With thoughts of Riege’s - now his - matters and the task ahead of him still racing through his mind, Archibald fully passed the threshold of the doors and paid no heed as they slammed loudly behind him. Rubbing his hands from the slight chill, Archibald gazed around him and was surprised by how neatly kept the courtyard was.

In front of him, there was a rounded stone path bordered by dull cyan-colored grass that seemed to shimmer under the influence of the perpetual veil of mist. Beyond the shimmering grasses were tall and leafy emerald-green hedges. Looking slightly up straight ahead, Archibald could only vaguely see the looming shadow of the Central Tower through the fog

Walking ten or so meters ahead, the path widened and branched off to the left and the right. Each branch led to a small glade covered by Giant Lily Pads and resplendent, yet gangly and overgrown brown vines. Resting upon the lily pads were the occasional weather-worn bench made of bane wood.

Standing at the crossroads between these glades, Archibald soon heard the sound of the quiet trickle of moving water pierce the silence that was priorly solely occupied by his quiet breathing.

“Strange why I don’t see any running water, wonder where it’s coming from.” Curiosity peaked, Archibald rapidly decided that this detour wouldn’t cost him much time and turned down the left path.

Perhaps it was due to his nerves, but Archibald subconsciously tried to slow his arrival time to the Headmaster's office.

Arriving in the glade, Archibald noticed that the source of the noise actually originated from below the Giant Lily Pads. Bending down, he noticed that at the open juncture where the circular lily pads met, there was slowly moving water.

Bending down even further, until he was on his knees and his face was just above the plate-sized crack, Archibald inspected the slightly murky green water. “Huh, I guess both glades rest upon a pond or something?” Archibald shifted his gaze to the Giant Lily Pads around him. Curiosity once again rearing its head, Archibald reached out his hand Archibald found that the lily pads had a texture similar to that of smooth rubber and made squeaking sounds as he rubbed his fingers against the lily pad.

“This is pretty damn cool I have to admit. I mean I’m standing on huge lily pads in this beautiful glade in a completely new world!” Archibald shifted his head just above the gap between the lily pads once again, “There’s even a pond beneath me, I wonder what its source is. Maybe, it’s a natural spring or…”

Amid his thoughts, Archibald noticed too late as a shadow rapidly appeared in the pond and rocketed past the depths of the water and straight into his face.

Ribbit!

An angry and deep-sounding croak was heard as Archibald’s head whipped back from the violent impact.

“Ahh! What the fuck!?” Grasping his nose and standing up as quick as he could, Archibald looked down in sheer incredulity at the bowling ball-sized warty toad that had just rammed into his face as it stood on the lily pad in front of him. The lumpy brown-green bastard even had the gall to look miffed as if Archibald had been in the wrong.

Croooak.

With one last long cry that Archibald could have sworn sounded smug, the Toad turned its yellow-orange eyes away from Archibald and hopped into the nearby bushes.

Too bewildered to even conjure an ounce of rage at the sudden situation, Archibald just started laughing. “Ha! Never did I think that I would be on the receiving end of a toad!” Removing his hand from his face, Archibald realized that he was lightly bleeding from his nose.

Expression dampening, Archibald sarcastically remarked aloud as he seethed at this new realization, “The bastard even left me a parting gift huh? How kind of him. It would be rude of me to not pay back the gift next time I see that warty son of a bitch… ” Archibald's words trailed off as he noticed that footsteps were coming from not too far down the path.

“Shit! I wonder who’s coming.” Hastily rolling up his brown robe sleeve, Archibald wiped off the blood from his nose onto the sleeve of his white inner sweater. “Ugh, hopefully, that washes out.”

With the blood wiped away, Archibald wasted no time as he hastily rolled back down his robe sleeve and composed himself. It was probably just one of the orphans walking about, but it never hurt to be cautious he reckoned to himself.

With thoughts swirling through his mind, the pattering of light steps quickly neared him as two young teenagers dressed in plain brown clothing gradually appeared from behind the tall emerald-green bushes. As soon as he saw the face of the two children, they also saw him. Abruptly they broke into surprised smiles as they hurried toward him, hopping over the gaps of the Giant lily pads as they neared him.

