The academy was busy, as always, on a Thursday. Olivia strode through the crowds in the central, open hallway, quickly passing through and taking hallways and stairs that would lead her directly to Oylla-dak’s office. She saw faces she recognized, but none of her cohort members or the others in her class—this time of day, they were all probably in Spellcraft class.

Olivia passed through the reception area for the administrators' offices, and she walked so surely and quickly that no one called out to her or asked where she was going. Oylla’s door was closed, and it looked dark within like the shades had been drawn, but Olivia gave it a knock anyway, standing back from the door in the dim, wood and plaster-paneled hallway.

She only waited a few minutes when the door opened, and a small, pink-skinned woman with tiny Ghelli wings opened the door and stepped out. She was wearing a silky blue blouse with a gray skirt, and Olivia thought she recognized her from one of the registrar's desks. She looked at Olivia wide-eyed and then nodded toward the open door. “She’s at her desk,” she said, nodded briskly, and hurried down the hallway.

Olivia walked into Oylla’s sitting room, took a right through the open double doors to her office, and said, “Hello, Professor. I’m very sorry to be so late coming back to the academy.” Oylla was sitting back in her chair, her feet on her desk, massaging her temples. Her eyes popped open at Olivia’s words, and the tiny star-like lights in their dark, glittering depths glinted in the dim light. Her lips spread, revealing enormous canines, and then she was on her feet, striding to Olivia, arms spread wide.

“Olivia! I knew you’d be here soon but didn’t expect you this early!” She pulled her into a hug, and Olivia reached under her arms to hug her back, surprised to be nearly at eye level with the formidable woman. “You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?”

“I’ve certainly learned a lot! I’ve been keeping a journal and have some amazing discoveries to share with you!”

“Oh? I’ll look forward to spending some afternoons with you, then. We have much, and I mean much, to discuss, Olivia! Sit down, please. There are a few things we need to settle right now. Excuse me,” Oylla said and reached down to her desk to touch a polished stone, “Bina? Please cancel my next appointment.”

Olivia sat in one of the plush chairs in front of Oylla’s desk, and, to her surprise, Oylla sat in the chair next to her, not behind her desk. “I’m sorry to make you miss your appointment . . .”

“Not at all! I should be thanking you for getting me out of that meeting! Who wants to sit down and listen to a stuffy accountant whine about expense reports? Now, tell me a little about your experience, just the broad strokes, though—we can get into the details in our next meeting. I can tell by your aura that you’ve gained some significant power.”

“Well, I should start by saying I’m level twenty-five now,” Olivia began, and Oylla’s eyes widened. “I gained a new class at level twenty—Elemental Paragon. You see, a friend of mine had fallen through a portal while defending against an invasion from another world. Another friend managed to find a way to open a portal to him, and we staged a rescue. That’s where things sort of went off-plan. We got teleported to a different world entirely and had to spend several weeks learning how and preparing to open a gateway back to Fanwath. That’s the much-abridged version of events.”

“You opened your own gateway?” Oylla raised an eyebrow.

“Not just me. I figured out the spell for my friend, who has an affinity for void Energy. Luckily, he had the means to store up a lot of Energy. That’s what took the longest.”

“Void Energy, hmm? That’s rather uncommon, Olivia. I’d like to meet this friend of yours sometime.”

“Well, that’s another matter we should talk about,” Olivia said, lifting Morgan’s anchor stone out of the satchel she’d set next to her chair. “This is an anchor stone for a portal in my friend’s tower in First Landing. He’s asked me to seek permission to place it here, at the academy. With this in place, I’d be able to visit home more frequently, and so would you or others from the academy be able to visit First Landing. Obviously, it would also allow Morgan or others to visit this place.”

“That’s impressive, Olivia. I’ve seen the like, and we have several similar gateways on the grounds. They’re extremely costly, though, and usually only very wealthy, established families from the empire maintain them here.” She took the stone from Olivia and examined it, “Very sophisticated work. Did your friend create this?”

“No, he earned his tower from the System when we first came to this world. He had to fight guardians within the tower in order to claim these stones to activate his portals and only managed to do so recently.”

“Fascinating. I’ll grant your request if only to satisfy my own curiosity about your friend’s tower. What did you say his name was?”

“Morgan, um, Morgan Hall.”

“Alright, when we’re done with this meeting, I’d like you to speak with Mrs. Poyle at the administration front desk. She’ll assign you a plot in the Travel Pavilion where you can place this anchor. Have you seen the pavilion? It’s west of the flower garden, around the other side of the main academy building.”

“I think I have seen it, but I didn’t know there were gateways there. We never had cause to go inside. I mean my cohort members and I.”

“No, it’s not usually a subject for first-years. Alright, that’s settled; now, I have important matters to discuss with you regarding your studies.” She paused to look at Olivia, waiting for any objections or questions, but Olivia was silent. “I want you to continue your classes with Professors ap’Rall and ap’Rek. The rest of your days will be spent working with an advisor, a mentor, really.”

“Oh? While I was gone, I worked a lot on my artificing and wouldn’t mind learning more . . .”

“Time for that when you’ve perfected your spell knowledge. Trust me, Olivia.”

“I do trust you,” Olivia said, nodding.

“Good! Now, this is where you get some more input—we need to choose your advisor. I’ve had more than a dozen tenured professors come to me with an interest in you, and I’ve narrowed the list down to five. We’ll interview them together. How does that sound?”

“Um, it sounds good, Oylla. Thank you for helping me with that.” Olivia frowned slightly, and Oylla reached out a long-fingered red hand to take hold of Olivia’s.

