“Who doesn't want to learn magic?! Even if I have to leave my home and everything else behind, I want to do what Mr. Rank did. Getting the chance to literally play with fire, summoning Cthulhu or on second thought, maybe better not. I guess ancient beings from the beyond would not be happy to be summoned to do my bidding,” musing about all the possibilities which would open up for me, I heard a loud booming against my walls. “Hey keep quiet!” a neighbor shouted. Sometimes the pape-mache called apartment walls was debilitating when you wanted to plan the overtaking of the world. Or in my case, dreaming about a magical future. “Sorry”, I cried back.

Man, can't even talk to me anymore. But I will learn magic. Hopefully Mr. Rank told the truth and I am not some gullible idiot. I should call my boss, or even better visit him directly and afterward...nope, one thing after the other. A few hours later I stood in front of my workplace and after a short discussion with the secretary, in front of my boss.

“Hello, Mr. Thiel. I have some bad news. I am going to do an internship in Prague. I know this is pretty short notice, but I got this fantastic offer…,” I eased my way into the conversation, but before going further, he began to blare, "You aRE WHAT?" Oh damn, this will take a while.

Some ten minutes later, Mr. Thiel cooled down enough and I explained my reasoning and the apparent offer. Fortunately, he was understanding and even shared his wisdom with me.

"Theobalt, as long as you are young and unbound, you are allowed to live your life to the fullest and take every chance you get to do something new, different and maybe foolish. As soon as you are relied on, be it as a boss, a parent or something else, you no longer live only for yourself. So go to Prague, learn about them, do a new job and use the time you’ve got."

Went better than I had hoped to. Now the talk with my mum. Leaving my workplace I got to my mother's place and as she wasn't at home, I started cooking a meal for both of us.

When my mum came home, she knew something was up. Visiting two days in a row, were quite untypical. But she held back her questions and after finishing our silent meal, the discussion began.

"Hey Mum, soo...I found an internship. Even faster than I expected. The position is in Eastern Europe, to be precise, in Prague. I think I will accept it because the pay is pretty good and the corporation is one of the front runners on my field of electrical engineering.”

I hated lying to my mother, but I could hardly tell her about magic, as I was explicitly warned by Mr. Rank not to do this. Fortunately, my mother was already prepared and didn’t make much of a fuss about me leaving for another country. After mum asked about the payment and where I would live, it got me thinking.

Mr. Rank said nothing about money or housing. I hope he can arrange something. Otherwise, I have to find a way myself. I guess I can do some odd-jobs to stay above the water...Something will come up...

Overthinking wouldn't help, as I had no idea what to expect, so I stopped and tried to get some sleep. The week flew by and on Friday equipped with a huge backpack and an even bigger bag, I stood in front of the bus.

Sitting next to me was a businessman, his suit and small suitcase gave him away. Otherwise, he may travel like this the whole time. Who knows. Before he could start an awkward conversation, I pulled my headphones up and blasted some 90s rock.

Around four hours later I was in Prague, with a heavy backpack and bag stuffed in my arms and with no idea where to go.

Now, how do I get to university?! Fortunately, smartphones are a thing.

Checking the phone, I found out that it would take me nearly an hour to get to the university.

Hell no, not with my stuff that heavy. I hope the taxi-driver understands English.

A short conversation and a few minutes later I stood in front of Karls-university.

Quite impressive, even if it looks a bit rundown, but this is only the mortal part… I wonder what the magical part will look like.

Rummaging in my backpack and finally finding the recommendation letter, I was prepared to meet the chancellor.

"Sorry to disturb you, but I am here on Mr. Rank's recommendation and would like to meet the chancellor." The lady in front of me was nice, a little older, with her blonde locks hanging at shoulder-length. Horn-rims and a suit creating the picture of the perfect prim and proper secretary. "Of course dear, let me just ring him,” she said and pushed a button on her telephone.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Minutes later, I stood in a big room, dark wood-paneled and a dark red, maybe Persian, rug. Behind the wide bureau, presumably made of Mahogany with its smooth and nearly black surface, sat a man. Gelled back, gray hair and glasses, which sat at the forefront of his nose, a blue bow tie and a pinstripe suit rounding his appearance.

"Mr. Müller I presume?" He clasped my outstretched hand for a handshake.

Firm, but not too firm and to be honest, quite comfortable. If there was a course for doing handshakes, this man was the lecturer and had at least a Doctors degree on it. "Yes, how do you-" I started. "Mr. Rank has already told me about you. Give me a second."

With that, he pushed on the side of a small silver box, not bigger than two outstretched fingers. "Mr. Rank will be with us shortly. So tell me, where do you come from and how did he find you?" "I am from Nuremberg and-” a knock on the wall interrupted me and before one of us could react, the wall opened and Mr. Rank strode into the room.

"Ah ah, Theo, don't tell Mr. Zima everything. Information is crucial in our world and everything about you will be even more so,” the dean flashed a toothy grin to his colleague. "HAHA, you caught me Daniel. It is nice to have made your acquaintance Mr. Müller. I will leave you both to it.” With that, the rector sat down again and started tipping on his laptop.