From the first moment that Archibald had seen their faces, he had already started scouring Riege’s memories for who they were. Luckily, Archibald was able to digest a good amount of Riege’s memories about who they were just before they arrived in front of him. With lingering apprehension in his heart at the sudden encounter, Archibald gave a quiet and relieved sigh as he mumbled in his heart, “That was close, thankfully Riege actually knows who these two are. Though I suppose it would be weird for them to run up to a stranger so happily…Anyway, these two seem to be Jill and Olivand, orphaned brother and sister. Riege used to look out for them during his time at the orphanage. He would also try to stop by at least once every few weeks to check on them…"

“Now comes the hard part though, pretending to be Riege.” Archibald heaved a tired mental sigh at the conclusion before he quickly regained his focus. Now was not the time to start creating flaws in his story.

With thoughts of Riege’s relationship with Olivand and Jill racing through his mind, he outwardly presented a facade of joy as a gleeful smile spread on his face. Like Riege in the past, Archibald mimicked Riege’s brotherly smile.

“Olivand! Jill! I haven’t seen you in weeks, nearly a month now! You haven’t been getting in trouble with the seniors lately have you?” Archibald questioned in a light-hearted tone of mock accusation as he looked down at the two. Both siblings looked quite similar, with brown hair and eyes accompanied by soft yet plain facial features.

Olivand was the first to cry out in objection, his brown eyes and honest-looking face turning indignant at the sudden accusation. “Nuh-uh! We haven’t even been to the senior wing since the last time we messed with Ralph! Besides,” Olivand’s voice turned slightly sour, “Where have you been this month? You promised you would attend my graduation from academy!”

Putting up his hands in mock defeat Archibald replied in an apologetic tone, “I know I know! I was just busy with a few things. I promise I’ll…”

All of a sudden Jill walked forward from behind her brother, her innocent face angry as she exclaimed, “Yeah! You promised that you would have a gift for our graduation.” Jill’s brown eyes scanned Archibald's empty hands before she stomped her feet in anger, causing the lily pad to sway a bit. “You didn’t even bring it today, humph! You big fat liar!”

“I’m sorry Jill, I really am!” Archibald exclaimed. Quickly he remembered how Riege would assuage these two. “Here, I’ll tell you what. I’ll take you guys to Wilker’s Sweets to make up for it.” Archibald looked at Olivand, a sincere grin plastered on his face “I remember that last time you wanted to get the Folly’s Fool Snake but I didn’t have enough money. Well, I do now. How about that, eh? How does that sound?”

With a speed that shocked even Archibald, Olivand’s expression shifted from dour to jubilant. “Really?! You really mean it? You’ll get me a Folly’s fool snake? I remember that it costs twenty pence a piece!”

Mentally, Archibald blanched at the mention of the cost of the enchanted candy. Recalling Riege’s memories, Archibald knew that twenty pence were a fifth of a sterling and that one to three sterlings were enough for an average family's monthly expenses. Mentally, he mumbled in frustration “Ah, I really shouldn’t have mentioned that. Hopefully, they’ll just forget. Hell, maybe I won’t even see them for a long time, given that I’m about to tell the Headmaster I’ve awakened.”

Outwardly, however, Archibald puffed up his chest and exaggeratedly patted his chest as he spoke in a mock display of extravagant generosity. “Of course I’ll get it for you! Why do you two think I’ve been so busy lately? It’s all because I’ve been taking extra shifts at the Beastyard. I really hate to brag, but I think I can afford this one, small gift!”

“Hey! What about me? I also graduated, and it was with higher marks than Olivand!” Archibald turned his head slightly to the left, toward Jill, and saw that she was playing with her hair with a pout on her face.

“Of course, I’ll get you something!” Outwardly, Archibald was a picture of brotherly doting. Inwardly, however, he tired of this conversation. Unlike Riege, he felt few emotions towards these two other than that of pity at their unfortunate stake in life. They may as well have been strangers had Archibald not needed to maintain a facade. Besides, many other, more pressing matters needed his attention and he truly found it hard to act like a completely different person.

