Today is the day that they arrive at Lekton, and both were a little on edge. Spending so much time on a boat got to be a bit much after a while. Just after lunch, both went back to their cabins and packed, making sure they were ready to disembark as soon as the boat docked.
The boat finally made its way down into the outskirts of Lekton, the natural riverbank giving way to stone and brick, with more and more houses coming into view as they drew closer. At long last, the oars popped out of the sides again, digging into the water to slow the boat down, as it eventually began edging closer to the left bank. The oars retracted shortly before ropes started being thrown, and the boat docked at their destination.
As passengers in premium cabins, they got priority when it came to disembarking, and both made their way onto land for the first time in days. The cargo had only just started to be unloaded, but livestock and other animals were unloaded first, so they didn’t have to wait long for Jelly.
And it was clear when Jelly was being led out, as the small line of animals making their way towards the ramp all stopped and moved to the side, Jelly’s head cresting the edge of the boat a moment later, plodding along like he owned the place. He couldn’t hide his excitement though, practically marching in place in his eagerness to get off.
Lloyd spent a couple of minutes talking to Jelly and brushing his neck, before they turned around and began their walk into Lekton proper. They had finally arrived!
“Are we going to the academy right now?” Yaric asked.
“I will be, but I’m going to be putting you in a room for the night first. You haven’t gone through admissions yet, so you won’t be allowed on campus. Not to worry though, there’s no time to go through admissions today, but there is enough time to get you the things you are missing.”
Yaric marveled at all of the buildings and people around them as they made their way down towards the campus. Every building was made of stone or had been whitewashed, going from double story to three story as they made their way down wide cobblestone streets. The center of each street had long sections of grass, complete with trees and flower beds, and benches for pedestrians to rest on. Shop fronts lined many of the streets they walked through, all kinds of goods and items on display, with amazing smells wafting from some of them.
Jelly was tied up at the inn Lloyd had chosen, while they booked Yaric’s room and dropped off his bags. Lloyd took the time to load his bags on Jelly before they set off again, making for an Academy affiliated tailor Lloyd knew. Yaric was still looking around in amazement, with so many more buildings and people than he was used to. There were also people who looked different to any he had seen before, with the wide variety of skin and hair color all around. Even elves, who he had seen on occasion when they travelled through Clery, were far more common here, as one passed him almost every minute. And he had never seen dwarves before!
Lloyd chuckled at his wide-eyed staring, as Yaric looked from one place to the next, barely pausing before his eyes moved on to the next thing that caught his attention. “You better get used to it; this will be your home for a long time to come.”
“Are the people here all arcanists?”
“Ha! No! This town has more arcanists than anywhere else in the Kingdom, except perhaps the capital, but most people here are Unconnected. Lekton is like an ordinary town in many ways, if being close to the size of a regional city was ordinary. The whole town is built around the Academy, which brings in a lot of additional income and a large variety of special business opportunities for locals however, so Lekton has a lot of advantages over any other town. It really should be considered a city for all intents and purposes.”
“So I don’t have to worry about running into someone with a crazy power score?” Seeing Lloyd’s amused smile as he shook his head, Yaric added, “What is your power anyway? How do you think I will compare?”
Lloyd’s smile slipped off his face. “That isn’t something you ever ask an arcanist. I know I’ve told you to expect your classmates to all be comparing their power scores, but they are young and don’t know anything yet. You will not like the reaction you get if you ask one of your instructors or someone on the streets.”
Yaric looked away sheepishly, so Lloyd added, “Everyone ends up knowing everyone else’s power scores anyway, and things like affinities are openly discussed when they are relevant for any reason, but an arcanist will always offer the information, it should never be asked.”
Yaric was feeling embarrassed as he nodded his understanding. They continued in silence for a while before Lloyd asked, “Did I ever explain to you about the positions at the Academy? The titles and rankings?”
Yaric just shook his head.
“Right, well, after you have gone through your admissions you will be considered a Prospect. You will really be more like a guest. The Academy will take care of you, looking after your training like any other student, but you won’t be considered to be truly part of the Academy just yet. That means if you get into trouble off campus, they won’t be seen as responsible, and you will be on your own.”
“Once you have passed the initial training period you will be considered an 'Initiate’, and will continue with more in-depth training, including your first magical lessons. This training period lasts longer, and will culminate in several trips or ‘missions’, where your group will be expected to clear some kind of danger like goblins or kobolds, working as a team.”
“It’s once you pass your final tests as an Initiate, and become a Novice, that your real in-depth magical training begins. You will be expected to develop a solid foundation on all of the principals of magic before you can move on to begin training in the Tek Duinn. Getting the firmest foundation possible first is vital! The better you are before you move on the greater your final potential will be!”
