I pull it out. I retract it. I pull it out again. Whoa, it's not stretchy, it's just a lot longer than my normal tongue. Where does my body store it all? It tapers slightly along its length and is a touch more sensitive than my normal tongue. What is this for? So weird. I curl it up and it easily touches my nose... before I almost poke myself in the eye. OK, enough!

Wiping my face I almost giggle. It may be creepy and it may be strange but the silliness has cheered me up a bit. But I can't help but feel a little shy about my strange tongue. Lets just keep that locked away for now.

I look down the gloomy corridor where adventure beckons. An entire Academy awaits build upon the principals of magic. An entirely new world of knowledge is literally just around the corner. I find my feet moving before I know it.

Along the walls various signs label the corridors like street signs. The clack of my shoes echo out as I reach an opening.

Entering a room I find myself arriving at an oddly shaped space. Well, not so much odd, but unexpected for a room. It's almost a perfect cube, apart from furniture and decoration. But the most surprising factor is that the room is mirrored on the ceiling.

How do they stick to the ceiling? Does gravity swap halfway up the room? I find myself watching with curiosity as students mill about on their way to class, except their upside-down by my perspective.

Bringing my focus back down to my own level I spy the rows and rows of lockers. For the students to store items I'm guessing? Looking closer a round indent the size of the medallion is present on every locker. A small arrow points to the 5 position when the medallion is held upright. Just like what is shown on the medallions surface. A number 1 with both a filled and empty circle sits in the centre of the indent. I'm guessing 5 points or 5 credits to rent a locker? But for how long?

I'm a little confused as to whether this means the medallion pays or unlocks the storage locker. And how do you choose which currency? The side of the medallion you slot in? I have no need of a locker yet and I don't want to waste any precious points on experimentation. I glance around again finding a large opening to the room on one side. Another cubical space is cut out of one corner of the room. A small set of steps lead to the new upper space.

Sense of adventure peaked I take the stairs up. Physically holding myself back from prancing up them like an idiot. Don't want to make a fool of myself but this is a real magic Academy. Allow me some foolishness.

"Aa!" I gasp as a fantastical scene comes into view.

A spherical orb floats in the centre of the room. Abutted by columns on both sides the orb lazily contains the raw miracle in its centre. A set of layered circles rotate inside. Each filled with complex geometrical patterns which boggle the mind. Like looking at optical illusions I can't quite figure out what I'm looking at. Only made worse by the slowly shifting angle.

I feel like I'm approaching the reactor of a starship. Except the room was utterly quite. My footsteps echoed, my breath fogs up the glass as I approach. I thought better of reaching out to touch it though.

What is it? Plenty of ideas come to mind. Some sort of anchor perhaps? One that maintains it's position relative to the local universes? Stops it from floating out into the wider cosmos?

Or perhaps this is the mechanism which summons the students? Determines their forms and fills their silhouette with the viscera and organs I witnessed just before.

It could even be a magical generator filling the Academy with essence or power or whatever these people use to carry out their rituals. What would they be using all that power for?

Or perhaps it's something absurdly simple like an alarm clock for the teachers. My mind fills with the glee of curiosity. One of the reasons, no the only reason, I picked mathematics as my subject at university. When I first saw a complex equation being written out on TV as a child I always wondered. How could this mean anything? How do all these symbols complement each other? How can they fit all these concepts perfectly together with complete confidence?

Could I one day learn to how to do that?

It was a mystery and a puzzle, something so far beyond me that I couldn't help but bubble over with curiosity. It felt like learning some ancient lost art. Symbols and techniques gave away to understanding. But mathematics wont fall that easily.

Mathematics can be galling in the way that even after you've understood something the elegance and beauty with which it fits together can be astounding. How could these two things reach equality? How could a condition always remain true no matter what?

I was enchanted by the subject. That's why, sorry Denis, it's not work for me. My journey through mathematics will continue. New theorems will fill my head. New subjects will astound me in ways I never imagined.

And now I can see magic follow that same route. This isn't like so long lost art. It is a long lost art. It's confounding and obtuse. My eyes roll off the sight before me no matter how I try to watch.

Could I one day learn how to do that?

I take a deep breath. Whoops. I quickly look around the room. Hoping no one saw my country bumpkin look. I have no clue how common something like this may be in the wider cosmos, I don't want people to doubt the merit of me being here.

