Veil studied the seemingly innocent crevice while breathing in the crisp morning air. The shadow obscured entrance was merely a small fold in the ground, located in the hilly regions a few kilometers outside Cordin. Shifting back on his heels, Veil considered his mission.

The cleft branched down into a fairly extensive but shallow system of caves. Shallow being the keyword. There shouldn’t be anything too dangerous in the immediate region, but with the Labyrinth, it was impossible to be sure. He was only there to collect a few alchemical ingredients in preparation for leaving for Ithalaan Academy. Those ingredients would be used to make potions to sell in Medina, the city in which Ithalaan lay.

It took enormous wealth to become a truly powerful mage, and at almost fifteen years of age, Veil was nothing if not ambitious. His passion was magic.

Checking to see if his revolvers and blasting rods were ready to draw, his hands brushed reassuringly over the item’s cold metal. Thus fortified, he stooped down and half crawled through the fissure. Veil stretched forth all his senses, scanning for danger. His eyes roamed the jagged rock of the cave while he listened for the faintest whisper of sound. Even his sense of smell came into play as he virtually tasted the rocky, metallic air. Perhaps most importantly, Veil reached out with his mind, trying to detect the faintest hint of a conscious mind.

Once inside the cave, the illumination immediately began to fail. Veil spoke ‘light’ in one of the many magic languages and gestured, knotting mana into two simple balls of light. Following the motion of his hand, the two orbs of soft light hovered a little above head height, illuminating the rough, natural-looking rocky walls and strangely flat and smooth sandy floor.

A dry scrunching sound accompanied his every step. Proceeding down the twisting passageways for several hundred meters, he stopped before every intersection and sent one of his lights a short distance down each tunnel while listening intently. After passing many branching paths, he came to a juncture.

The black pool was his immediate destination, so he turned to the left fork and made his way another three hundred meters further down. A type of mushroom lived on the edge of the pool with many alchemical uses. The pool itself lay within a fair sized cavern roughly the width of city block and half as long. Fed by a small waterfall, the pond filled about a third of the cave and was lined with a high gloss obsidian stone, giving it a shimmering black color.

Veil wound his way carefully around huge grey hanging stalactites, some of which touched the floor. Continually glancing in every direction, Veil peered cautiously around the pillars as he moved. The cave was filled with the metallic smell of minerals, which Veil noted as he tested the air.

There are only two types of people in the Labyrinth the cautious and the dead, Veil thought, reflecting on one of his grandmother’s maxims.

Large and small fungi lined one side of the pond where stone gave way to dirt. Veil crouched down and harvested a small number of grey, purple spotted mushrooms while continuously sweeping his eyes around the cavern. Mission completed, Veil turned and headed back the way he had come.

Some of the tension left him as he left the cavern. Coming here alone was a danger, a small one, but a danger nonetheless. But like his grandmother said, nothing great was ever achieved without taking chances. As a mage, he simply had to learn to gauge risk versus opportunity.

Just as Veil thought this expedition would be unremarkable, he stopped sensing something off. He immediately pushed mana into his technomagic shielding bracelet, and a translucent screen of energy surrounded him. Veil stared through the slightly distorted screen at a section of the cave wall a half dozen body lengths in front of him. Veil’s psychic senses screamed that there was a predatory mind ahead, even though the cave wall looked completely natural. His blasting rod was already in one hand and pointed toward the innocent looking surface.

After staring at the wall for a couple of long minutes, Veil sent one of the lights forward. He still didn’t see anything. Taking a couple of blue colored grenades from his pocket, Veil stepped carefully back at the same time he tossed the explosives. Two things happened at once. The wall erupted toward him while the bombs exploded into a freezing blue-white mist.

A loud screech issued from the tunnel ahead and Veil fired a burning red plasma jet across the area. The hell whip burned through the fog and seemed to strike some shadowy, moving object. He saw something fleeing away from him in the same direction he needed to leave the cave system.

Veil drew his revolver and waited for the mists to clear. Whatever the creature up ahead was, it was a lot more powerful than this section’s usual cavern dwellers. It must have migrated here for easy access to food sources, which he would end up being if he wasn’t careful.

