The very next day Wolf attended his first lecture at the Mage Academy. The class was small and only had ten students. Six from the February group and four freshmen enrolled yesterday. There were supposedly more senior students in this class, but they’d mostly given up on lectures.

Wolf and Wayde entered the small amphitheater last. Other than Anna, they saw another girl who sat in the front row, right in front of the lectern. She didn’t pay much attention neither to Wayde nor Wolf. However she was the only one who remained indifferent. The six young men present in the room glared at Wolf with undisguised disdain and enmity.

Wolf didn’t care one whit. Anna had long since told him about the class segregation and Wayde had confirmed it yesterday and even painted a much more extreme picture than Anna had. Wolf found it a bit strange that these people openly showed hostility, but he didn’t let it get to him. Why would he worry about some brats less than a year older than he was?

Wolf didn’t know that the hostile looks aimed at him weren’t there because of the class struggle, but rather because every generation had a ranking list. The rewards and benefits in the form of Academic Credit were distributed based on the students ranking on the said list.

The students who enrolled last semester had all dropped by one position because of Wolf’s talent. Since he was officially a Mage of Fourth Order, he naturally took the first rank and, as long as he stayed at the top of the list, he would be getting the best Academic Credit stipend.

Anna was the bottom feeder, so she didn’t really care about what those above her were doing. Wayde, the same as Boland and Darian, was towards the bottom, but even with new people in, Anna remained second to last. This fact was proof enough that she’d just barely squeezed into the elite class.

Wolf ignored the glares and followed Wayde in. But unlike the rightful Duke, who sat in the front row, Wolf moved all the way to the back, leaving his roommate hanging. For a moment Wayde thought about getting up and following Wolf, but thought he’d appear silly, so he just sat there awkwardly on his own.

“Who’s that?” Wolf asked loudly as he sat behind Anna.

“Why are you sitting behind me? You haven’t seen me in so long and now you want to watch my rear? Is that how friends behave?” Anna snapped back at Wolf, but the youth really couldn’t understand what he’d done wrong.

“All right, all right,” he said and stood up to change his seat.

Then he sat next to Anna.

“So, who’s that?” Wolf once more pointed towards the person with the darkest face in the room.

“That’s Marco Beirut of the Beirut family. His family is from the weakest Marquess household. Rumors going around say that you’re threatening his house’s position.” Anna explained, speaking as quietly as possible.

“Thanks,” Wolf said and then went back to the same seat he’d picked initially.

“You! Scoundrel! What are you doing?” Anna hissed.

Her saying Wolf was looking at her rear was naturally an exaggeration, he could only see her shoulders and maybe a bit of her back, but that’s it. She just wanted to sit together with Wolf and maybe chat a bit when the professor turned his back to them. Yet this scamp acted oblivious and went behind her back, so she had to turn around in an unladylike fashion or speak loudly while looking straight ahead like a retard.

Oblivious of Anna’s grievance, Wolf shrugged.

“I like this seat best. What can I say? You know us beggars have a motto, never turn your back on anyone and all that. Besides, nobles have turned their backs on us a long time ago,” Wolf said those words with a charming smile while sitting with his back against the wall.

“Shameless rogue!” Anna hissed, but at this moment the professor walked in. He was an Eighth Order Mage, which was quite high for the lecturer of a class of Third Order Mages. In other classes this job would have been done by a Sixth Order Mage, tops.

The man looked like he was in his early thirties. He had a dashing smile, and when he entered the classroom he nodded in Marco’s direction.

“Good day class. I am Michael Farah the Seventh, of the Farah Count family,” the man introduced himself, making sure to point out his patriarch’s title.

After a moment of silence he broached the subject of his lecture. “Today I will be talking about the history of magic in the Empire of Human and the contributions of the ancestors of our noble families. As you may have guessed the only relevant people in our history were nobles and…”

The man continued to spew nonsense and hate speech about the class difference and the noble contributions of certain families for the whole of society. Occasionally he would stop and stare intently at Wolf. Undisguised disgust and disdain would flash on his face before he moved his gaze and continued spewing bullshit. Even an idiot could see that he was picking a fight with Wolf, but the youth remained indifferent.

