Chapter 3 – Tuition

I awaken from my first sleep in the city of Feiroy, I plan out my day, my first task is to find out how much tuition costs, my second task is to get my cultivation method examined so I know how much it will sell for. I descend the stairs, seeing the innkeeper up bright an early waddling around while hefting a heavy beer keg, I approach, greeting, “Good morning.”

He drops the keg on the ground, looking up at me, he says, “Mornin’.”

Sitting on the barstool I ask, “I’d like to know where the academy of Tian is, the mage academy.”

Nodding he starts giving directions to the academy, thanking him I depart from the inn. I step out to the early morning bustle, haring the clip clopping of horse hooves on the paved stone road as carriages are drawn across the road, a thick collection of people walk past me as they keep to the sides of the road. Feeling a little overwhelmed by the activity already going on, I take a moment to collect myself before I walk down the road towards my destination. Getting lost a few times I ask for directions from random strangers, eventually reaching the academy, well a part of the campus. I can see a large stone structure in the distance that towers overs every other building in the vicinity, that must be the main building of the academy. I can see students in the school’s mage robes rushing about from their dorm rooms to attend class while carrying books and parchments. Arriving at the academy’s administrative building I see people entering in and out, entering myself, there are in-built wooden booths with people manning them, and a line of people, mostly students, waiting their turn, which I in turn join. Once it’s my turn I walk to the empty booth, a man stands behind the booth with a faux polite smile, he says robotically, “Good morning miss, how can I be of assistance.”

“Good morning,” I reply simply before I casually rest my arms on the booth inquiring, “I would like to make simple queries, how much is the first-year tuition fees? And I’d like to sign up for the entrance exam”

He nods as he flips through a few sheets of paper by his side, eventually he answers, “The standard fee for one year of enrollment at the academy of Tian is 100 gold coins, if you achieve a certain standard in the examination, it is possible to receive a half scholarship and only pay 50 gold. As for the exam, you don’t need to worry, just show up on the day, 14 days for now.”

I can’t help but feel my own polite smile droop as I consider the ludicrous price of enrollment, I heard that mage academy enrollment was exorbitant, but this is just ridiculous, 100 gold is enough to let a peasant family live the rest of their lives comfortably. I nod back somberly before saying, “Thank you, if possible do you happen to know when I can get magical goods, such as cultivation techniques, examined.”

“Yes, the most commonly used facility would be the Golden Fish pavilion, they are an auction house, but they exclusively perform examinations for a fee, students from the academy tend to use their services.” He explains with surprising enthusiasm. Inquiring at the directions to the pavilion, I thank him then leave for the auction house. The academy was already situated in the wealthier district of the city, so the auction house was nearby, I stand in front of a luxurious building with a lot of extraneously artistic forms twisting off the roof and sides of the building. I enter and the excessive luxury doesn’t cease but increases, lavishly dyed red carpet, a wide-open space with many free attendants dressed in classy clothing, not lavish enough so that they are better dressed than the customers but dressed tastily enough so that the customer feels valued, I internally scoff at the blatant catering. I feel out of place in my plain clothing, everyone here is wearing rather fine attire. I notice there are quite a few items on display, but they mean nothing to my uninformed self, after a brief moment of browsing around, an attendant approaches me asking, “May I assist you miss?”

I glance over at his smiling figure, at least his smile looks genuine, I say, “I would like a mana cultivation method to be examined and potentially put up on auction.”

Nodding politely, he directs me with a gesture saying, “Right this way.”

He brings me to the next floor which is far more enclosed than the first floor, it’s merely a hallway with closed doors, I get directed to a room with a middle aged man looking bored as he sits at an empty table with a sole chair across from him, his head shoots up as he notices our entrance, a smile adorning his face, “Welcome miss, I’ll be your inspector today, please, take a seat.”

“Please be aware that you will incur a fee on examined items, should you use our auction house for sale, the examination will be free.” He explains as I drop down into the seat, the man then requests, “Present your item please.”

