by Phoenix Grey
When Azure finally got up at around noon, he headed downstairs to the tavern for some hair of the dog that bit him, hoping that it worked the same in The Realm as it did in his world.
You have received the following item:
Pint of Beer
Quantity: 1/1
Item Class: Common
Quality: Average
Weight: 1.0 kg
Uses: Makes your worries feel less harrowing.
Effects: Increases strength by 3% for one hour
Decreases attack of all weapons and magic by 20% for one hour
Decreases Agility, Dexterity, Charisma, and Luck by 3 points for one hour
His buzz came back as soon as he finished drinking the beer, though it certainly didn't improve his hangover, sliding into the same feeling that he'd had before he drank it, if not a little worse. Resigned to his suffering, Azure spent the next hour Analyzing people who came and went while he sipped water. After that, he returned to his room to lazy the day away, excited about the thought of returning to Hawking's School of Land Magic.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
THE REALM – Day 59
The following morning, Azure woke up bright and early to make his way to Hawking's School of Land Magic. There was pep in his step, and he whistled while he walked. Things finally seemed to be looking up, but Azure knew that he'd have to be careful with his money. It would not last forever, and eventually, he would have to quest again to afford his living expenses and classes. As it was, Azure currently had twelve gold that he could devote to magic classes. That would only buy him one semester of land magic, if he decided to take all of the classes available, which he was pretty sure he wouldn't want to do. Variety was the spice of life, and while he would get a discount on the land spells if he took a full semester, he'd get more spells if he spread his money out to other types of magic.
The path to Hawking's School of Land Magic hadn't lost any of its wonder. Azure enjoyed the menagerie of birds and animals as he walked with renewed energy. It felt like the smile plastered on his face wouldn't go away. This is what he had worked so hard for. Even the grumpy receptionist with the horn-rimmed glasses couldn't sour his mood as she looked at him like an inconvenience.
"I have the money to enroll in my first class," he announced proudly. Perhaps a bit too proudly. Loud enough that a girl walking out of the building gave him a strange look. "I would like to speak to Elise."
"Do you have an appointment?" Miss Ogden asked in a nasally monotone.
He had forgotten about this. "How does one even make an appointment?" It wasn't like cell phones existed in this world.
She ignored his question. "I'll go inform Elise that you are here." The receptionist stood and disappeared down a walkway to her right.
What was the point of even making an appointment if he could just get in to see Elise right away anyway?
The question was answered when Miss Ogden returned some thirty minutes later. Azure had no idea what always took her so long. "She's with someone right now. I'll call you when she's available."
"All right," he replied hesitantly as he turned and remembered that there was nowhere for him to sit. "Should I wait outside?" Azure thumbed back.
The woman pushed her glasses up on her nose, clearly annoyed by his presence. They stared at each other until Azure felt uncomfortable.
"I'll just wait outside," he told her before taking his leave, since she clearly had no intention of answering him.
This place needs to hire better people, he thought as he walked about a yard away from the building to sit on the grass. Minutes turned into hours turned into intense boredom. Azure's excitement waned, and frustration set in. When the sun started to make its descent toward the horizon, Azure began to worry. He did not want to be caught outside in the dark again. Last time, it had nearly cost him his life.
Resigning to the fact that he'd be better off making an appointment, he stood and walked back into the building to approach the receptionist. Her eyes widened slightly when she caught sight of him, as if she'd forgotten about him completely. The second they made eye contact, she shifted her gaze down to her desk and shuffled some papers around.
"Excuse me." Azure rested his hand on top of her desk. "I'm afraid I'll have to return to Squall's End soon. If you don't think that Elise will be available to see me within the next hour, I'd like to make an appointment and return at a later time." It pained him that he'd wasted an entire day doing nothing, but it couldn't be helped. Not remembering that he'd need an appointment was his own fault. Perhaps he had just gotten lucky the first time he'd come when Elise was able to see him after only thirty minutes of waiting.
