Eos woke up to yelling. She groggily looked out her window and saw Amulree flying past. She wondered for how long Amulree would be her alarm clock. She decided to stir out of bed regardless of her weary and dressed in one of the sets of clothes. She looked around the room, shrouded in the darkness of morning, and decided to head outside. Every other door on the floor was silent, and Eos suddenly was reminded of something. She ran back inside and grabbed her key, making sure to lock the door behind her.
Eos ran down the staircase, and entered the foyer in dramatic fashion, prompting a remark from Tarvie. “Dramatic today, aren’t we?”
“Tarvie! Do you know where the library is?” Eos pondered.
“It’s a few buildings away, by far the largest on campus. You can’t miss it.”
“Larger than the dorms?” Eos asked, knowing the size of the dorms it was hard for her to imagine a larger building on campus she hadn’t yet seen.
“It’s the second largest building in the city,” Tarvie began, “only behind the Cathedral. Even the palace is smaller than our library- it’s really one of the biggest things for us to be proud of.” She snickered slightly at her joke.
“The Cathedral, that's the huuuge building at the center of the city right?” Eos asked.
“Mhm,” Tarvie confirmed, “It’s where the Pope and the Chosen One live.”
“Uhuhh” Eos replied inattentively, “I’m off to find the library!” Eos raced towards the large doors.
She dashed across the quad, constantly looking up at the heights of buildings. After exploring large-seeming buildings, and finding a variety of auditoriums, small amphitheaters, an arena, and even an operatic hall, she found the largest building on campus, the library.
Entering the library, the entire mood of the atmosphere shifted swiftly. She looked around and saw magic. As with the lanterns in the dining halls, books flew around the room to various individuals- mainly students, some of which had dozens of books stacked around them- and back into their place on the first or second or eighth level of the shelves. Additionally, there were ladders from various shelves to various other levels, as if you were expected to jump from one to another. No one seemed to mind the chaos, the least of which were the librarians, who seemed to be standing around, messing with books on ladders or behind desks. Every librarian wore the same outfit, distinct from the one worn by the various students in the library.
Abruptly, Eos noticed a librarian on the 6th floor slipped off a ladder and was swiftly descending to ground level. With the same speed as he began falling, his descent slowed as he cast a white-colored spell and he landed softly on the floor, before gently wiping dust off of his shirt and continuing about whatever task he was doing beforehand. Despite seeing his mouth move, Eos didn’t hear a word that he said- nor did she hear the sound of his feet hitting the ground. Eos realized that she hadn’t heard anything since walking into the library, not even the sound of pages turning or her own heartbeat. It was as if the boundary into the library was also the boundary that sound could not pierce.
Eos, dazed, walked up to one of the desks a librarian stood behind. The librarian motioned for a moment, before pulling out a notepad and writing down on it upside-down.
Hello! Are you looking for anything in particular?
The librarian set the pencil down beside the notepad, and Eos picked it up, before realizing she didn’t know how to write every word that she wanted to.
Can I have a book on
Eos struggled for a moment to think of how to write “magic”, so she just gave up and drew what she imagined magic might be written like. The librarian, again without turning the note over, seemed to giggle before ripping the page off the notepad. Swiftly, a few small books flew off the shelves and onto the desk between the librarian and Eos. Eos attempted to wordlessly thank the librarian, before taking the books to a seat.
Between all the books, there were maybe two hundred pages. Eos wondered why these books were chosen, but was thankful she wasn’t given the thousand-page encyclopedias- she wasn’t sure she could even carry them. One book was on stars; Eos figured this was fair with what she drew. All the others were on, what Eos guessed to mean “Magic”. She first chose the smallest of the books, the title still indecipherable to her. Opening it, she expected a variety of pictures like medieval manuscripts, instead, she found relatively dense print- most of it was meaningless to her.
Discouraged by her ability to read common, she tried to read the next book. The title, thankfully, was guessable after opening it. “Child’s Magic” was a small book, and opening it Eos was relieved to see simple language and outsized pictures- albeit it was lacking in the informational density Eos was hoping for. Most of the pictures were images of hands in contorted hands drawing colored lines. She chose a spell at random, with fiery-red lines. The basic description the book gave for the spell was simply “Balls of fiery light”, and each image of a hand had words that Eos couldn’t decipher by it. She attempted to follow the book’s hand movements for the next few hours but was completely unable to create the faintest feeling of magic within herself. She did manage to make her hands hurt when pushed on, however.
Her complete focus was broken by a tap on her shoulder, startling her and causing her eyes to shoot to the librarian to her left. It was the same one that had helped her before, and he held a notepad.
Are you a student here?
Eos nodded empathetically. The librarian swiftly wrote on the notepad,
I can let you take that book to your dorms if you give me your name.
Eos beamed and hurriedly picked up the pencil before pausing and setting it back down. She looked down at her lap. The librarian began to write again,
Don’t know how to spell your name?
Eos softly nodded, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. When she looked up again, there were new words on the notepad.
