Gilliam unloaded his bag, placing it on the round table in the corner, as he waited for Angela to start the talk. He was a bit nervous based on the ‘we need to talk’ trope back home but given her expression and the scenario this should not be that bad... Right?
She pulled out a chair from the round table just to the right once you entered the door.
“So, I think we need to go through a few things, simple but important things-”
Gilliam didn’t feel as paranoid anymore, her body language didn’t hint that this was something dramatic and rather just important.
“-I don’t think you should share where you are actually from, it will be hard to explain for most people and might cause other problems, especially if the wrong people start believing you-”
Gilliam imagined himself as some weird research specimen strapped to a table somewhere. She did have a point, he was already going to be weird enough with his magical gift, adding this on top of it could become weird if not problematic. People tend to dislike what they don’t understand and...
“-so if we say you were Misted then that would allow you to say that you’re from anywhere you are used to, in case you slip and say something weird.” she smiled like he should know what that means.
His uncertain facial expression had her continue explaining.
“Misted people are people that come out from the Mist. You remember the Mist, right?”
Gilliam still looked confused and gently shook his head.
Angela smiled in a sigh and continued. “Well, in short. The Mist is some weird magical mist.. Fog.. thing that’s sort of in the center of the known world. That’s the large area in the center of the map I showed you earlier. We don't know too much about it but the short is that it’s incredibly magical and it does what it wants to do, ignoring what we understand as logic almost like it has a mind of its own. Now, given the area it covers and the few people that have been in and come out alive can confirm, there is land in there. It’s just not possible to go in there at all without either never coming out, showing up dead, coming out mutated with something strange or in a few weird cases; coming out before you go in...”
She gave Gilliam a few seconds to process all of this before pointing at him. “This is where you come in. Though not super common there is still a surprising amount of people coming out of the mist without any proper knowledge, memories or.. Well.. logical reasoning. This means that you can just say that you are a Misted person and that would excuse your lack of knowledge, etiquette and that you don’t know where you’re from.”
She seemed a bit proud of this excuse, though it made sense it’s basically a simple blanket-lie that can cover all the missing pieces. Not a bad idea although a bit weird.
“Now... The bad part of this-”
Ah yes, there it was. Gilliam was expecting some drawback to this, this lie sounded too good and too easy to use in a lot of cases if there was no downside.
“-For most people there is really nothing to gain by claiming that they were Misted. This will also make people look down on you. You’re not exactly an otherworlder with this excuse but you are an outsider of sorts. People tend to dislike outsiders unless they can gain something from it, so I think you being a Heptagon mage will have them not consider the outsider concept that much... I hope.”
Gilliam pondered this for a moment. It was not a bad idea. It branded him as an outsider which he actually already was, this was just a lighter variant. If they had fabricated a story that he’s from an area or something then that lie could be discovered somehow and a lie like that could make anything worse, no matter how small, in the wrong scenario.
If Misted people could not be proven just like that, and due to unfamiliar landmass in there any names and things he accidentally mentioned could be excused as an in-Mist memory. The main negative side about having the outsider status would be compensated by the status boost of being a Heptagon mage. This was actually a pretty good lie.
“So, simply put, when I act weird, say something about home or simply need an excuse, I can just say I was Misted?”
He bottom-lined it quite hard, he had learned in his life that if you ask for confirmation with dumb questions it very often helps to learn things.
“Well, yes, basically. In your case that could cover most of it”
She didn’t seem too happy about having to lie, but she was satisfied with the lie she had come up with.
As Gilliam was about to ask a question, there was a knock on his door, the two inside shared a questioning look like they expected the other to know who it was, in the end Gilliam went to the door and opened it.
Outside stood a man in a suit, the suit was utterly perfect on him, clean and straight. He had his hair combed back and either some oil or hairgel due to its shine, this was topped with a short but perfectly trimmed beard. The man was dapper as hell.
Ah yes, Gilliam remembered now, the headmaster did say that he was going to send a tailor to him for the sake of the uniform.
“Ah yes, please come in.” Gilliam gestured with his open hand for the man to enter.
“Good afternoon. I am Albert, the head tailor for the academy. Mr. Saleg wanted me to take your measurements so we can have the uniform ready for you right away.”
His voice was a little higher pitched than expected but he was extremely clear in his pronunciation. He introduced himself with a proper and deep bow.
Angela gave Gilliam a pat on the shoulder as she headed for the door. “I’ll find you after class tomorrow, you have fun.” She smiled as she closed the door behind herself, not really giving Gilliam much time to respond more than a casual wave as the door closed.
