Despite the tone of the initial lecture, last night hadn’t been as unpleasant as Professor Anaximenes had made it seem like it would be. After Gio had acquiesced to his punishment, they managed to dissect the corpse of the Inkling in a few hours. Gladiolus appeared to help Professor A arrange a series of vials, beakers, and other containers to begin portioning out the monster's raw materials. Apparently, a being that bled high-quality ink and had lived in a zone rich with rare knowledge-type mana could be considered very useful for magical academia.
Gio had the impression that though the man was displeased with his impromptu adventure, he wasn’t all that angry at him overall. After Gio had helped filter out the centipedes from the paper stomach of the dead beast, Professor A didn’t manage to hold onto his hard-faced demeanor, shifting to cracking jokes and teaching Gio and Gladiolus about the proper way to extract materials from monster corpses.
_____
The next morning, Gio held a mug of warm coffee that had fragrant notes of cinnamon and clove while he checked over his additional homework, finding nothing wrong after several pass-throughs.
Chandrika looked up from the textbook she was reading across from Gio at the cafeteria table.
“So, now that you’ve slept, wanna tell me about the library?” she asked.
“Oh! So, basically, something weird happened with the divination technique, and I got an achievement. I… uh… also attracted a monster and damaged a book, which is why Professor A made me stay after class. It’s all good though! I already finished the reports he asked me to do. I am not eager to repeat the experience, at least not for a while.”
Chandrika’s jaw fell open. “A monster? How did you handle it? And what did you get for the achievement?!”
“The monster was a slow-moving… book zombie thing. I managed to use [Prismatic Shape] to kill it, which was admittedly pretty lucky. The achievement gave me an upgrade to my knowledge skill… Professor A asked me to keep the name of the new form to myself, I guess? I’m not sure about that part. I still don’t know how the divination technique did what it did. In the past, that technique could barely help me find my house keys... I think it might have had something to do with the library.” Gio replied.
“Well, I’m just glad you’re safe. It’s normal for people to recommend that you don’t share certain skill names. As for the divination thing, who knows? Mana-rich zones can get weird. My weaving skill gets all glowy and intense in my grandmother’s tower.” Chandrika said.
“Yeah. Like I said, not eager to repeat the experience. Your grandmother’s tower sounds awesome, I’d love to visit someday!” Gio said.
Chandrika grinned. “Absolutely! She’s a tough old lady, but she’s one of my favorite people.”
_____
Class that day went smoothly, with most of the class having managed to cast at least one spell by the end of the day. Professor A gave the class additional reading assignments based on what they needed to work on.
“Alright, everybody!” Professor Anaximenes shouted, calling discussion time to a close.
“Today marks the end of your first week at Crystal Ring Academy. I want to remind you that you all have a very long road ahead of you in your time here. This school is full of resources for you to use in your studies, but it is ultimately up to you to decide where you need to focus at any given time. Today, all first years will be receiving access to some of the common areas in the Manse.”
“You may have noticed that you have not yet seen any of your upperclassmen in the Green Expanse. This is because we wanted to gradually introduce you to how things work here at CRA. Some of the areas you will gain access to this weekend will be… utterly fantastical ways to spend your time, get in trouble, make friends, or even find new and exciting opportunities for success. I encourage you to explore responsibly but remember that your learning should take priority. If I may make a suggestion, join a club! Many of the extracurricular activities here are run by incredible people. You may even find me in attendance if you choose to join the paleontology club!” Professor A chimed.
“With that being said, see you on Monday!”
