Chapter 95: Settling In (2/2)
Finally, the old man with the red and blue stripes spoke up, ”Don't suppose it matter much now, but I say let him in. I'm looking forward to seeing what he blows up next. May I suggest the statue of Horace the Humble in the northwestern garden? I know he donated a large sum to the University, but I've rarely seen stone subjected to such torment as to be carved in his likeness.”
The other three instructors shot him a stern look of disapproval that he promptly ignored.
Thomas finally clear his throat, and spoke to Mike without the hints of disdain from before. ”Congratulations, young man. You have passed the admission test for the Magic Department of the University of Almirn. Henry will handle your initial paperwork and get you situated.”
With that, he led the instructors back upstairs.
”Come on,” Henry called. ”I've got a few things for you.”
Mike followed the red-headed young man back up to the foyer of the building. Henry pulled a few papers out of his desk, jotted a few things down with a quill that didn't seem to need ink, and stamped them. He hand three pieces of paper to him, while explaining each of them.
”This is an acceptance notification. You need to take it over to the Administration Building for processing. They'll handle your housing situation too. This is your department approval letter. Simply bring this back with you two days from now at four bells, and the office here will help you get your schedule set up. Finally, this is your student access request form. You need to take this to the Security Office behind the Administration Building to get your identification ring. Do you have any questions?”
”Would you mind explaining the four bells things? Also, after I turn these two documents in, is there anything I should be doing before coming back here in two days?” He asked, feeling slightly overwhelmed.
Nodding Henry rubbed the back of his head, ”Sorry about that, I forget that not everywhere has a clock tower like here in the Old City. The tower will ring a series of bells to help tell time. Every bell means two hours, so four bells would be the eighth hour after midnight.”
”Makes sense.” Now that Mike thought about it, he vaguely recalled hearing some distant ringing noises while they were crossing The Span, but he didn't really think about it then.
”As to your other question, I would recommend taking the time to get settled in and familiar with the University. It wouldn't hurt to do some exploring of the city, but that's really up to you. Anyway, you came at a good time, since the another round of classes is starting next week, so you don't have to wait long before you jump into your studies.”
”Alright, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for your help.”
”My pleasure. Now that I think about it, I don't think we've been officially introduced. Henry Malmstine,” He said while offering his hand to Mike, ”I'm a third year in Arcane Studies.”
”Call me Mike. Nice to meet you.”
As a reflex, Mike used Appraise on the student, confirming the introduction.
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Henry Malmstine
Age: 21
Race: Human
Class: Apprentice Arcanist
Title: None
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[Nothing too out of the ordinary there.] He thought while shaking the man's hand.
”I'll keep an eye out for you on campus.” Henry called when Mike left.
Mike traveled back to the Administration Building and turned in the first of his documents. In return he was given a form to take to the dormitory for room allocation. He picked up the other three, who seemed to have made an acquaintance with a pregnant woman in the lobby. She seemed nice enough, but he got the impression she was afraid of him for some reason.
He led the group over to the Security Office to get identification rings. They turned out to be bands of carved, silver metal that were keyed to each persons mana signatures. The front gates of the school had inbuilt magical devices which scanned people entering and leaving for the presence of one of the rings. Mike's was a little more advanced, since it allowed him entry into certain school facilities.
Traveling back across the campus, they entered main office of the section of the dormitory section of the University.
After turning in the housing form to an elderly man who was nearly deaf, he was directed to building referred to as the Lighthouse Dormitory. As the second closest school building to the ocean, it proved easy enough to find. It was an older, but still in good repair. Standing four stories tall, it gave the appearance of a stately manor in the country.
The trademark lighthouse was a little farther north, standing along a jagged cliff that overlooked the ocean. Its signal light was not yet active, since it was still bright outside, but Mike wondered idly, what sort of method they used to create the light. It would have to be magical in nature.
”So this is going to be our home for awhile. Not too bad, right?” He asked, looking over his shoulder at the others.
Any response was interrupted, however, when a portion of the highest floor of the dorm exploded.
After taking a few moments to control himself, Mike turned back around to face whatever circumstance had been thrown his way.