Squirming a little in embarrassment I spot on figure exiting an adjacent corridor. Thankfully she's distracted by a book in one palm. My eyes widen. She makes for such a majestic figure. Walking with a dignity I don't think I've ever seen in person. Large wooden elk horns rise from her head. Cherry blossom sprouts from the tips leaving a delicate impression to her imposing form. Two autumn coloured faun like legs steadily take her forward to her destination.

She disappears down another corridor and I find myself following. I feel like a child distracted by the many strange and wondrous sights. As I enter the corridor I loose sight of her. Ah, which way did she go? A little too late to see the direction she turned my hopes of catching up have diminished.

I continue my exploration conscious of the limited time I have to see the various corners of the Academy. I pass windows out to the void. Too high to see anything but a glimpse. An obscure sight of shifting stars seems to dominate the view.

Several corridors and walkways turn at impossible angles along my journey. They mess with my sense of direction and balance. I pass through several more box like rooms. Sometimes on elevated walkways with no way down. Sometimes a maze of machinery forces me to divert my path around them. At one point I find myself in what looks like a chemistry lab, holding my nose as to not sniff any weird chemicals. I try my best not to clumsily knock over any vials. That would just be my luck wouldn't it.

A giddy smile is trying to worm it's way onto my face. I force it down but the feeling just wishes to bubble out of my chest and onto my face. So many mystical things. A quick check of my medallion shows I still have considerable time before the lecture starts. But as I walk down a new corridor an unsettling thump resounds ahead.

I feel a lurch in my stomach as a blade like limb clacks into view from around the corner. A creeping sensation slithers down my spine. More and more limbs skitter around the corner bringing his bulky body into the corridor. Apart from the fore limbs the rest are covered in wiry hair like that of an arachnid. Yet there are tens of legs even from the one side facing me. Then he begins to turn.

I jolt. He takes up the entire corridor! I scan the space available to me and spot a small alcove. Almost tripping over my own feet I speed walk over to it. Now hidden from view I can only hear the clickity clack as he approaches. Crack. One forelimb appears. And then another and another. Goosebumps prickle my skin. I try to maintain a straight face.

As his body passes before me I spot his smaller torso atop his form. Like a centaur he stands upright and displays a strange dignity. His body is covered in a similar robe to everyone else. He's certainly no monster no matter what my brain is screaming right now. He turns his head to look in my direction.

Like a beard of skeletal fingers segmented tendrils fall from his face. They're covered in hooks and barbs suitable for scouring meat from bone. Yet he bears no vicious impulses in his posture. Wearing a monocle over one eye his expression seems studious if not a bit glum.

I try my best to give him a slight nod. He gives one in return before continuing on his way. His clacking of feet carry on and he's soon out of sight. "Phew~." A large sigh leaves my lungs.

I'm left shaking. Even though nothing at all happened. Now now lets not be a xenophobe... although, that was F-ing terrifying. What kinda world does he come from? At least I assume it's a he... could have been a she for all I know.

I lean against the wall as I let my heart slowly return to a normal pace. What did they think of me? Surely they could see my fear. I could read their emotions as clear as day.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

This Academy is wild. I continue my wandering through the halls as I recall all the sight's I've seen. Some of the people I've seen have seemed alien and scary, but I've yet to meet a terrible fate. A part of me reasons that an Academy couldn't function filled with prey and predator. So that should make this a safe place no matter how scary they are. Right?

Still... caution is warranted. I'm just a little unsure of how much and where as of this moment. Ah... I forgot again. Since I'm a girl now there's that to consider too. I suppress another shudder but the thought had completely evaded me until this point.

A glance down at my body shows the svelte form I've yet to become accustomed to seeing. It still feels unreal. Yet it moves precisely how I want it to, it's my body after all. So when it occurs to me that others might desire my body, that's an entirely alien concept. Should I feel flattered if it happens? Or guilty as it's not my place, given the probability that this wasn't supposed to be my body?

Another part of me crawls with unease at the thought of being the centre of that attention. How did I get onto this tangent... oh, what's that?