To leave the caverns, Veil had to take the same route as the fleeing creature. He had a choice to make, move quickly with a raised shield and some protection, or proceed slowly and drop the barrier. It wasn’t possible to do both. His mana reserves would be heavily drained if he tried. The monster was an ambush predator, but he was able to spot it the first time. Veil dropped his shields and proceeded slowly, continually stopping and scanning the walls and surroundings with all of his senses on high alert.

Veil didn’t even consciously register the attack. He simply threw up his shields again at full power while he spun around and fired the revolver. Somehow the creature had gotten behind him. The explosive rounds in his guns blew massive chunks out of the monster, stopping it and killing it in seconds.

Veil looked down at the man-sized creature that vaguely resembled a praying mantis. The brownish, black carapace covered body was nearly broken in two sections by his explosive bullets. Its hooked claws lay less than two meters away from him. It must have slid down one of the side crevasses that branched around to the path behind him.

Not in the mood to harvest the creature for alchemical parts, he left it lying on the ground. After finally making his way out, he considered what an idiot he was for coming here alone. Minor section or not, this was still the Labyrinth, and you should always have someone watch your back.

I guess I didn’t match risk against reward very well, Veil thought.

The next day, he stared pensively at the weapons, potions, and miscellaneous material arrayed before him. He was standing in the shed, located in the backyard of his house, that used to belong to his father. Several walls were jammed floor to ceiling with beakers, propane burners, volumetric flasks, and alchemical ingredients, while the others contained a confusing mixture of weapons, science textbooks, and alchemical treatises.

Veil had taken over his father’s space and moved in his belongings some years ago. It served as his office, alchemy laboratory, and weapons catch. Not that his parents knew much about the extent of his armory. They definitely didn’t approve of some of his more dangerous endeavors. His mother would have hysterics if he told her about his latest expedition to the Labyrinth.

Mother’s ignorance is my bliss, Veil thought.

Veil paced for a moment in excitement. Within the next few hours, he would leave for Ithalaan Academy, and he had to decide what materials to pack, what he would have delivered, and what to leave behind.

The far North was a dangerous country filled with a great variety of deadly creatures. Arrayed all over a few knotted wood tables and the cracked cement floor were pistols, rifles, multiple ammunition boxes, and grenades. Sitting next to and sometimes on top of weapons were dozens of green, brown, and blue colored potion bottles. Three technomagic brass-cased blasting rods, each as long as a person’s forearm and ready to deal death by hellish plasma beam or mana bolt lay between the potion bottles. Lastly, Veil considered his three brass shielding cuffs, placing one on his wrist. Each of them was capable of producing various disc shields or full body barriers that could block most low-powered spells and limited physical attacks.

Veil packed the pistols, along with bracelets, and the multi-purpose blasting rods, into his traveling trunk. All it took to use the rods and bracelets was an infusion of mana. These weapons made it possible for someone with low-level battle magic abilities to be truly dangerous in a fight.

There’s nothing like a mage-killing bullet to the face to say – this is my space.

He would have to leave behind his shotgun and rifle. They just didn’t fit.

Great, that just left the grenades and ammunition.

For a moment, Veil stopped and considered. Medina was supposed to be a safe city. Did he need all this? Better to be paranoid and alive than happy and dead, as his grandmother would say.

He packed all the grenades, plus most of the ammunition – the multi-purpose rounds, the mage killers, the incendiary rounds, the armor-piercing rounds, etc. Just as Veil finished with the weapons and got ready to prepare his alchemical equipment and supplies, he sensed his brother approaching the shed. He quickly flipped the trunks closed so the little tattle tale wouldn’t see what he was doing.

His brother entered without bothering to knock. Darius was a handsome, black-haired brown-eyed boy of twelve. His brother was overdressed for regular home wear in a silver highlighted, green and brown printed shirt and brown linen pants. Who is he trying to impress?

His brother needled with a grin filling his light brown face, “need any help packing.”

Veil grumbled, “I should have taken the opportunity to beat you up more before leaving home.” What an annoying jerk. Where did he get that sense of humor, anyway? “Did you just come to spy on me, or was there some other reason?”

