Reskeme went to his first day of classes. Anxiously, he went through the entire day looking for Michael. Other than some extreme basics, the first day of the Academy felt like a complete waste of time. The first day was simply learning class assignments.
So far, the only person Reskeme knew was Tony Tanes, an important noble that he had met prior. They sat through Professor Nijels' class together, listening to the man talk about the fundamentals of mana manipulation.
Reskeme hadn't expected to make friends, but disguised as Adam, maybe he had already found another friend?
" What are you doing tonight? Want to come with me to the tavern?" asked Tony as they left Nijels' classroom.
" Sorry, i still have another class tonight." said Adam.
"I didn't even know there was another class this late." said Tony furrowing his brow. The lanky man straightened his silver embroidered blue robes.
" Well, it's the study of ancient languages." said Adam scratching his head sheepishly.
" That sounds dreadful. Why in the nine hells would you desire to learn something that you will never use?" asked Tony.
" Well, it sounded interesting." said Adam flushing.
" Good luck, I'm going to the tavern. There is no way I'm sticking around for such a boring class. Besides, if a beautiful young lady learns you take that class, she might run away in terror." said Tony grinning.
" No need to hate in the class. Who knows, maybe talking in a foreign language will make the ladies like me?" said Adam, winking. Tony shook his head and chuckled. He strode away, waving his hand side to side as he left.
" Let me know if that works. When you test it out let me know, maybe ill look into it if it does." shouted Tony as he rounded the corner. Grinning, Adam turned around and sauntered towards his next class.
He strode into the classroom for ancient languages, his excitement propelling him to the front row right beside the lecturn. A wizened old man hunched over the lecturn scratching in a thick book with a feathered quill.
" Good afternoon, young man. Did you get lost? Or are you here to take my class in ancient languages?" croaked out the old man, not even bothering to glance up.
" Greetings Professor. I'm Adam and I'm here to learn one language in specific." Said Adam, pushing aside his dark black hair from his eyes.
"I'm Professor Tanis. What is the language you want to learn?" asked the old man.
" I dont know what it's called. But I have several markings I copied onto a page for you to look at." said Adam, pulling a piece of paper from his thick cotton shirt.
The professor set down his quill and walked off the stage, his elderly appearance belying his casual, confident stride. The old man took the parchment from Adam's outstretched hand. He scratched his chin and blinked several times as he examined the paper.
" Looks like you found some Dacian. Unless I'm mistaken, this is the language of the Dacian empire. It's rare to find writing from that era, but not unheard of." said Professor Tanis, his eyes boring into Adam.
" Do you know the language?" asked Adam, excitement welling in his chest.
" I can read it quite fluently. But it's much harder to speak. Without someone to teach me the proper enunciation, I'm just as lost as you are. "Said The Professor.
" So can you teach me how to read the words?" asked Adam, practically bouncing in excitement.
" No, I cannot. It's a restricted language. The only reason I'm allowed to study Dacian is to help keep the kingdom safe from those who study ritual magic."said Professor Tanis.
" What does Dacian have to do with rituals?" asked Adam.
" Dacian is the language rituals are written in. The Dacian empire were masters of ritual magic. They created the rituals. We just use what they made without understanding how it works. Those criminals using rituals are like children compared to a ritualist of the Dacian empire." Said Professor Tanis with a scowl.
" Can you teach me anything about it?" asked Adam, his shoulders slumping.
" Sorry, in order to learn more, you would need to gain access to the third floor library. But to my knowledge there are only four people in the city with access." said Profesor Tanis.
" Who else has access? Could I get permission to study the language from them?" asked Adam.
" Me, the queen, the king, and the bishop. It's doubtful you will ever get to meet one of them. In twenty years, none of them has visited the library, to my knowledge. I am the only one who ever visits." said Professor shrugging.
Adam frowned and sat back in the chair in the front row. He scrunched up his face in thought, wondering how he could get into the Restricted Library?
" Is there any other language you are interested in?" asked the Professor.
" Nope, just Dacian." said Adam, sighing in defeat.
" What did you find, anyway? How much is there to translate?" asked the Professor, seeming interested.
" It's just a travel journal. You know, one of those you see caravan owners using. My grandpa found it and has been keeping it in a rune carved glass case. When he died, he left it for me to own. He translated three lines over the years, and from what I can tell, it's pretty boring stuff. But who knows, maybe they left hidden treasure somewhere? " Said Adam excitedly, the lie slipping out easily.
The old man scrunched up his face in thought, his eyes roving over the empty chairs.
" Caravaners you say. I suppose if I don't teach him any words of power, it couldn't hurt anything, could it?" mumbled the professor.
The bell tolled, signaling the class to start.
Adam glanced around the room. The professor's eyes mirrored his own, seeming unfazed. The old man smiled, then the professor took out some white chalk and stretched before writing a symbol on the blackboard behind the lecturn on the wall.. Professor Tanis wrote a total of three hundred more symbols. All the while, the professor spoke..
"In the empire's language, there are three hundred and one letters that make up their alphabet. Ours only has thirty-seven. More letters mean more combinations and more times when words and their spelling are important. As well as how to structure the sentences. With so many letters, however, that makes it even more difficult to learn to pronounce the words. And more times when contextual words are important." said Professor Tanis, stepping back and staring at the pre-sice chalk marks on the blackboard.