If you bring it back tomorrow, I can let you take it back tonight.
Eos beamed at the librarian once again. She picked up the book, only just noticing that the rest of the books were gone, most of which she never touched. She noticed the sun was blazing in the sky; it should be about noon. The moment she stepped out of the library, with the book held tightly to her chest, she was surprised to hear things again- the chatter of students walking by, the rustle of leaves and grass, birds chirping in conversation, even her own footsteps and heartbeat took her off guard.
She carefully made her way back to the dorms, holding the book tightly the entire time. By the time she reentered the foyer, it seemed like there were fewer students mingling outside. She saw Tarvie in her usual spot, and a question appeared in her mind.
“Tarvie!” Eos shouted, barely rousing her, “How-
Tarvie’s reply interrupted her, “You’ve received a reply from Meddyg!”
Eos looked at Tarvie “Hm?” She inquired, only to be handed back a sealed letter. She carefully inspected the letter. It was sealed with a wax seal, and embossed with an overly fancy M. She looked up at Tarvie before looking back at the letter, and looked at Tarvie again, “Should I just open it or is there a letter knife or…?”
Tarvie just shrugged, and Eos tore the top of the letter off despite her reservations. Inside the envelope was a piece of paper, which Eos began to read. Or attempted to read.
“Something the matter?” Tarvie responded.
“Uh…” Eos began, embarrassed, “I can’t read it…”
“Would you like me to read it to you?” Tarvie asked gently.
“Please…” Eos said, handing the letter to her.
To Eos,
It’s wonderful you have been accepted to my alma mater; when I noticed you were gone from the caravan, I had called the guard to search for you- however, it seems you take a lot after your parents. Waiting seemed to be the best outcome for everyone involved; I’ve since called off the search, letting them know you're in trusted hands. I’m surprised they didn’t ask Avivenorlin about you. I’ve sent a messenger to alert your parents of your new opportunity.
I’d love it if you could say hello to Adrius from me; Adrius was my year’s teacher, and the last time we met was when he ascended to Prime Speaker. Let me know whomst your teacher is in your next letter. Additionally, Tarvie let me know that Varen Firestone is the Junior Council member who let you in- give him my thanks, and let him know that I wish to see him again: it’s been a while and I’d like to do a checkup.
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It seems that the others, including Aderyn and Saer, will be staying in the Infally for a while- it’s likely you’ll be able to see each other, and perhaps run into each other while out-and-about the city. I’ve called in a few favors to make sure their education isn’t lacking. However, it seems it might not be as great as yours!
Please, let me know if you need anything- If you need to contact me with any immediacy, go to the nearest hospital and request for me. Despite my belief in Varen’s care, as he has done wonderfully with his children, I still take responsibility for you until you return to your parents.
But don’t let this old geezer stop you from anything; please make the best of the gifted situation you find yourself in.
-Meddyg, Chief Medicus, Rex Medicus
Most of the words went over Eos’s head, but she got the general idea. Is it that easy? She thought, He approved of it that quickly?
“Would you like the letter back?” Tarvie asked, simply smiling at Eos.
“Also,” Eos asked, “How do I write my name?”
“Hmm?” she simply replied, pulling out a chalk tablet.
“W-why do you have that so easily accessible?” Eos felt slightly threatened.
“I get asked a lot of questions about a lot of things,” Tarvie replied, her voice slightly monotone, “I need anything on hand for whenever someone needs my help if it’s reasonable to help.”
“Uhuhh,” Eos responded, “Anyways, how do I write my name!”
“Here you go.” Tarvie quickly wrote on the tablet, and handed it to Eos, “Keep that; you might forget your name without it.”
“Hey!”
Eos, losing this engagement, took the tablet, letter and book back up to her floor. She noticed, around her floor, kids were bustling around, several doors were open and groups of children about her age were starting to fill the floor. She made her way to her door and easily opened it.
It was only after she opened it, she wondered why it wasn’t locked. Amulree sat in Eos’s chair at her desk, looking at some book.
“What are you doing in here!” Eos yelled, throwing the tablet at Amulree. Amulree’s ears flicked towards Eos, and she twisted before quickly catching the tablet.
“Eos, so that’s how you spell it.” she read aloud from the tablet. She quickly put two and two together, “You asked how to write your own name?” She gently put the tablet on Eos’s desk.
“Shut up!” Eos yelled, almost throwing the book at Amulree. She heard some shuffling behind her, and saw a few students her own age forming a crowd behind her. Eos rushed into her nook, closing and locking the door behind her. “Again, what are you doing here!?”
“I can’t be in my own room, that’s the first place they look.” Amulree yawned and set a bookmark in her book. Eos looked at it and noticed it looked like manga.
“I have so many questions. Look for what, you? Who are they? What are you reading?”
Amulree’s tail began to beat rapidly, “I’m reading `Tsuna: How to Catch a Dragon's Heart`! It’s about this princess’s adventure around the globe, where she gets saved from bandits by a dragon and they fall in love while she’s wanted for her roya-”
“And the other two questions?” Eos interrupted.
