Four months had passed, and throughout that time I put my nose to the proverbial grindstone. While it wasn’t true for every one of the eight children that represented the household of Lord Charles Darville and his still largely absent wife, whom I had not met. The children represented their biological children, and any of their wards, which at the moment was only me. The Darvilles had seven biological children, and each of them, even Olivia, had more free time from schooling than I.

By four months, I mean four Hekatondronan months. That equated to just short of six Gregorian Calendar months; because it was exactly one hundred and sixty days. Hekatondronan months were exactly forty days each, the months divided into four ‘ten-days’. They were basically what a Hekatondronan considered a week to be, and Outworlders or those descended from them often did call Tendays a ‘Week’.

I had been attending classes with Professor Farstrider almost daily studying in those six months and in that time I had finally learned to read and write Hekatondronan. Speaking wasn’t an issue, though the fact that it was a different language became clear when I tried to read it; especially with a more complex passage or older words. Whatever magic allowed for Outworlders from any planet and country to speak the common language of Hekatondrona did not extend to reading or writing it. So even with the time that had passed, I found myself struggling to self-guide my education.

The study did not mean I was cooped up in the castle though, because with the fact I was behind in my education, I was attending supplementary lessons. Every third, sixth, and ninth day Professor Farstrider went into town and taught the children of the town itself. This was at Lord Darville’s insistence because it enriched the town and gave all the more time for his children to spend on the other classes they attended based on their interests or skills. On the days when Professor Farstrider and her monster partners headed into town, I accompanied them.

The location of the classes rotated, with the church being favored on most days but unavailable on the ninth or tenth day of the week when church services were held there. On the ninth day, it was generally in one of the three taverns of the town. It was a nine-day of the ten-day week today, and now we stood outside of the Tipsy Tauracean.

I adjusted the leather backpack that the Professor had gifted me to carry my reliquaries and the books as we waited for the children of the town to roll in or the eighth hour of the day to arrive, whichever happened first.

“Professor, I’m still not sure why I could not just study in my quarters. I’m losing time traveling, no? Surely I could’ve spent that extra time practicing my writing.”

That made her look at me with a disapproving glare and pursed lips.

“Mr. Calhoun, no time spent traveling is ever a waste. The world around us can teach as much as any book. As to writing, I have told you - no practicing putting pen to paper without supervision, at least as you are. There is magic in words.” It was stern and without the joy, I expected when I had first used Analyze upon her and her primary monster partner.

I could remember the information without trying.

“The Fabulous Matilda Farstrider. Class: Bard.” I had thought it was confusing the fact that she used a harp and music in her teaching, but she was a bard. I asked her when I analyzed it and she confirmed it was true. However, nothing about her was fabulous, she was meaner than any teacher I had ever dealt with in my first childhood.

Her monster partner meanwhile made up for the lack of charisma and empathy on Professor Farstrider’s part. My analysis of it was still clear - in part because I had written it down (in English).

“Every great circus, theater, and concert hall are blessed by a Visaku, for Visakus are the greatest ally of a showman. Visakus are capable of creating powerful illusionary scenes of vision, smell, and even feeling. A great tool, almost every noble house of note has at least two visakus within its menagerie. This visaku is female. All visaku are fae and wind-primarily aligned monsters. This visaku has a secondary artifice alignment. Its tertiary alignment is primal. Visaku is an evolved form of [redacted].”

As I thought about those happenstances, the class began to assemble. As we sat at the trundle tables of the Tipsy Tauracean Tavern’s patio Visaku let out several ba-kaws and flapped and fluttered around. All in all, over a hundred children from the town came to class. On each of the previous occurrences where the class had been taught at one of the town’s taverns, I sat by myself.

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The town’s children present were not exactly friendly, and some of that was the kind of thing you’d expect from children from every world. I was new, I lived with the town’s ruler, and I was technically a literal alien. Besides that, I was not very childlike or friendly, and there was some superstition among people about outworlders.