Obliging I take out my parchment, his left eyebrow rises, after a minute of looking it over he says, “A rank 1 cultivation runic structure, plus a general cultivation technique, unfortunately I’m no mage so I will not be able to assess the worth of the technique itself, but not to worry, we have mage inspectors on the premises, Herald, call mage Alphonse.”

The attendant bows before leaving the room, while I wait awkwardly the man makes small talk, “You seem quite young, I suppose you’re part of the influx of soon to be students who are about to attend the entrance examinations.”

“Yes, I am, ‘soon to be student’ is wishful however, I’m not too sure of my talent, not to mention my financial issues.” I say self-depreciatingly as my eyes shift downwards slightly.

The inspector smirks in amusement, “A humble one? I’ll be frank I thought you were some rich noble lady, clearly even I can be wrong sometimes… and you say you’re not too sure of your talent, well I have an examine skill, and from what I can observe, talent will be the least of your issues.”

The door swings open as an old man in luxurious dark blue robes walks in, his face is clean shaven, and his hair cut smartly as it’s pushed back with hair product, he looks at the inspector as he says, “Jonathon, this better be worth my time.”

Jonathon shrugs on his chair, “It should be, here take a look.”

Jonathon passes Alphonse the parchment, briefly skimming over it before his eyes widen slightly as he more intently focuses on the parchment. For the next few minutes Alphonse silently mutters to himself a few times, an expression of excitement clear on his countenance, he glances up at me before his eyes shift to Jonathon, Jonathon seems to imperceivably nod as Alphonse turns back to me saying, “This may be a mere rank 1 runic structure, but it is a grade 4 technique, the best you’ll find in the empire, the effect seems to boost inherent intelligence by 10%, an incredibly rare effect for internal runic structures to the point that it may very well be a grade 5 technique by rarity alone. Unfortunately, this is merely the part of a much greater technique and it’s only a rank 1 rune hence its market price is only around 90 gold, however due to its rarity an auction will heavily inflate the price, I’d estimate around 120 gold is what it would go for.”

It’s a substantial sum, far more than I expected moreover the effect seems to be quite good as a first runic structure, it will certainly not have any clashes with my talents so I can rest easy now, not wanting to waste time I say, “Thank you mage Alphonse, I believe it would be in my best interest to sell the rune at this auction house if you’ll have it.”

Alphonse smiles as he responds, “Of course, moreover I have a proposal, if you would allow me to copy down that technique for my own personal use, I’ll upgrade your auction card one tier.”

“Auction card?” I say questionably as I tilt my head.

“Ah, well the Golden Fish pavilion is merely a subsidiary of Primavera Pavilion, they distribute cards that reduce the commission fees and purchase prices of items.” He explains patiently.

I feel my eyebrows perk up, commission, of course, I inquire, “If I may ask, how much is commission?”

“40%” he states simply.

I stare at him in bewilderment before saying, “40%, that ludicrous!”

He shakes his head as he patiently says, “It’s very typical as a matter of fact, will you still continue with us?”

Shaking my head from befuddlement, I agree, “Fine, if possible, can I get my card discount before the sale if I’m eligible, along with your tier upgrade.”

Alphonse ponders over as it raises his hand to his chin before saying, “Very well I have no qualms, you are eligible for the bronze card as it requires a total amount of purchases or sales of 50 gold, every tier of card discounts 2%, so the silver card which you will be upgrading to will discount 4%, I’ll go grab you one.”

As he runs off I consider the situation, he must be the owner I suppose, and with the silver card the commission will be 36% which is a little better, if I’m lucky I may be able to immediately pay off my tuition. Alphonse returns with a silver card, handing it to me he says, “The auction for this week begins in three days, you may attend if you wish.”

I nod thankfully as I say, “I’ll consider it, one last thing, I wish to ask for some advice, I’m trying to pay for my tuition costs, my auction item likely won’t fully cover the cost, is there any way I could get my hands on about 20 gold before the academy entrance exams?”

While Alphonse mulls over it, Jonathon suddenly speaks, “Assuming you have nothing of value, you will have to try your luck at the Bonnot gang.”