“What is a Tek Duinn?”
“You don’t need to worry about that for now. Or for several years even, just know that to start with you won’t really be considered a full member of the Academy, and remember how those more senior than you are ranked. Prospect, Initiate, Novice, Apprentice, and finally Mage. From there, some will choose to end their training, remaining as a Mage. If you decide to continue training, the paths split, either remaining on the path of a Mage and advancing to become a High Mage, Arch Mage or Battle Mage and the like. Or you can choose to continue your training in the Tek Duinn and take the path of the Wizard, becoming first a Wizard, then High Wizard, and if you’re exceptionally talented, one day Arch Wizard.”
Lloyd grasped Yaric’s shoulder. “This is all so far in the future you only need to be concerned with recognizing who you are dealing with in your day-to-day life. Remember, anyone capable of channeling magic is an arcanist, but that simply describes what you were born as, it is not an achievement in and of itself. Nor does it have anything to do with level of ability. The rankings given by the Academy will give you a very clear idea of what sort of capabilities everyone around you has, as well as their experience and accomplishments.”
Yaric seemed happy with that, and had just begun to take in his surroundings once again when they arrived. He would need to get fitted for combat robes, and Lloyd had a friend who, he assured Yaric, was the best person for the job.
It turned out that the tailor, Jason, was an arcanist himself. He had made Apprentice before dropping out, almost 300 years previously. As such, his experience, both as a tailor and with magic, gave his clothing exceptional quality. His speed was beyond words as well, with several measurements being taken at once. It was almost disconcerting to watch someone who appeared to be in their early thirties move like someone with many decades of experience.
Lloyd and Yaric waited at the entrance as Jason went into the back room, making all four sets himself while they waited. With Jason’s liberal use of magic, the robes were ready in less than an hour, and Yaric was finally fully kitted out with everything that needed to be purchased outside of the campus.
Lloyd took him to a nice outdoor eating area, and they enjoyed some great food as the sky turned dark and mage lights started manifesting all around and along the streets. Yaric was still looking around with wonder, and the lights especially seemed to fascinate him.
Jelly had been left at the tailor, so Lloyd pocketed some sugar cubes when they left. Yaric had never seen a horse manage to look sulky and annoyed before, but Jelly completely turned around when Lloyd pulled out the sugar cubes.
“Can you find your way back to the inn?”
“Yes, I think so? There weren’t many turns.”
“Alright, I’ll fetch you tomorrow morning to take you for your admissions. Take this as well, just in case,” and he handed over a few coins, “and you don’t have to be up at sunrise, I’ll only be able to get there around 10, but be ready.”
They said their goodbyes and Yaric made his way back to the inn, and Lloyd led Jelly off to the campus grounds. It was still a 20-minute walk through the streets of Lekton before he made it to one of the entrance gates, and with one look at Jelly, the attendants at the gate opened to let them in.
15 minutes later Lloyd arrived at Jelly’s stables, his real home. Sarah was playing around outside even though it was dark, and on seeing Jelly came running to take his reins. The twelve-year-old took Jelly straight into the stables, yelling to her dad that Lloyd was back, all the while ignoring the man himself. Sarah loved looking after Jelly, and Jelly soaked up the attention inside while Lloyd removed his bags and sword, strapping the sword on now and keeping his staff at hand.
Sarah had taken over sorting out Jelly, moving like a well-oiled machine, and even Jelly was ignoring him now, so Lloyd said goodbye and made his way out. The road outside was lit only by the mage lights by now, the sky fully dark, as Lloyd made his way home. He had two detours to make, then he could get some sleep in his own bed.
The first detour was to a small apartment building, and Lloyd cast a basic summoning spell to let his apprentice know he was almost outside. When Rebekka Storm felt the magical nudge, she immediately came downstairs, her flaming red hair framing the wide grin across her face.
“The mighty slayer of ferocious kobolds returns! Bow before his strength and majesty!” she said loudly as she came into view, meeting Lloyd on the street outside her apartment.
“Huh, you should know it wasn’t really kobolds by now.”
That caught her off guard, and she had a far more serious and confused expression on her face now.
“Not kobolds?”
“No, of course not, or I would have sent you instead. How has your training been going since I’ve been gone, have you started integrating your force affinity yet?”
“Almost, I can filter some force arcana into most spells now, just not enough yet to really make a difference. It’s getting there though!”
“Good, we can catch up tomorrow afternoon. I found an arcanist on the trip back, and I need to get him sorted out with the Academy in the morning. You better be showing some improvement!” he smirked.
