Fortunately, the portion was huge. With the first two thirds, I must have looked like a wild beast, the rest I ate almost civilized. After the meal, I was overcome by a pleasant feeling of satiation. I leaned back against the wall and relaxed.

While I drank the rest of the beer with small sips, I thought about my situation. I had just signed up for three years of military service, which did not excite me at all. As the sergeant correctly pointed out, I really didn’t make much of a warrior. But did I have a choice in my situation? Not only did I have to make a living, but I had to find out as much as I could about magic. Once I knew how to do cast spells, it would not only improve my social status but also help solve the problem of the impending demon invasion. I would never be able to do it alone. I needed powerful allies. But no one would listen to a beggar. In order to appear credible, I had to climb a few rungs in society. In a village like Eichendall, there were hardly any opportunities for this, and the recruiter would at least take me to the next town. There I would then try to cancel my contract or somehow else get out of the act.

My attention was drawn to the magic lamps that lit the room. There were only two, which was too few considering the size of the room, so there were additional candles burning at each table. Apparently, such lights were either rare or expensive, probably both. I activated the Magic Gaze. Surprisingly, the glass spheres themselves contained no magic, but the accompanying stone slabs that were mounted on the ceiling above the lamps here did. In Magic Sight, they were displayed as white-hot rectangles. Exciting!

Roaring laughter made me look toward the sergeant’s table. Apparently, Orthok had just told a joke and the men were having a laughing fit. Wait a minute. There was also a magic light on Orthok’s chest, this time a yellow one. I had noticed a silver chain on his neck earlier, was he wearing an amulet on it? I looked at the rest of the visitors with interest. Most had no magic on them, but one merchant sitting in an alcove with his companions had something glowing green on his finger. A magic ring? Hmm...

Did the different colors have a meaning? I pondered. In fantasy books and RPG games, there were often different schools or directions of magic, such as ice magic or fire magic. Was it the same in this world? Did the colors perhaps represent the type of magic? What all had the sergeant asked earlier when he had asked me to demonstrate the working of magic? To blow out the candle... air magic? Lighting the candle, that would definitely be fire magic. And filling the mug, water magic? I sat up on the bench excitedly. Finally, I had some... no, not solid facts yet, but at least solid guesses as far as magic was concerned.

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To achieve my goals, I needed to focus on my strengths. I could neither show an impressive physical condition nor show off with fighting techniques. Archery, swordplay, karate, or taekwondo, all of which were not only foreign to me, but required years of training to become reasonably good at. Even if I could find a good instructor and pay him, I didn’t have the time. What I did have, however, was a quick mind and the scientific methodology I could draw on thanks to my studies. In learning magic, that should serve me well. I grinned. Wasn’t intelligence the primary attribute of a mage in the video games?

My enthusiasm died down a bit when I remembered my “impressive” mana pool of 14. I really needed to strengthen my magic core. I had already found two possible ways: meditation and magical plants. There had to be other possibilities, maybe artifacts or special spells? Why didn’t they have the Internet in this world? It would be so easy to find the information I needed via Google... Vaari could certainly have told me a lot about magic, but at the moment she was just as unavailable as the World Wide Web.

How were magicians trained, anyway? Nobody came into the world as a grandmaster of magic. So there had to be schools or even universities for magicians. I had to find such an educational institution. There would certainly be a library and professors were wonderful to pester with questions. I smiled wistfully when I thought of the MIT. More thoughts of my fellow students, of Amy, of family followed. Sadness threatened to overwhelm me, but I shook it off.

I summed up my thoughts. Long-term goals: Move up in society, gain access to the upper circles, learn magic to do so. Short-term goals: get to a bigger city, quit military service, find a magic school, strengthen my magic core. So far, so good.

I yawned. After the sumptuous meal and adventures of the past two days, I was overcome with fatigue. The waitress, who was just starting to clear my dishes, must have noticed my slamming eyes shut. “Come, I’ll show you the room where you’ll be staying.” I followed her, pleased that at least one problem would solve itself. She led me up a flight of stairs to the top floor, where we passed through a hallway with several doors. She stopped in front of the fourth room on the right. “Here.” She opened the door a crack and stepped back.

I entered the room. There was no light; in the glow from the hallway, where a few burning oil lamps hung on the walls, I could make out four beds. Two of them were occupied, the other two seemed to be vacant. I closed the door behind me and felt my way in the darkness to one of the free beds. I had hardly pulled the scratchy blanket over me when I fell asleep.