The Reconciliation of Racial Theology
By Dhormuik Snowspine
Ah, humans…
Those adorable little rascals that like to show up uninvited right before a massive joint operation of dwarves and elves can march out on the anniversary of the last expedition’s disappearance.
To say that things changed afterwards, would be such a massive understatement that you could support an entire library of statements with those words, but I should get back on topic.
Many revelations were had that day, but the one we’ll be focusing on involves the god that one of the humans worshiped, and how stories from the rest of the humans in the valley of monsters created a large series of conflicts in established divine lore.
Now, it shouldn’t be surprising that when cultures meet, certain views are going to clash or seen as strange. Take for example the discovery of us dwarves by the Sea Elves, it took us not only an embarrassingly long time just to decipher each other’s languages, but the lack of “bearded” and “beardless” pronouns in the elven language and the dwarven language not having “he” and “she” pronouns is still creating problems to this day.
When it came to sharing stories about our gods however, the revisions and addendums to our books only needed a few notes added into the margins, mainly in the form of adding stories about the gods that we knew existed, but only had a few details about. Whereas the number of changes needed after meeting the humans, required (and I’ll use a human expression to properly convey this one) “pouring a bottle of creekwater and tossing a match” over the book, because it was much easier to start over from bricks.
Though I have consulted many churches and theologians to create this book, my hope is that I’ll be able to provide a neutral telling of the many stories involving gods and provide an outside perspective free from any church’s dogma.
---
Travis
Windsday, the 17th of Fifthmonth
7-8 Breakfast
“Time to wake up.”
I woke up with a groan, it was difficult to fall asleep last night, and Arc’s usual trick of having me count mana clusters didn’t calm down my thoughts.
“Look on the bright side. It should be easier to fall asleep tonight.”
I sighed while I made my bed, this was going to be my life for the next three years, only broken up by going on a Fall Purge or defending the capital during the flood.
I put on my school uniform, starting with the tan shirt and pants, then leather boots, and finally tossing on my green wood-fiber arming jacket. Now dressed, I slid my door open into the living room, and heard my roommate snoring despite his door being closed.
“Should I wake him?”
“Your call. He’s responsible for waking himself up every morning, but you might be held responsible as well if he’s late for morning drill.”
I grunted lowly, my orkish roommate straight up blamed me for his dad’s friend receiving an execution order from the Queen when we first met, and our second encounter that day wasn’t much better. He was sitting on one of the couches, looking smug, and asked where my second load was.
I ended up just giving him a glare, then immediately entered my room without saying a word. I wasn’t going to engage with him if he was going to be an ass.
I should wake him though, that way I can at least claim that I tried.
Mana gathered around my palm, then detached from my membrane once synced. I closed my eyes so I could navigate the [Message] spell through the crack in the door, then over to the still sleeping pile of mostly Water Mana.
“It’s 12 minutes past 7am. You may wish to wake up.”
I canceled the spell, then immediately headed down to the neighboring food hall, ignoring the loud noise of an orc yelling.
“Good call on staying polite, if things get nasty between you two, your best defense from disciplinary action would be to not be the antagonistic one.”
I tapped my right ear while I grabbed breakfast from the chef, then turned to look at the rows of tables that were filled with students talking to each other.
A small sigh escaped me, “I don’t know where to sit…”
“Just grab an empty table and leave for the armory once you finish eating. You’ll make some friends eventually.”
I sat down at one of the empty tables and started eating. Shortly after, I was joined by an Ashman girl, who sat diagonal from me. We gave quick nods of acknowledgment, then focused our attentions back on our food.
Once I finished, I stood up, gave another nod to the girl, then headed to the armory to put on my half-plate.
I started with the boot, shin, and knee plates; pulling the wood-fiber straps snug, then clipped on the calf and tendon guards. Next was the chest and back pieces, and that went on much quicker, since the tassets were attached to my belt, and I only needed to undo the one side’s straps before putting it on like a coat, then tightening them down.
