Ezra - Golemagineer Chapters 4 to 6 (Patreon)

Chapter 4 to 6

Chapter 4

“You’re studying hard.” It’s been a week and some since that day, and Ezra worked hard. He trained every skill, but it takes months to get skill upgrades.

Within that week, he quickly noticed that there were many who had some kind of speciality or focus like Alix, and others that seemed to be coasting along. Maybe they have not revealed their talents yet, but still, it made Ezra regret not working harder. Sure, there were others who were like him, but he didn’t want to be in the lower half of the group that didn’t have a niche.

Ezra nodded back at her.

“I have to. Can’t fall behind too bad.”

“Competitive!” Alix teased.

“What’s going on?”

“The Wuldern YA school is having a mock demonstration.” Alix said. “Wanna go? It’s open to everyone.”

“Mock demonstration?”

“Well, they are hosting a competition of the YA Regional Qualifiers in a few months, so as hosts, they’ve got to make preparations. So they got a mini-demonstration set up, as practice. It’s a good chance to see what those in the YA group can do. They are holding the demonstration in the shared hall.”

Ezra thought back to his book. The tier for entry to Wuldern was Level 12, but the tier to enter the YA school was around Level 22 to Level 25. That meant they’d have to gain about 2 to 3 levels per year, for the next five years.

By the time someone finishes the full ten years in Wuldern, they should be around level 30 or so.

If all goes well.

[Level 20] was when they became a mage, and [Level 30] was the common threshold for the first [specialization]. There were minor evolutions to their class, or a ‘capstone’ skill every 10 levels. But, levels and skills are not directly related. You could gain as many skills as you want, and so, someone in Level 20 with many good skills could overpower someone much higher up with a much weaker skillset. That said, each level influenced their attributes, so someone in a higher level had more mana, more strength, more endurance and more stamina.

“Yeah. Why not.” Most of the YA group should be in their Level 20s.

“Great! It should be helpful, if you wanna see what you could be good at.”

“Hey! How’d you know?” Ezra said.

Alix just grinned. “It’s on your face.”

***

The shared hall was a common building used by both the YA and the junior Wulderns. There was a booking system in place, where the instructors from both sides would plot out who got to use it, and when.

It’s a standalone building located away from the main Junior institute buildings, but is linked by a covered walkway and bridge. In a way, the shared hall was the building between the two Wulderns.

The YA students were all older by at least five years, and surprisingly, there weren't many of them. Not to the same numbers that Ezra expected in their own welcoming ceremony.

“I think not all of them are here.” Alix replied to his observation. “But they should be less- people drop out, and it’s not like they have people joining them halfway- unless they transfer in.”

“Ah. Fair point.”

The YA students followed a slightly different system, such that they were no longer separated by years, but instead were channeled into specializations. Not all research institutes treated their advanced students this way. In a way, the standardization from Central was mainly enforced at the Junior students, but there was significantly more leeway on how magic education was structured for advanced students.

There was a YA student who already assigned herself to introduce the demonstration.

“Oh! Welcome to the Wuldern’s YA Demonstration. What you will see is a mock setup of what we will showcase later this year for the Northern Region YA Regional Qualifiers! We are also the host for that set of competitions, so if you’re around and not on break, feel free to come watch!”

Alix whispered. “I heard the tickets cost a lot.”

The female YA student heard her. “Well, if you want to get it cheaper, be a medallist at the Regionals! You get discounted ticket prices.”

Alix blushed, embarrassed. “Oh. Okay.”

The first booth they checked out was a potions booth. They didn’t set up everything yet, but they were clearly trying to wow them with the fancy colors and the bubbling glass bottles filled with strange liquids and monster innards.

They both were impressed. But another YA student walked over and frowned. “Y’know, this only impresses the junior students. This isn’t going to sell with the other YA students from the other schools.”

The exhibitor scratched his head. “I know, I know, but this is the one I know how to make!”

“Aww come on!”

Ezra looked at Alix, as a question emerged in his mind. “I thought we should keep secrets about our skills, so why are the exhibitors doing demonstrations?”

