Chapter 5: School Supplies On A Budget
Landar
The sweet roll I was eating distracted me from the pain at having signed away my soul to the dreaded student loans of this world, as I walked through the small market that had erected itself on the solid stone grounds outside the academy. Merchants and craftsmen of all stripes tried to sell their wares to students, servants, and even school staff.
Everyone's acting like this is normal. I guess this must always happen a day or two before classes start, I thought as I began taking note of some of the rather outrageous prices the stalls had for rather mundane items. Guess gouging the rich kids is as common here as it was back on Earth. At least here they’re paying with actual coins rather than daddies credit card.
I winced. Yeah buuuut, you’re basically doing that. Right? Student loans and all . . . and you can’t be the only one. I shook myself mentally and took another bite of this world's closest approximation to a cinnamon roll.
The coins in my purse clanked as I opened the bag and counted them again. Sixty Gold Dimes. I had taken out an institutional loan for seven hundred gold pennies. Leaving me with one hundred extra gold pennies, or ten gold dimes to add to the five hundred gold pennies Mortimer had given me to repair Apple Core Court.
And I still need to purchase school supplies, I thought as I examined the various options on display at every stall. I closed my coin pouch, and fixed it closed with a bit of mana. Then, I pulled the required materials list for my classes up in my HUD again.
Required Materials
Introduction to Mana Theory: Text, “Morts Mana Mysteries for the Novice and Apprentice Magi”, note taking materials.
Body Enhancement 1: Potion, x 10-12 Body Modification and Recovery Potions - Weak or better.
Principles of Enchantment 1: Text, “Edna’s Enchantment Enigam’s for the Novice and Apprentice Magi”, second edition. 3-6 non-magically enhanced items the student desires to attempt to enchant, note taking materials.
Practical Field Applications: Standard Issue Mental Spirit Construct. All other requirements will be explained in detail at the first class.
That last one sounds interesting. Mental Spirit Construct. I wonder if that’s anything like my HUD. I was still making improvements on the regular to the mental construct I had created. And my access to the library over the last few days had helped a bit. Making it less mana intensive to use the active scanning feature I had given it not long before using a set of runes formed out of hardened mana added into the spell matrix.
On top of that the magical computers ‘memory storage’ for lack of a better descriptor had jumped dramatically as I had increased the spells efficiency. I practically just had to think about it, and information would be pulled from my memory and displayed accurately. It was like having someone constantly taking notes for me all the time.
I finished my circuit around the market, and made my way through the crowed back to the beginning. I had seen them all, identified which stalls I needed to go to, and which ones I wanted to visit.
“One hundred gold. That’s not a lot, at these prices at least.” I winced as I got to the first stall on my list. It was a small stall, with several shelves of books behind it. The man at the desk was chatting with three students already, and it was very early in the morning. The sun had barely started rising.
I waited patiently behind the trio, as the merchant helped them. Then, when I got to the front of the line, he smiled a wide welcoming smile that was almost genuine. “How can I help you, my lord? If you have your class list, I can assist you with your text needs.”
“No need for that, I only need two texts. Morts Mana Mysteries, and Edna's Enchantment Enigmas, the second edition specifically. Do you happen to have those in stock?”
The man looked confused for a moment, then his smile returned even brighter and more predatory than before. “Ah! A first year, welcome to the academy my young lord. Those texts are foundational. Truly needed additions to any young lords library who is interested in magical foundations. One might say they are critical.”
I had to fight off a smile at the man's blatant attempt to build need and scarcity. “I understand that this is the first day of this particular market, and merchants such as yourself were given a list of the needed texts to ensure you had them on hand at need. Is that right?”
The merchant visibly twitched, but the look of annoyance was gone before most people would have guessed it was even there.
“Yes of course my lord. And we here at the librarieus liberium imporium have exactly what you need.” He turned, grabbed two books out of a small crate at the foot of his shelves, and placed them on the desk. “Right here, both texts are in pristine condition if I might say so. My own nieces, twins they are, copied them from the master texts in the academy's library themselves. You can see the academy seal of approval on the inside of the cover, right here.”
He opened both books to the first page and indeed right there, were stamped seals of approval. The same magical stamp as I had seen from the registrar’s office.
