“You will learn and you will be tested. And once every year, you shall take on a challenge, whether it is a project, a fight or a quest. Best it and you shall stay as a student of Gnosis one year more. Stay for the entire five years and you will leave Gnosis as a force to be reckoned with. That is… if we cannot persuade you to trade force for comfort and become one of our instructors.” The old elf smiled.

A lot of students chuckled, but Michael was busy memorizing the information. So, there was a new round of testing every year and if you made it all five years, then you graduated.

Just like back home, only you get magic monsters instead of finals.

“I know this has been mentioned to your communities when you were approached, but I wish to reiterate. Should you not manage to pass these challenges? There are methods one could take, in order to get a second pass at them.”

“Like money.” Micah muttered.

“And even should your magic refuse to carry you the entire way, there are still places for you. After all, one learns more in Gnosis in a year than some learn in a lifetime, out in the wide world. This is the reason for your pride, yes. You have made it. But now the learning begins!”

Regitris might have been giving a sales speech before, but now he was speaking from the heart. His eyes had lit up when he started to speak about magic and teaching. Literally.

“All of you here possess talent. Aptitude. You may even know the general shape you wish your magic to take. But we will teach you! We will ensure you know how a |Pyromancer| is different from a |Blaze Mage|. Why a |Glacial Spellsinger| can obtain the same Skills as a |Hydromancer|. We will not only make you learn magic, but ensure you find out the best Class for you and the quickest method of obtaining it. And once you do? We’ll help you refine it!”

That got the interest of those around him, Michael noticed.

“You carry now the Gnosis name upon your shoulders. You will struggle to learn magical theory. You may fail to acquire a new Spell. Or you may rediscover a long-lost incantation. Create a new potion. Regardless of what happens, you are now of Gnosis. Bear the name with pride!”

Cheering went up, from both the former students and the new. The elf smiled, accepting his ovations and spoke for one last moment.

“I have spoken enough and I believe you now wish to be left alone to enjoy the feast. As you should, after besting your test and before the new year of learning starts. Enjoy the night!”

So saying, Regitris and the other senior mages stepped back and the hubbub started again in force.

The first part of the night had been fun enough. Michael had been to a few frat-parties and this was basically what the evening turned into. Gnosis seem to have a liberal view on alcohol… or at least that was what Michael thought he was drinking. You could never be sure when magic was involved.

Still, everybody drank, regardless of age or species. And everybody got drunk too. Thankfully, being relatively popular meant that there usually was an older student who gave them a Potion or used a Spell on them which made them clear headed again. That way, they could experience the joy of getting drunk, without also experiencing the crash. And all Michael had to do was have fun, meet new students and retell his adventure of taking out the magical vortex again.

He was in the process of getting back to sobriety for the fourth time, this time via a Spell applied by a pretty cute young student, who he was almost sure was a mermaid, when a presence appeared behind himself and Micah.

And how could they tell of this presence? It was because the spell streaming out of the girl’s wand suddenly winked out. The girl herself paled when looking behind them, though her skin was pale to begin with.

Michael turned around and saw Regitris himself standing there, smiling in a grandfatherly way.

“Ah, I see you are taking advantage of the evening’s libations? Very good. Though I must say, when one wishes to evade the effects of alcohol, a single type of Spell should be used. Mixing multiple types or, as I see here, mixing spells with Potions is a recipe for a year-long hangover. And yet the student body still insists on doing it.”

“M- My apologies, sir.” The girl said, in a high-pitched voice.

“Not to worry. Mehwhe, is it? It is not your fault. But I was young once too and as such, I remember how such ‘cures’ worked.”

Michael heard an aborted snort from his drunk friend and mentally wished he could kick him. The elf simply let the girl go on with her night, before turning to the two.

“I spoke the truth, young lycan. I may be quite old, but magic and alcohol are far older than I. And I tell you this, a race renowned for its longevity also experience a longer than average adolescence. It is fair to say I have had my fair share of experiences of what ails you two now.”

Michael had a hard time imagining the serene, powerful old elf as a drunk kid, but he supposed everything was possible.

“Now, allow me. |Purge Effects|. |Remove Substance: Alcohol|. |Clear Minds|. Are you feeling better?”

To tell the truth, Michael felt great. He felt sick for a second there, at the start, but now he felt like he had just woken up. Maybe not physically, but mentally he was at his day’s peak. A look at his friend told him Micah was feeling just as well. Also, his tail was wagging like crazy, but he decided not to mention that.

“I feel great. Sir! Uhm, thank you.”

“Always a pleasure. Now, the reason I have approached you two is because I wished to see if you were open for a more private discussion. Gnosis is a complicated place. I feel that a guiding hand might benefit you, at the start of your magical journeys.”

