“Of course.” Michael smiled, though internally he was sweating.

Maybe externally as well.

“The first thing I wanted to ask is where you are from? Gnosis agents don’t keep perfect tabs on the origin of every student, but even so, I haven’t been able to find out where you originate.”

Can’t lie. At least not directly or too much. There’re probably Spells for that.

“Oh, I’m not from a major kingdom, sir. My community isn’t at odds with the rest of the world, but we are quite separate. Enough that I’ve relied on Micah to make sure I don’t make a faux pas.”

“Faux… pas?” Regitris asked, seeming confused.

Damn it!

“Oh, sorry, sir. Just another cultural difference I suppose. It basically means an unwise action or a breaking of a cultural norm.”

“I see, I see. Yes, I have known of these separate cultures, settlements or even local powers, who had chosen not to comingle with the wider world. Though they have never given many mages and as such, I’m sorry to say, my knowledge in this area is rather sparse.”

“That’s normal, sir.” Michael said, internally high-fiving himself.

“May I ask why your community is uninterested in the wider world?”

“Oh, I’ve never paid much attention to the politics of it all, sir. I just tried to live my life.” He smiled.

The old elf laughed.

“The freedom of youth. Yes, I imagine I would have done the same, in your place. Do you at least remember which member of Gnosis came to recruit you?”

“I wasn’t around, sir. I was gone, uh, fishing.” Michael said, thinking fast. “My parents told me what happened after I returned and before I knew it, I was teleported away.”

“Oh? Yes, I believe we do have a procedure in place that allows recruiters to bypass magical potential tests, if the ambient leftover mana is strong enough.”

Michael just nodded pleasantly, not understanding much, but completely willing to be left of the hook.

“And your magical potential is powerful, as the testing already showed us. Though I must say, I am sorry about what transpired. The faulty teleportation too, as young Brither and Amnea informed me of. I have ascertained that your inner mana confused the magical working, which is why the exit destination for it was shot a way off.”

More like off by half a castle.

“That’s alright, sir, though I do have question of my own regarding these ‘upper levels’.”

“I’m sure you do, my boy.” He laughed. “But before we get there, I have a couple of introductory questions left. Tell me, to your knowledge, does anyone in your extended family posses’ powerful magical abilities or a magically inclined Class?”

“No, sir, none at all.” Michael answered, stating the first completely true thing he had said all day.

“No? How odd. And the last thing, do you currently posses any Class? Or Spell, though I find it hard to believe you would receive one without a subsequent Class?”

Michael contemplated whether to tell him the truth or not. He liked his privacy, since his privacy entailed sensitive information, like him being from a completely different world. But these details didn’t touch on that aspect, so they should be safe.

And besides. Here stood probably the most powerful individual in the entirety of Gnosis Academy. Certainly, the most influential. He would be a powerful ally to have and an even better mentor. If he could have that and only barter away his Class? Which he had every intention of sharing with Micah as well?

Well.

“Only if you help me with information about the Class itself, sir.” He laughed, but kept on talking. “I’m a |Mage|, Level 3. I only have two Skills, |Lesser Mana Pool| and |Sense Mana|. And a Spell, |Fire Bolt|. I received them after fighting the testing guardian.”

“I see. I can tell you from the start that a |Mana Pool| Skill, even in its lower form, is a precious thing. It is usually received by mages with low internal mana reservoirs, such as humans, yet for a human such as yourself, who I suspect contains a decent amount of magical energy already, such a Skill may not be a necessity, but it is surely an advantage.”

“Oh. Then, if I don’t need it as much as others, why did I receive it?”

“You ask of fairness?” the elf laughed. “I have lived for a long time and have seen no fairness involved in the process that grants us our Skills. Need, want, yes. One may even aim for a certain Class and with time and effort, even a Skill. Some Skills may even be learned, though it is an arduous process. But mostly, the process consists solely of luck.”

“Oh…”

“Let it not trouble you, young mage. Such things are everywhere in magic. Now, that Skill will allow you to not only store more magical energy inside yourself, but also have it more readily available. Spells will come quicker to you than others. The second Skill is mundane, though. Typical of a low Level. It allows you to sense mana, but not magic. This means that you will sense unbound magic, for some distance around you, but not be able to see through wards or glamours. The Spell, though…”

“Yes, sir?”

“It is not that unusual to receive a Spell, even at lower Levels. Rare, yes, the sign of a great mage.” He smiled. “But to already receive an element-oriented Spell…Do you have any affinity with fire? Or have you any fear of it? Has it played an important part of your life?”

Thinking back, Michael remembered playing with his dad’s lighter as a kid. Zippo’s were fun, if you had nothing else on hand. And you could do tricks with them. But were they important to him?

“No… I don’t think so.”

“I thought not. I sensed no such affinity emanating from you. Then, my boy, I believe your magic simply adapts and rewards you based on the opponents you fight. You defeated your guardian by hitting it with its own Spells, which I remember to have been mostly fire-based.”

“Magic sir? So, magic is what provides Classes and Skills?”

“Well…” the elf smiled, as if he had been caught with something. “That is a point of contention between me and my colleagues. But suffice to say that yes, I certainly believe so. Though I should say this. Learn and pay attention in classes. Yet also try and keep your wits about you and don’t be afraid of new challenges. If I’m right, you may be the type of mage who grows much quicker, the more adversity he faces.”

