Had I run into a situation like this back on Earth I would have defaulted to my isolationist self and ignored everyone around me to the best of my ability. But seeing someone from the group living in the magisterium made me want to approach the girl who was reading so intently that she didn’t even notice my presence as I approached. I hoped to ask her about sorcery and everything to go along with it due to still having hope that I would have magic potential, but starting off a conversation with a stranger required a bit more subtlety than that.
“Hello” I said in English quietly, keeping my voice low since we were, after all, in a library.
My quiet words startled her more than I expected and I’m sure that if there was a drink nearby she would have long spilled its contents on the book. I couldn’t gauge her height while she was sitting down but by no means was she tall, if anything she was something like 165 cm tall. She had medium-length brown hair for a girl, and looked to weigh probably half my current weight.
She looked up at me from the book she was reading, briefly looking straight at my eyes. The vibrant color of her brown eyes felt like they bore straight through you, which was compounded by the fact that her glasses made her irises look even larger.
She did not maintain eye-contact for long though, her gaze settling on my clothes, which was the standard tunic that everyone wore back at the compound. I was waiting for her to reply to my greeting, but for some reason she remained silent. I couldn’t bear the uncomfortable silence for much longer so I took the initiative to continue the conversation.
“Is there some dirt on my clothes?” I asked a bit louder, trying to spot what exactly about my outfit mesmerized her.
“Oh no, I just didn’t expect a mundane to visit the library” She answered, her voice quieter than mine.
“A mundane?” I said confused, not understanding the term.
“Oh, it's the term the Magisterium uses for people who don’t have magic potential, I didn’t mean to offend you” She reassured, worried that I would take offense to the word.
“I don’t mind, it’s just that I’ve never had anyone refer to me as such before” I explained, smiling all the while hoping to convey my lack of offense.
She felt relieved after I didn’t take offense, but even though she stopped looking at my tunic and now looked at my eyes, she didn’t show any sign of saying anything.
“Do you mind if I sit at your table? I’ve got a friend in your group who I haven’t seen in a while and want to find out how he’s doing” I asked, hoping my genuine concern for Leigh would get her to stop being so guarded.
“Oh, sure I guess” She answered, with a polite tone to her words.
I walked to her table, sneaking a look at the book she was reading before sitting down opposite her. She didn’t look too comfortable with having company it seems, but I needed to get some information out of her, perhaps this would be the only time I’d meet anyone from the students at the magisterium.
“So my friend is called Leigh, do you know him?” I asked, trying to embody the spirit of a customer service representative.
“Yes, he’s in some of my classes, although I don’t think we’ve spoken before” She replied meekly, keeping her hands in her lap.
“He was my roommate back at the compound. My other roommates and I have been worried about him since the aptitude test, at the selection ceremony we weren't able to talk to him. Is he doing alright?” I continued, remaining as still as possible so as not to intimidate her.
“I think so, I see him hanging out with some other trainees after classes sometimes, and he doesn’t get picked up too much by our teacher” She answered, becoming quieter and quieter with each sentence.
Her frightened demeanor struck me as odd, I didn’t think I had done something to scare her, and I courteously chose to sit opposite her as opposed to next to her in consideration of maintaining proper boundaries. Did she think I was hitting on her or something?
“Hey is everything alright?” I decided to ask, trying to be considerate of her feelings.
She didn’t reply, but remained silent for a solid minute, perhaps unwilling to divulge the reason she felt uncomfortable. In any other situation I would have stood up and just given her some space but I really needed to talk to her about more than just Leigh, and the next best option in my mind was to just remain as non threatening as possible. I had already picked up a book while browsing a library, it had to do with taking care of Sorok.
‘Farrier’s Masterpiece’ it was called, written by Gervase Markham. I had talked to the stablehands at the compound in regards to horses in general, but since Sorok was a living being and not just a vehicle I thought it would be interesting to read up on how to actually take care of a horse. When I spotted this book and flipped through a few of the pages it struck me as an interesting read so I carried it with me all the way to the table. Since this girl was scared of something or someone I decided to just read quietly, not an unenjoyable solution.
