A blaring horn sounded off long and loud, the squealing brakes of metal wheels on metal rails slowing to a halt at a train station roughly a mile away from the academy. The train blew its horn again, marking its arrival at the station. Almost all of the races of man, humans, dwarves, halflings, and gnomes along with demi-humans like trolls, orcs, beastmen, goblins and even a griffonite; all of them took this train ride just to apply to the academy, famous as it was in both worlds. Several of these people were ushered to carriages pulled by horses or centaurs, each waiting to cart them up the long, winding path, great and tall oak trees dotting either side of the road up to the Grand Hall at the center of the campus, its courtyard wide enough to allow three carriages to stand side by side one another at a time. At the center of the courtyard was the greatest oak tree of them all, taller than some of the buildings nearby, and twice as wide as the road encircling it. The leaves of the tree and its younger, smaller brethren were turning from their usual dark greens to a vibrant array of yellows, oranges and reds. Autumn was finally here, though summer’s warmth clung to the air bitterly, not wanting to go just yet. Soon enough the cool air from the north would be frosting the windows of the Grand Hall, its tall, stone arches and buttresses and wide wooden doors would be colder, and soon in a month’s time, snowed over.
	Inside the Grand Hall a small group of people stood in the lobby, its large and magnificent stone pillars lining each side of its polished marble floor. They led up into carved stone archways decorated with friezes of each of the ten houses of magic. The walls were adorned with painted portraits of past deans of the college; men with silvery beards and wide brimmed conical hats and well fitting robes, women with hairstyles ranging from eccentric to reserved, and demi-humans of various races all posed with spell books, wands, staves, and any other magical trinkets they usually had on hand. Many of them had stoic and regal looks about them, refined people representing a refined academy, one of the best in the nation.
	Parents with their children, older teenagers, and even adults on their own all waited patiently. One of the teenagers fiddled with a stick– a wand of gnarled, curved wood, an heirloom from a long dead relative, the spark of mana ran through him. With all his concentration, he couldn’t make the stick do much more than spit out a tiny shower of miniscule yellow sparks that dissipated before even making it halfway to the floor. Even if the show was pathetic in his own mind, a small child with just as many magical prospects as him stared wide eyed, hoping one day that she too could do that. Precisely at ten o’clock the great belfry rang its song from above and a large set of double doors on the far side of the lobby creaked as they opened. Most people in the room started to congregate toward the double doors, waiting to be welcomed to the academy. After a moment of waiting two forms stepped through it. The first was the dean, an older man depicted in one of the portraits and a young woman with long white hair and ears like those of a cat wearing a set of fancy black and gold robes and an orange armband with a blue symbol of a book spewing forth swirling magic. The old man cleared his throat and pushed his small circular glasses up on the bridge of his nose, “Good morning, one and all. Thank you for waiting so patiently, I am Zacharius Zucarius, and as some of you may have already guessed, I am the dean of Fairgarland Academy. Before we begin, can anyone tell me why we study magic?” His voice oozed with wisdom with only a slight rasp that showed his age. He adjusted his long gray-blue robes with green laurel designs as he put a small, warm smile on his face.
	A few of the people in the crowd looked at one another in confusion, “To keep our magic under control?” A young woman’s answer seemed more like a question.
	The old wizard chuckled, “Perhaps if you were a sorcerer, that would be more true. Untrained, your untapped abilities are just that, untapped. But, there are no wrong answers to this question. Everyone studies for their own purposes. Miss Sophia? What would you say?”
	“To follow in my mother’s footsteps,” The cat witch replied with a twinkle in her emerald eyes, “I am studying conjuration as the teleportation magic it provides is quite useful to many people.”
	The dean nodded, “Whether it be tradition as Miss Sophia said, the pursuit of control over your abilities, studying for a magic centric job, seeking mastery of a specific school, or any other reason; everyone has a reason to come to this school. Even those that simply wish to study for one or two years to be able to cast simple spells for everyday use. On the other hand, we have those who may study for decades to truly become masters of their fields, I can see that some here are prospective masters!” He chuckled with a little twinkle in his old eyes, “Anywho, forgive my question. I must apologize that I am unable to give the tour myself today. Miss Sophia here will guide you, she is on the council of house Hamilton and knows the college well. She is sure to be able to answer your questions. Right, Miss Sophia?”
