After leaving the Weaving Workshop, Jeb made his way to Dean Aquam’s office. He was not inside, if the sign on his door was to be trusted, so Jeb shrugged and went to the Library to study. Even though none of his courses had assignments due in the next few days, he knew that it was better to get ahead early.

The next morning, Jeb woke well before his planned breakfast with Declan. Maybe Dean Aquam will be in the cafeteria, Jeb thought, making his way there. If not, Jeb could always just go to the Stacks to study for a few hours before he and Declan breakfasted.

To Jeb’s relief, Dean Aquam was just sitting down to eat when Jeb entered the cafeteria. Dean Aquam waved him over, and Jeb went to sit by him.

“Is there something you need?” Dean Aquam asked.

“Am I allowed to leave the Academy?” Jeb asked.

Dean Aquam set his bowl of broth down. “Excuse me?” he asked, tone concerned.

Jeb realized what he had said and flushed slightly. “Sorry, I meant for a day trip.” Seeing that the Dean was only partially mollified, Jeb began explaining. “I was thinking about different ways that I could spend the money that I’m going to get from selling Manaweave. Something I realized is that I really miss my family, and I was hoping that I could join a caravan to visit them over one of the term breaks.”

Dean Aquam nodded. “And you would need to find one of these caravans well before the end of term. To answer your first question, students may request day passes from their Dean to visit the Capital. To answer the implied second question, yes, I would be willing to give you a day pass.”

“Oh!” Jeb replied. “Thank you,” he said after a moment, standing to leave.

Dean Aquam cocked his head. “Do you not want the day pass now?”

Jeb shook his head. “I agreed to meet Declan for breakfast today, and I have a course after that.”

Dean Aquam nodded. “Find me on whichever day you decide to go to the Capital.”

Jeb looked at his schedlue. “Would tomorrow work?”

The Dean nodded, and Jeb left him to his breakfast. After a few hours of studying in the Stacks, Jeb returned to the cafeteria and waved at Declan.

“Good morning, Jeb,” Declan said, tone oddly subdued.

“Good morning, Declan!” Jeb replied. “Is something wrong?”

Declan rolled his eyes. “Other than the absurdly early hour? No, nothing in particular.”

The two broke apart for a moment as each went to fill their plates with food. When the two were again seated at the table, Jeb paused for a moment, waiting to see if Declan was going to begin the conversation immediately. After a moment of silence, Jeb nodded to himself and began to eat his breakfast.

Halfway through Jeb’s second bite, Declan cleared his throat. “Would now be a good time to continue our conversation from breakfast the other day?”

“Yes!” Jeb replied. “What were you wondering?”

“What did you mean that anyone could cast a Glyph with Waterweave?”

Jeb looked at his friend. The two stared at each other for a long moment.

“I’m not sure if I understand the question,” Jeb replied honestly. “I thought it was a fairly self explanatory statement.”

“So you could cast a Glyph Spell with Waterweave?” Declan demanded.

Jeb paused, much more confused. “Yes?” he replied hesitantly. “But you already knew that I could cast Glyph Spells, right?”

The confusion on Declan’s face peaked for a moment before starting to fade. He nodded. “Yes, I do remember that now. Could I cast a Glyph from Waterweave?”

Jeb nodded excitedly. “So you would need someone to put the Glyph onto a piece of Waterweave and imbue it with Mana, but then yeah! Anyone could. Isn’t that really amazing?”

Declan shuddered. “Amazing? Sure, absolutely. Terrifying? Also without question.”

Jeb’s brows furrowed. “What could be terrifying about that?”

Declan stared at Jeb, clearly replaying most of their friendship back through his head. Finally he nodded and asked hesitantly, “how familiar are you with crime?”

“The word?” Jeb asked. “I’m aware of what it means,” he finished hesitantly.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Declan shook his head, tone growing in confidence. “Imagine for a moment that you were trying to commit a crime.”

“Ok,” Jeb said, mind helpfully supplying a number of activities that Professor Fredrick had assured him were against the law.

Something must have shown in his eyes, because Declan shuddered for a moment. “Sorry,” he said, holding up his hands, “I think I might have framed it badly. Imagine that you were investigating a crime.”

Jeb squinted, trying to imagine how he could find himself in the situation of being responsible for investigating a crime. After a moment, he nodded.

“Say that you have a registry of everyone that knows a certain Glyph,” Declan prompted, and Jeb began nodding far more vigorously. Professor Fredrick had drilled in the idea that not all Spells were publicly available. When people learned them, they were obligated to register their knowledge with the Republic, due to how dangerous they were.

“If you could put that Glyph on a piece of Waterweave, there would be no way to know who actually cast the Spell at any given incident,” Jeb supplied.

“Exactly!” Declan raised a hand in triumph.

“I’m not sure why you think that’s likely, though,” Jeb rebutted. “Professor Fredrick made it very clear that no one who knows a restricted Glyph is left in a situation where they would need to commit a crime, because that is an inefficient use of resources. How would someone who wanted to commit a crime get the Glyph onto Waterweave?”

