That's really enough for today, Tim thought, once he was back in his room. Too much adventure for just one day. After allowing himself a few minutes to admire the stars that shone brightly against the purple-black sky of the alien world (three stars were much larger than the others - probably the satellites of the planet where their school was located), Tim undressed and dove into bed. As he did so, something round fell off the blanket onto the floor, immediately rolling under the wardrobe.
He sneezed a few times from the dust in his nose, but pulled it out. It was a small green ball, slightly warm to the touch. So the crystals really could be found! In a burst of treasure-hunting excitement Tim explored every corner of his room, but found nothing else. Well, a little bit of a good thing.
He crawled back under the blanket and fell asleep almost instantly. In the morning loud knock at the door woke him; in a half-awake state Tim jumped up to open it, but halfway realizing where he was now he gave a mental order. A second later Ri-Bo appeared in the room.
"Still asleep? Hurry up, the light green eye is already lighting up, the Light Magic class is coming up!"
Yeah, that's what not having an alarm clock means.
"By the way, look what I found this morning!"
There were two crystals in the palm of tilfing's hand, a yellow sphere and a black tetrahedron.
"That's cool! Two of them at once! I've only had one so far, and that was by accident. It rolled off the blanket when I went to bed."
"I found mine in my nightstand. Probably, the previous owner has left them as a memento. It's a pity, I don't know his name otherwise for sure I would say him "Thank you very much!" With such a success we'll be able to pay off the kobold not later than today! Especially if our friends can find at least one each. Anyway, when you're ready, knock on my door! Naar-Tam will go too!"
Alas, there was no time for breakfast. Fortunately, after the festive dinner hunger is not yet had time to wake up.
Taking their grimoires and wands all three of them set out for class. Fingor, as it turned out, had left early, and the mysterious inhabitant of Room 27 still refused to show his face.
"Maybe there's no one there?" Tim hesitated.
"Actually someone is. I heard quiet footsteps behind the wall," Naar-Tam reported.
"Maybe he's afraid of us," Ri-Bo summed up. "But we're not scary at all! Well, just let him go to the toilet and we'll meet him on the way out and get acquainted!"
In the upstairs hall there was indeed a schedule of classes. Next to it was a calendar similar to the one in Tim's room, but ten times bigger. Seven of the nine squares were blacked out; they arrived here at the very beginning of a new month. The year was 2740 since the school had been founded, which meant the previous occupant of his room had graduated a year and a half ago. Almost certainly ahead of schedule - it is highly unlikely the administration would have waited so much time before enrolling new pupils.
Directly opposite the stairs was a classroom, as evidenced by the corresponding sign on the door. As a matter of fact, there were only three rooms on this tier - besides the lecture hall, there was also the Main Hall and the museum. The tunnel to the Main Hall was decorated with statues; it was where they all arrived the day before, agreeing to the training. The tunnel to the museum, on the other hand, was blocked off with brickwork and the words "Repair works" written at an angle in red paint.
"It's a pity that we won't be able to admire the local curiosities," Naar-Tam sighed.
"Maybe it will be opened soon," Ri-Bo tried to encourage him.
And seeing the girl with ashen hair, called her out:
"Chilajt, hello!"
"I am Mikpir. Well, my countrywoman's name is Chilajt? I saw her but had no case to become acquainted."
"Hey, Naar-Tam!" red-haired girl with light-orange skin hailed their company in turn.
"Meet: my compatriot Tiis-Mir," Naar-Tam introduced her to Tim and Ri-Bo.
The girl clapped her palms alternately on theirs.
"Glad to meet you. How do you like our school? I can't wait to learn how to do magic!"
"Then let's not keep the teacher waiting for us. I think he's already inside."
Master Aerg had indeed already taken his seat on the rostrum, to which rows of stone desks descended in a semicircle. The elves and anzimars had occupied the front seats, and the others sat behind them in a jumble. Tim and his friends had taken one of the upper rows, at the left end, so they could see everything, and not in front of the teacher. After waiting another five minutes, Master Aerg decided to start the class.
