Right, a magician, not a wizard — the power is stronger, more confident — you can feel it right away. He was of medium height, wore blue trousers with a black belt with a silver buckle, a white shirt with lace and rolled up sleeves, and thanks to the unbuttoned top buttons, a medallion on a thin chain was visible.

 He was also brown, with shoulder-length hair in a ponytail, slightly pale, a hooked nose, slightly swollen lips, brown eyes, a sharp chin, and a medium build. Lucy introduced us one by one, and the brown-haired woman turned out to be the foreman's wife.

— So you're here for the wand? Well, I can help you with that. — The man smiled miserably and waved his hand. — Please come into the circle. — Noticing my look, the master decided to explain himself. — This ritual circle determines the affinities and shades of magic, which greatly speeds up the process of selecting an instrument. "Ollivander's method of brute force sometimes takes too long."

A sarcastic grin helped me remember Garrick Ollivander, the British "super-mega-master" of wands from the movie; considering what I've managed to read on the subject, Garrick is either a troll or "unhinged.

I nodded to the master, turned away, and set my briefcase down on the empty chair, releasing a dozen loaded shikigami from my sleeve, just in case. Just in case. I stepped into the circle, the white circle in the center.

Master Boisselier materializes in his hand a wand of light beige, with some scarlet inscriptions spiraling across the wood. An oblique sweep from left to right, from top to bottom, an intricate pattern of spirals in the air, a sharp horizontal movement and an immediate vertical movement to waist height. First the smallest, white circle lit up, then other details of the runic circle, all its patterns, symbols, poured out in multicolored colors.

After a few seconds, there was a pulsation, and a dozen or two or three multicolored balls with unfamiliar symbols inside rose into the air. Each ball was no larger than a tennis ball, but they varied in other ways.

Only four were relatively simple — blue, light green, red and yellow, just balls of light with a symbol. The others were all accompanied by effects, such as a dark scarlet haze around the black ball, bright sparks around the blue-gold one, or red lightning around the red-black one.

The balls were whirling, the circle was pulsating, people were waiting for the result, and I had a thought that Ollivander's speeches and colored sparks from the wand were complete nonsense compared to this action, and could only be used for small tricks.

A child entering the world of magic and wizardry for the first time will certainly be more impressed here than in a dusty, cramped shop that looks like a library. In an instant, with clockwork precision, the ritual ended with the "dipping" of the orbs into the circle, all but three of them — blue, red, and silver with lots of sparks and blue mist around them.

The orbs hung for a minute, then they too "dipped" and the ritual circle was extinguished. People were silent for a while, but judging by their faces, everyone understood the meaning....except me. I don't like it — I feel stupid.

— Will you remain silent or will you explain the result? — I tried to speak calmly, but I didn't quite succeed.

— Yes. Yes, of course. — When the Master came out of his deep thoughtfulness, he spoke while the women continued to think, and Lucy also looked at him in a special way. — Each of the spheres represents a pervostichi, an element or a combination. Pervostichi never fall to mortals, theoretically they can fall to either immortal beings or beings of a higher order. In ritual, Pervostichi are specified for balance. The elements and combinations are our focus. In your case, Mr. Hoshino, we have three pure elements: fire, water, and spirit.... — In the end, the master spoke slower and more quietly, drifting off into thought again.

— I don't see any problem with that, — he shrugged, calming down. — All gifted people have their own peculiarities and coloration of their powers.

— You're right, but only partially... — he said in a strange tone. — I didn't like his tone, and I didn't like his tone either. — Most people nowadays confuse the elemental tint of power with the gifts, which is extremely stupid. It is from the elements that you get characteristics, strengths and weaknesses, and much more. Nowadays, most wizards carry a combination — a mixture of several elements in different proportions. This is undoubtedly interesting, because it allows you to create the most curious ancestral gifts, such as the natural magicians of ice or lava, or, let's say, the gift of volatile substances. But one must remember that the elements are very versatile, and ice flows from water but is no longer water, while at the same time water remains itself but can also become ice. Can you follow this thought? —

The man's serious gaze never left my face and I nodded. — Good. So, the mixture is always weaker than the originals, that's why your absolutely pure and especially strong fire and water surprised us so much. Spirit, on the other hand, puzzles me because its strength index is even higher than the first two.

If there were a black and green orb of spoils or curses, I would think that you, sir, are a necromancer, but the pure Spirit refutes that... — I couldn't figure out what the problem was, but I felt that there might be a problem.

— Mr. Hoshino, you said you were an Omyouji, right? — Dunois spoke up, and the faces of the master and his wife brightened after she said that.

— Of course I did! — exclaimed the master. — Shame on me! How could I forget about spiritualists and shamans! They work with the "subtle worlds", right? — I nodded, remembering this conversation, perhaps meditations will help to understand the nuances. — Then there is no problem. — The man nodded to himself and walked away abruptly, and I memorized the "problem" as well.

There was silence as I waited for the Master.

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