Julian passed through the open door of the College entrance. As soon as he did so, a young man who looked slightly older than he did met him, reaching his hand out to shake. Julian awkwardly placed one of his suitcases on the ground before shaking his hand.

“Hey there, great to meet you. My name is Cole and I’ll be one of your student advisors this year. What was your name?” said the young man. He had a kind inviting smile on his face that also reached his eyes, so Julian thought he’d be in good hands.

“Julian. Julian Renning, sorry.” he replied, still feeling a bit awkward. Now that he’d reached his destination he was once again left without a purpose, looking for someone to tell him what was next. Hopefully that was Cole’s job.

“Nice to meet you Julian! If you come over here we can get your bags taken up to your room while we complete the rest of your check-in process.” said Cole, beckoning him over to a girl who looked about the same age as him. Handing his suitcase and backpack over to her, she quickly vanished up the stairs. Julian took this time to look around, taking in the sight of the College’s main entrance. As was a common theme with much of Stravenian architecture, the interior was mainly decorated with dark pinewood.

The room they were currently in had a main reception desk off to the left, next to which were some temporary wooden tables where what he could only assume were other new students were checking in. In the middle of the room was a grand staircase that led up, and there were also a few doors that led to other rooms. Julian followed Cole, sitting opposite him at one of the temporary tables as the man flipped open a book, muttering to himself as he traced his finger down the page.

“Raab, Rawson, Reed… Aha! Renning!” he said, dramatically ticking off his name in the book. It seemed like the Kingdom was overly fond of marking people’s names off lists. Julian hoped that he wouldn’t have much more to sit through. He was starting to get hungry.

“It looks like you’re up on the fourth floor, I’ll take you up there now. How are your legs feeling?” said Cole, closing the book and rising to his feet.

“They’re, uh, fine, I think? Why?”

Julian’s legs were not fine.

They’d ascended staircase after staircase until finally reaching the fourth of seven (counting the ground) floors. There were two elevators that could normally be used, but currently they were needed for transporting luggage. Julian hadn’t realised quite how out of shape he was, but doing almost nothing but study wasn’t exactly great for fitness. Nevertheless, they’d reached the fourth floor. He was led past what looked like a kitchen and also a larger common space to a corridor with rows of identical doors. They stopped outside one with a small inscription reading “4B6”. This was his room.

Cole’s hand glowed briefly, and the door clicked open. Julian, slightly stunned, turned to face him.

“What was that?”

Cole looked at him quizzically, then seemed to realise what he was getting at.

“Student advisors get given a special rune that allows us to unlock doors here at the College as part of our jobs. If we think you’re in danger, or we have some other valid reason to access your room, we have permission to access your room. But only in extreme circumstances. Don’t worry, people won’t just come into your room whenever they want.”

Julian breathed a sigh of relief at that. He did value his privacy.

The pair walked into the room, where his suitcases lay in a pile. It was of course, quite small, although much better than the spartan military barracks his parents had been expecting. One side of the room had a simple bed, with sheets already on it, while the other had a desk with a chest of drawers beneath. The back wall had both a window and a cupboard built into it, and off to the left was another door that led to a small bathroom with a sink, toilet and shower.. Julian walked up to the window, looking outside. It was now dark, and the city was lit up by the blue flares of mana powered street lights. Further in the distance, he could see the Anchor, casting its gaze over the whole city.

As he turned back around, he realised there was an envelope on the desk. He pulled it open, and a key dropped out. There were also a few more pieces of paper inside.

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“That’s your room key,” said Cole. “For now you’ll just have to carry it around, but once you become a Runebearer and get some training you won’t have to worry about that. One of the first tricks any student should learn is how to inscribe their room key into their Runes.”

The realisation of how close he was to being able to use magic filled Julian with glee. Cole continued to talk as he left the room.

“I’d better get back downstairs to welcome the last few students, but I’ll see you around. Dinner is on the first floor at 7 o’clock, just head back down the stairs one less floor than you came up. Make sure you check the rest of the envelope!”