So that’s one of that old witch's jobs is it? Ensuring the texts sold here are all correct? Interesting.
“How much are you asking for?”
The merchant's smile finally reached his eyes. “Thirty gold pennies a piece, my lord. A fair price for hand crafted meticulous work such as this.”
I was about to scoff at him, but then I opened the book and felt the paper and looked at the craftsmanship of the books themselves. He wasn’t lying, these were made with decent quality. The cover was protected by soft leather that the titles were branded into. The words were written clearly and with a steady hand. And the paper was decent quality. Not the finest I had seen in this world, but then again I didn’t need fine paper. I needed something that could and would last.
Even then however, thirty gold a piece was highway robbery. “That’s highway robbery and you know it.”
“I assure you sir, these are the best you will find anywhere here in the market! And you won't find discounted prices like this outside of the academy fair, I'll tell you that now. Why, if I had to sell these in my shop I'd be selling them for no less than fifty gold pennies each!”
“Hogwash.” The man looked offended now. “They are indeed fine work. Your nieces and binders are to be commended. But there are no magical protections on these books.They’d be worth what you’re asking if they had enchantments against rain, rot, and theft. But they don’t. These are fine books, but that’s all they are. Books.”
I examined his face for just a moment. He wasn’t asking too much more than what they were worth honestly. A decent mark up for a merchant selling to noble brats who had plenty of coins in most cases. But in my case, I didn’t. And so I needed an actually fair price.
“Forty five gold for both.” The man spluttered. “That’s more than fair. In your shop you’d sell these for fifteen, maybe seventeen gold a piece and you know it.” I said remembering my many conversations with Oswald as a child. “Forty five gives you a decent markup, while not breaking my pocket.”
The merchant looked like he was going to say no for a moment, but eventually he sighed and nodded. “Deal. They’re first year books anyway. But don’t expect free repairs from us, if they get damaged. We only extend that to those who pay full price.”
I smiled and reached my hand out to shake his. He raised his eyebrows but took my hand pleasantly enough. “Thank you. And I wouldn’t expect free repairs for my carelessness.” I placed the money on the counter and he counted them out as I did, tallying them into his records. When it was done I placed both books in my bag.
“Thank you.”
“And thank you for your patronage young lord. I must say, it is a bit refreshing to run into someone who knows the value of coin. If you run into my nieces at the academy, please tell them I said hello.”
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
“What are their names?” I asked, ready to leave.
“Mary and Amber Stevenson. My son earned himself a knightship as a young man, and both girls ended up having the talent for magic. I suspect you’ll meet them if you continue with your studies into enchantment. They’re both graduate students.”
“And yet they had time to hand write these for you?” I asked patting my satchel. The man had the grace to look chagrined. “It's alright. Every merchant needs a good story. They’re well made regardless. As long as that seal proves to be real, you’ll hear no complaint from me.”
The man looked terrified for a moment. “No one would ever fake one of the registrar’s seals. That woman . . . she’d know. No, you’re safe young lord. You’re perfectly safe buying anything with that seal. On my life you are.”
I thanked him and left, heading to my next booth. “Good thing to know I'm not the only one she scares.” I found the next booth I was headed towards a few stalls away. A paper merchant was selling journals, note books, and loose leaf reams of paper, velum, and a host of writing utensils. From the magical to the mundane.
The prices were, like anywhere else in the market, inflated. But not mind bogglingly so. For half a gold penny I purchased a notebook for each class plus a few extra just in case, and a magical pen that would never run out of ink as long as I supplied it with mana. I knew I could do the same trick just with the oils on my skin and my own finger. But I'd look REALLY poor if I had to rely on bodily fluids to take notes in class.
Mortimer would hate me for that. Wait, that’s kind of a point in its favor. Maybe . . .
I came to the third stall in my trip to the market as I discarded the idea. Mother would also be made to look bad. Yeah, bad idea.
The stall was perhaps the largest one at the market, and it was near the back as far away from everything else as it could get. Most of the other stalls surrounding it were being used as overflow storage, and for good reason.
The smell was pretty strong.
