Chapter 21

Jack’s stomach grumbled. It was two hours and some change later and Jack was finally finished with his homework. He even had time to skim the first chapter of the Fire primer. In that time, he had learned three new sigils. They were Temper, Torch, and Spark. Though not powerful, these were apparently good supplementary sigils for later stages of a Magi’s development. At least, according to the book it was. Since he wasn’t a Magi, he had no idea how to apply this knowledge. He simply resolved to learn it all and ask his master how to assimilate it later.

Overall, he liked the library. The knowledge was practical and immediately useful. Reading had never held any attraction to him back home were very few books were directly applicable to real life. What good was reading when you were too busy scavenging for essentials. You can’t eat books, enough said.

As he got up, the wisp that had been providing him with a backlight to prevent eye strain, hovered over the books he had checked out. With an audible suction, the books were whisked away by something only a quarter of their size.

“Wow, that’s handy. Um, take me back to the questing hall.” The guide wisp immediately started floating off in the direction that he had come in from and Jack had to catch up when he forgot that he was supposed to be following it. A few minutes later, Jack stood in front of the entrance to the library with Virtus who was saying goodbye to a half dozen people in their early twenties.

“Where are we going for dinner?” Jack asked as Virtus joined him. If only he didn’t need to eat, he would have stayed a few more hours to explore this wonderful garden of knowledge, but when the body speaks...

“Dinner is served at the mess hall in your dorm building as well as your other meals on the weekends,” Virtus replied.

“Then why bother with a mess hall that can’t feed everyone if the dorms can handle the load? Where I come from, a school that purposely provided less food than the students needed would get shut down real fast.”

“Ah! First off, not all students can afford to live in the dorms. Second, this method prevents food waste from students that skip meals or are not hungry. Finally, it is a method used by those in power to remind the weak just who is in charge. It is a matter of status. If you are sufficiently powerful then you can take the food from the food hall or have someone bring it to you. Everyone else is a commoner”

“That’s messed up!”

“It is as it is. That is how the college's grandmaster wills it, questioning it too openly would not be wise at the moment.” Virtus warned with a meaningful glance around the room.

Jack bit off his next words in frustration. He was right. Pissing off the status quo could wait until he had a big enough stick to swing, just like old teddy Roosevelt always said. They both took a step through the arch simultaneously. This time Jack braced himself against the strange sensations, which didn’t make the trip any more pleasant, but he didn’t trip this time, so he was going to count it as a win.

Red beams of condensed sunset and orange clouds filled the sky as day gave way tonight. All around them Fairy Light lanterns, Virtus called them far lanterns, in the shape of matte boxes that had been textured by some magical equivalent of a sandblaster hung on three-meter high lamp posts came to life. The reason for the roughness soon became clear as the fairy lanterns cast a much wider glow than the one time he had seen it demonstrated in class. Virtus decided to take the lead and headed off down the green at a leisurely canter.

Jack piped up from the arch. “Ugh, can we go that way instead?” He pointed conscientiously off to the side of the green where there was an illuminated footpath, evenly spaced dorm buildings lined the other side.

“I fail to see why we need to. That path will increase the trip by more than half and it would be best to get to the dorm before full dark.”

‘Breathe Jack, He doesn’t understand and that’s okay. Just be assertive!’ Jack repeated the familiar mantra in his mind several times before he spoke up in a more authoritative tone. “We are going that way Virtus!”

The guardsman stared back at Jack, perplexed and a little hurt before he straightened up and saluted. “As you command!” He pivoted in place and headed in the direction where their paths converged.

The rest of the trip was taken in silence. Both men cast their eyes out into the gathering night, vigilant for very different reasons. The darkness swept in like the tide, a sea of darkness covered all but the illuminated footpath. Soon, but not nearly soon enough, the front facade of Jack’s dorm room came into focus against the dark background. Bright firelight emanated from the downstairs windows in contrast to the bright purple fairy lights ensconced on the corners of the stucco door frame.

The clinking of dishes and the murmur of distant voices greeted Jack as he stepped into the entry foyer. He was tempted to head straight there, the scent of savory meat an effective lure. That changed when Virtus handed him all the stuff that he had been keeping all day. So after several trips to put his things in his room, he waved his bodyguard goodbye before he made a beeline for the food.

The dining room was a cozy rectangular room dominated by a long hardwood table. Ten well-crafted chairs sat to each side with about half of them occupied. Jack zeroed in on a spot with a bowl of savory stew and a hunk of freshly baked bread. He knew it was fresh because it was still steaming. Never before coming here had Jack eaten a meal made from scratch. The Old Man always ate t.v. dinners and his memories of his mother were too hazy to tell if she ever cooked. Well, now he didn’t need to worry about getting fat from grease and processed sugars anymore.

He had the bread loaf in hand before he even sat down. What followed could only be considered a frenzy. Not a crumb of bread or drop of soup escaped the onslaught from this rabid diner. In only a moment Jack finished everything before him and he was eyeing the nearby table settings for more. That’s when he finally noticed an array of seated teenagers looking at him, jaws agape.

“What? Is there something on my face?”

“Who are you? Why are you in our dorm?” a freckled boy across from him asked.

“Wha—I’m Jack. Jack Hearth.”

“That’s a strange name,” commented a girl with pigtails. “Are you a foreigner?”

“Yeah, what she said,” called another boy from the far end of the table.

“I guess? I’m not from around here, just not sure how far away though.” Jack responded.

“How do you not know?” asked Pigtails. Jack decided then and there that he did not like her at all.

“Because I don’t know if I am in a different universe, dimension, epoch, or just a different planet than my home. It was a very confusing trip to this place and I’m a little sensitive about being alone in a land of magic-wielding giants.”

“Giants?”

“Magic-wielding?”

