Chapter 3
My room was not much different from any other ratty dorm in the country. The window dressing was fanciful and elaborate, like stained glass windows and gothic ceilings, but the accommodations themselves were a bed, a dresser, a desk, and a closet.
I also discovered that I had a roommate. He wasn’t there, but his side of the room was obviously inhabited. He had little in the way of decorations, but his bed was made, and his desk was cluttered with dozens of books and notebooks.
Hopefully, he wasn’t an asshole.
My uniform matched the one I had seen other students wearing–khakis, button-up, vest, tie, and a cape.
A fucking cape. The clothes fit perfectly, except for the cape.
I had no idea how a cape was supposed to fit, but it just barely avoided dragging across the ground behind me when I walked.
So that was something. I found a library card in the pocket of the pants I happened to select to wear.
“Before we go to the library, you should know that we might not be here long.”
“Why would that be?”
“This is a lot for me to take in, and I know that the universe just handed me a crazy opportunity. Be a wizard? Hell, yeah. The thing is, I am way behind on the material they want me to know. I’ll do my best, but I’m not a genius.
Multiple languages and advanced mathematics?
Bro, I couldn’t be bothered to learn Spanish.
That’s the second most common language in this country, by the way. ”
“Your confidence will grow in time. Besides, I am there to aid you. You will never be taking tests alone.”
“I don’t want to be a puppet, though. I want to actually learn magic and not just repeat what you tell me to. When you get your new body, I don’t want that to mean everyone discovers I’m a fraud.”
“Having read my story, you know that I struggled a great deal with Aurketzu treating me like a puppet, so I can appreciate your position. I can help you acquire the independent power you seek, but that means you let me help. I will not attempt to live your life for you, but you would be foolish to reject my guidance completely.”
At least the psychopath living in my mind could have a reasonable conversation.
On reflection, however, I realized how many times I simply did what he told me to do.
Worse yet, that wasn’t a result of will bending.
It just happened. Suddenly, the people who listened when voices told them to start fires sounded a lot less crazy to me.
If you hear it in your own mind, you can’t help but trust it inherently.
“Your point is reasonable,” I said.
“Since we do not yet have access to a dungeon, leveling your viceroy class is your best choice for easing the difficulties of your studies. A few stat points in intelligence will be a significant help.”
“So I level up and automatically get smarter because I assigned a stat some points?”
“Your intelligence stat will never think for you. It will, however, make you more attentive to details, you will remember information more readily, and you will find it easier to keep more knowledge in your active mind. With no need to sleep, you will have more time to develop yourself than your human classmates. That too will aid your journey.”
“Okay, so I need to earn 100 Will points to go up a level, and I guess start studying.”
The doors to the library wouldn't open, despite the hours in the window saying they should be.
“Freshman?”
I turned to see who had spoken.
A girl in uniform who was perhaps two or three inches shorter than me stood at the bottom of the library steps.
Though she had the skirt, vest, tie, and cape common to all uniforms, she wore ripped panty hose and chunky black combat boots.
Her lipstick was black, and her winged eyeliner was the same dark purple as the ends of her hair.
At one point, all of her hair had been that same purple, but the roots of her natural dark brown hair had grown several inches since the dye job. The hoop piercing at the center of her lower lip and her nose ring completed the ensemble.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I was immediately into her.
“She’ll do.”
“What gave it away?” I asked.
She fought a grin. “You have to use your library card.”
“Well, show me how it works.”
“Well, show me how it works,” I said, stepping aside.
+1 Will point.
“The door just needs to see it.” She lifted the flap on her backpack, and I caught the briefest of glimpses of the card beneath.
But that was enough. The door swung open.
“Press.”
“Invite me for a tour.”
“You haven't asked me my name,” she said.
“You didn't ask mine either. I'm David. Now, tell me yours.”
“Lensis.”
+1 Will point.
“Nice to meet you. Invite me on that tour.”
She narrowed her eyes, her hips twisting side to side as she thought. “Would you like a tour, David?”
+1 Will point.
“No, thanks.”
“What?”
“I'm joking. Yes, a tour would be great.”
I followed the skirt through the door.
“This is a promising start. Well done.”
The public library Byron and I visited was a shack compared to the Farrun University library.
Vaulted ceilings loomed 30 ft overhead, and row upon row of bookshelves were packed tightly from the bottom to the top.
Rolling ladders attached to each for ease of access.