Next were the pauldrons, those were the most difficult, but luckily Tristan showed me a handy trick of pre-attaching them to my gorget so that I only needed to tighten the easy to reach straps. After that was the vambraces and plackarts, then gauntlets, and finally my weapons and helmet.
I clipped my shield to my backpack, then slung it over my shoulders to rest the straps between my pauldrons and gorget.
“Looking good. You got some time, maybe help out a few of your classmates?”
I looked around, finally taking full notice of my surroundings, then stepped up to the Northman next to me, and waved for him to let me help him with his pauldron.
There were people talking loudly, but the Northman and I remained silent as I helped him get his half-plate fitted into place properly. Once I made sure the rest of his armor straps were done, and no longer too tight or loose, I gestured for him to do the same.
He looked a bit nervous, but I reassured him that I just needed a double-check. He went over everything but didn’t find anything wrong.
I took notice of the time and decided that we should walk out. I tilted my head towards the door, picked up my poleaxe, and the black-haired teen followed me outside.
“Thanks, I’m a commoner, so this is only the second time I’ve worn armor.”
I turned my head towards him in surprise, then remembered that my smile would be hard to see, so I gave him a thumbs up, “I am too, but I was lucky in that one of my village’s guards was from a noble family, so I was able to stay with them and learn a few things before classes started.”
“Village? You’re not from a fortress or merchant family like me?”
“Nope.”
The Northman stopped, then visibly took notice of the multi-colored stripe on my shoulder, “Wait, are you the one the senior students won’t stop talking about? It’s all I’ve been hearing since I moved in a few days ago.”
I sighed a bit but gave out a grin that I quickly realized he couldn’t see because of my helmet, so I had to settle for another thumbs up.
---
8-12 Morning Drill
The Northman and I got into line with the students who beat us out and stood at attention in front of the pacing knights. I quickly grew uncomfortable standing still there for so long, Arc even had to caution me to not sway or fidget, but eventually one of the knights holding a pocket watch snapped it shut, then took off his helmet.
“To those still walking out, you’re late.” The bearded Packer boomed with an imperious tone, then switched to one dripping with snark, “I certainly hope that none of you are the children of knights or mages, because that would certainly be an embarrassment for your families.”
My drill instructor scanned me and the other students that were on time, “As for you, let’s see how many of you are actually prepared.” He then raised his voice to direct everyone, “Remove your packs and submit for inspection.”
A large number of dwarves and humans wearing the simple green cloth uniform of the logistics corps, walked out onto the field and started to do equipment inspections. The one that approached me was kind enough to help me remove my backpack before checking my equipment.
“All good,” the beardless dwarf patted my shoulder, “your pa raised you right.”
“Ah, but which dad? Eagan? Lancel? Franklin? Darius? Issac? Pippen?…”
I rapped Arc with my knuckles to shut him up, I needed to pay attention, and Hector looked ready to bark another order.
“Those that pass inspection can leave your packs, shield, and weapons. Then join Sir Felicity for a nice easy walk around the campus.” The bearded Packer narrowed his eyes in disgust, “As for the rest of you, we’re going to have a little chat about timeliness and taking care of your kit.”
I unhooked Arc from my belt, set him on top of my poleaxe and backpack, then stood to where the female knight was directing me to stand.
The Northman followed behind me, and whispered once we stood in line, “Thanks again, I really owe you one.”
Felicity looked over our group with a taunting grin, “I’m impressed, some of you aren’t even nobles. Congratulations on doing the bare minimum required of you every morning. Since I’m in such a good mood, I’ll give you a little warning, tomorrow everyone needs to be ready.”
The knight looked to make sure no one else was coming then shouted, “Forward march! Left, left, left-right-left, left,…”
---
Arc
I watched Travis march off for a bit before returning my attention to the remaining students. My initial worries that Hollywood lied to me about basic training were alleviated when Hector and the other remaining knights began interrogating the unprepared students with simple questions.
