The rest of my first night at the Silvertongue Institute passes in a blur of activity. People at the food court of the institute swarm me and I end up spending over an hour and a half there, feeding myself, my animal companions, the fairy I have befriended, and fielding questions. People clamor for my attention, and I end up relying on a variety of perks built for social situations, answering questions and turning down invites from all sorts of students and lecturers alike for over ninety minutes.
I eventually manage to retreat to my personal apartment atop the institute, riding a magical elevator to the top of the institute and finding myself in a luxurious suite of rooms accompanied by my bear, falcon, and fairy friend. It is much more spacious than the rooms inside the cabin are, and it is also kept professionally clean and stocked with assorted amenities. I step into a private study located near the edge of the suite of rooms and note the ornate furniture in it, as well as a desk filled with paperwork. I sigh and note how even in another world the grind never ends.
"I might as well go ahead and get started." I remark, even as my fairy friend interacts with the animals "I've" tamed in another room. I enter the study and sit behind the desk, before grabbing the nearest piece of paper and looking at it. The piece of paper is a report on completed requests for medical aid for the last month. I study it and sign off on it, before grabbing the next one and doing the same thing, which is a letter from a local government official about a festival next month in which she asks if any of the graduates of the institute would be interested in performing. I place this on another part of the desk and decide to place papers that need real responses there.
For the next hour, I devote myself to doing paperwork, swiftly making headway into the pile of papers that have been delivered to my personal study. The work is not hard, though it is a bit boring. At various points, I quietly talk to myself and wonder if I should hire an assistant or at least a personal musician so I can listen to some music while I'm doing this. I muse on that while going through paperwork.
"The thought of using some of my money to have a pretty little assistant…" I mutter, before grinning. I doubt many people would mind working for me. Between my actual ability to pay, my desire to actually get help for the work I'm doing, and my good looks, there'd be worse places to work than for me. Hiring someone pretty to give me some eye candy and a second set of eyes and hands feels like it'd make for a decently wise investment of my very healthy income.
I skillfully continue to sort through papers, noting reports that mark everything from our stock of medical supplies to how many patients have come to our discount clinic where students get hands-on experience assisting professional doctors and healers. I also read through requests that have been marked as special or unusual, noting the existence of magical diseases and requests for aid from non-human humanoids who have different physiologies and who require special treatments.
"The head of a college has a lot of work to do, huh?" I ask myself, as I stop and study the state of my desk. Now instead of one large pile, there are a few piles of differing heights. The largest one is the pile of documents that still need review, but I've divided the work I've already done into a few different piles, allowing me to see the progress I've made. I scan the piles once more before shaking my head.
"I don't need to do everything right now." I tell myself, demonstrating a healthy attitude towards work, in part due to the subtle intervention of perks going off in my head to stop me from pushing myself towards burnout. I get up and in minutes I'm lying in bed. I'm still awake and I quickly set a mental alarm clock for a few hours from now, using some of my perks to make sure that I get some rest without sleeping in.
As I lay in bed I make active use of several of my perks for the first time. "Chameleon" lets me craft false backstories for myself that involve the placing real, but artificial, experience into various skills, hobbies, and professions. This process takes some time, but when done it will allow me to tap into the backstories and utilize them as though they were real. I begin the process of configuring the years of artificial experience I possess for the sake of giving myself a backstory as a blacksmith, a handy set of skills and knowledge that I may never know if I'll need.
The process takes around seventy two minutes. It's actually a touch longer than I was expecting, which is disappointing but not surprising. Jump documents sometimes approximate so I need to learn to temper my expectations. Still, by the time I'm done I've created a new backstory for myself. I smile in the darkness of my bedroom, delighted by what I've done.
As I'm celebrating what I've done I opt to take this moment to configure other perks as well. I tap into my new memories to mentally study the history of this world for the sake of a mysterious perk in my possession named "Story Collector".
This handy, but odd, thing allows me to benefit from myths and legends. According to the perk, when stories have existed for long enough to be turned into myths and legends they turn into "tales"; collections of traits, skills, and even abilities inspired by the myths that I, and other appropriately powered bards, can tap into. I scan my newfound memories, able to rely on "Loremaster"; a perk that gives me an updating pool of knowledge that gets refreshed every jump based on how much history I learned in my past jump, to give me knowledge of several "Tales".
This world's history is arcane and supernatural. Unlike on Earth, where I was reasonably confident there was either nothing supernatural or few supernatural things, this world is rife with the supernatural. I rode a supernatural elevator to get to my room, and used supernatural abilities yesterday! I know that wizard-kings exist here, who wield the supernatural with a deft hand and with sublime skill. I also know that other bards possess supernatural abilities of their very own, much like I do.