	“Yes, Master Zucarius. They are in my capable hands,” She tapped her pale branch staff on the ground idly, itching to get the tour underway. The staff, the bark of which had been stripped and smoothed, was waxed and buffed so that it shone in the green light that idly emanated from a small crystal grafted to the top. She was about to step deeper into the Grand Hall and motioned for the group to follow her when she noticed something out of place. The book the dean carried on his belt was without any of the usual kinds of texture or design on its spine or cover. With a little mischievous grin, she used her other hand to adjust her brimmed cone hat with a little fold toward the top, folding the point over to the side. Her cat ears twitched and she used the butt of her staff to leg sweep the dean. As she guessed it would, the staff phased right through the very convincing illusion.
	“Ah. As keen-eyed as ever, Sophia,” He sighed.
	“Very convincing, Master Zucarius, but you should know better than to use an illusion like this in front of the potential students!” She playfully rebuked him as she adjusted her hat again.
	He blushed, his legs dissipating into a mist, making a few of the onlookers gasp and ooh and ahh, “W-well you know I am quite busy in preparation for today’s early arrivals! I am unfortunately only able to spread myself so thin even with my illusions–”
	“You merely wished to show off your mastery, I understand, sir,” Sophia chuckled.
Zacharius quickly composed himself and pushed the glasses up on the bridge of his nose, “Yes. You have the right of it. Please forgive me and have a wonderful tour.”
	Sophia laughed haughtily as she watched the Dean eye her and fade away. The cat witch cleared her throat, “Now. After that little display, let us continue through the Grand Hall. Come along now, there is much to see!” With her white furred tail flicking to and fro, Sophia led the group of about twenty into the interior of the Grand Hall. Busts made of stone, marble, iron, bronze, and even a few of gold and silver sat on shelves and columns. Above those were more oil paintings, canvases expertly covered in paints and masterful brush strokes to bring each figure’s likeness to light, “Here in the Grand Hall, we have many portraits and busts of great witches, wizards, and any kind of spell caster you can think of throughout history-- most of which were students once, even here at Fairgarland. There were even clerics that some consider saints that had studied here!" She proudly proclaimed before pointing at a particular painting of a woman not unlike herself in her cat-like nature. 
	Though similar, her hair was black, much shorter and messier, her black robes and cloak were simple and seemed to be picked more for function over fashion. In her hand she held a gnarled branch staff with a crystal not unlike Sophia's, "There, Maxine Hamilton– my mother and the current namesake of our conjuration house. A powerful witch who has made great strides within conjuration, specifically teleportation and locomotion magic. It's thanks to her that anyone could get around the world within an instant,” The group stared at each painting they passed, taking in as much as they could of each face. Humans, elves, gnomes, a few dwarves, demi-humans like goblins, orcs, a swamp troll, and a grinning mono-eyed woman just to name a few. Every so often, the portraits were broken up by innocuous wooden doors, each labeled with a gold plaque with a name etched into them. "These are the professor’s offices. Most students only enter this building to see a teacher or two. Here comes one now.”
	Coming down the hallway after exiting a teacher’s office, was one of the older students. The student’s wizard robes looked more like a suit and tie, the robes were black with a white collared undershirt and a blue tie that he adjusted as he saw the crowd headed his way. He wore a blue arm band with a silver lined shield weaved into it, “Hello, Sophia,” He called as he quickly ran a finger through his curly, brown locks of hair.
	“Good afternoon, Sean. Sean Reagal here is the president of house Maximillion,” The witch explained, “Shouldn’t you be getting ready for the new arrivals?”
	“I am already prepared to receive them,” He proudly announced, “I was merely here petitioning for a retry on one of our younger student’s tests. He claimed that Master Utosh’s instructions were not clear on her recent evocation test,” He turned to the prospective students, “Utosh is a master of evocation here. She is a very skilled magi, but is overwhelmed taking over Head Master Daldomel’s duties while he is… away,” He trailed off and chuckled, “I hope our campus proves pleasant during your short trip,” He gave the crowd a polite bow before taking his leave.
	“See you at the orientation, Sean!” Sophia gave a wave then turned back to the crowd, “Fall term starts shortly,” She explained, “Today the early arrivals are rolling in, they will attend an orientation before getting to do a meet and greet with the council members of each house and some of the professors. It's a smaller event than when the rest of the new arrivals come in where it is a lot less personal so usually only older students and prodigies are invited to the early orientation. These students are more likely to join one of the houses, thus making it important for the council students to meet them.”