-Shimmerstone Street -The House of Torches -The House of Keys -The House of Moons -Administration Store -Conservatory -Flight deck -Great Hall Additionally, You have been granted 100 Academic credits. Spend them wisely.> _____ Alexander Anaximenes Alexander briskly walked into the Owl’s Respite. Abruptly, he conjured forth a table loaded with materials derived from the Inkling. “Here’s your pound of flesh,” he stated, voice dripping with ichor. A small horned owl appeared in a flurry of feathers. “Alexander… We need to talk.” Said the small bird. “Talk about what, Librarian of the stacks? I don’t appreciate your attempt to trick my student. You disgrace your kin. Honestly, he’s barely a moment into his journey- and you send him off into the dark? I have half a mind to report you to the council.” The bird flinched back slightly at his words but stood proud. “I did no such thing, boy.” he spat. The small form of the bird disappeared. It was Alexander’s turn to flinch. “What do you mean you don’t intend to collect? I’ve never seen you so … understanding of a student before. What has changed?” For a short time, the statue stood motionless. The massive figure glowed with light, and the behemoth bird shifted. The great Librarian of the Stacks turned his head to the side, looking off into the distance, over the tops of thousands of shelves, and into the places where the light of the Manse didn’t reach. The admission hung in the air, softening Alexander’s features slightly. “Then… you truly did not mean to endanger him? This isn’t some sort of petty revenge at a precocious first-year?” Alexander asked, looking up at the great figure. The Librarian of the stacks flapped his wings, and the great wooden owl flew off into the dark. _____ Gio Gio and Chandrika stood before the scrying plane in her room. Chandrika’s dorm was covered in a variety of tapestries and had much more thought put into the layout than Gio’s dorm. Gio resolved himself to work on his dorm when he felt able to do so. Chandrika selected the Manse option, and they reviewed the options together. MANSE: * Pearl Cafeteria * The Green Expanse * Owl’s Respite Library * Shimmerstone Street * The House of Torches * The House of Keys * The House of Moons * Administration Store * Conservatory * Flight deck * Great Hall “So… What even are any of these places?” She asked. “Beats me. Also, we got no explanation of what academic credits are. Should we just take a quick tour of all of our options?” Gio posited. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. “Sounds good to me. Let’s hit up Marie first, I’m starving.” Chandrika said. _____ Chandrika and Gio went on a rapid-fire tour of the new manse options. Shimmerstone Street appeared to be a bustling strip of businesses that stretched off into the distance. Each flagstone underneath emitted light in a different color, while the buildings were all painted in different eye-catching, garish colors. Shimmerstone Street had a variety of student-run affairs, ranging from game-houses to theatres, galleries, and small storefronts. The prices listed were notably in Academic credits. Chandrika and Gio stepped into a seedy-looking bar, having caught sight of the bartender. “Marie!” Chandrika exclaimed. “You work here, too?” “Well if it isn’t two of my most interesting customers! You two always order the most fun things. Also, my name is Maurice while I’m wearing my fake mustache. I’m leaning into the aesthetic. Can I get either of you two something to drink? I have a house menu here at the Hopping Hound. If it’s your first time drinking, I’d recommend the cucumber limeade spritz. It’s got just enough alcohol in it to start you off for a Friday night. Pace yourselves, and all that.” Marie said. “Well, Mister Maurice, I think I am gonna pass on anything alcoholic for tonight, but if that cucumber spritz comes in a virgin variety, I’d love to try one!” Chandrika beamed. “One for me as well please!” Chimed Gio. “Of course!” Beamed the mustached bartender, blonde hair pulled into a tight bun. “Oh, it’s uh… free right?” asked Gio. “Of course it’s free! The only time you’ll pay for food in the tower is if you request something absurd or specific like monster meat, or maybe like… cursed food, or something. Not really something people ask me to do often. I did just have someone over in one of the third-year common areas ask me for a diamond-encrusted omelet, the little weirdo.” She said. “So you’re really in multiple places at once? Like you’re here, but also at all the cafeterias?” Chandrika asked. “Yep! It’s a pretty funky skill that I’m not allowed to discuss in detail with students. I’m a one-woman catering business, slash defense contractor, slash reagent wholesaler for the Crystal Ring Academy. I’ve mostly plateaued at my occupation level- but I get a LOT of