Mother of Learning: ARC 1

4

Zorian shrugged. While he did intend to break away from his family, he’d prefer to wait until graduation, and that was two years away. He motioned on for her to continue.

“That’s the easy part finished, then. Now…,” she began searching the pockets of her suit as though looking for something, “the records say you lived in the academy housing for the past two years. I assume you intend to continue?”

Zorian nodded just in time for Ilsa to pull out a rather strange key, which she promptly handed to him. He turned the thing over in one hand as he examined it. Zorian knew how locks in general worked, and could even pick simpler ones with enough time, but he couldn’t figure out how this key was supposed to work—it had no ‘teeth’ to fit in with the tumblers inside the lock. On a hunch, he channeled some mana into it, and faint golden lines immediately lit across the surface of the metal. He looked at Ilsa with a silent question.

“Housing for third years works differently than you are used to,” she told him. “As you’re likely aware, now that you are a certified first circle mage, the academy is authorized to teach you spells of the first circle and above. Since you’ll be handling sensitive material, greater security is required, so you’ll be moving into a different building. The lock on your door is keyed to your mana, so you’ll have to channel some of your personal mana into the key like you did just now before it will unlock.”

“Ah,” said Zorian. Idly he spun the key in his hand, wondering how exactly they got a hold of his mana signature. Something to research later, he supposed.

“Normally I would be explaining to you in detail what it means to be a third year student at Cyoria’s magical academy, but I hear you have a train leaving soon, so why don’t we jump straight to the main reason I’m here: your mentor and electives. You can ask me anything you wish to know afterwards.”

Zorian perked up on this, especially the mention of ‘mentor’. Each third year was given a mentor that they met with once a week, who was supposed to teach students in ways not possible in a standard class format, and otherwise help them reach their maximum potential. A choice of one’s mentor could make or break one’s magical career, and Zorian knew he had to choose carefully. Fortunately, he had asked around among older students to find out which ones were good and which ones were bad, so he figured he would at least be able to get an above-average one.

“So which mentors can I choose from?” Zorian asked.

“Well, actually, I’m afraid you can’t,” Ilsa said. “Like I said, I was supposed to get to you sooner. Unfortunately, all but one of the mentors have filled their quota of students at this point.”

Zorian had a bad feeling about this… “And this mentor is?”

“Xvim Chao.”

Zorian groaned, burying his face in his hands. Of all the teachers, Xvim was widely agreed upon as the worst mentor you could possibly get. It just had to be him, didn’t it?

“It’s not that bad,” Ilsa assured him. “The rumors are mostly exaggerated, and mostly spread by students unwilling to do the kind of work Professor Xvim requires of his charges. I’m sure a talented, hard-working student such as yourself will have no problems with him.”

Zorian snorted. “I don’t suppose there is any chance to transfer to another mentor, is there?”

“Not really. We’ve had a really good pass rate last year, and all of the mentors are swamped with students as it is. Professor Xvim is the least burdened of the available mentors.”

“My, I wonder why,” Zorian mumbled. “All right, fine. What about electives?”

Ilsa handed him another scroll, this one unsealed, containing a list of all elective classes offered by the academy. It was long. Very long. You could sign up for practically anything, even things that weren’t of strictly magical nature: things like advanced mathematics, classical literature, and architecture. It was to be expected, really, since Ikosian magical tradition had always been inextricably connected to other intellectual pursuits.

“You can choose up to five but no fewer than three electives this year. It would be a lot more convenient for us if you did it now, so that we can finalize the schedules over the weekend before the classes start. Don’t be too intimidated by the sheer size of the list. Even if you choose something that doesn’t appeal to you, you can switch to a different elective during the first month of school.”

Zorian frowned. There were a lot of electives and he wasn’t quite sure which ones he wanted to take. He'd already gotten shafted in the mentor department, so he really couldn’t afford to screw up here. This would take a while.

“Please don’t take this the wrong way, Miss Zileti, but would you mind if we take a short break before we go any further with this?”

“Of course not,” she said. “Is something the matter?”

“Not at all,” assured Zorian. “It’s just that I really need to go to the bathroom.”

Probably not the best way to make a first impression. Kirielle was so going to pay for putting him in this position.