This man was supposed to hold the lectures the entire day. Wolf didn’t feel like listening to his tripe. During the first break he went back to the dorm after informing Wayde and Anna. Anna tried to assure her friend that professor Farah wasn’t a bad person, but Wolf could tell that for anyone who wasn't a part of his social circle that man was most definitely an ill omen.

Seeing the way things stood, in his typically broadminded and non-extreme way, Wolf started contemplating making a hit list for the Mage Academy staff.

In Wolf’s humble opinion, the world would be a better place without people like this Farah fellow. However, things haven’t gotten that bad just yet. Just because one measly Mage had made him angry, Wolf had no intention of holding a grudge against the entire institution.

There were still decent people, like the freeloader chaperone, or the snobby proctor… The more he thought about it, the more Wolf realized this place needed a bloody incident to steer the institution back to its proper course.

Technically forced out of class, Wolf didn’t feel like going back to the dorm. Not because he was depressed, but because there was this new place called the Nobles’ District ready for exploration. He’d wanted to check out this fancy part of town for months now. Mainly because Wolf wanted to pay a visit to the real Alchemists’ Guild branch, not some minor corner store with limited stock with overblown prices.

Wolf wanted to see how much things there really cost and maybe get his hands on Monster Cores of the Ninth Order and above.

As far as the youth was concerned, he could use potions, or energy from Monster Cores to advance his Sword-Sage Order. According to market prices the former should be cheaper than the latter, but Wolf had no idea about the availability of these exotic goods.

With that idea, which could barely pass for a plan, Wolf decided to skip his second class ever. He went towards the campus exit, wearing the shiny new robe of a Mage Academy student. The moment he neared the gate Wolf sensed several gazes lock onto him.

Without pausing his step, Wolf half awakened his senses and took a deep breath.

No murderous intent for now. I guess it’s fine if people want to see who’s coming and going. The Mage Academy is bound to have more guards than just the couple you can see walking around, thinking like that Wolf walked out the main gate.

Right next to the entrance were a couple of parked taxi carriages. They were practically pieces of art with exquisitely lacquered darkwood and tall white horses, which were some Monster Beast half-breeds.

Wolf walked over to the nearest one with a bright smile on his face.

“Excuse me Sir, how much is the fare to the Alchemists’ Guild?” he asked.

The driver maintained a professionally polite face, but a couple muscles on his face twitched just a bit.

“Is Young Lord making a joke?” the elderly man wearing a neat suit asked with a forced smile.

Then the man pointed towards a complex across the broad boulevard. The complex kind of resembled the Mage Academy’s general layout, however, it was much smaller in scale. Mage Academy was practically an independent town and really covered as much ground as a small town would.

“That complex over there is the Alchemists’ Guild. Does the Young Lord still want to take a ride across the street?” The man maintained a serious and professional expression, despite this youth making fun of him. Little kids wearing that uniform tended to have important parents, and he didn’t want any trouble with those kinds of folk.

“Thank you Sir!” Wolf flashed an excited smile and immediately went towards the Alchemists’ Guild’s grounds.

The driver followed him with a slightly confused gaze, but didn’t think twice about it.

Unlike the Alchemists’ Guild at the border between Merchants’ District and Port Town, this establishment wasn’t merely a shop. It also had a residential area as well as the Silver City’s Alchemist Academy.

Considering how huge Silver City was, Wolf had expected that visiting the Alchemists’ Guild would take at least half a day even when using a carriage. Anticlimactically, all Wolf had to do was walk across the street and there he was.

The way things were going, Wolf’s trip would be over in half an hour at most. Luckily, he knew what he could do with his time.

After exchanging a couple of words with the guards on duty Wolf found out where the shop was, while the guards were surprised that such an oblivious, yet oddly polite and humble Mage Academy student existed.

The building was near the main entrance, fashioned out of pristine white marble, with an exquisite sense of style. The white surface was carved with tiny reliefs, which Wolf recognized as reinforcing and dirt repelling Spell Formations. He didn’t see where it was powered from, but based on the layout he guessed that the Monster Cores were somewhere in the basement.

As soon as Wolf went through the oversized door, a beautiful young woman with a striking figure approached him.

“Lord Mage, how may I be of service?” she asked with a graceful smile.