In the back behind the stall I could see a handful of small fires and brewing vats over them. Some attendants in very familiar gray robes used massive ladles to stir the contents of the cauldrons. Keeping them from burning, adding new material to the mixture, and so on.
At the front desk sat an old woman who I was familiar with.
“Hello Mother Margaret,” I said, smiling as I approached. “How is business?”
Mother Superior Margaret, the woman who had saved me from Mana Fever when I first got to this world, and then guided and protected me through most of the rest of that time, sighed and put down the book she had been reading.
“Oh, Landar it's you. I’m doing well, enjoying another one of Master Penmen Sloss’s bawdy tales from the capital.”
“I didn’t take you for a romance reader.” My grin quickly disappeared as she glared disapprovingly at me.
“This is something you should learn, young man. Hopefully it will serve you well in the future. All women, regardless of age or season, enjoy romance. Gods know that we need such tales, to get us through reality, where the men folk know more about bashing rocks over other people's heads than they do about courting a woman properly.”
“But uh . . . Aren’t you a nun?”
“And what does my station have to do with anything?”
I should abort this line of questioning. Right now. “Nothing, of course. Forgive me. It is good to see you.” I must have been sweating because she took pity on me.
“Bah, young people. Barely know up from down. Show me what you need.”
I handed her a slip of paper with the names of the potions I needed, and a few that I wanted.
“Decent selections. The Common strength recovery potions are a gold penny a piece to make. So, let's say a gold penny and a half in price. And that is just because I like you boy, and the fact your mother helped with the brewing. The rest of these are good selections for someone going into the practicals. Is that what you’re doing?” I nodded. “Good. It’ll toughen you up a bit. Lets say, three gold penny’s for the extra potions. In total, one gold dime, and eight pennies.”
I pulled out the small fortune of gold, and handed it to her. Then she went into the back for a moment, and produced the handful of other small vials of sundry potions I had asked for. They were all clear with no labels, and all came in the same standard vial.
“Oh. Um, would you be able to tell me what is what? I need to label them.”
“What for boy?” I must have given her a stupid look, because she glared at me. “You do know your mind spirit can tell you what they are, yes?”
I blinked. “Mind spirit?”
“Oh mothers graces and mercies. That’s right you haven’t gone through orientation yet. That’s tomorrow, then classes. And you don’t have anyone around you who could tell you. Well . . . no one reliable.” I could tell she was referring to Mortimer. “Alright, wait there,” she went over near the large vats and when she came back she had someone else in tow. “Watch the shop Stacy, i’ll return shortly.”
“Of course mother superior. If I can ask, why are you leaving? Is something wrong?” The young girl was mousy, clearly concerned.
“No, nothing like that girl. I just have to go save this soul from getting behind in his classes before they even begin.” She walked around the table and motioned for me to follow her. “Leave the potions. We’ll have an acolyte take them to your room for you, with an order as large as yours. Follow me.”
And I did.
***
We went to the far side of the market, and I found myself in a shadowy little alcove between two much larger stalls that looked almost like proper shops. Here, a familiar, old, terrifying woman sat behind a table with no wares to sell. The Registrar, the witch as I had come to think of her, was leaning back in her chair, covering her face, while the distinct sound of snoring filled the air around her.
Mother Margaret cleared her throat. When nothing happened, she sighed. “Edna, Edna wake up you old bag. Edna!”
“Whoa!” The witch, whose name I now knew was Edna, startled awake. Before she could fall out of her chair she caught the edge of her table. “You, what is it you old hag. I have work to do.”
My eyes went wide, and my blood ran cold. I’m pretty sure they could both smell the fear rolling off me.
Edna glared first at Mother Margaret, and then at me. As soon as her eyes landed on me she smiled like a predator about to pounce on prey it thought too stupid to run.
“Keep a civil tongue in your mouth, witch. Or I'll burn it. Again.” Margarets words were anything but de-escalating.
Edna cackled evilly, but genuinely as she straightened her hat. At the end of her mad cackling she sighed contentedly. “It's good to see you again Margaret. No one knows how to talk shit anymore.”
To my horror I heard Margaret give a soft laugh herself. “It's been too long sister.”
Sister, what new hell have I walked into?
