Al was frosty toward me when he came out of Dean Weber's office, not that I expected otherwise. At least Esteban was in a good mood.

Esteban prattled on excitedly, “Dean Weber said I could learn a Nature Attunement. I could make fruits and vegetables grow faster, or improve their flavour, or find ways to create new fruit. Oh, it’s going to be amazing! I was happy to just learn Magical Cooking, but the chance at getting an Attunement and learning real magic is just too amazing!”

Al laughed. “That’s great, Esteban. I’m worried you’re going to pass out if you keep wheezing like that.”

Esteban sagged back in his seat, all smiles and clearly still excited. “What about you? What did she recommend for you?”

“I’ll be taking Mysticism, same as all the other first year students on the Mancer path. She said I’ll have access to the Elemental boxes to work on my own attunements,” Al answered.

Esteban pressed, “Attunements? More than one? Wow! That’s amazing. Can you tell me what you’ve got?”

Al sighed and looked at me warily.

“Comrade Alphonse, I am also taking the same class, probably with you. If it makes you feel better, I am looking to get attunements to Light and Mind, though the latter may not happen in just a year,” I said, trying to reassure him that it was safe to answer.

Al frowned. “I suppose you’d find out anyway in that case. Fine, I need to attune to Water, Wind, and Lightning.”

I nodded, “Very impressive. That is . . . what is the word in Blokena . . .uh,” I paused for a moment, as if thinking, then snapped my fingers, “Storm, yes?”

Al nodded. “They also want me to attune to Mind but they aren’t sure I’ll have enough time this year, so maybe next year if I come back.”

“Very powerful combination,” I said with an approving nod and getting a scoff from the hero in return.

Esteban was awestruck, “Wow, you two are both so strong. Two and four attunements, isn’t that kind of rare?”

I shook my head. “Not rare, just unusual for anyone to train for more than one attunement. Most choose to specialise in just one.”

Al added, “Most kin have five or six kinds of magic they can learn, but only have talent for one or two. So, you can learn more, they just won’t be as strong as they might be otherwise.”

I nodded in agreement. “Most also do not have the kind of resources Mancer provides either. I think you will find that most students here have at least two kinds of magical attunement thanks to the training and resources on offer. All paid for as part of the tuition.”

“Wow,” Esteban said, slightly in awe. “So, what classes are you taking? I’ve got Intermediate Cooking, Magical Cooking, Attunement, Advanced Senses, Mystic Creation, Mana Control, Gathering, Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, and finally,” he paused and shuddered, “Constitution. Yuck.”

I was confused by his course list. I only had three regular courses, one professional course, and two status courses.

“So many? How is that possible when I only have a handful of courses?” I asked.

Al was quick to answer, getting in a dig in at me at the same time. “Hmph, Not as smart as you seem to think you are, eh Belov? Esteban isn’t on the Mancer path. It means he can pick and choose whatever classes he wants. They’re shorter than ours and not held as often. As it is, that’s a short class list, just ten classes. But can I ask, why Linguistics and Sociolinguistics?”

Esteban deflated slightly. “Dean Weber said if I want to be a world-famous Magical Chef then I will need those skills to interact with kin from other nations. I struggle enough with just Blokena. I couldn’t imagine learning dozens of languages.”

Al cringed. “Yeah, I guess it makes sense, but still . . . ouch. But Dean Weber had a good point. I’m kind of surprised she didn’t add that to my list of classes.”

Al nodded and hummed.

Esteban nodded, then asked, “What classes did you get?”

Al looked at me again then shrugged. I supposed he realised it didn’t matter if I knew at this point. My schedule was just as set as his schedule. “Like Belov said, we only have a handful of classes. Mysticism, which covers things like attunement, manipulation, and control. Lair Team which is focused on skills related to fighting through lairs, and actually fighting through lairs. And Martial Training, which focuses on fighting skills and a little physical fitness. Other than that, I’m supposed to pick a professional course, but I don’t know what I’m going to do with that yet. Otherwise, I’ve got six status classes. Charisma, Stamina, Toughness, Perception, Willpower, and Intelligence.”

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“At least you don’t have Constitution,” Esteban complained.

Al chuckled, “It’s good for you. I’m not sure you’ll survive going to class if you don’t improve it just a little bit.”

Esteban frowned, “That’s what Dean Weber said too.”

Al laughed then he looked at me, “Alright, we’ve spilled our list, what about you?”

I smiled and sat straighter. I was starting to like my cover. He was obnoxious and irritating and I kind of loved it. I could never behave like this growing up on the streets. If I acted like this, someone would have stabbed me in a back alley. “Happy to share with my comrades in arms. It appears we are taking the same core course. I will also be taking Mysticism, Lair Team, and Martial Training. On top of that, I will be taking Cooking for my professional course. Finally, I will be taking Strength and Charisma for my status courses.” I wondered what teacher would have thought of my course selection. I was sure to find out eventually, but for now, I was satisfied.