Regaining her professional composure, Miss Ogden said, "Return tomorrow two hours after the sun rises above the horizon, and Miss Smith will be available to see you."
"Thank you." He nodded, trying not to sound annoyed but quickly deciding that he did not like this woman at all.
Thankfully, he made it back to Squall's End before nightfall. Tired and upset, Azure went to the tavern to have a frustration beer and Analyze people. It was an unusually busy night, and that only worked to irritate him further. Not feeling like being around a bunch of drunk people, he retired to his room and tried to get to sleep early. Perhaps tomorrow would be a better day.
Azure arrived at Hawking's School of Land Magic bright and early and still had to wait an additional hour before gaining an audience with Elise. When he walked into her office, her eyes lit up, seeming genuinely happy to see him.
"Hey there! That was fast. You must have gotten a good score on a quest," she said brightly.
"You guessed correctly." Azure took a seat in the gnarled tree chair across from her.
"Well, I'm glad you came back." The dwarf clasped her hands together on top of her desk. "As you can imagine, many who discover how expensive magic school is never come back."
Or they just buy spells on the black market, Azure thought, though he didn't dare say it.
"Well, here I am." He outstretched his arms as if it was a surprise.
She chuckled before unclasping her hands to scan over a paper on top of her desk. "So, we went over everything last time, and I'm assuming you have enough money for your first semester..." Elise eyed him.
"I do, but""
"Excellent," she cut him off, relief ringing clear in her voice. "First things first, then. You will have to learn Elvish. The cost of the book is three gold, but you'll be happy to know that we have plenty in stock."
Azure was less happy to know that it would cost him three of the twelve gold he had planned to spend on magic school. Damn, that book was expensive. But he supposed it made sense since so many spells were written in Elvish.
"All right," he replied hesitantly, feeling his asshole pucker. Hopefully, there wouldn't be any additional unforeseen expenses.
"Great. With that business concluded, we should discuss how you plan to pay for your classes. Since I remember you have an interest in majoring in land magic, is it safe to assume that you'll be paying for the entire semester up front?"
Purchasing an entire semester of land magic classes was off the table if he wanted to save enough coin to be able to afford his own room at the inn for a month. The cost of the Elvish language book would make sure of that. Though he could always just suck it up and continue to room with Lonnell.
"Can we go over the spells available for novice land magic first?" Azure inquired. If he ultimately wanted to save money, it would make sense to take the entire first semester. But Azure needed to be sure he actually liked the spells first. There was no point in investing a ton of money in spells he would never use.
Elise's smile faltered, sensing that Azure was going to back out of paying for the entire semester up front. More than likely, she had seen this dozens of times before though, so it didn't make Azure feel too badly about it.
"Of course." The dwarf took the paper she'd been looking at earlier and slid it over to Azure. A list of three spells was displ
ayed. Concentrating on the sheet brought up their information.
Spell Scroll: Grease
Quantity: 1/1
Weight: 0 kg
Mana Cost: 10
Range: 40 feet
Cooldown: Three Minutes
Magic Class: Land
Uses: Creates an oily surface 6 feet in radius.
Spell Scroll: Dirty Move
Quantity: 1/1
Weight: 0 kg
Mana Cost: 20
Range: 6 feet
Cooldown: Three Minutes
Magic Class: Land
Uses: Blows dirt into your enemies eyes causing blindness for 10 seconds.
Spell Scroll: Woodflesh
Quantity: 1/1
Weight: 0 kg
Mana Cost: 20
Range: Self
Cooldown: Six Minutes
Magic Class: Land
Uses: Your skin stiffens into the consistency of wood. Adds +20 armor to the caster.
"These all have a relatively long cooldown period," Azure noted, trying to hide his disappointment that none of the spells caused damage.