As I round a corner a large ornate door comes into view. Doors seem to be a rare occurrence in the halls of the Academy. Only closing off certain private areas or containing what seem to be areas for practical activities, i.e. spell casting, waku waku! So most of the Academy is open and free to roam. But this door seems different.

Ominous scrawling patterns cover the surface in various metals. Parts of the door don't glow but seem to suck in the light. Shadows seem to wriggle and squirm under my gaze making my gut clench in discomfort. He came from this direction didn't he? Did he come from this door? Perhaps I should have been scared of him.

I spot a familiar indent on the surface of the door. My footsteps echo throughout the corridor as I approach to get a better look. Swallowing my saliva as the door fills my vision I reach the point I could stretch out an arm and touch the surface. Complete silence fills the space.

The indent displays its cost. An arrow curled up on itself, not reaching the circle at any point. A filled in circle accompanies the arrow. Wait, zero? As in the same form as my credit arrow displays currently? But the filled in circle indicates points...

But that can't indicate the door is free. Why would they place the door and indent in the first place? Does it remove all your points? Is this where you go when you lose all of them? Something doesn't sit right with me. There is no way I'm going to experiment with this door. I take a step back and then another. Soon I find myself walking in a speedy fashion away from the door and then away from the corridor in question.

Enough with the creepy voodoo doodoo. Show me something cool! A nervous laugh builds in my chest. I stifle it with a hand to my mouth. I sigh and pull out my medallion. Time seems to be getting on. I should consider searching for the class room. I scan around for the signs which could guide me through this labyrinth. When I spot a familiar set of antlers disappear around the corner.

I find my feet swiftly following. Where as my last encounter inspired gut twisting fear. The antlered lady fills me with an awe I can't quite understand. It seems some of the inhabitance of the Academy has some form of otherworldly aura to them. Well not a magical one... perhaps not magical, but certainly a atmosphere that inspires certain feelings. Is it experience? A outward effect of their magical prowess? Curiosity has me fluttering along like a moth to a flame. I just can't help myself.

As I round the corner my breath catches. A room which steals my heart lays before me. Shelves and shelves of numerous tomes occupy the room. Knowledge of a great number of subjects sit waiting to be plundered... I mean explored. Hefty books with thick spines tantalise my imagination with the various topics they may contain.

Yet it's not just the floor that's occupied. Each wall and ceiling have precarious arrangements of shelves littering them. A spiral staircase sprouts from the centre of the room before joining a set circular paths leading to each of the walls and ceiling. The entire space is utilised in all it's eldritch glory.

"Whoa~." I stumble into the room craning my neck as I observe the entire space. Only to realise that there are more spaces like these adjoining it. Cutouts in the wall lead to similar spaces obscured by shelves upon shelves. Corridors lead away to other areas of this vast library, are also stuffed with books. I'm in heaven.

I cover my mouth in fear that my tongue will hang out if I'm not careful. It had already started to slip out. That would be unbecoming of me...

I wander through the shelves glancing at random spines. Bestiary of a barren world, Flora observations within the 276th sector of Helical Neighbourhood, Evolution of base aspects within adjacent worlds. Each sounds enticing in their own way. Hinting at aspects of magical discipline I've no clue about.

I move along. Finding myself beginning in the section of the library dedicated to the study of various worlds. Anything on magical techniques?

I explore the spiral staircase. Walking along the elevated walkway as it curls into alignment with the wall and then ceiling. Passing shelves that stretch even beyond the elevated walkway and crisscross with shelves from the walls and ceiling.

I spot a couple studying together. Both leaning on the wall, but what one considers the wall the other considers the floor. They don't care however. How does that even work? Exploration continues. I turn off towards a cutout cube that links to the walkway and into a new section.

I make my way down adjoining corridors, passing many small alcoves perfect for sequestering myself away to read in peace. I blush as I peak inside one only to find a couple having a quiet romantic moment together.

"Ah! Sorry..." I quickly duck out. They didn't even seem to notice me. They looked quite human too. A girl with delicately patterned skin and pointed ears together with a guy with a little too much scruffy hair all over him. Well that answers one question. One I never asked.

Cooling my head, grumbling under my breath, I eventually reach a section dedicated to techniques. At least I think it is. Reading the spines seems to confirm my thoughts. The seven tones of sylph chanting, A phonetic dictionary of advanced chanting techniques. Seems to be dedicated to chanting.

