Amun.
***
“Excellent display.”
My head nodded in tune with Doyle’s compliment, but my eyes stayed trained on Winston until Felicity came in to heal him with her witchcraft and he met my gaze one last time. Only then did I turn to Doyle with the same smirk I’d been giving Winston.
“Glad to see you’re having fun!” He laughed. “You earned yourself a hundred points. And the Headmaster wanted me to tell you, your meeting with him has been approved. But it may take some time. The beginning of the year is always a bit hectic.”
“No worries.” I shrugged. “He can take his time.”
“Alright then.” He sighed. “Enjoy the rest of your weekend. And.” He turned halfway back with a grin. “Make sure you check your mail.”
“Will do.” I nodded.
“Would you like me to heal you?”
Turning, I saw Felicity's radiant eyes before looking down to see my ankles swollen from the impact of my kick. With only a sliver of False Life, I healed myself to tip-top condition and gave her a quick smile. “I’m fine.”
“I can’t imagine what you’ve gone through to be so tolerant of pain.” She bobbed in genuine amazement. “You should consider Witchcraft. Even if you’re aiming for your own guild, it’s a good skill to have.”
“I’m not altruistic enough to work as a Witch.” I snorted.
“Well, I tried.” She walked away, shrugging. “Do you.”
With Winston gone ahead of me, I meandered down the lift and to the far end of the cafeteria to sit under a great black tree for my evening meal and smoke session in blissful silence. The tree was part of the reason why I fancied sitting out here- the others being its inconspicuousness and proximity to the surrounding wilds, but it also provided a twilight-esque shade and a gelid breeze that reminded me of home. Minutely so. Regardless, times such as now made it easy to lose myself in a thoughtless daze.
And so it came as a surprise to come to and find not only my team huddled around my table, but that they’d been followed by the vampire duo and a lot of others from our party as well. They, however, seemed to shy off to the sidelines as if to probe the others into speaking first. Most of them, at least.
“I attempted to persuade Winston into reconsidering his duel. I have failed to help him understand that he mustn’t yield to anger. Regardless, I hope he has learned this lesson and can now put his pride aside.” Duke lowered his beak in a regal bow. “I hope the both of you can move past this.”
“Well.” I sighed. “That depends on him. But I agree.”
“Slate was correct. You are a skilled human halfling.”
“Thanks, but I’m only half-human,” I said. Not even turning to face the gruff source. “And I’m not a halfling. I’m drow.”
“The difference is negligible.”
Wincing, I turned to see a goliath. But neither Slate nor Kao. One sculpted and dressed like a woman. A burly one, with fists larger than my head. “I am Corundum, the most skilled and accomplished of the four Goliaths present. I have come to tell you that I vowed to devote myself to overcoming your abilities.”
“Ah.” I rocked back in my seat and took a second to put a face with the near-featureless animated statue I saw earlier. Then I leaned in toward her, squinting skeptically to ask. “Why?”
“For the challenge!” She beamed. And so too did Slate, Kao, and Amethyst. A trait of their species, I assumed, and thus shrugged it aside to take a quick scan of the others.
Another Felipian was here. Only, this one had almost no hair and wore a loose set of pants paired with a thin tunic. While he said nothing, he was curious like his companion, given the way he intently turned his large eyes to watch and listen to whoever happened to be muttering within the crowd. But aside from there there weren't many significant faces, so I continued to eat and mingle with them before heading back to my room.
For once, Zakira didn’t follow. Of that, I was glad. While I didn’t exert myself that much. I did more social interaction than I would’ve normally and was feeling quite drained. So I decided to head off for some sleep and wake up in the middle of the night for my long-awaited bender.
---
Unsurprisingly, I saw Zakira upon returning to the common area several hours later. Surprisingly, however, she strode forth to wrap her arms around me and just stayed there, humming to herself with her head pressed into my shoulder.
Lost in surprise, I stood there for a moment before returning the gesture and holding it for a few moments for sighing. “We can do the thing.”
“Really!?”
“Ears!” I groaned. “My ears.”
“Oh!” Her lips quivered as if she were on the verge of tears and reached her hands up to cradle my ears “Sorry.”
“You’re alright.” I pulled her hands down and let them go with a sigh. “But it’ll have to wait until sunrise.”
“Okay.” She nodded like a child bribed into eating vegetables with dessert. “To the courtyard?”
“I’m going to a much better place.” I grinned. “The library.”
