Lord Tharn Zon

Chapter 5.1 – Practical Test - part 1.1

As Tharn was following her across the room to the door that would lead to the corridor she mentioned, he asked, “Istar, is there a Principal in this School? Or a Dean? Someone in charge of the School and is above the Teachers?”

“We have a Principal, why?”

“We need to talk with him because I don’t trust that Teacher a single bit. He will certainly go to him and make up some lame excuse for what happened, and I want to tell that Principal of yours our side of the story before your Teacher fills his head with lies.”

She nodded and rushed across the room, straight to the corridor. From there, she guided him to a side corridor, and she finally stopped in front of a big wooden door with some carvings over the frame. She knocked and opened the door when a voice inside told them to enter.

Tharn followed her and closed the door behind him. He glanced around, visibly impressed by the number of bookshelves and books. An old man with short grey hair and a long beard, also grey, was seated at a desk with a few papers on his hands and an immense pile of sheets on his right side.

He made a slight frown and asked, “Istar, shouldn’t you be in class right now? Weren’t you supposed to have a test this morning?”

“I did, but it’s finished. I need to… I mean, he needs to… He is my Familiar. I summoned him this morning for the test. I think I messed up something because he is not the weak Familiar I was counting on getting.”

“Really? He sure looks different… Even his clothes are strange. But he looks Humanish… What Spell did you use?”

“I did everything according to the School’s textbook! I drew the Magical Circle, the Rune… but… something happened…”

Fearing that Istar would say more than she should, Tharn interrupted her. “Greetings. We had a situation this morning with some girls that tried to bully my Master. They went to call the Teacher that did the test, and he seemed very suspicious to me.”

The Principal jolted and got up in a hurry to look at Tharn more closely. “He can talk? Amazing!”

As the Principal was touching Tharn’s arms and poking his face, he was, in return, messing with the Principal’s beard, making him realize he was being annoying.

He stopped poking Tharn’s cheek, and asked, “You said the Teacher looked suspicious… Why did you say that?”

“He didn’t believe that my Master summoned me, and he had Magic in his hand while speaking to us as if he was going to attack me or my Master.”

“Well, that doesn’t surprise me. Istar is well known for messing up because she gets too nervous. She is a nice girl, but she lacks confidence in herself and her Magic. About you, that Teacher probably thought you were lying, and you were trespassing on the School’s grounds.”

Tharn nodded while glancing at Istar, who had her face all red and was looking down. “Yes, I noticed my Master gets way too nervous for a Mage. Still, that doesn’t excuse that strange Teacher for trying to kill me and her.”

“Kill, you say? Are you sure you are not exaggerating?”

“What do you call a Teacher that, during a practical test, Summons an Old Elemental to fight us? Not only that, but he only summoned weak Elementals to fight the other students, and he didn’t give them a chance to kill it so that they could gain a few Levels. Except for a certain Cathra girl with long white hair, the same girl that bullied my Master in the morning. He not only let her kill the Elemental and gain two Levels, but he seemed very pleased to see her doing that, even if she used her Familiar as a tool and killed it together with the Elemental, showing complete disregard for the Familiar that she summoned.”

“I… don’t know what to say about all that, but concerning the Familiar, everyone knows they are expendable. They are mere manifestations of Magic without conscience or intelligence to be considered alive. Well, except you, that is.”

Tharn raised his left eyebrow slightly and asked, “What about that Cathra girl? A Teacher shamefully helping her raise her Level while preventing the others from doing the same is what Teachers are supposed to do in this School?”

“Well… not exactly… But I think I understand why he did it. That Cathra girl you mentioned, her name is Rihat. Her family has some importance in this country, and they donate generous sums of money to this institution every couple of months. Nevertheless, we are strict and demanding with her, because we have a reputation to maintain. She is also very good with Magic, and she has a lot of confidence in her abilities, and that made her become an Adept Rank at her age, a feat that few people achieve so young.”

“Well, if the Teachers here give her plenty of weak Elementals for her to defeat, no wonder she is an Adept Rank. But being one and deserving it are two very different things. The way the Teachers and you hold her in such high regard has made her too full of herself, something that can easily kill her in a battle. None of my business, anyway. As long as she stays out of my Master’s way, she may survive to graduation. But if by chance she or another Teacher attacks my Master, I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

The Principal went to his chair again and said while grabbing a sheet from the pile. “You would be wise to not threaten the lives of my students or my staff, Familiar. I don’t know how you and Istar defeated an Old Elemental, but if you hurt or even attempt to hurt one of my students, it will force me to act.”

“Interesting… that Teacher said something similar. It seems the problem in this School is far greater than I thought. Well, I don’t care, anyway. I don’t intend to stay here for long, so I won’t even comment.”

