“What did you say?” Jeb asked, confused.
“I asked how I could motivate you not to join the College of Music.”
“Why don’t you want me?” Jeb asked. “And if you don’t want me, couldn’t you just reject me from joining?”
“Before this conversation continues to degrade,” the second voice interjected, “Jeb, do you know why the Bard who taught you Bardic Magic was in your hometown?”
Jeb shook his head.
“The Bard in your hometown is currently a Postdoctoral Scholar in the College of Music. The only reason he is not a Professor is that his pedagogy was so removed from the standard practice that the Academy did not feel comfortable recommending his advancement.”
“Why would me joining the College of Music be a problem, though?” Jeb asked again.
The first voice spoke again. “There are very few non-Bards who learn a Song at First Tier. Those that do, almost without exception still have the Bardic Magic Skill. The fact that you were able to not only learn Lute Enforcement, but Bind a lute to yourself means that your success in our School is all but guaranteed.”
“Why is that a problem?”
The second voice spoke again. “Dean Sylva is trying to convey a desire not to have you join the College at this time, not a desire for you to abandon Bardic Studies altogether. If you joined right now, the curriculum would not be well suited to the Skills and talents that you have cultivated in your time as a Classholder.”
“Thank you Gary,” the Dean replied. “Sorry, I have been told that I sometimes have trouble conveying meaning in speech. The Academy gave me an assistant to help mitigate those issues,” he finished, nodding to the second voice.
“What are you offering to have me not join the College of Music?” Jeb asked. Maybe he would be able to have his debts paid off.
Gary rolled his eyes. “The Dean was speaking metaphorically. He cannot legally offer you any incentives to join or refuse an acceptance to any of the Colleges within the Academy.”
“Oh.” Jeb’s heart sank a little. Even though he knew it was a ridiculous hope, a part of him had still been optimistic that he wouldn’t have the specter of debt hanging over him throughout his entire time in the Academy.
“Well, I think that covers most all of what we needed to discuss,” Sylva said. “I hope that I will see you in the future, though not immediately.” A door opened to Jeb’s right, and he took the hint. As he walked through it, he heard the Dean say something about how “he’s going to be completely insufferable now, isn’t he?”
I hope that he isn’t talking about me, Jeb thought, following the hallway down. When it came to another door, he had a feeling that he should knock before opening it.
“Come in,” Petra called. When he came in, she continued. “Have you decided which College you plan to join?”
“Are those three the only Colleges in the Academy?” Jeb asked.
Petra raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Do you feel as though you should have qualified for admittance to another?”
“I wouldn’t assume so,” Jeb replied, “but I was wondering, especially since the College of Music’s Dean said something about taking classes in the College later, even if I joined a different College to begin with.”
As Petra looked at Jeb more intently, he was made aware of the fact that this room was entirely stone. The weight of that feeling continued to grow as she continued assessing him. When the feeling finally relented, she frowned.
“I suppose that we could schedule an entrance interview for you with the College of Ritual, if you truly wish to pursue that Magic further?”
“What Magic?” Jeb asked.
“Ritual Magic.” Her tone was oddly flat.
“What is Ritual Magic?” Jeb asked.
“Ritual Magic is a branch of Magic that relies on a number of people working in unison through rote patterns. The College of Ritual is currently our smallest College, due in large part to its close connections to the former College of Nature.”
“What happened to the College of Nature?”
“I have a report from Flos that you already know that Druid is a forbidden Class in the Republic now.”
“Oh,” understanding dawned on Jeb. “What happened to the Professors in the College of Nature.”
Petra gave him a flat look. “Why does it matter to you?”
Jeb took the hint. “I don’t think that Ritual Magic is a primary interest of mine right now,” he said. “Of the options, I think that the College of Letters speaks to me the most, but I don’t know if that is just because I have the most experience with that discipline. I also worry about specializing too much, even though I know that is standard here in the Capitol.”
“Why are you opposed to specialization?” The Headmistress seemed genuinely curious, so Jeb took a moment to collect his thoughts before answering.
“I think that my lute is a good example,” he finally said. “Because I know Lute Enforcement, a Bardic Song, I was able to put Mana into it. And, because I know Glyph Magic, I was able to Attune the Mana I put into the lute, which gives me more options when playing.” Jeb demonstrated, slowly emphasizing each of the Elemental Manas that he had bound to his lute. Petra watched, tapping her finger in time to the rhythm of the piece he played.
When he had finished, she posed a question. “What will you do if your next Class does not allow you to practice all the kinds of Magic you’ve learned? The odds that you will find a Class that gives you the ability to use Glyph Magic, Bardic Magic, Enchanting, and Ritual Magics only decreases the Higher in Tier you go.”