Unlike his tumultuous inner thoughts, however, Archibald’s outer appearance showed an even more exaggerated expression of doting as he exclaimed with an energetic voice in faux grandeur. “I know that you always wanted that color-shifting robe from Mizzler’s Mystical Menagerie. It’s only thirty pence, after all the shifts I’ve taken this last month I can definitely get this small trinket for you.”

Squealing in joy, Jill ran up to Archibald and hugged his waist before pulling away and looking up at him, her plain features a picture of joy. “Thank you, Riege! You’re the best!” Jill turned and looked at Olivand before looking back up at Archibald, “I guess we can forgive you this time…But only this one time! You have to show up to our play though! We’re doing the Wanderers Trials. Did you know that Sir Doovell was able to get us into the Flagrant Traveler?!” Towards the end, her voice grew increasingly excited. Clearly, she had invested a lot of herself in her role in the play.

Unfortunately for Jill, however, Riege was no longer in this world and Archibald didn’t share in her joy. Instead, she was talking to Archibald disguised as Riege, and despite his enthusiastic facade, the emotions were in the end just that: A facade. She simply wasn’t talking to the same person. In a way Archibald felt like life had a way of surpassing the tragedies of even the most creative playwrights.

Archibald dourly realized the intense irony in this situation, and yet it only reaffirmed his need to know more about his situation. Who knows? Maybe one day he would be replaced like Riege had, enough insane stuff had happened in the last week alone that Archibald no longer discounted the possibility.

Finally, after a few more minutes of tireless chatter with the siblings, Archibald was able to chase them off with mentions of the various chores they surely had to do. All children in the orphanage, even those that were very young, had some sort of responsibility. According to the Headmaster and the various mentors, it built character.

With Jill and Olivand gone, tranquility once again reigned within the glade. Giving one last look at the exquisite scenery around him, Archibald decided that it was time he stopped delaying his inevitable meeting with the Headmaster.

Ruminating in his mind over the sudden encounter, Archibald gloomily realized that he would likely have to act like Riege when he met people familiar with Riege. Riege was nearly the opposite of Archibald, his personality being upbeat and almost childish. Regardless, however, Archibald decided that it was better to err on the side of caution, especially when mysterious powers were present in this world. Who knew what would happen if someone grew suspicious of his personality. Overall, he would rather avoid such a troublesome issue which could be solved by simply being cautious.

Quelling his thoughts about Riege’s matters, Archibald started walking back toward the path that had led to the glade. Soon, after hopping over a few new gaps in the ever drifting Giant lily pads, he arrived at the main path once more. With one last hop, Archibald crossed the border between the lily pads and arrived back onto the stone path that would lead him to the Central Tower.

Wasting no more time, Archibald picked up his pace and in less than thirty seconds of walking arrived at the entrance of the Central Tower. For some reason the tower, despite being so close all along, was shrouded in a particularly dense fog that obscured its form.

Nearing the tower Archibald found that from the outside the tower looked like a medieval watchtower, with a rectangular base and tall walls made entirely of dim gray faceted stone, like huge gray bricks stacked upon each other. Looking upward, Archibald saw that around two stories up, the tower expanded a bit into a wooden canopy that cast a shadow over the few meters leading up to the entrance. It was impossible to see the roof from his current angle.

Confused at the sight of this strange tower, Archibald muttered in his mind, “Strange…why does an orphanage have what looks like a watch tower in the middle of it. It’s not like the tower serves any purpose given that we’re close to the Upper Round. Hmm, maybe it’s some remnant of Craggvale’s early expansion or something?”

Dispelling his suspicions, Archibald looked back at the towering metal doors in front of him. The black metal seemed to absorb the surrounding light, its shadow washing over Archibald. Taking a deep breath, Archibald steeled his resolve and pushed hard at the doors.