“Complicated.” Alix said. “Mix of ego and pride, I guess? Students want to impress students from other schools. It’s one of those times where we actually get to meet our peers from other schools. But uh- you want to do so without showing all your cards?”

Ezra looked at their older seniors, and noticed they really were putting in quite a bit of effort. Most of them, anyway. Their booths demonstrated their mastery over certain types of potions, or some were focused on mundane uses for magics. That was generally the ‘Commercial Magics’ sphere. Some students of the various sponsored institutes do not actually want to participate in combat, and so they tend to focus heavily on the commercial uses of magic.

Generally, those who looked to be ‘commercial mages’ or ‘trade mages’, tried to avoid the Central Fund sponsorship, because those usually led them down a path of war. They usually opted for private Guild sponsors, where they had a pathway to permanent job roles in their new guild employers.

“See anything you like, yet?” Alix asked, as she continued to spend quite a bit of time looking and examining a plate of enchantments. Ezra figured Alix probably wanted to be an enchanter.

“Not yet. At least.” Ezra repeated, as they approached the next booth.

His eyes was instantly drawn to the wooden dolls and toys behind the girl’s desk.

“Puppets.” Ezra saw larger, more dangerous versions of the wooden puppets he had back home, or the one he brought along and now sat next to his bed.

“I prefer the term, Entry-Level Golems.” The older female student smiled at the two. “Do you have one of these?”

“Yes.” Ezra said, and Alix shook her head.

“Fantastic! Your parents have good tastes, introducing you to these toys!” The girl smiled. “Have you ever done magic with them?”

Ezra blushed slightly. “A little. I uh- I move them around with magic!”

“Awesome!” The girl beamed. “One of us future golem masters!”

“-uh- Golem masters? How’s that related to puppets?”

“Well, it’s a common toy made for us kids, but if you’ve followed magic news, Central has been developing all kinds of golems. Did you know that these toys are easily the best way to get introduced to how golems work?”

“Wait- what?”

“So, you have to use magic to move these puppets right?”

“Ah-” It clicked in Ezra’s mind then. Golems were just larger, more sophisticated puppets! “But- wait. I thought golems move on their own?”

“That’s where some of the magic is!” The girl smiled. “There’s a conduit that links our mind to the golem. The true golem masters of our Continent created autonomous golems, but they are still linked magically to their masters!”

“-wow.” Ezra never imagined the puppets could lead to Golems.

“I’m Verna.” The girl said. “6th year, so I’m your senior! I love puppets, I made my own when I was younger, but then I decided to mix it with magic, and that’s how I got into the world of magical golems.”

Alix smiled at her fellow classmate. “Well, this sounds like something you could do.”

Ezra nodded furiously. “-how do I get started?”

Verna thought for a while. “We’re in different parts of the school, so we technically can’t meet much, but there’s some good books in the library, back when I was still in junior school. Look for the “Basics of Sculptures, and Animating Structures”.”  The two conjoined schools largely do not interact much, partly to prevent incidences of bullying and power struggles.

“Oh!” Ezra wrote it down on a small piece of paper. “That’s helpful!”

Alix nodded along, pleased that her friend didn’t look so lost anymore.

“Golems.” Ezra repeated. “I’m going to try that.”

“Good luck.”

***

“Right around the corner, along the Enchantments row.” The assistants seemed to know where exactly each book was. Ezra nodded and soon found the book he wanted. THere were easily seven copies of that same book on the shelves-

He was about to walk out of his aisle and back to the counter when he heard a commotion. “Give that book back.”

“No.”

It was two boys shouting at each other. The boy held a book in his hand called “Fire Magics - Advanced Implements”.

Ezra heard from his seniors at night, before they slept, that students sometimes argued over some books with limited copies. Usually these were combat books.

“Give it back.”

“No. I got it first.”

Ezra wasn’t sure whether it was right to intervene, so he looked around, and watched how everyone would react. Most students just ignored them. A few watched. The two boys, both looked like they were a year older.