Tables and study nooks dotted the open floorspace, and any wall that wasn’t covered in books featured a portrait of an alumnus or a landscape of some fantastical place I didn’t recognize.
“Welcome to the library,” Lensis said with a grin. “Here's where we keep the books.”
She made a grand gesture at the interior of the building.
“There are more floors. They also have books. That concludes our tour.”
She turned away from me with a flourish and marched into the library.
“What tour doesn't have a Q and A portion?” I asked.
Lensis paused without looking back. “You're pretty pushy for a freshman.”
“And you're not a great tour guide. This is looking like a 2 star review, I'm sorry to say.”
With a swivel and a step, she was in my face. “Two stars, not one?”
“One for effort, and one because your hair is killing it.”
“Oh, so you're rating my looks now.”
I lifted a finger. “No, I was rating your sense of taste.”
She raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “The Q and A portion of our tour begins now.”
I raised my hand.
“Yes, the smartass in the back. What's your question?”
“I found out like 2 hours ago that magic is real,” I explained. “What can I read to start getting my bearings? I'm really trying to do this right and apply myself.”
“Now I feel bad for giving you a hard time, but I get it. I'm new magic too, so I was where you are once. Here, follow me.”
“Don't. She follows your commands. Not the other way around. Get her to say ‘please.’”
I held my ground. Lensis stopped a few steps away.
“Coming?” she asked.
“Shouldn't you say, ‘please?’”
“Follow me, please.”
I started to follow.
In my head, I asked, “Why didn't I get a Will point for that?”
“It wasn't a command. You will improve with practice.”
Lensis led me to a corner of the first floor and set her bag on one of the tables. She ducked into the stacks and popped back out a moment later, holding a book.
“A Brief History of Magic,” she said. “Once you finish this, you should find and read, A Spell Well Cast. It's part philosophy and part autobiography. Reading it helped me understand the trajectory of learning wizardry.”
“Wow. Seriously, thank you. This is really helpful.”
“How many stars am I up to?” she asked.
“Four.”
“Why not five?”
“You haven't given me your Insta yet.”
She tilted her head to the side, exaggerating having to think about her answer. “That's okay. I’m good with four stars. Good luck at Farrun, David.”
And she walked away.
“I have questions.”
“That was a goth girl. Getting with a goth girl is my white whale.”
“Whale?”
“Sorry. That's a reference to a famous book. It kind of means something I want to accomplish before I die, like a big feat.”
“I can see the appeal. And what is an Insta?”
“I'll show you, but only for a minute. Then we study.”
“Why do you feel the need to state a time limit?”
I opened Instagram on my phone. “These images are called photographs. Instagram is a platform for sharing photos, but it's pretty social too.”
I scrolled. I hadn't realized I had been on a cosplay girl kick until I saw my feed. A few mattress actresses were mixed in as well.
“Oh my. Do all women do this?”
“Not all, but a lot of them. You can talk to each other through the platform.”
“There are so many women…”
I made a mental note to avoid the topic of pornography for as long as I possibly could. And dating apps too. Christ, what had I unleashed on the world?
I asked myself that jokingly, but when I thought about it, the levity faded quickly. Byron outright bragged about slaughtering people. Monks, nuns, paladins, angeli. He even killed a baby.
I was the guy in the movies who screwed up a summoning and brought a great evil into the world. Or the guy who knocked over the super virus vial. Or the guy who released the first true AI.
The system worked for me. If Byron got a body, it would work for him too. His levels? His abilities? His spells? He would be unstoppable.
Maybe I should show him porn. If I got him addicted to that he might keep to himself and not hurt anyone.
“We should start reading,” I said.
“I suppose so.”
I checked my character sheet:
Level 1
Viceroy, Tier 1 (3/100)
Silk Cleric, Tier 1 (0/100)
Chaotic Neutral
Strength 1
Dexterity 2
Constitution 1
Intelligence 3
Wisdom 2
Charisma 1
Active Abilities: None
Passive Abilities: Bend
“Level 2 viceroy is going to take forever.”
“The real gains happen when your dick is involved. That will come in time. Truth be told, I'm heartened by your performance with Lensis. You had led me to believe you had poor social skills.”
“I never said that.”
“Heavily implied.”
“I don't know… I guess I don't consider myself to be very social. I wasn't a ladies man in school. Struck out pretty frequently. Struck out means failed.”
“How many times did that happen?”
“Twice.”
“In…?”
“Four years.”
“...”
“What?”