My Path to Magic 2: A Combat Alchemist Read Free Page B

if I get some satisfaction from him? Worth a try.

Chapter 2
    The idea of beating Quarters up stuck in my head. The next day, I went to the university wearing cheaper clothes: a sober Ron was a strong opponent, and I did not know how to darn shirts.
    Bummer.  Quarters did not show up at the lectures.  Well, on M onday it could happen to anyone, though Ron was not known as a heavy drinker.  Quarters missed Tuesday's classes, too.  Was he mocking me?  Only Rustle could warn him of my intentions, but to suspect Rustle of alerting Ron would be paranoid of me.  What should I do now: get angry with him, or sigh with relief?  At that moment something scratched at my brain - Rustle feared bothering me, but thought I should know that Ron was already in trouble without my part in his affairs.  I was puzzled: if the otherworldly started caring about Ron, he was in deep shit.
    I called Ron's parents' house during the next break between classes. I was aware that Quarters did not give his relatives keys to his apartment, but they ought to know what happened to him.
    "I would like to speak to Ronald Rest," I said suavely.
    "Who is looking for him?"
    "This is his cla ss monitor, from the university." They couldn't verify my status anyway.
    "What do you want?"
    "I want to talk to Ronald Rest."
    "He is ill and not at home now.  May I take a message for him?"
    "Do not worry.  I'll call later, at the end of the week."
    I hu ng up and thought for a moment. Last year's events really made me dislike when people talked about hospital treatments.  It reminded me of Mrs. Melons' clinic - they were engaged in illegal experiments on mages. Ron's mother probably still maintained her idiotic friendship with the artisan Melons.  She would not help me figure out what was going on. Suddenly I realized that there was someone whom the angry dark magician might ask a couple of questions.
    Finding Sam was not hard - the history club, of which the small dwarf was one of the regulars, held its meetings on Tuesday nights.  When I learned about Sam's membership, I began to regularly attend the club's seminars and relentlessly criticized his reports - he was giving really schizophrenic presentations. To make sure that the club's public would not misunderstand me, I prepared my own report about White Halak, with pictures and calculations from white (!) magic theory. For that, I deserved some respect.
    The club's meeting s were taking place in one of the main lecture halls; I was recognized by its members and even welcomed.  The topic of today's debate was the reign of King Girane - a brief heyday of the Inquisition period, which cost Ingernika dearly.  A freshman from the pharmacy faculty expounded on a highly simplified version of events and had no clue as to how an idea of goodness and purity had quickly turned evil (the girl-speaker belonged to the white mages).  I watched Sam out of the corner of my eye: the small dwarf was stressed out more than usual and almost did not listen to the presentation.  Why did he come then? It turned out to be for no apparent reason, because as soon as the discussion started, Sam stood up and walked to the door.  I needed to make a quick decision on where to intercept him.  There were two options: the men's washroom at the right end of the hallway, or a storage room to the left (I unlocked its door in advance).  If there were people in the hallway, I would have to capture him on the street, and there would be even more witnesses…
    Sam turned to the left.  Once he came abreast of the indiscernible door, I caught up with him in a jump and grabbed his shoulders. Out of fear, he did not resist. He was stunned.
    "Hi! I want to know what happened to our mutual friend. Right now." I pushed him into the storage room and shut the door.  "I do not know who you're talking about!" the stifled dwarf squeaked.
    H is eyes darted around. I smiled at him tenderly and affectionately. The dimness of the light bulb did not allow