“This is not the first time you’ve tried taking the last book.” The boy countered. “I’ll report your behavior to the High Mages.”

“Do it if you dare.” The other boy smirked, and walked off.

The boy fumed, and followed. He continued to challenge. “-I will, dammit, and you’ll get expelled from the Central Fund.”

“Don’t be an arse. Go read another book. There’s no rule saying you must have this book. The fact that I got this book first means I have every right to it.” The other boy responded. “You just want to pick a fight with me.”

The boy’s anger only bubbled. “-just you wait. I’ll have your crimes collated.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong. So leave me alone.”

Ezra decided to give the two boys some space before the librarian called him to check out his books. Each of their books was tagged to their assigned bracelets.

He decided to make small talk, partly because the assistant librarian was a cute girl just a few years older than him. “Sorry, I wanted to give those two some space.”

“Ah, it’s alright. Those two quarrel like husband and wife. Not the first time they fought each other like that.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” The librarian smiled. “You’re a first year?”

“Yup.”

“Good luck!” The librarian finished recording the book’s details in some kind of paper ledger, and placed a paper card inside some kind of file.

“What’s that?” Ezra asked.

“Oh. This is just how we identify which student took what books. These files, each of them represent one student, and these cards each of them represent one book. Then, each of these racks represents the day. Then we’ll know which books were not returned by checking the respective racks. Kinda old fashioned, but it’s cheap to run.” The librarian answered. “I heard there’s fancier ways of handling book lending, like crystal-tagged books, or spirit-managed libraries, but that’s probably too expensive for our place.”

***

Chapter 5

It’s been a week since that day, and Ezra discovered that there was a lot of thought that went into the whole issue of golems.

Golems were standalone equipment that could be configured to perform a wide range of functions.

It was a multipurpose platform, so Golems could be used in trades, in farming, in combat, in manufacturing, mines- Configured correctly, they were an additional worker, or an additional combatant on the field.

But that was the real trick. Golem configurations, design were so specific, and each golem maker built their golems from ground up, so everyone had to be clear what their golems were for, when they were made.

Ezra scratched his head. He would like to build his own golem, and wondered whether the funds provided by the Central Fund was sufficient to kickstart such a thing.

Still, he tried the various practices recommended in the book. The book he had was written by an artist who wanted to see his sculptures come to life, and how he went about designing sculptures such that they could be freely animated.

This meant the original writer’s sculptures often came with joints and moveable parts.

But the library’s copy came with quite a bit of annotation that expanded on the artists’ thought-

In fact, when he got to the end of the book, he noticed there was a paper slipped at the back, from a former, much older student. A guy named Winston, and it was signed ten years ago, because he dated it.

“Hey there! You must be trying to be a golem maker too! Whatever reason you do so, good luck! There’s many of us out there! If you ever graduate and be a full fledged Golem Maker, join the rest of us at the Central Golem’s Guild. The guild has an office in Freshka, Wetport Lapule, Port Surless and Nordfelkien.”

Nordfelkien.

Golem’s Guild. Ezra didn’t even know there was such a thing, but then again, merchants and mages formed guilds all the time, simply because it was easier to get things done when they were bigger.

The boy held the wooden puppet in his hand, and his magic flowed into it. It wasn’t much, but he made the puppet walk briefly. He made it twirl briefly, and then-

[Magical Puppetry upgraded! Mana cost to magically puppet structures reduced and wider range of motion unlocked!]

“-Wow!”

Ezra wanted to shout, but then he realized he was in his shared room. Even if his roommates were not around, he could shout a little too loud.

***

“What’s with the grin on your face?” One of the other centrally funded peers, a boy named Sinna, looked at Ezra. Over the past week, he was introduced to a few other students, and Sinna was one of them.

Ezra slapped himself. He needed to hold his cards close to heart! “Ah. Nothing!”

“Got a girlfriend?” Another boy, Mapo, quipped. Both Sinna and Mapo were fellow first year students. “Oh- there she comes now!”