So it was a surprise when the small picnic table I was sitting at was soon hosting other students as well. A literal surprise, because I was reading from passages I had previously practiced in the leather-bound notebook that I had been using as a practice book for the Hekatondronan script.

One moment, I was the singular occupant of the table. The next, I was one of seven children sitting. They were grinning at me all at once, and I narrowed my eyes in suspicion.

“What’s wrong, goose?” Came a snicker, and instantly I recognized the redheaded girl whom I had encountered on my first free day. I gave a deadpan, confused expression, and that provoked an explanation.

“Because you aren’t a duck. And yes I know what they are, you behind! I know what they are, and Cindnutums are nothing like them.” She said it with the rapid passion of a vent of fire and smoke from a chimney and then flashed a friendly smile. “Anyways, hey!”

Soon, I recognized another; though not by having seen him from the front. The shepherd boy was also sitting there, grinning at me. It wasn’t that I recognized Alec so much as I recognized the Pitbull-sized turquoise-colored crab with its amber-colored horns and green sling cords which looked almost like woven seaweed. It was Alec and Craytipult.

“You look to have survived okay, glad you weren’t hurt by that Alpha Jackanack. Wade right? I’m Alec.”

He extended an already calloused hand. I shook it, and as he did the two sitting on each side of me patted my upper back. As I turned my head to each of them, I noticed Kenneth and the other baker boy who was his guard against Gerald the Pelikvern.

The other two who had joined me at the table were a girl with long raven black braids and the crisp uniform of a town guard trainee, and the gruff carpenter apprentice who had helped me on my first task.

Each said, “Hey, Wade.” then without prompting from me, they each pointed to themselves.

Kenneth and Alec each pointed to themselves and greeted me with a “Hi, I am” before saying their names.

The smith girl introduces her with a boisterous slap to the table. “I’m Moriah Filigree, and I’m going to be the greatest smith in all of Hekatondrona, just wait! I’m already a great smith!”

Which made the dour carpenter boy, whose hair was tied up in a brown bandana, amend “You mean apprentice.”

“What did you say, Calvin?”

“You’re an apprentice smith, Moirah. Don’t try to sell the chair you’ve not even carved the legs of. Same as I’m a carpenter’s apprentice. Anyways, Mr. Calhoun, I’m Calvin Boskwall. Nice to see you again.”

Kenneth’s compatriot then added, “And I’m Keiran. Kenneth’s brother. We both work for our aunt at the bakery, thanks again for helping us and our other aunt Megan out.”

That left the new girl, and she reached out to shake his hand. “I’m Eris, and I positively hate Edbert. He doesn’t like you! So that means I do. The cadets are still talking about the upset from your test. So nice to meet you!”

I gave a nod and looked at each of them, each of whom I presumed to be older than I was - even if I did some sort of math to convert Hekatondronan years to Earth years.

“I feel like there is some reason for you to have come to me like this.”

I’d swear for a second that led to a glimmer in the eyes of Eris, Alec, and Moriah, or at least what I took in as that.

“Our benefactor asked for us to get you out of class. Don’t worry, we have our ways.” Eris pointed her finger for a split second and I followed the movement.

This is when I saw children sneaking to Visaku and dropping pastries at its feet as Professor Farstrider went from table to table handing out charcoal pencils and sheets of loose-leaf paper. Soon, Professor Farstrider was finished and Visaku was in a sugar coma.

To her credit, the bard did not start screaming or even get rude, as she would have with Wade. She simply shook the bird a bit to try to wake it. When she could not; and would not benefit from its assistance with teaching, she called out.

“We’ll take a break for now. Get up, stretch, drink, and eat if you need to. But stay in the surrounding area and listen for my call to come back. I have a bird to wake up.”

The six around me were muted now, but each gave a conspiratorial grin. Each got up and Eris waved to me to follow. With a shrug, I got up as well. Soon, we were making our way out of the sight of Professor Farstrider.