	“How many houses are there?” A younger woman asked.
	Sophia smiled, “There are ten. One for each of the eight schools of magic, one for students who are not in a house, and a tenth for sorcerers.”
	“I don’t understand, why do sorcerers have their own house?” A man wondered.
	She stopped before a second set of doors leading outside, “As you may or may not know, sorcerers are fundamentally different from wizards despite being arcane casters as well. We wizards gain our magical abilities through our knowledge of the arcane arts. We all pick a mastery after four or so years of study and choose two schools of magic to cease work on altogether as we can only retain so much knowledge. We learn, study and practice to be able to cast. Sorcery is radically different, you learn to control and harness your emotions in tandem with your mana banks to cast. The magic comes from within you, you don’t pick and choose what magic you get, usually, but you are born with the gift of it. There is no learning beyond self control and managing your mana. It is usually only a two to four year course. Wizard mastery can take a dozen years or more! Some students take twenty years!”
	“Are you going for mastery?” A child asked, full of wonder.
	“As of now, I could not tell you. I am nearly at the point where I can take my knowledge and skill and land a nice, well paying job putting my conjuration magic to work. If I decide I want to be a teacher, I would absolutely go for mastery of my craft,” The cat witch explained.
	“How long do most wizards usually study?” A mother asked, gripping the hand of her child.
	“Well, assuming you’re here for your gifted child, children go through usual schooling here, kindergarten through high school, learning history, math, physical and magical sciences, and any other topics a child usually would in school along with the basics of mana control. Each school of magic is taught through their developmental years as a form of aptitude testing, and basic casting is all taught. We try not to push children too hard in the boarding school. After high school, some leave content with their knowledge to pursue a more mundane degree. For a basic knowledge degree, attendees spend around two years. An intermediate is around four, after this everyone chooses a school to focus on and will apply to join a house. Think of it like a frat or sorority in a mundane college. You gain peers who are focused on the same house and will work with you to make sure you succeed. As we saw, Sean was talking to a teacher for the benefit of his lower classman. From here, a total of six or seven years will gain you an associates of magic in your school, eight or nine years is a bachelors, then a dozen or so years you can gain a mastery.”
	“Does anyone get more than one mastery or degree?”
	“Of course! It is incredibly time consuming, but some even go for more than one mastery. Usually this is done by elves in their own elven colleges– they think themselves too good for us non elves. But a few humans, dwarves, demi-humans, and whoever else will sacrifice half their lives to attain multiple masteries, some even resorting to life lengthening magic to do so!” The cat woman shook her head, “Ah, listen to me ramble,” Sophia chuckled to herself, “Let us head outside and we can take a look at the other buildings. Come now,” She tapped the butt of her staff on the floor and made a symbol with her hands, the middle finger, ring finger, and pinky all curled up at the top of her palm with the index and thumb pointing at the door which clicked, the handle rotating, and being pushed open by magical forces. The tour group was led out into the main courtyard of the school. The massive oak tree was surrounded by a ring of buildings where students congregated both inside and out under awnings where they could take in the weather, practicing magic or reading through their books.
	There were a dozen buildings arranged like the face of a clock. At twelve, the north most building was the Grand Hall flying the school's symbol on its long, draping burgundy banners, a wizard hat atop a crystal ball. The banners were enchanted so that the crystal balls constantly swirled with ever changing and glowing colors. Sophia let the crowd gaze upon the ten wizard towers before going over them, “The oak in the middle has been tended to by the entire school since the academy’s inception. It has grown quite well as it was enchanted to feed off the residual mana in the air. It’s a very common meeting ground for students of the various houses. Of course their rivalries, personal or house wide, are still at play.”
	“Are these all the dorms? My brother told me about the house he’s in!” A child hollered.
	Sophia nodded, “These ten towers are where our upperclassmen reside. As I said before, think of them like dorms or frat houses. There are communal areas only for the people in those houses and inside there are pocket dimensions that will shift and adjust depending on how many rooms are needed for each student. Each one, minus the ones to our left and right, hold about twenty to fifty students. Let me name each one for you,” She cleared her throat and gestured to the building to the right of the Grand Hall. It flew a white banner with the image of a red dragon protectively wrapping around its clutch of eggs. The magical depiction gazed lovingly at those that came and went from it’s doors and stared defensively at all others, “Here is The House of the Wanderer, also known as House Seeker where those who have not picked a school to focus on reside.”