Why were you late? Why didn’t you wake earlier? Why is your kit missing items? Why was your armor not put on properly? Why didn’t you ask for help?
I couldn’t help but break out the mental popcorn as I watched student after student grow terrified and took particular interest in one interaction.
“Why are you out of uniform initiate?” barked a female knight that was a full head shorter than Travis’ massive orc roommate.
The orc didn’t flinch, and looked down with an arrogant look, “Sleeves were too tight; Quartermaster refused to issue me a larger one.”
The knight only grinned at the challenge, then poked her finger into one of the orc’s beefy arms. I mentally gasped when it sunk in, nearly disappearing her whole finger, then jiggled a bit after she pulled her finger out.
“Don’t worry dough-boy, we’ll get you squeezed into your uniform in only a few weeks. I hope you like running.” The female knight started cackling, making the orc’s posturing fade into anger, before moving on to her next victim.
Ok, what is going on with orkish biology? I know Travis’ textbooks didn’t go into too much detail on non-human anatomy, but you’d think that there’d be some mention on why orcs are as squishy as a stuffed animal.
The sound of someone bawling derailed my pondering. A male student broke down into tears when Hector interrogated him. It took a full minute for Hector to coax the teenager to calm down and explain why he was late.
While getting dressed, the student must have knocked over his helmet, causing it to roll along the floor and behind a row of lockers. He panicked when he found it missing, accused the person getting dressed next to him of stealing it, and then forced him to help find the missing helmet.
Hector patted the exhausted kid on the shoulder, “You were right to fear the Quartermaster more than me, but next time, try to keep calm.”
The bleary-eyed teen nodded his head, then tilted his head towards the student next to him, “I’m the reason he was late, I’ll carry out his punishment.”
Hector gave another pat, “Good lad.”
---
The unprepared students were then ordered to put on their packs and carry their weapons while they went on their march, the only standouts being a student who had two shields and an extra pack in his arms next to the student he took them from.
Travis’ group returned from their march, and Hector addressed the group while chuckling, “Easy first day, right?” Travis and the other students, remained expressionless, clearly expecting it to be a trick question. Hector only continued to smile, “Nod your heads in a yes. Good. Now grab your swords and shields, we’ll start a few drills while we wait for your classmates to join.”
Travis clipped me back onto his belt, grabbed his shield, then got in line with the other kids to start mimicking Hector’s movements. The attack cadence was simple, since it focused on keeping the shield in front of them as much as possible, and only moving slightly to allow thrusts or rising back-swings.
“Tilt the top of the shield towards you more. Good, now lower your stance a bit…”
With Travis’ helmet on, I could [Message] him much easier thanks to the inscriptions inside, and the verbal cues I gave based off watching Hector seemed to help. It was still obvious that he was a novice, especially when compared to the other students, but his movements were looking more and more natural with each thrust and swing.
The second group of students returned, looking far more exhausted, and joined in on the sword practice. Hector stopped briefly to elevate himself with an Earth platform, then continued the practice for another half hour while the supporting knights patrolled the lines, adjusting the student’s forms.
Hector called a halt, then ordered the initiates to take a knee, “The swords you carry are not just a method of defending yourself, but a representation of the authority that has been given to you by the kingdom. Wearing one is a privilege. Should you abuse that privilege, you may find yourself on the wrong side of the wall during the next flood.”
The bronze-skinned man paused while he scanned the crowd, “Many of you will never use your swords to defeat a monster; that is ok. Many of you will let your sword skills fall to the wayside; I’d advise that you do not. Many of you will never kill another man with your sword; you… will have my envy.”
---
The remaining morning drill alternated between exercises and lectures.
