Time, as it is want to do, continued. For the next few months, I began to learn my place in the great game of kingdoms. The princess and I continued to spend time together, regardless of her age I started to find her to be an intelligent and knowledgeable source of information. She knew the ins and outs of court life as well as the who-who of the court. I can honestly say it was through her skills alone that I was able to make it through those first few months. During that time I also learned what my future would entail.
I did get visited by the Blue Box from Hell several times during these first few months in the capital.
Quest offered - First Kiss
It seems you are getting the girl, time to visit first base and not with your sister.
REWARD: Come on, really you get to kiss a girl and she might not run off screaming...that's reward enough.
[Accept / Reject] <-- Really, like you will pass this up!
Quest offered – Make a house a home
Well, you lucked out and were given a home, or a prison….not sure which it is at the moment. Move in, get settled, and make it your home.
REWARD: Hey you were given a house, not a little home but a real manor, don’t get greedy
[Accept / Reject]
One of these days I’ll find the person in charge of this system and two will enter but only one will exit.
The staff at home is well trained and nice, maybe too nice but I’ll take that as a win. The master bedroom is large and to be honest, has more room than anyone would ever need. But I guess it comes with the position of a powerful mage. Mr. Dailon is a good man, I am starting to think he not only cares about doing a good job but I think he’s starting to like me as well. The rest of the staff seems distant, but I hope with time they will relax.
While I enjoyed the company of Mr. Dailon, the same could not be said about Master Oron. While anyone with half a brain would see that he is a true master of magic, they would also note that he is a very poor teacher. He just could not understand how everyone didn’t understand magic like he did. Several times I would find myself fighting with him because he would refuse to explain something because according to him “Everyone knows that.’
Regardless over the next few weeks, I started to understand my powers and how to begin to use them. I was in no danger of being confused with a real mage but I could dig a small hole and I could move enough wind to keep myself cool. My very minor proficiency in fire limited what I would be able to do but I’d never not be able to start a campfire. Space was an interesting magic to work with. It had nothing to do with..well space, rather it dealt with movement or with skills in enchanting the creation of space bags, or Bags of Holding, from my old memories. Though with a minor skill, I’m not going to be making expensive bags. Light was easy and well I could create glowing orbs of light. As for Divine, there was no way to train me because no one before had ever had access.
It turned out that my butler Mr. Dailon was knowledgeable in more than keeping a home. He was fully trained in courtly matters. With his help, I learned how to act in court. I learned the names of the who’s who, I learned how to address people, and what was expected of me in the noble world. He also had one of the maids teach me to dance, which scared me because that made me think I’d be dancing.
After around three months a page from the castle arrived to deliver a letter that informed me that the new term of the Royal Academy would be starting in a week and I was expected the attend. Later that day Ceanna arrived to let me know happily that we would be going to school together. While spending time with her was fun and I enjoyed it I had to wonder what a school full of noble brats would think about the nobody who managed to get engaged to the princess. I did not for one second think it would go over well.
Quest offered – Enroll and get an Education
Wow lucky you, most of the time you need to be important, and lets be honest, rich to attend the Royal Academy. I guess it helps to have friends in high places.
REWARD: +3 to Intelligence(On Graduation), and an education(Priceless)
[Accept / Accept] <-- Auto Accepted because are you really going to tell the Queen no!!
With a sigh, I had to agree with Mr. Box about the Queen, but did it really have to point it out like that? Once the princess left I asked Mr. Dailon what I needed to do to get ready and he informed me we would need to go shopping. The rest of the day and most of the next day was spent getting uniforms and other supplies, including books and paper. The uniforms were robes that came in light robes for the summer and heavy robes for the winter. The robes were nice, they were blue with silver highlights and had a lot of pockets.
The week seemed to pass by quickly and before I knew it the term was starting at my new school. I put on my summer robes and boarded the carriage for the ride over. It took about 20 minutes to arrive at the school and I would say it was made to impress. The school was large, 4 stories tall, and covered a few acres itself. It was surrounded by a 10-foot tall wall and well-kept grounds. Once we were allowed to pass through the gate I entered the grounds and approached the front entrance. Exiting the carriage I was greeted by a man who appeared to be in his late fifties but was well-built and well-kept. As I approached he introduced himself as Headmaster Marcius. He welcomed me to the start of my first term at the academy and asked me to follow him.
Stolen novel; please report.
We entered the school and the headmaster started to give me the grand tour. The first floor was admissions and staff offices as well as the clinic and meeting rooms. A large auditorium was on the floor as well. The second and Third floors were classrooms and the fourth floor was labs and teacher offices. There was a basement as well that contained additional labs and storage. Outside were training grounds. It looked like a normal school.