I turn around to look at him, saying, “So it’s not possible to request money from the merchant’s guild in my circumstances?”

Jonathon shakes his head, “No, it’s not.”

I sigh, so looks like I will have to get involved with organised crime, requesting their whereabouts and saying my goodbyes, I consider my next course of action. I will get around 80 gold from the auction which is a stroke of good fortune and drastically lessens my burdens, however I still need to get my hands on about 20 gold, this is still a substantial sum and not an amount I can easily obtain, I will think it over for a few more days until I see how much I get from the auction, then I will see what to do next.

Four days later, I leave the auction house with 9 large gold coins, 1 small gold coin and 17 small silver coins, the technique sold for 124 golds giving me about 91 gold coins. This puts me at about 9 gold from paying my first year of tuition. I didn’t attend the auction last night, I didn’t want to have my first experience at the auction to be while I’m broke, when I have some money to spend and knowledge of items in this world I’ll consider going. I thought about how to get my hands on 9 gold and no good ideas came up, I’ll go to the merchant’s guild to deposit my newfound wealth then I’ll visit the Bonnot gang.

Walking through the busy streets and asking for direction occasionally I find my way to the merchant guild of the city. The building itself doesn’t seem particularly rich, however it is certainly intimidating, it looks like a central bank of my old world, made of grey stone with clear windows that show a busy interior. Pillars shoot up around the entrance to prop up a wall-less roof, a vast assortment of people come in and out, destitute looking people in torn clothing, average workers and laborers and the occasional wealthy businessman in their opulent attire acting haughtily. Entering I come into a vast lobby filled with swathes of people and with interconnected stone booths lining the sides. Waiting in one of the shorter lines for little while I end up talking to a lady in a professional dress, she dully greets, “Good morning miss.”

“Morning, I would like to make a deposit and to ask a question on loans.” I say as I ruffle around for my coin pouch, placing it on the booth.

She takes the coins and begins writing down on a parchment before bringing out a new parchment, she says, “Of course, can you just fill in there and there.”

I fill in the parts she has a finger on while explaining, “So I intend to apply for the academy of Tian, but I can’t afford the tuition, is there any chance to take out a loan.”

Her countenance remains professionally neutral as she says, “I’m afraid not, students are risky investments, deaths occur, motivation can be lost, and many are simply not talented. Unless you have assets that can be used as collateral there’s nothing I can do.”

I just sigh as I finish signing my papers, saying, “I expected as much, is this everything then?”

She nods as she brings out a small device an opening in the middle, explaining, “Just put your hand in this and you’ll be registered in the database of this bank therefore you won’t need any documentation for withdrawal, just know that you can only withdraw your money from this bank.”

I slip my hand into the little opening, feeling a tinge of pain, I say, “Great, thank you, I’ll be off then.”

“Have a good day miss.”

I start walking to the rough whereabouts of the Bonnot gang, the streets start becoming less populated until the road is simple dirt. The buildings become shoddier and the people themselves look rougher in their more basic clothing. I arrive at an inn, ‘The Drunken Whore’, wow, that name is a bit much, entering I note a rowdy atmosphere. A few eyes draw to me as I see men drunkenly fumbling about, prostitutes standing around at the ready, and I see a few roguish looking groups and some thugs sitting around. Feeling uncomfortable, I immediately rush for the innkeeper to find where I can contact the gang. As I walk past a group of boisterous ruffians I feel my butt get squeezed freezing my body in horror, a man with a gruff voice says, “What’s a pretty little lady like ya, doin’ round these parts?”

Ugh disgusting, just ignore him, I continue forward but he starts laughing angrily as he shouts out, “Aye! Where da fuck ya think ya goin’?”

