Damien walked down the familiar black-and-silver hallway towards the dining room. A pair of first-year girls saw him and crossed to the other side of the hall, their eyes wide. He sighed.

Two months had passed since the demon incident and word had spread that he’d killed it on his own. The reactions to the news varied from fear to awe, with fear being by far the most common.

Having the people you saw every day regard you as a monster made life awkward to say the least. Even worse, none of the more experienced sorcerers would take him on as an apprentice. He asked everyone he saw and to a person they found some excuse to deny his request.

Well, he couldn’t do anything about it, so he trained on his own and hoped for the best. The truth was Damien didn’t really know what he wanted to do with his new skills. He had power enough to serve almost anywhere, but he hated the idea of being stuck in a fort somewhere, waiting for trouble to find him. Joining the inquisitors appealed to him. Wandering the kingdom, rooting out corruption, generally helping the people who didn’t have connections among the rich and powerful. Damien couldn’t imagine a more satisfying use for his power.

He pushed through the dining hall doors and the room fell silent as every gaze focused on him. Damien wanted to shout boo, just to see if they’d flinch. Eli was sitting at the end of one of the benches and waved to him. Damien collected his meal, mystery meat and potatoes covered in gravy, the same as usual, and went to join his friend. The three students seated at Eli’s bench made themselves scarce when Damien arrived.

“Maybe I should just eat in my room.”

“Don’t pay any attention to them. Have you heard anything more about the cult?”

Damien sat down. “No one has said anything to me. You’d think since I was the one who discovered them they’d keep me in the loop.”

“I’m sure if there’s any fighting to be done you’ll be the first to hear. What’ve you been doing to keep busy?”

“Practicing on my own. Ann recommended a book on shaping. I’m going to check it out after lunch.”

“What’s it about?”

“Shaping materials other than wood and stone. She says working with more complicated materials will help me learn to better control my power.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Eli shook his head and smiled. “I can barely manage stone and you’re already looking for more complex materials to work with. I’m jealous.”

“Don’t be. At least no one’s terrified of you.” Damien hated the bitterness in his voice. He’d thought Sorcery would be different than The Citadel, and it had been. For three wonderful years he was just another student, stronger than average, sure, but nothing extraordinary.

Now, thanks to the demon incident, he found himself alone most of the time, the other students too uncomfortable to want to be near him. Even Amanda and Jaden treated him like a snake that might bite them if they did something wrong. Only Eli still acted the same as before. They finished their meal in silence, Damien’s bitter comment having spoiled the mood.

Damien got up to return his plate and Eli grabbed his arm. “You’re joining us tonight for Jaden’s after-testing party, right? We’ll either congratulate or commiserate depending on whether he passes or not.”

“You sure you want me to come? I know I make the others nervous.”

“Don’t worry about it. They need to get used to the new reality. It’s one thing to know you’re strong and another to learn you can kill a demon by yourself.”

“It doesn’t seem to bother you.”

Eli offered a rueful grin. “Remember, I saw your unshielded soul force the day you arrived. I’ve had over three years to accept the fact that you terrify me. Give the others some time. They’ll come around.”

Damien laughed. “All right, everyone’s meeting in our room, right?”

“Yeah, and Jaden’s dad is fixing the food. See you tonight.”

Damien nodded, returned his plate to the counter, and went to the library to fetch the book Ann recommended. His quarters were on the eighth floor. As he walked down the silent hall he shook his head. The reason they assigned him this room was because all the other sorcerers living there were out in the field. He essentially had the whole floor to himself. Well, to hell with them, he’d enjoy the peace and quiet.

The apartments they provided for full sorcerers weren’t much of an improvement on what they gave the students. Same bed, same minimal furniture; the only difference was no roommate and if he wanted to pay for it he could decorate however he wanted. His twenty gold royals a month stipend would buy some nice furniture, but Damien preferred to save his coin. You never knew when the government might decide sorcerers needed a pay cut.

He kicked his shoes off and plunked down on the narrow, lumpy bed. Perhaps he’d splurge on a nice featherbed at least. The book he’d retrieved from the library had a black leather cover and measured at least two inches thick; not exactly light reading.

He opened to the table of contents and scanned down the list of chapters. Shaping organics, crystals, living animals and plants. He stopped when he reached the last entry: forging weapons without heat. Damien had read about swords created by a sorcerer using only soul force. Lizzy was soul-forged and her blade was the purest steel in existence.

Troubles forgotten, Damien flipped to the back of the book and started reading. Jen’s name day was coming in a few months. What would be a better gift than a soul-forged long sword?