"Did everyone bring their grimoires and wands? Very well (if anyone didn't, he didn't admit it). You must have them with you at each lesson. Today you'll need rather grimoirs than wands because we are beginning from the ground up. Magic of Light includes three main sections: Healing, Super-Abilities and Protection from the dark sorcery. Passing the exam assumes that you have mastered at least one of the sections and are confident in the other two."
Sakes alive! There's also an exam to take? Although what school is that without final exams?
At that moment, a girl who was breathing heavily ran into the classroom.
"Excuse me, please, I had to go back for the grimoire..."
Tim looked back - it was Chilajt and - what a tragedy! - in her gray daily clothes! If she'd come earlier, she could have hidden behind the desks, and maybe the teacher wouldn't have noticed it. And now...
"Ha-ha, look what she's wearing!" it was heard from the front rows, and the whole class turned around and looked at Chilajt as if on her place was some outlandish critter. The girl's cheeks turned black, the gorgon way of expressing extreme embarrassment when you're literally ready to fall through the ground.
"Silence, you lot!" Master Aerg exclaimed. "I realize that your race doesn't distinguish colors but it's no reason for lateness. Go change your clothes and come back. Minus three points for a starter; if it happens again, a few hours of community service is usually a good thing for correction."
Chilajt ran off and the lesson was resumed.
"And now a little theory, without which you can't even become a junior assistant to the most untalented wizard. What good is having magical power if you don't know where and how to use it? You will have to memorize dozens, if not hundreds, of spell formulas, the very key phrases that are able to realize your desires. It is not difficult for those who set a goal to learn at least one a day. You'll find the formulas you need in Frexg's textbook 'Magic of Light is my favorite magic'. And at the next class I'll check to see if you've read it and what you've learned from it. A little later there will be also practice, first of all on healing, as it is the most noble and necessary occupation. But first... what do you think is the difference between a strong sorcerer and a weak one? That's right: their potential. Each spell requires a certain amount of mana to be successful, and if it exceeds your supply, you can wave your wand around all day, muttering keywords - nothing will work. So in addition to memorizing your formulas you must work tirelessly to expand your mana stock and its continuous replenishment. How? Through meditation, of course! The meditation technique is described in detail in Abalug's booklet 'Finding Power' which can also be borrowed from the library. In brief, it is enough to sit down, close your eyes and concentrate on pronouncing certain phrases without thinking about anything else. The influx of mana is not very fast, and only those who are diligent enough can reap the worthy fruit from this tree."
After a brief silence Master Aerg took a few steps back and forth across the rostrum. Taking advantage of the pause Tim opened his grimoire and wrote down the authors and titles of the books. Ri-Bo didn't bother with that.
"I'll copy it from you later. I better shall be listener now!"
Chilajt also seized the opportunity for inconspicuous penetration in the lecture-room sitting behind their company.
"For those who not so diligent there is another way," the voice of Master Aerg became harsh, "sometimes on the school's territory you'll find vitreous crystals; in real they are concentrates of the magical energy. It is enough to touch a crystal by your wand and say 'Eflirg toakt' and it will be dissipated transmitting you its energy. I see some of you are impatient to go looking for one right now. Be warned: don't get too enthusiastic about using them, there are a lot of hidden rocks there."
"Did you write down the right words?" Ri-Bo asked Tim.
"The words for the crystals activation? Of course."
"But what danger in using them?" Tiis-Mir wondered. "I found one and I didn't know what it was for."
And she showed them a small red ball.
"He's probably trying to teach us discipline so we don't take the easy way out," Naar-Tam explained with a laugh.
"I am sure: when he was our age he was also looking for the crystals, and now he's moralizing over us!"
Ri-Bo said the last phrase too emotionally - several classmates looked in their direction, forcing the teacher to put an end to 'disorder'.
"You must not engage in extraneous things during class! If I notice someone of you chat with neighbors or sleep I'll immediately impose a penalty!"
Ri-Bo got frightened and stayed quiet for the rest of the class (which took a lot of effort from him). He didn't have to endure the ordeal for long, though: talking a little how honorable to be a White Wizard, Master Aerg let them go, in the end one more time scaring with severe punishment for those who will not be zealous in sorcery studying.
"Not so much teaching as intimidating," Ri-Bo commented as they left the auditorium. "Well, at least he gave details about the crystals, the only benefit of the lesson."
"You knew about them already?" Chilajt was surprised.