I got a good chuckle as the kids did what was essentially a CrossFit routine, using their shield as a dumbbell, and doing the daily WOD (Workout Of the Day) of: pushups, squats, rows, overhead presses, dips, curls, lunges, and abdominal twists for the first round. The second was a straight up yoga practice, and the third was a simple march in formation that required the kids to react to constantly changing orders.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
The lectures went into detail on military etiquette, basic combat commands, disciplinary actions, and ended on a Q and A where the students could ask any questions that they had.
Travis surprised me by asking a question, “Are we allowed to get inscriptions on our equipment? I was recommended to get one to allow me to carry my poleaxe easier.”
Hector nodded, “Good question, I’m sure some of you are confused as to why the Quartermaster didn’t approve your personal weapons with inscriptions, despite nearly every senior student having one on theirs. The answer is simple, you must demonstrate proficiency with a spell before being allowed to use a shortcut and are expected to utilize your mandatory artifice classes to inscribe your own equipment.” Hector scratched his beard while he received a [Message] spell, “You can, however, petition the Quartermaster for an exception before the fall field expedition, there is a short list of pre-approved utility inscriptions that can be purchased.”
---
12-1 Lunch
Travis grabbed his tray from the chef, then looked out towards the seemingly endless rows of filled tables. His new friend didn’t have any classes until 4, so sadly instead of joining Travis, the barely standing teen went to go take a nap before eating.
“See anywhere I can sit?”
I looked around the room in more detail, checking to see if there was anyone Travis knew, “The princess has room at her table, but it’s filled with inner ring girls, so you might embarrass yourself by asking to sit with her.”
Travis nodded his head since his hands were full, “How about an empty table?”
“I’m looking… there’s a few way off on the South side… oh, Jakob is sitting at a table back there with some friends. Maybe give him a wave while you walk by?”
Travis nodded again, then began to traverse the cafeteria. I watched as some students spotted his Elementalist patch as he walked by and began to gossip with their tables. Most of it boiled down to “I think that’s the commoner everyone’s been talking about.” and “Is he the one that got the paladins kicked off campus?”, but there were a couple that had nothing kind to say.
Nothing thankfully reached Travis’ ear while he walked, and I gave out a metaphorical sigh when Jakob spotted him, “Travis! Come sit with us.”
Travis smiled at the invitation, then sat down to eat, “Thanks, I don’t know anyone yet.”
Jakob grinned, “The irony of course being that everyone knows you.” The group chuckled for a bit before Jakob continued, “How’d morning drill go for you?”
Travis grinned, “Not bad, I expected it to be much worse, but then again, I didn’t get stuck with a punishment.”
“One of the perks of being a noble; you get one free warning.” Jakob leaned in towards Travis, “Make sure you and your roommate are ready tomorrow. You’ll get stuck with the same punishment he does.”
Travis groaned and almost buried his face in his remaining food, “Great, we haven’t exactly been getting along… I was so excited to meet an orc for the first time too.”
Jakob raised an eyebrow, then must have remembered that Travis was from a tiny Lakeland village, “Hmm, I know someone who can cheer you up.” He then cast a [Message] spell, “Xruul, come over here! I’ve got a friend that’s never talked to an orc before.”
An orc seated at a nearby table looked around until he noticed Jakob waving at him, then stood up to walk over, “I take it back, your parents clearly didn’t shelter you too much as a kid.” Xruul looked down at Travis, “So, you’ve never met an orc?”
Travis looked up at the tall orc who was much slimmer than his roommate, “Not really, I’ve only said a couple of words to my roommate, haven’t even gotten his name.”
The orc let out a chuckle, “Kid sounds like an ass.” Xruul then sat down in the spot that was opened up next to Travis, “So, anything you’d like to know about us orcs?”
Travis grinned, “Can I ask a stupid question?”
Xruul grinned back, “You just did, but I’ll let you ask some more.”
“Are orcs just a sub-race of elves, or is it more complicated than that? None of my textbooks went over what makes orcs different.”
