. I'll tell you the full story another time, okay?"
Understanding that the mood had changed, the young mage accepted that she had gone too far in her questioning. She said her goodbyes to Luperan and Cyn, and left on her way back to the Mage's Library.
Once Rosa's form could no longer be seen, Luperan leaned down so that he could speak softly to Cyn. "Are you sure telling her nothing is the best idea? In the next few days, she might-"
Cyn shook off Luperan's words. "In the next few days, she'll be fine. I've done this plenty of times before. You should know that."
The father shrugged, his eye glancing over the various customers around the stalls. "Sounds like a lot of hassle for not a lot of reward."
"Not everything has a clear reward," the pyromancer replied, his smirk disappearing for a couple of seconds. "Anyway, just leave it to me."
Luperan sighed and shook his head. "I'll leave it to you, Son of the Slayer."
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