Wolf wasn’t surprised when he heard Wayde’s and Anna’s account of the class after he’d left. The lecturer had changed the topic of his lecture as soon as he noticed that Wolf was not in the classroom. It was obvious that these nobles were unwilling to allow him to get any education on their watch.
Unfortunately for them, Wolf was better educated than the vast majority, if not all of Mages present at the Mage Academy. So the fact that some two bit side character was withholding information he’d read in a random book to teach beginners didn’t hurt Wolf one bit.
It just went to show how petty and small minded these people were. That and the fact that they were very determined to do whatever it took to prevent him from getting an education and climbing up the social ladder.
Wolf was unperturbed. He just did as his father had taught him. He took note of who did what and one day he should return it with interest. But, objectively speaking Wolf wasn’t sure what he should do to repay such pettiness. Have these nobles not listen to crappy lessons?
As the trio ate in the mess hall Wolf listened to Wayde’s and Anna’s lesson with half an ear. His head was full of expectations for the new adventure he would set off for tomorrow.
The fact that he was going alone weighed down on Wolf a bit, but he had to get used to it. Another mistake he figured out only after taking the mission was that he should have picked a mission near Oakwood Freeland. Wolf planned on doing that the next time and dropping by for a visit.
Dinner ended soon enough and the two roommates went back to their dorm. When they opened the door they saw a letter, just inside their room.
The words ‘To Wolf, from Mage Academy Administration’ were written on the envelope in a fancy handwriting.
“I thought it was a threat,” Wayde said with an awkward laugh as Wolf opened the envelope.
He scanned the document inside with a glance and raised his eyebrows a bit.
Dear Student,
We are notifying you that according to the Mage Academy rules, section seventeen - Student Wellbeing, subsection nine - Monetary Compensations and Financial Aid, paragraph fifteen, any Student above the Fourth Order who is able to advance their Mage Order at least once every two years is eligible for a special stipend.
The stipend is a non-returnable loan of two hundred Academic Credit per Mage Order achieved.
The following is an excerpt from the Mage Academy Rulebook, for more information please consult the Legal or Finance departments located in the Main Administrative Building…
In short the letter stated that students who were able to advance by one Order at least once every two years were eligible for Academic Credit rewards. The faster the advancement the greater the sum, up to eight hundred Academic Credits per Mage Order achieved.
To make things even stranger, the offer was only valid with an introductory letter, such as the one Wolf had in his hands.
Wolf immediately smelled something fishy. He ran the numbers through his head and figured he could rip off the Mage Academy just by publicly announcing this real Mage Order.
But he wasn’t naive enough to fall for such an obvious ploy. He was still too weak to reveal himself to the world.
If he were a Third Order True-Namer, maybe even a Second Order one he could consider it. The same would be true if he was at least Fifteenth Order Sword-Sage. Then he could do whatever he wanted. But even then, by revealing himself, he wouldn’t get to experience student life, which his father had said was a valuable rite of passage. Not fulfilling Archibald’s wishes was definitely out of the question.
“Hey! Did you get one of these?” Wolf asked Wayde and let him read the letter. It took a couple of moments for Wayde to read it, but then he shook his head.
“I’m just a Third Order Mage,” Wayde said. “Also, if not for the official seal, I’d say that this is a scam. But nobody would dare forge the seal of the Mage Academy Headmaster, nor abuse it for something as petty as scamming you.”
After thinking about it for a moment, Wayde came up with an advice for Wolf. “I guess you should go to someone in charge of finances or Mage Academy rules. You know, to make sure this isn’t an elaborate hoax or something.”
“I’ll do that first thing in the morning. Thanks.” Wolf wished Wayde good night, and then went back to his room to meditate.
The next morning Wolf checked with the bursar, who assured him the letter and its content were genuine. Apparently it was a school tradition to offer excellent conditions to talented students and Wolf satisfied the extremely strict requirements. The youth was surprised such a thing existed. That meant that the school expected that talents who could advance biannually or annually or even faster would appear from time to time.
