My traitorous student walked into my lab, the sword of destiny in one hand, the other a fist, clenched in rage. The scowl of his face said it all, he was here to kill me.

“Hello James.”, I said causally, “something on your mind?”

“Revenge. You kicked me out of the program and now I will take your head.”, he cursed as he spun the blade in his hand.

“You think that blade will be enough to kill me? You think you have the skills and fortitude to kill me?”, I prodded him.

“This is the sword of destiny! You wielded it once, at the battle of Sonova, but it was too much for you and you gave it up. Everyone knows the story.”, he said with a smirk, “if there is a blade in the world that can kill your old ass, this is it!”

I let out a long sigh. “I am old. So very old. Everyone knows wizards live a long time. Two or three hundred years on average. What are you? Seventy years old? You are a child to me.” I sat down in my recliner chair and lit a my pipe. I took a long slow puff.

“I created a spell a long time ago that extends my life. I don’t know by how much…. The math gets a little crazy when you are dealing in that kind of power, but I am a great deal older than you think I am.”, I let out a perfect slow smoke ring and then blew a second one faster to go through the first one.

“I am eight thousand years old…. I think. We have switched calendars a couple of times and I think I might be out by a couple of years… maybe a decade… doesn’t reality matter after your first millennia”, I explained.

“That is impossible!”, James yelled, “the amount of power that would take is insane. There is no way for you to gather that much power fast enough without burning yourself out.”, he was so sure of himself.

“Power can be pulled through an amplifying artifact…. “, I said simply.

“Still not enough power.”, he said smugly.

I took another deep puff of my pipe. “Magically power is all around us. In every spec of life. In ley lines that circle the planet. In electrical storms. In earth quakes…. Everything has power. Now if someone was to absorb the power of, oh, let’s say an active volcano, through an amplifying artifact and channel it into a longevity spell…. Well… assuming you didn’t burn yourself to a crisp with the power influx, you would have enough power to create the most powerful longevity spell ever cast.”

I could see the doubt starting to take seed in young James.

“What do you do with that much life?”, I asked him

“I don’t know. It isn’t possible”, he stammered.

“It is possible. And what you do…. Is everything. I have been a tailor, a carpenter, a blacksmith, a weapons smith, a gold smith, a baker, a gigolo, a politician, a weapons master…. I have mastered every skill I ever came across. I have lived thousands of lives.”, I tapped out my pipe in the ash tray, “I created the sword of destiny almost a thousand years ago. A challenge to myself to create the most powerful sword ever created.”

“Bullshit! Merlin created the sword! Everyone knows that.”, James spat.

“You are right. Merlin created the sword. But I was Merlin… and Gerald the great… and Edouard the wise… and Stevo the whacko. I have been so many people over the centuries that I can’t even keep track of them all. But believe it or not, I created that sword. Every couple hundred years, I wield it again and remind the world of its power, make sure it is in the hands of someone worthy.”, I stood up and cracked my neck. “You aren’t worthy of that blade. I didn’t give it up because it was too much for me. I gave it up because it makes everything too easy. After eight thousand years, I do things the hard way or a different way or in a new way just to entertain myself. I am bored. Now if you are going to kill me, I suggest you get on with it. I have a 2pm class to teach.”

James gave the blade a spin and charged at me. What a predictably boring opening.

I kicked my ottoman and it him in the shins, bringing his charge to an abrupt stop. He swung the blade and I dodge it easily. I leapt to the right and kicked off the wall to get more height and then spun and kicked him across the face, landing lightly in front of him.

“You need to do better James. You have the sword, come on and use it!”, I taunted him.

I could feel him pulling in power. The air crackled and lightening jumped down the blade as it amplified the power, he swung the sword over head and unleashed a massive lightening bolt right at me with a mighty scream.

“Excellent James.”, I said as I caught the bolt. I curled the bolt and formed a ball with the electricity. All of my hair stood on end as I built the charge even bigger. “Now catch it James.”, I said as I lobbed the ball of electricity back to him.

He slashed at it with the sword. The power running back into the blade and into James. I could see the lightening dancing in his eyes. The fool of a boy had never played with even this much power before and he was coming to kill me? Stupid boy.

James was struggling to hold on to the power. All of his muscles were tense and he was fighting to keep his hands on the hilt. I fashioned another ball of lightening and lobbed it at him. And another. And another.

“How many more can you take James?”, he struggled and then dropped the sword. The power scorched the stone floor and the blade sunk half way into the floor. James fell to his knees trying to catch his breath.

“You were kicked out of the program because you are mentally unstable. You have minimal control of your very considerable power. And you lack the discipline to over come those things. And now you have come to kill me. Pathetic.”

I spun around an kicked him in the face causing him to fall into the blade. The sword easily took his head cleanly off.

“Such a pity. He had potential.”, I gathered my books and headed off to class. Hopefully the maid will be by to clean up while I am away.