Fighting. Yeah, this fits nicely with the whole game-design thing.

“I’ll keep that in mind, sir.”

“Good. Any more questions?”

It was clear the elf was hoping for a ‘no’, but Michael unfortunately did have a few questions.

“Yes, sir. Uhm, I should say that it appears something in the upper floors messed with my mind. So, I don’t remember many things. That is to say, if the… recruiter mentioned things about Gnosis I should know… I just don’t. So, I hope you don’t mind if I pose a few questions.”

“Of course not.” Regitris said, before frowning. “But are you alright now, Michael? We have some of the best |Healers| here. Haven’t any of them treated you yet?”

“Oh, I uh, forgot to mention it to them. With everything else going on… but I will. Thank you for reminding me, sir.”

The elf simply smiled again and waited for the question.

Whew. Dodged that bullet.

“The first thing I wanted to ask is, what are the ‘upper levels’? I’ve mentioned it to a couple of older students, those that didn’t know about how I reached Gnosis and they just laughed and said I should worry about that when I’m older.”

Even though I was probably as old as they were.

“I see. The upper levels are simply the highest levels in Gnosis. Of course, you will learn about special magic in your later years and come to know that higher doesn’t always stay the same before and after magical intervention, but for this discussion those terms will suffice. I’ve mentioned this in my little speech, but not everyone who graduates Gnosis leaves. Some stay, to teach or research or do a number of other things. These individuals live and work inside our academy and they are given rooms, testing rooms and the like, inside the academy.”

Michael nodded. It was clear so far. Like a cross between a faculty and camp.

“You must also understand that Gnosis is old. It didn’t always look the same and in times past it had moved through periods of great change. Yet Gnosis has endured for a very, very long length of time. And in that time, those that lived here expanded. New rooms, new hallways, new flights of stairs. Enough that Gnosis is now a fortress more than a castle, stretching upwards almost solely by the strength of magic, the laws of gravity and physics long abandoned.”

There was something like pride in his voice, but in moments it vanished, being replaced by a quiet sadness.

“Yet, the mages of now are perhaps not as great as the mages of old. Or, perhaps, Gnosis has grown into a being of its own. The more you go up, Michael, the more you will see more and more powerful mages, mages that need large spaces to do their activities in or mages who, by their vey lifestyle, endanger others. And once those mages die or leave, the space they have inhabited remain empty, ownerless, until an equally great mage takes it over. The highest-most levels… those haven’t been inhabited for some time now. Now, only magic rules there. As above, so below, the higher and lower levels of Gnosis will only be reclaimed once we have the spirit for it.”

“Lower?” Michael asked. “Aren’t we on the lower levels now?”

Regitris looked at him surprised, before bursting out in laughter.

“My, I forget that though the ‘upper levels’ are something of a local legend, too few remember the lower ones. But that perhaps is best kept until a later discussion.”

Right, that doesn’t sound ominous at all.

“Got it. One last thing, sir. As I said, I haven’t been there when the recruiter came to my community. Is there anything I should know about Gnosis? As in, things everybody knows, but that I have missed or simply don’t remember?”

Regitris pondered that for a second, before responding.

“The usual speech then. Very well. Gnosis is not simply an Academy of magical learning, it is the Academy. Other powers, local or greater, may have their own institutions, but nothing as developed as ours. We recruit those with magical potential from everywhere in the world, from every species and every age, though naturally, as we send our personnel as soon as we discover them, our students tend to be on the younger side.”

“I see.”

“Yes. Now, we do require an entrance fee, that is one of the means by which we have developed Gnosis. But the fee can be paid with products and labor as well. Even in time. And the fee is lower, as the magical potential of the applicant is higher. For possibly stellar students, we may even waive it altogether. I say, do you know what the fee was for you?”

“Uhm, no sir. But… uh, my parents didn’t seem that bothered by it. So, it must have been pretty low.” Michael said, thinking fast.

“Most likely, yes.” The elf laughed. “Now, Gnosis itself is separated from the world. We live in our own dimension, which is why you see that peculiar view, when looking out a window. New students are transported in, graduates are transported out and very few other individuals pass our borders. We are somewhat secretive, but that is to be expected when any kingdom in the world would give anything to own us.”

Michael understood that. He guessed wars were the same everywhere and Gnosis looked like prime real estate.

“Not that they could.” Regitris smiled. “Even so, the families and friends of the individuals who come here have their memories blocked, until a student graduates or simply leaves. This is why you will not see anyone trying to correspond with someone on the outside. Our doings are our own and the only way to make sure no kingdom has someone on the inside is to eliminate that possibility. A sacrifice, though a temporary one.”

He stopped, looking at Michael expectantly, but as the young man said nothing, Regitris smiled and moved on.

“The last thing I believe you would want to know is that we offer almost limitless potential for magical study. You can self-educate if you want, we certainly have the libraries for that, but I did not lie when I held the speech. We will help you obtain whatever magical Class you wish that is within your grasp. …Yes, I believe this is all we tell new students. There is more to know, but such information is better learned in time.”

“Thank you, sir. That was quite informative.”

Especially the ‘no contact with the outside world’ part. Basically, I’m stuck here. At least until I graduate.

…five years…

“Wonderful. Now, I believe I will refill your cup and finally let you know why I have approached you. But first, a test.”

Michael had been nodding until he was not.

Did he just say-

The bolt of magic hit him right in the face.