“It’s a bit complicated, you’ll actually learn about orc biology in Monster Anatomy 2, there’s a debate about whether or not we’re the precursor to the other 3 races and the missing link between monsters and people, or something manufactured.”
“Hey, can you poke his arm for me?”
Travis gave a nervous laugh, “Umm, can I touch your arm?”
Xruul gave out a deep chuckle, “Go ahead,” he held out his arm for Travis and watched as he touched his arm, “give it a good squeeze, I’m not some puffed up dough-boy.”
Travis did so, and it seemed like a normal arm to us, “Dough-boy?”
The orc unbuttoned his arming jacket then pulled up his under shirt to show off his stomach, “Full blooded orcs barely put on any body fat. Instead, we accumulate what’s called soft muscle. It’s much less dense than actual muscle, and breaks down much quicker when exerting ourselves, but it does provide nutrients directly to our real muscles when they rip.”
What the? Hacks! I call hacks! There’s no way that’s natural or fair.
Travis must have thought the same, “That doesn’t seem natural…”
“Part of why some biologists believe we’re manufactured.” Xruul buttoned his jacket back up, “I think I agree, it’s too convenient of a design for natural selection, and a great one if you’re breeding an army. Female orcs give birth to litters of 3-5, with only one of them being a girl, and they don’t have the same problem us male orcs have.” He grumbled, “They also don’t start puberty at 8 years old.”
Travis started chuckling, “My mom used to complain that I was growing up too fast, I’m not sure how she’d react if I was as big as my dad when I turned 10.”
Xruul nodded, “Probably the same way the parents of my non-orc friends acted when I turned 9. I had the body of an adult, but the mind of a toddler.”
Travis finished his food, then noticed his empty plate, “You must have been eating constantly.”
Xruul sighed, “It sucks, male orcs are practically carnivores with the amount of protein we need to consume, plus once we start hitting 80, it’s almost impossible to keep ourselves from growing immobile. My grandpa isn’t allowed to leave our estate anymore, and our kitchen is locked, since he’s in a constant state of hunger.”
The orc lowered his head and sighed, “I can’t even remember the last time I was allowed to eat with him.”
Travis reached out to give Xruul a pat on the shoulder, “Want me to ask something else? I’ve got 12 more minutes before I need to leave for class.”
The orc gave Travis a grin, “Go ahead.”
---
Travis
1-3 Mana Manipulation 1
“This class is mandatory for all students. The skills you learn here have been taught for thousands of years by elven archmages and will function as the building blocks for all spells that you cast. Our main focus will be the three most basic spell formations.”
The High Elf instructor raised her hand and three lines of Light Mana shimmered into existence above, “The first formation is a condensing array. This one is a simpler 2-dimensional configuration that you’ll often see inscribed on equipment. Take note of the equal angles between each line and how they are all teardrop shaped. The alignment of the angles direct where the mana will go, and the teardrop shape affects how strong the pull is.”
The Light Mana lines shifted so that the rounded ends pointed out instead, “A repulsion array works in a similar manner, but is more difficult to master due to the high variation and how much more control is needed to direct your spells.”
The mana shifted once more to create a triangular pattern, “The last, and most difficult to learn, is the rotation array. As you may deduce from its namesake, this formation causes mana to rotate, and can be modified to also function as a condensing or repulsion array.”
The platinum blonde elf then released her spell, “Sadly, we won’t be going into detail today, due to an even more important lesson that you need to learn.”
She then walked to the side of the stage to pull a rope. A banner unfurled and displayed on it was a list that outlined the stages of mana sickness.
“You will be tested repeatedly on this topic, including one at the end of class today. The health hazards from the overuse of mana will put not only your life in danger, but also the lives of those around you.” The instructor gave a hard look over the crowd, “There is a reason that you are required to carry a sword at all times on campus.”
