The Jade Mage: The Becoming: Volume 1 by William D. Latoria

shouldn’t have surprised Tartum as much as it did. Isidor made quite a living with the art of deception and magic. So many questions entered his mind about the last few years, though.
    Was he using the magic the whole time, to keep ahead of me? Why hadn’t he told me? Was it a test? Was he so insecure, he needed to cheat to win? Was it really cheating? Was he really so good, that Isidor had to use magic in order to beat him? How long had he been infusing himself with magic, in order to keep himself superior to Tartum’s skills?” Tartum wondered, as he sat next to Isidor’s unconscious form. One question bothered him more than any of the others, however...
    “Why didn’t I think of that?”
    ...
    It was almost night when Isidor finally came around. Tartum had carried him to his bed of pillows, and placed a cold rag on his head. He had brought some of the headache concoction he found, freshly made, in the kitchen. Apparently, Isidor had counted on Tartum needing it, after their sparring match. The irony did not escape him.
    “How do you feel, Master?”Tartum asked with a grin.
    “I feel like you cheated to beat me.” Isidor said, with a groan. He could not hide the pride in his voice for Tartum’s victory however.
    Tartum was insulted, “I cheated!? How long have you been using magic to enhance your senses? Weeks? Months? Years? I never would have known, if I hadn’t have used my enchantment. I think that makes us pretty much even. I finally beat you, and now you must resume my magic lessons.” Tartum said, clearly irritated.
    Isidor looked up at his apprentice. He side and stomach hurt, and he knew it would be a few days before he would be moving without pain. Still, nothing felt broken, and he wasn’t coughing up blood, so it wasn’t as bad of a beating as he’d guessed Tartum would have given him when he finally won. Hell, at times Isidor half expected Tartum would flat out kill him when the day finally came. It had been over a year now, that Isidor had needed magic to keep ahead of Tartum’s skill. Just before he issued his ultimatum to motivate Tartum to greater feats. He had performed remarkably. Isidor couldn’t have been more proud of him. He would die before he let him know that, however.
    “Very well pupil, you win. Although, I used magic to enhance my senses, you used it to cast a spell. Not exactly honorable...but there really is no honor in a fight, as you know. I concede that I’ve lost. When I can function again, I will resume your training in magic. I cannot teach you anymore with the staff. Well done Tartum. Well done.” Isidor said, in his sage teaching voice.
    Tartum beamed with pleasure at his master’s praise. It was only the second time he had ever approved of his skill. The sudden change with how he acknolodged his triumphs was...nice. Tartum realized he really wanted to impress Isidor, and it was good to know that he was, even if only a little.
    “Ok, enough of this womanly chatter. You’ll want to hug me, next.” Isidor said, feigning disgust, “You must tell me, how did you modify the enchantment spell? I assume it was your simple light enchantment. How did you get it to enchant your staff. I already put the fortification spells on it. You couldn’t have removed it, I doubt you could figure it out, and the staff would have shattered after my first blow, without it. Also, the light was far more intense than with the coin. How did you figure it out? Did someone help you?” Isidor asked, more than a little annoyed at the thought of someone else teaching his pupil.
    Tartum smiled, he liked the fact that Isidor was taking such an interest in his accomplishments. He was all too eager to explain what he had done, “No master, no one else helped me. I figured out that you had enchanted the jade and not the gold in my staff, so I enchanted one of the strands that run along it. As you can see, it held up very well. During the enchantment process, I used a much greater amount of