Chapter 88: First Impressions

Location: Magicon Empire; Magicon System; Terra; Imperia

It takes more than an hour to cross the city while using the public transport. I can now understand why most students never leave the university district… It just takes sooo long to travel through the city, especially through the central part with all the towers.

But now we’re finally there. The subway stops, and we exit the train. An escalator takes us back to the surface, and I have to pick up my jaw from the ground at what I see before me. A literal castle blocks my view with round towers and everything. A walkway goes right through the open central gate and lots of people walk through.

“You sure, we’re at the right place?” Lydia asks and I can only shrug.

“I guess we’ll find out… Let’s see what’s on the other side, not that we can walk anywhere else.”

That’s not exactly true, as we could walk in the other direction, but that way leads back to the giant towers in the city center. The only way forward is through the gate, as the castle reaches left and right of us as far as my eyes can see. “Hey Clara, do you know what that castle is for?”

“Of course, It was the original Royal Magic Academy and was extended multiple times over the years, until it wasn’t practical anymore. Today it’s what divides the university district from the rest of the city, and contains mostly offices of various professors, and small bars and shops on the ground floor. If you step through, you’ll see the actual university district, and don’t be surprised, it’s big!”

The giant castle got too small? Holy smokes, just how big did the RMA become? And then there is still FBC and a few other universities in the district! “Thanks, Clara!” I turn to the others and tell them what I just learned. They both get big eyes, but agree, that we just walk through the gate.

Once we are through, it’s like we’ve entered another world. There are countless buildings of varying heights. Some of them almost reach the height of the towers of the city center. Why didn’t we see them from outside the castle gate? Is that an illusion like the Magitech of the administrative building in the Silvani System? And if so for what? To have a nice, unobstructed view of the castle? Crazy…

“Oh wow, Clara didn’t exaggerate… That’s one big district. Do you know which buildings belong to FBC?” Lydia and Lucy shake their heads, but Clara comes to the rescue again and highlights a path on our interfaces.

“Just follow the route. It’ll lead you to the administrative building of FBC where you can check in and get your dorm numbers and everything.”

“Thanks, Clara, you’re a lifesaver.”

“I know,” she replies smugly, and I have to stifle a laugh.

We follow Clara’s route and share the expectations we have about FBC with each other. When we walk past several food vendors, Lydia suddenly stops and approaches one of them. It’s a noodle stand that sells different kinds of noodles in small cups. “Hang on, I’ll grab some… I’m hungry,” she says and does just so.

It takes the vendor only a few seconds, and then Lydia returns with three steaming cups floating next to her. Huh? When did she get so proficient with Telekinesis?

“Thanks, Lydia, and nice magic!” I tell her when the cup floats over to me.

“I know, right? I’ve struggled for so long, but now I’m finally able to do dexterous movements with the spell.”

Lucy looks a bit sulkily… I can understand her of course. She finally reached Master with her A&D magic a few weeks back and Doctor Philipps got her a Junior Utility core, but she didn’t get much practice in so far. “You’ll be fine, Lucy,” I put an arm around her shoulder. “Just give it a bit of time… I struggled just as much, maybe even more when I first got my Utility core.”

It seems to comfort her a bit, and she nods slowly and grabs the cup of noodles. We dig in while we continue walking toward our destination. From the looks of it, we’re heading for one of the tallest towers here in the university district. A quick hand swipe brings up the whole map of the district and my guess is confirmed. It’s the FBC administration tower.

As we get closer, the crowd thickens, and a long queue starts to form. I let out a silent sigh. This is going to suck… There are so many people. We should have arrived earlier. All the other people don’t look much happier. Everyone wears some kind of frown on their faces, or they simply stare into empty air, probably watching something on their interfaces.

“Aww, man this sucks…” I hear a male voice from behind me and turn around.

“I know, right?” I reply while taking in the young man. He’s a bit taller than me and has dark brown hair in a messy hairstyle that somehow still suits him. His blue eyes seem to look right into my soul, and he flashes me a lazy grin.