“As if there is any reason to spy on you,” Darius replied. “When you’re gone, Father said I could have the shed. I need it for my studies so that I can take over the family business. You need to pack away and store everything you’re not taking with you.”

Veil snorted and replied with ire, “What studies, you’re twelve, and Father will probably run the business for another hundred years. You know how obsessive he is about work.” Veil paused. His father was annoying, bullying, and often ignorant, but he found it hard to believe the older man would give away the shed without asking. “Did Father really give you the shed, or are you supposed to ask for it?”

Darius whined, looking around, “I need it, and you’re going to be gone. You’ll only be back for a few weeks every summer.”

Aha, caught him, Veil thought.

“You’re just a little kid and wouldn’t know what to do with it anyway,” Veil replied, driving the knife home.

Darius changed tack and said, “You’re just jealous because I’m going to inherit the family business.”

Veil raised his eyebrows in amusement. It had taken Grandmother and him a long time and a great deal of effort to convince his parents to agree to that.

“Is there anything else?” Veil asked, already sorting through his potions. “I have to finish packing.”

With a serious expression, Darius stated, “Mother said, you shouldn’t take any guns, that Medina is not the Great Northern Forest, or the Labyrinth, where you’re not supposed to go anyway, not even with Grandmother.”

“She didn’t say that last part,” Veil replied flatly. “Is there anything else?” Veil repeated.

“You’ll probably be arrested for carrying illegal weapons,” Darius said.

The little brat.

“Hardly any of my weapons are illegal, except the alchemical grenades, possibly the specialized ammunition, and perhaps a blasting rod or two, which require special licenses,” Veil replied. “But really, no one cares unless they’re looking to arrest you for some other reason. Mother and Father are unreasonable about these sorts of things.”

“That’s what gets you into trouble. You don’t listen to anyone except Grandmother. You don’t follow the rules,” Darius frowned and walked out with that parting remark.

Veil fumed silently for a few minutes. His parents were overcontrolling and obsessed with family honor. They continually pushed him to try and impress other people and climb the social ladder. That was irrelevant to Veil. All money, social connections, and political power were just tools to advance his magical studies as far as he was concerned. After a few moments, Veil calmed down and went back to hurriedly packing. The train to Medina left in a few hours.

He placed the last of his alchemy supplies and potions into the trunk. The elixirs, unknown to his parents, were made by him under his grandmother’s supervision and needed to be sold soon after reaching Medina.

Veil rushed into the house to finish getting ready, grabbed some decent looking but comfortable clothes to travel in, and went to the bathroom to shower and clean up. Naturally, he had to wait as it was occupied by Darius. This was fortunate. His sister, Tamaana, would take forever on sheer principle if she knew Veil was waiting.

Entering the bathroom, he took a quick look in the mirror to see if there were any changes. Stupid, but he couldn’t help it. Brushing longish black hair to the side, he saw thoughtful green eyes, set in a high cheek boned light brown face, stare back at him. He was still short, but eventually, he would probably do okay.

After cleaning up, Veil brought his luggage into the living room, only to see Tama, his ten year old sister glaring at him from the couch. The large glass fronted windows illuminated his sister while she sat with crossed arms and legs, wearing a short red summer dress. Tama was like a lighter skinned, tiny version of their mother, right down to many of her personality traits. Her dark brown eyes, framed by long straight, braided, black hair, framed a frowning face.

What now?

Normally, he got along better with his bratty sister than any other family member, except Grandmother.

“Are you all packed?” Tama asked and then immediately rushed on, “What if you don’t pass the exam? You’ll have to carry all your stuff back.”

“The advanced exam just allows people to bypass the first three years of general education classes. I already passed the basic exam and was accepted,” Veil replied, and unable to help himself started listing the requirements in detail. “I passed all the written tests for mathematics, science, magic history, and laws. The practical tests for internal and external mana sensing and manipulation were simple. Unstructured telekinesis is easy...”

“Easy because of Grandmother,” Tama muttered, eyes unfocusing and drifting to the left.

“And I was able to fight and defeat the giant forest troll,” Veil jokingly stated. That got her attention, but she only stared with narrowed eyes and mumbled to herself.