I reach out. Not even sure where to start. But a particular book catches my eyes. There is no hope of understanding it but I just want to peak inside.

"Huh?" It wont budge. Is it stiff? Are the books packed in too tight? I give it another tug.

It won't move? A couple of harder tugs doesn't move the book a single micron. Eh? What am I doing wrong? This doesn't feel right? I spot an gap a couple of books along. The book I'm grasping for shouldn't be stuck tight. Is it too heavy for me? Are these arms too puny? Before I give another tug a hand reaches out. It lays on mine and gives it a gentle pat.

"Ah!" I turn to see who has approached me. Snatching my hand back for myself. My eyes widen as I take in her majestic figure. A warm smile is directed my way.

"That book won't move for you at this time, little bloom." She wags her finger at me with a playful scowl. I feel like a little kid being told off for causing mischief.

"S-Sorry, didn't mean to cause trouble... Why can't I read the books?"

"Your quite new aren't you? Out exploring on your first day perhaps?" She asks in one of those motherly tones some older women have. Her eyes crinkle with delicate crows feet. Just past her prime she looks like the sort that were very beautiful earlier in life and has aged well. Her features now appear distinguished and filled with wisdom.

I can't keep my eyes off of the wooden antlers that literally bloom into cherry blossom like flowers. That is until I see her eerily long fingers covered in bark like skin. No one is exempt from some creepy features I see...

She nods to herself. "Every shelf in this library comes with a point cost." She ushers me over to the end of the shelf. I spot the indent and shudder with the displayed price.

"S-Seven hundred!" The indent displays a 2 with an arrow pointing to the 7 mark on the outer rim. It has a filled circle to indicate the cost is in points as well.

"Indeed. This quite the advanced subject. Most topics cost merely half the points to unlock as being taught a class on the same material. Unless there is no one to teach the subject of course. Then the sky's the limit." She giggles at her own little humour. I don't quite understand but it clearly has meaning to her.

"Does this unlock just a single book? Or..."

She shakes her head. "No, each shelf is related to a single subject or related ones." She gestures up at the towering shelf. "Unlocking the shelf allows access to every book on it. For as long as your present at this Academy."

She leans in to whisper. "It was once my goal to unlock every shelf here. Fu fu fu." She giggles.

With a rapid nod I can't help but agree. "I would quite like to do that myself..." I murmur. Caught up in the fantasy of having free reign in the library.

"Fu fu~." She seems quite pleased with my response. She begins to unload a cart she's brought along with her. Stacks of books waiting to be replaced on the shelves. Taking one at a time she slots them into a rectangular indent on the side of the shelf. And before my eyes they disperse into particles.

I turn just in time to catch a book assemble itself in the empty slot I saw earlier. One after another the books unfurl pages from an unknown direction. Collating and combining into the book they belong before the cover slides into place. The shelf rapidly fills back up.

"Your a girl after my own heart. I can see we're kindred spirits. Perhaps you have your own little library at home?"

I scratch my cheek in embarrassment. She sees me as a perfectly normal girl. But she could also see the bookworm buried beneath the surface. How am I meant to feel about that? "Ah, I suppose. I wouldn't call it a library, but I have collected quite a few books. Some would say too many."

"And what sorts of books do you enjoy the most." She idly asks as she continues her task at the next shelf.

"Hm, that would have to be mathematics. I can't get enough..."

She stops. Giving me a curious look. "What does meth-ma-tacs involve?" She asks while tasting the word on her lips. Eyes squinting as she searches her memory. Eh? No mathematics? Have I already erred?

"Ah, well, it's not something I could describe in few words..." Flustered I flub my words and consider my options. My hand goes to my medallion with an almost possessive tick. I can't loose this...

"Ah!" She exclaims. Taking out her own medallion. "Your a new student right? General should be coming up soon."

She stops what she's doing and places her hands on my shoulders. Steering me in one direction she gently pushes my back. "Be gone you fool. You'll be late!" She laughs. "Keep going this direction till you find the sign to the central lecture halls. Then follow the sign to the general class. Now shoo!"

A quick glance at my own medallion reveals but a slither of space until the lecture. Shoot! Fudge-sickle! I find myself dashing through the library against all common library etiquette. Can't be late to my first lesson!