10 Wards

The academy uniform was a deep purple with green accents that D thought looked horrible but kept his thoughts to himself since he wasn't paying for it. Plus it was the best fitting and most expensive outfit he'd ever owned. Headmaster Wilnoc even arranged for him a haircut so that he might at least pass for a decent human being. D for his part went along with everything as passively as if it were part of any other job. Any time he felt put out he would remind himself of the money he'd already made and was to make.

Dorms weren't to open for a few more days but Headmaster Wilnoc let the dorm mother over the first year boys know there was an exception in D's case. Larian inspected the various dorms and requested a specific one for D. When he told the Headmaster which room he wanted the gawky man seemed shocked. "Arch-Mage… I mean Professor Larian. That room is the smallest of all the dorm rooms. It's nearly half the size of the others but still set for two students. I can certainly get your assistant a better room." Leaning in to whisper "That room is normally reserved for trouble students, though the previous headmaster used it mostly for commoners who managed to pay the admission fees."

Larian grinned. "Perfect. D is obviously of common birth, no one that spends a few seconds with the boy would ever think differently." At the mage's rude comment the headmaster glanced to D who was standing only a few feet away. D showed no reaction much to the headmaster's relief and disconcert. Headmaster Wilnoc for all his bickering was a true professional teacher. His love for learning was only matched by his care for students. That was part of the reason the crown had appointed him Headmaster when replacing his less open-minded predecessor.

"So it will help make his cover more believable. Besides the real benefit is this." He opened a door that led outside. The tiny room had once been an entranceway converted to produce more dorm space, or more likely specifically for the few common-born students, they received each year. "My assistant is more than just a student, remember dear Headmaster. I will have plenty of special assignments for him." Though Larian didn't say what those assignments would pertain to his tone of voice let the Headmaster know he hadn't forgotten why he was here.

"Ahh yes, that does make sense. I'll also let the dorm mother know that as your apprentice young D here might have errands he must run. I'll convince her everything is fine." D caught the slight muttering of, I hope.

"Now let me go and introduce you to the staff!" Headmaster Wilnoc gave a slight bow and motioned for the Arch-Mage turned Professor to follow after him.

"Alright, let us go D you can leave your things here." Both Wilnoc and Larian stopped in their tracks but for different reasons. Wilnoc hadn't planned on taking the boy along with them and Larian was busy studying D's sudden display of emotions.

D had a defiant look on his face as he held tightly to the straps of his backpack. "You want me to leave my stuff unattended?" D's raspy voice dripped with disbelief.

"D you will be living here for a while. You can't carry everything you own on your back at all times." Headmaster Wilnoc watches starting to feel a tinge of doubt at having accepted the boy without any information. "Fine, you can manage a basic ward now, right? Ward your gear so no one will mess with it. Just make it quick." Larian turned to the nervous-looking headmaster "Boy can't cast even a basic spell but he's practically a prodigy with wards." Seeming to remember something he turned back to D who was already kneeling down by his pack with a quill in hand. "Ahh, nothing lethal." D growled but nodded. Larian had almost turned back to the Headmaster when he thought of something else and turned back. "No fireballs either! Or acid! In fact, just a sound ward should be enough to scare any prowlers away should be sufficient."

Headmaster watched as Larian and D argued briefly before settling on a ward loaded with just concussive force and a sound alarm. Still, Larian watched as D wrote the complex formulas in mid-air to shimmer around his pack closely, making him lower the kinetic energy stored in the ward before letting him finish. As D finished the small wall of text that floated glowing in the air in front of him it swirled around becoming a ring of light around his pack before disappearing.

D could hardly read when Larian met him and still struggled with it. But he had a mind for numbers and wards, unlike spells that revolved around invoking various reactions based on complex spoken spells, were mostly just mathematical formulas used to balance the raw power around a few basic trigger words. D had learned a handful of trigger words for various effects such as fire, acid, and kinetic forces. A few parameters needed to explain what he wanted them to do. Explode, light an area, form cutting blades, etc the rest was simply doing the calculations and putting them in the right order. For many mages wards were difficult, requiring them to focus on advanced mathematics instead of understanding the complex syntax of the magical language. In combat, the time it took to do such calculations and write them out was too long so they were mostly used defensively or for ambushes.

Headmaster Wilnoc was a teacher not a mage and glanced worriedly several times at the back pack sitting against the wall. "Are you sure it's safe? Teaching one so young magic is uncommon, yes?"

"Don't worry. His magic isn't what you have to worry about… it's his bite!" Larian laughed at his joke while Wilnoc just looked confused.

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D was a bit shocked by how the meet and greet with the other staff went. He of course knew Larian wasn't just your average professor. But most of their conversations revolved around Larian asking D about his past. So when he discovered that Larian wasn't just a mage but some famous royal Arch Mage even he felt shocked. Most of the teachers practically gushed over Larian excited for someone so prestigious to be teaching at their academy. When they found out D was his apprentice much of the same was turned on him. For D he just saw the greed in most of their eyes and didn't let it affect him much. Since he showed no response while Larian expertly played his part of both humble and impressive at the same time more of the attention drifted back to the mage. D was more than happy with that and it was still part of the plan.

Larian had all kinds of plans and very few of them revolved around solving the case he'd been hired to deal with. Most of them were the various experiences he wanted D to go through and the various experiments he wanted to subject D too.

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After eating enough for three grown men from foods laid out for the meet and greet D managed to slip away. Heading back to the dorm he wanted to check on his belongings and start scribing more wards. D originally saw magic as simply another tool to help him live an easier life but quickly discovered it was worse than learning to read. When Larian showed him wards though almost as an afterthought the way they worked just clicked. Not only did D have a knack for them but he found their creation and study relaxing. He was just about to enter the side door that led to his room when a stern voice called out.

"You there boy! The dorms aren't open yet. How did you even get on the grounds?" D turned knowing the stern voice belonged to the dorm mother despite having never met the woman. He'd heard comments from not only the headmaster but several of the other staff that led him to believe she was particularly strict. Turning towards the voice even D couldn't keep the surprise off his face.