Chapter 39

The Dungeon Stone flowed together, forming the roof of the seventeenth campus building that Tom had built that day. He was starting to get a headache from all the visualization that his Customize ability required, and he’d decided that it was time to call it quits.

While acquiring the land for the Adventurer’s Guild had been fast and straightforward, Ubo had been forced to jump through several hoops in order to establish a campus. Although he had the funds he needed thanks to the line of credit that his grandmother had secured for the project, he’d been forced to bid on multiple lots to find enough space to house his school.

And even then, he’d been forced to compromise.

While he’d acquired three large plots of land east of the new Adventurer’s Guild and the new location of Other Westone, they weren’t connected, and not everyone living in the spaces between was excited about their new neighbors. Rumors of mad magical experimentation and explosive extracurricular activities was causing a bit of a stir in the community.

Ubo was trying to reassure them that it would all be for the good, but the people remained suspicious. He was also trying to buy the buildings that broke up the lots he’d acquired to make one uniform campus rather than three campuses split up by a few blocks of residential buildings and businesses, but he was having trouble doing so on the budget that he had set aside for the purposes.

Perhaps he should explode a few of them to drive the prices down, Tom thought as he walked out of the newly constructed dormitory. He was joined by the three guards from the palace.

Tom wasn’t working for free, although he wasn’t charging Ubo an arm or a leg either. It would have been significantly more expensive to hire a construction force to put up the number of buildings that Ubo required. Tom was surprised that the Urban School for Magic required so much space, but when he reflected on the nature of magical practice he supposed it made sense.

The students would want to spread out to practice, and demonstrations would take up a significant amount of space. The classrooms Tom had constructed were spacious. The lecture halls had massive stages. And outside the buildings were enormous spaces which weren’t being put to any particular use, but were rather set aside for independent study.

Tom had been recognized on and off throughout the day. He was still getting accustomed to people he didn’t know knowing him. Or thinking they did, at least.

Six people had asked him for money. Another three had demanded it, before the guards had driven them off. That was another thing Tom was getting used to; bodyguards.

“I’m going to tell Ubo that I’ve finished for the day,” he informed his escorts, “then I’m going back to the A.G.”

“Would you like a rickshaw?” the head guard asked.

“It’s not that far, and the walk will help me clear my head,” Tom answered. “Besides, I wouldn’t feel right riding while making you guys run alongside.”

“We’re used to it, My Lord,” the guard assured him. “It’s our job.”

“Right,” Tom agreed. “Well, I’m not used to it, so there we go.”

Tom found the building on the edge of campus that was being used for administration. It wasn’t one that he’d constructed, but rather an old home that was scheduled to be demolished once the other buildings had been completed. Tom knocked on the door and waited a moment.

Vella answered, smiling when she saw Tom. “Hello. Did you finish all of the buildings? Master Ubo will tear his hair out if you’ve run into problems.”

“No problems, but I’m finished for the day,” Tom answered. “There’s two buildings left to construct but I’ll get to them tomorrow, after my head clears.”

“Right. I know what it’s like to have a headache from straining too hard,” she informed him. “Master Ubo says it’s important to know the difference between the straining that makes you stronger and the straining that just makes you suffer.”

“By the way, congratulations for unlocking your Class, Vella. I’m not certain that I ever said that,” Tom said.

“Oh, thanks,” Vella said, blushing.

“And I’m glad that you seem to have gotten over that crush you had on me,” he told her.

“You knew about that?”

“I think all of us kids in the village did,” Tom informed her. “You didn’t hide it nearly as well as you thought you did. Ma told me that it would fade if I just didn’t encourage it, so I’m sorry if it seemed like I was ignoring you back then.”

“Oh, I see,” she said. She was blushing madly.

“It’s not that I don’t like you, Vella. But you’re like a little sister to me. Or a younger friend at least. I hope that we can still be friends now that you’re not crushing on me anymore,” Tom said. “The truth is that it’s really nice having someone from the village to talk with.”

Tom knew that the information he’d gotten from the king about Tilluth Valley’s dragon problem was under wraps for the moment, and he didn’t want to trouble Vella with it. He was extremely grateful that his parents had followed him into the heart of the nation rather than remain behind. He was anxious over the fates of the rest of the villagers, but there was nothing he could do except carry on with his daily life for now.

“Do you actually like Rowena?” Vella asked.

