Chapter 3 - An Education

AN: Oh, I plan on posting Sat/Sun for now. Something for the weekend!
I might move back to weekday posting when I'm more 'live'. For now, enjoy one of the only weekend updating stories!

Entry IX – Of the Great Adjustment and the Cost of Survival

The days that followed were madness. Grief was crushed beneath urgency.

We were many, scattered and unready. The mundane had ever built the roads, gathered the grain, traded the goods. Without them, the burden of survival fell heavy upon shoulders untrained for it.

The bodies - gods, the bodies! - lay unburied, sanctity abandoned to haste and fear. The air thickened with rot.

And in that taint, something stirred.

Chronicles of the Sundering: A Personal Record by Mine Own Hand by Archmage Elowen Thorne, Keeper of the Black Flame, Scribe of the Meridian Vaults

“What happens now?” Felix asked as he ripped his eyes away from the miniaturized solid gold cup, the water still frozen in a swirl. He’d gotten Paracelsus to demonstrate a few more examples of magic, but couldn’t convince him to turn a chair into gold. If he could find a way to slowly dispose of it, they’d… they’d be able to do so much. Felix couldn’t imagine how much money it’d be and how far it could go, but at the very least they’d be able to get rid of all of the ‘past due’ bills lying around. Maybe get ahead a little, buy a nice pair of boots. Paracelsus tapped the table.

“For what happens next, I would greatly appreciate your mother or other guardian be around to discuss things. At what time can we expect them back? The records indicate your mother should have finished with work by now.”

Felix couldn’t hide a wince.

“She’s, uh, at work.” He said. “It’s under the table, it pays more. She’s not around a lot.”

Paracelsus looked around the dingy trailer with a frown.

“Well, I can’t fault her work ethic.” He said kindly. “Do you think you will be able to properly communicate the situation for her, or should I try again another time?”

Felix thought about it for a bit.

“Why don’t you communicate it to me, and I’ll see if I can pass it on? Would that be okay?”

Paracelsus sighed.

“I suppose not many students need an introduction to magic. Three in your year, should you choose to attend the Camelot College of Casting and Charmwork.”

“Not being aware of magic is rare?” Felix ventured. It only seemed logical. Three in a year?

“Yes. To compress a semester of Magical Theory and History down significantly, you are magical when one of your parents is magical.” Paracelsus hesitated a moment before speaking carefully. “It can be a… significant blow to families unaware of magic.”

Felix was 14, not an idiot, and could read into what Paracelsus was saying.

“Well, I never knew my dad, and my mom doesn’t talk about him at all, so I think it’s pretty clear what the story is there.”

The man relaxed.

“That is one of the kinder outcomes in these types of stories.” He said. “Yes, it is almost certain that your father was an incautious wizard. Now, the way I see it, you have two options ahead of you. If I may lay them out, I suggest you take notes.”

Felix shuffled his paper to a clean page.

“Either you choose to join the magical community, or you don’t. If you choose to pass on learning about your heritage and abilities, I will simply leave you to it. I am unfamiliar with what the Empire of the Sun is doing in the mundane world, but it is unlikely you will encounter another magic user. You will continue to live life as predicted so far. Excepting unusual conditions, magic breeds true. Your children will be offered the same choice that I am presenting, and will enter the magical world fresh and naive. I believe it does them a great disservice, as your father has done you a great disservice.”

Paracelsus paused a moment to drink out of a flask. Felix was unsure if he was actually drinking water he’d brought with him, or if a spell had been cast and weird illusion-time shit was going on.

“The second is you choose to join us. Almost uniquely, you have multiple options, and each one will shape your future in very different ways. With that being said, I have an offer letter from you from the Camelot College of Charmwork and Casting.” Paracelsus took a letter out of his robe, and added it to the two already on the table.

“Three different schools from three different nations have invited you to attend and learn magic. It is no lie to say this is a monumental choice. You will be immersed in the culture and attitudes of the school you attend, and you will probably join their society when you come of age. There is less international cooperation and immigration in Arcadia than in the mundane world. You will not be stuck, but you would have to leave all of your friends behind should you realize you’ve chosen poorly at this moment.”

“Can you tell me about my choices?” Felix asked. Paracelsus spread the three letters out on the table.

“First is the one you’ve clearly read, the Empire of the Sun. To boil down nearly a thousand years of history into a few short sentences is doing them a great disservice, but alas, we do not have the time for a full dissertation. Should you wish to know more, you can attempt to explore a library or take an elective. Imagine if the Aztec Empire had continued to grow and expand. The Severing of the World in 1694 cut off the European colonists from the version of North America in Arcadia, and the external threat let them expand, conquer, and consolidate a number of other Native American tribes. Given the crest on the envelope, I believe you are being invited to the School of Blood and Sacrifice, on the basis that this location is controlled by the Empire in Arcadia. You are quite lucky in one respect, it is their premier institute of education.”