Rebekka was even more surprised when she heard about Yaric, but she still asked, “What was it then?”
“What was what?”
“The infestation! If they weren’t kobolds, what were they? What was so dangerous?”
“Ah, that. Well, I already suspected it was something much more dangerous, and what kind of Sponsor would I be if I didn’t look out for the health and wellbeing of my apprentice? And I was right, the mission was far too dangerous for you. You would have found yourself out of your depth.”
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
“What was it?!”
“A unit of deserters from the army. Steel armor, swords, everything. Almost a dozen of them.”
Rebekka froze in confusion at first, then got angrier and angrier as Lloyd continued, until finally, just as he finished, a small pebble flew from the ground towards him. Lloyd brought up a shield just in time, and raised his hands towards her placatingly while he started back up.
“Now now, I’m not saying you won’t be able to handle something like that one day.” Pebbles were beating a steady staccato against his shield by this point, and Lloyd started backing up faster, making for a street corner. “There’s no shame in that, they were well trained Unconnected soldiers. As my apprentice, you should understand that I know better than anyone what your limits are.” He couldn’t hide the smirk anymore, and turned to run for the street corner as the stream of pebbles turned into a storm, the wall of pebbles and stones driving against his shield.
Lloyd was laughing aloud when he got around the corner and could drop his shield. His laughter echoed off the buildings around him, prompting another hail of stones that came over the buildings and sent Lloyd running. 'Yes, I will have to watch my food and drink for the next couple of weeks.'
His last stop wasn’t far away. Twyla Annika was a good friend of Lloyd’s and they had known each other for years, literally centuries. She always insisted that he pop in to let her know when he came back from a trip, and anytime she found out from someone else, before Lloyd himself told her, he always came to regret it.
Lloyd didn’t bother knocking, he just walked and shouted, “Hellooooo!”
Twyla had been in the kitchen and came around the corner to wave him through.
“You got that infestation sorted out I see.”
“Nope. Some army unit somewhere is missing some deserters. Was still a nice trip though.”
“Hmmm… well, they shouldn’t be wasting a High Wizard’s time with something stupid like that. The Council and their politics.”
Lloyd just smirked slightly, “Wasted who’s time? I just had a four week holiday through the northern edge of the kingdom. I feel so much better now after my break.”
“Huh, I bet you’ve just been eating all the food supplies of every town you went through. How many towns will go starving now heh?”
Both of them laughed as Twyla got them each a large beer, and sat down at the table with some dried meat. She caught him up on some of the goings on at the Council, and gave him a few updates on the warring kingdoms to the East. Luckily, not much would change over 4 weeks, as the Council always took forever to do anything, and each war had been going on for over a decade so far.
Relaxing at inns and taverns around the kingdom was nice, but Lloyd always relaxed much more when talking with friends he knew well. They were already on their second beer when she mentioned the problems that had started on their own borders.
“But why are people coming through now, their kingdoms aren’t at war? It makes no sense.”
“The Council had it investigated, it seems that some small towns close to our borders have been convinced that their Kingdoms will be next, and are moving early to claim refugee status.”
“But the wars aren’t over yet? No one even has an advantage over the other. What could they be afraid of?”
“Don’t know, but the Council is very suspicious and is treating them as possible spies. Remember, they’re not just travelling here on a trip, they’re coming here with all their belongings. They’ve abandoned their towns and their whole lives. Something is up, but whatever it is must also be serious.”
“Just another reason to be happy to not be on the council!” Lloyd said, raising his beer. They both toasted to that and downed what was left, with Twyla getting up to fetch them a third.
"The Council is also having issues with the Burke's again. Imagine having to keep running over to their compound!"
"What are those elves up to now?"
"Same as always. They want restrictions lifted. They're upset about having to wait for weekends to throw their parties, and they want to be able to provide larger quantities of drinks."
"The usual then. I've never understood why they get so upset about it."
"You know what they're like. They've worked their century, made their money, now they want to spend the rest of their lives living it up."
"Not every elf is like that though."
"Most aren't, but there are enough that are that we need these laws in place. Or they wreck the local markets. And the elves that are like that are left feeling entitled to their retirement."
Lloyd almost spat his beer. "Retirement?! The elves that believe they should only work for a hundred years have at least 400 years after that to do whatever they please! How do you 'retire' when you've spent so little of your life working!"
Twyla just smiled. They were both on their third beer in hardly any time at all.
“So you go away for a month, travelling around the countryside, doing not an ounce of work, then when you get back you come traipsing in here to drink all my beer huh?”
Lloyd grinned. “You know I like your beer, and you keep refusing to tell me where you get it, so where else can I go?” he laughed.
