“Repeat after me,” the registrar said.

Shaya did as asked. “I, Shaya Heirosoth, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Arcadian Empire against all enemies, from without and from within; that I will bear unfaltering allegiance to the same; that I will serve the Archon in valor and faith; and that I will obey the orders of the Archon and the orders of the commanders appointed over me.”

The registrar handed Shaya the crystalline dagger, and motioned for her to cut her hand. Shaya did so, the dagger’s edge as sharp as a scalpel, and watched as her blood was absorbed into the crystal, turning it red. The registrar took the dagger back and pushed a vellum scroll to Shaya. “Sign at the bottom, and leave a finger print with your blood.”

“Is that...it?” Shaya asked.

“Oh my, no,” the registrar gave her a sadistic smile, “Next you have to read through this stack and sign every page of it.”

The woman pushed a tower of paper towards her.

“But that’s it for the oath?”

“What, did you expect lines about living honourably, fighting for glory, and dying nobly for the Empire? Yes, that’s it for the oath, it’s the same one issued to all our soldiers, you don’t get a special one. What you do get is this special stack of paperwork to do and I get to archive this bloody dagger in case you break your oath. Now sign these papers and come back to me once you’re done.”

Shaya nodded and accepted the rebuke.

Plopping into one of the nearby chairs in the waiting area, she began to read the papers given to her. She read the first few pages in excruciating detail before signing them, pleased that they seemed rather innocuous. The next dozen she skimmed to get the gist of each section and sub-section, then signed them as well. Minutes ticked by and the pile of papers remained enormous, so she adopted an even faster strategy: skimming only for key words related to selling her soul, ownership of her belongings, what might happen to her body, anything regarding obligations between the Empire and Kelahk in particular.

An hour later, she managed to get through the paperwork, signing every page, and turned it back into the registrar. She massaged her cramped hand and forearm, wondering how the scribes around her managed to get through their days and looking at a few to see if their writing hands had grown asymmetrically like a crab’s.

“Looks like you’re clear. Congratulations, you’re now a sanctioned mage of the Empire,” the woman said without a congratulatory note in her voice while tapping the pile of papers to align their edges. She placed the pile in a basket off to the side, which was snatched up by a passing aide and dropped off at another clerk’s desk. The registrar then drew out a small stone slate, no bigger than Shaya’s palm, and slid it across to her. “This is your identification slate. Guard it with your life – losing it is grounds for being dishonourably discharged. This slate will be keyed to you and your classes, allowing you to access the specific areas you need to on campus. Understood?”

Shaya nodded, taking the slate and looking at it. Tiny aethercyte was embedded into it and, squinting really hard, Shaya could make out tiny spell circuits embedded in the slate. She pocketed it and looked back at the registrar as she continued.

“Your monthly stipend will be one gold coin, but you will not be expected to pay for your residence or tuition.”

Shaya blanched at the small stipend, given the costs she heard merchants charging for food right now. She looked down at Quill as well, wondering how much stabling them was going to cost her as well.

“You have been assigned to Lance Seven, you can find the residences in the north part of campus.” Shaya earned a map of the campus, which she started analyzing as the woman kept speaking. “You’ve arrived later than we prefer, so the rest of your Lance has already settled in. Worse for you, most students enrolled in classes before the summer, so your selection may be limited.”

Shaya looked up from the map, frowning. “The hells? I didn’t even receive my acceptance letter until a month ago.”

“Ah, yes, well Kelahk is very much off the Imperial Teleportation Network,” she said testily, “most of our students are more...local.”

“Can I register my courses with you right now?”

“Of course,” she forced a smile, “Review this manual and use it to fill out this form. You can register for up to six courses for no additional cost, but we do not recommend going above five. Especially if you are not particularly...gifted.”

Quill stretched their wings as Shaya plopped back down on the chair with the manual, quickly browsing through it. It contained all of the courses from first to fourth year, but didn’t note which ones were full. She just had to pick a few spares and prioritize them based on available space. Flipping through the manual, she noticed that third and fourth year courses had especially complex requirements, and she wanted to make sure she’d be able to take the ones she wanted.

“Can I keep this?” Shaya asked the registrar.

Her nose wrinkled in annoyance. “I suppose, you were supposed to receive one anywa-”

“Thank you,” Shaya ripped the blank back page out of the manual and used the public quill to sketch out her academic career. The registrar and other scribes looked up in horror at her sacrilege, but she ignored them as the contents of the manual hooked her attention. She folded page corners to be able to reference courses and flipped back and forth to get a sense of all of her options.

The manual was divided by subject. Each type of magic had a section dedicated to it, the courses broken down by high level concepts rather than types of Espers. That let Shaya ignore three entire sections, at least, and likely a fourth. Until she learned to better control her blood rage, she was afraid of what she might do when Ruby aether stoked her anger, but she hated the idea of depriving herself of a third of her magical power.

The strategy courses piqued Shaya’s interest, as they were dedicated to learning how to direct combatants at different scales and fight smart. Battle was a subject devoted to personal combat, ranging from basic weapons training to advanced courses on fighting particular types of monsters and Titans, and she knew she’d want to take several of those as well.

There were also more generalized sections on aspects of magic, such as conjuration and item crafting. Shaya was also surprised to see entire streams dedicated to thaumaturgy and even alchemy – maybe she would be able to find Rel a nice gift here. Beyond that, it looked like the Academy partnered with the neighbouring University of Arcadia to offer other courses less related to war: courses on ruling, diplomacy, history and more.