“What- who?”

Alix jumped and landed right next to Ezra. “Hey! Time for dinner?”

Sinna and Mapo looked at each other. “We’re busy!”

“Aww, really? I managed to catch Rei again, so she’s joining us for dinner! I heard the canteen will be serving fish!”

The two other boys looked at each other, realizing they wouldn’t be spoiling a date. “Oh- okay. I guess we could make time.”

“Hah!” Alix teased.

Rei was waiting alone at the canteen when the group found her. “Hey Rei! Didn’t see you around for the last few days.”

“Same to you.” Rei chuckled. “-but I was busy with magic practice.”

“Darn.” Ezra nodded, and felt his stomach growl. One of the often forgotten costs of priests and magic users in general, were their exceptional appetite. Mana, or magical energy, as it turned out, caused them to eat more, and consume more food. Those who spent a lot of their mana would often experience a ravenous desire to consume food.

General magic users, at the lower levels, didn’t eat that much more, but those in the higher levels often wore magical equipment that augmented their mana generation. Those without those mana restoring and regenerating equipment were often seen to eat like monsters after any large mana-consuming activity.

The canteen placed the food in plates that each of the students could collect themselves. Each student got one plate free, but additional plates would be deducted against their point balance.

“Anything interesting?” Alix asked. “Have any of the guys tried to hit on you?”

Rei chuckled. “I think they are mostly afraid of me. Let’s not talk about my love life. I think one of the Instructors doesn’t like me very much.”

“Which one?”

“Instructor Wyshlin. Thinks I’m an arrogant brat.” Rei sighed. “Did any of the instructors hate you yet?”

Ezra shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

“You’ll have one, eventually.” Sinna said. “All my seniors hated at least one or two instructors.”

Ezra gulped. “I hope the one that hates me isn’t powerful, then.”

“You jinxed it.” Rei chuckled.

“I did?”

“I’m certain you did.” Alix added, happy to poke fun at Ezra.

“Really?” Ezra paled.

Sinna nodded. “Pretty sure you’ve just cast a powerful curse on yourself.”

“Damn.”

***

Because the very next day, he met the Instructor that would soon be his number one enemy. Vice Principal Debonski.

He stepped into the hall, and watched as Instructor Elshern went about her magical theory class. The two had an uncomfortable dynamic. Elshern clearly didn’t like the Vice Principal much, and it was a mutual feeling from the Vice Principal Debonski.

Instructor Elshern went about the class normally, but it was clear to the entire class he was there to make life difficult, perhaps as part of some kind of political play between the two.

The Vice Principal Debonski immediately interjected. “Instructor Elshern, why did you omit the part about how fire magic goes through different phases depending on the form and shape of the mana?”

The instructor was silent. Alix whispered. “He’s trying to make life difficult.”

“Yea. Sounds like a pain.” Ezra whispered back, but around this time, Debonski naturally noticed the two of them talking, and sniggering.

“You two! What’s so funny?” Debonski barked from the platform below.

Alix shook her head. Ezra looked back at the Vice Principal, and countered. “Nothing, Mr Debonski.”

“Nothing?”

Ezra repeated. “Nothing, Mr Debonski.”

The Vice Principal frowned, and then smirked. He looked at Ezra like he was worth nothing. “-this is what happens when magic academies admit low class peasants instead of those with magical pedigree. Weak.”

Instructor Elshern took that badly. She glared.

The Vice Principal clearly liked that he got a reaction out of her. “It’s expected when every random person gets selected, rather than those from the right families. Tell me again, how does the Central Fund select it’s candidates?”

Instructor Elshern surprisingly spoke up against it. “The Central Fund checks for magical aptitude, by verifying levels gained.”

“Oh really. You mean that boy is considered one with magical aptitude? I bet he gained those levels and got the class entirely by luck. I think the Central Fund should be more rigorous in it’s assessment.”

Elshern didn’t reply, instead, she looked back at Ezra. At this point, the entire class was looking at him.

