The three boys stayed to listen to the lecture that Karl was giving. As it was wrapping up, Ovid and Ander walked over. Derek glanced around and saw that his other grandfather, Nicholas, had joined his mother and Alicia’s group and was happily chatting away with them about the finer concepts of magical theory. They started to walk towards the park on the west side of the inner city and Alicia waved goodby cheerfully towards them. Derek could have sworn his mother was going to do something to tease him again, but her father had clasped her hand at just that moment and prevented it.

Derek waved back and turned to his master and grandfather, bowing to them both. “Grandfather, Master, these are my dorm mates, Garrett Smith and Desmond Westmont. I have agreed to teach them how to fight in the future. Garrett, Desmond, this is my Weapons Master, Ovid Balder, and my grandfather, Forge Disciple Ander Kennick.”

Ovid nodded, “That is good. I have been asked by Dean Karl to teach weapons skills for one of the groups of freshmen. In exchange I requested that you be assigned to my group. As one of the students determined to have an advanced attainment in this, you will be assisting me in training the other students. I will ask that these two get added to that group as well.”

Derek noticed that Garrett was looking at Ovid strangely, “What is it Garrett?”

“O-Ovid B-Balder? As in ‘Balder the Undefeated’? Fifty consecutive wins in the Colosseum, twentysix against other Weapons Masters, culminating in the fight against the legendary Grandmaster Giovanni Fiore himself?”

Ovid waved it off, “It was a long time ago young man and Giovanni wasn’t a Grandmaster then. We were both about your age during that tournament. I am not so sure I could pull off a streak of victories like that after all this time inactive.”

“Still, you are a legend at the Colosseum. Many people still talk about you. Many wondered where you had gone. They say that the Grandmaster has issued a challenge to a rematch every year since then, but that you had never dared to show… oh. W-well, that’s what they say anyways.” Garrett blushed and stammered as he realized he might have inadvertently insulted a living legend, cursing his foolish mouth for saying too much.

Ovid laughed it off, “They can say what they want. I am no longer a pit fighter in the Colosseum, ready to risk life and limb for a little fame and wealth. My life has new purpose now and I am happy with it as it is.”

The other older man laughed as well, “Derek, you seemed to have made some good friends here. Why don’t you bring this young Smith here to the forge in the mornings with you. It will be good to work him hard in the morning so that he is too tired to run his mouth foolishly in the afternoon. Perhaps your other friend would like to join him? A little time in a smithy is always good for a young magic warrior. Learn enough to keep your gear in repair and make sure a ‘smith isn’t ripping you off.”

Garrett paled when he heard that while Desmond waved his hands in front of him defensively, “Sir, I have to take a rune smithing class already, wouldn’t it be counterproductive to learn from you as well?”

“Bah, I will just get Karl to wave that class for you and clear up your mornings like I did for the other two.”

Derek caught something in his grandfather’s admission just then, “Grandpa, what do you mean ‘did for the other two’ does that mean you already did so for Garrett?”

The old man stiffened for a moment as he realized he had revealed too much, “Bah, you are too sharp by half. Karl came by earlier to talk to your Mom and her friend, Charlotte, about a student of his who was going to get his status reset and would need a means to regain the essence lost to it. Turns out the kid grew up in a smithy, so I suggested he come work in my forge.

“Good, hard work in a mana enriched forge is one of the best ways for a teen to gain essence without sending him hunting for monsters. He agreed, so I had him make room for both of you to come to my place in the mornings. It will be good for you both, euheuheuh, and I get free labor. Ahaha, since you are all friends, a third won’t hurt either. Two, no three, four birds, one stone! Hehehe!”

Derek just smiled awkwardly at his grandfather. He got all too pleased with himself when he thought he had done something particularly clever. It was rather embarrassing to him, but it made the rock of a man quite loveable to see him this way. He glanced at his friends, Garrett seemed to have gotten over it and had a look of mild embarrassment on his face and Desmond looked quite perplexed, as if he was wondering what he had gotten himself into.

The awkward moment was brought to an end as the Academy’s clock tower started to chime. It was dinner time and all the students started hurrying to the large cafeteria in the center of the Academy. The other two boys took this as their cue to sprint off and Ovid clasped Derek’s shoulder, “Be sure to come visit your mother regularly. She’s built her life around you these many years and though she’s starting to come out of her shell now, she won’t take you not visiting very well.”

Derek nodded, “Of course, I will definitely stop by every day.”

Ovid looked at him, “Ok, I have said what I needed. I am going to go join your mother in the park. Come by the house if you need me.”

“I will master.”

The old disciple stood there for a moment watching the other three head off, “Boy, our Master wants something for that boy. I just haven’t figured it out yet. Remember this. All Smiths belong to Him. Do you understand? Any harm done to a Smith is done to Him. In a couple of days we are going to go down to the temple district to give thanks for the last few years of prosperity. Bring your friend with us. I am certain our Master will show us the way.”

Derek nodded seriously. It wasn’t often that his grandfather was this serious. Even in the forge he was professional but never this serious. His faith in his skills gave him such confidence but now he was deadly serious about something to do with Garrett and it made Derek worry for his friend.

The old man ruffled his hair, “Do not bother yourself too much about this, boy. We will know what we need to when the time comes. Now hurry along to dinner. I am going to go find your grandmother.”