	“Is that where children stay?” A mother wondered.
	“No. Usually our college aged students who are only going through two or so years will stay here. There have been exceptions on occasion, however to the south of here, in that large brick building,” She gestured past a building and a few towers, “is the dorm for the school aged children. Have no fear, they are very well taken care of there. Security is tight to make sure no ‘magical mishaps’ take place,” Sophia chuckled at her own joke, wondering if for a moment that her humor was a little too dark. She cleared her throat, “To the right of the House of the Wanderer, at two on the clock face, is the Ophelia house of divination with its silver banner,” She pointed as they walked by it. The banner had a black card on it which slowly rotated, showing the face of a different tarot card with every pass, “At three, is the Maxamillion house, abjuration,” The blue banner flew a shimmering, silver shield, “Next to it is Calmashorne. Enchantment,” The tower’s color was green with a brown tree silhouette with tangled roots that would untangle and retangle into new patterns.
	“That’s where my brother is!” The child from before cheered.
	“The people there are very nice. I’m sure he enjoys it,” Sophia smiled, “At five o'clock on this theoretical face, you have Hemlock, the school of necromancy’s dorm,” A purple banner with a golden, beating heart with a black skull on it, “Don’t worry, folks, we only raise the recently deceased there. No skeletons or zombies,” Sophia allowed another small chuckle to escape her lips, “And here at six we have a communal building for all the houses and school aged children. We have a large recreational area with ping pong tables, foosball, even a little movie theater! The houses have a schedule for when they can use this area as well as the underground labs for their studying,” The communal building was made of stone just like the rounded towers that sat before it, but the communal building was square and short rather than circular and tall with a cone shaped top. Coming up from the side of the conical roof was a crooked and well used stove pipe which even now smoke billowed out from the sides of its conical rain cover.  
	“Do they have video games too?” A boy asked.
	“Of course. I’ve never been one for them, but they are popular! Most of what they have is hand me downs from past students or donations so they are a little out of date. Classics, from what I am told. Ah, I missed a few houses. Let me go quickly,” She cleared her throat, “At seven on the clock face is Zucarius, named for our beloved dean, focuses on illusion,” The eye with a black iris on the yellow banner blinked and moved as it looked at passer bys, “Hamilton, named for my mother, is conjuration. My mother wished the color was green, not orange, but mother could not have everything she wanted,” Sophia chuckled as she glanced at the familiar banner with a depiction with a book endlessly spewing forth multicolored magical energies, “Fritz’Eleo. Evocation, the biggest house at the moment. A lot of fiery souls in there,” Their banner was red with a hand, palm up, creating a burning blue flame that licked and waved in motion, “Last but not least of the main houses is Karak-Albrac. Transmutators reside there. I’ve always loved their golden banner with that philosopher’s stone on it!” The golden banner in question had a gray stone with a constantly curling blue swirl on it. Her gaze turned to the last house to the left of the Grand Hall, “This is the Sorcery house. Named Faith, it houses sorcerers who have come to hone their craft,” The banner of this tower was pink with two fists crossed at the wrists and covered in moving energies of many colors on them. 
	Sophia took a moment to recompose herself and figure out where to go next, “How about we go look at the arena? It’s east of here. Ah here come some of the new students,” She watched as some young adults filed past the Grand Hall, luggage in hand. A few wore robes, cone shaped hats, and had staves and wands in their hands, “Excuse me,” She approached one of the new students, a young man with black hair and a clean shaven face. He was one of the few wearing plain clothes jeans, a red t-shirt and an unzipped black hoodie, “My name is Sophia and I’m currently giving a tour to these prospective students. Would you–” She stopped as he turned and the two made eye contact. They both froze for a moment, her emerald eyes staring into his fiery red pupils.
	“I’m sorry?” He asked, both of them shaking off the uneasy feelings, “What were you asking me?”
	“Ah,” Sophia cleared her throat and pressed against one temple, “Would you mind sharing with us why you chose Fairgarland Academy out of every other option?”
	The man nodded, “Well, out of Fairgarland, Charlington, and Montere– the three schools in the states here with this level of prestige, it seemed like the best choice. Especially for someone like me who… isn’t sure what he wants to go for,” He replied as he nervously adjusted the strap on his shoulder bag. 