After a bit of walking we reached a meeting room and as we entered a young woman stood up from the chair she had been sitting in. She was introduced as Miss Valarie, who would be my homeroom teacher and facility advisor. We spent some time talking about what was expected and how my term would go. I took 6 classes a day with lunch in between the 4th and 5th classes.
All and all, it appears that schools in this world work like schools everywhere else. For my first term, I would be taking, Intro to Magic, Intro to Kingdom History, Intro to Combat, Intro to Crafting, Intro to Politics, and Intro to Potion Making. Yes, a lot of Intro classes. I was told that after the first term, I would start to specialize and take more targeted classes. I was expected to complete 3 Terms a year and would be here for the next 3 years. I could opt for a fourth year if invited to stay.
After that little meeting, I was escorted to my first class of the term, Introduction to Magic. As I entered the class I noticed that there were only 4 other people there, which was strange seeing how class started at 8:30 a.m. and it was 8:26 a.m. according to the clock on the wall. As I entered I noticed the four other students in the class stopped talking and watched me as I headed toward a seat in the back of the class. No, I wasn’t hiding but I didn’t want to make it easy for people to notice me either.
About 2 minutes later around 8 more people entered the classroom and everyone started to take seats. Looking around it appeared that the class was made up of 13 people myself included. After another 3 or 4 minutes the door opened and the princess entered. I guess royalty is never late. With that, our total moved to 14 and class started. The teacher spent a few minutes telling us about the class and setting the ground rules. After that, she launched into a lecture regarding magic.
After the end of Intro to Magic, I stood up to leave when Ceanna ran over to me took my arm, and let me know happily that our schedules were the same so would always be able to walk to class together. I noticed that several of the other students did not seem to like hearing this and some of the looks I received could kill a bear. I could tell right away that I was going to have problems with some of the students and there probably wasn’t anything I could say or do, besides dying, that would solve the problem.
Heading to our second class of the day, Ceanna talked and talked, I’m not sure what she really said. It seems she has that ability all young girls have where they can talk for hours and never really say anything. The rest of my classes were good, I learned a lot including the fact that I really do not know anything. History told me quickly that there were gaps in my knowledge of the Kingdom large enough to drive a truck through. Combat was fun and I was able to play with a sword for a bit. Crafting was my second favorite class. As the name suggests the class would cover several different crafts and was designed to help us select which crafts I was really interested in. Potions were potions, yes we will learn to make healing potions and such.
After the school day ended I walked out with Ceanna and we went our separate ways. I entered the carriage for my ride home and spent the 20 minutes lost in thought. Arriving back at the manor I exited the carriage and entered my home. I sat in the study and thought about my day and wondered if school would always be like this. I also thought about the looks I received and wondered when the problems would start. I’m not expecting things to stay calm for more than a day or two.
The next day started the same. The first part of the day reminded me of yesterday, except for the meeting with the headmaster part. Things took a turn during combat class. It seems the problems I was waiting on decided to come out of hiding. The trouble started when we took turns sparing. Now I’ll admit Pope did a good job training, but the few hours a week did not compare to some of the young noble boys that received a few hours a day. I was quick though and had a good eye so I think I was doing okay until I had the joy of meeting His Lordship Robert Holison, son of Marquess Holison. His father was probably the 7th most powerful man in the kingdom and his son was quick to remind everyone of that fact.
Robert was well trained and he knew it, hell everyone knew it. He let us know quickly that he first took up the sword at age 4 and he trained with some of the best arms masters in the kingdom for 4 hours a day for the past 10 years. While not a master he was getting close. When they broke us up into pairs he was quick to volunteer to work with me, as he said it was the duty of all good nobles to ensure the future husband of our wonderful princess was well trained. That sounded like a good excuse until we started. At the order to begin he proceeded to disarm me and slam the edge of the training blade on my right arm, clearly breaking it. We then proceeded to begin a reverse swing today my left arm when Master Myers, or combat instructor, stepped in and blocked his blade. He ordered us to break and took one look at my arm and called for a healer.
While waiting for the healer it tore into Robert regarding his actions who replied with a small on his face that he expected me to be better and simply misjudged his attacks. No one believed that for a second, including our princess who with a smile on her face let Robert know to tell his father to expect a summons to the castle. With those words, all color drained from his face and he again tried to explain that it was just an accident but she was not having any of his excuses.
With that, the healer arrived and after a few minutes completed his task and healed my arm. The rest of the day was fairly normal except the princess would not let me out of her sight for a second and kept asking me if I was okay. While it was cute after a bit it started to get old.
The day ended and I went home, wondering how much worse tomorrow would be.