The Mission Hall was a huge building. In the distant past it may have been a simple hall, as its name implies, however that was no longer the case. The structure itself was built like an enormous bunker, with extremely thick and sturdy walls fashioned out of blocks of solid black stone.

The oversized hangar was sectioned off into a dozen different halls. A pair of halls was dedicated for each Order of Mages above Second. One was for taking missions, while the other one was meant for reporting back and delivering what was required by the mission. Above the doors of each of them was a number of stars indicating which Mage Order the chamber was for.

Wolf saw a couple of his seniors, who obviously still didn’t own Rings of Holding, bring in herbs and valuable minerals on floating concave disks made out of Soul Force. This was Packmule, a Second Order spell, which Wolf had never prepared so far.

I guess even useless spells have some application when you don’t have enough money for a Ring of Holding, the boy thought, then realized there was money to be made here. I could buy resources from Roger and then sell them off here. Even an idiot could come up with such a simple scheme.

A moment later Wolf continued this train of thought. An idiot probably did come up with such a scheme. If I had an idiot like that appear in the academy I’m running I’d smack him silly.

Wolf immediately realized he probably shouldn’t try scamming the Mage Academy in such a childish and obvious way. Instead of trying to find the ways to scam the system, he examined the warehouse where students could turn in their mission results.

Other than two burly men guarding the door, the only thing Wolf could see from outside was a large stone plate filled with fine gilded writing titled Terms of Service.

The rules Wolf found important were related to dress code, you had to look presentable when doing official business, just like everywhere else on Mage Academy grounds. Bribery and sales of questionable goods were punishable.

Even though questionable goods weren’t clearly defined, Wolf gathered it was everything other than what you were supposed to turn in. On the other hand the punishment was clearly defined, confiscation of the said goods and a fine in Academic Credits.

The sign also stated that other than employees and students turning in their missions nobody was allowed in. Due to his nature, Wolf immediately wanted to test his boundaries and check whether the rule was really enforced.

“Sir, entering the premises requires mission information on your student card. Do you mind showing it to me?” the guard politely asked as soon as Wolf drew too close.

With the way Wolf looked he could easily pass for a ten year old. Even though he wore a student uniform, his Mage Order was almost certainly too low for him to be taking missions.

“I don’t have a mission. I was admitted three days ago,” Wolf said sheepishly.

“Then I must apologize, but you are not allowed to enter here. Only students completing their missions are allowed to enter the premises.” Even though the man’s tone was polite, he did not act subservient.

“No, I’m sorry, thank you,” Wolf said hastily and went to the four star hall where missions for Fourth Order Mages were issued.

Inside the Mission Hall there was quite the crowd. Most of the students were in their early to mid twenties, but there were some mid to late teens scattered about as well. Wolf, who was diminutive for a twelve-year-old, stuck out like a sore thumb.

“Hello there! You must be a new student, correct? Did you come over to check out the Mission Hall?” a charming woman asked.

The woman had a very alluring figure and wore a smart formal man’s suit. The black and white suited her quite well and accented her body in a very tasteful manner. However, the impression was spoiled by the tone of her voice.

The woman had addressed Wolf as if he was a lost child, which ticked him off a bit. He could tell at a glance that she had the aura of a Mage, a low Order one, but Wolf couldn’t tell her exact Order without revealing more about himself. He guessed she was at the Second or Third Order, slightly weaker than the old chaperone.

“Um, yes.” Wolf nodded awkwardly after a bit of delay.

The woman misunderstood his lingering gaze and the silent second, beaming a smug smile. Her job depended on her maintaining a pleasing outward appearance. Once her beauty wanes she will be moved to a less paid job, or one that requires more effort.

“Since you’re just browsing, here take this,” the woman handed Wolf a brochure. “Everything you need to know about Mission Hall and missions in general is written there. Once you’re done reading it, just return it to one of the desk clerks over there.”

The woman pointed towards the far end of the hall, where people lined up in front of five desks. Four of them had attractive young women, while the last one had a dashing young man with a perfect smile.

The lines weren’t of the same length, which amused Wolf. Different women had a different number of admirers, while the only male clerk mostly had female students in his line, with an odd youth added into the mix.

“It’s crowded today. It’ll be like that for the rest of the week. There’s a rush every half a year when a new semester starts. During the first week of a semester new missions are announced daily. After that it’s weekly or biweekly and a lot of people are gone on missions for several weeks or months at a time. But that doesn’t concern you much, you can just cut in line to leave the booklet.”

“What are they waiting for?” Wolf asked.

The students waited patiently in long lines, while the first person in line sat in front of the desk, looking at a book-sized wooden board.

The woman smiled at how this youth was trying to flirt and came up with nonsense questions just to speak a bit more with her. However, she didn’t want to embarrass him, instead she seriously answered his question. “Well, to get the list of missions of course.

“When I was a regular student, there was a board with missions pinned to it on that wide wall over there. You could just pick your mission and there was no need for those five to sit there the whole day. Back then we only had two former students to enter the mission details into our student cards.

“But this changed a couple years back. Now nobles have the first pick in the earlier hours of the day and then us common folk get to pick what’s left,” the woman said without a hint of anger, as if things were the way they should be.

“And those people waiting in line now?” Wolf asked what the clerk believed to be another nonsense question.

“Mostly Baron families,” she said, but continued in a whisper. “A couple of stray Viscounts who were too lazy to get up on time, or maybe avoided meeting someone of a higher status.”

“Thanks,” Wolf said and went over to a nearby bench.

