“Technically, I do know. Miss Remily Kremis taught me how to cast a curse and how to use the Light spell Despell to break curses. She also taught me the Dark spell Curse Block to protect myself from new curses. When she did, she also mentioned that I was much more talented with Dark magic than with Light,” I explained.
“In that case... We will do an initial assessment, but I don’t think there’s much I can teach you when it comes to spells,” Rosenberg said. Hexes were derived from overwhelming negative emotions reacting with magical energy in the user’s body. Originally, there was no defined form or category to hexes. However, that made knowledge of them much trickier to pass down. Modern hexes were created so knowledge of these undefinable curses and their remedies could be passed down from master to apprentice.
“For example, casting a curse with a different effect requires you to conjure a different mental image, but casting is all done the same way. Even for breaking curses and clearing cursed energy, the basis is a spell called Curse Transfer. We use a variety of tools and rituals to solidify the image within us, which maximizes the effect of the hex. If you’re talented enough to create your own spells, you definitely have potential. Even if the order of learning is all jumbled up, I’d hate to put you in a mold and squash your unique talent. I’d planned to instruct by providing basic knowledge to narrow what you are currently lacking, then practicing your skills through application and conversation. What do you say?”
“That sounds great,” I said. “You said a lot of what I’ve been thinking. I’m sure I’ll ask a lot of basic or outlandish questions.”
“No problem at all. By the way, I specialize in managing cursed lands and breaking curses. In particular, my skill set is centered around discovering the cause of curses—finding sources of cursed energy or the person who cast a curse. On the other hand, I do not have much experience as a tutor, though I have some. I am certainly not as effective a teacher as a professor in a training institution or even as a warlock who focuses their efforts on training the next generation. Please don’t hesitate to ask any questions, no matter how minor. That would help me a lot.”
Back on Earth, orientations I’d received for most jobs could be summed up as “figure it out.” By simply encouraging questions and promising to answer them, Rosenberg was already miles above the so-called trainers I’d encountered on Earth.
“I do have a question. I understand that I’m an outlier when it comes to the order of learning. What is the conventional order of learning for aspiring warlocks? Just for reference,” I said.
“There are two main paths to learning hexes. One is to apprentice to a warlock, and the other is to attend the training institution I mentioned earlier. Apprenticing works like any other profession, where the apprentice learns the craft through aiding the master in real-life scenarios. This used to be mainstream, but training often extended to all aspects of life. Unless they were raised in a warlock family, many apprentices struggled to master the craft,” Rosenberg said.
“Does that mean the training institution is mainstream now?”
“Precisely. Another downside of apprenticing is that the learning process can be closed off from the rest of the world. Not only does this method severely cap the number of potential learners, but it also came to the point where techniques were being lost without anyone to carry on. There were even some master and apprentice warlocks who were made into pariahs in their community because their training made them look suspicious. To combat those issues, Duke Cassiel—a household name in hexes—created and still runs a training institution solely for warlocks.” When I asked for details, Rosenberg went on to say the Cassiels were made up of generations of warlocks who had served the royal family. With their post came fame and special privileges. The Cassiels kept their institutions open and were actively seeking out those with talent for the craft. That wasn’t all. They also provided a wide array of support for warlocks: developing new technology and tools, protecting and supporting dwindling warlock families, helping with job searches, and even matchmaking.
Rosenberg was related to the Cassiels, so I wasn’t ruling out a little familial prejudice in his description of them...but suddenly being a warlock didn’t seem as grueling as it had earlier. At the same time, what the Cassiels were offering seemed too good to be true. “Any chance these programs are actually very difficult to qualify for?”
“To take advantage of those programs you need to take an exam to prove your abilities as a warlock, then register as one, work a certain number of jobs each year, report your home location, and meet a few other criteria—but none of them are particularly difficult if you intend to make living with hexes. I understand you may be suspicious of these programs. They are a testament to how seriously the Cassiels take increasing the warlock population. Curses can be subconsciously used by anyone at all, which is a much larger population than just warlocks. If war or disaster were to strike, curses would break out across the country. Warlocks need to fight against that. If we stop making small improvements to our society, it’s going to come tumbling down. To prevent a disastrous future, we believe it’s urgent and imperative that we protect current warlocks and raise the next generation of them.”
Although Rosenberg was speaking quietly, his words were brimming with passion for improving the short-staffed warlock industry. I still had much to learn about warlocks, and I wondered if Rosenberg’s opinion reflected that of the warlock industry as a whole. In that case, a larger workload wasn’t too bad as long as there was hope that we could work together towards a bright future...but I kept thinking about my office on Earth.
While we quietly slid up the mountain, curiosity and trauma were battling fiercely in my mind.