With surprising ease, the doors opened inward without a sound, and Archibald was greeted with what seemed at first glance a black maw.

Tentatively, Archibald took a step forward and almost shot back in surprise as two wall-mounted torches suddenly roared to life with a crackle. Their flames were a deep and bright orange that illuminated the circular room he found himself in.

The inside of the tower was surprisingly empty, its stone floors and walls bare of any decoration save for the torches adorning the walls. The absence of windows made the air feel stale and cold, creating a dreary atmosphere.

Taking a few more steps forward, Archibald heard the doors close behind him with a metallic thud, shutting out what already little natural light pierced the fog surrounding the tower. Instead of looking back, however, he stared straight ahead and saw the start of a wooden staircase.

Craning his neck upwards, Archibald saw that the staircase rose and circled the walls of the room. Vaguely in the dimly lit shadows, Archibald could see that the staircase ended at the entrance to some sort of doorway high up.

This was all expected though. From Riege’s past experiences, Archibald knew that if he walked up these stairs that he would arrive at a short hallway that would then lead to the Headmaster’s office at the top of the tower. Hell, Archibald even had a strong impression of the Headmaster from Riege’s various meetings with him when he was still living at the orphanage. From the few encounters that Riege had, the Headmaster seemed amicable if not a bit eccentric.

However, Archibald doubted Riege’s impression of the man. After all, it was hard to gauge the heart of men, and Archibald had no idea how the Headmaster would react to him actually Awakening. Although he doubted that the Headmaster would outright kill him given that the orphanage taught the children how to Awaken, he still didn’t know what would happen to him once he proved he awakened.

Feeling strangely calm at this pivotal moment, Archibald arrived at the foot of the staircase. With no hesitation, Archibald started his ascent. Each step he took elicited light groans from the worn wooden stairs. He had no fear even if the staircase had no railing, though he reckoned that it would not be fun to fall from the top, around ten meters up.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

In less than a minute, Archibald arrived at the top of the stairs. It seemed like Riege’s thin frame betrayed his quite well-developed endurance. Strangely he wasn’t even a bit spent despite climbing more than ten meters of stairs. Musing at the thought, Archibald muttered absentmindedly in his heart, “Guess all that work at the Beastyard kept him in shape at least, though I don’t ever recall him being this fit…” Thoughts trailing off into obscurity, Archibald turned his attention to the few meters long, wing-span-wide hallway in front of him.

Unlike the bare walls of the lower floor, the walls and even the floor of the hallway were lavishly decorated in comparison. The ceiling of the hallway was embedded with glowing stones that illuminated the surroundings with what seemed like a fine drape of warm orange-white light. Beneath him, a maroon rug with intricate golden embroidery of a man slaying a beast lay.

Scratching his head for a second, Archibald scoffed to himself disdainfully, “What need does a Headmaster of some random orphanage have for that…'a pauper trying to flaunt with borrowed riches'?” Archibald was starting to see where the funding of the orphanage went.

Against the center of both sides of the walls a narrow white stone podium rose and held a carving of a face. Looking below the statues, Archibald found that they were carvings of the past and current City Lord. “Huh, one Vallere Thornford,” Archibald shifted his gaze to the right side of the hallway, “and Ender Thornford. I suppose it's good to know who runs the show around here…”

Analyzing the statue's features, Archibald found that both men looked similar. Both had boorish, almost violent features, yet they carried dispositions of calmness that contrasted their natural visages. To Archibald, their expression reminded him of those he had seen who had been wealthy and in power their whole life. To him it seemed they wielded authority as their birthright.

Beyond the intricately carved stone busts, however, were four portraits that depicted the prior Headmasters of the orphanage. Two portraits flanked the bust’s on each side of the hallway.

Despite the lavish appearance and fine detail of the portraits, Archibald found no need nor interest to closely observe them. After all, he didn’t live in the orphanage and he was pretty sure that the Headmaster wasn’t a very influential man. If anything, he seemed greedy from what Archibald had seen, what with the decrepit state of the orphanage that contrasted with the opulent sight before him.