The woman was surprised he didn’t try to draw out the conversation even more, nor did he check her out once again. However, she told herself that Wolf was probably shy and that there wasn’t anything wrong with her looks.

Wolf sat on the bench, read the whole brochure in a couple of moments and then felt stupid.

I really should start reading things like this while walking, he thought. It doesn’t even take all of my attention to go through it…

While Wolf was frustrated with himself acting out of habit, he was fairly satisfied with how straightforward the rules were.

You pick a mission you like, and you can’t have more than one at the same time. Once you pick it, the mission details are entered into your student card, and you might get other specific equipment depending on the mission description. If you fail your mission, you pay the fine equalling half the reward, or more, depending on the mission.

The only other thing of note was that a group of four or more Mages of the same Order could band together and choose a mission one star above their Order. Then they would have to resolve it as a group.

The brochure also had example situations and other technicalities, with a note that actual details would be described in the mission itself.

Considering that there was a pecking order, Wolf decided to wait on the bench until it was the common-born students’ turn to pick their missions. With nothing better to do, Wolf started meditating, leaving just a sliver of his will to pay attention to his surroundings.

It was close to noon before all of the noble-born students finished picking their assignments. As for the common-born students they started gathering about an hour ago, making yet another line.

They waited for the last of the noble scions to leave the four star Mission Hall, so they could go in and pick the leftovers for themselves. Wolf opened his eyes and glanced at the waiting commoners, recognizing some of the beggar mentality he’d seen so many times in the backstreets.

Even among these nominal peers it was easy to spot yet another pecking order. These people stood in groups, with an undefined, yet very much real line which separated them into social layers.

Wolf couldn’t help but be amused. It reminded him once more that commoners differentiated between artisans, merchants, laborers and peasants, and finally beggars. Hell, even among beggars there were various levels of how lowly you were. In this unlikely situation it became apparent to Wolf that humans, and maybe even manlings in general, had an instinctive need to separate their society into layers, into them and us.

While Wolf was creating his own personal version of sociology, the last noble had left the Mission Hall.

Wolf immediately got up and approached the nearest desk clerk.

“Excuse me, I have some questions,” Wolf said to the woman.

The woman looked at him and for a moment and her eyes glazed over. She took a deep breath through her nose, appearing completely out of it.

“Ahem,” Wolf cleared his throat after a moment of weird silence.

The woman snapped out of whatever spell she was under and went back into business woman mode.

“Yes, how may I help you?” she asked, inwardly wondering what had just happened to her.

“I would like to return this booklet, and if you would be so kind as to show me the missions that are available?” Wolf asked formally while handing back the pamphlet.

The woman before him was attractive and had a nicer face than the other clerk, but the odd look she’d just given him was kind of weird.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t sleep well last night. Sorry,” the woman apologized as soon as she’d noticed the strange way Wolf looked at her.

She continued in a considerably more professional manner. “As for the mission, I’m sorry, but you have to be at least at the Fourth Order to accept a mission from this Mission Hall.”

“Madam,” Wolf started. He’d never expected he would be treated like a child here. “I am a Mage of the Fourth Order. Here’s my student card.

“If you don’t believe me, you can also check the student registry if you want,” he said as he handed over his student card.

The woman checked the card, and then carefully examined Wolf once more. The hint of a patronizing look she had a moment ago was completely gone.

“I apologize if I’ve offended you Sir. Here’s the list of available missions,” Wolf clearly heard the clerk's awkwardness, and he knew the woman felt genuinely sorry and embarrassed for the second time in a row.

She handed back Wolf’s id, as well as a tablet made out of applewood to Wolf. He looked at the glossy, well polished surface with some confusion. It had a short list of missions and the bottommost one had its letters cut off in the middle, with only the upper half of the letters visible.

Seeing Wolf’s confusion the clerk smiled kindly.

“Here, let me,” she said as she stood up and took Wolf’s hand.

The clerk then moved Wolf’s index finger to touch the middle of the lacquered wooden surface and swiped upwards.

Following Wolf’s motion the list of missions rapidly scrolled up and Wolf could see that there was a large number of them.

He also noticed that the hand holding his was shaky and covered in goosebumps. The air was pleasantly chilly, and the temperature was maintained by a Spell Formation. Otherwise this closed space would’ve become insufferable with how many people were coming and going.

Pushing aside the thoughts of wonders of Spell Formation Scribing and architecture design, Wolf thanked Mandy, as the nameplate identified his attendant, and focused on the information before him.

All of the missions had a short, but descriptive name, location, reward amount and the expected time it took to complete the mission, as well as the deadline for completion, if any.

Wolf quickly did the math and figured out that longer missions, which were worth more Academic Credits, were actually less profitable when you divided the reward with the estimated time it took to complete the mission.

Since all the missions were for Fourth Order Mages, Wolf simply picked the most profitable bandit extermination.

“I’ll take this one,” Wolf said while giving Mandy his student card and pointing at the mission called ‘Exterminate Glenwood Brigands’.

“Hey kid, what’s the big idea picking a mission before us?” an arrogant male voice said from behind Wolf’s back.

Wolf turned around and saw a guy in his late teens. He was nothing special, but had several other people around him.

“Who do you think you are to talk to me like that?” Wolf raised an eyebrow and asked mockingly as he tried to pick a fight.

“What an unruly boy!” One of the henchmen flanking the teen shouted. “This is lord Donald Din! His family used to be nobles until the previous generation and they will rise again with him at the helm! Lord DD, please allow me to discipline this child!”