Shaya was certain of only a few things about her future, but she knew that it was going to include violence. Monsters were common enough in Kelahk that it was going to take her life time to cleanse Lumir’s lands and make sure her people were safe. Even the rare Titan rising between cycles wasn’t unheard of in her kingdom, so she wanted to be ready for anything.

That means I can ignore anything from the University, unfortunately, Shaya thought as she reviewed the huge list of courses still available to her, but hopefully I can pick up interesting historical texts for light reading between coursework.

Shaya’s highest priorities were two entry level strategy courses, since she was done fighting hard and brushing past death’s door every time. STRT-1200: Game Theory was a pre-requisite for other courses that would teach her how to command armies and defend her borders against any threats, and STRT-1000: Tactics would let her command squads, including more elite units down the road.

Next, she wanted to make sure her magical abilities grew as much as possible – or as much as she was comfortable with, at least. She was an Amber mage first and foremost, so she wrote down two of the entry level courses. AMBR-1050: Intro to Abjuration would give her the tools she needed to protect herself – and those around her. AMBR-1000: Intro to Transmutation would let her adapt to any situation and better control it – integral to any strategy built around fighting smart.

She wished she could take more of the Amber courses, but wanted to keep some diversity in her training, so she prioritized JADE-1100: Intro to Biomancy next. The course description suggested it would improve her healing abilities, but also introduce some basic spells to enhance physical abilities. A smile spread across her face as she imagined what she could do with supernatural speed, or even more strength.

Finally, some of the later battle courses piqued her interest, which meant she needed their pre-requisites. BATL-1000: Foundations sounded like it would just be repetition of what Krebo already taught her, but maybe sparring against nephilim would teach her a thing or two. The course description underlined that magic wouldn’t be allowed though, so that might limit its use to her. BATL-1150: Mounted Combat sounded like a lot of fun, and would hopefully bring her closer to her other mother’s heritage – the Ashan’s were known to be born in the saddle, but Shaya didn’t get much exposure to that. Mounted Combat was the pre-req for courses about flying mounts and leaded cavalry, so it covered that aspect too. Maybe Quill would grow up to be a fearsome battle mount for her someday, letting her battle monsters and Titans with aerial superiority on her side.

Given the registrar’s warnings of being late to register her courses, Shaya also picked some backups to be safe. CONJ-1000: Intro to Conjuration was the only entry level course for the stream and seemed to be universally useful, so that would be a good fall back if others didn’t work out. She also added AMBR-1270: Intro to Force Constructs, since that would give her even more battlefield control options and, without anything else hooking her interest, she wrote down RUBY-1000: Intro to Pyromancy.

Sometimes the best way to control the battlefield is to wipe it clean.

Assuming I don’t fly into a berserk rage and murder all my friends and comrades. And innocent people standing nearby.

A shudder went through her when she thought back to Kredig’s eyes in the midst of his blood rage, how quick he was to murder the crew that looked up to him and that he in turn cared for so much otherwise. What kind of monster was Tarrak that even distant descendants from Him could do such a thing.

And gods, why was He so prolific too... few of the Seven sired as many different bloodlines.

Shaking her head to dispel that line of thought, Shaya reviewed her paperwork one more time then stood and stretched. Quill rose with her, stretching their back out long like a normal cat instead of the eagle-lion hybrid they were, still avoiding the use of their limb. They gave her a quiet ‘wark’, eager to move on from this place.

Shaya agreed with them, walking back to the front desk and sliding the course registration form to the woman. “Register me into the first six courses available from those listed, they’re ranked top to bottom.”

The registrar scanned the form and smirked up at Shaya. “There seems to be some misunderstanding,” she said, voice once again full of condescension, “the magical courses are not for teaching theory, they’re for teaching you to cast spells from that part of the Spectrum.”

Shaya nodded. “And?”

The woman rolled her eyes, as if Shaya was too dense to get her point. “And you have courses listed for three different types of magic.” She reached under her desk and pulled out another registration form, “You’ll want to have a seat and try again.”

Shaya looked at the fresh form, then back to the registrar. She kept her tone formal, so cold and polite that it could cut. “That will not be necessary. Please action my initial form as instructed.”

“I don’t think you understan-”

“I just spent the past hour reading the course manual, I understand full well what each course on that list requires of me and what it can do for me.” Shaya interrupted, growing tired of this exchange. “Not only am I literate, but I’m a trichromatic mage. Stop insulting me through your veiled attempts at being helpful, and do your damn job so I can get on with my day. Now.”

Cowed, the woman did as she was told. Minutes later, she handed Shaya a page with the courses she was successfully registered for, what books she’d need for each course, and when they’d take place in her weekly schedule. The registrar gave her an insincere smile, “Will that be all?”

“No,” Shaya responded, startling the woman, “First, you will apologize for your rude treatment of me.”

“I will what?” She replied, incredulous.

“I’m not going to repeat myself.”

They looked at one another, eyes locked, for several seconds before the registrar broke contact and coughed. “My apologies Serra,” she said with forced sincerity, “I allowed frustrations of work to cloud my judgment.”

“Shaya is fine, thank you. Now, there is one last thing,” the woman deflated as Shaya spoke, “I need to stable my companion. Can you point me in the right direction?”

“Of course,” she said through gritted teeth, “the stables are the far north western part of campus. I’m sure they’ll be happy to take care of your... friend.”

“Perfect, thank you for your assistance today,” Shaya said, returning the insincere smile.

As she neared the door, the registrar couldn’t help but get in one last word. “Good luck with your six courses!”

Shaya rolled her eyes, expecting this, but didn’t deign to respond to the barb.