“He’s like a font of endless knowledge, Saph. He knows everything. It’s so coooool.” Gio gushed.

The pair worked in parallel, readying a complex series of chemical assays and other tests. Gio had spent the last three days hitting the books hard, trying to make progress on his first assignment from his new mentor with little success. He had all of the details about the modern, light-based [Mirror Image] complete in less than 10 hours (after a bizarre night’s sleep where he slept for… 17 hours?), but could not seem to get any information about a mirror-mana based version of the spell.

Gio had reported to the Manse daily, taking tea with his mentor where they mostly discussed Gio’s life up until now. Baphelus had seemed very interested in the day-to-day of a Copper Ring dweller and spent a great deal of time asking about the infrastructure of the external rings.

“I feel the same way about Mistress Blossom. She’s incredibly knowledgeable about herblore… to the point where I feel like she could probably just… intuit a lot of things about plants by extrapolating her existing knowledge. I want to get to that point someday, but I’m a long way from there. I’ll probably end up spending a commendation on her just to get extra time with her, if and when I get one.” Sapphire said, donning her personal protective equipment.

After a thorough morning of racking and stacking different types of plants for their uses in traditional alchemy and printmaking, Sapphire and Gio headed off to meet the group at “The Ghost of the Grilled Cheese” - a themed secret diner, only accessible by climbing a spooky, seemingly abandoned belltower deep into Shimmerstone Street. This far into the semester, finding Marie’s secret eateries had become a favorite pastime of the student body.

Jean, Chandrika, and Celeste sat at a big round table and sipped what looked to be cocktails served out of modified hourglasses. Marie walked up to the table in a comical, yet stylish ghost costume.

“Saphhire and Gio! You’ve gotta try my new drink du jour. It’s called “Thyme is running out” and it’s got-”

Marie stopped mid-sentence, staring at Gio’s chest.

“Gio, say it isn’t so.” Marie deadpanned.

“I’m sorry?”

“You’ve been under my nose this whole time? One of my favorite customers?” She fumed.

“Is… is this about…”

“YES! YOU’RE BAPPHY’S NEW APPRENTICE?!” She squealed.

Gio tried to get a sentence in edgewise, but Marie steamrolled him, earning shocked looks from the table.

“Tell me, what awful nonsense is he putting into your head? Did he make you drink loose-leaf?” she decried, in mock anguish.

“Uh… he just gave me some tea. It was good.” Gio replied, stunned at the display.

“NOOOOOOOOO!” she wailed.

“Uh… what’s going on? Who is ‘Bapphy’?” Jean asked.

Oh, I guess it’s been a few days since I’ve seen everyone.

“I used my commendation on Saint Baphelus. He had mentioned that Marie and he have a tea-based rivalry. I didn’t think it was this serious.” Gio explained.

“It’s absolutely dire.” Maire retorted.

“That bag of bones refuses to acknowledge the superiority of a delicate blend over a pure tea. He claims that a well-brewed cup of tea with “no frills” is superior to an artfully crafted experience. We’ve been at this for… I don’t know… a long time.” the chef explained.

“Oh yeah, my mentor asked me to keep a lookout for new types of tea. I think I might try growing some. Sorry Marie…” Gio offered.

“It’s okay. I’m a touch sad that I didn’t get to you before he did, but I get it… nobody wants to apprentice under the battle chef with thousands of bodies.” Marie moped.

“Miss Bain… It’s not that nobody wants to apprentice under you, it’s just that you have a bit of a reputation. Nearly all of the mages that work under you abandon true magic and embrace chef classes within a few years.” Celeste interjected.

“And? All of my darling apprentices go on to be rather successful, no?” Marie retorted.

“Well, yes. At least ten of the top chefs in the Gilded City’s eatery district are your students… but the last guy claimed endlessly that he wasn’t going to get converted into a chef by your madness. He wanted to be a Gravity archmage.” Celeste replied.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“And? Timo’s zero-G cuisine is inspired. I fail to see the issue.” Marie said, standing firm in her stance.

After taking their orders, Marie left, offering Gio a cryptic threat: “Don’t you worry, Giorgio. I’ll convert you to a blended tea drinker yet.”

Gio gulped.

“So… that was a lot,” Chandrika said, lightening the mood and earning a round of laughs.

“Yeah, sorry. I guess on some level I knew that Baphelus was an important figure in the Crystal Ring… but honestly, for now, he’s just been talking to me and talking me through a hard assignment. I mean, Chandrika, you’re apprenticing under the Headmaster, right?” Gio asked.

“Ugh, don’t remind me. Our first few lessons so far have been torturous. She’s a taskmaster. And I have to go learn under my grandmother at night, so I don’t even get a break at bedtime. Jean, how is Professor Cloudspeaker?” Chandrika redirected.