"Follow me Theobalt, and give me your bags, I will take care of them." He opened a small bag on his side, touched both of my bags and they vanished.

Wha...What the hell?? ...You know what? I don't care. I jumped into the rabbit hole and now the reins are no longer in my hand.

Following Mr. Rank, we went through a hidden door into a small room. "What is this? Some kind of Portal to the Magic world?" unsure of what to make out of this swirly, greyish goop, which was pasted against the wall, nearly half a meter above the ground. "Exactly. This is one of the Portals, connecting our world with that of the mortals. But let's step through it. Every minute it stays open, it costs vast quantities of energy."

Stepping out of the portal everything around me spun and my stomach was jumping-jacks. "Oh Go.." and with that, I lost my breakfast. "Damned, I forgot how it felt the first few times. Sorry about that Theobalt,” Mr. Rank said while rapping my back. Slowly I pulled myself together again, took out a tissue, to wipe away bile and mess around my mouth.

"It's okay, I'm better. Could you give me a..-" Before I could offer to clean my mess, a man in a blue overall came running and with a few gestures, my lost breakfast swirled together and packed itself into a small ball. It smelled awful, but with another gesture a gust of wind blew through the room and the smell was gone.

Wow, so that is magic. Really astonishing, but to clean my mess with something so mystical?! I wonder, what I will be able to do…

"See, that is how we work. Or better, that is how our janitor works. Did you notice his black gloves? One has a small wind and the other a small water enchantment. The embedded gems provide spells, while his power provides the energy to use them,” the dean started to explain. "That is really useful and I will be able to do something like him?" Mouth wide open, my eyes followed the janitor, as he let the mess fall down into a bucket and a spurt of flame reduced everything to ashes.

"While most of us use enchantments like him, there are other ways to cast a spell. But I will talk about it as soon as we are in my bureau. Right now, follow me to the dorms. You will get a room for yourself, as most students are on vacation. Afterward, I will show you the campus, and then we will talk about your future here"

The tour was quite extensive and Mr. Rank told me a lot about the history of the University. While we were walking, a few students, sitting together on a bench, possibly talking about Magic theory or just who was dating who and the newest gossip. Suprisingly they spoke German. Resolving myself to ask about it later, we continued.

Standing in front of the imposing, classical Gothic building, it was clearly bigger than the one on the mortal side. In the background two gigantic glass towers were visible. Behind me was a small park with an abundance of trees and benches. An alley of plinths, reminding one of a Greek temple, marked the way from the entrance of the building to the entrance of the walled of academy grounds.

"I believe we are still in the Czech Republic? So how is it possible for such a large building to exist without the public noticing it?" "Magic!" Mr. Rank laughed. "Wait until we are in my bureau and I will try to answer your questions." I know we walked through some kind of portal...but how is this possible?!

On the way back to Mr. Ranks bureau he stated: “Before I forget, you mustn’t tell anybody that you are from the mortal world. The last awakened brought a storm upon the world of magic and as far as it is known, he was assassinated because he declined a nobles offer to work for him.”

“Understood. But what do you mean with awakened? Aren’t all of you awakened?” confused and waiting for an answer, I thought about the mess I got myself into. I didn’t want to be assassinated.

“No, we can do magic since birth. It is proven, that as long as one parent has magical powers, the child will have magic too. Long ago, every human had the ability to learn spells and magic, but we don’t know what happened since then, as clearly that isn’t possible any longer. So awakened means that you were awakened to magic later in life. Sadly, there are not enough people to study the subject. But, there is apparently no benefit or detriment to it and if you are okay with it, I would like you, to help me find a way to awaken more people.”

Yay, I became an object of study. Possibly a way to earn some money. Now that I think of it…

“Mr. Rank-”

“Please call me Daniel as long as we are alone,” he said, “I am not as old as I look.” The comment seemed to be more on the sarcastic side, as Mr. Rank clearly had streaks of grey through his dark hair and laugh lines near his eyes.

Definitely uncomfortable, I asked: “Daniel, is there a way for me to earn money? I believe I will need some for living expenses or studying.” “Of course. As soon as you learn how you can begin charging crystals as they are our currency, this would be the easiest way, but with your meager power, it would take a month to earn enough to live. How about this, I will sponsor your first two semesters here, and as soon as you are able to do quests, you will stand on your own.” The offer seemed to be too good to be true. But as you shouldn’t look into a gifted horse's mouth, I accepted. “Ah, thank you very much!”

Okay, cost and lodging are done. It will be fine, also with my knowledge, I may be able to gain a little bit on the side.

After a long tour through campus grounds, we finally sat down in Mr. Ranks' bureau. Exhausted, I grabbed the offered glass of water and Mr. Rank started to talk about the rules of the magic world. But before he had said a full sentence, there was a knock on the door.

“Mr. Rank, there is another student for you,” a high-pitched, feminine voice shouted through the door. “Hmm? I knew it would be awful to stay here during the vacations…so much work...Lead him in,” Daniel sighed. “Actually…” the secretary started but was interrupted by a beautiful young Asian girl, walking into the office.

“Hello Mr. Rank, I am Sun Jie Nu. I would like to study here.”