Ezra froze. He knew that sentence was meant for the instructor, that this was a power play between the Vice Principal and the Instructor, but he still couldn’t help feeling attacked. He was never insulted this hard in his entire life.

Alix’s hand reached out under the table, and held his hand. She whispered. “It’s okay. We’ll get through this.”

Ezra just stared. Fuming.

He wanted to say something-

“Vice Principal, let’s take this outside.” Elshern said, firmly. She was clearly mad.

“Oh- and why should-”

The door slammed open, as a dwarven instructor walked in. “Ah, Old Man Debonski. Don’t you have better things to do than annoy our elven teacher? Sorry, Els! I thought I’d drop by earlier to look at my new students, didn’t realize I was intruding on a bit of old Debonski-stick”

Debonski stared at him, and frowned. “Don’t get cocky, Thivoum.”

Thivoum smiled back, revealing a toothy grin. “Last I checked, I was told I have every right to be cocky.”

Debonski frowned and stomped off. Elshern smiled at the dwarf once the Vice Principal was out of the hall. “Hey. Thanks for that. Pardon the interruption to the class. Also, this is Thivoum, your future crafting instructor!”

Thivoum laughed. “Well, hi. First, have you ever wondered why almost all crafting classes are taught by dwarves? Dwarves and crafting is a self-reinforcing stereotype! Somehow, students don’t respect crafting teachers that are NOT dwarves, so, here we are. We’re not that good, but because society expects us to be good, thus we force ourselves to be.”

Alix whispered. “That’s Thivoum Black. I heard he’s a high level [Magesmith].”

“Oh?” Ezra said, but his mind was still bothered. Vice Principal Debonski just called his admission a stroke of luck, and he felt mad. Was his efforts learning magic all for naught? That this was all luck?!

His neighbor noticed, and shifted closer. “Ezra. I know you’re mad, but the best way to prove him wrong is to show that it’s not luck.”

Ezra nodded. His father once said to him that forging is all about the end product. If the end product is superior, it means the methods worked.

Thivoum walked to the back of the class. “Anyway, Elshern’s class continues! Pay attention.”

***

“You alright, Ezra?” Rei approached him once class was over. Magesmith Thivoum’s class would be next, after a short break

“-yeah. I will be.” He wasn’t. His heart still burned.

Then Instructor Elshern approached him and Alix. “You two, come out. I want to speak to you for a bit.”

***

“Well- Vice Principal Debonski- he’s a difficult person.” Instructor Elshern tried to explain the earlier issues. “Just ignore what he said, and imagine him as an annoying family member that’s never happy with everything you do.”

Ezra paused.  Elshern made it sound so easy, but she wasn’t on the receiving end of that message. He still felt worthless then.

Elshern glanced at Alix, and she nodded. “But if you need help, just come over, I’ll give you some extra guidance. I’m sure Instructor Black would be happy to guide you along, as well.”

Alix accepted on Ezra’s behalf, who was still feeling too upset to respond. “Certainly, Instructor Elshern! We’d be grateful.”

“Good. Now go back to your class.”

***

Ezra couldn’t concentrate, but thankfully, there wasn’t much in the class. The first class was just a recap of magical crafting. It felt as if the entire class just zoomed through, and one of his friends, Sinna, took notes.

“Hey. Come with me.” Alix said, along with a few others. They brought Ezra to one of the combat practice rooms, where there were a few wooden statues for practice.

“-what.”

“Hit them very hard. With me.” Alix said, as she got into position. She took a deep breath, and then punched the wooden statue. The wooden statue shook slightly, but was otherwise unharmed. “-ouch.”

Sinna chuckled. “Those things are hardy, Alix!”

“I know. Come. Pretend it’s that stupid vice principal and punch them. With me. Please?”

Ezra realized Alix was pretty much begging him to follow. He nodded. He punched before, even though he picked up magic.

He got into position, imagined the vice principal as the wooden statue and punched. His fist landed on the statue, and immediately he felt pain from his knuckles. That damned wooden statue was too hard. “-ouch! How the hell do people punch these things?”