Derek didn’t need much more convincing. He had seen the other students streaming towards the cafeteria and didn’t want to stand too far back in the line. He hurried off and joined the crowd that was gathering around the large building. Entering, he saw dozens of long tables arrayed up and down the length of the room. There were already a couple hundred students seated and eating. Their trays had a soup of some sort, a hunk of bread, some beef and vegetables, and a dessert cake of some kind. They each filled their glasses from one of the pitchers in the middle of the table.

Derek spotted his friends taking seats at an empty table and waved in response to them before joining the rapidly increasing que. Once he had received his share he joined his friends and poured himself a glass of water. The other drinks were flavored with fruits. He had barely sat down when he heard Alicia call out, “Oh Derek, there you are.”

He turned to see her with her new group of friends coming his way and smiled at her, patting the seat next to him. She sat down and smiled at him, before turning to the two with him, “Thank you. Who are your friends? These are the two from the practice yard right?”

He smiled in response, “Yes, this is Garrett Smith that I mentioned before, the one that Dean Charlotte says will get the schema reset and this is Desmond Westmont, who is also going to be in the Magic Warrior College with me. My grandfather has already conscripted them to work in the forge with me and Master Ovid has also dragged them into his class with me, so I suppose the three of us will be sharing most of our days together.”

She stuck her tongue out as she tried the bread before placing it on his plate, “Too bitter, you eat this. Most of my core academic classes have been waived, so I will be in mostly magic theory and magic schema classes, so we shouldn’t be sharing many classes this term. I did get your grandmother to let me into her holy magic class in the mid afternoon and she said she was going to get you to be her assistant. So we will have that class together at least.”

He smiled at her and slid his dessert over to her and she beamed at him happily before continuing, “I heard your only mage class is on auras, but since I don’t meet the prerequisites I won’t be able to join you.”

He looked at her, casting a status spell. The class in question had the prerequisite of casting all elements at level six. Most students in that class were tier four, but for her to take that class she would only need to improve her Affinities in order and chaos and gain one additional essence in mind. While she appeared to be quite far off of these prerequisites, she had actually only barely missed them.

He smiled at her, “It’s ok, you will be able to take that class next term I am sure. You are just on the cusp of reaching the prerequisites now. At least we have one class together. That will be nice. At least the rest of your classes will be in theory and schemas. Mine look like they are all going to be academic. It sounds boring.”

She laughed at him, “For some it is, but knowing these things will help you in the future. Look, if you are having a hard time I can always tutor you.”

She had always been the helpful sort. It made him feel bad about how he had treated her all that time she was at Redwyrn with them. “Thank you, Alicia, I will take you up on that if I am having any difficulties, but you must remember that your studies are important too. Besides, look how popular you’ve become. There are so many people who want to spend time with you. Don’t waste that by just hanging out with me.”

She turned and looked at the others who had started to talk among themselves, but quite a few were just waiting for an opportunity to talk to her. Derek returned to eating and listened to the others talk and before long the meal was over. He was pouring a citrus flavored drink for Alicia when he heard a staff member from near where the food was served, “Excuse me, everyone. Your class schedules have been posted on the bulletin boards. Each of you have had your schedules sent to your rooms as well. Please consult them tonight and don’t be late for classes tomorrow. Alright, you can continue eating now. Remember to return your trays and dishes to the counters for cleaning.”

Derek was excited to learn what his schedule would be so he excused himself from the table. He brought his tray to the counters before hustling back to his room. Tristan was still studying at his desk when he arrived and there was a folded paper on Derek’s desk. He looked over it quickly. His early morning had been left free, but his first class was at nine. It was a Statecraft class. After that was Classics, then lunch, History, Military Science, Aura Magic, Holy Magic, then the rest of the afternoon was in Weapons Training.

Considering he would need to get up before dawn to get to the forge, his only free time was breakfast, lunch, and the time after the Weapons Training course ended, about an hour before dinner. His days were going to be full indeed.

Alicia Tellis-

Class

Moon Maiden

Elemental Attribute

Elemental Affinity

Point Value

Spell Level

Tier

1

Order

Outstanding

12r1 + 10

Low 5 (42)

Level

7

Water

Supreme

13 + 10

High 5 (48)

Light

Supreme

18r1 + 10

Mid 6 (43)

Basic Attribute

Point Value

Wind

Supreme

18r1 + 10

Mid 6 (53)

Strength

11

Chaos

Outstanding

12r1 + 10

Low 5 (42)

Body

14

Fire

Supreme

13 + 10

High 5 (48)

Agility

17r1

Dark

Supreme

18r1 + 10

Mid 6 (53)

Mind

19r1

Earth

Supreme

18r1 + 10

Mid 6 (53)

Essentia Pool

Mid T2 Mage

Previous Classes-

Princess

Permanent Enhancements-

Moon Maiden, Tier One: +2 Agility, +4 Mind, Increased Essentia Pool

Blessing of the Moon Goddess: +2 Body, +2 Agility, +2 to Mind, +5 to Light, Wind, Dark, and Earth Attributes

Equipment-

Runic Robes: basic protection high t1, maximum defensive spell level 6

Runic Staff: +5 to all elemental attributes, maximum offensive spell level 6

Talisman: +5 to all elemental attributes