“I don’t want any professors to find me, they usually look for places you’d be when you're skipping class: Cafeteria, your room, library, cafeteria. When you skip a lot, they start to make a list of places they’ve found you and use that.”
“How long is your list?” Eos asked, skeptically
“Aha, how would I know?” Amulree asked, her ears drooping and her tail sinking. “anyways Tsuna is a really good story, I have all of the books out right now, I could lend yo-”
“More or less than 1000?”
“More…” Amulree’s ears drooped further, and Eos noticed her tail drooping as well.
“More than 1000 places?!” Eos asked, surprised that the answer wasn’t ‘less’.
“Nono- most of them are ‘cafeteria’!”
“The cafeteria?!”
“I eat a lot, okay!”
“You’ve missed hundreds of classes at the cafeteria?”
“It’s distracting!”
“What is distracting?! It’s a cafeteria!”
“The food! All the food! Why is there so much food there?”
“Of course there’s food! It’s the cafeteria!” Eos was astounded by the audacity of Amulree.
Amulree took the moment of hesitation from Eos to change the conversation quickly. “What’s that book?” She candidly asked.
“This one I almost threw at you?!”
“Yep!”
“It’s, uh..” Eos turned the book over and looked at its title again, “‘Child’s Magic’, I think. I borrowed it from the library.”
“Oh yeah, I remembered where the library is!” Amulree smugly announced, “It’s-”
“I know where it is, I got a book from it!” Eos interjected again.
“Lemme see.” Amulree held out a hand, and Eos put the book in it. She swiftly flipped through the pages and landed on the same spell that Eos was trying out in the library. “Oh, this is one of the ones I regularly use.”
“Really?” Eos asked, trying to look at the book on the desk.
“I think I used it last night with you too. It’s simple, watch.” Amulree began to softly chant and cast the same spell that produced orbs of light flying through the air as last night. “It's an elementary fire spell; I think I learned it in the second or third year.”
“Fire spell?” Eos asked, curious.
“Mhm, there are 5 types of spells. Every spell you learn here falls into one of these 5 categories: Fire, water, crystal, plant, and earth. Those 5 are called the core elements. Some water spells might fall into what people would call ‘Air’ as well, but they’re basically water.”
“Fire, water, crystal, earth, plant, air.” Eos murmured. “And this spell is fire?”
“Yep! Spells that produce light are, for the most part, fire. But one of the things you learn after…” Amulree paused for a moment, thinking, “10 years of studying magic, is that there are no hard and fast rules.”
“But generally, each type of magic has a different color: fire is red, plant is green, earth is yellow, crystal is silver, and water is any blue- sometimes water even looks white.”
“So when you're flying through the air on your way to class, with the yellow lines, that’s an earth spell?”
“Yep! It’s ‘cause I’m focusing on moving the earth, not the air around it.”
“Hmm…” Eos thought for a moment, “So you didn’t start learning magic until your second or third year here?”
“Mainly theory is taught before that: What we just went over, our goals with magic and learning, difficulty classes of spells, et cetera. I don’t remember most of it.”
“What other theory is taught?”
“Martial, different ranks, you know, the usual.”
Eos looked at Amulree’s blithe expression with exhaustion. “No, I don’t, that's why i asked!”
“Well, magic has different types of spells. Weapon fighting is the same. You wouldn’t use the same technique when fighting with a spear as you would with a sword. There’s base style, close combat styles, polearm styles, advanced styles, mixed styles, etc.”
“Huh?”
“Base styles are.. Sword, spear, bow?” Amulree said, questioning herself. “Polearm includes quarterstaff, glaive, and so on. Close combat is mainly unarmed and dagger style. Advanced is like treachery- they’re not important unless you want to be a knight.”
“Treachery?” Eos asked, curious.
“I just said it's not important,” Amulree said, waving away the question, “It's not like I don’t know about it or anything.”
Ah, Eos’s face went lax with disappointment, You overplayed your hand there.
“And mixed is like, magus style. Also not particularly important.”
“Magus? As in both weapons and spells?”
“Yea- how’d you know?” Amulree looked at Eos, dumbfounded.
“That sounds important!”
“It’s not, trust me.” Amulree purred in an attempt to sooth Eos. “Ranks,” Amulree began, swiftly changing the subject, “They’re how good you are at a martial style or with certain classes of spells. It’s all administered by the adventurers guild; for the most part, you just have to show you know appropriate level techniques. For the highest levels of ranking, you need to prove it in combat with someone who has the rank.”
“Seems complicated.” Eos said, getting dizzy.
“For instance, if you learned this,” Amulree looked at the book, “You’d be able to qualify as a Novice of Fire, the lowest rank for fire spells.”
“Makes sense, so… want to teach me this spell?” Eos looked up excitedly at Amulree, trying to plead with her eyes as much as possible.
Amulree just shrugged, “Sure!”