He was starting to think she was more annoyed that he was leaving than anything else. Veil began to say something but in walked Mother. As usual, she looked beautiful in a stylish red silk print dress that managed to be fashionable and modest at the same time. Dark, almost black eyes, set in a dark brown face and framed by long straight, black hair, stared sharply at him.

“I certainly hope you are packed and ready to go, Jai,” Mother stated.

Oh great, she was in a mood. Mother only called him by his given name when she was annoyed. The only worse sign would be if she used his full name, Der’Jai. “We have to catch the 9:20 trolley to make it on time since someone decided to leave their preparations to the last minute. Your father is meeting us there to see you off.”

Fantastic, I get to interact with Father before leaving. That was going to be so much fun. Maybe I should mention that the trolleys run every 10 minutes, but no, that was sure to annoy her.

An annoyed Mother, while amusing, would only make his life more difficult.

“Is Grandmother going to be there?” Veil innocently inquired. A frown briefly flitted across her face before being smoothed away. Mother and mother-in-law did not get along, but then neither did Father and Grandmother. “I was hoping to bask in the warm glow of family love before I left for Ithalaan.”

“Der’Jai,” Mother snapped in a frosty tone. Ordinarily, he was pretty low key, but sometimes he just couldn’t help himself.

A short time later, Veil took one last look at his hometown on the way to the train station. Cordin was a dismal little town of about ten thousand people. As they walked the road, Veil examined the factories and shopping centers that lined the main streets. Most of the old housing had been torn down decades ago to make room for progress. Not that this was a bad thing as some of the older houses didn’t even have indoor plumbing. The town’s two best features were a local three story library and a hospital. The library and medical center were the only such resources for many kilometers around, so both were reasonably well supplied.

They arrived at the train station a little less than an hour later after taking two cable drawn trolleys. The cables were pulled by old fashioned coal-fired steam-driven engines, not the new mana powered machines. The new engines converted mana, directed down the train tracks’ third rail, into heat to power the train’s boilers.

The old trains were still fascinating, though, and Veil had once tried to examine them. The overseer tossed him out after accusing him of breaking in and trespassing, which was ridiculous. The doors were mostly unlocked.

Father was waiting on the platform immediately adjacent to the departing trains.

That was convenient.

He was smartly dressed in a business suit, sporting his usual stern expression and glancing at his pocket watch. His pale skin contrasted nicely with black hair and piercing blue eyes. By the time Veil reached the departing platform, the train to Ithalaan was already in the final boarding process. Father looked him over, a frown still on his face.

“You had better board the train. It will be leaving in the next few minutes,” Father stated by way of greeting. Plowing on, Father remarked, “Ithalaan Academy is a premier institute, and the cost of attendance reflects that, don’t squander this opportunity. Remember to do your best, and don’t embarrass the family with your usual antics. The impressions and contacts you make will serve you for the rest of your life if you comport yourself with dignity,” was father’s warm goodbye.

Usual antics! Veil controlled his expression and stopped himself from rolling his eyes. Just because I’m not obsessed with proper manners and don’t care for wealth or social position, that doesn’t mean I’m some frothing at the mouth barbarian.

As Veil was getting ready to leave, Mother walked over and hugged him for an embarrassingly long amount of time before letting him go and saying, “Remember to enjoy yourself, Veil, sometimes you become too obsessed with your projects. Make friends, find a nice girl to spend time with, and come back safely.”

For some reason, Veil still didn’t quite understand Tama was standing off to one side gazing at the floor and playing with her dress. She looked morose. He was sure it wasn’t just that she would miss him. Veil would have to talk to her when he returned.

Darius just looked bored, no doubt eager to get back to his friends.

After making his goodbyes to his family, Veil boarded the train and searched for an open compartment. Selecting an empty room, he sat on one of the soft padded leather benches. Veil kept his luggage by his side, placing it on the six-seater couch. There was another couch right across from him upon which Veil tried to put his feet, but it was too far unless he slumped down.

Once the train started moving, Veil stared out the window at the countryside. He could see the edge of the Great Northern forest at some points along their trip. He leaned forward suddenly, rapidly twisting his head to get a better view of a nearby tree. The tree, which must have stood less than 20 meters from the train, was covered in almost knife-like bark and was swaying rapidly back and forth against the wind. Its droopy branches held numerous long thorns.