She summoned some Light Mana to highlight a portion of the banner, “Stage 1 – Hunger. I can see some of you cracking grins, and they are not unjustified, anyone who triggers their mana will experience this effect. The reason of course is due to the increased energy expenditure in your body’s cells. The effects are generally mild and can even be removed by eating mana dense food.”
The Light Mana moved down a line, “Stage 2 – Saturation. All living creatures have a membrane located on their skin that prevents foreign mana from freely entering one’s body, and their internal supply from spilling out. This membrane has pores which allows some of the mana to slowly enter the body. When these pores get completely filled with mana, saturation occurs, causing pain and discomfort.”
I nodded along, yep; I’ve felt that before. Usually just a mild stiffness after a long mana training exercise, but I definitely felt pain and discomfort after defending the village.
“The next stage is called Dissociation.” This is the first stage that puts your fellow students at risk should you enter it. The symptoms include tunnel vision, memory loss, and acting in a bestial manner.”
“Travis, are you ok?”
Arc must have noticed me going pale at the mention of tunnel vision and memory loss. I scratched my left ear and whispered, “I’ll tell you later.”
I focused on my breathing and tried to pay attention to the lecture.
“Stage 4 is Cysts. A large gathering of highly active mana in a body will eventually generate enough external pressure from mana trying to get in and force it to collapse into a mana crystal. When it does, the flesh around that crystal will rapidly mutate and form the soft material around the crystal. This material becomes a foreign entity in the body, preventing the control of the mana in it. Due to the crystals being highly active from their formation, it essentially becomes impossible to discharge mana in the body, since it would only grow attracted to the formed cyst and cause immense pain.”
The classroom was dead silent as the professor highlighted the last stage, “Stage 5 – Death. This stage marks the body’s complete inability to adapt to the high concentration of active mana. The only recorded monsters capable of surviving past stage 4 are dragons, and even then, tests done on captured specimens show a low chance of it occurring.”
“Now, open up your textbooks so that we can go over each stage in detail, and we’ll learn how to spot potential symptoms in your colleagues.”
---
3-4 Break
I sat down on one of the benches outside and took a big breath, anticipating Arc to start probing me with questions.
“So, how are you doing so far?”
“Not terrible, but not fantastic?”
“I’m familiar with that feeling.” Arc paused, then switched to a more serious tone, “I owe you an apology, I lectured to you about how magic was dangerous, but didn’t even know the full risks before teaching you.”
I grabbed Arc with my left hand and started to rub his pommel with my thumb, “It’s ok. We were both still learning, and we were cautious, but I think I might have experienced Stage 3 once right after the attack on our village. I remember being exhausted, hungry, and my muscles feeling like they were swollen to twice their size right after the battle, but then I suddenly found myself eating, and wondering where mom and dad were. Granted, I could have just been that tired, I could barely stay awake long enough to talk to Mildred.”
“Have I ever pushed you too hard when training, or should have stopped you?”
“Don’t think so, the only other time I can remember feeling pain was when I first learned to trigger it consciously, but that faded quickly, and wasn’t the persistent pain that the Professor warned us about.
“I still feel bad, but at least now we know what to look for, I’ll do my best to keep you from pushing yourself too hard.”
I gave Arc a nice pat, “Thanks bud.”
---
4-6 Wind Spells 1 – Classroom Component
“I see quite a few second-year students in here…” The silver-haired High Elf taunted, “Must be embarrassing having officers tell you to relay orders and having to suggest that they ask the junior knight instead.”
“I’m starting to see why this guy has a reputation.”
The Professor continued, “Not to worry, there’s an entire group of freshman students here to ask for assistance should you need tutoring.” He scanned the room and smiled at one student, “An Earth Initiate? If you find that you are having trouble casting due to your small Air Mana supply, what you can do, rather than fail this class, is file to receive an incomplete, that way you can just focus on the written portion and take the practical test once your supply is large enough.”
