"Anthony, Piers - Adept - 02 - Blue Adept" - читать интересную книгу автора (Anthony Piers)

Neysa, of course, knew him by smell and sound. She
was not spooked. "This way," he explained, "it will not be
obvious that I am departing."

"A watcher could see that the mare carries a burden,"
the Lady pointed out.

"That's right," Stile agreed, surprised. He considered a
moment, then sang: "By the power of magic vested in me,
make me as light as I can be." He felt the weight of his
body dissipate. "Excellent."

Both Hulk and the Lady looked perplexed. Stile laughed.
"I shall answer thy questions in turn. Lady, thou knowest
by my voice that I remain standing on the floor; how is it
that I do not float to the ceiling? Because my spell is very




8 Blue Adept

similar to the last, and since no spell may be used twice in
succession, much of its force was abated. I am not as light
as I can be; my weight is perhaps a Efth normal. About
twenty pounds, or a trifle more. Hulk, how is it that I do
not glow like the sun, since that is also a meaning of the
term I used, 'light'? Because my words only vocalize what
is in my mind, and my mind provided the definition of my
terms. Had I wished to light brightly, despite already being
invisible, I could have used the same spell, shifting only my
mental intent, and it would have worked that way."

"Methinks Stile likes magic," Hulk muttered. "Person-
ally, I do not believe in it."

"Else mightest thou be Adept too," Stile said, laughing
to show the humor, though he suspected there was some
truth in it. Every person could do some magic, but few
could do strong magic. Stile's own magic talent was re-
flected in the science frame of Proton as considerable abil-
ity in other things, such as the Game, and Hulk was almost
as capable there. Hulk might be able to learn to be a
magician, if he ever cared to try. Perhaps there were many
others who could be similarly competent at magic, if they
only believed they could and worked to perfect their tech-
niques. But only one person in perhaps a thousand be-
lieved, so there were very few Adepts. Of course, the estab-
lished Adepts ruthlessly eliminated any developing rivals,
so it was safer to opt out of that arena entirely. The enmity