"A little... but it's better not in front of everyone. Otherwise the whole class will come looking for them and we won't get anything."
"Then let's go to the Main Hall, it's empty and I'll show you the board with our names on it. I was so tired from cleaning last night that it's not unusual to get my costumes mixed up while I was awake. When I had returned after changing clothes I initially couldn't make up my mind to enter the lecture-room at once and to build up courage I decided to look into the Hall."
"The board with our names? That's interesting! Let's go there!"
On the way Tim looked with interest at the statues they passed by. The greatest sorcerers of the past were staring blankly into the distance, indifferent to what was going on around them. But as soon as he looked away, there was an immediate feeling of 'sight in the back', which disappeared when he turned round.
In the Main Hall, across from the entrance, there was indeed the board, though it wasn't there yesterday. Five dozen names, Tim was not lazy to count. Most of them had zeros against them. Someone named Patpako had two points, probably that one who had asked about the essence of the magic during the festive dinner. Minus four points to Eliavel due to attacking the drow girl; minus three to Chilajt was the 'present' of Master Aerg. Some of their classmates also had minus two or three points: probably they decided to make night walking too but were unlucky to get caught. Thanks to Ri-Bo, otherwise a number of names with negative scores would be significantly larger. Two of them, Taeron and Zur'U'Fes, got minus seven points, probably for fighting in the dining room. Couldn't they have done that without being seen?
"Come on, tell what you want to say! " Chilajt addressed to Ri-Bo when the interest in looking at the list of names had faded a little.
"Just between us, there's someone here who trades alchemical potions for crystals. He's the one who told us about them."
"Why didn't you say this earlier?" Tis-Meer lit up with the idea. "Let's look for them right here! We'll find at least one!"
Indeed, one crystal was found - a white tetrahedron. And Naar-Tam was also lucky to come across an object that at first appeared to be a shard of porcelain saucer. Fortunately, its edges were not sharp and could not hurt the skin. On one side of the shard was half a green leaf, drawn very carefully - you could even make out the veins. On the other side was a symbol made up of two letters 'K' joined together.
"That's what the kobold was talking about," Ri-Bo whispered reverently. "A piece of a puzzle. If you put the pieces all together, you'll get a present."
"What present?"
"Nobody knows it yet, but almost certainly valuable enough."
"Where else shall we look then?"
"It's probably better not now," Tim said. "I didn't have time to eat breakfast this morning, and now I would be happy to have a snack. I've got one more class to get to today. If I'm lucky, I even shall have time to visit the library before Nature magic class."
"That's right! We need snacks and textbooks too! Let's go!"
At the tunnel's exit, however, they were waiting for three anzimars lazily staring at the statues and pretending not to be interested in anything else.
"They're after me," Ri-Bo muttered fearfully and stopped.
"You have said it so as if they're going to arrest you," Chilajt grinned.
"No, but they can beat him a little,"Tim stated in all seriousness.
"What for?"
"No reason. Well, for instance, because they don't like guys with horns."
"This is nonsense," Tiis-Mir snorted. "Is that a reason?"
"For someone it's so."
"Three against one, is that fair?"
"Three against five would be less satisfactory to them," Naar-Tam asserted firmly. "Come with us and do not answer if they call."
When their company reached the anzimars, one of them said:
"Tilfing, we need to talk to you."
"Well, talk, we won't interfere," Tim replied with a sneer in his voice.
"The conversation is not for outside ears."
"I'm sorry, in that case, we have business to attend to. Perhaps he'll have a moment for you later."
"It would be in your interest, tilfing, to do so now," the anzimar said with pressure, disregarding the jokes. The authority in his voice and the unwavering confidence in his own power made Ri-Bo bow his head; a little more and he would agree to go voluntarily with his torturers. But at this moment Chilajt came into play.
"You were answered – later! Clear the way!"
"Wow, what a bold statement! For a start learn to distinguish colors! How do people like you even get into a school?"
"Do you really want to know it?" Chilajt asked in a deceptively soft voice. Their gazes met for a moment, and her eyes flashed with a piercing gleam. With a muffled cry the anzimar tried to turn away, but froze with his head bowed to his side.
"Anybody else want to know this?" she turned to his pals, and they all backed away in fright.