I parse through memories of time spent in foreign archives and conversing with historians. I recall time spent in ancient groves, listening to dryads and in the halls of distant nobles where they regaled me with stories of their impressive lineages.
I take a few moments before settling on a story of a specific mage-king. This figure, quite like Merlin back on Earth, was said to have had demonic ancestry. He was charming, insatiable sexually, and possessed incredible arcane skill. I tap into his tale, and I feel his skill with the arcane surge through me, filling me with echoes of his mastery of the arcane. I grin as I feel the man's prowess seep into my pores, and as I faintly feel myself grow more acquainted with magic and the esoteric.
I also feel his passionate appetite for carnal things flow into me, something which reminds me of the powerful "Legendary Fertility" bardic perk. The playful power that lets me mate with anything, have children with anything, makes me better in bed, gives me control over my fertility, and gives me minor thematic powers based on what I sleep with. It's an ability I'd like to test, though not until I've fully adjusted to this new world.
I have one more perk to go ahead and configure. I turn my gaze outside, looking out the window to see the city below, as I mentally activate "Life Lessons". This strange little explorer perk is designed to reward jumpers who actually engage with the basic conceit of the explorer jump and go on adventures. The way it works is that journey I go on becomes a "Chronicle" I can assign to myself and draw a boon from, though at first I can only draw on one boon at a time.
Thankfully this time assigning the thing is easy. I only have a single boon, one based on my journey to the small town I have just returned from. The chronicle is named "Helping Someone In Need" and I assign it to myself with a smile. Its boon is simple; I can detect poison in a very small radius around myself, roughly hands reach, meaning I can detect if someone I'm about to eat or drink is intended as a weapon against me. With this I'm done momentarily configuring my build and designing tricker aspects of myself. I smile contentedly even as I begin to feel tired, the activity of the day catching up to me.
I shut my eyes and allow exhaustion to overtake me. In seconds I am out, and before I know it I'm awake again, sunlight streaming into the room I've chosen to fall asleep in. I get up and smile and give myself a beat to mentally acclimate to the fact that I'm home now. I study the luxurious bedroom around me now that sunlight is streaming into it, and I silently admire various display cases showing off beautifully made instruments, as well as various pieces of medical equipment that are more ceremonial than functional.
A few minutes later I stop looking around and I quickly head into the study to collect the papers and stuff them into my arcane backpack. I am going to be spending at least two weeks here before my next excursion, barring an urgent request for specialized aid, so I plan to do a lot of work in the central, publicly accessible "Headmaster's Office" on the main floor of the institute. Collecting the papers takes a few moments and when I'm done I head into the arcane elevator and head down to the central educational floor of the building, a pleasant place halfway to the ground floor of the building.
The trek down only takes a few moments and in almost no time at all I am in the simple looking headmaster's office. My animals are with me, with the bear laying down in a corner and napping, and the falcon perched atop a bookshelf. My fairy is sitting down on the desk in front of me as I begin to retrieve the papers from my backpack and place them in neat piles around the fairy. She playfully giggles and pretends to scoot out of the way of the piles.
When I finish placing the piles down I get to work and immediately dive into the same things I was doing last night. I get close to two hours of work done before a knock at my door surprises me and draws my attention away from the slowly shrinking central pile of paperwork. I look up and spot a geeky looking pale man a bit shorter than me dressed in a lab coat. I recognize him as one of the professors I employ and give him a quick smile before gesturing for him to come in.
"Good morning Professor Luminare. How may I help you today?" I ask, as the man enters the office and sits down on the other side of my desk.
"Headmaster Silvertongue, how are you doing?" He asks, his voice quiet and nervous sounding.
"I'm well. My trip to the countryside went well, and I was able to help an ailing family. All in all I'd consider it a successful venture." I remark, honestly and with a happy look.
"That's good. I have a bit of an unusual request." The man says. I take a beat, expecting him to continue without prompting but when a second of silence passes he realizes his mistake and laughs awkwardly at himself.
"My apologies. So I was wondering how far the family discount on tuition costs extends. I have a relative, my wife's sister wants to be either a healer or an entertainer and I was curious as to if my family's discount extends that far or if it's only for my children." He confesses. I grin at the man, having not even realized he was married.
"I have no problems with that. If she applies and gets in, let me know and I'll ensure she gets the family discount. And professor, I'm surprised you've never mentioned your wife before." I remark, causing him to blush.
