NOVEL NEXT Book 3 Chapter 5
"Have you ever taken a magicka reserve test, Joseph?" Jason asked, as Volex parked the van in our newly-designated spot in the University's portable home district.
"No," I said. "Mom said it was pointless to try to quantify something like that, because of how much it'd change over the course of my life, and that I shouldn't bother chasing big numbers; that way lies insecurity and madness."
"Well," Jason began. "While I can see her perspective, I don't think you have much to worry about, regarding insecurity about your magicka reserves. By my estimation, you have deeper magicka reserves than any other student we've ever had."
"...Wait, what?" I asked, blinking. "How does that- Jason, I'm an elf. We don't- we don't grow that fast, and I'm only eighteen."
"Well, yes, but," Jason said. "When women with large magicka reserves give birth, their children typically have an easier time developing their own magicka reserves. And you are the son of one of the most powerful Wizards alive."
"That's..." I trailed off. "...Huh."
"Do... Do Bards use magicka, too?" Emily asked, tentatively.
"They do, yes," Jason said, nodding. "Why do you- oh, oh! I understand now- your mother, Melody Thompson, is an alumnus of this very university! If I recall correctly, she actually earned herself a Doctorate in Bardic Studies- I didn't sit on her committee, but I did read her dissertation, and it was truly inspired work. So, to answer your real question, young lady, yes, your mother likely did have substantial magicka reserves when she gave birth to you, and you will likely have an easier time developing your own magicka reserves as a result."
"Okay, okay," I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. "That's enough dramatic revelations for one day, Jason. You are not helping the headache I can only ignore thanks to years of autohypnosis. Can you please give us a campus tour without any of those?"
"Ah, I, ah, shall try my best?" Jason said, more than a bit bashfully. "Ahem. If you'll follow me?"
He led us out of the van through the back door, and into the wide, open space of the University's mobile home district, where adventurers who preferred to live inside enchanted caravans and the like could park their vehicles. The district itself was... weird, and felt artificial. Mage-forged roads of monolithic granite formed a grid, sectioning off the area into thirty foot squares where all the adventurers could park their portable houses. Someone, somewhere, looked at this and thought this was paradise. Me, I just felt like it was a waste of space, and couldn't help but think about the densely-packed high towers of starlight my people had once built.
Looking around, I could see some people milling about, and there were a few things I noticed pretty quickly.
One, there was a gradient to how outlandish people looked that probably corresponded to seniority. At the bottom of the ladder were people like us, who wore fairly normal clothing with maybe one or two odd accessories- a big black leather duster, a sword at your hip, a shield on your back, a staff in your hand- but, as you moved up, people dressed more and more bombastically, until we had what must be a group of seniors, who wore these absolutely baroque outfits that I struggled to parse, all of which found a different way to include at least a dozen belts.
Two, people tended to be clumped up in groups of three to six people, with many of the solitaires looking even more outlandish than their peers.
And three... while the University of Mount Fate wasn't a purely human institution, it was quite visibly a mostly human institution, with only a few scattered elves and dwarves around, and precisely two orcs and one goblin that I could see. Men were also far more common than women, with most adventuring parties having only one or two women, and uncomfortably many having none at all. I saw one party that was exclusively women, but I got the impression that they were a special gimmick party, rather than just an organic confluence of four female adventurers who happened to work well together.
"Here," Jason began, "we have the Portable House District. We've already filled out the paperwork for your spot, E15, and the grid layout should make it quite straightforward to find it again. Right over there, we have the main gate, and its rapid transit system, and attached to that, we have the Commissary. Now, you can buy food, toiletries, and other consumables from the Commissary, and it is in fact entirely possible to live comfortably off of what the Commissary offers, given its eminently reasonable prices, but most students prefer to make trips down to the town at the base of the mountain to buy groceries, due to the town lacking the University's restrictions on alcoholic beverages and their consumption."
"So, just to clarify, we aren't allowed to have beer up here?" Faith asked.
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"The rules state that the possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages on campus are prohibited," Jason said, in the manner of a man who thought it was a stupid rule and was very aware that the rule got broken with great frequency. "I do not recommend breaking the rules, but I am not about to lecture you about them, either. Now! If you've consulted your maps-" He created an illusory image of a campus map in midair, so that we wouldn't have to dig ours out. "-you may notice that the campus is quite ring-shaped, and behind us, you will find the central administrative office, along with the dormitories, the cafeteria, and the entrance to The Abyss, which you'll likely be visiting at least once during your studies here."