Albert had no time for an awkward silence to build up, he simply started commanding Gilliam to stretch, bend and stand in specific poses as he took some measurements before making some notes in a small notebook in his chest pocket.
This only took a few minutes, the man was fast and effective, he clearly knew what he was doing.
“There, that will be it, Mr. Gibson. We will have a few sets of your uniform ready by tomorrow morning, you can get replacements ordered in the reception should that be needed.”
And like how he entered, swiftly, politely and with a deep bow he was gone. The door closed behind him and Gilliam was now properly alone for the first time in this world since he met Angela. It was an odd feeling but he had something to do so it was not like he was going to have issues with this. Looking at the round table they sat with and spoke only a few minutes ago he saw the papers and books laying there.
Before reading the Student introductory information and accompanying introductory books he took a round in his new home. The desk had drawers with papers, a notebook which was just a stack of papers tied together at the spine with some leather flaps as cover. Though his desk had an ink-vial and quill present it seems that there was also an ink-pen! Lucky days, he didn’t have to carry around a vial and feather all the time. The pen worked like most modern ink pens, the kind you could refill by putting the writing head into ink and pulling a little lever. This sounded stupidly expensive to make... Sure, magic could cheat but, considering the modern world and mass production it still felt quite expensive.
Though it did mean that taking notes and writing anywhere was much simpler.
The rest of the desk had some weird almost cotton-like sheets that he didn’t know what they were for, though shortly after he found a mini-guide on the very center of the desk that explained everything, it made sense; the ink uses a moment to dry properly, these weird cotton-like sheets were put in on the active writing page to absorb excessive or undried ink, this would save everything from smearing between the pages.
The guide was probably there for uneducated plebs like himself, so he was grateful for the school planning for people like himself.
The cupboard was empty save a messenger-style leather bag, not very different from the one he got from Angela, just that this one was a bit nicer and had a stamp or engraving of sorts of an even seven edged shape with a circle around it. It seems to have the same shape as the school as seen from above, at least according to the map.
The drawers had some towels, hygiene things and that was about it. The sink worked fine but seemed to only have one temperature; lukewarm. It worked both for hygiene as well as drinking, although not super refreshing.
Everything in the pile of info was rather straightforward. A copy of the map he got from the headmaster, information of what is where and why; like communal toilets and showers split up by gender. Though it also mentioned that some of the training spells can be used for cleaning and disposing of filth, so many students make themselves a self-cleaning chamberpot as part of their first magic device training.
Other than practical information like that there were some signup forms. Two that caught his attention, the first of which was the language learning ritual, where they could plant a whole language in your brain so you just instantly understood it perfectly. There was a cost related to this and... he really needed to get a crash course in the economy and value of things in this world... Up until this point he had not even seen money properly. He would have to talk to Angela about that tomorrow.
And besides, he could understand whatever language Angela was speaking perfectly, perhaps he could understand other languages as well. If not he could probably just sign up for this later, it only took a few minutes after all.
But the even more interesting sign up was the Familiar ritual. Gilliam knew what this was from stories and other media back home, but he wondered if it was the same here.
The documentation explained it in rather decent details, but the important bits were that it was a soulbound companion that would be utterly loyal to the mage while keeping its personality. This was a friend and companion for life, not just a pet.
Though, there were drawbacks, there was the cost of feeding it, if you had a small one like a mouse this was not expensive, but if you got something large and exotic you might need to spend a fortune on food for it. The soul link also goes both ways, something as simple as a mouse could be held hostage against the mage, worst comes to worst if it dies this would affect his very soul.
There were more pros and cons listed, but in short this was a serious thing to consider. During the students’ time with the academy housing and sustenance would be covered much like the mage himself was covered. Some restrictions applied, Gilliam interpreted that as if it ate the souls of the innocent that was not going to be covered or accepted.
Chuckling to himself he continued checking the other material, there were some more introductory books to magic, giving a general brief overview on things like terminology.
This had Gilliam very interested, opening the first page this book didn’t joke around. Just the table of contents listed a lot of things he wondered about, like what a Foci is, the base concepts of a magical Core and Boundary, as well as the most basic of most things.
Not noticing the time this ate up the rest of Gilliam’s evening, though he was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door as food was delivered to him by a young human girl before she scampered off. He ate the simple food which was a small round bread, some meat and cheese as well as a mug of water on the side.
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A simple but perfectly fine dish.
