Looking down at his best tunic, he felt very underdressed. It was the nicest thing he owned, but he was still the least formal one in the crowd. Gold and silver lace were popular, and a few even had actual runes sewn in. If he had known that admissions day would be an event, maybe he would have asked his mom for something nicer. After a brief consideration, he realized that his mother would never buy him a dress tunic. He had to be fine with what he had.

He stood at the edges of the crowd and watched the goings on. Most of the crowd was just standing around, talking. But every so often a young person would go out on stage and have their stats displayed for all to see. If any one of their stats were particularly good, a cry would go out in the crowd.

It confused him at first. He didn’t know how they were showing the stats. Displays of light like that were illusions, work of the shadow domain. No one practiced that here. He walked through the crowd to get closer. It wasn’t until he was very close that he saw the illusion was entirely mechanical.

There was a pane of glass suspended above the dais. Behind that was a man with a transparent status card. He would quickly swap out the numbers when someone walked up, and then use a mana shard to create enough light to project it onto the glass above the prospective student.

It seemed like a lot of effort to go to for a little bit of theatrics. He wondered why they bothered. But then again, he wondered about a lot of things that the ruling class did.

Hugo walked up to the front of the crowd and saw a few official looking people. He walked up to the closest one and said, “Excuse me? I would like to apply to the school, what is the admissions process?”

“Have you already submitted your packet?” he said.

“Packet?” Hugo said.

He pointed to a tent off to the side of the campus and said, “Go over to that tent and tell them you need to start from scratch.”

Hugo walked over to the tent off to the side. It didn’t take long for him to regret his decision to apply. He had to fill out form after form. A form to apply, a form to verify his grades from Reval general school, a short essay on why he wanted to apply. He kept writing the year wrong, and had to cross it out and write the correct year, 3464, on over half of the forms. It was hours before he was done.

Finally, with a finished packet in hand, he walked up to the entrance of the academy again and handed it over to a faculty member. They didn’t even check to see if he had completed everything correctly. They just directed him to the light domain steward on duty.

The experience with the steward felt awkward. She asked if he wanted his numbers displayed on the stage (no thank you). Then she put her hand on his shoulder and looked at something only she could see right above his head. Then she read off all of Hugo’s stats to her assistant, who wrote them down on the outside of his admissions packet.

Once she was done, she said, “Congratulations, you are provisionally accepted to Blue Lion Academy. This acceptance is dependent on corroborating your packet, and payment verification.”

“About that. Who can I talk to about payment?” Hugo asked nervously.

She just pointed him to another tent, wordlessly. There certainly were a lot of tents out today. Once he got to the front of that line he found himself tongue tied talking to the accountant there.

“I don’t... I mean, I can’t pay the tuition. Is there another option besides paying upfront?” Hugo said. He didn’t know why he was suddenly so nervous. Maybe because his goal was so close now.

The man narrowed his eyes at Hugo and said, “I hope you realize we are not running a charity here. Just because you were soulmarked, does not get you a free education. If you want something for nothing, then maybe see if a harvester crew wants you to join them.”

The accountant’s gruff manner brought out Hugo’s confidence for some reason and he retorted, “I was planning on paying. Quality education isn’t free. I was planning on looking into getting a loan, is that something the academy offers? What do people normally do?”

“Normally, they can afford their tuition. Go talk to my apprentice about other options,” he said and waved towards the back of the tent.

Following his directions, Hugo found a small desk with a young man sitting behind it. Stacks of papers were set up on either side of him.

“Hello, that man sent me back here. Can you help me with getting information on loans or?” Hugo said.

“You have come to the right place, go ahead and sit down,” the young man said. As soon as Hugo was sitting on the rickety chair, he continued, “Blue Lion Academy doesn't do loans. What they do instead is an indentureship program after graduation. You sign a contract to work for the academy full time for a few years as a way to pay for your schooling.”

“How long would I be committing for?”

“Depends on your domain. Life domain folks can usually be done in about three years. Barrier domain graduates often take six years to pay off their debt. It all depends on what job you qualify for after graduation. It gives you incentive to train hard during your four years of schooling, so you can quickly pay the academy back,” he said and handed over the contract.