Al grunted, “I hope we’re not on the same Lair Team.”

I grinned at seeing the opening, “Why so, comrade Alphonse? Are you afraid of a little competition?”

Al bristled at my taunt and was about to retort when Esteban spoke up again,“So, you both already have an attunement, right?”

I smiled, “Yes, that is correct. I have a Shadow Attunement. Very good for a scout, no? My father was very proud when I gained my attunement. He has grand plans for me and the family mercenary company.”

Esteban shied away from me. “Isn’t . . . isn’t that kind of . . . you know . . . evil?”

I shrugged. “Your attunements are just tools.”

It didn’t seem to assuage Esteban’s fears and Al didn’t make it any better.

“Not evil, but often used for evil. Assassins, thieves, and the like usually have that attunement. I’d watch your purse around this one if I were you,” Al advised, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

As it happened, I had been waiting to use a specific retort and Al finally gave me an opening, “And what about you, Abbaion? You speak of thieves and assassins and yet your home is the most corrupt nation in the world. Who are you to judge me? If Comrade Esteban should protect his purse from anyone, it is you.”

Al looked ready to snap back but Esteban tried to defuse the situation before it got any more heated, “Guys, guys, please stop fighting.”

I crossed my arms and settled in to glare at the Hero. A glare that the Hero returned with equal fervour.

Esteban thankfully tried to distract Al by following up on his original question. “Al, what was your Attunement?”

Al reluctantly broke his glaring at me to focus on Esteban. He smiled softly, “Life. I have already attuned to Life.”

“Healing, that’s amazing,” Esteban said excitedly. “You’re like . . . really powerful, huh?”

Al smiled imperiously, “You bet I am.”

It seemed it would take some work to humble Al.

The carriage couldn’t have returned us to our apartment soon enough. As soon as Beau was out, I followed quickly on his heels.

I was moving quickly for the door when Esteban spoke up again, “So . . . you guys want to eat with me? I’ll cook.”

I was glad for the invitation. “Are you sure you want an evil shadowmancer coming to dinner?”

Esteban hesitated but seemed to have steeled his resolve and nodded firmly.

“Well, I don’t feel like having a meal with an evil Shadowmancer. You never know, he might poison my food,” Al retorted.

I narrowed my eyes, “It would seem I am unwelcome at your table. Thank you for your offer, but I feel I must decline.” I bowed slightly and turned swiftly around to stomp up the stairs.

I locked the door behind me as I entered my apartment, feeling slightly bitter that Al was downstairs sharing a meal with my friend. Instead, I hung my coat and hat by the door along with my satchel, then turned to my fully stocked kitchen. It was time to cook.

Prior to being forced to learn traditional Rychanian dishes, I had been learning to make a soufflé. Now was a good time to try again. I took out a few beast eggs, butter, flour, milk, chives, and cheese, not the limburger as that was just too strong. I put some kindling and a couple logs into my stove and got the fire going. It would take a while to warm up so I started preparing my batter.

I combined one ingredient after another. I might have worked off some of my anger while I beat the eggs. Eventually, I poured my batter into two small round dishes then went to the stove to check the temperature. The thermometer inside told me it was too hot so I needed to wait for the wood to burn down a little more, which in my current mood meant it would take forever, even if forever was just another twenty minutes.

Satisfied, I slid the dishes into the oven and set a timer on the counter. While the time counted down, I cleaned up, wiped everything down to Chef Alma’s standards. Thankfully, this kitchen was not as big as the galley kitchen on the Concepción.

The timer went off and I checked my soufflés. They had risen nicely and smelled wonderful. I pulled them carefully from the oven and set them on the stove to cool. I smiled, pleased with how they looked and smelled. Savoury, salty, and slightly aromatic. I sprinkled a little fresh chopped parsley on top to finish them. Satisfied, I nodded and took one over to the butcher’s block and sat on one of the tall chairs. With a spoon in hand, I scooped into the centre of the soufflé. The spoon came out slightly gooey from the cheese and the eggy batter looked nice and fluffy. It looked perfect. I took a bite and closed my eyes, enjoying the simple flavours I brought out in the very complicated dish. It was delicious. It was my best effort. And apparently the world agreed with me.

Congratulations! Your common skill Cooking has advanced from Beginner Rank to Intermediate Rank. Your skill list has been updated.

Common Skills

Name

Rank

Cooking

Intermediate

And just that quickly, my mood changed entirely. I rushed over to my satchel and pulled out one of my most prized possessions. A skill stone. One I had been awarded upon completing the Provisional Lair. And now I had the last prerequisite skill required to learn it.

Would you like to learn the Mystic Skill Magical Cooking?

I thought ‘Yes’ and the stone began to crumble.