“Well, hello there,” he winks at me, “I’m Tim, nice to meet you.” He offers me his hand to shake.

I take it while replying. “Hi Tim, I’m Sara, nice to meet you too. Are you joining FBC as well?”

He snorts. “Yeah, obviously…”

Ah, dang it… Of course, he is. We’re in the same queue. I blush a little, which makes him laugh even more. I turn back around in annoyance, ready to ignore him.

He quickly stops laughing and taps my shoulder. I turn my head slightly so that I’m just able to see him. “What?”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“I’m sorry, it’s just so different to be finally able to talk to normal…” He suddenly stops and blanches a bit. “Forget what I said… I’m sorry, can we start anew? I’m Tim Skadi, a new student at FBC, Utility and Space Magic.”

Hmm, something’s off about him, but I don’t know what. Not that I can judge him, as I’ve got something to hide as well. Let’s see if I can find out more about him in the future, that’s going to be interesting. I flash him a disarming smile. “It’s okay… I just don’t like people laughing at me. I’m Sara Green, Utility and Space as well.” Then I point at the other girls. “Those are my friends, Lucinda Arkandi, and Lydia Walton.”

“Sorry again, another dual-core, huh? Maybe we see each other in classes. You did follow the rule, right?”

The rule, as I learned while studying my Sara Green identity, is what Doctor Philipps said: No second core before the primary core reaches Master. I of course didn’t follow the rule when Maja and I just implanted the core, but it did work out for me in the end.

Sara Green on the other hand did follow the rule, so I return his earlier wink. “Of course, I’m not dumb after all. But I’m Space primarily, so I guess sharing magic classes won’t be possible, right?”

“You’re already a Master in Space magic? Holy shit, that’s… Wow. Congratulations! But you’re right, I’m primarily Utility, so I guess we’ll see? Maybe some additional courses?”

“Yeah maybe, we just have to survive this queue first…”

He chuckles and waves his hand in my direction. “Agreed, here, my contact. Give me a call if you want. I think I’m going to go sightseeing for a little longer… The queue is killing me.”

I watch him leave and accept the contact request. Lucy suddenly shoves my shoulder and grins broadly. “So Tim, huh?”

“Shut up, I didn’t tease you about Nick either…”

Lydia bursts out laughing. “Oh, you two… Just like some teenage girls bickering about boys.”

Lucy immediately shuts up after both our comments but then turns to Lydia. “So, what about you?” She asks with a raised eyebrow.

Now it’s her turn to be silent. “Well, I’m still looking… Every girl I take an interest in just seems to turn out straight or other things in the end… Maybe I get lucky here?”

We both quickly abandon all teasing and hug her. I just realized something. She really was interested in Maja and after that… All the times we spent together? Was she? Ohh, shit! “I’m sorry Lydia…”

“It’s okay, I’ve realized way earlier… It was kinda fun, seeing you so clueless.”

“Hey, I’m not clueless!” They both look at me, then burst out laughing until I join in. Yeah, okay, maybe I’m a little bit clueless.

Finally, we’re able to move a bit forward, but from the way things are looking, it’ll still take quite a while. I cast my telekinetic bench, and we all sit down. The others around us look quite envious until there is a shout of triumph before us. I get up to look at what this is about and see a blonde girl sitting on her own telekinetic bench while looking quite smug. Our eyes meet, and she offers me a thankful nod of respect. I just grin and sit back down.

Over the next thirty minutes, we slowly move forward and are now almost able to enter the building. In the meantime, more and more students managed to cast a form of my telekinetic bench and almost everyone is now sitting in the queue. Utility magic really is the most common class.

It takes almost another hour of waiting until it’s finally our turn to approach the counter. There, another surprise awaits us: No person is standing behind the counter! Instead, a hologram of a nondescript female face greets us. It’s an AI!

“Good morning,” she greets us. “Please state your names, so that I can sign you in.”

