The path led towards a wide courtyard, surrounded on three sides by grey stone buildings seemingly carved out of a single piece.
“Greetings Explorator, are you here for learning or a meeting?” A voice from my right said to me as I stepped into the courtyard. I turned my head to find a smiling blonde, about my size, in a mage's robe, and clearly talking to me.
“Learning,” I replied.
“Magic?” she asked. Her smile grew wider when I nodded. “New student enrolment for the Mage program can be found at our left.” She raised an arm to indicate the building opposite her.
The door led into a small chamber with a handful of stressed-looking mages manning a counter. There was a cordoned rope snaking back and forth to hold a queue of people presently missing. So I walked briskly to the front and then approached the one who looked up at me.
“Welcome to the Landing School of Magic. Are you here to enroll?” she asked.
“If this is where I can learn and improve my magic, certainly,” I responded.
“It is indeed. We are the premier institute of learning on Velkaria, and the leading school of the Arcane!” She grinned. “Enrolment fee is one silver piece or merit token, and for that you will be given access to the ground floor of the Arcanum to retrieve your first spell, training on how to use it, and access to our other facilities...” she was interrupted by her neighbour kicking her, when she looked over to see what the problem was she tapped her collar.
She looked at me and her eyes went wide. “My apologies, in your case, the fee is already covered! You’ll just need to complete this form.” She lifted a clipboard up and passed it to me over the counter. I looked down and quickly filled in my character’s name, read through the legalese covering them for any liability if I am unable to use magic, merely promising they will give me the opportunity to learn and it was entirely on me if I succeeded or not. I signed it ‘A. Ravenscroft’ at the end, on the line provided.
“Brilliant.” She beamed. “Here is your welcome pack!” She held out a small tote bag. “Inside you will find your membership ring, a map of the campus, your voucher for a spell out of the Arcanum, a voucher for a student robe from the Provisionary, your provisional library card, a notepad, some pens, and a voucher for a free drink from the student bar!” I took the offered bag and opened it.
The ring was a simple design, a pair of wands crossed over a staff. I slipped it onto the middle finger of my right hand.
The map was slightly cartoony, like one drawn for a theme park, but I could clearly see the building I was in labeled the School of Magic, the one opposite was the School of Science, and the other building was the Administration building. Behind the building I was in was a pagoda-looking building labeled the Arcanum. Others were labeled things like the Physics Centre and Alchemist’s Hall. The one which most stood out to me though was on the opposite side of the statue's head to the Arcanum, it looked like a shooting range and was labeled ‘The Spell Forge.’
“Once you have demonstrated skill in a spell, you will be given a list of the classes available to you. As you grow as a mage, more options for further growth will become available. As will access to the Arcanum and additional spells. Contribution to the school will also offer more of the school’s resources.” Sounded like another faction system. “To assist in your journey as a mage, in classroom 101, Professor Sharpe is teaching meditation. This skill helps to speed up mana recovery and is a must for any discerning mage.” She indicated down to the left towards a door, it had a small plaque which said ‘101-106’
“Thank you.” I said, and started in that direction.
My HUD was indicating some big changes to my quest log. The most obvious was my Main quest had changed from The great voyage to Humanities survival.
I had also gained two local quests and even completed some of the sub-objectives
Room 101 was not the classroom I was expecting, it resembled more a hippy’s drug den. Incense sticks burning in multiple places left a hazy smoke in the room. There were cushions seeming randomly placed, yet all equally spaced apart from their neighbours. Some were occupied by robed mages, a couple in player starter gear, and one woman on the far side, in the same pose as the statue, floating six inches above her cushion.
“Greetings, child.” an elderly woman said to me as I stepped into the room. “Welcome to meditation for the new mage. Are you here to learn the art of meditation?”
“I am.” I replied dubiously. The room was feeling a little culty.
“This guide will help you get started. The Professor, “she indicated the floating robed woman on the far side of the room, “will assist you if you get stuck.”
“Thank you.” I said taking the small thin booklet, entitled ‘Meditating yourself to greatness.’
“My pleasure, child. Feel free to choose any of the unoccupied meditation spots.”
I found an empty spot to sit on and looked down at the booklet. The first double page was on leg position and basically was two full pages of graphical instructions on how to cross your legs.
The second double page, duplicated the same but with the hand positions. It was a duplication of the giant statue's position.
The third double page at least wasn’t a series of images for the specific position I needed to be in, but a written guide talking about clearing my mind, centering myself, and breathing. It was a breathing technique I had learnt under a different name, used to help calm yourself before a stressful situation, like a job interview. Square breathing.
I read through the instructions one more time, just to be sure, put down the booklet. Then moved into the position required.
I slowly let my breath out.
Counted to four.
Slowly breathed back in over four beats.
Counted to four.
Slowly breathed back out over four beats.
Then I repeated the process again.
I lost myself in the breathing until it became second nature.
~Close, young one, while you breathe, feel for your power, let it flow through you, around you~ an alien thought intruded into my head. I lost focus and my eyes snapped to the floating woman who gave me a confirming nod. It’d been her.
I closed my eyes and tried again, this time while I breathed, I also reached out for my mana like I did when casting, and I felt it flow through me…
It tickled.
I was ushered out of the meditation classroom, feeling a little light-headed. The lady who had given me the booklet, patted me on the head, stuffed a sweet lollipop into my mouth and wished me luck. She then closed the door before I could respond.
[Skill gained - Magic: Meditation - 1 rank]
I suppose it was ‘introduction to meditation’ but that seemed a little abrupt…
Well…onwards and up…well no, not upwards, sidewards. There was a sign pointing down a corridor for the Arcanum. So I followed it.
The corridor led to a door outside to the rear of the building. A path led across the lawn to a large pagoda style building. There were a number of players standing around discussing things in groups, while a crowd surrounded a tall man in a mage’s robe, a huge pointy hat and a seven foot curly-ended staff, not far from the entrance to the building.
As I walked up, people would leave the crowd and head into the building or come out of the building, trade something with the man and then walk away to join one of the groups.
“First you need to demonstrate your membership to the School of Magic, by empowering your ring. You then give me your voucher, enter the Arcanum, and find a spell book you wish to learn. Return to me and I will translate it for you.” he said to a player who had arrived before me. “How do I demonstrate my membership?” He asked.
“You need to push mana through your ring until it glows.” someone said bitterly, his eyes focusing on the mage ring on his right hand. The robed man lightly nodded his head in agreement.
I looked down at the ring on my right hand and pushed mana into it. The ring glowed briefly, and then a holographic representation of myself was projected from the ring. A bronze ring circled the bottom of the model.
“Token?” The mage asked me, holding out a hand. I passed him the one I had been given. He nodded at it. “This token does not give access to the first floor or above, the stairs will not let you pass.” he reached out and touched my ring. It started glowing. “Seek out the tome of the spell you wish to learn.”
I got a few dirty looks from people struggling to channel mana into their rings. I felt for them and I was tempted to try and offer advice, but from talking to my friends and unsuccessfully trying to explain the feeling of mana to them, I kind of felt I would do more harm than good.
Approaching the entrance into the building, I was able to see there was a faint blue glimmer floating in the air. Force field? I pondered, but it didn’t impede me. To my right there was a staircase going up, it had a red glimmer. I turned from it to survey the rest of the floor.
The ground floor was a mess. Empty wooden bookshelves led into the dark depths of the building, flickering candle light being the only illumination. I had the choice, I could go straight ahead, along the wall of the staircase before the aisle turned left. Or I could go left, about the same distance, to where the aisle turned right.
Why break a habit of a lifetime? I went left.