In a disorganized crowd they followed Master Nimikel deeper into the sparse woods. Their path led to a grassy glade large enough to accommodate them all. In the middle of it was a mossy, flat-topped stone boulder; a dozen or two smaller boulders surrounded it in a semicircle. Too few for all of them, but that wasn't a problem: the others settled comfortably on the grass behind them, hiding from the watchful eye of their master. After hesitation for a moment Tim settled on the right side, where flowers that resembled pansies peeked out of the dense grass. Their odor was, however, very unusual.
Next to him was the freckled boy who had been sitting at a nearby table in the dining room yesterday. The perfect occasion to know who he is!
"Hello! What country are you from?" Tim started and stopped when he looked at the boy's hands.
His palms were four-fingered.
"From Khidoki. And you?"
"I'm an earthling."
"Not one of us, lycoses, then. It is pity. Guess you can't turn, either."
"In what way?"
"It's very simple: you just have to wish for it in your mind. I, for instance, can turn into a kangur (an animal by description is closest to terrestrial leopard). And Meikli, - he pointed to the freckled girl at the other end of the clearing, - can become a birigog (strange animal looking like giant triton)."
Werewolves! In the books Tim read and the movies he saw, meeting with werewolves often ended in tragedy. But there were exceptions, and sometimes the ability to transform even saved in difficult situations. Maybe it depends on the individual and the motivating reasons. Tim looked at the boy questioningly, but the boy interpreted his gaze in his own way.
"Only don't ask me to show you how it works. It's not as simple as you may think."
He didn't have time to tell more: Master Nimikel took the floor and the noise around quickly died down.
"I see you brought your wands and grimoires," she nodded approvingly as she looked around at the apprentices. "Very well. But in the druidism studying primarily you will need the ability named Living Nature Sympathy. One who possesses it can feel the pulse of life around him - understand what the wiiks are singing about, where and why the swift-footed olcunts go, and whether or not seed of the yearrax cast into the ground will grow. Most of my kinsmen, elves, have the gift of Sympathy, but don't let the others despair: love of nature will help you to develop it, to understand how the world around us is arranged, to feel yourself a part of it. It is enough just to get out of stone walls and enjoy communication with plants and animals. Or meditate, not only to replenish mana, but also to develop Sympathy. The forest here is vast enough for anyone to find a nook for themselves."
The question immediately rose - how far it stretched, and what is located at the other side of the rocks.
"That's far enough. It takes at least a day to get to the far end of it, because there is no straight road, only roundabout paths. In some places the thickets are impenetrable. Cliffs surround it on all sides, shielding it from the outside world, where there are very dangerous creatures, which a novice magician cannot cope with. But here, inside the stone ring, there are none. In their time, the druids cleared the plateau of predatory beasts, poisonous insects and carnivorous plants. The only thing you must keep in mind: necessity to return in the school before the sun goes down. So if you feel you have inadvertently gotten lost, try to find a higher ground or climb a tree. The mountain inside which our school is located is the highest in the area."
Judging by the facial expressions, no one was particularly upset at the prospect of sleeping in the woods. If there's no danger, what's the problem? You could have a picnic, especially if there weren't any ghosts wandering around. At least, all the time he'd been outside the stone walls, Tim hadn't noticed a single one.
"Would you like to see if you have the ability to Sympathy?" Master Nimikel suddenly inquired.
"By what way?" Gook-Luk, the other peirot girl, was the most impatient. Master Aerg in such a situation for sure would read lecture about what a big sin to interrupt a teacher. But the elf teacher only smiled back.
"Now you'll see!"
And almost at the same moment from the lower branch of one of the trees jumped a yellow-haired animal with a long fluffy tail, which resembled an earth squirrel, but a little larger, the size of a cat.
"It's a paamph. Now I will mentally ask it to go around one by one, and each of you may gently touch it. You'll see from the animal's reaction how strong your attraction to wildlife is."
