"Journey?"
Dean Gecko nodded his head.
"When interacting with the soul, that interaction usually takes the form of something that you can understand. For most people that could involve reliving scenes from their own memories or in your case of interacting with your souls laws you might of experienced imaginary events related to those laws. For example, if you had a strong fire affinity, you might have seen visions of a volcano and ended up speaking with something crazy like its magma. I caused you to interact deeply with your soul but with you being a student at the academy, I did not interfere or observe whatsoever...don't worry whatever secrets you have are safe for now."
Nick was secretly glad about that.
(Should I be worried that he said, 'for now'...well, its not like I can resist the dean anyway? I should just focus on becoming stronger in case the dean is lying and has ill intentions.)
Nick stood up and gave the dean a slight bow in thanks, saying:
"Thank you for your assistance dean Gecko, I think that I have much to think about. May I go back to the waiting room?"
Dean Gecko looked at Nick deeply for a few seconds then said with a smile:
"You can go back. By the way, do remember our agreement young man."
Nick nodded and left the dean's room.
When Nick left, the dean's smile transformed into a stern expression.
"Well, the academy's rules prevent me from forcefully examining the boy's soul so all I can do for now is to wait for him to develop results. Hmmm...It's probably a good thing that I left a little tag on his soul, I'll be able to observe how strong his magic gets in the future from a distance."
....
The waiting room was the same as Nick left it. Nick took a seat in the fourth row after taking a glance at the receptionist and Ray Menzes quickly ordered:
"Rank 5 Marsha Cassidy, enter the dean's room."
Nick couldn't help but smile considering the results of his meeting with the dean. The whole interaction actually took about twenty minutes but was probably a turning point in his life. Nick is now able to recall clearly a magic language other than Valteese with very little effort.
(Rules wasn't bluffing me but who was Rules and and Uncertainty really. Were they figments of my imagination or something else...?)
Nick couldn't determine the truth and he would definitely not ask the dean about it since he did not trust the dean. At the very least he had somehow received information regarding his affinity.
(Rule magic? I have not come across that kind of magic in my reading. Apparently, it is magic related to the workings and manipulation of natural phenomenon. That's all the information I obtained from my soul's laws but it's a good start, at least its better than where I was at before. With my new language and now that I know I have a strong affinity for this magic, it will be easier to create my own meditation and foundation laws...)
While Nick was wrapped up in his thoughts, he heard someone call to him.
"Hey you, what exactly is your deal? How did a magic-less loser get such a high rank in the exam? Is it those scrolls that you have on you, where did you buy them?"
Nick turned towards the voice and realized that it was rank 1, Daryl Smith that had spoken to him. Nick decided to not reply because of his rudeness; he continued to mind his own business.
"Not talking, huh? I'll find out eventually using my family's influence so it's not like I have to ask you directly but let me make this clear, everyone in this year is bound to end up as my stepping stones. If you ever want to work for me, just come find me and I'll see how well I can make use of your talent."
Nick ignored Daryl completely after hearing that.
(This bald guy is clearly an extreme egoist. I should stay away from him going forward.)
Daryl returned to sitting quietly after his little speech. For the next five hours, the group remained in the dean's office until the last candidate returned from the dean's private room. At that point Ray Menzes spoke with a light tone:
"Alright, you've all gotten your reward. After we leave this building, you may do whatever you want, my supervision will end."
With that, Ray escorted all the students out of the building and once they were all outside he suddenly disappeared. Nick and Daryl were the first to leave the group. Since it was only 4 pm Nick decided to go to the bookstore and pick something up.
"Hey, wait!"
While he was quite a distance away from the dean's administrative building, he heard a voice calling him. He turned around to take a look and saw that a short woman with brown curly hair was chasing after him.
(Rank 5, Marsha Cassidy. What does she want?)
Marsha was winded when she arrived in front of Nick. She panted for a while and then spoke:
"We weren't formally introduced so I thought I should take the initiative. My name is Marsha Cassidy. Honestly, I ran you down to ask about your scrolls. I'm sort of into magical artifacts and the like and since you got such a high rank without having a mindscape, I wanted to ask if you used only those scrolls during the exam."