“Nah, that’s boring.” She fell almost lifelessly back into her seat. “I’ll be here.”
“Okay.” I shrugged. “See you.”
I made a short detour around the courtyard to smoke before migrating towards my destination. Ten points and a slew of curses later, I stepped into an interior of polished wood, marble floors, and lush carpets that extended from the threshold to the main floor at the center. Round, expansive, and sunken into the floor, the central space was a tiered hub dominated by a tall and verdant plant that filled the room with a cinnamon-citrus aroma and most likely imbued some type of effect on the occupants. The two levels leading up to it had been filled with the same plant-like chairs, benches, and tables for the occupants while the final step served as a walkway granting entry to the alcoves surrounding the space.
I noticed a few interesting faces as I made my way around. The first of which was Zohnos and Zarzok; the former slowly paced down the aisles with his hands clasped behind his back while the latter lounged on a bench in some ambiguous section to look over both the aisles and the entrance with a curious grin. The elf was here as well, sitting cross-legged at the center of a pile of books related to mana while he studiously read, ignoring everything around him. I, however, paid them little-to-no mind as I continued through the space, mapping it out in my mind.
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Each alcove was shaped like a piece of pie, with rows and rows of bookcases branching off from a similar hub seen in the main area; only smaller. Each was dedicated to a particular field of study and accessible by paywalls of varying natures. Frustratingly so.
The first was accessible to everyone who paid to enter the library, and was titled ‘Tales.’ Going inside, I learned the books were free to read and, as the name suggested, were filled with stories and biographies of mystics sent to the school by their alumni. What was truly fascinating, however, was what sat in the middle. A rendition of the Mortal Plane that was most certainly not to scale. It stood on a dais ringed with dozens of enchantments that, according to the attached sign, served as a link to each tale found on the shelves.
Laughing incredulously, I reached for the nearest book and gave it a quick scan before tapping it on the ring. Its title was Fjord’s red winter, and, as advertised, the map’s surface warped and zoomed in on an ambiguous region of northern Nonus to highlight Fjord’s trails and trials. Following that, I decided to mess around for a bit and in doing so, learned the true extent of the Polaris Empire, which started as a simple hamlet with the same name, formed by the head of New Dawn way back when. Since then, the military has expanded in all directions but east- for obvious reasons. Three divisions were formed and given a cardinal in which to march. And they’ve been crossing the untamed, mana-rich biomes of Nonus ever since. Paving the way for civilization to spread in their wake.
In doing so, they claimed a fair bit of land going into Nonus’ depths, but that was a far cry from what they claimed on the surface. Their territory branched off from the main bulb that was the City of Light, Polaris' capital city-state. From there, small tendrils of light extended north, nearly to the White Wall, and as far south as the Steamline. Even an island fairly close to Betrarth was claimed, appearing as a landmass similar to Madagascar at this scale.
Therein sat the portal leading to the verdant world of Betrarth, found on the opposing side of that Cretaceous island claimed by their first sister empire. The only other portal- the one they came through from Maru, had been sealed beneath dense stone and a thick jungle, far from the City of Light- a plus for me.
With that done, I attempted to scan other areas around the map to plan out a route around the Mortal Plane. But sadly, the clarity dropped as the focus rose until I was left with a foggy screen that looked like an unexplored map in a video game. So I decided to come back later and moved on to the second alcove, labeled, 'Tomes.’ The space was similar in design to the first and free to enter, but pay to read. As implied by the name, it was advertised to hold all the Bodhi Tree’s knowledge regarding the beginning, intermediate, advanced, and higher-tiered magical affinities documented throughout the last millennia and a half; all organized by type and scaled by power levels.
To put it another way, it was a library for grimoires. unsurprisingly though, I found nothing relating to my affinities besides the variants of electromagnetism and a few tomes related to warp and spatial magic. No darkness, death, or void. And certainly nothing regarding gravitation or nuclear magic. But via scanning, I was able to ascertain the nature of six documented affinities relating to electricity. Spark Magic was at the lowest, followed by Charge Magic and then Electric Magic- surprisingly by that very name. Still, however, Lightning Magic was listed above it. So I bit the bullet and paid five coins to peruse a basic scroll.
Much to my surprise, Lightning Magic was common in those with an electrical lineage and a parent with a water or wind-based affinity, like Toril. Evidently, the effect was an inherent and minute control over wind and water. But it was still lesser than the more-powerful electric-type affinities. Storm, and Tempest Magic.