	Sophia nodded, “A good answer that I cannot agree with more, mister…”
	“Oh!” He gave a weak smile, “Loxley. Galahad Loxley. I hope to see you around, Sophia.”
	“Likewise, Mister Galahad. Let us ask one or two more students…” Sophia decided as she turned to the rest of the new arrivals.

. . . . .

	Galahad watched Sophia and her crowd of potential students walk up to another wizard and ask the same question. His heavy bag was hurting his shoulder now. After reshouldering it, he started once more toward the meeting hall like he had been instructed when he arrived by horse drawn carriage. Galahad was a young man in his early twenties, his eyes were a fiery, reddish-orange color, contrasting his raven-black hair and pale skin. Other than his unusual eyes, he had nothing to denote his magical prowess due to not dressing in traditional caster garb. The meeting building was easy to spot. It was a long, two floor building that numerous other recent arrivals were filing into. He joined the crowd of fifty or so as they stood in the gathering room where some of the security officers took bulky luggage and handed out white arm bands to all the new students. Galahad declined handing over his single bag but gladly took an arm band and slipped it up his sleeve before moving into the main area. 
	The crowd chattered amongst themselves, waiting for the orientation to start. Eight chairs and a podium were set up on a stage. The banner of each house was along the walls of the room with current students of each house idling near them, talking to any new students who approached and mingling with other house members. Galahad hid away in the back of the crowd to avoid the gaze of those around him. He eyed the various councils, unsure which ones seemed worth joining. The council for house Maxamillion all looked quite uptight in their dressy suit-like robes with ties. Illusion looked like it was full of impish smiles, goofs and gaffs, and a lack of any real studying getting done with them around. Galahad frowned but turned his attention to the front of the room as the dean stepped onto the stage. Seven of the eight chairs behind the dean were filled, the headmaster of Fritz’eleo being absent, “Welcome one and all,” The dean began as he interlocked his hands behind his back, “Thank you for being here for our early orientation. I know each of you here is eager to begin your higher education at our illustrious academy and itching to meet and greet with the council of each house. I will not take up too much of your time. My name is Zacharius Zucarius, master of illusion and dean of Fairgarland Academy. I am overjoyed to see each of you here and happy you have chosen our humble school to study at. Know well that I and my headmasters of each magic school will do our best to serve you and help you succeed. Not to mention the council men and women of each house that are eager to receive you!” There were a few cheers from the more energetic of the council members, “With that, I will pass off the stand to the student body president who has a few words to share.”
	The headmasters of each school of magic clapped along with most of the students. Galahad clapped slowly along with the others. A young man took the center stage. He wore a black set of short robes with a collared white undershirt and a blue tie, “Thank you, Master Zucarius. Hello friends, new and old,” He greeted everyone with a million dollar smile as he scanned the crowd, “My name is Sean Reagal, current standing student body president. It is with great honor that I, and every other upperclassman in this room, welcome you all here to our wonderful school. I pray that each of you will at least consider joining one of our great houses even if you are only planning on being here for two or so years. Each one of our eight wonderful houses is eager to have you apply. Now, we don’t have any formal requirements as to what you need to do, but we encourage you to chat with us council members for each house to get to know us, help decide where you should go with your studies, and get in touch with each of us. We will help gauge your skill level with an aptitude test to help place you in the correct classes. Our headmasters are here as well if you wish to speak to them. But, uh,” He smirked as he looked at the teachers behind him, “Don’t let their looks intimidate you. Each one loves their job teaching. Even if you are not majoring in their field, they will be more than happy to teach you.” Galahad couldn’t tell if he was serious or not, but most of the headmasters smirked or smiled at his little joke. The young man continued, “If any of you have any problems during your stay with us, please come and see me, I will do my best to help anyone I can,”  Sean then pulled a single note card from his pocket and glanced at it, “That covers anything important. We will now go to the all important meet and greet phase of this orientation. Stay a while and chat if you can, if you are exhausted from your travels, please feel free to retire to the Seeker’s house as your rooms have already been prepared there. Please, enjoy your time here at Fairgarland academy!”
	Galahad waited for a moment as his fellow new students started to chat with the house councils. He was about to turn and step out of the building to finally get some sleep but he found his hand being grabbed and forced into a firm handshake, “You look a lot more bright eyed than most of the new students here,” The man had a smile on his handsome, bearded face. He had the distinguished look of an aristocrat, not too unlike Sean at the front. His hair was short and sandy blonde with every strand of hair cleanly curling in on itself. His robes were raven black with a golden rope tied around the waist and a crimson interior. The band on his arm was red.