We quickly do so, and the AI is silent for a moment. “There you are, Sara Green, Lucinda Arkandi, and Lydia Walton. I just need your fingerprints and retinal scans, then you are officially enrolled. Please move over there.” A panel to the left lights up, and we step over there. The AI is already talking to the next group of people.

What we have to do at the panel is self-explaining and I put my hands on the scanner. A second later it’s done, and the screen shows me a welcoming message.

“Welcome to FBC, Miss Sara Green. Your room is in building 14, room number 63-407.”

Lucy and Lydia follow after me, and unsurprisingly, they get the same room number. “And for that, we had to wait almost two hours in line?” Lydia asks. “This can’t be right…”

True enough, but Clara led us here so… We exit the tower and start walking toward building 14. Once we’re outside, I catch sight of a grinning Tim Skadi. He sees us as well and waves. “Hey there, are you finally done?”

Lucy frowns. “What do you mean?”

His grin slips a little. “Well, I told you, that I’ll go for a walk, right? Soo when I circled the building, I noticed those panels all around and the people stepping up to them.”

I look at where he points and notice the exact same panels we’ve just used inside. What the hell?

Tim continues. “I just decided to approach one on a whim and guess what? I was able to register and skip the whole queue. Even funnier is that the panel congratulated me for my initiative, and I’ve now got a coupon for one of the restaurants here on campus.” He turns and grins at me. “Wanna join me for dinner?”

Lucy’s frown turns into a full-blown scowl, and she explodes. “And you just waited here to ask that? You didn’t think we would have liked to skip the queue as well? Are you fucking serious?”

Tim lifts his hands apologetically. “I wanted to, but I’m not allowed to… You see, the panel mentioned a penalty if I were to tell someone else about it if they haven’t already registered. Apparently, this is a first test of the university staff to find outstanding students among the masses or something. I’m sorry.”

I can’t say I’m happy about how things turned out. But can I really blame Tim? I guess not, but the university staff better stop doing stuff like this… So now about the dinner… Does this count as a date? Should I accept? I shrug inwardly. Free food is always nice. “You better make up for the stunt you just pulled… Your invitation for dinner can be a start.”

Lydia looks at me with an open mouth, and even Lucy has wide eyes. Well, this was a bit out of character for me. Tim’s grin returns. “Gladly. Tomorrow at eight?”

“Sure. So, what building do you live in?”

He smiles even wider. “I’m in building 12, and you?”

“We’re in 14.”

“Bummer, but I guess I see you tomorrow then. Take care, I have to organize the delivery of my things.”

“See you.”

He leaves, and once he’s gone, both my friends’ gazes snap at me. “Explain yourself. Why did you let him off the hook so fast?” Lucy half snaps.

Lydia calls out at the same time. “You’re going on a date?!”

“Woah, chill. Who said I let him off? Also, we can’t blame him too much, I mean Clara played us as well…” I just completely ignore Lydia’s question and pretend I didn’t hear her.

“Huh, you’re right. Why didn’t you tell us, Clara?” Lucy asks.

“I’m not allowed to?” Clara responds in my ear with barely contained laughter, and obviously on the interfaces of my friends as well, as their faces go through various expressions. “Technically, I just told you where to go. I didn’t say you have to join the queue. But seriously, I’m just as restricted as Tim was just now. It’s something the college does, you’ll learn about it soon enough.”

“Fine, fine, now you better make yourself useful and lead us to our dorm building. We’ve already lost enough time in that queue.”

“Sure thing.”

“Good idea,” Lucy says.

“Yes, let’s go,” Lydia replies, then Clara projects a map on our interfaces and we’re off toward building 14.

I barely make a step when Lydia’s arm lands on my shoulder. I turn my head to her. “What?”

“Don’t pretend you haven’t heard me earlier. Spill!”

I look at Lucy a bit helplessly, but she just crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow.

I sigh. “Fine… Yeah, I guess I’m going on a date tomorrow.”