Soulburned : The School of Souls
Chapter 14 : The Summoner's Hall
Lyra's head swam as she sat back down next to Kreg and Tuley.
She felt the moment Entity relinquished control.
"Dexter Ryke." The Archmage said, calling the next student up to the dias.
"You okay Lyra?" Tuley asked, " You're looking a bit pale. Not good with crowds?"
"No." Lyra said, "I'm not."
Why did you do that? I thought you couldn't do that anymore?!
Entity managed to give the impression of a shrug.
You froze. I did what I thought was best for us.
That, Lyra thought back, was not part of the deal!
That was precisely the deal, Lyra. I'm here to help you. The best way to do that is through Summoning since you clearly didn't want to go with Runes.
That wasn't up to you!
"Listen, Lyra..." Kreg said, "About all that... stuff I said before. I hope you know I wasn't being serious. I don't actually feel that way about the Great Houses. Especially Mornstag! Your family provides-"
"It's fine, Kreg." Lyra interuppted "Really."
"Okay!" He said, "I just- I just don't want you to think that I, uh, I-"
"Really Kreg, it's fine. Drop it."
The boy swallowed, then nodded.
I won't do it again. Entity promised, At least not without warning you first. I can feel how much that bothered you, and I get it now. I'm sorry.
"Henry Strink."
Another student made their way up to the dias.
----------------------------------------
Kreg, true to his word, had chosen Summoner. Tulley had wound up in Constructs, her first two options having already been filled.
"Summoner Vocation, follow me!" A professor called over the crowd.
Lyra and Kreg both stood and made their way over to the portly man, joining a group of about twenty other students. Around the Assembly Hall, other professors were similarly wrangling their First Tier charges.
"I'm Professor Greystole, Head of the Summoner Hall. I assure you, you've made the best choice. The Summoner Vocation may be the most difficult for First Tiers to master, but by the time you make Second Tier, you'll be ahead of the curve. Now, follow me. "
Professor Greystole led the group out of the Assembly hall and further up into the tower, corralling the students into the grand spiral staircase that ran up and down the majority of the Iris.
"Once you've passed your First Tier Trials, you'll be permitted access to the school's shared Teleportation Grid. Until then, I hope you like stairs. Summoner's Hall is higher up in the tower than most Vocation Halls, primarily due to the volatile nature of summoning. Previous Archmages found it prudent to move us into a heavier warded portion of the Tower, as opposed to constantly having sections of the main Wing rebuilt. "
The Stairs were murder. Lyra's calves were burning after only a few floors, and if she understood Greystole correctly, this was going to become an incredibly routine trip.
"Here we are," Greystole said.
The group entered a spacious chamber. A massive ring of silver was embedded in the floor, surrounded by smaller circles.
"This is the communal summoning circle. The other Vocations use their larger chambers as common rooms. All of them are complete wastes of space if you ask me! Instead, you'll get to use this beauty! You'll find it instrumental in your elective, but you'll also find it useful for the core Conjuration classes. The circles that are provided to the Core classes are small and often faulty. You'll find this one, much more cooperative. But, don't think this will give you a huge edge in the Qualifiers though, the other Vocations will have similarly specialized equipment that will give them the edge in other Core classes.
Oooo, Entity said, That's way bigger than the one I had in the catacombs! We could summon a Griffin in that thing!
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Lyra arched an eyebrow. She was worried about how Entity was reacting to this turn of events. She could feel the spirit buzzing with excitement deep inside her skull.
"Qualifier's Professor?" one of the other students asked.
"Yes, right! Getting ahead of myself, at the end of the Term, the Vocation with the highest combined grades will qualify for an additional Trial. The students who participate in that Trial will receive an additional imbuement to their Glyph Stone. Students who manage to pass that Trial, however, will receive something even better! More on that later!
The jovial professor clapped his hands.
"Now, take a seat, there's chairs stashed in one of these cabinets. I'll call each of you into my office one at a time to discuss your elective, assign a dorm, set you some preliminary goals, and iron out your schedules. Who wants to go first?"