	“Because my eyes are orange?” Galahad joked with a little, timid smile.
	The man chuckled, “There is a higher intelligence in those eyes,” He explained. Galahad knew he was right, he could see the same flame of ambition in the man’s blue eyes, “My name is Harold Garnalga Babarry, leader of house Fritz’Eleo. Tell me, what family do you hail from?” He let Galahad’s hand go slowly as the wizard tried to break it off.
“Oh, uh, Loxley. Galahad A. Loxley,” He replied.
“Loxley… Loxley,” The man tasted the name on his tongue while his eyes turned up, “I do not know of that house. Perhaps you are the son of a lesser lord more so than a king?”
	Galahad shook his head, “I’m afraid I’m not the son of some wizard king or lord, unlike you Sir Babarry. Just a lot of selective breeding between wizards and sorcerers.”
	Harold nodded, obviously pleased with the man’s knowledge of him. “What you lack in titles you make up for in bloodline. I am curious to see your career here at Fairgarland. Tell me, what do you plan on studying?”
	“That’s the hard part, really,” Galahad frowned, “I may end up trying a bunch of different schools my first year and picking one after that.”
	“A wise choice,” Harold nodded.
	Before he could add on to that, a third, muffled, voice chimed in, “Have you considered transmutation?” Harold looked annoyed while Galahad’s attention was pulled to the voice. He was stunned for a second by the man before him. His outfit was the robes of a gaudy battle mage, light weight brass armor with flowing golden robes. Even more outlandish was the mask he wore. His face was covered completely by a golden mask of a chiseled, handsome face. Galahad could only wonder what kind of face was really under there. Unobstructed by the mask was the man’s long, platinum blonde hair. ‘Eccentric,’ was the first word that popped into Galahad’s head quickly followed by ‘gaudy,’ and ‘amusing,’ “Fredrik Alistair Jeoffrey, councilman in the house of Karak-Albrac, at your service, Mister…” 
For what felt like the millionth time that day, Galahad gave the fellow his name as he shook his cold, metallic gauntleted hand, “Mister Loxley, a pleasure to meet you.”
	“Here to poach my potential house members, Fredrik?” Harold asked with a frown on his face and folded arms.
	“Sean is good at finding the socialites,” The golden wizard gestured to the class president who was already chatting up most of the wizards, “While you can sniff out every exemplary wizard. I am sure ninety or so percent of them will join your house. Why not allow me to poach one of them, especially one who doesn’t seem too sure of himself? Come Galahad, why not meet with another house?”
	“I must admit meeting the others will do you good, young Galahad,” Harold nodded and added with a little smile, “I shall ‘see you around’ as they say.”
	Galahad nodded and followed the gold clad man through the mingling and slowly thinning out crowd, “Mister Loxley, it is my honor to introduce you to the rest of house Karak-Albrac’s council,” He gestured to a group of four, “Friends, this is Galahad Loxley. I found him being beleaguered by Harold’s constant talk of royalty and titles.”
	Sweat began to form on the man’s forehead as he felt numerous eyes fixate on him. The harshest look came from a dwarf. Short and wide like all of his kind and adorned with golden pauldrons and a maroon cloak. A hood hung off the back of his cloak that usually would cover his shining, bald head. His salt and pepper colored beard was tied in ornate braids that ended in cylindrical golden ornaments inlaid with a few differently colored and sparkling gems. The dwarf’s brown eyes on his stoney face looked Galahad up and down once before he threw up a dismissive hand, “A manling in plainclothes? Bring back a wizard who cares about his studies,” He gruffly declared.
	“Holmit,” A green-eyed gnome shot him a look that could kill, “He’s a first year. Let him make a mistake or two. Need I remind you of your penchant for heavy armor when you joined,” The gnome turned her attention back to the man. She wore bright purple robes with dark orange interior and a wide brimmed conical hat that had many small golden ornaments hanging from the brim. At her full height, she couldn’t be any taller than four feet, minus the hat of course. Her rosey-brown hair was short, curly, and messily fell down the sides of her head. Her long, rounded ears twitched as she offered Galahad an apologetic smile, “Don’t mind Holmit. I’m sure you will do just fine if you choose to join us. Oh, My name is Suzie Hillbottom. A pleasure to meet you, and I do hope you consider joining despite Holmit’s… dwarfisms.”