" Professor, what are words of power?" asked Adam when the Professor paused in his speech.
" When we channel mana for large-scale magic like a primal skill. Mages chant. They will speak words of power to guide the vast power. Spoken with the correct enunciation, a word with complex meaning can guide power to do something complex." said Professor Tanis.
Adam nodded his head, but instead of continuing the conversation and raising Tanise's suspicions, Adam dropped the subject. If he got too nosey, the professor might decide against teaching him the forbidden language.
" Sorry for the interruption professor, please carry on." said Adam. Adam, pulled out several pages and used his borrowed gold plated pen to copy all the letters the Professor had written on the board.
The professor enthusiastically talked about each of the 301 letters and how to pronounce each. As it turned out, the old man was underselling his proficiency in the language. Adam dutifully listened and did his best to say some basic words. He rather liked it. It was a challenge to speak using the front of his throat. The Laurentian style of using the back of their throat made it challenging to say the soft-spoken pre-sice enunciations of Dacian.
The bell tolled in the distance, signalling the end of classes. Professor Tanis ignored the bell and continued with his lecture. Adam, who was rather enjoying himself, didn't mind. Lost in his speech Tanis carried on for hours. Adam glanced down at the timepiece on his wrist. His eyes widened as he realised it was nearly midnight. They had been doing this for five hours?
" I think you were stretching the truth earlier, professor. The way you pronounce the words makes you seem like you are fluent in the language." Said Adam, standing from his seat and stretching his aching back.
Professor Tanis pulled something from his pocket and approached Adam. He held out the token in his hand.
" This is a disciple's badge. If you want to keep learning Dacian, take it, otherwise we both will get in a lot of shit for talking about this."said Professor Tanis.
" What does it do?" asked Adam wearily.
" It proclaims that you are the Disciple to me, Professor Tanis. That means while you are my disciple, it's my job to teach you everything i know." said Tanis grinning cheekily.
"That makes little sense. The only language I want to learn is Dacian." said Adam, furrowing his brows.
"It's our only choice, but that means you have to pass a proficiency test at the end of the semester. If you fail, you will be required to submit to a rune contract on everything you learned this semester." said Tanis.
" So if I don't pass, the rune contract will force me to never speak Dacian again? "said Adam swallowing.
" Yes, that is the price of failure. This is dangerous knowledge. But trust me, it's worth learning." Said Tanis, his strong, wrinkled hand still splayed open. Adam breathed deeply of the classroom air, the scent of chalk and paper drifting to his nose.
Adam reached out and grasped the small chain. Instead of placing it around his neck next to the mana gauge, he wrapped it around his left wrist. The metal chain on the object flashed and pulled inwards until it was a simple copper chain with a silver scroll on the top. Adam smiled. He pulled the copper bracelet, and it widened, sliding up his forearm out of sight under his sleeve, before tightening again.
" Very good. Keep the badge out of sight. Dont show it unless you are asked by a member of the royal guard, a member of the church, or one of the other professors." said Professor Tanis.
" What does the badge do?" asked Adam.
"Its just detects high levels of essence radiating from a ritual. Dont worry about it. The only reason it will trigger and send an alarm is if you are in close contact with a ritual. Then i will be able to track your whereabouts." said Professor Tanis.
Adam gathered his papers from the desk and turned to leave. He smiled as he left, nodding his head to the old man. Reskeme knew the truth Tanis had been skirting. The badge detected Demonic essence. Reskeme glanced at the timepiece on his right wrist. He pulled up his sleeve, admiring the gold and silver masterpiece. What was so special about the gift Trisha gave him? For some reason, ever since she put it on him, he no longer set of those pesky church amulets. And it appeared the time piece also protected him from setting of the professor's alarm as well.
He left the academy and strode quickly along the empty streets. Once back at the inn, Reskeme let out a sigh of relief. He shook his hands and blew on them to heat them up. His palms stung as feeling slowly returned. After coming in the back door of Maybells in he had made his way quietly to his room. Feeling restless, Reskeme pulled the journal from his hiding spot. He set the glass container on his bed and gently opened it. Wiping his hands on his pants, Reskeme cracked open to the first page of the book. The foreign letters filled the page in a flowing script. Reskeme lay his notes beside the book and began working on the top line.
Instead of writing in the priceless journal, Reskeme placed a fresh sheet of paper beside it and wrote on that instead. After working for a while, his eyes dropped, and he nearly fell onto his face. Reskeme just caught himself, thankfully avoiding slamming his hand into the fragile journal.
So far, he only had the top line of the book translated. His eyes drooped again, and he yawned. His eyes watered as he drearily slumped again. Yep, it was time for sleep. Reskeme sealed the glass container with the journal before placing it carefully in his hiding spot under the loose floorboard.
He held up his work. After glancing to the timepiece, he realise in two hours he had only a line of work to show for it.
'Here in lies madness. My death is near. Here you will find life or madness. Death is unclear.'
Reskeme ran his hand along his face. Well, maybe he translated the line wrong? Underneath the Laurentian script, he had it copied out in Dacian. Reskeme yawned again. He could ask Tanis tomorrow, he decided. Reskeme lay back on the pillow and fell asleep, not even bothering to get out of his clothes.