“Bye!” replied Julian, shutting the door as the young man left. He was undeniably hungry, but he thought he should get some of his things in order before heading downstairs. First order of business was to see what was inside the envelope.

The first piece of paper was a simple map of the area surrounding the College. A helpful legend outlined which symbols meant what. A small shirt icon meant clothing shop, a plate and cutlery meant food. There were other symbols that he didn’t quite understand, one was for ‘Reagants’, another was for ‘Runecrafting’. He could only guess that they were magic related. Two crossed swords were marked as ‘Weaponry’, which reminded him that not only would he be unravelling the lost secrets of magic. He would also be learning to fight.

The next piece of paper was a schedule, one for the next few days marked ‘Initiation’, as well as another that seemed to be a general class schedule. All the first year students at the Royal Mages’ College would be undertaking a common core set of classes to give them foundational knowledge, specialising in later years both in College and beyond. His schedule seemed quite packed, which was expected of a prestigious institution such as the one he was in. For the first four days of the week he’d have practical classes in the morning after breakfast, and then theory after lunch, with free time in the afternoon and night as well as on the weekends. The fifth day of the week was simply marked as ‘Free Development/Excursion’. The practical classes were; ‘Fundamental Physical Combat’, ‘Fundamental Fitness’, ‘Fundamental Chemistry’ and ‘Fundamental Runic Combat’. The theory classes were ‘Beginner Runic Theory’’, ‘Fundamental Old World Geography’ and ‘Basic Military Strategy’, with two afternoons being allocated to Beginner Runic Theory. Julian wondered at what the ‘Excursion’ part of the fifth day block meant, but knew that he’d soon find out.

The third and final piece of paper was a letter welcoming students to the College, as well as outlining who the important members of staff and the student body were. Julian could see ‘Cole Keller’ listed as one of the student advisors.

As his stomach growled, Julian resolved to unpack his suitcases after he’d eaten. Exiting his room, making sure his key was in his pocket, he quickly relieved himself in his bathroom before heading back down the stairs. Checking his watch, he realised that it was only five minutes to 7 o’clock. He’d cut it pretty fine.

As he walked into the second floor, he was once again blown away. The dining hall, for that was the room must have been, stretched across the entire second floor of the college. Rows and rows of tables were set out, with only a few seats left. Julian looked around before quickly walking over to the closest seat he could see, sitting next to a girl and a large boy who was talking with others at the table. He was likely a second year student talking to his friends, so Julian decided he wouldn’t try and interrupt.

The girl turned as he sat down, olive brown skin and green eyes uncommon in the snowy lands of Stravenium. She gave him a short, polite smile, and turned back to look at the front of the room.

Julian, feeling incredibly awkward, also did the same. He hadn’t had to make friends in a long time, but he decided that he didn’t have to do it straight away. After sitting in silence for a few minutes, listening to the guy next to him talk about what he’d done for his holidays, they were interrupted. People hushed and turned to face the front of the room, and Julian, sitting at the back, craned his neck to see a tall man dressed in the formal blue of the Kingdom take the stage.

The man clapped his hands, and any chatter that was still ongoing was summarily stopped.

“Welcome all! I’ll keep my opening words short as I’m sure you’re all keen to start eating. To those returning students, welcome back. Please try and make the new students feel welcome over this meal. Keep in your hearts how nervous you felt as you faced your Matriculation. To our new students, welcome once more. I’m excited to get to know you over the course of the year. My name is Raythe Velsyn, the Head of the Royal Mages’ College of South Stravenium.”

With a start Julian realised that the man who had just spoken was one of the most powerful mages in all the Kingdom. He’d expected the Head of the College to look like a powerful warrior, clad in armour and wielding spells constantly. But he supposed that was a foolish thing to assume.

As their meals were brought out and they began to eat, The boy beside Julian didn’t even try to make conversation with him, simply nodding at him once before turning back to his friends. He looked over at the girl next to him, and froze as he realised that they’d made eye contact.

He sighed, ‘I guess there’s no harm in trying’ and cleared his throat.

“Hi, my name’s Julian. What’s yours?”