“Thank you sir.” The familiar looking Packer responded eagerly.
“No need, I’m just saving myself a future headache, last thing I need is another crying student outside of my office.”
“Now, for those of you using this class as a steppingstone, welcome to Wind Spells 1. This class will not only provide the framework for Ice and Lighting spells, but Chaos itself.” The Professor gestured to a nearby stone pillar that glowed with tiny gold lights despite my mana vision not being active.
“This pillar has been reinforced with Order Mana, just like the gates and inner walls to our city, and it can withstand an enormous amount of punishment before breaking but has a fatal flaw.” Quinsandoral cast a spell, creating three spinning blades of silver light that squealed in a high pitch tone. He flicked his wrist, causing the three blades to fly across the room and cut diagonally through the stone as if it were water. The spell ended and the three pieces cleaved from the pillar fell to the ground in a series of thuds that echoed throughout the silent room.
“You are not safe behind the walls of this city. There are monsters that can replicate this same feat and on a larger scale. I will be teaching you how to stop them.”
“Gah! I’ve been using Chaos Mana completely wrong!”
I stifled a chuckle to the best of my ability and gave Arc a friendly scratch. I had a feeling he’d be enjoying classes just as much as me.
Class went by quickly, and I got startled when I was packing my bag at the end of class.
“Travis, could you come see me before you leave?”
It took me far too long to realize that it wasn’t Arc speaking to me, but in my defense, it was the first time someone else had messaged me.
I walked towards the lectern and was about to get in line behind the students wishing to ask Professor Quinsandoral a question, but he waved me over to talk first.
“Ah, Travis, it’s good to finally see you in class. There is something that I need to discuss with you however…”
Dread filled my stomach. Had I done something wrong? There are rumors going around campus about my entrance exam, maybe he thinks I’m using his reputation to boost my own?
He looked down at me and narrowed his eyes, “I couldn’t help but notice that I was not invited to your acceptance party. I assume that my invitation was lost or forgotten to send out due to the chaos of having a royal visitor?”
I started to quietly panic, it never even occurred to me to invite him, would he be upset if I told him so?
“Just a suggestion; lie to him but do it in that sarcastic way so he knows that you’re lying, I think he’d react well to it.”
“It must have,” I croaked out, “which is a shame, because now it looks like I didn’t even consider that you’d want to come. I’ll make sure next time to give you your invite personally.”
Professor Quinsandoral gave me a knowing grin, “See that you do.” He started chuckling and patted me on the shoulder, “Not like I could stay mad at you, especially after you helped me finally get rid of those leeches on campus.”
“Umm, you’re welcome? I’m not sure exactly what I did, the paladins I met that day were either acting weird or as if I already agreed to join their order.”
“Probably not anything you physically did, I assume they took one look at your mana build and thought they could steal another promising knight from a noble family.” He gave out a sigh, “It’s a real shame, so many test takers that simply weren’t suited for the coursework here. There was nothing stopping them from having a prestigious career as a knight.”
I tilted my head, surprised that the guy who called a room full of examinees a bunch of future failures would have such kind words now.
He must have read my thoughts, “Oh, don’t give me that look, just because one breed of snakes can fly doesn’t mean that all of them have to. The spells that knights learn might only be the most basic and least elegant, but they do get the job done.”
I nodded my head to concede his point, then winced when my stomach began to loudly growl.
He started to chuckle at me, “I assume you haven’t eaten since noon?” I nodded my head to tell him yes, “Well, given your tight schedule, feel free to bring a sandwich into class in the future if you need something to tide you over until supper.”
“Thanks.” I turned, did my best to ignore the looks that everyone in line was giving me and left the room at a brisk pace.
---
6-7 Supper
“Hey look! They got signups for extracurricular activities.”
I gutturally groaned, like I’d have time for that, I couldn’t even make time to get to know a girl I liked better.