Shit! I can’t handle this bloody place, I slowly turn around fearfully. The man his rather stout, but his physique still speaks strength, I hesitantly say, “My apologies sir, I have business to attend to, if you’ll just…”

“I don’t give a shit bout some business yeah. Ya fuckin’ disrespected me.” He interrupts quieting the room as he raises from his seat, scowling at me, contradicted by his lusty smile. This is bullshit, I was the one who was disrespected, I feel my heart rate increasing from anxiety so I look around the room to see if anyone is willing to assist me, clearly this part of town doesn’t have the chivalrous types, as most are only staring, looking like they’re enjoying a good show, then there are a few who are relaxing, acting as if nothing is even happening. Feeling dismayed I plea, “Please, I have nothing to give, please, leave me be.”

Laughing creepily, he walks up to me saying, “Oh, but you have so much to give.”

I try to turn and run as my body still feels stiff from fear, he grabs my wrist with his meaty hands, the action causing me to jolt, my mana circulates rapidly as I pull my arm away. Surprisingly my action is successful, he stumbles forward, letting go of my wrist, not letting go of a good opportunity I instinctively kick at his waist which somehow sends him reeling to the floor, that kick contained more force than my small frame should have. The whole room suddenly bursts into cheers and whistles.

“Good on ya lassie!”

“Put on one good showing!”

“Ya fucked Bennie up!”

The man slowly raises but the people seem a lot more helpful after my actions as one of the nearby men kick Bennie back down to the floor. How on earth did I do that, I knew that creating my first runic structure would increase my strength, but to this extent, I had no idea, I suppose I never really tested out my strength, I just assumed that mages would be quite weak. Breaking free from my thoughts I walk over to the innkeeper, he places a jug of ale in front of me happily offers, “Here ya go lassie, on the house!”

I still feel quite awful after the whole confrontation, I suppose I’ll have a quick sip, which I immediately regret, the ale is certainly low quality alcohol, tasting more akin to tar, I say, “Uh, Thank you for the drink. I’d like to ask about the Bonnot gang and how I can go about borrowing money from them.”

The innkeeper’s eyebrows rise in surprise, saying, “Now what’s a little missy like ya need to borrow money for?”

I awkwardly reply, “Uh, that’s not really any of your business, so can you help me?”

I stand in front of an old wooden building with a few shifty types hanging around the entrance, as I walk past them, they all look at me with weird looks on their faces. Entering, a man in casually worn lavish attire glances at me, he calls out, “Over here miss.”

I walk over to him, he directs me over to a free table, sitting down which I follow, he then starts, “I assume you’re aware of what this establishment provides.”

My hands fold in my lap as I nod nervously, saying, “I am, I will get straight to the point, I would like to borrow 9 gold coins.”

His eyes seem to analyse my face as his eyebrows furrow slightly, he responds, “You do know what you’re asking for right, 9 gold is no small amount.”

Quelling my nerves, I confidently say, “I am aware but I need to pay for academy tuition, and I believe I can pay back the amount with interest in due time.”

He mulls it over, rubbing his bearded chin as his eyes drift, he says, “Hm, what makes you certain you’ll get in?”

I smile in realisation, he’s considering it, I reply, “I created my first runic structure 5 years ago so I believe my talent is adequate, also I obviously have more money to pay the full tuition, so if I don’t get in, I’ll have more than enough to repay along with any additional interest.”

He nods with a satisfied smile, “Excellent, the money the loan is yours, at a 10% interest rate per month.”

10%! I expected it to be high, but wow. I have gathered all the money I need to pay for tuition, now I just need to have the talent to get in.

10 days later, crowds of young people coalesce in front of a beautiful stone building, we stand on a large expanse of exquisite outdoor stone tiling, a cacophony of different conversations pollute the air as everyone waits in hope of becoming the next great mage, suddenly someone speaks with such loudness, such intensity that it drowns out all conversation, “Ahem!”

Everyone stops talking as they all turn their heads to an old man with long white hair and a long beard wearing rather bland grey robes, his face too far to distinguish, he talks in a raspy voice, “I am grand mage Edgar, the headmaster of this establishment, should you successfully pass, I will be headmaster Edgar to you. We will be conducting multiple tests on this premises, the first test will be the measure of your magical talent, most of you will be turned around at this first test so do not be disappointed if you fail, if you do pass, please enter this building in front of you to await further examinations, best of luck to you all.”