	“Indeed,” A fourth voice added. Sitting beside the gnomish woman sat a lady just half a foot taller than her. Her body was covered completely by a reddish-gray cloak of fur. She wore a witch’s hat, though hers was twice as wide as anyone else’s sporting a purple and black striped scarf wrapped around its center, and unlike any of the others it looked soft, with warm tufts of fur sitting snugly on her feathery, shoulder-length, blue-gray hair. Though her skin was a pale blue, what was most immediately striking about her was her eyes; black as night all over but for the bright turquoise rings around her four pointed star shaped pupils. As Galahad made eye contact they seemed to change, circles for a few moments, then a star with even more points, and many other shapes appeared in her eyes. Her ears were long and pointed, suggesting she was an elf of some kind, though Galahad had never seen one like her before and besides, they had their own magic colleges and looked down upon all other casters. Galahad quickly broke their eye contact as he realized how long he had been staring. He was definitely sweaty over most of his body now. The woman cleared her throat,  “I am the president of house Karak-Albrac. If you are new to transmutation, you will be studying under me, most likely,” Her face stared with an almost bored expression. Galahad had no earthly idea if she was displeased with him, “If you intend to join, I will also be testing you myself.”
	“I understand,” Galahad hastily replied with a quick, polite bow.
	“Good. It was a pleasure to meet you, Galahad,” The witch coldly remarked. One hand, also of a blue color, was extended from underneath her fluffy cloak.
	The wizard, his mind already freezing up, stared for a moment at said hand. Her fingers and nails were all well manicured. Fredrik chuckled behind his golden mask, “Are you unsure what to do when a lady offers you her hand?”
	Galahad turned to him, his face turning beet red, “I trained under a master, I-I’m not good at this stuff.”
	“You are meant to kiss the lady’s hand,” Harold declared as he butted in, “I would kiss her hand to show you if you like.”
	The fey woman’s hue turned a lavender, “I would not,” Her hand quickly retreated beneath the cloak. 
	“My sweet, is Galahad here bothering you?” Harold inquired as he gave Galahad a stern look.
	The fey woman’s face was still blank, “I am not your sweet nor was he bothering me. You are the one currently bothering me.”
	“As hard to get as ever,” Harold sighed, “So be it. You only redouble my efforts with your playful coldness. I must be off to chat with the other new students,” He bowed and took his leave.
	As soon as he was out of earshot, Suzie whistled, “Sheesh, as bold as ever. What a creep.”
	“I don’t like the princeling much,” Holmit nodded slowly, “You should have transmuted his mouth shut if he went for it.”
	“No. We cannot afford to attain his house’s ire. Galahad, I bid you good day,” The woman blinked slowly at him as her skin returned to its pale blue hue.
	“Miss President,” Fredrik took a spot by her side, “Your name?”
	“You may refer to me by my title, ‘The Multifold Manus of Alderia.’ Make a nickname for me if you please. The others have,” She stated. Galahad quickly deduced she must be some kind of fey if she’s giving out titles rather than names.
	“I call her Manus,” Suzie offered.
	“Miss President is sufficient for me,” Fredrik added.
	“Miss Manus. If that is alright,” Galahad stated quickly. The fey woman nodded slowly and the man sighed with relief.
	“Perhaps you should retire for the night,” Suzie suggested, “You look exhausted.”
	“I definitely feel it too. The train rides were not kind to me today. Have a good night, all,” Galahad bowed again before adjusting his bag and hastily stepping away from the Karak-Albrac council members.
	“Would you like me to take you to the Seeker’s house?” Fredrik offered eagerly.
	Galahad shook his head, “No, it's okay. I’m sure you’re really busy.”
	“As you wish. I hope to see you again soon. I would love to speak to you more, my friend,” He gave a little nod, silently bidding Galahad farewell who then made his way to the exit, “He seems like a good lad.”
	“Better than some of the others we have to suffer,” Holmit glanced toward the evocation class.
	“Politeness alone will get him nowhere,” Suzie reminded them, “I expect the rest of you to not let a friendly personality sway your judgment when he does apply. If he applies. Think he has potential, Manus?”
	“I cannot say,” She coldly replied, “Without first seeing him cast a few spells, at least. If he is in one of my classes I am teaching, I will judge him there. Go mingle, perhaps others have interest in our magic.”

Chapter 2