Hugo could tell that the young man was expecting him to glance over the contract and sign it. But this was his life for the next several years, he was going to read every word. It did detail education, food, and lodging during the four years at the academy. That was nice. If he incurred extra expenses it would be added to his total debt.

It never said how long he would have to be indentured to the academy though. It just kept saying until the debt was paid, but not how fast the indentureship would pay off the debt. It also talked about interest rates, which weren’t very clear to Hugo.

“Is there any way to narrow down the terms for the indentureship after I graduate from the academy? This is all way too vague.”

The young man sighed and took another paper out of the stack as he said, “I guess you will be wanting the rider too.” While Hugo read this extra piece of paper he tapped his foot impatiently.

This “rider” was much more clear. It detailed a total debt load and how much a year of work each job would take off from his total. It also went into the standards for food and lodging during the indentureship, something that hadn’t been mentioned before. Doing the math made him realize that the shortest an indentureship could be was four years not three. And there were some jobs that paid so little that they would take twenty years to pay off the academy debt. Indentureship was legalized slavery, he was wary of getting into a contract that would have him without freedom for longer than he had been alive.

Still, it wasn’t like he had a better option. A bank would probably want payments right away and he wouldn’t be earning anything during his schooling. He turned to the impatient apprentice and said, “Are there any other papers I should be asking for?”

The young man rolled his eyes and said, “No, there are only the two. You have everything.”

Hugo nodded and signed both. “Can I get a copy of them for my records?”

“Yes, yes,” he said and handed over the papers.

“So, what’s next?” Hugo said.

“Just be here tomorrow morning at the ninth bell. You will be assigned a dorm room and given a set of academy uniforms,” he said.

...

Hugo showed up to the academy at a quarter past the eighth bell. He was carrying everything he owned, stuffed into the same bag he used for the trip up the mountain. The conversations with his mother had not gone well. She hadn’t appreciated the fritter enough to ignore the fact that he wasn’t going to give her money anymore. He just wasn’t going to earn his own money for the next eight years or so. He had left this morning without eating breakfast.

When he arrived, there was already a line at the gate. In fact, it looked like they had already started letting people in. He wondered if the apprentice from yesterday had lied about the time to make Hugo look bad. The joke was on him though, Hugo’s terrible home life had saved him embarrassment.

Once he got to the front of the line, Hugo was tested again by a light domain staffer, to make sure his numbers matched what they had recorded yesterday. Then he was let inside the academy walls.

This is where he would spend the majority of the next four years of his life. He was awed by the architecture. It was just as grand as the best neighborhoods in the city. Straight lines and columns. Round buildings and ornate carvings.

Hugo was surprised at how big it was. There were six multi-story buildings in sight and he knew there were more. And yet, the campus wasn’t crowded at all. There were lush greens and trees between every building with a solid stone walkway connecting all of the buildings. It was extravagant, particularly since it took up space in the expensive part of town. He was starting to realize how much the mage education in this city was prioritized. Maybe the expensive tuition really was worth it.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was the quiet. The walls muffled the sounds of the city around them. The subdued atmosphere made him almost feel reverent.

The next few hours were full of waiting in various lines. Wait in this line to verify payment arrangements. Wait in this line for books. Wait in this line for writing supplies. Wait in this line for a set of tunics with the school logo on them. This line was for a school schedule.

Happily, there wasn’t a line for dorm assignments; that had already been determined the day before. Hugo found himself on the top floor of an apartment building, with a room at the far end of the hall. The dorm room felt luxurious to Hugo.

There were just two beds in the room, which was larger than his mom’s whole apartment. He took the bed nearest the door since he had never been a fan of heights and didn’t want to be by the window. Each bed had a large locking trunk at the foot of the bed, and Hugo tossed his backpack inside. Then he hung up his clothes in the nearby closet. He marveled at the carvings on the wooden closet, so ornate. It almost didn’t feel real. There was a small kitchen area with a faucet and a hot plate. There were some cupboards above and below.

What shocked him the most was that the room had its own bathroom. He was used to sharing one with the whole floor, and this room had its own. It was a little small, with a toilet and shower and nothing else. He couldn’t figure out how to use the shower, so he assumed it needed mana. He was excited to figure out how to use it.