“Universe?”

Several people exclaimed at once in confusion before the freckled boy that started the conversation seemed to have an epiphany.

“You’re him! You’re the Adjudicator!”

Silence fell as all eyes turned towards him. Jack flushed in embarrassment at the miscommunication. “Sorry, I just assumed that everyone knew what I looked like by now. Those signs with my likeness were everywhere today.”

“No!” Pigtails exclaimed. “Don’t apologize to us, Lord Adjudicator. We’re just commoners and don’t deserve your apologies.” She raised her hands in a warding gesture as if she could ward off Jack’s good intentions with them.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Jack asked. “You’re people are you not. My role as the Adjudicator is supposed to be a shield for the least, the last, and the lost. So I need to take responsibility for my actions, even if it is only a minor mistake like that.”

His outburst caused everyone to lean back in their chairs, himself included. He had no idea where that had come from. His master had been vague about his duties at best. Despite that, those words felt...right. Like an echo of a promise that had been engraved so deep down that it guided his entire paradigm.

He continued. “Never apologize for being wronged by those in power. The blame falls squarely on their shoulders, we have nothing to be ashamed of.”

He shook his head to shake loose the strange sensations and returned his attention to the room. Only Freckles and Pigtails still remained at the table. The other tablespaces all showed signs of a hasty departure which made Jack just feel more guilty. He never wanted to alienate anyone by broaching such a sensitive topic.

“My...my name is Nathaniel,” said the boy formerly known as Freckles.

“And my name is Natalia,” said the girl who was formerly known as Pigtails.

“It’s good to meet you both. Are you siblings? because your names and appearances are—”

“Yes, we’re twins!” Nathaniel admitted with no small amount of frustration.

“Oh. That’s cool.” Jack affirmed, lamely.

“We don’t like being treated as a lump package or a two-for-one deal at the market so please overlook our irritation. It’s a thing.” Natalia covered for her brother.

“Gotcha. Why do you talk like normal people? Everyone else I’ve met just behaves as if they had a certain straight object applied to their anatomy if you know what I mean.” Jack asked.

“We’re commoners. We don’t have the same education as the citizenry.” Nathaniel said while standing up. “You mentioned magic-wielding giants before. Checking our heights and features is another easy way to tell the citizenry and people like us apart.” Nathaniel straightened to his full height and beckoned Jack to as well.

Jack took him up on his offer and looked Nathaniel directly in the eye. They were the same height as him, at a little under two meters. Finally! He mused to himself.

His lips curled into an easy grin. “I think we are going to get along just fine.”

...

Hours passed as the trio talked. After dinner, the group relocated to the common room where a few others were speaking in soft voices in out of the way corners. That changed quickly as their jovial conversation sprinkled with occasional laughter attracted the onlookers like a certain stuffed bear to a honey pot.

In that time, he had made a real connection with the intrepid twins. Nathaniel was reserved and thoughtful. He always took everyone around him into account before he said anything. As the night grew late, he slowly coaxed the others out of their protective shells and put them at ease. He seemed almost compelled to put others at ease, his empathy was so great.

Natalia, on the other hand, was a straight shooter. She always kept her attention on her target, like a raptor swooping down for a tasty mouse. It explained Jack’s initial annoyance with the girl. She was more than comfortable spilling metaphorical blood and pushing uncomfortable topics to further her goals. He could see her doing well in law enforcement.

They were the children of a foundry worker and a seamstress that scrimped and saved for over a decade in order to send their children here in order to change their fates, only to roll over their parent’s feeble hopes and reach for higher ground. They had started classes at the beginning of the summer term, just three months before Jack had arrived on the scene, and had already become fully-fledged Magi. They were still at least a year off from reaching citizen status, which was apparently an amazing accomplishment, at least according to them it was. Jack was still fuzzy on all of these social and magical disclaimers that everyone used so casually.

Nathaniel had a natural affinity with Sound and had paid for the current semester by dowsing for wells using echolocation that Natalia in turn dug. Her affinity was with Earth, though neither would say what their exact sigils were, trade secrets, and were astounded when he openly shared his without any worry.

“You can’t just reveal your secrets like that!” Natalia had declared, with her brother's firm head nod to accentuate her point. “Our ‘glorious’ leaders will find some way to use it against you. Just use a vague description when describing your foundation sigil, even to your closest friends.”

“Ok, I will just say I am a Fire spellcaster from now on. Does that make you happy?”

“No, because your abilities clearly entail more than just the ability to start a fire, but it’s a good enough deflection for now,” Nathaniel replied.

...

Jack had positioned himself next to the large fire pit in the center of the room at the earliest opportunity. With every crackle and tongue of flame, his magical reserves grew just a little bit. It was a constant struggle to keep his appendages from sneaking past the ornamental safety fence keeping people with more guts than sense out and absorbing all that sweet power in one giant, metaphysical gulp. Before they knew it, a bell tolled in the distance.

“Midnight already?” Natalia complained. She had been in the middle of a silly story about her brother's encounter with a wild boar and did not appreciate being interrupted. Nathaniel just looked relieved. He was the first one on his feet as he bade the others farewell.

“Goodnight everyone!”

“Goodnight!”

“See you tomorrow!”

As Jack got ready for bed that night, he did so on feet light as the air all the while musing on the nature of fate. It was a fickle thing that yanked him around at the smallest whims but always arranged for a place for him when he needed to rest from the world’s many trials. Tonight was a good example, he had needed to decompress and more importantly, he’d needed to laugh.

It brought back memories of the last time he had laughed so hard. His caseworker, James Lockhart, had welcomed him into his home and made him feel safe. That was the only time in his life where he ever remembered being truly happy. Too bad Jack had to ruin it with his insistence on emancipation and paving his way. No one is an island, not even him.