‘Great, now he'll live up to his name even more.’ I snorted in remembrance of all the days we missed out on rain during our travels. All because Toril wanted to steal storm after storm after storm from nature.
All but one.
That said, it also provided a foundation for a few more experiments. As did another closely related affinity: Plasma Magic. Grinning wide from a heart burning with passion, I turned away from making any other purchases to move on to the apple of my eye. The final and smallest alcove that went by the beckoning name of ‘Paths.’
I didn’t even care about the price to enter- 100 points. Such a steep price was understandable and so too were the tomes. Somewhat at least. The tales, however, were more or less common knowledge and should’ve been accessible from the start. Or rather, the library should’ve been free to enter from the start. But this was a summarization of the Paths that'd been compiled from the tens of thousands of mystics who came before. It was an almost guaranteed way to stumble down the path of a Master Class- a fucking cheat code. A tried and true way to start at a higher level or be granted a unique Subclass tied to your abilities. And the greatest thing of all was that its entirety was free to read after the initial price was paid- and I still had 130 points left to spend.
It was like paying for something in copper and getting the change back in gold. A feature I intended to fully exploit. Starting with the Artificer section.
---
Even with my Eternal Eye, I spent a total of seven hours perusing the different paths. Through that, and my conversations with Zook before my duel, I was able to not only confirm my suspicions regarding the Class but put together a list of the perks I could expect to receive as well. On top of that, I went through each of the other Paths to gain a better understanding of the rituals and skills one needed to perform or master to step down them in the first place before doing the same with the hundreds of Subclasses. Endeavors that took up the majority of my time. But not nearly as much as I did with the Monk Paths.
While I made sure to record the Subclasses in my Eye, I dedicated hours toward understanding what I need to do to obtain the Class in the first place and elected to begin practicing them at once.
And obviously, use it as leverage in my recruitment scheme as well.
With my deed for the day done, I meandered back to the dorms to find Zakira sitting in the same spot I’d left her in. Or, she was until she saw me. Following the obligatory greeting, I took a moment to retrieve my mail before following Zakira down the stairs mirroring ours. A place I had yet to go, not that it was anything to look at, being a short corridor with only five doors lining the walls. Zakira’s was the last on the right and filled with darkness like mine had been- although not so dark that a human couldn’t see. It was just a single room, besides the bathroom, furnished with a beanbag chair, a wardrobe, and a desk. Without speaking, she pulled me to the chair to sit and rested her head on my shoulder. And we just… enjoyed each other's company.
Now that I had a little time to grow accustomed to her, I realized it wasn’t all that bad. She wasn’t much of a talker, but when she did it usually served to make me laugh. Or annoy me. Either way, it made her the easiest person to spend my time with compared to anyone else here. She didn’t ask millions of questions and she didn’t expect things from me. She accepted me as I was. And, thankfully, she wasn’t as clingy as I thought she was.
Well, she was still clingy. But not so much as to question my whereabouts or ignore the things she wanted to do.
“You gonna open that, or what?”
“Yeah, sorry. I was thinking about you.” I sighed. Then reeled back in laughter at her reaction before ripping the letter open.
'Dear Amun,
Congratulations, you’ve won the vote to be Copper Party’s leader for the first semester. You alone will be in charge of the party's attendance and in making sure your subordinates make it to class on time. Class exercises will also fall under your leadership, so consider this an opportunity to increase the points of you and your party. Have the class report to the gym at 9:00 for training.
Arcane Fighter, Doyle Wolfgang. Battle Mage'
'P.S. Duccec, Samson, and Slate are your team leaders. You four may agree on changing the party’s name if you wish.'
'Battle Mage?’ I wondered before answering Zakira’s increasingly inquisitive gaze. “It seems I’m the class leader.”
“Well, duh!” She giggled.
“Yeah. Duh.” I snorted. Then fell into another round of mental gymnastics until an hour had passed.
Upon returning from my room, I pulled an empty notebook from my trunk and began ripping out pages until I had 15 strewn across the desk. Once I had everyone’s names written down, I went back through each one to add categories to fill out over time. Mostly regarding their abilities, personalities, backgrounds, quirks, habits, and dispositions, but ambitions as well. That included prospective Classes and lifetime goals. Above all, however, I needed to subdivide the teams into individual positions, each with its own roles and duties in both battle and peacetime. So I put that as my first priority and established a simple system before skipping out of my room.
I was hungry.