Master Nimikel shut her eyes and there was silence in the glade. The little beast raised on its hind legs, listened attentively to something that only it could hear and then, amusingly bouncing on the run, rushed toward the pupils who were sitting on the right side. So Tim was one of the first to appreciate the softness and velvetness of its fur. Tim did it gently, not wanting to be too rough. In return, the beast sniffed its palm and hurried onward to meet the other pupils. Most of the introductions looked similar, but sometimes the paamph lingered longer, even jumping on his shoulder, and on other occasions he ran away immediately after a touch. It didn't take a great seer to figure out who had trouble mastering druidism. And in general the beast is cool, Tim wouldn't mind having one as a pet. It is interesting what it eats, and if it can be tamed. Most likely yes, but it had to try hard: he isn't an elf and doesn't have any experience in it; at home on the Earth there weren't any pets besides aquarium fish.
"Ouch! It bit me!!" the cry of one of the drow girls distracted Tim from the thoughts. He had time only to note how frightened animal dashing away into the thicket.
"Sadly, it's your fault," Master Nimikel said ruefully. "You shouldn't take the paamph in hands against its will, moreover so roughly! Don't worry, there is no poison in its teeth. Put your bitten hand to the grass and I'll use Natural Regeneration."
Under the action of the spell the wound had closed almost instantly and after a short time only scarcely noticeable scar reminded about the incident.
"Drowes must be keeping away from animals; to teach them Nature magic as good as to cast pearls before swine," an elf sitting in front of Tim uttered indignantly. He said it in an undertone, but the teacher still heard it.
"Love for nature lives in the heart of each of us, but there are not always conditions for its awakening. I hope that being in our school will help it. After all, we are all an integral part of the world around us, and no person can develop harmoniously in isolation from it. Moreover, there are places which, like the magic I have used, can heal wounds of the soul and body. Animals are able to seek them out instinctively and go there when they are sick or wounded. There are several such places here on the plateau. One of them is the glade where we are now. As for the others, I think you can find them on your own. When you've had a little experience."
"Simply, you just have to watch where the elves go," Mez'A'Shib whispered mockingly. Tim didn't catch sight of his appearing nearby; one minute earlier he hadn't been here. For sure at last night walking they would pass by and don't observe him – if not for Fingor.
"You're good at moving completely unnoticed."
"A very valuable skill in our world - if you don't want to bend your back to everyone who's stronger or higher in rank than you. Isn't that how it is in your world?"
"Somehow, yes," Tim answered after a while.
"So you'd have to have some knowledge of Twilight magic, too. Pity it doesn't work on ghosts, only on those with eyes. But it's not bad at all! Shall we going out tonight? I've got something for the kobold!"
And Mez'A'Shib furtively demonstrated a blue cube hidden in his fist.
"Cool! We found only balls and tetrahedrons. If it's no secret where did you find it?"
"Where it was, it's gone. Just kidding. I pushed aside one of the stones near the obelisk. If you dig deep enough, you without fail will find more! Too bad it was a crowded place, so I had to be careful."
"And if you lift the obelisk, there'd probably be a whole bunch of these crystals underneath it."
"Why waste time to trifles, it's easier to search the dwarves' storeroom," the drow said with humor. "That's where the gold mine is! Our dwarves drag in their pantries all that isn't nailed down. It is unlikely that local beard-faces changed their habits!"
The mention of dwarves brought back another, less pleasant memory - the five of them having to go to Rugud after class. Moreover, the teacher had already glanced in their direction twice, so they had to end this conversation, otherwise next time it would be admonition.
"All right, when it gets dark, knock on the thirtieth."
"Agreed," and when Tim glanced around again, Mez'A'Shib was gone.
Master Nimikel, meanwhile, had decided that enough theory was enough, it was time to move on to practice.
"And now, according to the wise saying that it's better to see once than to hear a hundred times, I will demonstrate to you the effect of the spell Triumph of Life."
From the folds of her dress, she extracted a small box, inside which were pale pink oblong seeds the size of small beans.
