Chapter 10

On Jack’s first day attending classes at the campus of the local community college, he thought that was the highest level that he could reach. Two years to get a general degree, followed by an office job pushing numbers, or words, around a ledger for the rest of his life; that was the plan. So when he saw Laurentius University, something very small and tender mended in his soul. It wasn’t Harvard. No, it was so much more.

The University was located on the eastern side of the Imperial district. The palace complex, which was on the west side, was connected to this place by a road that circled the center of the district called the Hub. At first, Jack thought the large stadium on the southern side was a sports arena or gladiatorial ring. That was a thing back on earth, so he felt justified asking. Nope. Lillian guffawed at his theory and told him that it might as well be. It was called The Forum publica. It was where the members of the Senate and Nobility went to decide on policy and the political future of the country. Jack just thought it looked like an MMA arena, just for politicians instead of warriors.

Jack could tell that the academy was designed by the same architect that made the palace complex. The same architecture and materials were used in its construction. It was a nice place and he thought staying here would be comfortable. Way better than my high school, that architect designed prisons for a living.

Running from the gate was a long stretchdown the center that was part path and part park. The cobblestone bricks shone a variety of different hues and the grass was vibrant green. Trees of all different types were placed haphazardly in various corners and rest areas to provide strategic shade. It was full of young people, from kids around ten to adults in their mid-twenties. Some were lounging under the shade and chatting; most were congregating around the aforementioned signposts and were conversing in hushed tones. Almost a third of those he spotted were sixteen and under and another third were in their mid-twenties. Most of the younger kids were wearing a uniform straight out of a Japanese private school, just with a southern European flair to them like the large v-necks and tight fit. He figured that they were fellow students of the Laurentius Academy, a feeder school for the university. Please, please God, I’ll do anything. Just don’t make me dress like an underage mobster. Jack prayed silently.

That directed his thoughts in a completely new direction. He hadn’t prayed, thanked, or even thought about God since the morning he helped that man to the hospital. He wasn’t sure how he thought about that. Some things were better left sealed until he had the time and emotional strength to go through all his unresolved baggage.

Lillian led Jack off to one of the taller buildings with transparent windows instead of the stained glass of other structures he had seen. This surprised him. Didn’t he read somewhere that clear glass only became a thing during the industrial revolution? Must be magic, he concluded.

At the entrance was one of those signs and this one drew a crowd so large that blocked the entryway of the building. Lillian cleared her throat, loudly. No one even glanced her way. Her cheeks blushed a crimson hew and her eyes narrowed. She drew her hands into claws and stomped up to one of the students and tugged on his shoulder.

“You, remove yourself from our path!”

“What is your damage, lady?” The student, a young boy, turned to glare at her. He didn’t move from his spot.

Lillian's already narrowed eyes became slits. Her hand flexed, bringing the boy to his knees with a grimace.

“Let go! Let go! It hurts!” He squealed.

Lillian released her grip, causing the boy to slump in relief. A few seconds later he remembered why he was on his knees and rabbeted. So did anyone that was in their path to the door.

Jack stopped her from leading the way through the newly made path and gestured to the sign that had drawn such ardor. “I want to read that before we go in.” He said.

Lillian nodded in agreement, her glare blazed a trail through the crowd, allowing Jack access. They swaggered up to the sign and read it.

The Adjudicator has been summoned. Be wary, my fellow students, he has already shown his true colors. The grand summoning ritual meant to bridge the gap between worlds was sabotaged by an otherworldly being under his command, many of our fellow Magi perished from the encounter. He means to destroy our ways and let the filthy Cultivators and Mystics rule our beautiful Empire. Brothers and sisters, please take up arms against this interloper. For more information, join us, the Society for Magical Purity, Friday at three in the Grand Cathedral. — Cassius Aureus, Student Council Treasurer

Jack started laughing at the absurdity of this statement. He had only just gotten here and was already being used for jingoist propaganda. In some ways, this place was just like home. After a bit, he wiped his eyes and tried to get his breath back. Everyone was now just staring at him quietly, a mixture of expressions showing. He turned to address the crowd.

“I haven’t heard such ridiculous propaganda in a while. I just got here and have no idea what the other factions mentioned here even are.” He gestured at the signpost. “I am the Adjudicator! My name is Jack Hearth. I came to this world with a mission that has nothing to do with all of you. Just stay out of my way. That is all.”

A tall kid in his late teens stepped out of the crowd. His face resembled a pissed-off honey badger, so Jack braced for a fight. “You laughing at us foreigner? What do you even know about anything? You just got here and are already giving us orders. I don’t think that I like that. Maybe you should learn to treat your betters with respect.”

Glowing neon red symbols started to coalesce around his wrist for a second before there was a flash. A large orange fireball, the size of a basketball, popped into existence above his hand. It had a rainbow sheen covering it that was reminiscent of an oil sheen. With a gesture, it flew right at Jack and disappeared into his chest. He had good aim.

Before Jack could respond, a blur skipped past and the next thing anyone knew, the teenager was on his back and Virtus was standing over him. The blackened blade of a spatha pointed down at his chest. The edge just barely broke the skin and drew a drop of blood. Was he following me the whole time? How come I didn’t notice a man in shiny armor walking so close behind me? Jack thought, trying to pick his jaw up off the floor.