The book delved into details regarding what to feed a horse, how to keep a horse from being scared, and maintenance of the horse's hooves. As this was not commonly known information in America it was actually quite an interesting read, and it gave me the confidence to treat Sorok a little better from now on. Wheat, oats, and salt water were provided to him back in the compound but I still had no idea why a horse needed to eat all of these things. According to the book a horse can actually survive on just eating grass and drinking water from a stream, a logical explanation considering horses originated as wild animals that were later domesticated. But warhorses, packhorses, and horses used for travel need more nutrition than just eating grass, hence the need for ‘supplements’ for lack of a better term. There’s more calories in hay and oats than just simple grass, which made a lot more things make sense in my mind in regards to the quantities of hay that was being delivered to the compound every now and then.
While I was digesting the information from ‘Farriers Masterpiece’ almost forgetting entirely that there was someone sitting opposite of me, the girl decided to speak up.
“Why did you come to the library?” She asked, finally initiating something in the conversation.
“Well, I like to read a lot, and after the selection the amount of classes we have decreased, so I have a lot more free time. My teacher gave me a recommendation to go here, so I came. Is it that weird for someone to go to the library on their days off?” I answered, trying to softly continue the conversation.
“You’re the first mundane person who has come here, out of the students at least. I’ve been coming here for almost a month, and have seen people here and there but they usually leave after reading what is required for classes” She explained, her eyes focused on the crude bindings of the parchment book I was reading.
“Yeah all of the ‘mundanes’ have a horse provided for them by the Jenusians, so I thought it would be a good idea to learn more about them. What are you reading?” I said, shrugging at my choice of literature.
“‘Mythical Anthology’, it’s a set of poems which talk about events in the past, which is quite interesting since our teacher thinks that humans were taught sorcery by ancient mythical creatures…” She elaborated, much more willing to discuss magic than other things it seems.
“Do you like sorcery?” I asked, trying to latch on to this topic of conversation.
“Yes! It’s like something straight out of a fantasy book, and when our teacher demonstrates spells to us I sometimes feel like it’s not even reality” She answered, enthusiastically.
“That’s great, it is something that seems unreal at first, especially when Magister Kenner shot fire out in every direction before the aptitude test. I’m sure you’ll be able to do the same one day, hopefully not when you’re as old as him though” I joked, surprisingly my joke landed and elicited a giggle from her.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Are you not upset that you're a mundane?” She asked, concern seeping through her tone.
“Not really, I mean it’s not really a test that I could prepare for so what’s the point of being upset about it after the fact?” I questioned, trying to be as sincere as possible.
“Yeah, you’re probably right…” She agreed half-heartedly, becoming more meek at my response.
“I wanted to ask, how did it feel for you when the Magister held your hand? Since I failed I don’t know what exactly a student had to do to pass.” I asked, trying to change the topic away from the seemingly sensitive subject.
“Well it felt like there was a current of sorts traveling up my arm, and I tried to stop it before it could reach the rest of my body, but in the end I only delayed it by a few seconds. It seems that was enough to pass though” She replied, trying to recall more details as she spoke.
“Oh? So is the current meant to be mana or something?” I joked once more, hoping she would see the humor of using such a fantasy-esque term.
“It’s actually exactly that, although the term in Rahlian is something like arcane power” She explained, a smirk visible on her face from my humor falling flat.
“You don’t say, so because you had some you managed to stop the ‘tide’ for a bit, thus passing the test” I reasoned, trying to understand what qualifies as someone having magical aptitude.
“Sounds about right, which is why the magi use the term mundane for those who lack arcane power, they’re normal” She added, drawing a murmur of understanding from me.
“So is the reason that the current felt so strong when the Magister channeled it up my arm because he is experienced? Or do you guys do physical training like us to increase it?” I asked, showing the blisters on my hand from swinging as word around.