"So the question is over. Don't worry about your buddy: he will wake up soon. And we, if there are no objections, will continue on our way."
"Thank you, of course, but now the anzimars won't want to be friends with you," Ri-Bo sighed when they went downstairs.
"We don't need friends like that even for nothing," Naar-Tam replied cheerfully. "I am sure we can find more pleasant persons for friendship. And now it's really a time to have a meal!"
They decided to take the grimoires and wands with them - it was a waste of time to take them to the rooms first and then take them back for the next class.
The dining room was deserted. Later it turned out that someone had heard a rumor that the Druidism class was to be held outdoors, so the exit was already open. As a result, everyone rushed off to explore the world outside.
It is interesting how effective the kitchen magic today, Tim thought, and ordered another fried chicken for the sake of experiment. And he wasn't too surprised to get a potato side dish with three pieces of meat and a tomato salad instead.
"Enough is enough," Ri-Bo summed up dejectedly, chewing the pinkish-yellow beans of unknown origin without much appetite. "I hope there's more than one holiday a year."
The meal of Naar-Tam and Tiis-Mir steamed, so hot it was. But it didn't prevent them to enjoy it.
"We, peirots, like hot things," Naar-Tam explained with cheerful smile. "No wonder we are called the Children of Fire! And yusmes, the Children of Water, on the contrary prefer when ice crunches on the teeth."
From his further narration it was cleared that both folks are living on the same planet but on different halves of it . On the one half, where the peirots live, the sun shines all day long (unless covered by clouds) and it's very hot.
The other half, which is home to the yusmes, is lit by a planetary satellite, there reigns eternal night and very cold. The peirots and the yusmes have never fought each other; what for it if you cannot live in the foretgn territory? Moreover, because each folk have things needful for the other, in Borderlands, where they can both stay for long periods of time, there are a dynamic trade, news exchange, theaters, circuses and intricate games. There are also schools of magic - each nation, of course, has its own. They teach mostly the magic of the Elements: the Peirots, of course, primarily study the magic of fire, the yusmes - the magic of water. In addition, you can find empaths among the yusmes.
"Who are they?" Ri-Bo wondered.
"Those who are able at barely glancing detect your state of mind: joy, sorrow or anxiety in your heart," Naar-Tam explained.
"Awesome!"
"With such a talent in my world you would have a straight ticket to psychoanalysis," Tim noted. "The coolest profession: to talk with a man heart-to-heart and to discover that all his problems due to the conversation in the parents' bedroom overheard in early childhood, and having a good profit out of it."
Naar-Tam and Tiis-Mir laughed heartily.
"In fact, it's very similar! Yusmes are known lovers to make a mountain out of a molehill. As to us, warm, light, friends nearby and opportunity to do things you like, what else do you need for happiness?"
Their carefree talking was interrupted by appearing of an orc who immediately began to inspect the floor under the tables.
"Hey, mate, what did you lost?" in the end the curiosity was simply eating Ri-Bo up.
"Namitil said yesterday that he had seen here a ball under one of the tables but he was too lazy to take it up," the orc confessed guilelessly.
Most likely the elf joked but his words were taken at face value. And what if he'll really find something?
The luck smiled to the orc at the table where the goblin and his 'bodyguard' had sat the day before. Bending down he picked up a thing and started to examine it.
"Show what you found!" Ri-Bo hailed him mischievously.
"It looks like a plate was broken here, and one of the shards remained unclear. A nice picture was on the plate, what a pity!"
It was a piece of a mosaic with a picture of a snow-covered mountain peak, and the temptation to advise the naive 'treasure hunter' to throw it away and pick it up later was great. Fortunately, no one gave in to the temptation.
"If they come across any more, collect them, if they are the same, bring them to us for exchange. "
"What for?"
"You can make a picture out of them. For which you will receive a prize."
For a minute the orc pondered what he had heard. And then he grinned happily, clapped Naar-Tam on the shoulder and ran away.
"It's a pity we didn't check the dining room before we ate," Ri-Bo sighed.
"Don't regret! You'll find a dozen more!"
Yeah, for peirots all is simple: don't refuse a gift, don't accept a blow. From the other hand, it isn't sadly in their company.