“Well I’m still not telling.”
“Besides, it’s not like I did no work,” he said, taking a sip from his beer, “I get rid of those deserters, who had been preying on an entire village, stealing whatever they liked and killing anyone who saw them.”
They continued sipping from their beers, just enjoying the company.
“Oh, and I also found and killed Den Virgo.”
Twyla spat her beer all over the table. “What?! You did what?!”
“I found him at a village on the way back, we had a short duel, and I killed him,” Lloyd replied nonchalantly, “I brought his arm tattoos back in my bag.”
“You found Den Virgo?! You dueled with him?! AND YOU ONLY MENTION THAT NOW!” she shouted, getting up from her seat and walking around as she shouted, then grabbing the washcloth on the table to start swinging it at him.
Lloyd raised his arms to defend himself as she whipped the cloth at him from different directions. “I was always going to tell you, but it only came up now.”
“Next time you start with that!” she shouted, not letting up one her whipping. “You walk through that door, and you say, “Twyla, I just killed Den Virgo’, you don’t bring it up 30 minutes later!”
“Ok, ok, sorry!” Twyla stopped swinging her cloth, but Lloyd was too late to notice that she hadn’t put it down yet. “It’s not like there will be a second time anyway, I can’t kill him again.”
WHACK!
“Ow! Sorry! I was just saying!”
“Well, saying isn’t the problem! You’re always saying things, just never the right things, you stupid fool!”
“I said I was sorry! Can we just enjoy our beer? That you so graciously provided in your benevolence?”
“Ha ha, nice try," but Twyla finally put down her cloth and reached over to grab her own beer. She took a few more sips to calm herself down, before asking, “So you’re going to the council tomorrow morning to report on the Den Virgo issue?”
“Actually, no. On the way back, I found a young arcanist that I decided to sponsor, so tomorrow…”
WHACK!
“Ow! What now?”
“You found a new protégé and you didn’t mention it?! You travelled all the way back with this arcanist and it didn’t cross your mind until now!”
“But it didn’t come up until now!”
“You told me you had a four week holiday, a break! You never once thought to mention finding one of the most wanted men in the Kingdom, getting in a life-or-death fight, and finding a new arcanist to sponsor?! He was probably the most wanted man in the entire Kingdom Lloyd!”
“Yeah well, for me it mostly was a holiday, all of this stuff only happened in the last week. And the fight with Virgo was a little anticlimactic really. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. And the kid is very quiet most of the time, he sort of just stares off into the distance all day, so you kind of forget he’s there.”
“Right, a likely story. If I catch you doing something like this again you will regret it!” she said loudly, raising her hand to shake her cloth in his face.
“Ok, ok!”
“So then, tell me about this kid. What’s their name? Where’d you find them? Pretend that you're telling me like a normal person.”
Lloyd held his hand to his chest like he’d been stabbed in the heart.
“I found him in Clery, where Den Virgo was. He was running his parents’ mill and working himself to the bone, but he displayed the ability to channel arcana so I gave him the choice. And he made the right one.”
“How did his parents feel about him leaving?”
“He was an orphan, so he didn’t have much reason to stay besides the mill. After the kid chose to leave, the town decided that they would take care of his property in exchange for the use of the mill while he was gone. It worked out well in the end. His name is Yaric by the way. Clearly from the country, his full name is Yaric Miller.”
“Hah, of course it is.”
“Otherwise, he seems very determined, and he’s definitely a very hard worker with all he was doing before I arrived. He was so exhausted I had to use some of that moon tea while we were on the boat to get him to sleep; the kid looked like death. I think he was staying up all night stuck in that head of his. He’s always staring into space.”
“And it helped? He’s doing better?”
“Oh yes, he looks much better! He’s still very quiet and contemplative though.”
“Probably all stressed out over studying at the Academy, poor thing.”
“Probably. He should be in a better mood though; I killed his parents’ murderer after all. And uncovered the source of his ‘curse’.”
“What? His parents were murdered? And what curse?” Twyla exclaimed.
“Well, where do you think I found Virgo? You know how he operates. He had killed Yaric’s parents some years earlier and was pretending to be the kid’s uncle, the kid had no idea.”
“WHAT?! Are you stupid? You bring this up now? Of course the kid is upset! And he was cursed too?”
“Relax, it’s been sorted out already. And there was no curse, Virgo was using mind magic to make Yaric experience being transported to different dark hellscapes, where Virgo would make Yaric get hunted by different creatures. That asshole was torturing Yaric to make him work harder.”
Twyla’s face was turning red as she glared, and Lloyd agreed with her. “I know, Virgo was a real bastard, I just wish I had got there earlier.”