experience for single-handedly cooking hundreds of thousands of meals for the students of the college every day.” _____ After enjoying their mocktails, the duo veered off Shimmerstone Street and headed toward The House of Torches, which was an expansive underground cavern-like city, full of coliseums, arenas, and training areas. Many students there seemed to be honing their battle experience either against other students or summoned monsters. The pair caught sight of well-known faculty members patrolling the area, or supervising bouts. They didn’t stay for long, as the whole cavern smelled of sweat and smoke. The House of Moons was a bit of an oddity. Once Gio and Chandrika arrived at the House of Moons, they didn’t see anybody at all. There were signposts to different areas, such as “healing hotsprings” “meditation glade” “moon-gazing cliffside” and other serene areas, but there weren’t any signs of intelligent life to be found. The entrance area was a peaceful crossroads, where smooth stone was shaped into eye-pleasing arches, and soft light was emitted by round quartz fountains, bubbling into stone basins that dotted the walls. Gio resolved to visit the hot springs very soon. The Conservatory was, in some aspects the direct opposite of the House of Moons. As soon as the pair entered the space, they were hit with a wall of humidity, as flies buzzed in their ears and harsh, animal odors assaulted their noses. The space appeared to be a jungle, filled with students and faculty tending to a wide range of odd beasts and domesticated monsters. Chandrika was very disappointed that the area marked “Dragon Roost” was off-limits to unauthorized students. Gio was not disappointed that said area was off-limits, having had his fill of excitement for the weekend after his trip to the dark area of the owl’s respite. The pair walked across rope bridges, and looked into large pastures where hulking beasts grazed off of multicolored grasses, and then took their chance to run off to the Flight Deck once a torrential downpour of rain blanketed the observatory, with lightning bolts illuminating the whole sky. Their visit to the Flight Deck was very brief, as looking out over the edge of a very tall spire of what appeared to be the actual exterior of the Crystal Ring Academy proved to be very nauseating for both Chandrika and Gio. Gio did briefly wave to Jean, who was doing loops in the sky over a safety net, taking instruction from some of the older students. Chandrika did not return Jean’s wave. The Great Hall seemed to be a massive entranceway, connecting the academy to the Gilded City beyond. Students who had day passes could go out into the city, but there was also a museum hall, detailing the progress of the conquering of the Crystal Ring Academy. Gio noticed that the museum hall didn’t have a high amount of visitors, so the duo took a brief visit to walk the interior. Murals and inert artifacts dotted the halls, depicting the Goldwatch Empire’s discovery and exploitation of the Crystal Ring, and the ongoing battle against the frontier of the un-tamed areas past the protection of the Manse. There was a brief biography that Gio took great interest in, detailing the deeds of Saint Baphelus, the lich who created, and still maintains the Manse, and who lives somewhere deep in the center of the school. There was a great display of the ossified head of an elder arcana dragon, a guardian of one of the famous troves that had been raided hundreds of years prior to the current day. The next stop was the Administration Store, which was a grey stone hall filled with polished black stone panels. Several students scrolled through the panels, selecting various options. Upon examining a panel together, Gio and Chandrika gasped. Hundreds of dormitory additions, ranging from laboratory equipment to waterslides were available for purchase in the store, usually costing thousands of academic credits. There were options for attaining access to specific places in the manse that had strange names, like “Lizard’s Gulley” or “The Horrific Burning Sephulcher of Varda Karenina” (an option that cost no less than 120,000 Academic credits) Also available for sale was a commendation. A single commendation, that cost 100,000 Academic credits- and was only available for one student to purchase this semester. Gio thought back to what the Owl had said, and then Professor A. He was uncertain what the true value of a commendation was, but he was certainly going to attempt to use his wisely. Lastly, the pair visited the House of Keys. The House of Keys instantly captured the imagination of Gio, as the entire hall, from the floor to the tops of the very tall walls, was covered in doorways of all sorts of shapes, sizes, and colors. Some doorways looked to be bolted shut with chains, while others were open, leading