Her looks stunned Wolf almost as much as the way she’d addressed him. Even though that was technically a proper way to address Wolf, who was but a step away from becoming an Archmage, it was an overkill for a twelve year old Mage Academy student.

For a moment Wolf wondered whether the woman had seen through his suppressed aura, but then realized there was a much simpler explanation.

What a boot licker! Wolf thought with disdain, but how this person lived their life had nothing to do with him.

“I’m looking for Superior grade Energy Expanding potions. I’m also interested in Monster Cores of Ninth Order and above, but I don’t think you have those for sale here,” Wolf stated his request, even the one he knew was a waste of breath. It never hurts to try.

As for the clerk, the young woman was delighted and also slightly confused by her customer’s request. She was delighted by the fact that such a kid was asking for premium products right from the start. He didn’t even ask for the price. Unfortunately in the local headquarters she couldn’t just arbitrarily quote a price. An upper limit for prices existed and was strictly enforced.

The reason for her confusion was that in front of her stood someone who was almost certainly a freshman at the Mage Academy. Yet the youth was asking for a potion that was only useful to mid Order Sword-Sages.

For a moment she considered the odds of this being an elaborate scam, but nobody would dare wear the Mage Academy uniform in front of their door, unless they really were their student.

Deciding that she should trust her common sense the young woman spoke, “We do have two Superior grade Energy Expanding potions. They cost fifteen hundred gold coins per bottle. As for the raw materials, we only sell those to certified Alchemists, I hope you understand why we can’t sell them to you, unless you are a member of our guild.”

Wolf blinked in disbelief.

That’s more or less as much as I was charged for a Greater potion of Clarity in the Merchants’ quarter! Those damned thieves! Wolf cursed inwardly. The nominal price of potions increased roughly by a factor of three to five per grade. So now Wolf cursed the Alchemists who had scammed him.

Regarding Roger, Wolf wasn’t angry. He’d personally given the man the price he was willing to pay for the items he’d bought and he also had a share of the profits. So, in a rather convoluted way, Wolf technically increased his own share, partially reducing his loss.

“Regarding the Monster Cores… Do you have any idea where I could buy them? If you give me a good tip I’ll purchase a Superior grade Energy Expanding potion.” Wolf wanted to say something more extravagant, but he had spent all the money he had earned in various ways.

The only thing he had left was his father’s savings. And even that was kind of dented by his lunches with South. Still, the most important part, which was a couple of dozen platinum coins, was still accounted for.

“If I were you, I’d try Johns and Josh merchant group’s headquarters. They have just about anything you can think of and their prices are reasonable too,” the woman said with a bright smile.

However, Wolf felt a pang of sorrow and nostalgia wash over him when he’d heard that familiar name.

The young lady was naturally oblivious of his feelings and just kept on talking, “If you wish, you could leave us your contact information and a list of items you’re interested in. That way I can notify you as soon as we have your potions in stock.”

The clerk spoke in a voice that was helpful and at the same time hopeful. Just like everyone in her line of work, she worked for sales commissions rather than the minimum wage she was paid if she’d sold nothing.

“That’d be nice.” Wolf said without really thinking about her words. He had an absentminded look and a sad smile on his face. Most of all he had absolutely no need for any other potions Alchemists’ guild could offer.

“That’s great! I am Lilly. If you want you can ask for me every time.” Lilly was very enthusiastic and equally oblivious of Wolf’s pain.

The woman vigorously walked over to the counter, as if afraid Wolf would flee if they tarried. The youth followed behind her and kept his word.

He’d bought the potion with fifteen platinum coins. However, in spite of Lilly’s expectant look, Wolf didn’t leave behind a list of potions he needed, nor did he leave any contact information.

Lilly was a bright girl and she instantly understood that this was a one time thing. However, she followed the tenets of the Church of Fairness and remained hopeful, helpful and professional. Leaving a good impression was the basis for returning customers. She followed Wolf all the way out of the complex. Even giving directions to the Johns and Josh merchant group’s headquarters along the way.

After he’d said goodbye to Lilly, Wolf decided to walk over to the Johns and Josh. Lilly said it was about an hour by foot. As far as Wolf was concerned it was better to spend time walking around Nobles’ District than listening to the tripe the snobbish asshole of a lecturer was spewing.