《Mage x Magician》Chapter 23: A brief sense of Normalcy
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After stepping out of the Headmaster’s office, Sylvester was greeted by the warm and bright light of the sun above. Apparently it was only around noon when he looked up at the giant clock above him. Suddenly he felt a rumbling on his stomach.
“Welp, time to get some lunch and recharge!” He thought to himself and then he remembered his current balance.
“Ah dammit. It’s the second day and I’m already hurting for money.” He continued as he scolded himself for being unable to resist his food related urges.
As he was thinking about where to eat when he heard a familiar bubbly voice called out to him.
“Look Artian, there he is!” The voice said.
Sylvester turned around and saw Artian walking up to him with Estelle following just behind.
“You suddenly disappeared when we got out of that hellhole.” Artian continued.
“Ugh.. I did not expect that kind of….. teaching method”. Estelle added, clutching her head as if still in pain after remembering that one of a kind experience.
Sylvester, with the conversation with the headmaster still fresh inside his head, wanted to loosen up a bit and not worry about the masked man for now. He should just focus on improving his tools and skills before he can tackle anything related to it.
“Yeah it was certainly... unique. Sadly the pros outweigh the cons so we should probably get used to it. Hopefully.” He jokingly replied.
“By the way were you guys waiting for me?” He asked as he was surprised to see the two reach out to him immediately.
“Yeah we were.” Estelle replied.
“I felt it was kind of rude to just leave you behind after we all just got recently acquainted.” She said while beaming a bright smile.
“It’s good you feel that way, unlike that other chick that decided to just fu-” Artian’s sentence was interrupted by Estelle elbowing him in the gut.
She then gave Artian a rather stern look to which Artian simply responded by rolling his eyes and shrugging.
“-fudge off somewhere on her own. Talk about attitude.” Artian continued, reluctantly editing out a small word from his speech.
“She even ignored Estelle’s invitation and they’re roommates!”
“Well let’s just understand little miss duchess’ situation.” Sylvster replied.
“She’s in a completely different world after all, it would make sense for her to be a little bit more apprehensive.” He continued, giving his two cents on the matter.
“That’s what I’ve been telling this blockhead earlier.” Estelle declared.
“Who are you calling a blockhead?” Artian retorted.
“I am an intellectual for your information.” He said, pointing his thumb at himself.
“Only when it comes to fighting, and nothing else. Musclehead bleh.” Estelle stuck out her tongue, mocking Artian in her own cute way.
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“We haven’t gone anywhere yet, and I already feel like a third wheel.” Sylvester quitely complained
The pair then got into a playful argument of teasing and throwing light jabs at one another, it seems like this was a normal occurrence for them while Sylvester quietly observed and assessed them.
In his head he thought that it was a good idea to get along with his roommate this early on. At very least, he isn’t one to turn down an offering of friendship.
“So uh guys?” He suddenly spoke, breaking off the ensuing argument.
“Where do we eat?” He asked the duo.
“Beats me.” Artian replied.
“For now, let’s try looking for something cheap. Let’s try and save up our limited credits.” Estelle chimed in, to which Sylvester inwardly agreed.
The trio then decided to go and check out the food market. After all, places like that tend to have the cheaper options. As they continued on on their little walk, Artian and Estelle then remembered something.
“Oh right, we should also try and figure out what classes we’re gonna be taking.” Estelle declared
“Yeah.” Artian replied dejectedly. “I kinda don’t wanna tho.” He continued, seemingly complaining.
Sylvester’s ears then perked up and he turned towards Estelle.
“Oh yeah that! The headmaster said I should just ask you guys to teach me about it.” Sylvester interjected.
“Oh, so you went to the headmaster's office huh? What? Are you some kind of VIP?” Artian joked.
“Nah nah nothing of the sort, turns out he knew my parents personally and just wanted to ask about them.” Sylvester quickly replied. He felt bad about lying, but he doesn’t think it was the right time to explain something so sensitive at the moment.
“You don’t blurt out your backstory at the start of a conversation, that’s stupid!” Sylvester thought to himself, rationalizing his white lie.
“Oh well nevermind, Let's do that later when we find a place to eat.” Artian added.
“I see.” Sylvester said as he took out his ID and glanced at it a little bit.
“This thing is stupidly versatile. I feel bad for my phone.” He silently said inside his head.
The trio then reached the food market and began their little hunt for the replenishment of nutrients. Problem is that almost all the stores had very long lines that stretched a little too far. Seems like a lot of people had the same idea about being frugal.