Tension lifting from his shoulders at the realization that he wasn’t meeting some man of great character, Archibald took heavy and sure steps forward before knocking on the intricately carved wooden door in front of him. The doors' deep and textured carvings depicted a man using a spear to kill some type of giant lizard. Shaking his head in dismay, Archibald cried out in his mind, “Now this is getting insane! The man lords over orphans for a living. Does he take himself as some sort of lord from legend? Are the orphans his loyal band of soldiers there to help him slay the dragon? Hilarious!” Already Archibald was looking forward to the end of this meeting with this clearly delusional man.

No sooner than his thought had finished, the carved doors slowly opened before him.

Waiting until the door had opened fully, Archibald peered into the room and was astounded at the sheer vanity of the Headmaster. Mumbling in his mind, Archibald was astonished, “And I thought that the hallway was lavish for an orphanage’s Headmaster, but this…The hallway can’t even compare to this.”

Like the hallway before him, the ground was covered by an intricately embroidered rug. However, unlike the hallway, the rug had not one mere scene depicted but tens all linking in one grand story.

The walls of the Headmaster’s office were also extremely lavish, with rich and deep paneled wood walls covered with precious decorations adorned with jewels. Hell, Archibald even saw what looked like a beast’s skull with gems placed in its eye sockets hanging above the mantle of the stone fireplace against the left side of the room.

However, it wasn’t the beast skull or the intricate tapestries and artwork that adorned the walls that drew Archibald’s attention. Instead, it was the large, mahogany-colored desk in front of him that demanded his immediate attention. For at the center of the desk, illuminated only by a dim mix of red firelight and orange glow stone light, was an aged man of short and lean stature and ashy gray-green skin. It was the Headmaster of the Lower Round’s orphanage, and potential decidee of his fate, Throll Dzevk. As soon, as Archibald had entered the doorway, the man had already placed his attention on Archibald.

Clenching his hands, Archibald made sure to keep a neutral expression as he muttered in his mind, “This is it, Archibald, time for step one of the plan…”

Forcing himself to walk forward as naturally as possible Archibald approached the desk, and waited for the Headmaster to acknowledge his presence. Up close, the vague shadows that had previously obscured the Headmaster’s face retreated, and Archibald was presented with a pointed face, accentuated with narrow and sunken murky green eyes, a short pointed nose, and slightly pointed ears.

The Headmaster was formally dressed, wearing a suit-like garment and a gilded pair of glasses that adorned his aged face and gray-white hair and beard. His expression was serious, his gaze focused intensely on Archibald’s face.

Observing Throll’s appearance as the man slowly removed his glasses, Archibald tried to calm himself as he came face to face with his first actual encounter with an entirely new race. With a calm facade, Archibald only took a split second to call Riege’s memories to mind, “Right, Throll is a Gnoll. Pretty sure they originate from someplace far up north.”

“This is so strange, but I need to keep calm and get through this situation first, my amazement can be contained until later. I really hope that…”

“Ah, Mr. Riege! It has been a long time since I last saw you. Hmm, It has already been three years has it not, give or take two or so months? I do hope that you have been doing well! Without you here there’s one less vibrant voice echoing through the halls, you know how some of the Junior Orphans miss you so. Ah right! Just the other day, I heard a rumor that you got promoted at the Beastyard, how did…”

Abruptly Archibald was barraged by a never-ending stream of words, as Throll’s high-pitched and jovial voice rang through the room. Tension fading, Archibald finally believed Riege’s memories, “Despite the display of wealth, Riege always remembered the Headmaster as extremely friendly, almost to the point of annoyance. Hah, hopefully, that makes this if not safer, at least easier. It seems that my judgement is at least a bit off, though I still don't understand why only this place is decorated so lavishly...”

With that thought, Archibald interjected himself in Throll’s seemingly never-ending spew of words. “Ah, Headmaster, I have Awakened.” Archibald didn’t even bother to sugarcoat his words or ease the conversation toward this revelation.