“You still stuck in the lower quarter with the peasant riff-raff?” Edna asked. Margarent nodded, but the smile on her face told the fact that she didn’t mind at all. “Well, if that Goddess of yours really is worth all that praying and scraping nonsense you do, you’d think she would recognize someone with talent and promote them.”
Margaret sighed. “I am the mother superiorof an entire duchy, sister. There’s not many places higher to go.”
“High Priestess sounds about right,” Edna said acidly.
“I’m not strong enough for that. Never have been, probably never will be. I’m not like you sister.” Edna was about to respond but Margaret pushed on. “I’m sorry Edna, I'm not here just to pleasantly go over our old fights, I'm here for this idiot.”
“Hey . . .”
“Shut up kid,” Edna ordered me. “If my sister says you have rocks for brains, you probably do. Now, what can I help you with?”
“He needs a spirit seed.” Edna’s eyes opened a little wider. “Yeah I know. Mortimer didn’t get it taken care of, I guess he just thought one of us would during his orientation.”
“What, with the slow kids?” Edna asked.
“It's not kind to say such things. But . . . Yes.”
“That’d put him at a major disadvantage. As it is, he’s only going to get most of a day to simply integrate the thing, let alone learn how to use it.”
“Exactly. So we should move this along.”
“Alright, alright. Fine.” Edna reached down under the counter, and pulled out a small lantern that shone with an other-worldly eerie white light. Ghostly, ephemeral, almost as if it wasn’t there. And yet when I looked directly at it, it made my eyes slide off it. As if my eyes were having a hard time processing it. The closest thing I remember from Earth to it, was those optical illusions that almost hurt to look at in art museums.
“Kid, this is a spirit seed. A mind spirit seed to be specific. Most of the noble brats you’re going to be learning and fighting with will have had one of these since they were old enough to learn to read and write. It's a spirit companion, specifically designed to help sharpen your senses, process information your brain would otherwise ignore as excess or useless information, and in the long run? Help you gain levels and ascend to higher ranks of power. Back in the old days, when my master was still walking around stealing students from their cribs and teaching them magic in the woods, this stuff didn’t really exist. We had to learn things the hard way. Memorization, familiarization, and just basic guess work half the time.
“But you lot are lucky. One of these, guided properly, can really speed along the learning process. Particularly at the early stages or levels of growth. Later, its purpose becomes a bit different. Once it gets a mind of its own and learns to talk back? That’s when things tend to change. Or, at least get a bit funnier.” She cackled evilly to herself as she shook the small lantern in front of her.
“I uh, I already have a spirit inside me.” I said, trying to process what she was saying. It sounded like this spirit seed, this mental spirit, was a lot like the magical construct I had created in terms of its purpose. But would eventually grow into something else. A companion, and possibly, hopefully, a friend.
“That’s right, the wolf spirit. Mortimer hasn’t taken care of that yet?”
I shook my head. “I have an appointment early tomorrow before orientation begins, with a professor named Tedal who teaches spirit taming, to help me purge and tame it. If it can be.”
“Hmm. Tedal knows his stuff. But probably best to wait to integrate this little guy until you have that beast thing tamed. But here, you’ll need it.” Edna passed me the lantern, and I gently put it in my bag and wrapped it in cloth I kept specifically for the purpose. I had thought i’d need to carry all the potions back with me and I still had plenty of room and cloth left.
“Thank you.” I gave her a respectful bow.
“Manners, they will take you places boy.” Edna said.
“I told him the same thing when we first met.” Margaret interjected. “He’s a good kid. One to watch, trust me.” Margaret winked, and Edna cackled again.
“Um, thank you both very much. I still have to get a few other supplies before tomorrow. If you will excuse me?”
“Go kid, go. Thank you for using the security kiosk, have a great market day.” Edna said, pulling a chair out of nowhere and inviting Margaret to sit.
As I rounded a corner, and felt like I had just avoided death in several different and distinctly unpleasant ways, I heard the two elderly women chatting and laughing amiably. Uncaring of the disapproving stares from passersby.
“Alright, now. Only a few things left to go. Then, I'll see about finding Tedal today. Maybe we can get this sorted early.”