WHACK!
…
WHACK!
WHACK!
“Now what?!”
“You get that boy tomorrow and you take him straight to Faruk Bell, you hear me?” Twyla was chasing Lloyd around the table now, her cloth a blur as she beat him.
“That crazy healer? Why? All he does is talk about memories and feelings!” Lloyd had both arms covering his body as he tried to keep away from Twyla’s cloth of death.
“The boy isn’t quiet! He’s not moody! He’s in shock! You stupid idiot!” By now Twyla was augmenting herself to hit harder and faster, still chasing Lloyd in circles. “He will be depressed! He’s gone through trauma! He found out his parents were murdered! He’s been tortured! He’s been through a hell you’ve never known, but I swear, if you don’t get him to Faruk tomorrow I will make sure you know exactly how he feels!”
Lloyd decided that he wasn’t going to win this one, and made a hasty retreat out into the street.
“Alright, alright, I will! Ok?” He pointed down the road and said, “I’ll just be going now, I will have an early morning if I’m to have enough time for Yaric to get to Faruk as well.”
Twyla just raised her cloth at him from the doorway.
“Nice seeing you as always Twyla! Thanks for the beer!” Lloyd said cheerfully, as if the last few minutes had never happened, and started jogging down the road, not stopping until he had to turn into a different street.
'That’s the second woman who’s attacked me today. Is it me? Is there something I need to apologize for?'
'Have I done something wrong?'
….
'Nahhh…. That's ridiculous.'
Lloyd continued his way home, pausing only when he realized that Willka’s bakery would still be open.
'Willka might still have those frosted buns, maybe even some custard tarts. And he will definitely have those pastry wrapped sausages! Best of all, it’s only a slight detour on the way home!'
And so Lloyd turned on his heels, and made a 4 block detour - in the opposite direction to his house.
The sun was already climbing when Lloyd left campus, on his way to pick up Yaric. He made a quick stop to buy a pile of steamed buns and some meaty stew, before finding Yaric already waiting at the entrance to the inn. They both found a bench and had a quick breakfast, after which Lloyd looked over at Yaric.
“You’re all packed? You’ve checked through everything?”
Yaric nodded hesitatingly, “I think so. I have everything you bought me.”
“Ok, but before we go, I need to let you know, after your admission today I’m taking you to go see a healer, just to check you out.”
Yaric panicked for a moment, “But you said I was fine! That there was no magic left!”
“Yes! Yes! You are absolutely fine! No need to panic! He isn’t going to check you for magic. Yaric, how have you been since everything happened at the mill? With Virgo?”
“I’m fine, he deserved to die. I’m just glad it’s over.”
“But how are you doing, with everything that’s happened. How are you feeling?”
“Fine. Maybe a little angry I guess, but he’s already dead so it doesn’t matter.”
“It does matter,” Lloyd said, “and Faruk will just be checking to make sure everything is fine. With how you are feeling.”
“Why? I’m fine.”
“Please, just humor me.” Lloyd sighed and looked up, “Besides, my life is on the line if you don’t. I really need you to speak with him properly.”
Yaric looked skeptical, but agreed anyway. “Ok, I’ll go. But it won’t matter, there’s nothing wrong.”
Lloyd stood up, with Yaric standing right after. “Good, then let’s go. You have a lot to get done today!”
Lloyd led the way, taking Yaric on a different route than the one he had used, heading for the main entrance and the administration buildings just beyond. The roads were already very busy, and people were rushing back and forth all around them.
The two of them made their way through the crowds, until they entered what Yaric thought must be the real main street. It was three times as wide as any of the other roads, and had wagons and carts moving up and down, in addition to the pedestrians still rushing about. Even with all of the apparent chaos, each cart was able to just keep going, the locals getting out of the way without even seeming to notice.
And everything was still so clean! The walls were whitewashed, glass windowpanes sparkled, the streets looked like it had just rained. And all of the store fronts, all down the main road, displayed wares that put what Yaric had previously seen to shame. The most exquisite furniture in one window, right next to sparkling jewelry in the next. Fancy dresses in the store window across the road, sitting next to a glassware and crystal shop with gleaming tableware and knickknacks proudly displayed.
They made their way up a slight hill, with Yaric barely able to take in everything around him. Lekton was just so much more than Clery, so much more than anything he’d ever known, and this was where he was going to be living for many years still.
And finally, cresting the hill and looking down, he saw the Academy, with training fields dotted all over, sitting between buildings made of gleaming marble and obsidian looking stone, sprawled over an area many times larger than Clery, his old home.
The Academy. His new home.