That means that, if I act with moderation, I can get away with advancing fast. If I were to do it once per year I would get away with a neat profit at no cost. At this moment Wolf frowned. Father said many times that there is no such thing as a free lunch. There has to be a catch. Just because I don’t see it doesn’t mean that one doesn’t exist.
Wolf was right to be suspicious. This rule really existed and was a part of the Mage Academy policies. The catch was that the ink was still wet, since it was added by the current headmaster about three hours after Wolf had joined the Mage Academy.
The historical graduation record was nineteen years of attendance. And that was just to reach the level of an Archmage. Years ago Archibald thought Wolf would break this record, unaware of how exaggerated his son’s result would really be.
Wolf felt suspicious and after asking a couple of more questions he found out that there really were geniuses who managed to quickly increase their Mage Order after entering the Mage Academy.
Of the still active Archmages and True-Namers the fastest one was the current headmaster of the Highseat’s Mage Academy, also known as the central province’s headquarters. Lord of Gravel was a Fifth Order True-Namer over three hundred and fifty years old.
As for Headmaster Smith, the Silver City Mage Academy’s headmaster, he was a year slower and more than a century younger. Smith had reached the Tenth Order after twenty-two years at the Mage Academy and was considered the greatest prodigy of Silverhound in the last thousand years.
Having grasped the most basic facts, and confirmed that they were true, Wolf decided that he would seriously consider this matter at a later date. He’d just joined the Mage Academy and right now he was going on his first mission. Which meant that there was another technical issue he had to take care of.
Wolf enchanted his speed and went to his big brother’s back alley. Wolf had to tell South that he would be away for two weeks, and that he would likely miss one or two of their appointed meals.
The junk-filled alley was back to its usual self. The improvised battlement was now gone and things were the way they were before invaders had arrived to throw out South’s trash. As for the drunkard himself, he was softly snoring in the most comfortable heap of trash he’d found.
“Hey Big brother!” Wolf shouted to wake him up. “I came over to say goodbye for a while. I’ll be…”
“Are you worried about me because of those people that tried to assassinate my wineskin?” South croaked and wearily opened one eye.
That hungover expression portrayed how bothersome it was to open both his eyes better than words ever could.
“Quit messing around. I just came over to apologize because I’ll most likely miss our next two lunch dates.” Wolf had a smile on his face as he said half-jokingly.
The youth was certain that two days ago his big brother had done everything he did just to draw all the attention to himself and help Wolf hide his true abilities.
The drunkard got up from his pile of refuse like he had no bones in his body. He opened his other eye and waved his hand, dismissing Wolf’s words.
“It’s fine. No need to feel guilty. People grow up and grow further away one from another,” the bum started, but when he saw the sad puppy eyes Wolf was giving him he sighed. “Fine, fine, really, no need to feel guilty. We both knew this would happen sooner or later. I appreciate the sentiment. You may consider it a substitute for the meal.”
“I told you to quit messing around,” Wolf said with a hurt expression. “You know that I’m not having lunches with you because of a debt. So be serious for a moment.”
South smiled sadly and shook his head. “Sorry Little brother, but I can’t do that. Those who are serious don’t stay in back alleys and sleep on trash. However I’m dead serious about you being my little brother, regardless of what you may think.”
While saying this, South actually looked a bit serious. Kind of. A very strange and disturbing sight from insanity and incoherence made manifest who did nothing but drink, eat and sleep.
“I know.” Wolf nodded solemnly. “No matter what happens, you’ll always be my big brother.” He continued as a bright smile appeared on his face.
“Look at you! You’re just going away for two weeks! Stop acting like you’re going to die. Or…” South gasped in an overly exaggerated manner and went silent for a moment as he stared at Wolf in surprise.
