Chapter 352. Izbix.

  “What kind of assistance are you offering?” I asked, hoping to get some specifics before I agreed to the contract.

  “Good answer, that’s one of the things I’ll help you with in the future, how to negotiate on your contracts. While I may not trade in souls like my other infernal kin, I know a thing or two about the tricks and traps that might lie in wait for a being such as yourself. As far as specifics are concerned, meet me in my classroom after classes are over for the day. If you agree to my terms, and are satisfied with the assistance offered, it would be a perfect time to sign and activate your contract,” Professor Dalzrin said.

  “Fair enough, I’ll see you later this afternoon,” I said. The trinkets that he mentioned were interesting, as was the promised assistance in negotiation training. At first, I almost dismissed the offer, given my agreement with Tzes’zod, but I realized that while I wanted to build relationships with others, I also had to be able to rely on myself. Should Tzes’zod leave, I’d be woefully unprepared for any contract shenanigans.

  With breakfast and my conversation with Professor Dalzrin over, I made my way to Melody’s classroom. It was still early, and I had little to do other than tidy up a bit. A few minutes later, Melody arrived, her arms full of a large stack of tomes that I helped her arrange on her desk.

  “Bringing in the entire library today?” I joked.

  “It seems like it, but most of these are reference books I want in the classroom this semester for the students to use. I find they’re more likely to look up the information when they don’t have to make a trip to the library and search for random tomes.

  “Oh, here, this one is for you. Since you’re part of the faculty, you can keep it checked out for up to a month, but I’d suggest returning it to the library before then if you don’t want to incur the librarian’s wrath. Trust me, having the librarian on your side makes work a lot easier around here,” Melody said, handing me a thin tome with a simple, leather cover.

  “Thanks, I’ll read it as quickly as I can and get it returned,” I answered. That was one person I hadn’t met yet, the librarian. I’d been in the library, but I’d only dealt with the clerks working there. So far, I’d run into most of the faculty at some point either passing in the halls, or in the cafeteria. A quick look at the book’s title told me that Melody had made a good choice.

  Summoner’s Combat Essentials, Volume 18. Dealing with Infernal Damage Resistances.

  I’d have to make time for a longer trip to the library if this book turned out to have good information in it. So far, most of the texts I’d seen were decent, if a bit generic in the information given, though much of that could be chalked up to the class being an introductory one.

  “What’s on the agenda today?” I asked.

  “We’re going over some basics on summoning order for varying situations. I figured you had more than enough practical experience with that. After lunch, I’m cutting you loose to Professor Izbix. She teaches the students that can summon or create mana-mechanical minions. Izbix was intrigued to hear that you come from a higher technology world that was mana-starved,” Melody said.

  I was looking forward to meeting Professor Izbix, and I had a feeling a lot of people back home would gravitate toward some kind of techno-mage class if such a thing was offered by the system. My experience with Fitzfazzle and his people showed me what might be accomplished when you combined magic and technology.

  Thinking about Fitzfazzle made me check on his figurine. It was ready to go if I needed him on a summoning. His gadgets and knowledge made him a solid choice for whatever situation I found myself in. The fact that he couldn’t be permanently hurt meant I had no qualms in calling for his help in a dire situation.

  “One other thing, Rico. The summoning department is having their annual faculty tournament this weekend. Did you want to participate? It’s mainly for bragging rights, but It’ll also be a good chance for you to see other experienced summoners in action,” Melody said.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “I’m in, how do I sign up?” I asked. She had mentioned the tournament before, and I was looking forward to testing myself against others with a similar class that might be higher tier and rank. It would be good practice for my fight against Gary and give me a better feel for the power of my class.

  “You’ll just sign up the day of the tournament. I’ll meet you at breakfast and we can head over together if you’d like,” Melody offered.

  “Sounds like a plan,” I responded. The weekend was the day after tomorrow, so I wouldn’t have to wait for too long.

  The students for the morning class started to trickle in before I could dig into the book that Melody had found for me. While there was a bit of formality between teacher and student, Melody was friendly and approachable with her students. If I ever ended up in a longer-term teaching position, I’d try to emulate her style, as it seemed to mesh well with my personality.

