I was a magician and, as my teacher, possessed magic alone. How many times have I heard from him: "A true magician should not even touch dead metal. It shames his rank." And being obedient, at least at times, never sought to learn to wield the sword. True, occasionally, usually in a dark time in a dirty alley, a petty thought flashed in my head that this was a mistake, one of the few in my life.