He ate as he read which eventually had him go to bed long after the sun had set. Though he went to bed at a reasonable hour it was somewhat hard to actually fall asleep, considering that tomorrow his proper mage training started. He was stoked, a bit too stoked, which had him thinking, overthinking and just generally hard to sleep.
Suddenly waking to the sound of a massive church-like bell tolling twice, he was at the rough end of the wing he was in and this was thundering. His heart beat hard and fast, feeling like it’s trying to escape his chest.
This... this was a horrible way to wake up, a perfect jumpscare. The reading material did mention that he’d be woken up by the school bell but good gods this was bad. He already didn’t look forward til the next day when this would happen again.
Though, it was only two tolls and as his pulse calmed down to a more human liveable number his brain started waking up. He was going to learn magic today!
Oh, this was going to be good, he got eager. Very, very eager. Kid on Christmas kind of eager.
Getting up, washing himself and getting ready there was a knock on his door, not expecting anyone at the moment he was a bit hesitant but at least put on his pants before opening it.
Outside stood Albert as dapper as ever he was holding what looked like a stack of something wrapped in a piece of black cloth that again had some thread around it to keep it in a neat package.
“Mr. Gibson, these are your school uniforms. As mentioned yesterday should there be a need to have them repaired or have new sets prepared, please refer to the reception.”
Gilliam was surprised and amazed, these had been prepared overnight, he took the measurements just yesterday evening.
Reaching out his hands he had the package thrust in his hands, he managed to morning-mutter “Thank you.” But he didn’t get a chance to properly say anything before Albert simply bowed and left in a kind of speed-walk.
Closing the door after he stepped back inside he placed the bundle on the round table before opening it.
The knot was a pull-release knot so it was super simple to get it unpacked, the cloth almost fell open on its own in a neat presentation. Inside were three sets of uniforms that consisted of a white shirt, a black vest and pants, a simple leather belt and a jacket to cover it all if needed. At the bottom of the bundle was a pair of shoes, it also seemed that the cloth used to wrap it all up was actually a cloak.
Referring to a note placed in the bundle, and remembering reading the introduction last night it seems that the coat and cloak can be used at will depending on personal preference about temperature and layers of clothing. The shirt, vest, pants, belt and shoes was expected to be used at all times you were a student, save times you leave the school grounds or during vacations.
There was some explaining on how to wear the school pin, which he had not gotten yet but the description mentioned that it’d be given to him as soon as it was ready.
This pin should be fastened to the outer layer clothing, save the cloak if that’s used, so it was always easily visible. Alternatively the same hole that the pin needle went through could be used to place a small chain or string, making it into a necklace or similar. There were no actual rules on how to wear it, you could glue it to your nose if you wanted. And though that would get you ridiculed it was visible so would be accepted.
Gilliam imagined having it as a necklace was going to be the easiest, but he didn’t know if it came with thread or a chain, so for now he was just going to bring the string with him.
Putting on the uniform, its form was nothing short of perfection. Gilliam had never had an attire that fit this perfectly, he could move in it surprisingly well and when not moving around it was just proper on him at all times.
Mentally praising Albert, and possibly his team if he had one, he was nothing short of amazed.
Almost soiling his new pants as the bell tolled once more, it was apparently time for breakfast. The half hour of ‘get your ass out of bed and get dressed’ time was over. Though there was nobody forcing you to eat this early in the morning Gilliam couldn’t not consider how much magic usage could drain you... He might not want breakfast but he absolutely needed it. With this in mind he packed up the introductory books, the notebook and fancy ink-pen, a few extra sheets of paper alongside the cotton-like things, the map and information pamphlet and set off!
Exiting into the hallway there were not many students there, he was near the end of the hallway so that made sense, though looking ahead there were a bunch of them walking towards the center column. Though practically nobody went all the way and took some side exits here and there. According to the map and introductory info there were several rooms on the first floor, at the end closest to the central tower, in each wing dedicated for a mess-hall kind of place. Food was mostly served in a buffet style so save a few students that might have special dietary requirements everyone just picked what they wanted.
Gilliam hurried along his co-students, down some stairs and went with the torrent of people ending up in several of these rooms.
This felt oddly familiar, get in line, get a plate, get your food and eat it. It was pretty much the same as home, in hotels and the like, except the lack of paying and otherworldly creatures and people. He still had a hard time not staring at the beastfolk.