“Do you think your big brother is going to croak!?” the drunkard shouted, placing his hand on his chest as if in shock, or as if he was hurt.
“I’m leaving now, Big brother!” Wolf shouted even louder. “See you in two weeks. I have a feeling that even if everyone in this city died you’d still be alive and well in this alley.”
With that Wolf left in a foul mood. South had touched upon a taboo of his.
As for the drunkard himself, he smiled with his eyes. A moment later he went back to drinking before falling asleep. He completely agreed with what Wolf had said. Even after there’s nothing left of this little place he should still be fine and dandy.
Even though Wolf had increased his speed with magic, and even though he could freely use the so-called Silver Road, it still took a better part of the day for the youth just to leave Silver City.
If he had used a carriage he probably could’ve left in eight or so hours, but he wasn’t in that much of a hurry. Besides, this way he was able to pop in and visit that crazy big brother of his.
***
Wolf rushed to reach his destination. He didn’t need to sleep, nor did he need to rest. Even without magical support he could run for weeks without stopping, so long as he had enough food to eat and water to drink. Wolf only paused to prepare cooked meals for himself, which he preferred over trail rations.
The youth arrived at the town of Glenwood three days later, a couple of hours before sunset. At first glance, the town was doing remarkably well. The palisade which surrounded it was sturdy and well maintained. A number of armed men patrolled the wooden wall and another half a dozen guards were at the gate.
The clearing outside town stretched for about a kilometer and a second, albeit weaker defensive parameter was created around the farms and animal pens which were located near Glenwood’s palisade.
The sight kind of reminded Wolf of how his father described towns years ago, with the addition of the second palisade ring and the large number of armed men crawling all over the place.
Wolf glanced at the guards and they seemed like hardened warriors, very much different from flabby guards in Silver City. If they were as well equipped as their colleagues from the duchy capital these men would be on par with regular army.
“Hello!” Wolf said to the gate guards. “I was sent here on a mission from the Silver City’s Mage Academy…”
Wolf wasn’t surprised when he heard Wayde’s and Anna’s account of the class after he’d left. The lecturer had changed the topic of his lecture as soon as he noticed that Wolf was not in the classroom. It was obvious that these nobles were unwilling to allow him to get any education on their watch.
Unfortunately for them, Wolf was better educated than the vast majority, if not all of Mages present at the Mage Academy. So the fact that some two bit side character was withholding information he’d read in a random book to teach beginners didn’t hurt Wolf one bit.
It just went to show how petty and small minded these people were. That and the fact that they were very determined to do whatever it took to prevent him from getting an education and climbing up the social ladder.
Wolf was unperturbed. He just did as his father had taught him. He took note of who did what and one day he should return it with interest. But, objectively speaking Wolf wasn’t sure what he should do to repay such pettiness. Have these nobles not listen to crappy lessons?
As the trio ate in the mess hall Wolf listened to Wayde’s and Anna’s lesson with half an ear. His head was full of expectations for the new adventure he would set off for tomorrow.
The fact that he was going alone weighed down on Wolf a bit, but he had to get used to it. Another mistake he figured out only after taking the mission was that he should have picked a mission near Oakwood Freeland. Wolf planned on doing that the next time and dropping by for a visit.
Dinner ended soon enough and the two roommates went back to their dorm. When they opened the door they saw a letter, just inside their room.
The words ‘To Wolf, from Mage Academy Administration’ were written on the envelope in a fancy handwriting.
“I thought it was a threat,” Wayde said with an awkward laugh as Wolf opened the envelope.
He scanned the document inside with a glance and raised his eyebrows a bit.
Dear Student,
We are notifying you that according to the Mage Academy rules, section seventeen - Student Wellbeing, subsection nine - Monetary Compensations and Financial Aid, paragraph fifteen, any Student above the Fourth Order who is able to advance their Mage Order at least once every two years is eligible for a special stipend.