“I don’t know,” Jeb replied honestly. “But I do know that I would rather face that issue when it arises, rather than assuming it will happen and giving up proactively.”
“When do you plan to Level Up, on that note?”
Once more, Jeb considered the question. “Whenever I have somewhere to sleep, unless there’s a reason that I should delay more than that.”
Petra shrugged. “No, that does seem reasonable. Though, I would make a request. Would you be willing to have a scan made of your current Status?”
“What do you mean?” Jeb asked.
“Because almost everyone who enters the Academy is in their Third Tier, we have a well defined set of progressions for most Third Tier and higher Classes. For Second Tier, we can make some assumptions, based on what Classes our Third Tier students have, as well as their memories of what Classes they were offered. Of course, that comes with a number of issues. For one, students tend not to remember every Class that they were offered. Equally at issue is the fact that anyone who does not enter the Academy does not contribute to that data. All this to say, being able to trace you from First Tier would be a great boon to the Theorycrafting department.”
“Wait, what College is Theorycrafting in?”
“Theorycrafting is a shared department between all of the Colleges. A number of departments are cross listed between Colleges, since the research and pedagogy is shared between different Schools of Magic.”
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
“What does it mean to share my Status, though?” Jeb asked.
“I would have a complete list of your Skills, Achievements, and Quest Log.”
“I think that my local Librarian already has that,” Jeb replied. “It wasn’t very comfortable when he collected it.”
“One moment,” Petra said. The room shook for a moment, and a tablet of stone rose from the table in front of the Headmistress. “Ah, I see that he did. However, this record is out of date.”
“What do you mean?” Jeb asked.
“How many Quests have you completed since this was collected in the winter?”
Jeb started to tally the Quests before she interrupted. “That was a rhetorical question. Just from a quick glimpse at your Statistics, I know that you’ve completed a large number of Quests since then.”
“How would you collect the scan?”
“Is that you consenting to the process?” the Headmistress confirmed.
“No,” Jeb replied. “Last time, I was knocked out. I would rather that not happen again.”
Jeb heard the Headmistress mutter something about, “that boy never could moderate his strength as well as he thought he could,” before clearing her throat and speaking to Jeb again. “That would not happen. It would likely be slightly uncomfortable for a few moments, but nothing more.”
“Ok, then,” Jeb said. Immediately, he felt as though the room was about to collapse on top of him. He could not move, even to take a breath. As his vision started to fade, the pressure eased suddenly. Gasping, Jeb crumpled in his seat.
“Interesting,” the Headmistress said, “you seem far more susceptible to Pressure than I would expect. Oh,” she said, eyes tracking another tablet of stone, “that would explain it. Why is your Presence only one point higher than it was before you were a Classholder?”
Jeb’s Status Sheet at End of Chapter:
Jeb Humdrum Human Age: 16 Class: Least Mud Initiate Level: 1 Experience: 11023/100
----------------------------------------
Total Statistic Load: 563 Physical Load: 218 Strength: 52 Dexterity: 53 Endurance: 54 Vitality: 55 Presence: 4
----------------------------------------
Mental Load: 345 Intelligence: 68 Willpower: 75 Magic Affinity: 74 Mana Depth: 64 Charisma: 64
----------------------------------------
Mana: 1755
----------------------------------------
Glyph Attunement: 31 Least Shape Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Shape Earth - Efficient (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Lesser Shape Earth (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Least Shape Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Shape Water - Efficient (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Lesser Shape Water (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Least Hold Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Conjure Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Conjure Water - Efficient (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Least Destroy Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Move Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Move Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Mud (Modified) Tier 2 Spell Attune Earth Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Water Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Water Mana - Efficient (Modified) Tier 2 Spell Attune Air Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Fire Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Sand Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Least Create Sand (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Attune Sand Mana - Efficient (Modified) Tier 2 Spell
----------------------------------------
Bard Songs Known: 1 Lute Enforcement
----------------------------------------
Skills: Least Mud Magic Meditation Mana Manipulation Spell Glyphing Improved Glyph Groking Gift of Gab Running Identify Soil Savvy Animal Handling Fertilizing Lifting Athletics Lute Playing Singing Musician Pollination Brewing Distilling Bardic Magic Smithing Wood Identification Woodworking Soil Improvement Enchanting Glassblowing
----------------------------------------
Achievements: Focused Meditator Student of Magic Glyph Specializer
----------------------------------------
Quests: Major: Slay the Dragon of the West (Progressive)