Tower

The room was as it was described, though slightly larger than Theo had expected it to be. Even the bed was larger than what he was used to. Though, before investigating the room further, he turned back towards the wooden door and locked it.

He then went and sat down on the bed and was surprised to feel the quality of the linen on it. It was rare to see this kind of quality in a place such as this.

Then again, everything was of a much higher quality in Zeah than anywhere else he had been in.

Theo spent a few moments just looking around the room. Once it was clear that the room would provide no more distractions for him, he thought about his current situation.

'A week.' That was how long he had till the Academy's entrance exams started. He had already spent months preparing for that. Yet, it still felt so sudden.

Some of it had to do with the fact that he had been forced to leave Riverrock earlier than planned, but it was also the fact that he was this close to the Academy.

The place where almost every single arcanist within the Kingdom had studied. His mother's school.

She had told him many stories about it. Though, they mostly focused on her own studies and adventures, they were no less interesting to hear about.

It was from her that Theo first heard about the library inside of the Academy. Just imagining the trove of knowledge that would have been gathered in there throughout the centuries had been enough to make him salivate. His mother's tales had only added fuel to that fire.

But she had also warned him of the type of people that he would encounter, if he ever managed to study there.

In his mother's words, there would always be a bunch of bigoted pricks with overinflated egos who couldn't think farther than they could see.

But other than that, she had mostly told him positive things about the Academy.

He didn't know when, but a small smile had appeared on his face. Theo held it curiously for a moment before clearing his head and setting to execute his new routine, which was training his body and then practicing with the aether.

Tomorrow, he would go look at the gates of the Academy.

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Theo kept his head low as he exited The Wailing Captain and entered into the bustling morning streets of Zeah.

To avoid wandering around for hours like the last time, he looked around in the hopes of getting a guide straight out of the bat.

There were a few kids standing quite close to the tavern, youngish, around the age of ten or twelve. They had well kept clothes that showed that they weren't completely penniless. Far more presentable than the kid that he had gotten yesterday.

Theo didn't immediately go to them and kept looking at them trying to gauge something.

He observed them for a good while, without them noticing him. Suddenly, there was a change, as a small girl, couldn't have been over the age of seven appeared from the crowd on the streets and started to approach the group.

Her clothes were more along the lines of the one from yesterday. The crowds ignored her as she timidly walked towards the children.

She was a few steps away from the group when they noticed her.

Theo couldn't hear what they were saying, but he noticed that it was getting heated. One of the older boys picked up sharp pebbles from the side of the street and made aggressive motions, as if throwing them, but didn't actually throw any.

'How civilized.' Theo though to himself as the girl just lowered her head in response to the obvious threat and turned around. 'I should have come here instead of going to Stillben. My skin would be practically flawless.'

Theo began to walk towards her while thinking to himself. He caught up to her quickly and tapped her shoulder, startling the girl.

"Hey," Theo gave her a little smile. "Do you think you can lead me to the gates of the Academy?"

"Y-yeah…" She nodded her head quickly. "F-follow me…"

She swished around so hard that her brown hair almost smacked him in the face. She walked with quick steps, leading him away from the tavern.

She took quick, cautious looks back at him to make sure that he was following her. It was cute.

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"T-this is it…" The girl nodded towards the large, bright, white tower in front of them. It was massive.

The street around the tower wasn't as busy as everywhere else. Everyone took a respectful pace when they passed by and there wasn't any of the yelling or jostling that was common on the way here.

The girl turned around just in time to see the copper coins flying in her direction and managed to catch them. She looked at the three copper pieces in her hands with wide eyes.

Theo kept a distance from the girl, even though he had the urge to pat her head. "Thanks."

The girl looked at him in silence, her wide eyes were fixated on his. Before finally managing to squeeze out a question. "W-why?"

"I'm feeling generous." Theo said.

"N-no, that's not what I meant…" The girl had already hidden the silver piece within her clothes. Smart. "W-why did you choose me?"

"Eh?" Theo was surprised to hear that. "Well… you need the coin more than they do."

"Even if they don't get any coin, they still get a guaranteed meal at the end of the day, you don't." He gave her a small smile.

He could see the moisture starting to build up in her eyes. "M-Mio…"

"Huh?"

"P-please tell me your name, I'll pay you back…!"

"Theo. Theo's my name." He said.

The girl closed her eyes and nodded to herself, memorizing the name. Before opening them, and then quickly sprinting out of his eyesight.

"What the…" Theo mumbled to himself.

He had been in many confusing situations, but something like this was a first for him.

That girl must still have someone she could rely on. No way was someone like her surviving out here all alone. Either that, or she was extremely lucky, like he had been.

But he had seen far too many people who weren't that lucky. Starving to death had been one of the kinder fates they had suffered.

He looked to the direction where the girl had run to before directing it upwards onto the sky. His thoughts somewhere else.

'Even now, you make me lose more coin than necessary…' Theo chuckled to himself.

He shook his head to clear it and directed his focus on to the tower in front of him.

There were no visible doors. It was if the whole tower had been built from a single, large piece of white stone. The color was almost dazzling, far more than any other building he had seen.

There was also no one posted outside. But this was the place where anyone who wished to enter the academy had to go through. The exam was also supposed to take place here.

Well, even if he got no additional information, at least he knew the way here now, and how long it would take him to get here.

That would ensure that he was here on time on the exam day.

/-/

Theo traced his way back to the tavern, taking in the sights around him while still keeping himself cloaked. The same group of children were still standing near the tavern, though he noticed that a few of them weren't present anymore.

He paid them just a single glance before walking inside of the tavern and lined up on one of the four lines that seemed to always be there.

"Welcome, sir. What can we help you with today?" A tall male clerk asked him as it was finally his turn.

"A table for one." Theo said.

"Alright." The clerk noted something down. "Do you have a room here or are you only here to eat?"

"I have a room here." Theo took out his room key and showed it to the man.

The clerk took note of the color of the key and nodded. "Did you get the upgrade?"

"… I can't remember if I did." Theo rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"I'll check. Please wait a moment, sir."

The man pulled out a stack of papers and thumbed through them, presumably looking for his information.

'Worth a shot.' Theo thought as the man found his file.

"It seems that you did not take the upgrade." The man put the papers away and motioned for a waiter to come over. "The menu you will be provided will reflect that, so just order whichever dish you wish, but you only get one for free."

Theo nodded in response. "Thank you."

"Sir. If you'd follow me, please." A shorter male waiter said to him as the clerk nodded towards them both.

The man led him to an empty table that could fit only one person. The position of the table wasn't in a corner, but it also wasn't in the middle of everything.

It was in just the perfect place that no one would pay him much attention while he still could hear most of the conversations happening.

The waiter provided him with a menu before leaving to tend to other customers.

There were a multitude options to choose from. A large variety of different meats and vegetables, but the fish dishes still took almost seventy percent of the entire menu.

Some of them were dishes he had never heard of before. But he still opted for the one he was most familiar with. He told a passing waiter his order and sat there, quietly observing the people around and their conversations.