The roar continued to grow louder until Jeb could hear nothing else. The world seemed to stop. All of a sudden, Jeb could see nothing but a bright darkness.
Jeb sat up in a panic. Where was he? What was this bright room that he was suddenly in? What had happened, and where were the Professors?
Looking around, he only saw clean white walls and a single bright light in the center of the room. Jeb tried to stand up and realized that he had been on a bed. His legs still worked, so he moved to the nearest wall, hoping to find a door. That wall did not have any doorway, and neither did the other two walls when he checked them. A door on the fourth wall opened before Jeb could examine it, and someone walked in.
It hurt Jeb to look at the figure. It was as though his eyes were refusing to focus on what was in front of him. As he kept blinking, the amorphous shape slowly resolved into someone speaking, though Jeb could not hear what they were saying. It started waving its hands around.
“...can you hear me now?” the voice asked. Jeb jumped at the sudden sound, only now realizing that he had been in complete silence since waking up. All of a sudden, he became aware of his breath, the sound of his heartbeat, and even the motion of blood through his body.
“Sorry about that,” the voice said, and Jeb felt his awareness fade from those feelings.
“Where am I?” Jeb asked.
The figure cocked a head. “I am supposed to be asking the questions right now, but I suppose that is a reasonable enough one. You are in the Academy medical wing. Do you know why you are here?”
Jeb shook his head. “No? I was working on my independent study, and the next thing I knew, I was here.”
“Hmm,” the voice murmured, jotting something on a pad that had probably been in front of them since they walked in. “What is the last thing that you remember?”
Jeb tried to think back, pushing past the part of his brain that would rather forget what he had experienced. “Professor Quicksilver was commenting that the Essences appeared to be building up. I tried to look at it, and noticed the same.” Jeb paused, voice no longer coming. The person stared at him kindly, waiting for him to continue.
“Then there was a loud roar, and then I woke up here,” he finally forced out.
The figure jotted down a few more notes, then looked up at him. “How many fingers am I holding up?” The figure suddenly had a hand which was neither writing on the pad nor holding it.
“Um,” Jeb replied, blinking rapidly. Try as he might, though, the hand in front of him did not appear any more focused.
Another figure walked in. This one was far more distinct, and Jeb immediately recognized it as Headmistress Petra.
“Raphael, this is not the time,” she said.
Raphael pouted, though Jeb could not name anything in specific that had changed in it, his?, demeanor. Whatever the case, Petra gave Raphael another look, and the figure left.
“I apologize for that,” the Headmistress said. “Our Chief Medic has a tendency towards practical jokes, especially when he is worried about a patient. Do you know what happened?”
Jeb found that it was much easier to tell the story the second time around. “Professor Quicksilver commented that the Essence was growing more dense, I noticed the same thing, there was a large roar, and then I was here.”
She nodded. “You witnessed an Alchemical Storm from a distance far closer than I would recommend for a Third Tier individual.”
“Are Professors-”
The Headmistress cut Jeb off, “yes, both Professors are in full health. They were both worried about harm that may have befallen you, even if,” she paused, “likely especially because they were the cause. Now then, what did you plan to do with your term break?”
Jeb was shocked by the sudden conversational shift. “I had been planning to work on the Enchantment more,”
Headmistress Petra shook her head. “Find something else to do.” She frowned slightly and looked behind him. Jeb had the sudden feeling that he was miles below the surface, buried beneath so much earth that he could never break free.
The feeling faded, and Petra nodded her head. “I see that two of your acquaintances have remained within the Academy this term break. It is always good for students to socialize with one another.” With that not so subtle encouragement, she turned and left the room.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Jeb waited beside the bed for a few moments, trying to figure out if someone else was going to give him more directions. After a slow count to one hundred and fifty, though, he decided that he was probably fine to leave the medical area. The door that Raphael and the Headmistress had come through opened for Jeb, and he found himself directly in the Academy hallways. Listening to his stomach, Jeb did not feel particularly hungry, and so he made his way to the Emporium, hoping that either Catherine or Declan might be there.
To his surprise, both were sitting behind the bar, chatting amiably. Their conversation froze at the sound of footsteps, and both turned to see who had entered the room.
“Jeb!” Declan cried, jumping over the counter to give him a hug, “we heard that you had gotten injured. Is everything alright?”
“I think so,” Jeb replied happily. “Who told you that I was hurt?”
Catherine had made her way around the bar at this point and joined the hug. “Dean Aquam mentioned it when we asked why you did not seem to be stopping by the cafeteria. He told us that we were not allowed to visit, which is the only reason that we were here instead of by your side!” She looked at him as though worried that he would be angry that he had woken up alone.