“Awesome. After sparring with her for a few days, I have bruises in places that I didn’t think could bruise. She’s an incredible aerial fighter, and her magic is just… fantastical. We’ve been working on maintaining my wings for extended combats… It’s been tough, but honestly a lot of fun, too.” Jean replied.

“Ugh. I can’t believe you all have mentors already. It took me halfway through my second year to get a mentor, but I don’t regret having to wait, Professor Diamandas is one of the best ritualists I’ve had the pleasure of working under. He’s able to flow between elven chanting, to merfolk rhymes, to ancient draconic and more styles of invocation like it’s nothing. He’s been trying to guide me into obtaining the [Allspeak] Skill, and let me tell you, it’s a mind-bending training program.” Celeste said.

After enjoying their meals, and catching up on recent events, the group split off to go study in smaller groups.

_____

Chandrika and Gio sat under their usual tree in the green expanse.

“I ended up asking the Owl about detailed histories of older versions of spellforms, and there’s some sort of repository in another library, but it’s an invite-only space,” Gio said, staring at his notes on [Mirror Image].

“Huh, you know, I guess I kind of forgot that there’s supposed to be a ton of libraries in the school. The Librarian just seems to have all of the information I tend to need available.” Chandrika replied, looking up from her book.

“Yeah. It seems like a lot of them are maintained by other [High Knowledge Elementals], but the Owl’s Respite is sort of like… connective tissue. The fact that his library is so diverse means it can act as something of a bridge between areas of the school. I’ve heard some rumors that not all of the other librarians are as welcoming as Owl has been.” Gio said.

“Well, maybe we can talk to Professor A about it? He mentioned that we would have access to tutoring if we lagged after missing a few weeks of classes. Obviously, we’ve all caught up without any real problems besides you not being able to participate in the practicals… It can’t hurt to ask.”

_____

Guiding the two students out of the Manse, Professor Anaximenes motioned for the students to press their badges against the scrying plane on the other side.

“When you press your badge to a new focus, It registers as a new location available to you, so long as you have access to do so. Welcome to Wisteria’s Grove.” The man said. “I’ll be in my office if you need anything else, but the librarians here should be able to take care of you.”

Gio and Chandrika looked up into the library around them, appreciating the space. Wisteria’s Grove was one of the libraries where students were invited to gather and hold discussions, so there were plenty of other students and faculty throughout the space. The second-year library had a sprawling tree at its center, draping the space with shining purple petals.

The central hub of the library had a clearing that went up for several stories, where a dome of clear glass above displayed the sky, just barely visible from underneath the massive purple tree. Each section of the library was clearly labeled, and rows of well-lit shelving contained many books. Surrounding the tree were several circulation desks, with rounded edges minded by several individuals who were busy cataloging books. Periodically, one of the librarians would cast a spell that would send a book flying off into the library to re-shelve itself.

“Welcome to Wisteria’s Grove. I take it this is your first time?” Asked a shorter woman with her hair pulled into a tight bun.

“Ah, yes. Our guidance professor told us that we should come here to ask about tutoring. I am specifically interested in a tutor who knows about historical spellforms.” Gio said.

“And I’m interested in hereditary skills, and divination magic” Chandrika piped in.

_____

A short while later, Gio was led into a glass room on one of the higher floors of the library. Sitting on the other side of a desk was a young man with swooped-back black hair, who looked to be slightly older than Gio. The young man wore a pair of brass spectacles and a white, ruffled shirt. He stood to greet Gio.

“Hello, you must be Giorgio. I am Xerxes. I understand that you’re interested in historical spellforms?” the young man said in a smooth voice.

“Hello, Xerxes! Yes, I have an assignment from my mentor to review a copy of [Mirror Image] that uses mirror mana, but I can’t find one in the Owl’s Respite. I was hoping to meet someone who could guide me to a copy, and maybe help me study it.” Gio replied.

“Quite an interesting assignment. If I had to guess, your instructor is trying to lead you toward the archives in the Scriptorium. Have you heard of it?” Xerxes asked.

“Yes, the Librarian told me that it was a place where detailed information about spellforms is kept, but that it is invite only…” Gio stated.

“Indeed it is. It is lucky then that I am a member of the maintenance committee. While I cannot grant you unsupervised access, I can help you with this assignment.” The older boy chimed.

Gio held back the urge to cough as a small breeze of gold-colored dust sprayed out of Xerxes’ hand, depositing several thick manuscripts onto the glass table in front of them.

He can just summon books from the Scriptorium?

One dust-covered parcel read: “Compendium and Monograph on Historical Revisions of Minor Illusion Magic”

Gio felt a slight sense of dread at the prospect of thumbing through the entirety of the manuscripts in front of him… but also a whirr of excitement, sneaking through the cracks like a fresh seedling.

Time to prove that I’m willing to work.

“Shall we begin?”