Well, Michael couldn’t really be surprised, could he? Micah told him this might happen. Though, to get a visit from the chief honcho himself? He didn’t know if he should feel wary or proud. Maybe both.

Yet, though the other boy looked excited as well, Micah seemed to have already thrown his dice in.

“Regitris, you aren’t trying to sway young Micah too, are you? I understand your desire for the best drives you to approach the star of this year’s testing, but some students have inclinations of their own. Outside greatness.”

The woman who had spoken seemed to have appeared out of thin air.

No… she just looked like the background until seconds ago.

Some places on her dark green robe still had the color and pattern of the floor. Yet she now stood behind them, a hand on Micah’s shoulder, smiling, but with a glint in her eyes. She was tall, almost as tall as Regitris, yet she looked to be more or less human. More or less, because Michael could see the glint of fang when she spoke. She had markings on her cheeks, which looked like dark blue fangs themselves. Her hair was long and wild and there was a quiet intensity to her gaze. Almost… predatory.

“Ah, Ravena. Always a pleasure. My apologies, I did not know young Micah was spoken for. Yet I see that his choice was… predictable. The wilds are ever hungry, aren’t they |Deepwood Mage|?”

The woman smiled, carrying Micah off, while the boy gave Michael a look that signaled they will talk about this later.

“Yes. Always, |Exemplar of Gnosis|. A fair night to you.”

“To you as well.” The elf smiled.

Now, that might have been frightening. The cloak and dagger game. And sure enough, if you threw magic in the mix, this entire conversation sounded a lot more ominous. After all, their Classes were spoken like they were secrets, secrets which weren’t often told. Secrets which went completely over Michael’s head, since he had no idea what those words meant.

But… here’s the thing. If you exclude magic and the powerful allure of the two mages? Then that was exactly the kind of spat one could witness in the hallways or in a classroom, if one spent enough time in academia. Two old professors, likely having tenure, duking it out over who has the most pull on students, who has the most influence on colleagues, who is more learned, blah blah blah.

That was why, when Regitris turned to Michael, he didn’t see the wary expression he had expected to see. All that Michael’s face seemed to express was mild boredom.

“I hope my discussion with Ravena did not alarm you, young Michael.”

“Oh, no, not at all sir.” He said, noting that the elf seemed to know his name. “You mentioned something about a private conversation?”

“Yes, I did, didn’t I? Though thank you for reminding such an old mind as my own.”

Sure.

Michael was completely sure the elf was as sharp as ever. There were probably even spells for memory loss.

With a gesture of his hand, the elf guided Michael towards one of the doors, who after a few muffled words from the elf, turned into a portal of sorts. Stepping through, he noticed that this portal probably wasn’t the same type as the one which brought him to this world, since he actually felt himself be transported. It was a feeling of both weightlessness and motion, like an ephemeral woosh.

Still, exited the portal without falling over and only slightly swaying from the dizziness.

“You reacted to portal transit quite splendidly, if I may say so myself. Not the first time, is it?”

Michael just smiled and nodded, trying to give away as little as possible. Instead, he let his eyes wonder around the room. It looked like it was made almost entirely out of wood. But, not manufactured or processed wood.

The cabinets, the sofa, the study and the balcony. Everything looked like the branches a great tree grew out of… somewhere and tangled themselves until they formed the basis of the furniture, before letting its smaller branches and leaves take on a more aesthetic form. It flowed, like no architectural or interior design style Michael had ever seen before. Even the cushions were grown out of leaves, intertwined. Only, when Michael walked close enough to one of the branches that formed a chair to inspect it, he saw…

“Ah, I judge by your expression that you have seen the true material. Most often mistake it for wood. But no, it was wood, yet once the tree who grew all of this fulfilled its purpose, its nature was subverted and changed. I quite prefer the new material.”

“It’s jade, isn’t it, sir?”

“Yes. Good eye. Though, of course, a jade high enough in detail that most mistake it for a simple wood. Nature is not sufficient by itself, for pure perfection. That is one of the things me and others that think like me hold true. And also one of the things we may discuss, if our conversations grow in number. But before we reach such heights, I wanted to make your acquittance in a real sense.”

He gestured towards a table, flanked by two chairs, both elegant, yet only one looking like an armchair birthed in decadence.

So, even here people know about subliminal messages.

Then again, it was a staple of old people in power everywhere. Amusedly, Michael sat down on the more normal-ish looking chair and allowed the old elf to serve him a cup of strangely aromatic tea.

“Before I have the chance to expose the reason why I have brought you here, I wanted to know more about you.” The elf smiled.

But there was a keen intellect hiding behind that smile. Not predatory, not like Ravena’s, but one that spoke of a mind which had seen it all and emanated patience. A curious mind, even at this age.

This might be harder than I thought.