“...say, I remember when I was your age. Hah! How silly I was, I didn’t even want to take care of myself. My parents were always so disappointed in me, but I’ll have you know that….Huh?” All at once, Throll’s animated face froze, and his words abruptly caught in his throat.

At once, time seemed to stand still as Throll mechanically shifted his gaze to Archibald’s eyes. His high-pitched voice somehow dropping an octave lower, Throll dryly asked quietly, “You…Awakened you say…? Did you just say that you Awakened?”

Raising his head to fully match Throll’s gaze, Archibald steeled his expression and spoke in all seriousness, “Yes Headmaster, just last night I successfully Awakened. I am now a Physiquer, I am sure of it.”

After what seemed like an eternity of tense silence, all tension seemed to instantly melt off of Throll’s face as time seemed to resume. Archibald barely had any time to prepare himself before Throll actually leaped from his chair and rushed around his desk to Archibald. With a high-pitched cry of joy, Throll, at just above waist height of Archibald, grabbed Archibald’s hands and nearly danced in joy, pulling Archibald all over the room.

Letting go of Archibald’s hands, Throll had barely composed himself as he spoke in a voice that was both extremely jittery and excited, “Do you know what this means Riege?! You are now a Physiquer! Oh my, Great Ones…oh my Great Ones! I can’t believe that a Physiquer actually came from my orphanage! Oh my!” Seemingly lost in his thoughts, Throll turned away from Archibald as he started pacing up and down the room mumbling incoherently to himself.

Watching this scene and still gathering himself from the surprise dance around the room, Archibald mentally raised the importance attached to Physiquers by several levels. Gazing at the Headmaster as he seemingly had a revelation, and ran back behind his desk to rifle through some cabinets, Archibald sighed relievedly in his mind as his fists unclenched.

“ Good. Seems that I’ve gotten through the first hurdle at least. It looks like Headmaster Throll is a pretty good person at least, I doubt he would knowingly invite harm to me. Now it’s time for the next part of the plan, meeting the Envoy. This is about where Riege’s knowledge ends, I’ll have to go in blind from here. I need to be careful of what I say and reveal, the less the better. Speaking in half-truths will probably be best from here on after all I don't know I my arrival here was very orthodox. Hopefully if they ever do find out human experimentation is off the table at least...”

Waiting calmly, Archibald only had to wait a scant few seconds, before he heard the Headmaster’s high-pitched voice ring out from behind the desk, “Aha! Found it, found it!” With his pointed and lean face popping up from behind the desk, Throll quickly got back into his chair as he gingerly placed a milky white orb mounted on a silver metal base onto the desk. “If I remember correctly, It was one swipe left, two up, inject some mental energy, swipe down…” Throll’s voice tapered off as he muttered, deep in thought while his hands moved rapidly over the smooth surface of the orb.

After what seemed like a minute or so, Throll tore his gaze away from the orb and beamed at Archibald, “Riege I have already invited the Envoy, he’ll come to verify your Awakening and complete your Initiation. I almost still can’t believe that you have Awakened! This is so great! For you and the orphanage! So unexpected! Ah, you can stop standing there already! Quickly, sit down, “ Throll motioned with his hand toward a cushioned wooden chair that lay in front of the desk, “you’re no longer an ordinary citizen Archibald, no. Now you’re a Physiquer! Wow, I feel giddy even saying it! You must be feeling greatly excited right about now?”

Composing his thoughts, Archibald sat down and quickly fabricated an excited expression that was half-fake and half-representative of his true feelings. Mimicking Riege’s natural upbeat tone Archibald spoke aloud with exaggerated hand movements. “I almost couldn’t believe it, sir! I was coming back from my shift at the Beastyard when I felt the Thrum start to take hold of my body, I almost thought I was going crazy! But then I remembered the Mentor’s teachings, and all of the sudden I realized what was happening! I ran as fast as I could to my house so that I could Awaken in private. Luckily I remembered what the Mentor’s have told us in the past, and everything went smoothly.” Archibald quietly left out the hitches that occurred in Riege’s Awakening; there was no need to make the Headmaster worry and potentially create suspicion.