He'd already seen the Grease and Dirty Move spells in action, and both were useful in their own way. Blinding an enemy with Dirty Move would definitely give Azure an advantage. Grease would help put distance between him and his enemies. It also slowed those who walked through it. Coupled with fire, it could be incredibly dangerous.
Woodflesh was the only one he hadn't witnessed yet. Or perhaps he had but just didn't know it. A boost to armor was never a bad thing, but it wasn't as exciting as the other two spells.
The greedy part of him"and the part that was super stoked to finally learn magic"wanted all of the spells. It honestly wasn't as bad of a mix as he had thought. But the cheapskate in him wanted more spells for less coin.
"Can I see the spells from the other classes of magic?" he asked, wanting to shop around.
"You have to choose at least one of these spells." She tapped her finger on the paper.
"I know. I just...want to look at the others first before I decide if I want to take an entire semester of land magic."
Elise sat back in her chair, seeming slightly annoyed. "You will have to talk to the other professors to see what their current offerings are. But before you go, you should know that they will only give you three spells to choose from for each magic class, even if there are more than that. New spells will be cycled in after you learn one of the three spells offered."
Azure furrowed his brow. "Why is that? What if I don't like any of the spells?"
"It's how we do things here to keep the balance of magic and to make sure that you're serious about your studies in whatever aspect of magic you plan to major in."
"What if you major in everything?"
"Then you would be a Grand Master Mage, and of those, there are only two in the entire world." The look she gave Azure suggested that would be impossible for him, and she was probably right. He couldn't imagine the amount of time and money it would take to learn every spell in The Realm.
"Well, I'm also interested in learning some life magic and battle magic and alchemy. I think, in my line of work, those classes of magic would be super beneficial to me."
"That's understandable. But know this, if you buy one land magic class but later decide that you want the rest, you will not get the discount. This is a one-time offer for enrollment."
Azure chewed on her words, now wishing he hadn't spent so much money at the market. Then again, he hadn't anticipated wanting all of the land magic spells. Nor had he expected that the Elvish language book was going to cost him three gold. If not for that, he could have afforded the entire semester of land magic plus a few other spells. Just yesterday, he felt like one of the wealthiest men in all of The Realm. Now, he felt like a broke ass again.
"Crap," he cursed under his breath.
"Is something wrong?" Elise hummed.
Azure shook his head and sighed. "I thought I had enough money for this, but if I buy the Elvish book and the full semester of land magic, I'm going to cut into my rent budget for next month."
Elise leaned forward, her expression going serious. "Do you want the spells, Azure? Do you want to save money?"
"Yes." He nodded.
"Then think of it this way. You already have a job as an Adventurer. There's almost an entire month before your rent is due again. You will save," she glanced down at the paper looking for the sum she'd scrawled in the corner, "one gold and seven silver if you take a full semester. Now you and I both know that's nothing to sneeze at. No other school in The Realm is going to offer you these kinds of prices on land magic classes. These prices are exclusive to us because this is our specialty.
"Once you enroll, you can take the classes at your leisure. That means if you need to take one, then go off and adventure to make money to pay your rent, that's totally fine. You will be able to take the classes at any time for as long as this school exists." She tapped the top of her desk before leaning back again. "Besides, just think of how quickly you'll level up your land magic skill if you only have one block of spells to learn and cast. You'll reach apprentice level in no time."
Ugh. Why did she make so much sense?
Azure closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to think. Part of him still wanted to go look at the other spells, but he was worried about losing out on saving money. He did, after all, want all of the spells she had presented him with. They were all so useful.
"Fine," he said after several minutes of silence, though he didn't sound happy about it. "Your logic makes perfect sense. I can't argue with it."
"Excellent." A smile lit up her face at the victory. "That will be fourteen gold, five silver, and nine copper. You won't regret this."
It sounded like she was trying to convince him, and she was failing at it. A piece of him already regretted his decision. He just hoped it would pay off in the long run.