----------------------------------------
The dorm that Lyra had been assigned was small, dark, and smelled like a wet book.
She loved it.
Her rooms at her father's estate were large, but empty. They were cold, sterile, and lonely... But this! This room was alive and warm. She could hear her peers talking through the thin walls, she could see the traces of past residents carved into the walls.
She smiled.
You're really glad to be out of there, huh?
Yes.
Do you want to talk about it?
No.
There were two beds, so Lyra chose the one further from the door. She plopped down on it and started going through her schedule.
1st Period: Core Conjuration - C01 : Summoner's Hall
2nd Period: Vocational Summoning- C02 : Summoner's Hall
BREAK
3rd Period: Intro to Combat Soulmancy - B01 : Courtyard 1
4th Period: Logos Shaping -S01 : Library Annex 2
BREAK
5th Period: Core Illusion - I01 : Illusionist's Hall
6th Period: Core Runes - R01 : Runic Hall
BREAK
7th Period: Core Rituals - T01 : Mage Wing - Courtyard 2
8th Period: Core Alchemy- A01 : Alchemist's Hall
"Hey, sorry about this, but that beds mine." a girl said.
Lyra looked up from her schedule, surprised. A lanky, pale-skinned girl stood at the foot of the bed. Her arms were crossed.
"Oh, sorry!" she said, "I thought I was the first one assigned to this room."
"It's alright, I did the same thing in my first term. I'm Erika."
"Oh, you're not first-tier? I'm Lyra."
"No, Greystole likes to pair First-Tiers up with Seconds. It's supposed to make his job easier. Since you'll probably just ask me the unimportant stuff."
"Like... what?"
"Like, where's the bathroom? Why does it smell like that? How do I get to the Alchemy Lab?"
"Oh! That makes sense." Lyra said.
The other girl stared at Lyra expectantly.
"Uh..." Lyra said, "Where is the bathroom?"
"Come on. I'll show you. Just get your boots off my bed."
----------------------------------------
Erika showed Lyra around the Summoner's Hall. Each Vocation was given a floor of the Iris, called their "Hall". All of the Core classes were taught at that specific hall, as were any corresponding electives. Erika told her that once she progressed to the Second Tier, she would no longer be restricted to only Summoner electives. There wasn't any grandiose about the Summoner's Hall, they lacked a common room, which was largely considered a travesty, there were three classrooms, a handful of bathrooms and showers, and the dorms.
Meals were served during all breaks, but attending them would require Lyra to travel to ground level. Because of this, Erika recommended that Lyra eat during her first and third Break, and keep the mid-day break as a free period. The Illusionist's Hall and Runic Hall were both high up in the Tower, and without having access to the Teleportation network, Lyra would be pressed for time.
"You can take food out of the Dining Room, so I'd just pocket something from breakfast If I were you."
"What about Basic Rituals?" Lyra asked, "My schedule says that's in the Mage's Wing?"
"Yeah." Erika said, "Rituals aren't explicitly tied to Soulmancy, so you don't need Logos or Eros to cast them. That class will have both Wizards and Mages in it."
"Huh, I didn't know that."
Erika shrugged.
"No reason you would, The Iris tries to keep that from being public knowledge, but it's a big open secret. If everyone could use basic magic, they wouldn't come to us."
"Seems kinda... unethical?"
Erika shrugged again.
"They have to pay the staff somehow."
Lyra frowned, but let the topic drop.
"Want to come down to the Dining Room?" Erika asked. "My next class isn't for another hour."
"You're already in classes? Mine don't start until tomorrow."
"All the higher Tiers started a week early."
"Oh, well, no. I think I'm just going to stay here for now." Lyra was hungry, but Erika was proving to be a little overzealous in her role as a mentor. The girl must have some sort of respiratory spell that allowed her to breathe through her eyelids. She had been extremely helpful, but also extremely annoying. "I might go visit my brother... I doubt I'll have much time to see him after classes start."
"Fair enough, feel free to grab me if you have any other questions.
Once Erika finally left. Lyra sighed, then collapsed onto her new bed.