“Should anyone try that again, I will make them regret their actions.” Virtus barked. “You all know me. You know my reputation. Even Cassius should know better than to mess with my charge. DISPERSE!” He bellowed that last part at the top of his lungs. It had the intensity of a roaring lion.

As one they all turned and frantically fled away from the stern sword-wielding guardsman. More than a few tripped and one unfortunate boy got a nasty wedgie that somehow involved a quill and a pineapple. Story for another time.

When they were all gone, Jack fell over and started retching. His everything was nauseous. It was a bit like when he entered the robin room, only instead of sliding over his skin, it was inside. Thankfully it was much milder or he would have passed out.

Virtus and Lillian were hovering over him. They were yelling but he couldn’t focus enough to pay attention. Then Virtus laid hands on him. This only made things worse as the feeling of wrongness intensified. Lillian smacked his hand away, said something, and laid her hands upon him. Braced for the worst, Jack was surprised when the wrongness cleared in the section she had touched. Then something inside his body changed.

It was as if he had always known something but had to remember it. The small veins that seemed to hold magic around the area the fireball hit were full of a sickly red light. It spread to the nearest reservoir in his body, almost as if someone else was corralling it. Once there, the light got split into two shades, the first one a bright red that he liked, and a puke green light that felt like sewage. The red light assimilated into his muscles and strengthened them and the green light was compressed before being shipped off to his core.

Once it was all gone nausea disappeared and he felt immediate relief. Guess that means I just collected more fuel for the fire. With a groan, he managed to get onto his knees and look around. It was just a little easier than before. What he saw was not encouraging. A hundred sets of peepers were peering out of every nook and cranny. Which meant his pratfall was now public knowledge, wonderful!

“Jack, are you feeling okay?” This was accompanied by a hand on his shoulder. Said hand and voice belonged to Virtus, his face displayed concern and panic. Jack suddenly felt terrible for taking this man for granted just because he was with that pompous idiot when they met. Virtus had always shot straight with him and was honorable. I’ll make it up to him later. Right now I need to get out of the limelight. One of the first things he learned after striking out on his own. Never let them see you weakened.

“Can we get to my dorm room before any further talk?” He gestured at all the peeping toms around them. His loyal shadow peered out at the observers and checked his questions. Jack knew the guardian would mother hen him later when they were alone.

Lillian, who had given Virtus the floor, piped up. “If you would follow me, your room is this way.”

...

Ten minutes later, the three unlikely companions all stood in a cozy room with olive walls and hardwood flooring. A small fireplace 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 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. They threw around Fireballs and what-not, whereas she had displayed superhuman strength. After deliberating, he 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. “In the university, it is taught that Fire is already the most basic form that any power can achieve. While we are aware of fuel, ignition, and heat, but they are treated as a separate discipline.”

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.

“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 classrooms are.”

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

“In that case, I am going to go to bed. It was late 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 at 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 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 little dressing fiasco in the infirmary. I would be more than willing to assist my lord Adjudicator with his morning preparation.”

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 necessary, just give me some pointers on how to put it on right now and that should be fine.”

Everyone jumped when there was a sharp knock on the door. Virtus reached for his sword and squared off with the door and Lillian slid a thin metallic object from the folds of her dress. It disappeared quickly but Jack had recently had all his senses enhanced. He glanced down at the hand concealing the slender knife and caught Lillian giving him a sinister grin.

A familiar but muffled voice followed it a second later. “Jack, are you in there? It is I, 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? Are you injured? 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?” His eyes roamed Jack the whole time he spoke, looking for signs of the attack.

The others were moving behind him, Jack only had seconds before violence broke out.

“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 the orphan ward?”

Frantically he turned back, ready to step in and stop any attempt to break the peace. He located Virtus and Lillian and… they were sitting, on his bed, calmly.

Relieved at the agreeability of his companions, annoyed at the intrusion, and a little embarrassed, he returned his attention to Casper who was both sporting a complicated look at him and also glaring daggers at Virtus. Jack felt he needed to get the full story on why these two hated each other but it would have to wait. “I’m okay, the Fireball didn’t actually hurt me. It just made me nauseous, so I am going to bed.” He hinted.

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 to be 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, goodnight.” 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, but not before wishing him goodnight in what he thought was the local tradition.

‘May the Almighty bless your rest.’

As soon as everyone left, and the door slammed shut behind them, he started to peruse his new place. He was under no illusion that they just picked a random room to put a hot potato like him into. First, he scanned the ceiling, walls and finally looked for the proverbial trap door under the rug, no dice! He touched everything that looked even remotely suspicious, looking for hidden switches and the like, and after it was all done with no nausea, he started to relax. That means there isn’t any magic right? He had no way of confirming whether his guess was actually true, so he cast it from his thoughts and started to peruse.

The closet was full of blue uniforms that seemed to come out of a school life anime. He frowned a bit at that, being used to casual clothes thoroughly disinclined him from this kind of formal wear. The suit he was wearing was an exception due to him considering even getting it on to be a challenge… but now he had to get it off. He sighed and started the long process of getting into bed. Maybe the uniform is comfortable, it could happen.