“Huh? No we don’t do anything like that, the best word I can use to describe it would be meditation, although the teacher uses the phrase ‘strengthening the mindscape’” She answered, although this information is drifting closer and closer to what might be considered forbidden knowledge.
“So you just close your eyes and empty your mind? Man you guys have it much easier than us” I groaned, my body still tired, which was not uncommon nowadays.
“It’s not that simple!” She exclaimed, a little too loudly. I brought my finger in a ‘shush’ gesture to my mouth which caused her to blush from embarrassment, as she forgot where we were sitting.
“You have to visualize a centerpoint in your chest, and you then have to do something like pull everything you feel around you towards it, like this” She explained, before closing her eyes and steadying her breathing.
She sat with her hands on her knees, completely still apart from the rising and falling of her chest from breathing. For a while nothing was happening, and I began to consider that this girl might be playing a prank of sorts on me. But as I got the desire to interrupt her I felt the same kind of magnetism that I felt from Magister Kenner and the Grand prelate right before they casted their spells. Was she about to cast a spell on me I thought? I mean she is definitely a beginner in sorcery but surely she wasn’t about to do something incredibly stupid like shoot out fire in a library!
I restrained myself and decided to observe for now. I remembered back during the aptitude test that I did feel the current and my first instinct was to block it, before I regained control over my thoughts and decided to allow the eerie sensation to travel freely. This is probably a good opportunity to find out if I had any magic potential myself, although I’d do it when I had more privacy.
The girl meditated for a solid ten minutes before letting out a large exhale, with some perspiration visible on her forehead. This ‘strengthening the mindspace’ thing was definitely no walk in the park, I mean it caused her to sweat! I made a fake attempt at trying the same thing at her insistence, it seems she was still unhappy about me poking fun at the difference in effort the two groups had to put in. The fake attempt at meditation was met by a sigh of contemptment and pride from her, and came off as very adorable if anything.
We spoke a bit longer about things of lesser importance such as me telling her about the tough training we were going through, and also me telling her of my trip outside the city walls on my horse. This seemed to interest her greatly as she informed me that the ‘arcanes’ weren’t allowed to go outside the city limits at all. They could still descend down into the metropolis that is Krilos, but they were told that leaving the city wasn’t safe for them. From a utilitarian point of view I guess it made sense, I mean there were more mundanes than not among the summoned, so perhaps they were just taking precautions.
I didn’t get to read much of ‘Farriers Masterpiece’ in the end, spending more time talking with her in hushed tones, and managing to get her assurance that she would give mine and my roommates regards to Leigh. My hunger eventually made an appearance, with my stomach growling louder than both of us at any point during our conversation, making me feel slightly embarrassed and wishing her farewell.
I was already halfway around the corner of one of the bookshelves, going to return ‘Farrier’s Masterpiece’ back to the shelf before I mentally smacked myself in the forehead for failing to even ask the girl the most important question.
“Oh by the way I’m Leon, what’s your name?” I introduced myself, still disappointed that I didn’t do so earlier.
“I’m Sophie” She answered, less meek than she was a few hours ago.
***
My schedule remained relatively unchanged in the next few days, with lessons, training, and outings with Max and Louis in the city becoming something like a routine. The focus on etiquette lessons remained, with Goer becoming fussier with every mistake someone made, although he did seem to be a lot more lenient on girls like Gloria than myself and some of the others. Noble etiquette in Jenusia was infuriatingly confusing, with many things which I would consider to be common sense being the exact opposite of what Goer wanted us to do.
Holding my posture constantly like a waiter at some expensive restaurant didn’t help matters either, and I felt like I would feel the effects of Goer’s ‘teachings’ in my later years for sure, perhaps the nobles in Jenusia had some kind of contraption they wore under their backs and that was how they got around it?
It became crystal clear however, why Goer was so worried that we weren’t making good progress in the etiquette lessons when Mr. Phillips informed us that during one of the day’s off next week, a feast would be held at the compound. This resulted in a lot of cheering and smiles from the students thinking this was some kind of reward of holiday, but at the mention of attendees other than the students and teachers the collective enthusiasm of the dining hall halved.
