Many problems are actually easier to solve than you might think; however, just as many are actually much harder than you would ever imagine. This is a bit of a tautology, something that doesn’t really describe the world outside of an obvious statement. But aren’t obvious statements the more profound, the longer you stare at them? Don’t monks stare at walls or meditate for the whole day? Well, once you say enough obvious or stupid things, you might transcend reality; who knows? Some people made a career out of it. Mostly politicians, lawyers, and dentists.

As a rule of thumb, I don’t respect many principals and whatnot. Most schools have these puppets that aren’t even remotely capable of critical thinking—and we are even surprised when kids barely learn to think for themselves in school. But yeah, we are talking about people I learned to loathe. See, the main problem is the insane amount of power that any teacher or principal holds over the students. Back on Earth, in 2021, parents could barely smack their children across the head without the CIA suddenly popping out of their toilets. Two generations before, moms used to put alcohol in their children’s milk to make them fall asleep, or sometimes even worse. Hell, you could have called the DEA, not just the CIA. Maybe both. Who knows. Who am I to say, really.

Anyway, a teacher, or a principal, can literally hold your life hostage. We tell kids that half of their entire life, if not more, is about school. School. School. School. You know how I told my study group that there’s much, much more than what school teaches you, right? I mean, it’s fairly intuitive. If everyone goes to school, but not everyone that goes to school becomes successful, maybe it's because of school, but despite school.

Like, imagine telling someone that one bad grade is who they are. And, again, school or not, people are ignorant and stupid all the same, aren’t they? Arguably, I found more interesting people in family-owned businesses than business school chicks. I mean, taking cold showers at 5 AM outside and spending four hours a day in the gym taking selfies, doesn’t get you much wisdom out of the latter category—business chicks, I mean. And, to avoid being sexist, this applies to male chicks as well. Roosters? Nah, male chicks sounds better. Honestly, male chicks are even worse than their female counterparts because they have all the same problems but do not have boobs. And really, what is life without boobs?

Do you know how I know that women lie about size not being important? Because men say the same thing, just about a different body part. It’s biology, people. What can I tell you? Men are not happy about small boobs. They are not even good; they are just fine with it. Not good, again. Fine. Ask a man with a small-boobed girlfriend, and they will obviously tell you that small is good. Some people – and to be clear, they are all lying – even say that smaller boobs are better. Then they shift the conversation to the ass because ‘ass takes hard work’ or some nonsensical stuff like that. First of all, boobs are hard work. God’s hard work. Arguably, God’s masterpiece. Which God? I don’t know. Whatever God is out there, he did a wonderful job with those happiness dispensers.

What was I thinking about?

The school system, right. It sucks. Yeah.

“Good morning, Joey,” Ariostus says as I enter his office. He does have an [Assistant], or maybe a [Secretary] or something, but I have this special privilege because—

“I have been experimenting with the concept of shifting and ever-changing matrixes; it’s just wonderful! Look!” he starts summoning some globes of fire above his desk. They have slightly different shapes. “I have been testing it! I maximized the volume occupied by the matrix, made it thinner, and kept the strains of magic as distant as possible in this iteration of [Fireball]! And look! Amazing! Once you maximize the distance, the small changes in the matrix actually become important in the casting! This proves that, as you said, [Mana Sense] and its evolutions are actually a fundamental part of magic! This is insane!”

The guy is one of the most enthusiastic researchers in this world. I don’t even know how they made him [Dean] when all the [Archmages] look like snakes.

“I do wonder how you made it as a [Dean] among all the snakes in this place,” I voice my thoughts.

“What? Oh, politics? My contribution to magical research is greater than the [Archmages]’. I just never became one because I’m less interested in my power than knowing more about magic. Technically, I would argue I’m better than Titus, magic-knowledge-wise. I just never bothered to conquer a tower or go into a conflict. But trust me, they are not interested in going against me because they wouldn’t be able to manage the academy without me. Also, they are not sure they would have the upper hand in a duel. As it happens, I rarely duel.”

“I would almost say you are the ‘strong, silent type,’ but you are a very chatty person,” I tell the guy.

“You could say so,” he smiles, waving a hand and snuffing out the [Fireballs].

“What can I do for you?” he asks.

I have to say; this man is really something. In a world full of sharks and idiots, this guy is only interested in pursuing magic. Also, as he has already proven, when he can, he will help people. He’s not going out of his way to be a Good Samaritan, but he’s also not turning the other way. I mean, he could have done so with me, but he didn’t. Sure, I gave him some good knowledge, but for once, I can easily say that this man is mostly interested in magic. The few politics-related games he had to play haven’t rotten his soul.

“I wanted your advice on something,” I say with a yawn. When I told the others I was going for a nap, I was serious. It just came to me halfway home that I should probably consult Ariostus on the matter.

“Not magic, I believe,” he sighs with a smile. “Neither on how to conduct a lesson. You left quite an impression on most students. Some are already complaining about you. But the best ones are practicing non-stop. Titus even came to discuss what you theorized with that simple grabbing exercise and how to make it harder for people who already have excellent control. I believe he was this close to actually asking you about it.”

“If the guy wants to talk magic, he knows where to find me,” I shrug, “but no. It’s not about magic. It’s about one of my fellow students. Amelia—“

“Miss Agraria. Amelia Agraria. Took the entry test and failed several times before passing. Professors have marked her as someone who will most likely fail her midterms and get expelled. What about her?” I see a flash of sadness on Ariostus’s face.

“You know, don’t you?” I ask. “Robin gave you a copy of every report or something, right?”

“That he did.”

“So you know. Ok. Her landlord wants to kick her out because she didn’t pay rent. She’s going to bunk up with Alba, the Ahali girl.”

“An Ahali would probably get very offended by the fact that you called her that,” Ariostus notes, “being a bastard among the Ahalis is not a thing to take lightly, Joey.”

“Meh, whatever. They can suck me. I already have this,” I point to the huge hat on my head. “Lord Juler’s heritage on my goddamn head, right? I think the most stupid among the Ahalis will have a bone to pick anyway, whatever I do. So, what’s there to worry about? Anyway, Amelia. She’s struggling financially—“

“And you are so rich you want to help,” Ariostus finishes my sentence again.

“That’s the gist of it, yeah.”

“Throwing money at problems has never solved much. Instead, it usually acts as excellent bait for trouble.”

I think I might have heard something similar before, now that I think about it. If you only give money to homeless people, it doesn’t do much. Was it those freaks in San Francisco that did something like that? Could be.

“She’s in denial,” I explain. “She doesn’t talk about what happened to her family. I mean, you could say she’s lying in a way. But I just think she’s a bit—I don’t know. I’m not really armed to deal with what she’s going through, honestly.”

Ariostus listens to my explanations and asks me to clarify. After hearing the details, he exhales.

“Fuck,” he swears.

“That’s not promising.”

“Promising? Joey, you are smart, right? If this were a wound, what she does is the equivalent of picking at it. It festers more and more. Grief… people go mad with it. [Archmages] naturally have longer lifespans than others. Did you know that there were more [Archmages] killed by something related to grief than anything else? The figure of the solitaire and lonely [Mage], as portrayed by the average person, is there for a reason. What happens when you attain incredible power, but you are misguided by a weak mind?”

“You mess up. You mess up big time.”

“You do. You mess up, as you say. And when you do, it’s the others who suffer the consequences. People with incredible power have to look after their minds very carefully. Only a few do take care of it, sadly. And you ask me what to do with a woman whose mind is…”

He makes a pregnant pause and looks over his desk.

“There,” he fishes for a sheet of paper and hands it out to me.

“What’s this?”

“Take a look,” he says with a wink.