The faucet in the kitchenette didn’t need mana, so he used it to freshen up and get dressed into the school uniform. The pants fit well, but the tunic was too large. He would have to see about getting it tailored. It was mostly white with a thick blue trim. The blue was the same blue as the Blue Lion Academy flag, it must be the school color.

According to the schedule, he didn’t have to be anywhere for another two hours, so he sat down at the desk. He only had the one book, which seemed lonely at the large desk. He spread out his school supplies to make the desk look occupied. He wasn’t looking forward to writing with a quill and ink again. He had a long habit of staining his hands when he used them. He was marginally more tidy with a charcoal pen, he would have to see if he could buy one.

Before he could crack open the book, someone burst into the room. It was another young man, slightly taller and skinnier than Hugo himself. He had curly black hair and the patchy start of a beard. He had several bags slung over his shoulder, and he walked into the room with a kind of nervous energy.

“Hello roommate! I’m Oskar, nice to meet you,” he held out his hand to shake, then said, “Let me put down my stuff first. Oh, I see you left me the bed by the window. How very considerate of you. That gets you extra roommate points for sure.” He plopped down everything onto his bed as he kept talking, “My dad told me about these rooms, but I didn’t believe him. This is the Blue Lion Academy, the only academy for mages in the whole town. There is no way. No way, I said that the dorms are that crappy. I stand corrected though. This is a dump.” He wandered over to the bathroom and peeked in, continuing to talk, “And talk about small. It is just big enough to stand in. You can pee into the toilet from the shower, for goodness sake. But we aren’t here for that, are we? Here to get the best education. All the best people have come from here, I am just excited to be here among all the future greats. I plan on being one of those greats myself. I bet you will be great too, what did you say your name was?”

Hugo laughed, “I haven’t said anything yet. My name is Hugo. I am happy to be here too.”

Oskar stopped for the first time and sheepishly smiled, “Sorry about that, I tend to talk a lot when I am nervous.”

“Don’t be nervous on my account, I am a nobody. I don’t think there is anyone poorer in the whole school,” Hugo said with a smile.

“Well, that’s a relief,” Oskar said, “Not that you're poor, that’s too bad. I am just glad that you aren’t nobility. Now I don’t have to pretend.”

Hugo laughed.

“So, what are you in for?” Oskar said, “Do you already know what domain you want, what you want to do after school?”

“No, not really. I know I want to be able to make a lot of money. I guess that is true of everyone,” Hugo said.

“Ha. You wish. About half of the people going to this school don’t have to make money at all,” Oskar said, “Nobles or well connected people don’t need to stress about their education. They have a spot reserved for them when they get out.”

“I wish I had that. But still. I am happy to be here,” Hugo said, “I grew up in the narrows. No matter what I do here, it will be better than where I grew up.”

“Oh for sure. I grew up midtown, and even for me, being a mage will open up all kinds of opportunities. As long as I graduate that is. That student debt can kill you if you don’t get a good paying job afterwards.”

“You still had to get a loan for school? I would have expected someone from midtown to be able to afford it.”

“I wish. My older brother got full ride, but I get the joy of paying off my tuition myself. Luckily, they gave me a break on that since my parents went here, otherwise I would be stuck paying the loan back for twenty years or more.”

“I hope it won’t take me twenty years to pay off my debt,” Hugo said.

Oskar’s eyes went wide, “Oh, sorry. I wasn’t trying to...”

Hugo waved his hands, dismissing the concern. “I just gotta get a good job afterwards, and then it will be fine.”

They had a longer conversation where they got to know each other. Oskar was from a minor merchant family, and planned on taking over the family business at some point. Hugo told his roommate all about himself too. They hit it off well, glad to have a reasonable person as a roommate.

When the time came, they walked together towards the auditorium. They entered into a large room, the main stage was set below ground level, the rest of the room sloping down to that level. Row after row of seats filled the room, most already occupied. There was a dull roar of conversations.

Hugo looked around. This was it. His first class in a magical academy. He couldn’t wait to see what it would be like.