Chapter 2

The interior of the Chancellor’s building was a seething mass of people. Students milled about in groups like lost sheep, looking about with uncertainty. Others pushed through the crowd of people with clear purpose. Az was jostled about as he stood to one side of the entrance with his luggage, looking for someone to ask for directions. He had been instructed to present himself to the Adjunct Dean of Accomodation, a lifelong friend of his father that Az had met once or twice many years ago. He remembered him vaguely as a grave man that spoke little.

He stepped in front of one of those students that were navigating the mess of people with confidence, and asked where the Adjunct’s office was. The other student tsked with annoyance and pointed with one hand to one of the many corridors branching off from the main entrance hall, and then deftly side stepped Az and continued weaving her way through the crowd.

Az shook his head, and began to pick his way across the room towards where the student had pointed, apologising to those he bumped on his way, which only earned him more glares for his trouble.

A short walk down the aforementioned corridor later - which was blessedly empty of people - Az came to the office of the Adjunct, his name and title proudly displayed in glowing script on the surface of the door. Pillard Quark - Adjunct to the Dean

The door swung open before he could put his bags down to knock, revealing a powerfully built towering man that looked to be in his middle years who smiled down on Az. He looked exactly the same as he had when Az had met him as a boy. Of course, if he were a friend of his father he was almost certainly a powerful mage or body enhancer in his own right and a handful of years to one such as he was nearly meaningless. Mana was divinity manifest, and it preserved the body even as it perfected it.

“Excellent, excellent. Right on time Asmodeas. You’ve certainly grown since I last saw you,” Pillard stepped back from the door and looked Az up and down approvingly, “I see you have not neglected your physical training.”

Az was a head shorter than Pillard, which made him of somewhat average height for Macedar, but his body was tempered from years of physical exercising and combat training endured under Colin’s tutelage.

“Of course. It is a pleasure to see you again Mr Quark, and to finally take my place at the academy.”

Pillard’s lined face broke into a smile, “Naturally, naturally. It is our pleasure to welcome another Tantalus boy to our ranks. We are all expecting great things from you. Your brother caused quite a stir in his time here, you know. It’s rare to see such talent even among the nobility.”

Az sighed inwardly; he suspected he would be hearing even more about his brother’s genius here than he did at home. For the sake of decorum he simply returned Pillard’s smile, “I’ll endeavor to live up to my brother’s example, Mr Quark.”

Pillard nodded, “Yes, yes. Well, let’s get you situated. Just a moment, please.”

Az felt a pulse of mana wash over him like a splash of cold water, emanating from Pillard. The older man had made no visible gesture or uttered no incantation. Some sort of communication spellform Az reasoned.

Sure enough, a moment later he heard the sounds of footsteps approaching as a young woman dressed in the typical grey robes of a mage came down the hallway. Had she been lurking there out of sight, waiting for a signal, or had she used some sort of movement or teleportation spell to arrive so quickly, Az wondered?

The woman looked only a few years older than his seventeen, but with mages it was hard to tell. Az would have called her beautiful, if not for the coldness of her expression as she looked at him. She inclined her head respectfully to Pillard as she came to a stop next to them, “Master.”

Pillard gestured to the young woman for Az’s benefit, “Asmodeas, this is Kayla, one of the fourth year students apprenticed to me. She is one of the most promising students of dimensionalism we have at the academy and is working with me for her final year. Kayla will show you to your room.”

Pillard extended a hand to his side, palm up and the air above it rippled and distorted. A pinprick of darkness appeared in the air, widening in moments into a black disc. Moments later a small bundle of paper fell out of this hole of impenetrable darkness and landed in his waiting hand.

Az blinked at the overtly casual use of magic. His tutors had always impressed on him that dimensionalism was one of the most complicated disciplines of magic. For his part, Pillard seemed quite pleased with himself, handing the bundle of paper to Az - who hurried to drop a bag to take it - with a self-satisfied smile, “Here we are, Asmodeas. Fill out your class choice on this and return it to me by tomorrow. I’ll look after the processing.”

Pillard clapped his hands, “Now, now. Kayla, I’ll leave him in your care. Do come see me if there are any issues, Asmodeas. Until next time.”

A moment later he was back in his office, and the door was swinging shut. Az was beginning to think of him as a rather abrupt man.

The other student, Kayla, continued to look at him as if he were dirt on the floor.

“Follow,” she instructed, and began to walk down the hallway back the way she had come. Az had to hurry to catch up to her, again cursing his mother for her overzealous packing.

They walked in silence for a time; exiting the Chancellor’s building, crossing a small cobbled street, rounding a corner, and entering a homely looking building that Az took to be his accommodation. The silence was beginning to become uncomfortable when Kayla finally stopped her relentless march outside a room labelled 004.

She turned to him and addressed him evenly, “This is your room. The key is inside. Don’t lose it. Leave your belongings inside and make your way to the Assembly Hall for the Chancellor’s address. Mr Quark included a map of the grounds with those papers. Any questions?”

Az’s mind processed the tirade of information, and he shook his head, “No, thank you,” he said in what he hoped was a respectful tone.

Kayla nodded in response, “Well, I hope the room meets your standards. Goodbye.”

With that last comment she was gone and realization dawned on Az. It was like that then. She had clearly recognised him as a noble from the ridiculous finery his mother had made him wear and that was enough for her to form an opinion of him in the negative. It was something he would probably have to get used to.

“Have a nice day!” he called after her, and entered into his room. It probably did little good to sway her opinion of him, but that was no reason to be rude.