After it passed out of sight, Veil sat back in his seat with a sigh, staring blankly out the window. He left his belongings in the compartment and stepped out of the cabin. It wasn’t until Veil walked through the third railway car that he finally found a conductor.

“Can I help you, young man?” the conductor asked, looking up after checking a seated passenger’s ticket.

“We passed a carnivorous willow a few kilometers back, on the forest side of the tracks,” Veil said.

Occasionally creatures spewed forth from the Great Northern Forest into the border towns. Those incursions needed to be dealt with quickly as the forest denizens were incredibly dangerous. The only place with deadlier monsters was the Labyrinth, the immense network of underground caves and passages that underlay the entire world.

“Are you sure,” the conductor said after blinking. “I would hate…”

“I’m sure,” Veil said flatly. “If that tree isn’t destroyed, people are going to die. Sooner or later.”

“Yes, well, I would hate to give the authorities report,” the man reiterated. “You need to be positive.”

Veil stared at the steward for a long uncomfortable moment before the man finally looked away. He probably didn’t take Veil seriously because of his age, but silence and stillness worked wonders on people. It seemed to be an exceptionally potent response when coming from someone as young as him.

“I’ll pass along your warning,” the conductor said before turning and walking away.

Veil hurried back to his cabin. Hopefully, no one had stolen his belongings.

Somewhere around the second or third stop, a couple of coarse-looking workers entered the cabin. One man was wearing an overcoat, and Veil noticed the outlines of a handgun under it. The other was clad in a leather vest.

That is slightly irregular. Of course, they were near the Northern frontier, so it wasn’t that unusual.

The men dropped into the seat across from him and immediately started passing a bottle of spirits back and forth. They also emitted a weird sulfuric smell that hit Veil like a wall, making him blink rapidly and giving him an uneasy feeling.

Veil observed their behavior for a moment before one of them belligerently remarked, “You got a problem?”

“No,” Veil said indifferently, idly patting the top of his open bag. A pistol and blasting rod rested inside within easy reach.

The man’s partner grunted and jabbed his friend in the side with his elbow. When the belligerent man looked over, his friend shook his head slightly.

At journeys end, after escaping the toxic cabin, Veil began making his way toward Ithalaan Academy while studying the grand city of Medina. All sarcasm aside, Medina, at over seven hundred thousand people, was one of the largest cities on the continent and held a vast concentration of wealth.

Veil placed his luggage on the ground outside and to one side of the train station entrance. He then invoked a spell, weaving mana through voice and gesture until a shimmering, telekinetic force disc appeared. Placing his luggage on the disc, and it obediently followed behind as he stepped onto the walkway.

Looking down as he walked, Veil saw the road was paved in well cobbled, red brick. A Cable pulled trolley rattled past, nearly drenching him with water from a puddle before he managed to leap aside. Paying more attention to where he was going, Veil threaded his way down the crowded thoroughfare.

After walking several blocks, he waited at a crowded intersection as dozens of people either rode on horses, drove horse-drawn carriages, or piloted steam or mana powered vehicles through the junction. People crowded around him, brushing their shoulders and arms unpleasantly against his body. The air at this intersection was thick with a toxic combination of horse dung and coal fumes, further enhancing the experience.

Veil finally managed to secure a trolley ride after hastily packing his suitcases onto a miraculously empty seat during the cable car’s brief stop. He stood cautiously balancing the precarious stack as the car lurched into motion. Even knowing what was coming, he wobbled to the side and nearly lost his footing.

Finally, he could relax and view the city without fear of being splashed or trampled for a few minutes. Large shops, factories, and the occasional tavern bordered the main street, while homes and apartments were visible down the smaller avenues. Most of the buildings were, at most, only four stories high. They probably didn’t have lifts. Trees framed many streets, and small parks, with children playing in them, were arranged at regular intervals.

An additional trolley ride and some walking brought Veil to the dormitory, where he would be staying for the next two weeks while taking the advanced placement exam. After registering at the front desk and getting the key, Veil made his way up to the temporary room only to find someone else already in residence. A tall, stocky boy of about 15 stared expectantly at him as he opened the door.