He turns around, the crowd once again sparks up in excitement, a few examiners step forward by the entrance of the building while holding some small magical apparatus. The people start getting funnelled into a line by some surveilling mages, me being near the back, people then get individually called up by the examiners.

Most end up looking dejected, turning back through a side passage, some desperately plea as they get detained by the nearby mages, then there is a small few who are allowed in, some have faces that light up in absolute glee, then there are some particularly well dressed people who have no change in expression, clearly knowing what to expect. As I progress in the line, I start to feel unbearably anxious, paralyzingly intense butterflies pang in my chest. Before I know it, I’m at the front of the line, a male examiner looks at me shouting, “Next please!”

“Write you name on that forum please.” I write my name on the sheet of paper with a blank spot for my name. When I’m done, he gestures toward himself before placing a device near my chest, noticing my anxiety he says, “Hey, don’t worry about, no amount of worrying is going to change the outcome.”

My face drops further, is that supposed to make me feel better? A few readings flash on the device, the man nods along to the information, I stare blankly at the device, my anxiousness deactivating my brain, the man suddenly breaks me out of my trance, saying with a wide smile, “Congratulations, you passed, you are 13 years old, your cultivation talent is 6.7 which is quite good, your affinities are 3.7 for fire and 3.0 for ice, a grade 2 affinity, very good. Finally, you are a rank 1 mage with a mana volume of 38 standard units, incredibly impressive considering your cultivation talent. I’m not sure how much you understand of that, but it’s my job to tell you everything, now, off you go kid”

He then sits at a nearby table and starts filling in the magical forum, I feel my face involuntarily grin as I just stand there stupidly, the man looks up at me before insisting, “Come on, get a move on, your tests aren’t done yet, and you’re holding up the line.”

I jolt as I quickly walk into the building, walking into a sparse hall with a few hundred people waiting around. Some of them are like me and are absolutely exuberant, some seem bored, and a few are chatting excitedly. I walk over to a pair in conversation, a young teen with a pristine face, exaggerated eyebrows and fire red hair in fine clothes is enthusiastically gesturing his hands around as he talks about his results to another person, an obvious braggart, “You see your talent is not bad, but you have to admit, my results are certainly above your average mage.”

Noticing my approach, he turns to me to me with an inviting smile, “Well who do we have here, I don’t believe we’ve meet, I know most notable people in this region. I am Hugo Fremont, son of count Denis Fremont.”

I notice the other person seems to sneak away, I bow regardless, politely replying, “A pleasure lord Fremont, I am just Agnes.”

He laughs in a friendly manner, “Please, Hugo, there are no ranks in the academy… Well just Agnes, we were just talking about our results for the test, care to share?”

I shake my head shyly, “I would prefer not, although I’m sure it’s incomparable to yours.”

He smirks while spreading his hands out, saying, “Well I have no qualms sharing, my cultivation talent is 8.9 and my affinity is a 4.2 in fire.”

Oh wow, that’s far better than me, no wonder he’s bragging incessantly, feeling a little gloomy I put on a fake smile, saying listlessly, “Wow, that is most impressive.”

Our conversation is thankfully interrupted when grand mage Edgar starts speaking, “Welcome everyone, we will henceforth begin further testing, most of you are already at the standard that is deemed acceptable for entrance into the academy, the next examinations will be used to determine your class placement, our academy prides itself on it’s competitive spirit, so don’t think merely gaining acceptance is enough to do well, we will call you individually into private rooms to be tested by an examiner.”

He stops talking as examiners grab people at random and bring them into private rooms. That unfortunately means my conversation with Hugo will have to resume, he turns toward me, with a jovial smile saying, “Well, Agnes, I uh, have some people that I wish to talk with… see you around.”