Jeb shrugged it off, trying not to break the hug. “It’s really fine! I’m feeling better now, there was just an accident with the Enchantment I made.”
Declan’s eyes narrowed, and he pulled back from the hug. “What was the accident?” he demanded.
“Um,” Jeb replied, “it’s a little hard to explain.” Trying to move the conversation, he asked, “what are you two doing here over break? I thought that you both had plans with your families.”
Catherine frowned slightly, before letting go of Jeb and gesturing to the room they were in. “My family and I agreed that my time would be better spent working on the Emporium. On that note, do you have some time right now to talk about the business?”
Jeb nodded. “Headmistress Petra told me that I should spend time with-” he began, before pausing and shaking his head. “Sorry, that came out wrong. I have nothing else scheduled over term break right now, so yes, I would have time to talk.”
“What did the Headmistress say?” Declan asked.
Jeb grimaced. “She told me that I should spend time with the two of you instead of working on the Enchantment.” He hurried to add, “even if she hadn’t, though, I still wanted to talk to you!”
Catherine let out a small laugh. “Jeb, we understand what you are trying to say. If you have the time now, would you like to take a seat?”
The three of them moved back to the bar, and Declan poured each of them a small glass of Firestout. Jeb took an appreciative sip. It had been a while since he had taken a break to just drink a beer and chat with his friends. After they caught up on the minutiae of their lives, Catherine steered the conversation back to the Emporium.
“Jeb, as you know, the Emporium has been very successful.”
Jeb nodded hesitantly, and Catherine rolled her eyes. “Jeb, the Emporium has been very successful. If you would like to see the ledgers, I would be happy to show you.”
“No, that’s ok. I trust you,” Jeb replied.
“A few of the graduating students mentioned that they would miss having access to this drink once they leave the Academy. I talked to Dean Aquam about this, and he pointed out that you are, if only nominally, a member of the Brewing Guild. As such, your Emporium could be licensed to sell to the broader Capital, and even the Republic as a whole!”
Jeb nodded slowly. “I don’t know if my provisional membership would be good enough for that,” he replied, trying not to crush her spirits, “but did Dean Aquam think it would be possible?”
She and Declan both nodded excitedly, and Jeb began nodding more quickly as well. “I don’t have anything else to do this break,” he said, “so I would be happy to help with whatever we need to expand the Emporium.”
“Great!” Catherine replied. She pulled out a thick tome and began flipping through it while calling out particular points that she and Declan had decided on, making sure that Jeb was ok with them as well. Their conversation was interrupted when three more figures entered the Emporium.
“Hi!” Jeb waved to his Professors and Dean, “are you here for a drink?”
Bearson nodded while the other two shook their heads. Seeing Bearson nod, Quicksilver changed his shake to a nod even as Bearson started to shake his head. Dean Aquam spoke first, settling the unspoken argument, “not as such, no. We came for a few other reasons. First, I and the Professors here would like to apologize. We did not provide you with sufficient oversight or aid, and you nearly suffered for that fact.”
“I don’t mind,” Jeb replied. “As far as I can tell, I’m still completely fine.”
“Just because you were lucky does not mean that we were not negligent,” Dean Aquam replied. “With that in mind, the Academy will no longer be permitting your independent study, at least for the foreseeable future.”
Jeb nodded. He had expected as much.
“And finally, we get to politics.” Dean Aquam let out a heavy sigh. “If you are not too mad at us, this conversation might be best had over a drink.”
Jeb leapt over the bar to pour the Professors and Dean a beer. When everyone had a drink in hand, Jeb noticed that Declan and Catherine had shied away from the conversation, though they were both leaning in as though trying to catch every word.
After taking a long drink of his mug, Dean Aquam gave an appreciative nod. “You have improved your Brewing skills quite a bit this past term,” he noted. “However, that is not what I came to say. The Academy came under questioning for how, exactly, we were suddenly coming into large quantities of Alchemical plants and Manaweave. The honest answer, that a Third Tier student from an unknown family deep within the Republic, would not be politically acceptable. As such, while I neither wish to nor have the authority to forbid you from growing more Alchemicals, I would ask that you refrain from growing more, at least for anything outside of your own personal use.”
“That makes sense,” Jeb replied happily. “And this way I’ll have more time to focus on Ritual Magic!”
“You still wish to learn a new School?” Professor Bearson asked, sounding somewhat shocked.
Jeb frowned. “Why wouldn’t I?”
Nobody could answer the question. The conversation lightened from there, though there was still an edge of tension in the room until the three older men left. When they were gone, Declan turned to Jeb.
“What happened?” he demanded again.