“Did you just arrive?” the blond boy burst out breathlessly, bouncing to his feet. “I just got here less than an hour ago. What do you think of the dorm? Are you taking the exam? Are you hungry? I’m hungry. Want to get something to eat?”

All of this happened before Veil took two steps into the room, and he stood there momentarily non-plussed.

The boy visibly forced himself to slow down. “Sorry, I’m just really excited and nervous to be here. My name’s Melik Fischer. What’s your name?”

“My name’s Der’Jai Silva, but everyone calls me Veil,” Veil replied. “And yes, I’m here to take the advanced placement exam, and I’m a civilian mage like you.” Veil said this while placing his luggage next to the unoccupied bed.

Melik’s eyes rounded slightly. “How did you know I’m a civilian born mage?”

“Your rooming, if only temporarily with me. The nobles will either have a room to themselves or will be sharing it with another noble, not peasants like us,” Veil replied jokingly.

Melik looked thoughtful and nodded seriously.

“Let’s walk and talk at the same time. I’m starving and would like to get some food. Do you know any good places to eat?” Veil requested.

Melik led them to a nearby diner, talking and asking questions the entire way. For such a wealthy university, the restaurant, a part of Ithalaan Academy, turned out to be entirely mediocre in its food selection and quality.

“So, are you ready to take the advanced exam, and does it really take two weeks?” Melik asked nervously, setting his food tray down and taking a seat.

“Didn’t you read the orientation material?” inquired Veil, sitting on the opposite side of the small round table.

“My parents kept me busy studying, and I barely glanced at the packet.” He said.

Veil stopped himself from rolling his eyes, more at the parent’s stupidity than Melik’s short-sightedness. People his age often didn’t think ahead.

“The first few days are for orientation and learning to navigate the academy, both bureaucratically and physically,” Veil said. “The last two days of the first week are a mixture of the written and practical portions of the exam. Then we have the weekend to recover.”

“The first two days of the second week are the final parts of the exam,” Veil continued. “The last three days of that week are filled up with mixers, parties, and thank god that’s over events. That gives the proctors time to evaluate the results and decide whether the student is qualified to skip from zero to three years of general study.”

“You know, if you’re proficient enough to take the advanced exam, your unquestionably good enough to skip at least one or two years of study,” Veil remarked, cutting his food apart.

“That’s won’t satisfy my parents,” Melik replied. For a hungry person, he didn’t seem interested in eating.

“My parents are both civilian born mages who had to work incredibly hard to succeed,” Melik said softly, dropping his shoulders and sighing. “Since I had their help, they expect me to do better. I’m supposed to become an expert mage and master at least two subjects, one more than each of them,”

Melik stated this while tightening his hands against the edge of the table.

“And getting that certification from Ithalaan would be a big deal for a local family like mine,” Melik said.

“I know what you mean. Nothing satisfies my father. He’s officially a technomage but acts more like a businessman, constantly focused on wealth and social standing. That just seems like a waste to me. I get along better with my grandmother, but she is fairly tyrannical in her own way,” Veil said.

He responded to Melik’s raised eyebrows, “I started apprenticing under my grandmother in alchemy when I was six.”

“Wow, I thought my parents were intense,” Melik stated. “They didn’t start my apprenticeship until I was almost nine.” Melik hesitated and slumped before saying, “They also keep hinting that I could do more and become an archmage. Wouldn’t that bring prestige to the family.”

“That’s rough,” Veil said, “Normally, I wouldn’t ask, and you can tell me to mind my own business, but do you have a family bloodline?” Veil asked. “Without a bloodline or great wealth and resources, it’s incredibly difficult to become an archmage.”

“No, I don’t,” Melik sighed. Looking up, he asked, “Do you?”

“No,” Veil replied, which was technically correct, if misleading, but Veil didn’t have a choice. His psychic abilities were too dangerous to reveal. “But I plan to use my alchemy skills to generate as much wealth as possible. That’s not a bloodline, but it will help in becoming an archmage.”

“What do you want to do, Melik?” Veil asked, shifting in his seat. “What are your interests? Do you want to be an Archmage?”

