I stood before the gates of the royal palace, dressed in the cleanest and most expensive clothes I had, with my hair trimmed and my face clean-shaven. I had my newest companion, a sloth-like creature I had named Slacker, snoozing peacefully on my back, its arms intertwined around my neck to prevent itself from falling off. I had decided beforehand that it would be better not to wear any arms or armor to this…summons, as it would likely send the royals the wrong message, not to mention I had to surrender any weapons on me to the guards in the entrance hall, making it a moot point.

And in my breast pocket, I had a rolled-up and encased certificate of maturation from one Svenia Academy, stating that Citizen Rhaaj of Khobadaar City had successfully completed all courses, and was now eligible to be called a mage. The back had a cumulative list of all the classes I had taken over the three years, as well as the final grades, something that was meant for any future employers to reference.

My third year was almost completely spent on my academics, as I minimized the amount of time I spent socializing and doing tasks for the Workman’s Society. I had enough money to live comfortably, thanks to both my earning money via completing jobs, and the gambling I had sponsored. I gave my friends what I considered an expendable amount of funds, and handed it to them during the festival to gamble with, which I hadn’t competed in. The prizes were lackluster, and my time was better spent learning more than visiting the capital again.

So, long story short, my friends had made bets with the money I fronted them and managed to almost triple my initial amount. Which meant I no longer had money problems. I did finally discover that there was a bank, but it only consisted of one building in the capital, and it was exclusive to nobles, so I took to storing my money in my inventory, where it would not accumulate interest or passively make money for me. If nothing else, that was the safest place for it.

And speaking of safety, now that I had graduated, I finally, finally, had some iota of general knowledge about this world, enough that I wouldn’t out myself as a foreigner, technically world traveller, when I opened my mouth.

My third-year classes, as well as my free time spent in the library, had a part to play in that. Blood Magic II, Nature Magic II, Advanced Taming, and Survival were all much more useful classes than their prerequisites, as they provided more specialized and hence useful knowledge than the second-year classes, which provided the foundation for that understanding.

I was now a much more versatile mage, as I could do things with blood I didn’t think possible. Such as changing the temperature, pressure, or oxygen content of blood, binding mundane or enchanted objects with my blood to make them more potent, absorbing blood from other people or beasts and using it as my own, and most importantly, controlling another’s blood…while it was still in their body.

Nature magic didn’t let me down either, despite my initial hesitation on the subject. I could now travel underground, sinking into the ground and moving through the dirt and rocks like a fish in the water. I also learned to communicate telepathically with plants, though the results were always better the older the plant was. I finally learned how to manipulate the weather in a small area, so the skies were mine to command as well. And I could collect and store sunlight and moonlight within plants, either for later use for myself or the plants themselves.

There was only one mandatory class for all third-years, and it was appropriately called Survival. That was probably the most helpful class I’ve ever taken in my entire life, lives, hands down, as the class taught everyone some things that were just considered common sense.

A few examples of what we learned included how to fix a broken wheel on a carriage or cart, how to tie dozens of different kinds of knots and what situation to use each one in, lighting a fire without magic, reading maps, telling the time using only the celestial bodies, using spells that one has no affinity for, and how to fight in areas void of essence, which were rare but deadly.

But my favorite class, of course, was taming, as I learned how to do things that would dramatically increase the odds of my survival. I could now share senses with any beast under my control, and I could pact with them. The poorly-named act of pacting referred to the merging of the beast and the tamer in both body and mind. I tried it with Spearmint as soon as I was confident I could do it without any complications, and the results were stunning.

I had gained a coat of green fur all over my body, green horns sprouted from my head, and I had a vastly improved sense of smell, something that made me vomit the first time I caught a whiff of my unwashed voranders. I was also able to cast any spell that Spearmint was able to, which was another boon of the merger. One aspect of the pacting was that Spearmint and I were also telepathically connected during the merger, which meant any thoughts of one party were instantly shared with the other, a bit similar to my regular tamer link with him.

I had never attempted to pact with the voranders, and I’m fairly certain I never would, unless it was a life-threatening situation where I had exhausted all my other options and the universe had the proverbial gun to my head forcing me to.

I also cashed in all my points prior to graduating, and received a bunch of goodies and equipment that I chucked into my inventory. It was all valuable and most definitely worth saving up for.

In summary, I was now much more confident in surviving this world.

Or at least I was, until I was informed by the headmaster that the king and queen had summoned me to the royal palace.

And now here I sat, in a waiting room off the grand hallway, sipping on tea and wondering what I had done to garner interest in the highest-ranked nobles in the land, who could execute me if they so wished.

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And no one would bat an eye, after all, the royals were beyond reproach.

Was it political? Maybe they had heard of a ‘villager’ graduating and wanted to use me as propaganda to promote enrollment?

Or was it something less pleasant, like them somehow finding out that I had accidentally ‘tamed’ a vorander corpse while defending the city, and it had refused to stay dead once it entered my inventory, making me something of an unwilling necromancer?

Or…had they somehow found out that I was an otherworlder? Time and space affinities were real, if mysterious, and who knows what information a time or space mage could pick up from me? For all I knew, I was involuntarily giving off energies that shouted out, “I’m from Earth!”

I was overthinking it. Probably.

Maybe they were just really impressed with my grades and wanted to offer me a job? Perhaps as the royal beast tamer?

