=== Vander & Lindon === --- C --- [Lindon] Ugh... [Vander] Sir Lindon? Is something troubling you? [Lindon] I'm loath to admit it, but my lower back has been giving me terrible pain lately. [Lindon] For all my training as a royal knight of Elusia, I suppose there's no defeating old age. [Vander] What nonsense. You are a sage of no small talent. I would say you haven't lost a step. [Lindon] You're right that my mind is as sharp as ever, but physically, my decline has been just dismal. [Lindon] You're no spring chicken yourself, you know. Can you really say you're as fit as ever? [Vander] ... [Vander] I will not pretend that I still have the stamina nor the reflexes of my prime. [Vander] But what I have lost in that regard, I have been rewarded in experience. [Vander] Nothing is gained moaning about your age. Do what you can with the body you have. [Lindon] Haha, very astute! I should take a page from your book. [Lindon] I may be getting on in years, but damned if I'll let the youth run rings around me! [Vander] There you go, Sir Lindon. Well said. [Lindon] Part of me wants to rest and relax in my twilight years. [Lindon] But you've convinced me to squeeze just a little more blood from this aging stone. --- B --- [Lindon] Hmm... [Vander] Problems, Sir Lindon? [Lindon] I've found a very intriguing tome. [Lindon] With what's in here, I may be able to develop a whole new type of magic. [Vander] That does sound interesting. What sort of magic? [Lindon] You won't believe this, but it's a spell to restore one's youth. [Vander] Surely such a spell could not actually exist. Could it? [Lindon] It's still theoretical for now. I can't promise I'll get results even if I work out the particulars. [Lindon] But if I succeed, we could fight just as ably as our young comrades. [Lindon] I'm no slouch even as I am, but if I had my youth back, I'd be a terror on the battlefield. [Lindon] And never mind the war─magic like this would change society as we know it. [Lindon] If I make any headway here, I promise that you'll be first in line for the spell. [Vander] ... [Vander] What you describe is a dream come true. Yet I believe I shall decline. [Lindon] Why's that? Don't you want your lost youth back? [Vander] I said before, I am satisfied to do what I can with the body I have. [Vander] I pass on what I have learned to younger folk. The world needs mentors as much as warriors. [Lindon] Huh... [Lindon] All right, all right. I commend you for sticking by your principles. [Lindon] But if my work pans out, I wager you'll be singing a different tune. [Lindon] Hm-hm, I suppose we'll see, won't we? --- A --- [Vander] Sir Lindon. How has your work on rejuvenation magic gone since last we spoke? [Lindon] Haha, the experiment failed dismally. [Lindon] I chalk it up to an error in the tome that first piqued my interest. [Lindon] A spell to restore lost youth sounded too good to be true, and so it was. [Vander] I see. How unfortunate. [Lindon] Honestly, I found myself a little relieved. [Vander] Why is that? [Lindon] "I have been rewarded in experience." "The world needs mentors." [Lindon] As I set up my experiments, I recalled many times what you'd said to me. [Lindon] In my younger days, I learned so much of what I knew from the guidance of my elders. [Lindon] The idea of a world without such mentors in it began to frighten me a bit. [Lindon] Then, too, growing older and losing my skills as a knight taught me a few things. [Lindon] Perhaps it's only at our age that we become capable of filling those roles. [Vander] Ah, you have finally seen the light. [Vander] A shame there was no one to drill such sense into the scribe of that failed spell tome. [Lindon] The error was quite shocking when I realized. Still, I reaped a bit of an unintended benefit. [Vander] Oh? Do tell. [Lindon] Do you notice anything, looking at me? [Vander] Hmm. You do seem a tad more sprightly than when we last crossed paths. [Lindon] Very perceptive! [Lindon] In the course of my work, I did discover a minor ritual that helped ease my back pain. [Lindon] Thanks to that, I feel fit as a fiddle! [Vander] Is this true?! [Lindon] Do I detect a hint of interest? Has a certain someone's back been bothering him? [Vander] I was reluctant to admit it, but yes. You have the right of it. [Lindon] Well then! Stay very still, Vander, and I'll prepare the ritual for you as well. [Lindon] After all, mentoring the younger generations will be easier if you're in shape for it. [Vander] Leave it to an Elusian sage to find success even in failure. [Lindon] You flatter me, sir. Now, let's show those fresh- faced soldiers what a few old fogies can do! --- S ---