Dear diary I found a teacher

For once in a long while, I wake up in a nice warm bed with a soft, pillowy blanket. I let out a contended sigh and roll over, snuggling into the warmth that is sleeping beside me. The warm, for her part, tries to struggle free from my grasp.

“What in the world do you think you're doing?” Annabelle asks in a haughty tone

“Enjoying the warmth of a real bed. This is so much better than the forest floor.”

“And why are you grasping at me for then?” Anna asks, still a bit tissy.

“Because you are also nice and warm,” I say as I snuggle in deeper.

“Too bad there is a lot of stuff I still have to do today, so let go of me.”

“But we already sent the letter yesterday. There is literally nothing for us to do but wait until help arrives.”

“Yeah, but I want new clothes, and you can use some better ones as well. I did not take out a loan of a small fortune for nothing.”

“I am not wearing a dress,” I tell her in a stern tone.

“Awh, but why? You look like a boy the way you are dressed now,” Anna complains.

“So what? I am travelling, so I should wear whatever is comfortable.”

“Some of the dresses are comfortable. Will you at least try them on for me, please?”

“Ugh, fine, let's go”, I say as I let go of her.

We quickly go down and have a small breakfast before we head to the market district. The district is interesting, to say the least. In this city, magic seems to have replaced a lot of the more modern technologies like lights, windows, and even moving displaces.

Annabelle finds what I think is this world's version of a clothing store and drags me inside. The inside of the building is brightly lit, and there are several dresses and other clothing being displayed on what I would call manakins, but they have such a complete illusion spell placed on top of them, making it look like an actual person is wearing them.

Inside, we are greeted by a nice lady who shows us all kinds of different dresses, some of which are quite nice. Yes, I know I folded easily, sue me. It is not like I dislike dresses. It is just that I think they are impractical for travelling to god knows where I show up next.

“I told you this would be fun,” Anna tells me with a smug smile when we are taking a break.

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“I never said this would not be fun.” I defend myself.

“Then what problem do you have with it?” she says with the cutest pout

“I don’t have any problem. The only thing I said was that I preferred to stay in bed,” I say with a shrug.

“Ugh, you, what is so fun about staying in bed?”

“It is warm and dry. I don’t have to worry about being chased.”

“So you just want to stay in bed until my father shows up?”

“Definitely not just, you know, relax for a bit.”

“Sorry to interrupt your discussion, ladies, but my master would like a word,” a woman with beautiful red hair suddenly asks us.

“And who is your master?” I ask the woman.

I get elbowed from the side by Anna. “Tav, can’t you see the uniform? She is working for the arc magus.”

I blink. “Oh, in that case, better not keep them waiting,” I say as I stand up and face the big castle.

“Master is in the restaurant over there.” The woman points to one of the nearby buildings, “No need to go all the way to the castle.”

I smile at her, “Lead the way.”

The woman nods and leads us towards the restaurant. Once inside, I notice that it is a lot more fancy than our inn, which I guess makes sense, seeing that an important person is eating there. We are taken to the second floor of the building.

The second floor seems even more fancy than the ground floor, with richly decorated walls and elaborately decorated furniture. In the middle of the room, there is a man sitting eating what I assume is his lunch. Honestly, he does not look like what I expected a wizard to look like. No long beard, no robes or staff. Instead, he is a young man with black hair wearing a suit.

He smiles at us when we walk in. “Come sit with me, have something to eat.”

We sit down, not wanting to be rude. “You wanted to speak with us?” I ask the man.

“Right, I believe this is yours,” he says while raising up his hand, my sword suddenly appearing in it.

“My sword”, I say in excitement.

“It is now why I called you here. It was simple: I want you to tell me how you fooled the crystal, and I will give you back the sword and wave the entrance fee. Is that understood?” the mage says in a tone that makes it seem like less of a requirement and more like an order.

“Yes sir, I say one problem with that, though. We did not fool the crystal,” I say.

“Really, then explain the sword. You said it was made by a dwarf,” the mage says, examining the blade.

“I did not. I said It was made by the apprentices of a dwarf. That does not mean they are a dwarf”, I explain.

“And you know these apprentices?”

“Yes”

“And how sure are you that they were trained by actual dwarves?”

“I am completely sure,” I say confidently.

The mage smiles. “I see. Well played then, now tell me how you two got here.”

We spent the next couple of hours explaining our story and answering questions. After which, a long silence follows.

“Traveller, you don’t have any backing in this country and no way to learn more magic here, correct?” the mage asks.

I nod. “That is right. Besides Anna, I don’t know anyone.”

“I see. Then how would you like it if I became your teacher? You would gain both a backer and a place to learn magic.” He says.

I look at Anna, who just nods. “That would be great, but what would you get out of it?”

“That is simple. Talking to you now makes me think that you will still be travelling far but that you will come back for the young miss. So when you do come back, your teacher would appreciate it if you brought back some magic texts from far away.” He says while wiggling his eyebrows.

“I see by helping me now, you hope I bring something valuable back in the future,” I say with a nod.

“So does that mean you will accept,” he says

“I will, yes,” I say with a smile.

“Great, in that case, we must leave for the tower. There is a lot to teach you, and I fear we don’t have much time”, he says while standing up and walking away, expecting us to follow.

I follow, trying to push down this nagging feeling that this is going to be a long couple of days.