Unlike his excited ramblings, however, Archibald's inner mind was beyond the conversation, “How exactly did the Headmaster contact the envoy? Sure I can infer that the orb has something to do with it, but how? Is it something related to Physiquers or some weird form of technology?” With no answers in sight, Archibald concluded that he could ask the Headmaster or the Envoy later.

“Good, good, good!” The Headmaster spoke in an evidently pleased voice, “Come now you must have some questions for me? There’s no need to be shy, I may not be a Physiquer myself but I have been in contact with the Envoys and even occasionally the Institute itself for more than three decades now. Oh, dear me! I’m getting ahead of myself, you don’t even know what the Institute is. You see every Initiate, what you now are, enrolls in the Institute. Oh, don’t ask me what being an Initiate means though, I haven’t the faintest idea! You know how secretive Physiquers are and all that. Ha… I don’t see why they are, given that they’re so rare. Though I can’t blame them for being so eccentric! Ha, I fancy myself a bit of an eccentric as well, heh, similar people understand each other best at the end of the day. Shame that I don’t have the talent though, up north I could have been a tinkerer or some…”

Gaze shifting to the ceiling with his wiry gray-green hands behind his head as he reclined in his chair, the Headmaster once again started to incessantly ramble. It was clear to Archibald now, that once the Headmaster got a thought in his head, he couldn’t help himself from following that thought until another inevitably took its place.

Still, listening to Throll’s incessant rambling, Archibald was able to glean quite a bit of useful information. For one, he now knew that he was an Initiate and that there was an institute that he would be enrolled in. Though, by Throll’s tone, the enrollment seemed far more mandatory than optional. Although the word institute carried some worrying implications, it was already far more optimistic than some of Archibald’s more dark speculations. Still, Archibald had some questions he wanted answers to.

“Ahem, Sir?” Archibald coughed loudly into his fist to get the Headmaster’s attention, “I was hoping to ask a few questions.”

“-and that’s when I said, you can stick that sorry specimen of a wand up your…!” Hearing Archibald's question, the Headmaster broke out of his heated conversation with the air, “Ah, ah excuse me young Riege! Oh, look at me getting off track again! Come, what questions do you have, I don’t know much but I will explain what I know. I really hate to brag, but in the Lower Round I’m something of a…”

“Sir!” Archibald lightly cried out to get the Headmaster’s attention. Discontentedly, Archibald mumbled in his mind, “How did this guy get the position of Headmaster in the first place, I swear he can’t keep track of one topic for more than a minute.”

With an apologetic tone, the Headmaster spoke “So sorry, good lad. So sorry! I got carried away again. Alright, that’s it! No more distractions, I’m all ears. Ask away!” With that, the Headmaster sat upright, hands folded on top of each other on his desk. His straight posture combined with his serious expression let Archibald know that he could finally ask his questions.

“Alright then, well first I wanted to ask how to access my Spirit Pool again. I haven’t been able to since my Awakening.” Archibald asked a question that had pressed on his mind since he first realized he was a Physiquer, for some reason he just couldn’t view his Spirit Pool like Riege could in his memories.

At once, the Headmaster’s gaunt face turned contemplative, “Hmm? That’s strange, I’ve never heard of a Physiquer not being able to view their Spirit Pool…How strange, the Introspection process should have stayed the same…Strange, truly strange…” His voice tapered off as he started to mumble inaudibly to himself as he stroked his short white beard.

Blanching slightly, sweat pooled at Archibald’s back as he cursed himself for his carelessness, “Fuck, I should have been more cautious with my questions! I should have eased into it and found out what was appropriate to ask. Fuck, I’ve already screwed myself at the first step! How could I be so careless!”

“...then again, I suppose it could be due to fluctuating mental energy after the opening of the mind…” Seemingly satisfied with his conclusion, the Headmaster raised his head and looked at Archibald with a kind smile, “I’m sure there’s no reason to be worried chap, I say that it’s just a combination of your mental energy being recently awakened plus your emotions that are causing you the issue. You remember from the Mentors’ lessons right? The key to successful Introspection is a quiet heart and mind.”