Declan paused, his own brow now creased in confusion. After a moment, it straightened. “Ok fine,” he conceded, “even if it would be difficult to get a restricted Glyph onto a piece of Waterweave, it would still increase the suspect pool for any crime committed with a Glyph.”

Jeb nodded in agreement. “That’s true.”

Declan hesitated. “I’m sensing a but.”

Jeb shook his head. “No, no exceptions. Increasing the availability of Glyphs might mean that more people could use them for crimes. I just don’t on any level believe that the possibility of easier crimes is a reason to suppress knowledge. Think about all the good that could be done with Glyphs that can be functionally precast!”

Declan shrugged. “So would you be willing to let me try a Glyph some time?” he asked, tone carefully casual.

“It would depend on the Glyph,” Jeb replied, “and not until after the term ends.” Seeing Declan’s face fall, he hurried to explain, “my Theoretical Glyph Magic Professor sealed all of our Statuses for the term. Apparently having access to them would make doing the homework too easy.”

Declan gasped. “And you just let them do that?”

Jeb shrugged. “Of course, why wouldn’t I? My Piano Instructor did something similar last term.” Jeb paused. “Well, I suppose that they did that by taking us to a slightly different dimension, but the effect was the same.”

“I’m glad that Enchanting students don’t have to deal with anything like that,” Declan said, glancing at the clock. “And I have to go to class now. Good to see you Jeb! See you in Enchanting Class?”

Jeb nodded. “Goodbye Declan. I’ll see you then.” When Declan was gone, Jeb considered whether it was worthwhile to tell him that the Enchanting laboratory they had used the previous term was also in a different space. After a moment of thought, he shrugged. Jeb wasn’t entirely sure where the class had been sent, and it didn’t seem like a kindness to get Declan worked up over something so harmless. He finished his breakfast leisurely and made his way to class.

The next day, Jeb found Dean Aquam in the cafeteria. “I’m ready to go to the Capital,” he said, joining the Dean at a table.

“Good morning to you as well,” Dean Aquam said, taking a slow sip of broth. “Do you have everything that you will need for the day?”

“What would I need?”

The Dean looked towards the ceiling, as though he expected to see an answer there. A few moments later, he sighed. “I suppose there is not much that you would need for the day. Let me go over the rules for your day pass.”

Jeb took out a piece of paper and began to take notes.

“First, you need to be back in the Academy by last bell tonight.” He paused, clearly waiting for Jeb to ask a question.

Jeb looked up from his note, waiting for the next rule.

The Dean frowned slightly and continued, “you must make sure not to lose your day pass. Or, rather,” he amended himself, “it is in your best interest to not lose your day pass. Getting back into the Academy with a day pass is as simple as holding it in front of you as you walk towards the entrance. Without the pass, however, you will need to go through security, which I have been told is a thoroughly unpleasant process.”

“Understood,” Jeb said.

“Finally, I am obligated to remind you that you represent the Academy during your day trip. Any activities that you should choose to partake in will reflect on the Academy. As a student, it is your responsibility to uphold the Academy’s reputation. I am certain that this will not be an issue for you?”

Jeb shook his head. “I have no intention of causing any trouble,” he replied.

The Dean smiled. “I was under no impression that you did,” he said mollifyingly. “Here is your pass,” he said, holding out a piece of paper.

Jeb looked at it for a moment. He was positive that the Dean hadn’t been holding a sheet of paper at the beginning of the conversation. Shrugging, he took the paper.

“Thank you!” he said, looking down at the page. It was fairly straightforward, stating that the holder, “Jeb Humdrum”, was entitled to travel throughout the Capital on that day.

“I would recommend getting breakfast before you go,” Dean Aquam advised.

Jeb stood and got a plate of food before returning to the table. As he ate, the Dean asked him a few more questions.

“Do you know the Capital districts yet?”

Jeb shook his head and the Dean nodded. “You will want to go to the Mercantile District.”

“How do I do that?” Jeb asked, swallowing a bite of gruel.

Dean Aquam stared at him for a long moment. “How do you get anywhere within the Academy?” he finally asked.

“Oh!” Jeb exclaimed, “I hadn’t realized that the entire Capital had flexible geography.”

“It does not. The Academy does, however, have a number of entrances around the entire Capital.”

The two chatted for a few more minutes before the Dean stood to leave. “I will expect updates on your trip tomorrow,” he said.

“Yes sir!” Jeb replied, standing up himself. He followed the Academy through a long and winding hallway. As the walls of the hallway started to feel real for a moment, Jeb was briefly reminded of just how much stone was surrounding him. I wonder why Headmistress Petra is checking in on me, he thought to himself.

The feeling faded and Jeb found himself in a plainly decorated room. There was a single desk in the room, manned by someone who was clearly bored.

“Day pass,” he said, tone flat.

Jeb showed him the page and he nodded. “Have a good time in the Capital,” he said, stamping the page and handing it back to Jeb. Jeb opened the door and found himself faced with the Capital.