  “Welcome everyone, we have a lot to cover today, so we’ll get cracking. Professor Kline will be with us again today, and we’ll start by discussing minion summoning order, and how it can be a crucial decision based on how you summon your minions, and whatever task you’re working on,” Melody explained.

  It was funny to hear her mention “task” instead of battle. That reminded me that many of these students would be using their minions for work, not necessarily combat. Almost all my experience was in a hostile and dangerous environment, but I had to think about other options that might open up in the future. Melody motioned for me to begin.

  “Let me give you my reasoning, and some of the tactics I’ve used as a summoned being. Of course, most of my summonings were for combat related tasks, but not all of them,” I explained. While I didn’t want to give away all the tricks that my class was capable of, I gave the students a rundown of how my minions functioned, and some of the various options that had been available to me over my time as a summoned being.

  Melody then guided the discussion, listing my minion types, along with some others, on the board and giving the class various scenarios to see how they would arrange their minion summoning order. She did a good job at getting all the students involved in the discussion, and a few of the scenarios she threw out there, and the resulting discussion, caused me to rethink some of my prior decisions.

  The class flew by, and when lunch time hit, we took a break. Our students would head to their afternoon classes, and Melody would have a fresh group arriving. The new group wouldn’t have me for the discussion, since I’d be with Professor Izbix. While heading to the cafeteria, Melody walked me by Izbix’s classroom.

  Unlike ours, it had a large roll-up door like you’d see in a car mechanic’s shop. A regular door was close by, and I was intrigued to see why the larger door was needed. I sort of hoped they were there to accommodate more of the gnomish mech’s that I’d piloted before.

  After lunch, I entered through the normal sized door into the classroom. My thoughts about the roll up door resembling something in a mechanics shop were accurate, and it looked like the oversized classroom was divided into several individual workstations. Each station had a large workbench and several shelves of tools and devices for the students to use.

  Some of the tools and items looked familiar, but there were just as many strange things that I’d never seen before. The oddest addition to each station was a solid metal rod mounted on the floor. About four feet high, the rod had strange ripples of energy sparking off it. I thought it must be some kind of power source, but it looked like something that belonged in Frankenstein’s lab, not a classroom.

  “Is this human being entering my classroom the one known as Rico Kline,” a chittering voice said from across the room.

  “Yes, are you Professor Izbix?” I asked as someone walked from behind several storage shelves in the back of the classroom.

  “That is I. You are here to assist me?” Izbix asked. I’d seen just about every kind of humanoid by this point, but Izbix’s species was something new for me.

  The closest way I could describe her was an ant centaur. The humanoid portion of her body had a dull brown exoskeleton that matched the rest of her, and there were four arms with three fingers on each hand. Her mouth was a pair of mandibles, and her words must have formed deeper in her throat, as there were no lips, and it sounded like she was speaking from further away than she actually was.

  Her speech patterns were odd, but the Linguistic Adaptation Interface sorted it out enough that I understood the gist of what she was communicating. Izbix was taller than me, and a bit intimidating. Still far from the strangest person I’d met, I was excited to hear about her class.

  “I’m looking forward to sitting in on your class. I spent some time with a village of gnomish engineers and really enjoyed watching them work. Did you need anything specific from me for the class?” I asked.

  “Yes, gnomes are competent engineers, a bit too undisciplined in their designs, but ingenious in their own way. As for your purpose in this class, we’re covering mana-based machinery, and I’d like you to explain how similar devices in your world function. I understand that your world was one that possessed advanced technology that was powered by means other than mana,” Izbix said.

  “You’re correct, I’ll be glad to help in any way I can,” I responded, wondering how I’d explain the internet, power grids, or jet aircraft. While I was no engineer, I hoped I could give a competent, if basic, explanation of things. Of course, there was no way I was going to get into some things, like nuclear weapons. I’m sure the multiverse had more dangerous things, but I didn’t want to be the guy who put the idea of a nuclear weapon in some enterprising young student’s mind.