The door quickly opened, revealing a finely dressed red-haired woman wearing a conservative black dress that barely avoided the floor, and an expression that practically screamed neutrality and indifference, leaving me nothing to glean from her face. She glanced at me once before politely asking, “You are Mage Rhaaj, formerly of Khobadaar, and graduate of Svenia Academy?”

I nodded to her as I rose from my seat, “Indeed. Would you be so kind as to inform me of your name?” As my time at the academy was primarily spent on magic classes, I was eligible to be called a mage in an official capacity, giving me yet another designation. The overly polite tone was just expected, especially as I was about to meet with the royals. Any brownie points of politeness I could score with this lady might help in the future. She nodded back to me, giving me a scrutinizing look for a mere second, before saying, “You may call me Lady Uranth. Your presence is required by the king and queen. Follow me.”

She waited for me to approach before guiding me through the castle, staying two paces before me at all times despite her smaller stature. We briskly walked through opulent hallways decorated with priceless paintings and lifelike portraits of what I assumed were long-dead royal ancestors, passing by groups of patrolling guards and plenty of other personnel who maintained the palace.

Our walk took no longer than five minutes, partly due to a run-in we had with a minister’s son who had never seen someone with dark skin like mine before, and with all the grace and poise one could expect of a child, pointed me out loudly and excitedly to his father, who bowed and apologized to me profusely, after gently scolding the little kid who couldn’t be expected to know what restraint meant. I waved him off, and I continued to follow in Lady Uranth’s footsteps.

We eventually made our way outside to a walled garden containing a multitude of plants that I could almost hear due to how healthy and vibrant they were. The crown prince and queen were talking with the oldest princess…Olyria, I think her name was. I recalled the sight of her consoling the second princess, Mazhaan, during the festival. That gentle expression I remembered her wearing directly contrasted with the her of today, with her clenched jaw and furrowed eyebrows visible even from here. Whatever they were talking about, she wasn’t a fan of it.

As we approached, a complement of guards barred our way before the crown prince gestured for them to let us through with a wave of his hand.. Once they withdrew from the path, they stood at the ready, one hand always on the hilt of their sword or firmly grasping a spear, in anticipation of any attack.

Lady Uranth led me up the stairs of the gazebo to where the royals were sitting around a table, a full cup of tea in front of each one. Judging by the lack of steam, they had neglected their drinks for so long they had gone cold, implying a long and contentious debate.

Something that would almost certainly put them in a foul mood, which didn’t bode well for whatever it was I was here for.

Lady Uranth curtsied while I knelt before the royals. The crown prince, who I noticed seemed to be the calmest of the three, reacted first. “You may go about your duties, my lady,” he said, dismissing her from the venue and leaving me alone and at the mercy of three royals.

“You may stand, Mage…Rhaaj, was it?” the crown prince asked.

“Yes, your highness,” I said crisply, as I slowly rose from my position on the ground, now able to make eye contact with them. Now that my status as a mage preceded that of a villager or student, there was no need for me to avoid their line of sight.

Though I still felt like I should, regardless of what the law had to say. “The fact that you know my name greatly honors me, your highness,” I responded.

He snorted. “Mage Rhaaj, we’re aware that you recently graduated from the academy, so let me give you a lesson about the real world that you evidently haven’t learned already. When royalty is aware of your name, honor is not always involved.”

He let me draw whatever conclusions I could from that statement for about five seconds, examining my expression for any signs of weakness, before smirking and relaxing back in his high-backed chair. “Of course, your statement is technically accurate for today’s matter, so you have nothing to fear. That is, unlike you dislike tents,” he said cryptically.

Why would I dislike tents? Or fear them?

I couldn’t make sense of his last comment, but I had no time to reflect on its meaning before I heard the sound of the guards’ armor clanking, and saw the three royals in front of me rise from their seats and bow or curtsy, depending on their gender.

I also heard a loud, boisterous man’s voice laughing at something coming from behind me and growing increasingly louder. I inferred who was approaching from everything thus far, and turned around while dropping to my knee, my face parallel with the ground while I knelt.

“All right, it’s just us here, no need for all this. Rise, rise, everyone. Ah, and who is this young man?” The deep baritone voice gave the impression of a majestic lion, and though he said for everyone to rise, I felt I wasn’t included in that statement.

“This is the man who was unjustly assaulted by a noble heir, lit the spark that caused an interracial incident, and demonstrated an inconceivably high affinity for taming…all in one month, father,” the princess stated, having spoken in my presence for the first time, both succinctly and alarmingly accurately.

“Ah! I remember now, the fellow who made the ash house last year, yes, yes!” the king jovially said. “You may rise as well, young man,” the king commanded, which I obeyed unquestioningly this time.

As I did, I saw the king for the first time, and what immediately drew my focus was the fact that he was barely clothed, a transparent vest technically covering his top half, while a rough pair of linen pants covered his bottom half. I would presume that he was training or doing something physically demanding, which prompted him to dress so lightly, even in the midst of winter.

“Now,” his jovial tone slowly melted away as he downed the freshly poured tea before him, replaced by a slightly more serious one as he met my eyes purposefully, “let’s talk about the consequences of your actions, shall we?”

A small smile just wide enough to not constitute a smirk adorned his face, and I could instantly tell.

I wouldn’t like what he had to say.