Hesitantly, Azure handed over the coin, bemoaning the fact that he'd probably have to return to The Adventurers Guild soon to make up the difference in the money he'd just spent. Back at the market, he had thought he had shopped conservatively. Maybe he hadn't really needed the Small Bag of Holding. A smaller capacity bag would have been acceptable. But he wasn't about to sell it back now. It wasn't just a bag. It was a symbol of all he'd been through, of his failures and triumphs. That alone made it more important to him than anything else he currently owned.
After paying his tuition, Azure had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. Attending magic school was supposed to make him happy. If so, then why did he feel so shitty right now?
Elise took a small slip of paper from atop her desk and handed it to him. "Take this to the library and give it to Cheryl, our librarian. She will issue you a copy of Speaking Elvish for Idiots. It's a voucher, so make sure you don't lose it. Once you learn Elvish, you'll be eligible to take your first class. Since you purchased the entire semester, you can take your classes in whatever order you prefer. Would you like to begin tomorrow or start at a different time?" She shuffled through the papers on her desk, moving one that appeared to be a roster to the front. Pulling her quill and inkwell close, Elise stared at Azure, waiting for his answer.
"I'd like to start today, if at all possible." There were still plenty of hours of daylight left, and if learning Elvish was like any other language, it should only take a matter of minutes for him to completely absorb and understand it.
A sympathetic frown curled the corners of the dwarf's lips. "I'm sorry, but I'm all booked up today. The earliest available appointment I have is for the same time tomorrow."
Azure sighed inwardly, and bitter thoughts filled his mind that the magic school seemed to be big on wasting his time. Didn't they understand that he had better things to do than travel back and forth?
Tension pinched his shoulders. Azure took a deep breath and exhaled. Did he really have better things to do? In truth, it would be a while before he'd have to worry about rent, a
nd it wasn't like Lonnell actually wanted him to leave. If Azure wanted to, all he'd have to do was focus on school for the remainder of the month. Besides, if Lonnell was actually able to revive Uden, they could start splitting the rent three ways, which would make things so much cheaper. But did he really want to go that route? The answer didn't matter right now. All that mattered was that it was an option, and he shouldn't be stressing out over problems that he was only creating for himself.
Azure forced the tightness in his muscles to relax as he thanked Elise for the voucher and had her point him in the direction of the library. A short walk down the hall brought him to an open doorway, the last door on the right. As soon as Azure turned the corner, he stopped dead in his tracks, his mouth falling agape as he took in the splendor of the space.
Azure had seen plenty of grand libraries in his own world, and this wasn't as large as many of them. What was awe-inspiring was the magic infused within the place. The ceiling was a canopy of branches, the boughs of the trees bending inward. Lush green and golden leaves blanketed the sky with strategically placed gaps between them to allow light to shine in and illuminate the expansive room. Birds of various species fluttered from branch to branch, but they couldn't be heard. As the dying leaves fell toward the ground, they kissed an invisible forcefield some two feet from the last hanging bough and disappeared into nothing. There was obviously some kind of magic in place to keep the sound and debris out. It made sense. Otherwise, it would be too noisy to actually be considered a library, and Azure didn't even want to imagine what it would have taken to clean the place.
Like all of the furniture in Hawking's, the furniture in the library sprung from the ground in the form of trees, magicked and warped to resemble bookshelves, tables, and chairs. Thousands of books lined the shelves. Azure wondered if they were filled with knowledge about potions and spells. The thought excited him.
In the center of the room was a kiosk manned by a tall, slender woman"if she could be called that. Her face was a mix of animal and human. Light brown hair covered her cheeks, accented by white spots. Larger than life eyes were set widely apart on her face. They were blacker than pitch but didn't appear unfriendly. Ears that looked like they belonged on a deer flopped against the sides of her head, framing her face along with long messy brown hair. With no chest to speak of besides a slope that went down to a lean stomach, the yellow blouse she wore hung from her. Azure couldn't see the rest of her hidden behind the kiosk.
