Chapter 5_The Accidental Summoning

The night came with its usual assortment of dreams. I was growing bigger in that creepy house in the woods. I longed to sneak out and into the village, but mother always caught me. I was still quite young when I first discovered my affinity for blood.

I could control it. At first, it was simple things like making a wound stop bleeding. Blood was interesting. It felt like liquid life flowing through my veins. I could feel it down to the most minuscule blood cell.

The first time I really experimented had started with a simple cut finger. A moment’s distraction while preparing dinner had resulted in a sliced finger that didn’t seem to want to stop bleeding. While I did feel the sharp pain from the cut, I also felt the blood as it dripped from my hand.

I had control over it. I could make it clot or flow. I could make it heal my wounds. I felt everything locked into the structure of my DNA. That first time I didn’t hesitate to seal my wound and repair the damage. I was so impressed with my newfound ability that I didn’t hear my mother enter the room until she screamed. Blood seemed to have a different power over other people.

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Kalliphae grumbled in my head. Do you have any other visions in that head of yours that aren’t vampire-related? I’m getting tired of them.

You could share a dream for once.

She scowled at the ceiling. I would if I could.

We didn’t dwell on dreams for long. Far too soon we ran into a problem. Kalli noticed it first. Mel, where do they keep the privy?

I laughed. Leave it up to Kalli to have trouble finding a restroom. A glance told me that the private rooms didn’t have any. That was a little disappointing. I ventured out into the common area of our dorm. Still nothing. I poked my head out into the great hall outside of our shared room. I could see a lot of the other students were already up and eating breakfast.

There were no restrooms anywhere. I debated running upstairs to see if the hotel had any public facilities but that didn’t make any sense at all. I flagged down a boy who was half asleep on his way to the breakfast line, “Excuse me. Where are the restrooms?”

The boy stopped and gave me a puzzled expression before replying, “You’re new, aren’t you?”

I sighed and nodded. He continued, “Go back to your private room and say the word toilet. It only works when you’re alone though.”

I heard Kalli say the word in my mind. I gasped in mock outrage.

Cheater.

She laughed at me. Oh, but it’s such sweet relief.

I can tell.

She yelled at me again. No peeking.

I’m not peeking.

Back in the privacy of my room, I spoke the word, ‘Toilet.”

It turned out that our private bedroom toiletries were just as customizable as the rest of the room. I quickly sorted through a panel with dozens of different styles of toilets and other magical sanitary devices. There was a magical diaper that somehow disposed of anything that got deposited inside of it. I ignored a whole section on magical relief for girls. Finally getting to what I desperately needed, I picked out a basic toilet. It appeared in an alcove that magically appeared where the exit door should have been.

Good thing this only works when you’re alone.

Kalli was already wrapping up. Tell me about it.

Wait a second. How does it work if I want to take a shower?

The room didn’t give me time to think about it. A shower nozzle magically appeared over my head and started raining on me like a personal storm cloud. I spluttered and said, “Shower off.”

I quickly pointed out to Kalliphae.

Be careful. The commands seem to work in mate chat.

She giggled at my predicament which she had just witnessed. I’ll keep that in mind.

When I sat I decided to test other words to see what would work. The bathtub command expanded the alcove and produced a standard tub that was filled with hot water next to the toilet. I discovered that I could request specific temperatures if I wanted something less steamy.

I tried hot tub hoping to create something a little more relaxing but it didn’t seem to be an option. When I finished, I looked for toilet paper. Seeing none, I decided to ask for it. When all of the normal words failed, I decided to ask Kalliphae.

Hey, did you find a command for toilet paper?

She smiled coyly. You mean the paper you keep in your home? I don’t need it.

I knew what she meant. I decided that if I was going to go to school in a magical world, I needed magical solutions. I wasn’t a manipulator for nothing after all. It was a simple matter to target the residue on my backside.

DELETE

With the mess dealt with, I pulled on my clothes and grabbed a couple of breakfast burritos from the BUFF. Soon I was out the door and following the trickle of students as they headed off to school.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

The problem was, they were going in the opposite direction of the elevator.

Kalli, why aren’t we using the elevator?

Kalli had to stop talking to her new friends to answer me. There’s an underground passage that leads to the school. We don’t have to go through the hotel at all.

I was relieved that we wouldn’t have to deal with the receptionist who clearly wasn’t very fond of magical students. The pack of students I was following funneled into a hall at the other side of the dormitory.

Almost immediately after entering the tunnel, we emerged at a gate in a massive underground cavern. In the distance, I could see a large building. I looked at another student and asked, “Isn’t the school supposed to be under the newspaper?”

The kid I asked rolled his eyes at me, “Another newbie huh? It’s magic, man. What did you expect with a magic school.”

I let that kid go and waited to ask another kid my next question, “Are you sure this is under the newspaper? It seemed like a long walk on the surface?”