“Sometimes, I wish I could be an ordinary person, or at least an ordinary mage,” Melik said with a sigh. “You know, go out, have fun, and not have all this responsibility. But if I can’t have that. I want to become the world’s greatest golem maker,” He said with a gleam in his eye. “Imagine creating new and innovative designs that no one has thought of before.”

“Well, I can’t help you with the ordinary person part, but becoming an expert golem maker is ambitious. That would make you rich and powerful, and you would have to at least master conversion as well as technomagic, which would make you a duel expert E’mage like your parents want,” Veil said.

“Maybe we can work together. One of my areas of focus is technomagic in general and golem making in particular,” Veil continued.

After eating their cold food, Melik and Veil discussed the possibility of future collaborations. Father would be so proud, well, maybe not. Melik didn’t seem like he had great wealth or high social standing. After lunch, they decided to tour the academy together.

The campus was a sprawling affair covering several square kilometers and hosting six to seven thousand students, faculty, and staff. They strolled to the main campus entrance, which had an ornate free-standing marble gate through which pedestrians could walk. Veil and Melik walked side by side down the primary thoroughfare, which was composed of large, neatly fitted, grey stones rather than the traditional red brick. Melik stopped and pointed out a tall clock.

“That’s one of the oldest buildings on campus,” Melik remarked. “It was built shortly after accurate timekeeping mechanisms were invented.”

“Of course,” Veil replied, “they had to let everyone know how late they were.”

Lining either side of the path were vast academic and administrative buildings, each at least six stories tall. Every building must contain multiple technomagic lifts. Despite himself, Veil was impressed at the sheer size and expense of the academy.

This must be where all the wealth flows because it certainly didn’t end up in the food. Appearance over substance, Veil mused.

About halfway through their tour, they came to the main library.

“A student identification badge is required to gain entry,” a librarian informed them as soon as they crossed the main doors. “You’ll be issued a badge with the appropriate authorizations after you complete the advanced exam.”

“Once we have a badge, will it give us unrestricted access?” Melik inquired.

“No, there are multiple authorization levels,” The librarian replied. “The library contains restricted material like truth spells as well as outright illegal material such as high-level soul magic. Without special government dispensation, you cannot access those areas.”

Disappointing but not surprising.

He would have to find another way to acquire specific rare or restricted materials. The material covering psychic skills was sure to be restricted as well as other knowledge vital to his development.

They continued their tour by examining the largest auditorium, the track and field facility, and the leading technomagic engineering and science buildings. Accessing the inside of all of these structures was possible without an identification badge. Veil and Melik eventually found themselves at the campus’ beautiful primary fountain. The duo rested on the fountain’s lip while admiring the magnificent sprays of water emerging from the statues of leaping dolphins.

Veil looked around and observed surprisingly few people walking around. Everyone must be busy preparing for the exam. A few hours later, they returned to their room to rest and prepare for orientation the next day.

After falling asleep at around midnight, Veil awoke early at 4:00. There was nothing particularly unusual about this. Through a process of alchemical transformation and applying specific inborn mental techniques, he could compress his regular sleep schedule from eight hours to four or even three while maintaining a high level of health and mental focus. It was all part of his master plan to transform himself into a Magus, the highest level to which a mage could aspire.

Veil worked on building the mental equivalent of a symbolic calculator for about an hour during his morning meditation. Before he could move on to the next exercise, Melik woke up and began moving around. The boy had gone to bed even later than he did.

So, my compressed sleep schedule isn’t that impressive?

“Good morning,” Melik greeted him. “What are your plans this morning?”

“I have a couple of errands to run for my grandmother, but I can meet you for lunch and orientation later,” Veil replied. After agreeing on a meeting time and place and discretely packing a blasting rod and knife, Veil set out from the dorm. It was time to meet his grandmother’s shady business contact.

As Veil traveled several kilometers South and East, the quality of the neighborhoods steadily declined. In a poorer city, this area would be a slum, but Medina was simply too affluent for that. He finally saw a two-story, brick building with a sign out front that said Brazzen’s Imports. The high set windows were beveled so that it was impossible to see inside the shop.