At Throll's words Archibald's expression stilled strangely for a moment as he screamed in his mind, "Goddamnit why not say that first you rambling old buffoon!"

Given a plausible out, Archibald’s body finally relaxed slightly in his chair as he responded in a voice that betrayed a sudden realization, “Of course sir, I must just be excited and confused still! Everything just happened so suddenly! Now that you bring it up, I'm sure that when I calm down everything will work normally again.”

Archibald's thoughts, however, trailed off, “Perhaps I overreacted for a second there. Ugh, the tension is getting to me. I'm truly out of my depth...I miss the simplicity of home.” Archibald gave a muted sigh, “It seems that I now have to learn how to use Introspection from scratch. I should be able to recall how Riege learned it right? Anyway, no point in worrying about the why only the how. It seems that learning Introspection will be at the top of my list for the near future. From here on though I have to be careful with my questions. Who knows what kind of trouble I could have gotten myself into…”

…

“Uh hum! I don’t mean to rush you young Riege, but I’m afraid we only have time for one more question before the esteemed Envoy arrives! Look…” Archibald, taken out of his slight fugue by the Headmaster’s words, looked to where the man was pointing. Tracing the line from the Headmaster’s near withered-looking green-gray thin finger, Archibald saw that he was pointing at the orb as it flashed periodically.

“You would naturally learn this later on, but there’s no harm in telling you now. This orb here is a messenger orb. Each orb is bonded to the user's unique mental energy imprint. That means that you can exchange your imprint on another orb and effectively create a link between the two orbs! It’s a thing of wonder ain't it?” The Headmaster tore his excited gaze away from the orb and gestured toward the orb like it was some magnificent treasure. “Of course, there’s more going on than just the exchange of mental imprints. Oh, I could just go on and on about the alchemy required to fashion a material that could store hundreds of mental imprints, or the oh-so-delicate runes that channel natural Tether Energy directly into stone from the very air around us! Say! Have I told you how when I was just a young lad…”

“Great, he’s lost on another tangent already! I guess I won’t get that last question, though I would have struggled to think of a good one that wouldn’t raise suspicion either way. Still though…how the hell does he talk so much!” Mentally facepalming, all Archibald could do was mimic Riege and turn his expression into one that resembled rapt attention despite the old man’s meandering stories.

“...around your age, I dreamed of being a grand Elevated Alchemist! Oh, those days of little worries, and free dreams! Alas…my lack of talent was the end of those dreams. Not that you’ll have that problem though lad Riege! No, you’ve already crossed the first gate, hmm speaking of gates you’ve passed by the district gates in the past, haven’t you? Strange things those are, warded to high hell and tough enough that even a…”

Abruptly, the Headmaster paused in his animated rant as the messenger orb glowed resplendently in one last final burst of light before turning dim once more.

Like this, the Headmaster briefly fell into a daze before returning back to lucidity. Pointed face rapidly morphing into an even more excited expression, the Headmaster hopped off off his desk chair as he spoke while walking to Archibald, “I’m afraid there’s no more time for that last question Riege, the Envoy is finally here! Quick stand up lad, there’s no good in disrespecting an Envoy!” As the Headmaster said this, he was already halfway across the room and rapidly nearing the door.

Nearly stumbling over himself in his haste, Archibald quickly stood up as he mentally steeled himself for what was to come. From what he heard so far he didn’t seem to be in danger, but it never hurt to be cautious. Sadly the only immediate exit was the very door from which the Envoy would enter.

Like this Archibald waited with bated breath as he intensely stared at the Headmaster as he neared the door. Each step the aged Gnoll took was like a war drum that beat on Archibald’s heart.

Reaching the door, the Headmaster wasted no time twisting the knob and opening the door.

At once, everything - every sound and every color - around Archibald seemed to fade as he focused intensely on the door as it opened.

Every fiber of his being seemed to know that this was a crucial moment as his nerves screamed at him. Every part of him knew that his future would open or close with this door.