"It's an ultia, one of the fastest-growing plants in the world. It can rise a full cubit off the ground in just a day! But even that is far from optimal speed for us. So I will cast that spell and you will see how it works."
Leaning over, she stuck one of the seeds in the ground, and after saying 'olpikki dunt immier', she touched it with her wand. Almost immediately the sprout appeared from the ground and soon it was almost human-sized. And if the Master hadn't undone her own enchantment by uttering 'leefor stoleng', it probably would have risen above the crowns of the trees surrounding the glade.
"Impressive? The most powerful druids can create a blooming oasis even in the middle of a barren desert! Those who want to master the spell may take some ultia seeds and train to sprout them in their free time."
There were so many people who wanted it that there was barely enough in the box for everyone. Tim decided not to be greedy, so he took only three for a start. In fact their class was ended on it: the teacher wished them success and disappeared in a blinding flash of instant teleportation.
"What textbooks do we need?" one of the elves belatedly interested in. But his mates advised him to chill a little, when time they would be informed about it.
One by one or in small groups they began to leave the glade - some to look for crystals, some to experiment with seeds or simply to exam the forest. Tim would have liked to join the latter, but alas - first he would have to pay a visit to the warehouse manager. And it was better not to put it off - if they were lucky, there would still be time for more enjoyable activities before lights out.
Rugud met them on the doorstep with a gloomy face. Probably he expected a dirty trick from their company.
"I am… about my punishment...," the gorgon babbled.
"Let's check it," with an air of importance the dwarf got from his pocket the notebook with shabby pages. "The apprentice Chilajt? Yes, she in my list. Sixteen hours? Not a few! Pulsok's head was knocked by your brick, eh? Well, it's not my business. But what the others came here for?"
"We are her friends. We'd like to ask you to cancel her sentence."
"Why would I do that?"
"She found herself in a situation where she had to use magic. But only for protective purposes!"
"Wizards' business is none of my business," Rugud brushed aside. "I don't give or take punishments, just make sure they are dealt with accurately and in a timely manner. Oh, and you've been claiming to be friends with this young lady, have you? It's a good opportunity to see how strong your friendship is."
"How so?" the pupils looked at each other perplexedly.
"Simply. She'll have to come here several times to do the sixteen hours because to work off more than four hours in a day is prohibited. But if you all work together, you can do it tonight. Of course, no one's forcing you," the dwarf added with a sly smile.
"But what are we supposed to do?"
"Follow me and you'll see!"
Through an inconspicuous door at the side of one of the racks they entered a half-dark corridor that led them to the kitchen. Or rather, that section of the kitchen where the bathing work was done. Piles of dirty dishes on tables, a few sinks, and a cupboard full of unsophisticated cleaning supplies like baking soda and liquid soap - no prizes for guessing what the work they will do.
"You see, the magic of creating food has been invented, but the magic of cleaning dishes after meals turned out to be more difficult," said Rugud, who dispelled any lingering doubts. "So someone has to do it. And in this case, it's you! Wash all the dishes and you'll be free. Kruda!"
An elderly dwarf woman in a shabby apron appeared from one of the adjoining compartments.
"There are your helpers for tonight. Their task is to make so that not a single dirty plate or spoon is left here! Supervise the process, and if they need anything, give it to them. When it's ready, report back!"
And with a sense of dignity he went away.
It had to friends to roll up their sleeves and putting aside wands and grimoirs to take in hands sponges and soap. For somebody it was at the first time but Tim had some experience – from the same time when he had begun to make his bed. Kruda helped them as far as possible, not only with advices but folding and taking away the pure dishes. Sometimes she also told funny stories from the school life. From them among other things Tim knew why it is unreasonable to told the ghosts to go to hell or ignore them: they possessed the magic of obedience (and feelings at its application are not pleasant). About the teachers she narrated a little saying you'd see for yourself and make up your own mind. And she could say nothing about the Principal.
"He never came to us. What for? He has all he needs, and if he needs anything else, Pulsok will take care of it."