to impossible sights, such as one doorway that opened up into a grassy clearing, where a waterfall could be seen in the distance, while its neighboring door was closed but had a window that showed a storeroom full of plain looking boxes. The pair stepped up to a long corkboard full of flyers, each of which was bespelled to have little eye-catching animations, advertising a club. Gio’s eyes scanned the board, looking for his quarry. Found you! Gio took a small ticket off of the gardening club advertisement. As soon as he had ripped the ticket off of the small poster, the paper repaired itself and the ticket turned into a sparkling green key in his hands. Chandrika looked like she was eyeing something. Gio followed her gaze to an advertisement for a weaving club. “Are you thinking about joining?” he asked. “Hmm? Oh, yes. I was just wondering if the weavers in the club would be… I don’t know. I feel foolish for thinking it, but I am wondering if I will feel like an outsider around other weavers here.” “Wanna go get dinner and talk about it?” Gio offered. “Sure,” she said. _____ Chandrika and Gio were at the table that had become familiar to them in the Pearl Cafeteria. Gio had chosen some sort of cheesy rice dish at Chandrika’s recommendation, and Chandrika had a massive pizza with black olives and green peppers. “So… It’s less about not feeling good enough for the weavers guild, but moreso just being afraid that it’s not going to feel the same as weaving does back home,” Chandrika concluded. “That makes a lot of sense. I think that it probably won’t be like it is at home, but if weaving is something you really love doing, perhaps looking at it through a different lens could help you pick up some perspectives that you might not have access to in your grandmother’s tower.” Gio replied. “Huh… when you put it like that… I feel a lot better about it. You’re a very good listener, Gio.” She stated. “Is there anything you want to talk about? I feel like I’ve pretty much dominated the conversation.” Chandrika said. “Huh… not really. I managed to get in like… fake trouble during my first week, but then I don’t think Professor A is really mad at me- so that was a whole ordeal for nothing. If he thinks that a few extra assignments are going to intimidate me, then he should meet Mr. Guzheng. I eat 50-page papers for dinner. But this paneer is good too.” they laughed. “Well… if there’s one thing I find kind of ironic, It’s that this whole school has more sideshows than a Silver Ring amusement park, but there’s no Spellforms to be found anywhere. Imagine that- in a giant magic school, the hardest thing to find is magic,” he said, voice teetering on the edge of bitter. “Huh. I guess I didn’t think of it that way, because I don’t really plan on buying spellforms anyways, but yeah it is kind of weird that we didn’t see any spellform ships anywhere.” Chandrika said, holding a floppy piece of pizza. “It’s by design. Transfer of spellforms in the boundaries of the school can be highly political… all of the nobility think that their house magics are the best- so they take extra care to make sure that nobody can get their hands on each other to see whose magic is actually the best. Which has the added issue of making sure that the trade of even common magic is restricted. All the noble houses know about it, so they send their kids to school with loaded spellbooks so that they never need to buy anything anyway. It’s a pretty well-documented issue in Ringed City Culture.” Gio said. “Ringed City Culture? Isn’t that the hacky magazine that trashes the royal family? I thought that was illegal to sell in the Gilded City.” Chandrika questioned. “Well, it makes its way around the Copper Ring. It is one of the few ways that Copper-ringers like me can have any sort of idea of what’s going on in the precious metal rings. I don’t think it’s ‘hacky’ per se, but I do think that whoever writes it does not have the most generous viewpoint on royalty. That being said, the articles on spell-sharing culture in the city… I agree with them.” “Huh. Well, I guess that makes a bit of sense. I do wish I could just give you copies of my spells. You’re a great mage already, Gio. I’m sure that you’re going to be fine once you figure out how to make spellforms.” Chandrika offered. “Thanks, Rika. I appreciate the sentiment. I do wonder how the other students who are facing financial issues are managing. If I ever get to be an archmage, I’m going to change this stupid policy so that spellforms are freely traded to students in the academy.” Gio proclaimed. Huh. That… feels more like I just figured out something about myself. Am I crazy? “I think that’s a noble goal. I think I am gonna check out the weaving club tonight.” Chandrika stated. “Good for you! In that case, I’ll check out the gardening club!”