Immediately upon entering the building, a scruffy, middle-aged man with ridiculously bushy eyebrows and white threaded shaggy, brown hair demanded, “What do you want, boy?”

Veil looked him dead in the eye and challenged, “I need to know who Brazzen is.”

The scruffy man’s eyes bulged out in an intimidating way for a second as Veil calmly looked back.

“Huh, you must be Katya’s grandson. You have her sense of humor,” He answered. “Who the hell cares who Brazzen is or was!”

“And you must be Ivan Seng,” Veil replied while carefully controlling his expression. “Do you have somewhere more private we can talk? Grandmother said that you might be interested in setting up a deal for some hard to get products?” Veil would have never dared to be this direct if Grandmother hadn’t thoroughly vetted Ivan.

“Upstairs,” Ivan replied. Veil heard the door lock shut after Ivan muttered a few words and made a few gestures. Before going upstairs, Veil took a quick look around. It looked...like a dump, with bins of random material, set on rickety tables, arranged in a half-hazard fashion around the shop floor.

Ivan proceeded to lead the way to a second story area that contained several desks and chairs. After they both sat down, Ivan cast a short spell that Veil recognized as the activation ritual for privacy wards. “So, did your grandmother tell you where my interests lie?” Ivan remarked with narrowed eyes and an aggressive stance.

Veil opened the backpack he had been carrying and took out four different potion bottles and pointed to them one by one. The first cordial looked like nothing so much as slightly blue water. “A filter of speed it will allow the user to move 30% faster for approximately 15 minutes, but taken to often will cause tremors, nausea, and possibly permanent nerve damage.” It wasn’t illegal, merely rare and dangerous to use.

The second potion was black and oily. “Night’s bane truth potion will give the imbiber waking nightmares for up to three weeks if he tries to lie while under its effects.” The second elixir was composed of very hard to find substances.

The third alchemical mixture held small, shiny green orbs gently bouncing around inside the bottle. “This is a chameleon filter. It allows the drinker to blend in almost perfectly with any background and climb virtually any surface. It will last 12 hours.” Ivan’s eyes virtually glowed with greed. The only reason this potion wasn’t illegal was due to its extreme rarity.

Veil reached out and picked up the final item, which contained a shimmering silvery liquid that continuously boiled at both the top and bottom of the bottle. “This is an aura condenser. It allows the user to make and control an ectoplasmic copy of themselves or someone else for 24 hours.” The last elixir utilized high-end soul magic and was very much illegal. Veil was afraid Ivan might burst a vein. He was staring so intently at the final potion.

Ivan finally sat back and crossed his arms, “I’ll give you 2,000 kronor for the lot, and can you get more?” A typical family in Medina might make 9,000 kronor a year and significantly less elsewhere.

“Are we bargaining,” Veil replied. “2,000 kronor wouldn’t even cover the cost of the ingredients.” Untrue, since Veil and his grandmother gathered the most expensive components either in the great Northern forest or the Labyrinth’s upper levels.

Ivan scowled.

“I can and have gotten five times that much for these elixirs, and yes, I can get more.” Grandmother was actually paid the equivalent of two and a half times as much, but in his hometown of Cordin, and Veil produced these potions himself.

Ivan looked like he was going to explode. “That ectoplasmic copy isn’t that great. Any mage can see the copy isn’t a real person if they look.”

“Aura or soul sight is moderately rare. Not every mage can see through an ectoplasmic copy.” Veil stated authoritatively. “Also, I’m willing to take part of that in trade. There are certain uncommon manuscripts, alchemical reagents, and technomagic devices and blueprints I wish to acquire. For example, I’ve been searching for a copy of ‘Activation Rituals & Magical Animals,’” a rare text, forbidden because it contained some minor information on foundation magic rituals, which was a subset of high-end soul magic.

True to form, Ivan looked thoughtful rather than outraged. “Bah, that’s still far too much. Do you have a list of trade items?” And, so the bargaining began.

After a half-hour of intense negotiations, Veil left Brazzen’s Imports with a new local contact, one manuscript, a plethora of alchemical ingredients, and 750 kronor richer. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to meet Indali Varma, his grandmother’s second and more interesting contact. It would have to wait until after he completed the exam.