Ten minutes later, the three unlikely companions all stood in a cozy room with olive walls and hardwood flooring. A small fire place along one wall had just been lit and was warming the room. The bed was made of down, very comfy. On the other side was a small study area and a closet in an alcove on the side. In other words, it was way nicer than his old place.

Jack sat on the window sill and reclined on the wall, watching the sunset. Right now the question was how much could he reveal to these two. They obviously used two very different kinds of magic, but he didn’t think revealing that would lead to a good result. It was this Lillian that had him tied in knots. She had access to the most protected individual in this city, yet her power showed that she wasn’t one of these Magi. He simply decided on a wait and see approach to that line of thought.

Virtus took a step towards him and asked. “Why did you collapse in the courtyard just now? I saw you walk into a fiery furnace and come back healthier. A tiny little Fire cantrip like that should not have even fazed you.”

Jack gave him a warning glance. His ‘help’ just now made it even worse. “That’s because that wasn’t Fire that he threw at me, It was concentrated sludge. It took a few minutes to purify it enough to move. I don’t get why you all, aren’t sick all the time considering just how dirty your magic is.”

The guardsman looked confused and a little offended, but Lillian seemed to be aggrieved. The expression quickly disappeared as she noticed his attention on her. Now that’s interesting.

Jack was frustrated, so he tried once more to explain. “The flames from before were a natural expression of power, no mana involved. My Master showed me this.” He drew the sigils on a parchment he had found on his desk. Then he explained what his master had told him about magic so far.

Virtus scratched his head in consideration. This went against what he was taught and he said as much when Jack finished explaining.

Lillian spoke up then. “Be that as it may, I believe it is time to move on to more important topics. Here is your class schedule and syllabus.” She handed him a wooden folder with several pieces of that pulpy parchment in it. “We tried to get you into as many types of classes as we could. After a week there will be a reshuffle as students finish picking their electives. So there is time to change things around if the schedule does not suit you. Your classes will each be one to two hours long depending on the class.” At this she gestured for him to read the schedule.

Jack sat down on his windowsill, it was padded, and opened the folder and read it over. By the time he had finished, what he did not know about said schedule far outweighed what he did. Well I suppose that’s the point of school, to learn.

Time

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

8

Basic magic

Basic magic

Basic magic

Basic magic

Basic magic

9

Basic runes

Basic runes

Basic runes

Basic runes

Basic runes

10

Fire magic

Fire magic

Fire magic

Fire magic

Fire magic

11

Lunch

Lunch

Lunch

Lunch

Lunch

12

Meditation

Enchanting

Mana forging

Field lore

Dueling

1

Meditation

Enchanting

Mana forging

Field lore

Dueling

“Do you have any questions?” she asked.

Jack held out the piece of paper. “I don’t understand anything on this paper. I don’t even know enough to start asking them. Though I do need to know where these class rooms are.”

Virtus spoke up. “Leading you to your classes will be my job. I am a recent alumni of the academy, so I know my way around.”

“In that case, I am going to go to bed. It was afternoon when I woke up in that pink death trap and I don’t want jet lag on my first day.” Jack lamented.

The others looked to each other in confusion. They both had the same look, ‘what is jet lag’?

“Then I will see you in the morning at six.” Virtus said. “That is when the food hall opens up. We need to be there as soon as possible because it can be… a bit chaotic in there once they fit everyone in.”

“I will also be here at five thirty to assist you into your uniform and make you presentable.” Lillian interjected.

Jack flinched at those last words. Little brain thinking took over his common sense as he responded. “That won’t be necessary. I… can dress myself.”

Lillian had a mischievous glint in her eye. “Are you sure? I assure you

that I am a professional personal aide, and... I heard about your dressing fiasco in the palace.”

Yup, she’s laughing at me. Now I have to lock the door and bar the window. He cleared his throat and responded. “That will not be nessesary, just give me some pointers on how to put it on and that should be fine.”

Everyone jumped when there was a sharp knock on the door. A familiar but muffled voice followed it a second later. “Jack, are you in there? It’s me Casper! I came to check up on you.”

Before the others could stop him Jack was already at the door and turning the knob. The door swung open, revealing Casper with his hand up ready to knock again. He blushed and lowered the raised hand.

“Jack are you okay? I heard you collapsed in the courtyard after being attacked by Crispin. That no good boot licker does not deserve to tread upon the same ground as you. Did he hurt you, do you want me to teach him a lesson?”

Virtus started to put himself in between the two men, arms raised, and Lillian pulled something long and metallic from between her skirts only to hide it quickly behind her leg. No one but Jack caught it, but it only made his suspicions grow.

“EVERYONE STOP!” He yelled. “Casper is my friend and is allowed in here. Virtus, I thought better of you. Didn’t you two get to know each other back in Half Pipe Junction.”

Virtus looked chagrined but backed away. “It was more like he told me to take you to a healer then ran away, like always. It did not instill a sense of comradery between us.”

He then turned to Casper who was sporting a complicated look, though he noticed a bit of rage was working its way to the surface after Virtus’ dig. “I’m okay, the Fireball didn’t actually hurt me. It just made me nauseous, so I am going to bed.”

Tension fled from Casper at Jack’s words and he let out a relieved sigh. “That’s fine then, but that means you probably will not want to go out tonight.” He stopped to ponder his response for a second. “I guess we can meet up at breakfast and go over all the questions you wanted answered this morning. Is that acceptable to you?”

Jack smiled at the young man. He really needed to talk to his Master tonight, so he couldn’t go gallivanting off to the slums to talk to this leader that Casper mentioned. “See you at breakfast.” He held out a hand for a high five. When everyone just stared at the hand in confusion he just withdrew it awkwardly. All of his guests walked out to let him have some privacy.