Oh ok, rude, apparently I wasn’t a pleasant conversation partner. I wait around in bored silence until it’s my turn, a middle-aged man with greyed hair directs me into one of the rooms. Entering, there is a wooden table with sheet of paper atop it along with an inkwell and a small device, there are also two chairs on either side of the table, he gestures his hand to one of the empty chairs, “Please, take a seat.”

I oblige as he sits across me, he continues, “Good. We will be testing two important components of mages, they are strongly related to each other but different as well, firstly we will measure your force of will, then we will measure you mana manipulation. But before that, do you have any experience in utilising your will, such as in manipulating mana?”

I nod hesitantly, as I slowly say, “I think I do, when creating my runic structure, I needed to use my will to manipulate my internal mana.”

He nods approvingly, saying, “Oh so you’re already a rank 1 mage, very good, let’s initiate the exam shall we?”

The first test requires me to mentally focus my will on the magic device, a reading flickers on it as bars slowly light up, the examiner nods slightly as he writes the result on the paper. The second test requires me to manipulate mana in certain shapes, the examiner would show me an image of a shape which I would have to replicate as closely as possible with mana. He performed this test 4 times with increasingly more complex shapes, I notice a look of surprise on his face as his eyes widen when I create the forth shape, he writes down my result before saying excitedly, “Very, very impressive mage, you have a will with a Gilbert grading of 3.5 and your mana manipulation has a Gilbert grading of 3.8, I expect to hear good things about you in the coming months, write your name there then we’re done here.”

I write my name on the forum before I leave the room with a smile on my face, I impressed the examiner, I felt a little dismal when Hugo told me his previous grading, but maybe my talents lie elsewhere. Waiting outside for a brief while, the headmaster makes another announcement, “We will conduct your last exam in the next room, this exam will gauge your intelligence, now please, move to the next room in an orderly fashion.”

The next room was yet another hall, except this one was filled with small desks with sheets of paper, an inkwell and a quill on top. We are directed to the desks where we are then asked to fill in our names once the exam begins. The questions don’t seem to require any prior knowledge, so I just answer as I see fit. Once the exam is over the headmaster announces, “Leave your papers on the desk, we will collect them ourselves. Your results will be ready tomorrow at the administrative building, collect it within the next week so you can organise your tuition fees and receive your class placement, that will be all fellow mages.”

It’s the next day and I’m waiting in line for my test results, I also have my coins on hand, I wouldn’t be so rushed, however I want to get my results so I can pay my tuition fee as soon as possible. Once it’s my turn I say, “I’d like to receive my results for the recent exam.”

The person nods, dully asking, “Name?”

“Agnes.”

He walks off to the back, after a few minutes he returns with an enclosed letter. I snatch it from his hands instantly reading it.

Name: Agnes

Age: 13

Mage rank: 1

Affinity: 3.0 ice, 3.7 fire

Mana: 38 standard units

Calculated Talent: 6.68

Cultivation talent: 6.7 (134%)

Mana manipulation: 3.8 (Gilbert grading)

Will: 3.5 (Gilbert grading)

IQ: 122 (92.9 percentile)

Classroom: A-2

Congratulations Agnes, you are deemed eligible for a scholarship, your first-year fee will be reduced by 50%, present this letter to an admin while paying tuition to claim your scholarship.

High mage Samuel

This is brilliant! I didn’t expect to get the scholarship, however I have no idea what any of my results mean, I suppose I’ll find out soon enough. The administrator seems to be just staring at me, realising that I was just stupidly smiling to myself, I feel my face heat up slightly, I say, “I would like to pay my tuition.”

Sitting on my bed I can’t help but feel giddy at my prospects, to excited to cultivate. Today I paid my tuition of only 50 gold, having 50 gold left over I returned to the Bonnet gang to pay my loan of 9 gold and 90 silver of interest. Leaving me with a total of 40 gold and about 35 silver, sure, the loan was unnecessary but who would’ve thought that I’d get the scholarship! Well half-scholarship. Regardless, now I’m officially enrolled in the academy, so I’ll be able to move into the dorm whenever I wish, then class will begin in only one more month, who would’ve thought that my future would be so bright all of a sudden.