“I’m not certain, to be honest,” Tom admitted. “I don’t not like her, that’s for certain. I don’t have a crush on her or anything, but we get along well. And she is pretty enough, especially since she got her Class. If the king didn’t want us to get married I’m pretty certain we’d never have even met.”

“So are you going to marry her then?”

“Maybe? Probably? I don’t know, Vella. Things are getting complicated in my life and I honestly don’t know what to do about a lot of things. I do like Rowena and when I think of reasons not to marry her they all sound petty.”

“I think you should,” Vella informed him. “She’s pretty and smart. And your babies will be princes and princesses.”

“You really are over your crush on me if you’re telling me to marry someone else,” Tom commented.

“It was a stupid crush anyway,” she said. “There are boys in the city that are way cuter than you are.”

“Thanks, Vella.” Tom said, chuckling.

They went inside and found Ubo. The master Mage was reading a missive in his right hand and pulling at his hair with his left. Tom frowned at seeing the man so stressed, but there was little that he could do about it.

“I’m almost done with the buildings you’ve requested,” he informed him. “I’ll finish the final two tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Tom,” Ubo said, looking up from the missive. “If only the would-be teachers of this school were as tractable as you are. I really appreciate the work you’ve done, we’re months closer to making this school a reality now that we have a physical location for the classes.”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“It’s really no problem. The A.G. benefits from having a working magic school, after all. And all it really costs me to make buildings is a bit of a headache, so it’s not a big deal.”

“A headache? Your skill is painful?” Ubo asked, concerned.

“No, it doesn’t hurt when I use it. But when I use it for hours on end I get a sort of concentration headache,” Tom explained.

“Ah, yes. That’s a common problem for Mages as well. I do have a few exercises that would help improve your concentration capabilities, if you want,” Ubo said.

“I think I’m fine. I have to work for hours before my head starts bothering me,” Tom explained.

Ubo was already walking over to his bookshelf, however, where he selected one book from a stack of identical titles. “Here,” he said. “Let’s see. The exercises on pages twenty-three, thirty-six, and fifty-two should prove helpful for increasing your capabilities. The exercise on page sixty-eight is useful for soothing a tired mind.”

Tom took the offered book, looking at it with some reservations. It was titled Mind Magic. “I’m not a Mage,” He objected.

Ubo waved the concern away. “More than three-quarters of that book requires no magical skill at all. It’s simply filled with ways of thinking. Some of them are useful for training the mind, others are rubbish that aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on. But the exercises I mentioned are excellent for visualization, which I believe you said is something that you require for your Class.”

“I see,” Tom said. He opened the book to page twenty-three and began to read.

A knock at the door, and Vella went to answer it again.

“Hello Jessica. Who’s that?”

“This is Akira. Akira, this is Vella. She’s a Mage from Tom’s village.”

Tom looked up and went to greet the newcomers. Ubo, upon hearing Jessica’s voice, dropped what he was doing and rushed out of his office as well.

“Jessica! Wonderful for you to come visit,” Ubo said. “Who is your friend? Is he one of the new arrivals from Earth?”

“Master Ubo, this is Yamamoto Akira. His culture puts the family name before the given name, however, so you should call him Akira. Or Akira-kun, I suppose. Either way he’s here because he’s hoping you can figure out how to unlock his magic,” Jessica said.

“Unlock his magic?” Ubo said, his expression confused.

“I am a Magic Swordsman,” Akira explained, “But so far I haven’t learned any magic.”

“Is that so?” Ubo asked. His expression took on a contemplative expression. “Come with me.”

“Do you mind if I join you?” Tom asked. “I’m rather curious as to what magic lessons look like.”

Ubo shrugged. “I see no reason to stop you.”

They went into one of the first buildings Tom had constructed, where they found Emil and Elisa. The pair had been spending quite a bit of time together lately, and Tom was glad for the role he’d played in putting them together. It was a strange thing to bond over, being murdered, but he hoped that Emil was helping Elisa through it.

Tom remembered the days immediately after his Summoning when Emil had been struggling with the sudden end to his past life, before he’d found the purpose of his new one. He’d been hoping that the engineer would be able to help Elisa find her own way, and it seemed that his hopes were coming true. The woman seemed less haunted than the last time he’d seen her.

