Alastair Archibald - A mage in the making

Sometimes, this was as fulsome as "I once said that you were not fit to dance in a slum flea-pit. I now see that I was wrong. You are fit to dance in a slum flea-pit!"

The young Student rarely saw the humour in Faffel's barbed jokes, even if most of the other Students seemed to enjoy it.

Grimm's command of Representaional Art, another of Faffel's subjects, was also poor, but Argand was an enthusiastic and accomplished artist, and he gave Grimm enough help to allow him to produce creditable portraits and landscapes by dint of a few simple guidelines. Nonetheless, Grimm always regarded a class in Courtly Graces with trepidation.

Every day, the Students were allowed to spend time playing in the large Scholasticate yard. Grimm now tended to shun the more physical games preferred by the more active Madar and Argand, but often other Students, some much older than Grimm's nine years, would run out of ideas for new games. On these occasions, Grimm would be consulted and would evince ideas for new games, providing that he was allowed to choose his role in each.

From time to time, Shumal would attempt to force his way into these games, often for no other reason than to upstage Grimm, but the other boys would shun him, since he always ended up punching, tripping or otherwise causing trouble, for which the blame would be shared by all.

Grimm found himself with a unique, if muted, popularity, although he often felt like a tool, to be used only when the other boys became bored. Nonetheless, he felt that he had a valuable role that was appreciated by the others, and he was always ready to venture an opinion, however it might be taken.

When Grimm was asked by one of the older Students if he would care to join in an end-of-year entertainment for the Scholasticate, he accepted with some glee, on the proviso that he would not be expected to dance. He had not forgotten the debacle of Erek's abortive pageant in his first year, but he put it behind him.

He was given the role of a travelling minstrel, and he studied the part with intense diligence in his free time. He was expected to sing a song whilst accompanying himself on the lute and, although he was not very accomplished on the instrument, he acquitted himself well, since the tune involved only simple strumming. Although nervous as he took to the stage, dressed in a loose, threadbare motley that threatened to overwhelm his slight frame, his voice did not betray him. Part of him was relieved when he had finished, but, after more than respectful applause, he found himself wishing he might carry on.

Madar and Argand were his most enthusiastic applauders, and even Kargan, who had composed the ballad, took the time to compliment Grimm on his delivery.

Grimm was happier than he had ever been in his life as the year ended. He would be on his own once more for the winter break, but he was growing in self-confidence; it now felt almost as if the Scholasticate was the only home that he had ever known.

At the start of Grimm's third year in the Scholasticate, he and his year-mates began to be burdened with even more new subjects, but Grimm accepted the increasing workload with zeal. Whilst he found Appreciation of Art tedious, and Gymnastics difficult, because of his ill-co-ordinated body, he enjoyed Literature and found Herbalism, taught by the mild-mannered and soft-voiced Magemaster Chet, fascinating. He never tired of studying in depth the properties and uses of different herbs and plants, always hoping to surprise Chet with some new discovery, since Chet, unlike most of his fellow Magemasters, actually encouraged extracurricular studies. As a Herbalist of the Seventh Rank, Chet possessed an encyclopaedic knowledge of his craft and could not be bested by any nine-year-old Student; he was, however, always appreciative of Grimm's efforts, and of those of other diligent Students.

Another new subject that Grimm enjoyed was Elementary Logic, which was taught by Crohn. He learned the uses of syllogism, sorites and deduction, and he revelled in trying to unravel the conundrums and puzzles posed by the Magemaster, as did most of the other boys. His finest hour was when Crohn asked the class to attempt to answer the question "What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object?"

Many boys offered the opinion that the statement was a paradox, insoluble and intractable. Others opined that nothing would happen, but that object and force would explode into naked energy. Grimm raised his hand, was acknowledged, and rose to his feet.

"Lord Mage, it seems to me that if any force meets any object, either the object moves or it does not. If the object moves even a little bit then it is not immovable. If it does not move, then the force is not irresistible.

"So I don't-sorry, Lord Mage; I do not-know if there is such a thing as an immovable object or an irresistible force, but I do know that you cannot have both in the same world."

Crohn had said that he would show that some propositions are not amenable to a plain yes or no solution, but he declared himself unable to fault Grimm's logic.

"Why, yes; I do believe you are right, Afelnor. I had never thought about the question in that way. Excellent-very well done."

Safe in the inner depths of his mind, Grimm grinned at the Magemaster's discomfiture as the class tutor quickly posed another conundrum, "If I said 'Everything I say is a lie', could you believe me? Afelnor, your solution, please."

Grimm licked his lips in confusion. If the statement was true, this would also mean that the statement was false, and therefore everything Crohn said was true… but that would mean that he was, in fact, a liar! It was puzzling indeed but, buoyed by his earlier success, Grimm tried to apply his rudimentary command of logic to analyse the apparent paradox.

"Lord Mage, may I assume that the opposite of 'Everything' is not 'Nothing', but 'Not everything'? If so, then the opposite of the statement becomes 'Not everything I say is the truth'. This is perfectly sensible."

Crohn seemed to have recovered his equanimity now, as if he were once more on solid ground. "A fair attempt, Afelnor," he said. "However, I am afraid that the logical opposite of 'Everything' is, in fact, 'Nothing'. Also, if you are going to completely reverse the statement it becomes 'Nothing I do not say is the truth' a: rather nonsensical statement, but one which reiterates the original proposition. You cannot just invert selected parts of a statement in order to produce its inverse; all clauses and concepts must be inverted."

Grimm struggled on. "But surely, Lord Mage, a true inverse would be 'Nothing anybody other than I does not say is the truth'?

"I stand corrected," Crohn said, his tone acidic. "However, this does not change the sense of the matter. One can indeed attempt to tackle such a problem by addressing its inverse. However, one then has to re-state the original problem as a logical inverse of what one has just proved. The inverse of 'Nothing anybody other than I does not say is the truth' turns inexorably back to 'Everything I say is a lie', and we have solved nothing." Grimm struggled to confute Crohn's argument but nothing came to mind. Choosing discretion as the better part of valour, he gave the required polite bow and sat down.

While the boys were kept imprisoned in the Scholasticate during the educational year, Students were allowed a mid-year visit from their families after their third year, and the huge Refectory was filled with passionate reunions on these occasions. No other form of contact with the outside was allowed except for this visit. Perhaps this monastic isolation from the real world, combined with the long years of study, was the biggest reason for paying Students to leave the Guild before gaining a magical vocation.