Paracelsus hesitated a moment, shook his head, and carried on.

“There’s quite a lot of bad blood between the Empire of the Sun and Covens of Columbia. You don’t look anything like them, and I anticipate life there being particularly miserable. You don’t speak the language, you don’t know the customs. I could not set you up for failure harder if I tried.”

Felix nodded in agreement. The mere fact that he couldn’t read the welcome letter was a strong indicator.

“Next up is Salem Witch’s Academy, of the Covens of Columbia.”

Felix shot Paracelsus a surprised look. He waved it off.

“Yes, yes, the irony is there. I believe they wanted to ‘stick it to the puritans’ or some nonsense like that. They came along later, and linked their school to anywhere the United States of America held territory in the mundane world. Hence a letter from them, although in Arcadia they only managed to secure the east coast. They are acceptable, and you might find their culture is closer to your own.” Paracelsus tapped the second letter.

Felix suddenly realized the abbreviation for the Covens of Columbia was ‘coc’, and the 14 year old could barely keep his snickers to himself. Heh. Coc. 

“Lastly, we have Camelot. Founded by Merlin himself, the College has stood on the sacred shores of Avalon for over a thousand years. It was home to King Arthur and the knights of the round table. It is where I myself teach. As the New World was discovered, Camelot’s aegis was expanded to cover it, due to the high number of people from Logres who attempted to settle on the shores. That mandate wasn’t changed before Merlin severed the world, and you are a recipient of the legacy. In my estimation, you are extraordinarily lucky to receive an invitation to Camelot. Most of the young wixen in the Kingdom of Logres dream of attending, and only a few are extended an invitation. I am a professor of rituals there, and I believe it is the finest education in the world. The permanent seat in the Grimoire Games demonstrates the rest of the world is in agreement.”

“Logres?” Felix asked.

“The kingdom of Arthur.” Paracelsus patiently explained, albeit with the tone of ‘every kid knows this’. “Roughly holds the same territory as France, Great Britain, Ireland, and naturally Avalon, although the borders on the continent are quite a bit different than here on the mundane world.”

Felix glanced at the golden mug, and asked the question that had been burning him the whole time.

“How am I going to pay for any of this? It doesn’t sound cheap.”

“I do not know the finances of either Salem or the School of Blood and Sacrifice. I can tell you there is a scholarship for Camelot. All your room, board, and tuition is conditionally paid for. You will need to purchase your basic school supplies every year. It’s been a few decades since I last ran a proper price comparison on Arcadia versus the mundane world, but I believe the price of supplies for a year is approximately the same on either side. You may even purchase some of your supplies here, should you be more comfortable with that. It will not even set you apart too badly from your peers. You will need to bring money to purchase magical tools, such as your casting focus, books, and other related items.”

Felix chewed over the idea. Room and board for a full school year? That had to be worth hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. His mom not needing to feed him would be a huge boon to their finances, and while rent was the same, utilities would be cheaper for his mom. It sounded like it would improve their financial situation, if there wasn’t a catch..

“What’s the condition?” Felix asked.

“So long as you are not expelled from Camelot College of Casting and Charmwork, your tuition and so on are entirely free. Should you find yourself tossed out on your ear, the full bill of what is owed will be delivered to you. I wouldn’t say it is difficult to get expelled from Camelot, for any halfwit who tries can easily find ways to get the Duke to toss them out, but nearly everyone passing through the hallowed halls manage to graduate without issue. Further, it is broken up into two four year sections. If you pass the first four years, but fail on the second four, you will only be charged for the second set of years, not the first. Similarly, if you fail out on the first set, you will have incurred no debt from the second set of years.”

Don’t get kicked out. That was easy enough. Felix had never reasonably gotten in trouble with his teachers before, and felt like ‘don’t fail miserably’ was an easy enough requirement. Doubly so with most of his financial woes taken care of. Room and board? Sounded like enough food to eat. Sounded like he didn’t need to scrounge on summer jobs.

Felix blinked as the full implication of what Paracelsus was saying.

It was a full ride scholarship to college! Eight years of education was all of high school and all of college! Mom would be easy enough to talk round. It would suck not being around all the time, and Felix had a million more questions, but he was going to seize this chance with both hands.

Fired to full ride in the course of a day, his fortunes couldn’t have changed any faster.

If the other schools had wanted him to attend, maybe they could’ve sent a professor over themselves. Camelot clearly cared.

“Where do I sign; what do I need to do?” Felix asked.