“Sorry, got excited. This world’s version of magical kickball is probably lame anyways and has some dumb rule that allows a person to win single-handily; negating the entire point of it being a team sport.”
This world? I tried my best not to react to Arc’s strange word usage, and decided to distract him in case that was an unintentional omission, “Ugh, they got a school choir, a paddle boarding team, and a few crafting clubs…”
“Maybe we can squeeze one in after we get a better idea of the course load? Or join an open event that gets hosted?”
I nodded my head while I sat down at the empty table, “That’d be nice, I’m sure I’ll need a break from studying from time to time.”
7-9 Private Study
I walked into the private spell range and assessed the layout. A large concave wall of earth sat in the far end with a pair of shorter walls that came up to the entrance, and it was open to the sky, but had a covered shelter at the entrance with an open channel of water that went through.
“This is nice, especially compared to the non-private ranges.”
I gave Arc a pat and turned to the bearded dwarf that led me here, “Thank you.”
“No problem, just let me know if someone’s in here so I can bop them on the head.” They patted the giant warhammer that they carried, “You elementalists don’t get as much free time as the rest of us, so rather than make you wait in line for minutes at a time, administration automatically booked you for 2 hours every night in this room.”
The bearded dwarf began to scratch their beard, causing their red arming jacket to peek through their full plate, “I’m forgetting something… oh, if you need a bigger range, try to give us a heads up at least the day before.”
I thanked the senior student once more before they left and closed the door to the hallway.
“Anything in particular you want to practice?”
“Just formation creation and modification. I’ve got a third of the mana supply that a specialist would have when casting a spell, so I need to be as efficient as possible.”
“Sounds good, I’m going to practice a few things myself, but I’ll keep an eye on you.”
---
9-11 Free Time
I walked up to my dorm room and could hear a number of loud voices inside.
“Looks like your roommate invited over some guests.”
I sighed, then walked into the room. All of the couches were full of people, and they all turned to look at me.
“Ah, there he is. Did you get tired of hanging around your noble friends?” My orkish roommate taunted.
I was honestly confused by his question, “Umm, no… I was busy with classes all day, then spent 2 hours at the spell range.”
One of my roommate’s friends didn’t look convinced, “What were you practicing? We haven’t learned a single spell yet.”
I tried to answer, but someone interrupted me with a sarcastic tone, “Probably proper courtly etiquette. After all, this chaps friends with a princess, he can’t be seen acting like a peasant in front of her.”
I looked around the room of leering faces, now growing frustrated. What the rot did I do to them?
“Try to keep calm, I think they’re trying to get under your skin.”
I decided to just exhale and force the topic to change by addressing my roommate, “Do I need to wake you again tomorrow? Or will you show up for drill on time without my assistance?”
My roommate furrowed his brow at me, “I’ll be on time.”
I nodded my head, then went to grab an evening robe before taking a shower. I ignored them on the way in, but my return trip generated some hard to ignore taunts.
“I thought you were a Lakelander?”
“Didn’t you hear? He got purchased by the Hopkins Clan.”
“The same one Hector’s from?”
“Yep, why do you think he didn’t have to do extra marching this morning?”
I shut the door behind me and growled to cover up the sounds of laughter seeping through my door.
“I know you’re angry but try to keep cool. Drozuk and his friends are all children of monster hunters, so they consider you a traitor for getting that Jarl executed and trying to blend in with the nobles. If it persists, maybe you can request a room transfer?”
“Drozuk? That name sounds familiar… have I met someone with that name?”
“I can check, but it’s probably just some random person that you immediately forgot the name of like usual.”
I smiled, “But I have you by my side now, why would I bother to?”
I chuckled while Arc made unintelligible noises in my ear, went to grab the book I picked up while shopping, and started reading.
“Umm, you normally…”
I gave Arc a pat, “Not this one.”
“Ugh, never mind, I’d rather not listen to one of Barry’s romance novels.”
11-7 Sleep