“They don’t. Not without magic augmentation.” Ezra’s eyes darted to the door and saw his roommate, William Seastorms speak. “I heard about the vice principal ragging on one of our sponsored students.”

“Hey William.” Ezra said. “This is my roommate.”

Everyone else said hi.

William walked over to another of the statues, and then felt him use some kind of magic. He punched, and this time, the statue cracked. But seconds later, the statue healed itself.

Ezra’s jaw was stunned. “Wow.”

“That’s called [Giant’s Strength]. It’s one of the spells I learned for combat. Just in case. Most of us folks would know no more than twenty spells by heart, unless you happen to be some kind of insane genius. The rest of it, we augment our library with tomes and equipment. You should know that.”

“-I do.”

“The Vice Principal-” William paused, before continuing to explain. Saying the words seemed to take a lot of effort from William. As if he is repulsed by what he is about to say. “-Isn’t entirely wrong.”

That caused Ezra to pause. William was a pro-sponsored student person! He firmly detests the other side, and yet-

“I thought you didn’t like him.”

“Now. I still don’t like him, but their angle comes from history. About the realities of our [system].”

“Explain.” Ezra insisted. All the other 1st years were entranced.

Chapter 6

“There is power passed down noble blood. Nobles and mage families are born with innate familiarity with magic. To us, magic is a substance we deal with in our late childhood and teens. To them, magic is a substance they have known since birth, and their body, growing with a mother that probably knows magic, is already familiar with some kinds of magic even before they were born.” William answered. “What you consider ‘talent’, is really just the floor of what some of the noble families start with.”

The group were gathered in a study area in one of the many secluded corners of the Institute.

“Some of the noble mages are born with skills like [Magic Experience], or [Enhanced Mana Pools], or [Enhanced Fire Magic].” William said. “They won’t admit it, but I’m quite sure they have it.”

“-that’s unfair.” Ezra said.

“It is, but it is also reality, and it’s important you realize and accept it is reality. That the noble families have real advantages over us. Advantages that we can only overcome by working harder, trying harder, and getting blessings from higher powers. They will gain the levels faster, and even at the same level, they will have good, inherited skills. It is something that the Order overcomes by sheer numbers, funding, special rewards and- well, interbreeding.”

“What.” Ezra couldn’t believe it, but he looked at his friends and noticed they seemed to know it. “Wait- you guys know it?”

“Well- the Order does provide additional subsidies and funding for descendants of sponsored candidates-” Sinna said, blushing. “I suppose it’s encouraged, in some way?”

It was one of the omissions that was obvious once it was highlighted. There were absolutely no prohibitions on relationships between students. The policy book didn’t mention relationships, except for a part where the Fund will provide support for pregnant students-

“Wow.” Ezra sat down, stunned.

“Back to the Vice Principal.” William insisted. “He’s not entirely wrong to think of us as untalented, because on average, we are less well equipped than the average noble magic student. But only at the start of your studies.”

The future puppeteer nodded. “You say as if there is a solution.”

William smiled. “Of course there is.”

He took out an old document, probably from last year.

“The Fund provides special fruits. These are prizes that we can win, that grants us advantages of our own. The Regional Tournaments, the Qualifiers, the Fund’s officials watches them and flags those that can qualify for prizes.”

“How do we get it?”

“The Fund never actually elaborate. It depends on what’s the flavor of the year. Sometimes they want Fire Mages and all Fire mages get some special thing. Some years they just give out a few. It- It depends on the Central Authority’s provisions.”

“Did you get it?”

“I didn’t, but the star of my batch did. She got two fruits containing the skill [Enhanced Earth Magic] and [Upgraded Mana Recovery], and she was transferred to another school to develop her Earth Magic. She left before this year started.”

Ezra sat. “Why can’t they just give out the fruits to everyone?”

“The Fund is rich, maybe very rich, but not free skills for everyone rich. There are hundreds of schools all over the Continent, each with hundreds of students per year.” William laughed. “I doubt they make that many skill fruits!”

