Authors Note: School is officially started, so the time THIS chapter gets posted will be within a few hours of my regular posting time from now on.

My goal is to get one chapter posted a day for as long as I am able, except when I have a particularly stressful test coming up.

I was forced to stay and chat with Lord Runax for far longer than I would have liked, but I did learn a great deal about what had happened – and what was going to happen from here on out.

Upon entering Academy, everyone is given a choice weather they want to peruse the path of a warrior or to stay in the village and learn a trade. It was actually a pretty efficient system, and there was virtually no chance that someone could fall through the cracks. Anyone without the proper family connections to set up an apprenticeship could just choose to train as a warrior, which was considered the most important and meaningful thing a person could do with their lives.

And, of course, it was also the only way for a commoner to ever join the nobility. Those who did well in the yearly tournaments in The City would join one of the Great Houses, making them able to train in one of the mystical Cultivation Techniques, and that wasn’t all: Each year at least a few outstanding House Soldiers would be granted actual titles, giving them and their family true status and the ability to move into an Estate in The City itself! It worked as a pretty incredible motivation, and it wasn’t uncommon for two or three out of every ten students entering Academy to sign up as a warrior.

Regular students spent about a fourth of each day at Academy, learning the verbal traditions and legends of our people; simple symbols used to count and label goods; proper manners in regards to the nobility; and how to defend themselves during attacks. The warriors, however, had to stay within the Academy itself and were only allowed one free day out of every ten – meaning they could only visit their families if they lived nearby.

Lord Runax informed me that my parents had agreed to have me join Academy as a warrior. I found that highly suspicious, and I could only imagine the fate of the poor guard who tried to inform mother of this development. I was also somewhat upset, as I had wanted to learn more about being a blacksmith from Jaws – after all, I was supposed to have another five years before I had to leave home!

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I was finally left alone in the room (which turned out to be Lord Runax’s personal chambers in the Garrison…), so I went into a corner of the room (the bed was absolutely terrifying) and went online to contact Wolfram. I sensed his presence right away, so I ignored the messages he had sent me last night and 'called' him immediately.

I sent him, trying to include a sense of relief that I was finally able to connect with him.

He sent along with a clear sense of worry and care, which made me feel better about my situation somehow. He then sent,

His question surprised me, and made me lose track of what I was about to say.

He replied with a sense of smug amusement, Oh man, I was so off track now, but I just didn’t care.

I sent a laugh, I guessed. It seemed pretty reasonable. Maybe people did get sick here, but it just wasn’t very common – the population density was awfully low after all. As far as I could tell our entire population was only around half a million at most, though these were just my rough estimates from numbers Wolfram and I had gathered over the years.

Wolfram sent,

I explained what had happened in greater detail than I had included in the messages last night, even trying to send him pictures of the people involved. I had to skip the exact details of how I avoided having my stomach crushed, and exactly how the hunter got burned, because warning messages kept popping up. We were pretty used to them by now, so I just changed what I was going to say until they disappeared.

Wolfram took a moment to think, and then replied,

It took me a moment to recover after his comment. I sent with a laugh, I thought about it for a moment. It did seem strange that he would have attacked me so suddenly and viciously – I had been expecting a measured spar to gradually test my powers. I mean, I was five years old! I’d expect an adult to go easy on a child a fraction of their size and strength.

Wolfram sent,

I definitely appreciated the sentiment,

Wolfram asked, sending a sense of puzzlement.

I was taken aback for a moment… I suppose I had switched how I thought about them at some point. Wolfram was basically removed from anything resembling a family atmosphere, so I guess it made sense that he wouldn’t have started identifying with this new world as ‘home’ like I had.

I sent.

Wolfram was again silent for a moment before sending, I could tell he was worried about something.

I sent with a laugh,

Wolfram replied. I knew he was referring to something we had discussed a few years ago: He didn’t want to stay stuck in this place forever, and I had agreed to do my best to make sure we could leave together (someday).

I sent before tacking on the message, with a laugh.

We chatted for a few minutes more about what was going on in our lives before Wolfram and I decided that I should just stick with the program here for now, and see how things turn out later. Saying I was basically Merrik’s apprentice was so ridiculous, insane, and chaotic that Wolfram LOVED it, claiming it was an awesome idea… Which didn’t exactly make me feel much better about it.

Authors Note2: Fair warning, I am going to be 'table shy' for the next while. I've been told that I'm really bad at doing them, so I might actually edit the previous stories just to remove the tables and carry on. :D I thought the tables looked good as they were, which obviously shows I don't have a sense for such things, lol

I haven't decided yet, so if you feel strongly one way or the other feel free to comment. The story itself won't change either way, of course.

I'm pretty neutral: I just want what is best for the story, and to make it easiest to read and enjoy.

[th_093.gif] <----- the bird represents 'tables'

EDIT: Feel free to post examples of how YOU think I could improve the character sheet. I'll take all the input I get and come to a decision later this week. :D