Arriving at the school, Jacob had a lot of things he wanted to say but he was immediately told to remain outside while officials were discussing the matters themselves. Jacob's arrival wasn't the normal route people would take to get entry into the school but his attitude and aptitude were excellent. The Coach was more than happy to give Jacob a chance if Admission was possible.
'Hurry up and wait? That's so military.' Jacob thought to himself while he stood there quietly.
There were a few people moving around in the office but most of the activity were puppets. Artificially possessed spirit objects worked in a concert of epic proportions. The scene seemed like a production line but almost nothing was done a second time.
The Evening sunlight was waning and it soon turned into night. Jacob watched the patterns of light on the wall shift and lift across its surface, marking the passage of the time.
'School hasn't ended. Why?' Jacob had been waiting for a while, people had come and gone yet still, behind the doorway, the Coach was speaking to the Admissions Director.
Several hours came and went before the door cracked open. "Jay Cobb, come inside."
"It's Jacob sir. Thank you." Jacob had been leaning against the wall for some time, he was thrilled to go find out what all the fuss was about.
"Coach says you're interested in joining the school. What do you expect to learn here?" The Director was an old woman, her face showed a marked disinterest in bullshit. The wrinkles on her face were like receipts of grief.
"I don't know how to fight, I heard that is a big part of your training. I was told that I could find a beast trainer school in this City but circumstances that kept me from finding one arrived even before entering the City itself." Jacob wanted to go to school, he wasn't willing to give up on the idea so easily and he also knew that people were searching for him outside of the Capital.
"Told you? Who told you?" The Director eyeballed the Coach, he waved his hands to deflect the implication.
"Wasn't me.." Defending himself, the Coach put his hands down and looked at Jacob. "Kid, who told you that you could find a Beast Tamer School in the Capital?"
"Zadkeil, he's the merchant I came to the City with." Jacob finished speaking and a guard was ushered out quickly. 'What was all that about?' Feeling the threat was real, Jacob remained silent and waited for a response.
The Director strummed her fingers across the desk. "Explain what you know."
"Know about what?" Jacob raised his hands to gesture and his forearm was exposed. The Criminal Talisman of the City Guard was bold and shimmered in the light as a reminder.
The strumming stopped. "Criminal? Do you know of this?" Her gaze returned to the Coach, the Director was somewhat furious with her words and it didn't look like there was any room for indirect answers.
The Coach grabbed at Jacob's wrist and pulled the sleeve up further. "Its just the one right? I mean, he's just a kid."
Jacob pulled his arm away and shirked. Rubbing his wrist he said, "What's the big idea? I came with my mount to look for a beast trainer school, a guard slapped this on my arm and called it a fine."
"Boy, you don't understand. That's the mark of a criminal, if other guards see you with this, they might just kill you without hesitation. The Guard who placed this on you.. its a bit cruel." the Director's face cringed, she snapped a pencil in her hands and stood up. "No matter. Lets go to the Castle, we can resolve this tonight."
"Isn't school over for the day?" Jacob had a few questions.
As if get scolded for having a talisman when inspected by admissions wasn't embarrassing enough, Jacob's question made the Coach laugh.
"Schools don't close unless everyone's dead, and even then." The Coach finished speaking when the Director led them away.
Jacob had wanted to explain about Shortie but he had been cut off, Being escorted to the Castle Magistrate, he was unlikely to encounter problems. With the Head of a School and the coach, Jacob didn't feel the need to be on his guard but the closer the got to the Castle, the less he worried about his appearance and the more he began to worry.
One of the students had been waiting, he had heard that the coach had picked up a kid on the street and shown him to admissions. He couldn't believe it himself, so he had to come do to see it.
Jacob didn't know the rules, he had only just arrived. When he noticed the boy, he waved.
The Coach vanished from beside Jacob and arrived where the boy had been. There was nothing there. "Who dares stalk the Director at night?"
Crickets sounded.
When no one responded, the Coach came back to the Director who had stopped with Jacob at his side.
"Sir. I felt traces of energy but there was no one there, its likely he left the moment Jacob raised his hand." The Coach was an observant one, he had already come up with several possibilities and reacted so fast.
"Un. The dangers of the night will always exist, come. Its not much further." the Director stamped her cane down and sent out a ripple of spiritual pressure, she had her own questions and observations.
Minutes later, they had arrived at the Magistrate Office inside of the Castle Grounds. It was a small building, lines didn't occur and there was only a single occupant inside.
In a tree nearby, a figure landed. He was thin and lanky, his skin was ribbed like a worm and the skin was hard like leather. He was dressed in a long sleeve black suit with armored leggings. "Clowns." Vanishing from the spot in the tree, he ventured back into the City and away from the Castle.
After arriving at the Castle and then to the Magistrate, Jacob was wondering how much of a 'wait' he would have to endure. He had spent hours already waiting outside of a door.
The Director walked through the doorway without any hesitation. The Coach had Jacob follow afterward and he stood outside. Sitting behind the desk, a broker was shifting money and funding around on what looked like a computer model.
The moment that Jacob entered, alarms began to ring. The talisman on his arm began to glow and Jacob let out a scream of pain. The talisman was starting to burn.
"Who told you to go inside?" The Director pushed Jacob outside and closed the door behind him.
The Broker raised an eyebrow at the alarms but remained behind the window. He had the lowest authority to remove the magic talisman stamp.
"Ah, I hope we haven't disturbed you. My newest recruit seems to have captured the attention of one of your guards, immediately after arriving. He was branded with a criminal talisman." The Director's voice was sincere and she humbled herself to bring sway to her words.
"Hmmph. Its just the one right?" The balding Ratticus coughed gently and rubbed his palm openly.
'Greedy rats..' The Director's eyes twitched.
Pulling three grade three herbs from storage she floated them in front of the Broker. "Yes, I only have the one." The Director kept her voice down and waited for a moment.
"Show him in." The Broker dismissed the shield window to look down on Jacob like a Judge. When Jacob was standing in front of him he asked while rubbing his chin, "Why did this kid get it in the first place?"
"The Guard didn't say much. He told me that my beast needed to be registered. I've only just arrived." Jacob wanted to sit down, he was a bit annoyed at waiting and now, as he was explaining, it felt like it was too much of a problem.
"Explain it to me." The Broker wasn't a tool, he also wouldn't capitulate to an outsider without reason.
Jacob gave a full recount of what had happened, he even mentioned how he had no where else to go. When the Broker heard what Jacob had to say, he had a moment of pause before he said, "Oh I see, you want to be a resident. I see, the guard wasn't entirely wrong but it was a bit of a stretch to give you the mark. If you want to have your beast within the City, its claws, abilities, aura and teeth will be sampled and cataloged. Otherwise, the beast will be treated as a wild beast and you an enemy for controlling it freely." The Broker waved his hand to collect the herbs.
"I suppose I've worked for less. Fine then. I require fifty grade three herbs as compensation for the paperwork." He held up one finger and turned to sit. The Broker was rummaging through his desk for something.
When he was done fidgeting in his chair, he stood up again. "Fifty Herbs." Holding his hand out in a gimme gesture, the Broker showed no shame in requiring a bribe to act.
"I don't have that many and you know it. Why even bother being nice if you're just going to knife me at the end?" The Director's voice turned to rage.
"I think that shouldn't be a problem." Jacob pulled out fifty Rosek Flowers and set them down on the desk.