“You’re wondering how I narrowed the field. Let me say that I have extensive knowledge about the professors at this school, and although I’m the head of first-year students, that wasn’t always the case. Heads of class rotate with their cohorts. Next year, I’ll be head of second-year students, and the third-year head will move to first-year. I know all the professors, and only Headmaster Jaxin-dak outranks me on these grounds. So, you see, I recognized many of the parties interested in you for their true intent. Professor ap’Gravin, for instance, would seek to recruit you to his family’s service, perhaps in an unfavorably binding contract.”

“Ap’Gravin was interested?” Olivia couldn’t help the way her voice rose in alarm.

“Oh yes. You may have bested his protege early on, but that won’t keep him down. No, he sought to save face by taking charge of your future learning. I rebuffed him for you, of course. That’s just one example. Professor Yizshin would bury you in research and keep you locked away in his alchemy laboratory for the next several years—not a good way to foster your natural talents and love of learning, trust me.”

“No, that doesn’t sound ideal . . .” Olivia said, imagining a dark basement filled with bubbling beakers and cauldrons.

“So, I’ll start scheduling the interviews. We’ll begin tomorrow. Does that sound alright?”

“Yes, that’s great. Should I attend Spellcraft and Cultivation tomorrow?”

“Oh yes, I’ll be sure to schedule around those two classes. Now, about your accommodations, you’re technically still part of Copper cohort. However, you’ve outstripped the growth of all the other first-year students, and I’m not sure it would be kind to keep you housed with them, especially when your advisor will no doubt expect you to work on projects in your own space.”

“Oh, Oylla! I really want to stay with my cohort, at least for the rest of this year. I can imagine they’re going to be peeved that I’m not in all their classes as it is; how will they react if I get my own room?”

“Alright, alright. We can make that part of the interview process; let’s see which professor will be willing to give up some of their space so you can have an office!” Oylla smiled rather wickedly, then continued, “I think that settles most of the most urgent matters. Why don’t you go talk to Mrs. Poyle, and then you can see if you can find your cohort? I’m sure you’re eager to reunite.”

“I’ll do that, but first, Oylla, could I ask you about the investigator that’s come to the academy? I ran into him on the teleportation platform when I arrived. Should I be concerned about the murders?” Oylla’s smile faded, and her eyes drew into a narrow scowl.

“So you met this investigator on the platform, and he immediately told you about the murders, hmm? Not very discreet, is he? Well, I’m glad to hear he’s arrived. I imagine he’s meeting with the headmaster as we speak. No, don’t worry, Olivia. We’ll sort this out soon. Of course, it's troubling that students have been killed, but if you stay with your cohort, you should be safe.” Oylla looked at her for a moment, with a measuring gaze, then said, “Actually, I should say your cohort will be safe, so long as you are with them. Now, on you go. We’ll talk again tomorrow. Someone will be ‘round with your appointment schedule.”

Olivia thanked Oylla again, then stood and made her way back to the front administration office. Mrs. Poyle was sitting behind her desk, as usual, though she was sipping from a tea cup and eating a biscuit, surprised when Olivia came walking out of the hallway behind her. “Hello, dear, I didn’t realize you’d gone by. Did you need some help?” she asked, putting her cookie onto a delicate plate with blue, inlaid paisleys.

“Yes, thank you, Mrs. Poyle. I was speaking with Professor Oylla-dak, and she’s approved me putting a portal anchor stone in the Travel Pavilion. She said you’d be able to give me directions to an approved location.” Olivia sat in the wooden seat in front of Mrs. Poyle’s desk.

“Oh, yes. My, that’s an unusual request. Let me see here,” Mrs. Poyle turned and studied the shelf of books and binders behind her, running a finger over the spines as she muttered the names to herself, “. . . commons permits, room assignments, office space, lab requisitions, aha! Travel Pavilion!” She pulled a black, leather-bound binder from the shelf and plopped it onto her desk. “Haven’t had to assign a new space in there for a few years!”

“Are there many gateways active?”

“No, no, only a handful, but there are some dormant ones, and this little map,” she flipped the binder open to show a rectangular grid with blank and shaded-in squares, “shows exactly what spaces are open.” She ran her finger over the page and asked, “Would you like your space to be near the door or further in?”

“Um, I don’t think it matters. Near the door, I guess?”

“Good, alright, here we go, A3. Yes, space A3, dear. Can you remember that?” She didn’t bother to wait for an answer, taking a small piece of card stock from her drawer and neatly printing A3 on one side. She handed the paper to her, and then she shaded in the spot on her map. Mrs. Poyle flipped a few pages back in the binder and started to write, “Olivia, what was your last name?”

“Bennet,” Olivia said, holding up her copper ring. “I’m in Copper cohort.”

“Right, right. And where will this gateway open?”

“To First Landing, um, it’s near the Chebli Sea.”

“Perfect! That should do it, Olivia. Be sure to talk to Professor Oylla-dak about permissions after setting things up. Don’t make her come find you!”

“Oh, I’m meeting with her tomorrow; I’ll be sure to take care of it.”

“Good! Care for a cookie?” She pushed her plate over the top of the desk, and Olivia reached forward to take one of the three little sugar cookies.

“Thank you!” Olivia bit into the cookie, enjoying the sweet, buttery flavor, then smiled and waved. While she chewed, she walked out of the administration building and into the hallway. She vacillated about going straight to the dormitory or setting up the anchor stone but ultimately decided to go to the Travel Pavilion first; she was tired of hauling around the heavy object.