“Ubo! It’s good to see you,” Emil called. “And you have Tom and Jessica with you. And … I’m sorry, I know you’re from Earth but I don’t remember your name, young man.”

“Yamamoto Akira,” Akira said.

“Would you prefer if I call you Yamamoto-kun, Akira-kun, or just Akira?”

“Akira is fine. We are not in Japan,” Akira said.

“No, we certainly are not,” Emil agreed. “I’m guessing this isn’t just a social call?”

“I was wondering if you’d finished the ritual inscription I’d requested,” Ubo answered.

“Ah, yes, just a few minutes ago in fact,” Emil said. “Right this way.”

They all followed Emil into one of the classrooms, where a massive ritual was inscribed in the floor. Emil had begun by painting the ritual, then, once he’d confirmed it worked, followed up with a second ritual which caused the paint to etch into the stone. That ritual had been inscribed on a small piece of wood and activated for just a moment before Emil had disrupted it.

The ritual worked as it was, but Ubo intended to gild the inscription eventually.

With just a touch of his magic, Ubo empowered the ritual, the line to the ‘on switch’ appearing abruptly. It vanished a mere second later, and Ubo turned to the teenagers.

“Okay, Akira. Do some magic,” he instructed.

Akira looked at him in surprise and confusion. “Um, I can’t. I just said--”

“Just try to do whatever it is that you think you should be doing to make magic happen,” Ubo instructed. “I’m very curious to see what will happen.”

Akira chewed his lip for a moment, then nodded. He closed his eyes for a moment and extended a hand. A small line of green light extended from his palm.

“Interesting,” Ubo said. Akira opened his eyes and saw the light he was creating. He made a sound of surprise and lost concentration, causing the mana to dissipate and the light to fade.

“Tom, why don’t you try doing some magic as well,” Ubo suggested.

Tom considered for a moment, then he activated Conjure and brought forth a pocketknife. He was a little surprised at the amount of light that coalesced to form it; it was almost blinding! And it came not just from his palm, but from the entire room.

The final result was a blade about the length of a finger inside a sheath. He passed it over to Vella.

“Happy birthday by the way,” He said.

“Oh, thanks. That was last week though.”

“I know. Sorry I missed it.”

“That’s okay,” Vella said.

Ubo nodded. “Okay. Now try to use magic without using any of your skills.”

Tom frowned. “Um, okay. What do you want me to do?”

“Just do magic,” Ubo instructed.

Tom considered the request. He raised his hand again. He concentrated hard, willing the mana that he felt within himself to move, to do something, to leave his body. Nothing happened.

“And that, my friends, is the difference between a Mage class and a non-Mage class. Even though Tom’s class uses mana for its skills, he’s unable to direct mana to form magic without pumping it throug his skills.” Ubo explained after Tom admitted defeat. “Now, Jessica, do some magic.”

“Sure,” Jessica said. She cocked her head to the side an waved a hand. Dozens of lines of mana flew from her body and coalesced into an illusion of a person.

“That’s my dad,” she said. The middle aged man had the same bright red hair as her, except cut short, and a clean-shaven face. One didn’t need to look too closely to see the family resemblance. “It’s a lot easier to just make a hologram when I’m not trying to animate it. I really hope that he and the rest of the family is okay. I kind of feel guilty, sometimes, knowing that they’re grieving for me while I’m alive and well in this world and having all sorts of adventures.”

“Thanks, I hadn’t even thought of that,” Akira said. He frowned at the illusion. “That is what it takes to do magic? I’m not certain I’ll ever manage that.”

“No,” Ubo said. “That is what it looks like when a natural Sorceress uses her Skills. Vella, cast Candleflame for me. Your version of it.”

“Right,” Vella agreed. She concentrated for a second, and a line of mana extended from her core, tied itself into a shape just in front of her chest, and a small flame burst into existence.

“It seems that your ‘Magic Swordsman’ class is a hybrid of Mage and Swordsman, Akira,” Ubo explained. “I believe you’ll have to learn the two halves of your class separately before incorporating them together.”

“I already know Kendo,” Akira said. “That is, I can use a sword. And I have Skills which I gained since coming to this world like Empower Weapon and Enhanced movements. I just don’t have any magic.”

“We’ll have to fix that,” Ubo said. “Congratulations, Akira. You are the first scholarship student of the Urban School for Magic. Let’s return to my office and draw up your enrollment papers.”