6 Fan

As soon as exiting the hall, Amar noticed the long corridor before them. The corridor was lit by bulbs attached to the walls which lit the otherwise dark corridor. They passed by some other closed doors while walking. A bit later, they arrived at a crossroads, where a notice board was fixed in the wall. On the board was a detailed map, which looked like one for the castle.

"This is the map of the whole castle. I forgot to tell you but this island is not visible by the outside world. Only someone with enough V2 to be a mage can see this island. Now, you both should memorize the map. You can easily get lost and end up in the wrong place which can be dangerous," Trish said while folding her arms.

Amar walked near the board to see the map clearly. In the top written in bold letters was, "CASTLE LIGHT". In the map, it showed the whole castle from the top view. It showed the walls and the four towers that surrounded the main buildings as a fortification. The main castle contained the dorms, hall, training room, various study rooms, and other parts that were detailed on the map. Outside the main building but inside the fortifications were a library, a mess hall, and a storeroom. There was a basement too below the castle floors but it was restricted according to the words written on the map.

"Hmm. This does make it very easy to navigate the whole area. Though I probably will be lost a couple of times at the very least," he grinningly spoke.

Both of the ladies smiled at his words.

"Also you can call Nio without his title. He doesn't like being called with his title. And most students here too don't call each other with their title, although it depends on each person. Only during a formal occasion or in class is it compulsory to call the title," Trish explained.

Both of them nodded at that piece of information. It would be helpful later on.

After a careful read, both he and Julie had mostly memorized the map. They then proceeded to walk down the staircase, arriving on a different floor. Just ahead was dorm rooms both mages, the whole floor was apparently reserved as the place to stay for the mages who are learning on the island. Walking through the passage, Amar saw various rooms on both sides.

"Each room is for a single student. You will have all the basic necessities provided, so you don't need to worry," Trish announced to both of them.

(How can I pay for this? I don't have any money except what I took as a loan. Even that was for my Master's which I won't be joining anytime soon. It would be such an anticlimactic end if I couldn't stay here due to money after everything that had happened.)

After hesitating for a bit, Amar sighed and asked, "How will we pay for this? I don't think I can pay for learning here."

It looked like Julie was a bit surprised by his question.

(She is definitely rich. That's why she didn't even think about money.)

Trish gave him a big smile and playfully replied, "You are so silly. You don't have to pay for anything here. The whole magical society of ours run with donations from the alumni and various other sources. Of course, you can also do jobs which are given out but that's the matter for some other time. So for now, don't worry and just focus on learning magic."

Her reply helped Amar relax as he thought his worry was now unnecessary. They soon reached near the end of the floor and just before the staircase, were two rooms side by side. Motioning the rooms, Trish told them, "This one will be your Julie while the last one is your Amar. Hurry and go inside and take a look."

She then proceeded to give them the keys to their rooms.

Opening the door, Amar saw that it was a normal looking room with a bed, a table, a chair, and a wardrobe. There was no window and the light in the room was provided by a bulb in the ceiling as well as a lamp beside the bed. It looked very bare and somewhat unappealing. However, Amar didn't mind that so much.

"Hmm. With some posters here and there, some other stuff added, this will look so much better," Amar spoke his mind out after entering the room.

Imagining what the room would look like after some changes, Amar was grinning foolishly.

While Amar was imagining about his room, Julie was hurriedly pushed inside the room by Trish. Wondering why Trish was acting this way, Julie was about to ask her when Trish pulled a folded object and a pen from her cloak. After Trish unfolded it, Julie saw that it was the poster of her movie which was just released.

(Although I am being narcissist, I was wondering why no one seemed to know who I am. Like nobody cared about me. Though it seems not to be the case. Though why was she carrying it around, I don't know.)

Feeling a bit pleased that someone at least recognized her, she smiled at Trish.

"I was flustered when I saw you in the hall. You are probably wondering why the gang with Nio seemed to not know who you are. Nio only likes very old movies and the others probably didn't want to talk about you with him around. But, by now the whole castle will have heard about you, and now is my chance to get your autograph before others. I was planning on sticking the poster in my room, but thankfully, I now can have your autograph here," a blushing Trish spoke.

Taking the poster and pen, Julie laid the poster on the table and signed it.

Looking pleased, Trish took the poster. Her eyes shined lovingly.

"Thank you so much. I am your big fan. I never thought I would get to meet you. I am feeling so happy. Please call me Trish. No need to call my title. Only for the formal occasion, it's needed," a grateful Trish announced.

"No need to thank me. I am grateful to know you are my fan."

Looking around, Julie too had the thought to add some things in the room later on.

"Please don't tell Amar about who I am. I will tell him myself in a while. He doesn't know who I am, so I want to surprise him," she smiled mischievously.

Grinning and nodding her head in reply, Trish folded the poster and kept it in her cloak.

"Now I will go. I will come later when it's time for dinner. It will probably be very chaotic today. Bye!"

Trish exited the room, leaving Julie alone in the room.

"I should surprise Amar by revealing what I do. I bet he will ask for my autograph. It will be worth it to watch him."

She closed the room behind her and moved in front of Amar's door. Knocking the door, she was excited from the thought of surprising him.