That was what it seemed at first sight, but getting closer the trio then found out that the lines were for items that were a little too expensive. A large portion of the neophytes were still not willing to let go of the treatment they were used to getting back wherever they came from. Don’t worry, reality will hit them soon.
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After a while the trio stopped in front of a stall with a few tables and chairs laid in front of it. It didn’t have too many customers lined up for it and there were still spaces available for a seat. Moving closer to the stall itself, Sylvester started having a sense of familiarity from it.
“Oh it’s the place where I got those chicken and beef skewers.” Sylvester declared. He then saw that the lady from yesterday was still manning the grill, but now there were a few extra tools on the stall, most curious was the steamer, deep fryer, and rice cooker.
The lady however recognized Sylvester and called out to him.
“Hey there young man!” She called out to him.
Sylvester then walked closer to the stall, with Estelle and Artian in tow. The two then inspected the menu as Sylvester made small talk with the lady.
“Did you finally understand what I meant by regret?” The Lady asked.
“Unfortunately yes, I do.” Sylvester replied dejectedly.
“Oh since you’re already here, why don’t you try out my student meal combo.” The lady segued into a sales pitch. Nonetheless, Sylvester took the bait since he’s a little strapped for cash and it’s only the second day.
“Okay, I’m interested.” Sylvester replied.
“Well now, for only the low price of 25 credits you get 6 pieces of fried dumplings with a bowl of rice and a soda. Solid deal right?” The lady continued.
“I’ll take one order please thank you very much!” Sylvester immediately replied in a rather loud voice catching Artian’s attention.
“Meh, might as well. I’m getting tired from all the walking.” Artian immediately responded.
“Yeah me too. Whoo! Finally, a chair.” Estelle chimed in as she sat down at a nearby table.
Artian and Estelle ordered some beef skewers and a bowl of rice since there were no other options when it came to some carbs.
As they chowed down on their food the three then inspected their IDs for the supposed classes.
Artian explained that there was a lady announcing the steps telepathically once they got out. She told them to simply hold down on the word Apprentice the rest will be clear to them.
Holding down the word apprentice caused a light to appear from the ID and reform itself into a 3D image. It looked like a webpage that had a rather simple breakdown of the available classes for neophytes like them.
“Basics and advanced huh?” Sylvester asked aloud. “And of course the advanced option is greyed out.”
The trio then opened up the “Basics” tab and a large and overwhelming tree of options appeared before them. Despite all of this, it was still easy to navigate because most of these options were greyed out as well and that meant starting from the bottom.
“Holy shit, these are just the basics?” Artian exclaimed in awe.
Clicking on one tap shows what the subject is all about in a rather detailed summary and the schedules and lecture locations.
“Huh this is pretty neat but admittedly a tad bit cluttered. I wonder if there’s a sort of magic web page designer course here.” Estelle jokingly said.
As the trio continued to eat they slowly decided on what classes they planned to take.
While Sylvester first thought that he wanted to fill his schedule as much as he could, he ultimately decided that he wanted to chill out for a bit. Since he was gonna be in Inanis Orbis for a long time anyway, he might as well just relax in the first semester. Plus he was also planning on spending time in the library hoping to find a few juicy bits of information.
Ultimately, he decided on taking one morning class and one afternoon class, funnily enough it seemed like Artian and Estelle had the same idea s they unanimously agreed to take the same afternoon class.
The trio then spent the rest of the day walking around and familiarizing themselves with some parts of the campus, and when the “sun” started to go down, decided to go back to their respective dorms to call it a night.
Once the boys got back to their dorm room, Sylvester immediately decided that he wanted to go internet browsing since they had wifi, somehow. He really shouldn’t be surprised since when he arrived at Inanis Orbis he discovered there was still a cellular signal and even Data.
Though he does wonder why nothing about the campus ever leaked to the outside world since they do have a working internet connection. As for how it works? Magic, probably.
Pulling out his laptop he was ready to watch some good ol fashion funny videos when Artian’s phone suddenly rang.
“Lady~ I’m your knight in shining armo-” The phone started singing prompting Artian rushing to get it, with an obviously embarrassed face.
Without speaking a word, Sylvester opened up his song library and looked for the same song and forwarded to the chorus while also maxing out the volume as much as he could.
“IN MY EEEEEEEEEEYES!” Sylvester then started singing along and the two of them discovered that both of them were kindred spirits.
“HAHA! Finally someone who appreciates the classics!” Sylvester exclaimed.
“Dude, this shit was my Lullaby! Get on my level!” Artian happily replied.
They both realized that they were born in the wrong generation.
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