I was more fortunate with the second student I questioned. He patiently explained, “It’s void magic. Void mages placed a mini-portal between the dorms and the school to make the walk shorter.”

I thanked the kid and made my way through the gate. It took me a while to figure out that Kalliphae somehow got ahead of me.

Where are you at? How did you get to school already?

Kalli stopped walking. I don’t know. I think it was that portal you just found out about. We arrived closer to the school.

As I made my way over to the girls, I noticed that Kalli was still hanging out with Wendy and Stefanie. I waved and made my way over. Wendy beamed at me and said, “Good morning, Melvin.”

I wondered if she was a morning person or if the extra-large cup of tea she was sipping was somehow magical. I replied, “Good morning.”

In stark contrast, Stefanie just grunted in reply. Kalli made her way back to me and Wendy called after us, “Have fun getting registered, you two. Remember inter-dimensional astronomy. We can all be in the same class together.”

Kalli smiled and said, “You know it. That sounds like so much fun.”

Wendy blew a kiss to Kalliphae with a whispered word.

“Sviszt”

I didn’t see a visual effect like I had the times Kalli and I used the spell, but I heard a faint smacking sound followed by a very red Kalliphae touching her cheek gently. Wendy said nothing else as she spun on her heel and marched off.

Kalli raised an eyebrow at me and asked, Where are your friends?

I shrugged. I hadn’t thought about them since I went to bed.

I haven’t seen them all morning.

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The admissions office was quiet with very few students milling around. Kalli and I were greeted by counselors who led us to separate offices. Kalli was nervous. Are you still going to do the Flame Master course with me?

I was happy that Kalli wanted to be in the same classes as me. If I had it my way, I preferred to be in every class with the redhead.

Sure. It sounds like we’re taking that inter-dimensional class too.

The girl nodded emphatically. Yes. The astrology class. Maybe we will study my world. Both Wendy and Stefanie are in that class too.

Our conversation was cut short when a woman walked into the room. She greeted me, “Good morning Mr. Murphy. My name is Jasmine and I will help you put together your schedule. You must take a minimum of 5 classes, and you may take a maximum of 9. It is recommended that you start with a light course load until you get used to our curriculum.”

I nodded and said, “That works for me. I want an easy schedule anyway.”

Jasmine placed a blank sheet of paper in front of me and began, “Okay, we need to make sure that any classes you choose to take don’t overlap with each other. Let’s start with the class you want to take the most.”

I had to check with Kalli.

What time are your friends in astrology?

It took her a couple of seconds to answer. She was in the middle of her own orientation. It’s the first one. They said we will take astrology together first thing in the morning.

I turned and passed the information along to Jasmin, who replied, “Okay. 8 AM inter-dimensional astrology. I’ll admit it's fun to learn about all of the other dimensions out there. What would you like to look into next?”

I frowned at the booklet, “Is there anything that I have to take?”

The counselor nodded, “New students must take at least one physical course and one elemental study. Otherwise, you are free to choose the elective that suits you. Oh, wait. You’re a summoner. I suggest you take an introductory course to summoning. If you show sufficient skill you can test into a more advanced course.”

I groaned. Why did the magical school have to have PE in the first place? I asked, “Why do I have to take physical classes as a summoner?”

She gave me a knowing smile, “Physical course work is required to give you practical knowledge of the physical arts as well as to boost your physical abilities. Physical types are also required to take at least one magic studies course.”

I flipped through the catalog, “How about this one. Adventuring 101. It says we get to go on quests for the guild. Can I earn money this way?”

Jasmine scanned her finger down the list to see what I was talking about. She answered, “Yes, it appears so. While you’ll go questing under the supervision of an instructor, you will need to register with the guild. Is that alright with you?”

I nodded and agreed, “I’m already registered. That should be perfect.”

She scribbled in her book and I sent Kalli a message.

Pick up Adventuring 101.

She replied quickly. Got it.

Jasmine was registering me in a summoning course when Kalli encountered a problem. Mel, they put me in an intermediate Flame mastery course. I don’t think we can be in the same one.

I sighed but was happy for her.

That’s fine. You should learn a lot more in a more advanced course.

With fire ruled out, I decided to go with the only other element I had experience with, “What time slots do you have available for wind magic?”

Jasmine looked at the schedule, “That one’s pretty open. Let’s see what else you choose before I pencil you in.”

I looked over the catalog, “How about an ancient language? Celestean. It looks like they offer it right after lunch.”

I decided to take one more class to round my schedule out at 6 classes. That way I had a light schedule but I wasn’t doing the bare minimum. I pointed at a class, “Magical history sounds like a good choice. I know next to nothing about magic and where it came from.”

Jasmine nodded diligently and started comparing my schedule to the catalog to line up my courses.

Class

Time

Days

Inter-Dimensional Astronomy