***

“It’s not going to be easy.” Both Ezra and William went back to their room. “But it’s alright. We’ll get there. Some of us, anyway. The rest of us- we’ll try to make things better for the next generation.”

“You’re talking like an old man.” Ezra countered.

“I aged a lot.” William laughed. “But you know, I’m giving advice, so I should sound matured.”

“Damn. You’re just pretending to be old?”

“People don’t listen if you don’t sound like you know what you’re doing.” William countered. “Oh. That girl’s cute, by the way.”

Ezra blushed. “Hey!”

“I mean, if it works, it works.” William winked. “Practice harder.”

***

The talk with William helped, and Ezra was able to push past his frustrations and concentrate on his classes. A few days later, there was another instructor for a class that wasn’t very frequent.

A lizardman mage. A rarity among rarities.

“I’m Mordok. And I’ll cover the logistics of magecraft.” There was a fairly audible groan amongst the students. He chuckled as the class reacted to his first sentence. “-that is a fairly typical reaction.”

Ezra looked around and it seemed that a few seemed to have shut off.

Mordok then added. “Did you know 2 out of 5 mages spend most of their time supporting production or movement of goods?”

The class didn’t reply. Ezra didn’t know about it, either.

“Why is logistics important?” Before anyone could answer, Mordok continued. “Central’s dominance today is entirely due to the presence of an extremely robust and efficient logistical network, augmented by the beetle networks and many, many secret means of transportation. Logistics is power. It allows armies to strike at full strength. It allows armies to remain coherent as a fighting force. It allows empires to maintain defensive lines. And magic is behind most of an empire’s logistics!”

“You mean the tunnels, Sir?” One boy asked.

“Amongst many, yes. The tunnels.” Mordok laughed. “And mages, even with our range of spells and abilities, we are still quite-”

Mordok paused.

“-squishy.”

Ezra choked. “What.”

“We lack the physical enhancements granted by other [classes]. Soldiers, knights get the ability to take damage innately, and the ability to shrug off wounds. Mages- well, we’re soft. I want all of you to remember that.”

The class was silent.

“So, mages, in reality, try to stay away from battle. Instead, where we really shine is our ability to support our future employers, in terms of logistics, in terms of equipment, in terms of tactics. Combat is just a part of our role. A role we try to minimize since, well, a level 30 [archer] can shoot arrows through our heads faster than we can cast [shield].”

Ezra gulped.

“I know- I know, people always tell you how powerful mages are, and it’s true, we are powerful. But ever notice how heavily equipped high level mages are? High level mages all have so many protective items and enchanted gear to offset their quirks and weaknesses.”

The class continued to be silent.

“And you’ll only get there, if you survive the mid levels. In the lower levels, money is scarce, so you can’t afford good gear. And your opponents, usually the archers, rangers, assassins, all have anti-magic gear. Think about it. If you’re an enemy combatant trying to disable your enemies, who will you hit first? Mages!”

There was an uncomfortable silence.

“We’re squishy. Our defenses at low levels aren’t great. In close combat, we’re easily bested. In long range, archers and snipers can fire before we even finish casting our spells! Do you want those odds?”

There were gulps, of course.

“So. Logistics! It’s where we shine! It’s what you should do, if you don’t like dying in combat!”

Ezra looked at Alix, and she smirked. “He’s a scary one.”

“Is it? I find it rather refreshing and realistic.” Alix grinned.

The class gulped almost collectively. Mordok laughed. Some of the students were horrified. “So! What do we do?”

Mordok explained the types of magic that were most useful for logistics and support. Very often, this involved providing supplies, teleportation, for earth mages, creating roads. For wind mages, helping ships sail faster, For water mages, providing clean water supply. For fire mages, keeping armies warm during winter campaigns.

Mages were, for most part, more useful in adventurer roles, rather than actual war roles where enemy combatants would try to take them out. After all, there are monsters that attack out of blind rage, and it was possible to prepare for monsters ahead of time, since it was a known, expected engagement.