Nick didn't mind answering honestly. He was never opposed to having meaningful interactions with others as long as the other person was respectful.
"My name is Nick Capitol and yes, I only used these scrolls in my exam. I might have gotten my rank because of luck so you shouldn't pay too much attention to it."
Marsha's eyes gleamed with excitement.
"I don't know much about magic scrolls but I've seen them in my grandfather's collection. Did you buy them or make them yourself?"
Nick felt that this woman was being nosy but since she was speaking so earnestly, he would feel awkward if he just blew her off.
"Yes I made the scrolls, I joined the spell creation club a few months ago and since I don't have a mindscape and can't cast spells myself, I can only use these in order to manipulate magic."
Marsha nodded three times.
"I understand. I, myself, am studying to learn how to create magic tools and I find them really interesting. Most of the time I'm studying so I don't have any friends to speak to about magic. Is it possible that we could exchange phone numbers so that we could talk about magic together, I figure that there might be an advantage in discussing the things we learn with interested parties instead of just keeping them to ourselves."
(Why is this woman so earnest? It's so unexpected.....but I guess its not the worst thing. I don't mind speaking to someone about magic if they've got useful things to say.)
Nick didn't want to be blinded by Marsha's passion anymore. He said yes to her request and they exchanged phone numbers. Nick didn't want to spend time speaking with her right now because he still had things to do so he bid her farewell and continued walking to the bookstore. She stood on the spot and waved him goodbye.
"Talk to you later Nick."
Nick smiled.
(What a weird woman.)
When Nick got to the bookstore he went to the miscellaneous isle and picked up a bouquet of fluorescent but artificial flowers. Nick didn't know why the book store sold these but he had seen them on his previous visit and now thought that they might be useful for something considering how beautiful they looked. Nick received 100 pounds sterling every week deposited to his bank account as a result of his scholarship so he paid 1 pound sterling for the artificial flowers and returned to the Dean's administrative building. Nick took the elevator to the dean's office with the flowers in hand and entered. When he entered, Nick saw an almost empty room with the receptionist at her desk lifting her head as soon as Nick entered. Sweating profusely, Nick walked up to the receptionist's desk and spoke to her:
"Hello miss, thank you for attending to our group earlier. You were so graceful while doing you job."
Nick handed her the flowers with both his arms and hands shaking. The receptionist looked surprised for a moment but then smiled and said:
"Thank you young man, you know, you should be more careful about your stares. Some female Magicians take that as a serious offense towards their dignity."
Nick felt like he was struck by a thunderbolt.
"Oh..."
Nick felt embarrassed because he knew that she was talking about his stares at her earlier. He read somewhere that a man should always express his interest in the women he likes even if its just in a small innocuous way; the book said that he could gain confidence from doing that. Nick bowed slightly and apologized like what he saw in a Japanese drama once and said goodbye.
"Have a good day miss."
The receptionist smiled lightly and replied:
"Goodbye and good luck with your studies young man."
Nick left the dean's building and made his way to the library. He walked up to the librarian who he had learnt was named Jack Macy and spoke:
"Hello Mr. Macy, I haven't been here in a while, the place still looks great under your dedicated care. Could you please recommend me a book on the natures of magic, especially, anything related to rule magic?"
Jack looked at Nick and said:
"Hmph, kid stop kissing my ass, I don't like guys. Rule Magic? Where did you here about that from. I once read that it was a magic widely practiced a long time ago but it fell out of favor for some reason and isn't practiced by Magicians on Grand Earth or in its associated realms. Well anyway, if its a good book on magic natures that you want, here."
Jack raised his hands and a thick leather bounded book appeared in his hands. He gave the book to Nick and told him to leave. Nick thanked Jack for his help and returned to his dorm room. So much had happened today that Nick was completely exhausted and as soon as he laid down on his bed for a little rest, he fell into a deep sleep, only thinking about magic.
A smile was plastered on his face as he slept.