The stipend is a non-returnable loan of two hundred Academic Credit per Mage Order achieved.
The following is an excerpt from the Mage Academy Rulebook, for more information please consult the Legal or Finance departments located in the Main Administrative Building…
In short the letter stated that students who were able to advance by one Order at least once every two years were eligible for Academic Credit rewards. The faster the advancement the greater the sum, up to eight hundred Academic Credits per Mage Order achieved.
To make things even stranger, the offer was only valid with an introductory letter, such as the one Wolf had in his hands.
Wolf immediately smelled something fishy. He ran the numbers through his head and figured he could rip off the Mage Academy just by publicly announcing this real Mage Order.
But he wasn’t naive enough to fall for such an obvious ploy. He was still too weak to reveal himself to the world.
If he were a Third Order True-Namer, maybe even a Second Order one he could consider it. The same would be true if he was at least Fifteenth Order Sword-Sage. Then he could do whatever he wanted. But even then, by revealing himself, he wouldn’t get to experience student life, which his father had said was a valuable rite of passage. Not fulfilling Archibald’s wishes was definitely out of the question.
“Hey! Did you get one of these?” Wolf asked Wayde and let him read the letter. It took a couple of moments for Wayde to read it, but then he shook his head.
“I’m just a Third Order Mage,” Wayde said. “Also, if not for the official seal, I’d say that this is a scam. But nobody would dare forge the seal of the Mage Academy Headmaster, nor abuse it for something as petty as scamming you.”
After thinking about it for a moment, Wayde came up with an advice for Wolf. “I guess you should go to someone in charge of finances or Mage Academy rules. You know, to make sure this isn’t an elaborate hoax or something.”
“I’ll do that first thing in the morning. Thanks.” Wolf wished Wayde good night, and then went back to his room to meditate.
The next morning Wolf checked with the bursar, who assured him the letter and its content were genuine. Apparently it was a school tradition to offer excellent conditions to talented students and Wolf satisfied the extremely strict requirements. The youth was surprised such a thing existed. That meant that the school expected that talents who could advance biannually or annually or even faster would appear from time to time.
That means that, if I act with moderation, I can get away with advancing fast. If I were to do it once per year I would get away with a neat profit at no cost. At this moment Wolf frowned. Father said many times that there is no such thing as a free lunch. There has to be a catch. Just because I don’t see it doesn’t mean that one doesn’t exist.
Wolf was right to be suspicious. This rule really existed and was a part of the Mage Academy policies. The catch was that the ink was still wet, since it was added by the current headmaster about three hours after Wolf had joined the Mage Academy.
The historical graduation record was nineteen years of attendance. And that was just to reach the level of an Archmage. Years ago Archibald thought Wolf would break this record, unaware of how exaggerated his son’s result would really be.
Wolf felt suspicious and after asking a couple of more questions he found out that there really were geniuses who managed to quickly increase their Mage Order after entering the Mage Academy.
Of the still active Archmages and True-Namers the fastest one was the current headmaster of the Highseat’s Mage Academy, also known as the central province’s headquarters. Lord of Gravel was a Fifth Order True-Namer over three hundred and fifty years old.
As for Headmaster Smith, the Silver City Mage Academy’s headmaster, he was a year slower and more than a century younger. Smith had reached the Tenth Order after twenty-two years at the Mage Academy and was considered the greatest prodigy of Silverhound in the last thousand years.
Having grasped the most basic facts, and confirmed that they were true, Wolf decided that he would seriously consider this matter at a later date. He’d just joined the Mage Academy and right now he was going on his first mission. Which meant that there was another technical issue he had to take care of.
Wolf enchanted his speed and went to his big brother’s back alley. Wolf had to tell South that he would be away for two weeks, and that he would likely miss one or two of their appointed meals.
The junk-filled alley was back to its usual self. The improvised battlement was now gone and things were the way they were before invaders had arrived to throw out South’s trash. As for the drunkard himself, he was softly snoring in the most comfortable heap of trash he’d found.