We all made noises of understanding, with me and Emily even nodding along.
"Now, around the outer ring, we have a number of facilities, each dedicated to a different field of study; going clockwise from here, the first building we have is the Luminous Hall, where all subjects Arcane are taught, followed by..."
---
"Hello, Jason," a Kitsune said as we exited the Hall of Measures, where all of the science and science-adjacent courses were taught. We were about halfway through the tour, and I was thoroughly regretting the decision to agree to this. "I see you're escorting... ah, your grandson? How fascinating. Hello, children. I am Professor Takeda Kiyoko, and I teach a number of advanced courses in the Occult arts, as well as a handful of beginner courses. I look forward to seeing you in class, Mister Ironheart."
"I..." I turned to regard Jason, who looked more annoyed than anything serious. "...Fair enough, Professor Kiyok- wait, did you use the Sunset ordering or the Hikaano ordering?" A quick count was all it took to confirm that, yes, Professor Takeda Kiyoko did have nine tails, and was thus quite old- and quite powerful- for a Kitsune.
It was, therefore, a very bad idea to annoy her.
"Sunset ordering?" Emily asked.
"In the Sunset Kingdoms, it is customary to introduce yourself by your family name, followed by your personal name," the Professor politely explained. "As such, I would more properly be Professor Takeda, although in a more informal context, I might permit you to call me Kiyoko."
Meaning that if I called her that without permission, I would be made to regret it.
Kitsune- who were, if memory served, not fully in agreement on being called "foxgirls"- were one of a wider category of being known to the High Elves as "non-humanoid people." The term "humanoid" was imperfect, as it was often misused to refer to the body type of "biped with opposable thumbs," but more properly, it meant "descended from humans." As such, despite the fact that Professor Takeda was in fact shaped like a (rather beautiful and matronly) human woman who simply happened to have fox ears and nine gorgeously fluffy red tails fanned out behind her back, the fact she was not actually descended from humans meant she was not properly humanoid.
The specifics of non-humanoid people, and how they interacted with humanoid society, were quite fascinating, albeit not always without their share of horrors; just ask the unicorns and the dragons how well they got along with the humans who slaughtered them.
"Do you have any advice for a dabbling Occultist to move up to a proper grasp of the principles at play?" I asked. "Classes you'd recommend, things like that?"
"That depends," Professor Takeda said. "How much of a dabbler are you?"
"I've used Occult magic to charm an unsuspecting Wizard, to put resisting people into hypnotic trances, and to find a little girl's lost housecat," I said.
Volex emerged from her reliquary, already speaking.
"Don't forget the time you disrupted a Succubus Hellknight's narrative of victory and killed her in a single blow," Volex added.
"Okay, yes, but that wasn't that impressive in context," I said. "Her narrative was the sort of goddamn lie that pisses me off so badly, which was more her being bad at this than me being particularly good at this."
Professor Takeda blinked a few times.
"...You don't sound like a dabbler to me," she said. "You have a Succubus as a Familiar, after all."
"She was bound five centuries ago by Terpsichore Ironheart," I said. "All I did was pick up Volex's reliquary and strike a deal."
"I've been tutoring him further in the Occult," Volex added. "He already had a solid foundation, and frankly, at this point, the only thing keeping him from being a middling Bard right now is the simple fact he can't play an instrument."
"That's not completely-" I began.
"No, no, that sounds like a reasonable summary of what you've admitted to," Professor Takeda said. "I understand your perspective, of course- I presume you've never had any formal training in the Occult, and have been self-taught until your acquaintance with Volex?"
"Well... Yeah," I admitted.
"Right, well. For you, I would suggest taking an introductory course in playing an instrument- my recommendation would be for something small and simple, like a harmonica or an ukulele, but it's more important that you pick an instrument you're interested in. I would also suggest taking the Occult Arts Placement Test, to determine how far along you are in your studies of the Occult, so that you don't waste time on classes teaching you things you already know."
"I... Well, if you think that's wise, I suppose-"
A searingly bright flash of blue light blinded me for a moment, and the next thing I knew, Professor Takeda was on the ground several yards away, lightly smoking. Volex had, naturally, retreated inside her reliquary, wanting nothing to do with this mess.
"You stay the hell away from my grandson, you bitch!" Helen Rosewood angrily yelled as she approached.
"Father," I prayed silently, "please let today end soon. I don't want to deal with this shit anymore."