So there’s going to be some kind of social event? I asked myself, before memories began returning of past misfortunes during 9th grade when my mother insisted I dress up and basically kicked me out of the house for the evening, forcing me to attend a social function at the school.
Thoughts of a plan to avoid attendance at the feast were dashed when the next day the servants provided each and every one of us a clean formal set of clothing, with a common theme for all of us but with variations unlike our usual tunics which looked basically identical if not for the side. Mine was starting to feel a little too loose for comfort, which was simultaneously good news and bad news.
Could I even ask the servants at the compound to get a new one? And what would be the point if I became leaner a few months later and had to repeat the process all over again?
The intensive etiquette hell at least had an endpoint, unlike the sword training which I thought might be a facet of my routine for at least the next few years, should nothing else change. Goer began to resemble a man possessed, with every little imperfection that we as organic beings and not machines were bound to make, being treated as some sort of grave insult to the honor of all nobles.
The teachers even had to interfere as Goer wasn’t the only one being a little bit too zealous with his instruction.Did the Jenusians threaten our teachers with death if we weren’t perfectly ready to behave exactly like them or something?
The feast itself was attended by more outsiders than there were students at the compound, with people of all ages all happy to converse with ‘divine messengers’ by the looks of it. Some of my schoolmates were not proficient enough to hold a prolonged conversation in Rahlian, and seeing them sulking in one corner of the room did make me feel less awkward about not exactly being very social with the attendees.
Nobles, rich commoners, and priests were all present, and they would be indistinguishable by their mannerisms as they were all would be honor students in Goer’s etiquette class. The clothes they wore were the thing by which I could tell them apart though, but I decided to just treat all who came up to greet myself, Max, and Louis the same which was met with some awkwardness from the wealthy commoners.
Louis seemed the most out of us like a fish in water, and the praise and compliments he got throughout the night did more to return him to his previous jovial self than anything I could do. While the social aspect of the feast did not appeal to me that much, the culinary one certainly did. We had been provided with the noble cuisine of Jenusia for meals for a very long period of time, but it seems the food they serve at feasts is of a completely different magnitude.
While I was ‘hunting’ for something good to eat, no longer worried about calories, MSG, and the like considering I’d probably burn it all off the next time I see Janis, my roommates became entangled in a conversation with some of the attending noble ladies.
It was quite surprising when I returned to our seating area to see that Louis especially was having an intense discussion with some girl, who was also our age, although it seems Max’s manners went out the window at the sight of her. As I turned around to find some other empty spot to sit in, not wishing to ‘cock-block’ Louis, I heard him holler my name, and waving me over.
He introduced the girl as Evani of House Freid, to which I responded with the standard greeting I had prepared for myself before the feast, hoping that it wouldn’t offend the lady of high standing. He included me in the conversation he was having with her, it seems he was regaling her about Earth and life back home, while at the same time making sure to ask her questions about her own life. She was a very polite conversationalist, and her gestures and expressions seemed well-practiced, just like my previous introduction.
I spent more time facing Louis than I did her, not wishing for her to think I was ‘ogling’. Evani was pretty, there was no doubt about that, but my experience with witnessing the most beautiful woman of all time, Kuvira, probably made me have some kind of subconscious aversion to the intentions of pretty girls in this world.
Max didn’t have as much luck as Louis did with the ‘fairer sex’, and when his conversation partner left for greener pastures he came back to sulk, seeking some moral support from his friends. Louis parted politely with Evani wishing her a good evening to which she responded with many pleasantries about how nice it was to meet an ‘exalted’ divine messenger or whatever.
Max must have drunk something that wasn’t appropriate for his age, as he hung on Louis like a sloth, which was definitely inappropriate for the feast. Due to having to fight off the tipsy Max, Louis walked away first, which left me confused still standing next to Evani.
My farewells to Evani were not met with the same kind of smile as Louis’, and the evil stare she gave me as I was leaving was not something I expected from a young teenager.