Getting in line, he acted like he felt like he should, nobody talked to him and nobody seemed to care. He was dressed and acted the part so it was all good. He got his plate, picked up some breakfast consisting of a nice smelling soup, some pieces of bread, some water to drink and an apple. He was surprisingly happy to find that there was food here that he could just recognize, no weird different fruit or whatever.
Finding somewhere to sit was not a problem, it seems that the school might not be to capacity as there were plenty of places to sit alone, picking one of those tables at random he just sat down and started eating.
There seemed to be other people sitting alone, certain groups of people talking happily, sadly and otherwise sitting with their clique. All of this felt pretty normal to most schools.
The food was done in not long and as expected, his pants luckily remained unbreached as the bell tolled once more. Oddly enough he could hear it at exactly the same volume as in his room at the end of the wing, shouldn’t it be louder now that he was closer to the tower?
For now he considered asking but chalked it up to some magical bullshittery and started moving towards the classroom he was told to meet up at; 4-1-1.
He was now in wing 3, so he just needed to go into the main room of the central building and take the first door on the first floor, the first room should be just inside.
This was getting exciting, he followed the people and did his best to behave properly, which was not a problem as most of the people here were students, most tired or apathetic to his existence or excited just like him.
Getting into the main room that just yesterday had the angry receptionist and the meeting with the headmaster, he took the planned two turns to the left and ended up in Wing 4, 1st floor.
The first door was nicely marked as ‘Introductory class’, solidifying that he had made it to the correct place. He felt a minor victory as he had understood the school navigation properly.
Entering the room through the open door he saw several people in here, all human except one man looking large, strong, bulky and green.
Was he an orc? He fit the image of an orc, or at least half-orc, that Gilliam would expect based on modern media.
Deciding to not get involved with anyone just yet, Gilliam just found an available seat and waited for the class to start.
Several more students came in, found themselves a seat here and there, the only one that set themselves properly apart was a young girl. She had long deep-red hair, blue eyes and had a body that most people would consider perfect. Gilliam couldn’t get over that she looked to be what.. 13? 14?
Whatever it was she was very young but it was almost weird to consider her build compared to some of the other girls in the class.
Not really having any interest in girls that young, considering that GIlliam himself was 26 years old this became a curiosity more than anything more. Now that he considered it, though he couldn’t validate his green classmate’s age due to not being used to the race, he was easily the oldest man in the class. Everyone else seemed to be 12-13 years old.
Well... He was not going to let that change anything, he was here for his own sake more than anything else.
The bell tolled once more, this time Gilliam was a tiny bit more prepared and only got an internal startle. Almost like announcing his arrival a man came through the door at that exact moment.
He looked 40something but in good shape, he had wireframe glasses, short messy black hair, a grey robe and the most piercing eyes you had ever seen. Waving his hand towards the door as he entered it closed on its own as he walked to the front of the classroom. As he turned to face the students Gilliam got a look at his school pin, it was the same shape and form as everyone else's but it had a white disc backing it, signalling his status as a teacher, and from all the triangles on the seven-sided shape only the yellow, upper left, was colored. This signalled him as an Aether mage.
“Good morning, class. For the new students my name is Jial. I am an Energy, or Aether mage. I specialise in spell circles and will be teaching you the basics.”
His voice was oddly common, the kind of voice that you could easily forget as just something you heard on the street, though by that nature it was almost too common and became one you could easily identify. He spoke in short and to-the-point kind of sentences, he simply seemed like a man who didn’t like to waste time.
This was either going to be amazing or horrible.
He seemed to take a glance across the room before taking some notes in a book.
“First, we’re going to cast the light spell. Then we’re going to take it further from there. Pair up if you want to or go at it alone.”
He went on to explain how to gather energy, how to move it around in your body and frankly, this felt like the exact same explanation that the introduction book that Angela gave him was using.
“Once you have a light stable for a solid minute, we can move onto the next level.”
Gilliam knew this was the introductory class, but this felt a bit simple, was it going to suddenly get harder?
Doing as the teacher said he formed a light-orb, the same tennis-ball size as he always made in the ‘default’ glow strength, which could easily illuminate a room.
This... was apparently a bit much, the class almost in unison turned to him with various eyes of either wonder, interest, annoyance or curiosity.
The teacher didn’t seem to bat an eye and just tapped his finger hard a few times on his desk to get the attention back to the front. As everyone turned around the chalk on the chalkboard, seeming to have a life of its own was writing up the goals and explanations that he mentioned before, seemingly almost without his thoughts or guidance.
Gilliam just held the light glowing, not knowing what was a standard size or strength he just did as told and held it glowing for the planned minute.