“Hey Big brother!” Wolf shouted to wake him up. “I came over to say goodbye for a while. I’ll be…”
“Are you worried about me because of those people that tried to assassinate my wineskin?” South croaked and wearily opened one eye.
That hungover expression portrayed how bothersome it was to open both his eyes better than words ever could.
“Quit messing around. I just came over to apologize because I’ll most likely miss our next two lunch dates.” Wolf had a smile on his face as he said half-jokingly.
The youth was certain that two days ago his big brother had done everything he did just to draw all the attention to himself and help Wolf hide his true abilities.
The drunkard got up from his pile of refuse like he had no bones in his body. He opened his other eye and waved his hand, dismissing Wolf’s words.
“It’s fine. No need to feel guilty. People grow up and grow further away one from another,” the bum started, but when he saw the sad puppy eyes Wolf was giving him he sighed. “Fine, fine, really, no need to feel guilty. We both knew this would happen sooner or later. I appreciate the sentiment. You may consider it a substitute for the meal.”
“I told you to quit messing around,” Wolf said with a hurt expression. “You know that I’m not having lunches with you because of a debt. So be serious for a moment.”
South smiled sadly and shook his head. “Sorry Little brother, but I can’t do that. Those who are serious don’t stay in back alleys and sleep on trash. However I’m dead serious about you being my little brother, regardless of what you may think.”
While saying this, South actually looked a bit serious. Kind of. A very strange and disturbing sight from insanity and incoherence made manifest who did nothing but drink, eat and sleep.
“I know.” Wolf nodded solemnly. “No matter what happens, you’ll always be my big brother.” He continued as a bright smile appeared on his face.
“Look at you! You’re just going away for two weeks! Stop acting like you’re going to die. Or…” South gasped in an overly exaggerated manner and went silent for a moment as he stared at Wolf in surprise.
“Do you think your big brother is going to croak!?” the drunkard shouted, placing his hand on his chest as if in shock, or as if he was hurt.
“I’m leaving now, Big brother!” Wolf shouted even louder. “See you in two weeks. I have a feeling that even if everyone in this city died you’d still be alive and well in this alley.”
With that Wolf left in a foul mood. South had touched upon a taboo of his.
As for the drunkard himself, he smiled with his eyes. A moment later he went back to drinking before falling asleep. He completely agreed with what Wolf had said. Even after there’s nothing left of this little place he should still be fine and dandy.
Even though Wolf had increased his speed with magic, and even though he could freely use the so-called Silver Road, it still took a better part of the day for the youth just to leave Silver City.
If he had used a carriage he probably could’ve left in eight or so hours, but he wasn’t in that much of a hurry. Besides, this way he was able to pop in and visit that crazy big brother of his.
***
Wolf rushed to reach his destination. He didn’t need to sleep, nor did he need to rest. Even without magical support he could run for weeks without stopping, so long as he had enough food to eat and water to drink. Wolf only paused to prepare cooked meals for himself, which he preferred over trail rations.
The youth arrived at the town of Glenwood three days later, a couple of hours before sunset. At first glance, the town was doing remarkably well. The palisade which surrounded it was sturdy and well maintained. A number of armed men patrolled the wooden wall and another half a dozen guards were at the gate.
The clearing outside town stretched for about a kilometer and a second, albeit weaker defensive parameter was created around the farms and animal pens which were located near Glenwood’s palisade.
The sight kind of reminded Wolf of how his father described towns years ago, with the addition of the second palisade ring and the large number of armed men crawling all over the place.
Wolf glanced at the guards and they seemed like hardened warriors, very much different from flabby guards in Silver City. If they were as well equipped as their colleagues from the duchy capital these men would be on par with regular army.
“Hello!” Wolf said to the gate guards. “I was sent here on a mission from the Silver City’s Mage Academy…”