“If you’re focused on golems, it sounds like they’ll be useful for supplies and construction.”

Ezra nodded. “Yeah. That- that sounds quite nice, actually. I’d have my own golem construction crew.”

“Then you better get to work.” Alix tapped his notebook with her pencil. She paused- “I wanna show you something later.”

***

Ezra followed Alix after class, and to a quiet part of the female dorms. Alix paused, suddenly explaining a random factoid. “Did you know there are mixed dorms when you graduate to the young adult school?”

“Wait- there are?”

“Yeah. Not for our age, though.” Alix nodded, and led him to what appeared to be a common living room for about ten dorm rooms. “Give me a minute-”

Ezra didn’t know why, but he had a dirty thought. He immediately shook it off. Alix came out soon after, with a little lizard on her hand.

“Check out my pet!”

Ezra’s eyes widened to see a little green lizard crawling on the girl’s hand. Alix immediately introduced the little creature.

“Lizzy, this is my friend, Ezra.”

The lizard ignored him.

Alix flushed a little. “Well, she’s shy.”

“A female lizard?” Ezra looked. “-but- why?”

“It’s a friend. My mom thought I needed one, you know, company and all that.”

“Oh. All I have is my puppet.” Ezra said, as the lizard finally warmed up to him and gently touched his fingers. “But- why show me?”

Alix looked at her male friend and smiled. “Do I need a reason to show my pet to my friend?”

Ezra wanted to respond, and realized everything he said would probably sound stupid. “-you know, that’s cool.”

Lizzy licked his finger. Ezra squirmed.

“-eeww.”

Alix laughed. “Hah. Didn’t know you’re so squirmy.”

“I- I guess I’m not too big on little lizard pets?’

“That’s fine.” Alix continued to laugh. “Lizzy’s fine. You wanna know something crazy?”

“What.”

“Since I had my pet, I’ve been thinking about shifting to druidic magic, instead of all this enchanting stuff.”

Ezra was shocked. “-whoa. Really?”

“I know, stupid idea. I sometimes want to learn how to talk to my pet. Make a connection. I imagine myself being able to link our minds together and share our thoughts. Druids can do that.”

“Wild! Can you learn how to do that here?”

“Nope. Druidic magic will be closer to the central cities and the Order’s keeps. Not here, not in these magical institutions.” Alix looked sad, and Ezra wondered whether Alix wanted to change her school.

“-oh.” Ezra wasn’t sure why he felt worried. “Do you plan to switch? Is there an option like that?”

“Transfers are possible-” Alix said, but she looked unhappy. She touched her pet, stroking it gently. She leaned close, and whispered. Softly, but Ezra could still make out what she’s saying. “-there, there. I’ll find some other ways to speak to you-”

Lizzy just ignored her.

“But no. I can’t. My parents think an enchanter’s a better role. They think druidic magic’s too close to the Order. A little too-”

Ezra wasn’t sure what she wanted to say.

Alix seemed to mull over the word a lot longer than he expected. She sighed, and eventually settled on a word. “The order’s a little too- I guess- scary. My grandparents didn’t have a good impression of them. Apparently they were conquerors. It happened so many years ago. Almost six decades ago, maybe even seven. So no druids. No druids in the family.”

“Man.” Ezra sat. “My parents just wanted a mage in the family. Think they don’t really care what type of mage.”

“Hah. That’s freedom, I suppose. I’m not the first mage. I had an older uncle who’s a mage with the Order.”

“Oh.”

“We don’t talk anymore.” Alix clarified. “He’s busy, and I guess he thinks he’s better than the rest of us.”

“-ouch. I hope I won’t be like that.” Ezra said.

“People change.” Alix smiled wistfully, as Lizzy crawled on her arm. Lizzy brushed its tail against her skin, and it immediately caused Alix’s mind to forget about the earlier conversation. “Is my pet cute?”

“I suppose so.” Ezra wasn’t sure why a lizard would be cute, but he wasn’t going to say otherwise.