“You want to leave? Your problem is that Istar is a student here, and you aren’t supposed to leave her side.”

“That is easily fixed. My Master said that she wanted to study here to become a Master Rank to get a job after graduation. Does a Mage need some sort of paper from this School, or is the Rank enough to get a job?”

The Principal raised his gaze from the papers he was looking at, and answered, “The Rank normally is enough, but her young age is a problem. There is no way she will achieve the Master Rank outside of this School. Studying here for three years not only gives her the opportunity to reach that Rank, but she also learns how to control her mind and gets used to facing danger in a controlled environment. Together with theoretical classes, of course, because theory and understanding Magic are also necessary.”

“And at the same time, granting the opportunity for rich kids to get Master Rank first, even if they don’t deserve it. I see… I suppose the other Schools also do that, meaning that only certain individuals, mostly based on their family name and wealth, achieve a high Rank. Well, like I said, not my problem. Now, if you excuse us, I think it is almost lunchtime, and I want to eat before going to the Library while my Master attends her afternoon classes.”

“Amazing... Do you also eat? You are a very interesting Familiar...”

“You are also a very interesting person. You know that the way you conduct this School is not proper, but you don’t let it bother you. I really need to find some books about the society of this World, to learn more. This World looks very interesting indeed…”

As he left, with Istar rushing after him, he kept on thinking about the Principal’s words. If the Mages in that World were all useless like the Principal led him to believe, the Dark Necromancer wouldn’t have anything to worry about, because no one would be able to stop him.

That was against Tharn’s plans. In other Worlds, he could always find companions to help him fight the Hooded Mage, but in that World, it seemed impossible.

Then, he stopped and faced Istar. She stopped as well and was looking at him with a puzzled face.

Tharn looked around, making sure they were alone in that corridor, and he asked in a low voice, “How long have you been a student here?”

“I… one year, almost…”

“What Level did you have before coming to this School?”

“I was a Novice Rank, Level 1. I went up three Levels until now… all by myself… during the practical tests. Rihat was also a Level 1. I know this because we entered at the same time, but she levelled up quick because she is very good…”

Tharn grimaced and said, “She is not that good. The Teachers helped her, like in that test. Okay, let’s go eat. I need to think.”

“What… think about what? And why all those questions? What my Level has to do with her…”

“You didn’t get it? You have been studying here for almost one year. With me, in minutes, you got 15 Levels and you are now an Apprentice Rank with Level 19. How long does it normally take to recover all your Magic?”

“After I sleep. When I woke up, I have all my Magic.”

Tharn rubbed his chin, thinking. He then remembered something, and he asked, “What about that room where I appeared? Those columns? Can they be used to recover your Magic faster?”

“I… don’t know… I only know they help with injuries. They also serve as a safety measure in case our Magic gets out of control because they absorb the excess of Magic. I am always practising there because… I… I sometimes mess up. In there, even if I get a Spell wrong, or I lose control of my Magic, nothing bad happens because the columns absorb the loose Magic.”

“So it’s better to use the training area then… Tell me, that room where you did your test. Is it always open for the students to use?”

“Yes, like every other Training Room in the School. There are several. Only the first years use that room, and normally only during class. Why?”

Tharn didn’t answer. He turned around and walked in the direction of the cafeteria, hoping that the food would be even better than at breakfast.

As he stood in line with Istar to get the tray and the cutlery, he noticed the students were looking at him, and a few were whispering among them. Probably because of what happened in the practical test.

Near the counter where the cafeteria ladies were serving food, a woman was checking the students who would deliver her a card for her to note down the name.

When it was Istar’s turn, she said to the curious-looking woman that was staring at Tharn with visible interest, “He is my Familiar, and I will pay for his food. You can put him under my name.”

“Since when a Familiar eats, Istar? Don’t joke with me, okay?”

Tharn asked with a slight frown, “And why can’t a Familiar eat? It’s forbidden?”

“You… you can’t be a Familiar! They don’t talk!”

“And they also don’t look as cute as me. That is not my fault, you know? Maybe if the other students studied as much as my Master, they could summon a pretty Familiar, instead of the ugly animals I saw moments ago. If those were even animals, because I saw some Familiars that looked more like nightmares. Such ugly and strange things!”

The woman gulped and wrote Istar’s name on the paper that was on the clipboard she had in her hands.

As the line was moving, Tharn patiently waited for his turn. He looked at the food that was being served to the students ahead of Istar, and he wondered what animal would have a light green colour to make those big steaks.

He then followed Istar to an empty table, and as they sat, a voice called his attention, “You were lucky, Istar, but I don’t believe you are an Apprentice Rank now! There is no way!”