"Well… It's actually a funny story. My wife is a goblin." He confesses, knowing that that's enough to explain his hesitation and I barely manage to keep my eyes from widening at that revelation. Goblins in this world, according to the lore I know thanks to my artificial memories, have a well-known reputation for being insatiable and for being bait for certain kinds of humans… Ones that are incredibly horny.
"Ah, that explains it. Well, I'm happy for you. Over here at the Silvertongue Institute we don't discriminate, and I'd actually quite like to have a few goblin students." I tell him, causing him to smile. A split second later I hear a delighted peal of laughter from behind the door leading in and out of the office. I glance at it and the professor frowns before calling out to the source of the noise. The door opens and four goblins step into the room.
One of them is taller than the rest, standing tall enough to reach my chest. She has dark green skin and amber-colored eyes. She has a mischievous look on her face, and is dressed in an outfit that I can almost guarantee will cause her trouble due to how little it covers, letting people get eyefulls of her impressively stacked body given her height.
The other three are dressed more normally than she is, though their clothes are still purposefully revealing. One of them, an older-looking goblin with orange skin saunters over to the professor and kisses his cheek, causing him to blush brightly. I assume she is his wife. One of the other three is probably the aspiring student; the man's sister-in-law, while the other two might be the aspiring student's daughters? Or even the man's daughters?
"Oh thank you Mr. Headmaster!" The older-looking goblin proclaims. I'm surprised when her voice and accent register as faintly southern to me. I smile at her.
"No problem! I'm always happy to do what I can to contribute to self-improvement." I remark with a sincerity that surprises me. The goblins, including the tallest one, all smile at me.
"So you really are an egalitarian huh?" One of the goblins asks, not the tallest one but also not the one who just kissed the professor. I audibly laugh which surprises her, and a split second later I speak again.
"Yes, yes I am an egalitarian. I believe that knowledge is essential and that, on a fundamental level, everyone should be treated equally. I am more than happy to take on students of all creeds, species, and places of origin." I explain, causing the goblins to relax. The one who kissed the professor whispers that he did good, getting a job here. He whispers back that he agrees.
In minutes the group leaves and I am left alone again. I return to my work and I spend the rest of the day working, only taking a break to get some food. In almost no time at all the day has passed, and I have completed countless bits of paperwork, approving various requests, signing off on reports, and otherwise tending to the duties of my job as the head of the institute. I quickly go and grab dinner, before making my way back to my apartment floor. When I'm back in my apartment I venture to a new set of rooms, ones I didn't visit last night; my laboratory.
The other side of my apartment, the more impersonal one, is a space fitted with all manner of arcane devices and technological goodies. In it sits a healthy variety of equipment, from things used to diagnose health problems to devices that are enchanted in ways that align with my nature as a bard. I ignore those devices, for the time being, and instead head to a corner of the massive space filled with half-completed devices. I study them with an introspective look.
I spot prototype teleporters, devices meant to make spaces larger on the inside without making them bigger on the outside, and even devices for touching time itself. The machines are representations of a set of "Capstone" explorer perks I own. "Capstone" perks or items are the most powerful items in a series of perks or items, and often have significant abilities. Three of them in generic explorer related to space, dimensions, and time, and offer their owners protection against manipulations of their chosen elements, and the ability to do things like develop related abilities and technologies, such as the power to create teleporters for "The Lands Between"; the perk of spatial stuff. I study the machines and grin as I wonder how to progress when it comes to working on them.
I eventually sit down next to one of the devices; a portable teleporter, and begin to get to work further refining its construction. I have my own memories, I knew what "I" was doing, and as I touch more of the device more memories began to flow into my mind, thanks to my own psychometric powers. I tinker with the device for some time before deciding to go to bed.
When I make my way to bed I recall the events of the day with a smile. As I lay in bed, getting ready to rest for the night, I think of the goblins I met, and one of the last things on my mind before I fall asleep is wondering if I'll get to see them again, particularly whichever one is interested in being a student here. I fall asleep and slip into a dreamless night's rest.
At the time I fall asleep I don't quite know that I've marked the commencement of a routine. Every day for the next three and a half weeks I will wake up, head downstairs, do work in my capacity as the head of the Institute; be it paperwork, overseeing classes, approving requests for aid of various sorts, and even resolving conflicts, and then finish the day out with some scientific tinkering.
I actually manage to grow accustomed to the routine, and I meet, as myself and not "Me", many of the faculty and staff who I employ throughout the institute! During this time perks such as "Dabbler" really come in handy, letting me hone my medical sklls, as well as supernatural abilities, without putting myself in danger. Before I know it, in part thanks to perks I possess, I've had the necessary time to acclimate somewhat to the odd reality of my new situation and the new world I inhabit.