Library!

Jerod returned to his room after the duels were over to enjoy a nice hot shower. He now had a better understanding of the level of his peers and also got to observe a few extra spells. Countering the challengers moves as soon as they came out worked well as a demoralizing act and beating all five without a break furthered that point. He felt lucky that he had put points into increasing his mana after his last level up otherwise he wouldn't have been able to put up as good of a show. Now hopefully there won't be any challenges for a while.

Jerod settled in to sleep thinking about the wonderous day he was going to have after he woke up.

...

Bart Ferris was in a small courtyard in a secluded part of the campus. There was a small group of students standing submissively in front of him while listening to his rants and raves.

"That foolish commoner! How dare he?! How dare he ignore my noble status!?! Does he know who my father is? My family has close ties to the royal family. He should have given me face and lost the duel to let me jump to second place. Now I have lost enough points that I would be dropped from the class if I was anyone else. Ugh!

Listen up peasants! Next week when they open the duels to the rest of the class each of you will challenge me and bet 10 points. With the 10 of you betting 10 points I will be able to move up to second place. Remember, you need earn as many points as you can get during the next six months so that you can duel me again and give me a bigger lead from the rest of the top 10.

Keep an eye on that Jerod kid too! I want to know what he does in his spare time, what specializations he selects, and who he hangs out with. One way or another I will get my revenge on him and show him his place."

The 10 students were then dismissed, all of them were commoners that served in the Ferris family's territory. They didn't dare to go against his word for fear that they or their family would be severely punished if they even thought of doing otherwise.

...

The next morning Jerod, completely unawares of the meeting the night before, met with Travis, Riker, and Henry to go for breakfast. This time they ran into Sarah in the hallway and invited her along as well.

"Jerod this here is Sarah. I told you about her the other day remember? She's a commoner like us."

"Hello Jerod, it is nice to meet you." Sarah fidgeted at being singled out. She had seen the duel the night before and was awestruck by the performance Jerod had shown. She hadn't expected to run into him on her way to breakfast or that she would be invited to eat with him.

"Nice to meet you." Jerod was oblivious to Sarah's impression of him. He had dealt with children and young adults for much of his previous life so he passively ignored nervous habits.

As they made their way to the cafeteria Travis was incessantly talking about how awesome the duel the night before had been. He asked all the questions he could think of without even giving Jerod time to answer. The others, while more reserved, were also curious to hear the answers.

"Idiot! Shut up long enough for him to say something!" Riker had finally grown tired of his cousin's running mouth before looking apologetically at Jerod.

"Sorry about that Jerod, I am sure you have noticed he is always like that. We are curious though, how were you able to counter all of the spells last night so easily?"

Jerod just scratched his face and kept quiet throughout the interaction between Riker and Travis. It seemed this comic act would be a part of his daily life hanging out with these two. Upon hearing Riker's question he smiled and shrugged.

"For me it is really easy to counter spells in such a relaxed atmosphere. I have the ability to know what type of magicles are being gathered for a spell so I can work to make a counter spell. From what I have been told by the person who brought me here it is a rare talent but it isn't unbeatable. In one on one duels for apprentices like us, sure, I could generally always win. But above apprentices most magicians are able to gather and form the magicles into a spell almost instantly so I wouldn't be able to keep using the same trick then."

This answer received many oohs and ahhs. After taking in the answer everyone looked back at Riker to continue with the questions that were really important since he was the only once that could talk easily with Jerod without the difficulty of shutting up.

"That's awesome! I noticed you had cast spells of most of the elements including the dark magic Destruction Bolt. Are you able to use light magic too?"

"Mhmm. I can cast light heal but that's pretty much it for my spell list. Everything I used last night plus light heal is my full repertoire."

Again a round of oohs and ahhs. Travis hadn't even thought about the number of different spells that Jerod had cast so he was worked into a frenzy again at this realization. Once Riker was able to get him to stop talking again he asked a few more questions about the duel before finally asking what Jerod had planned for the day.

"Today I plan on going to the library. I want to see what is there and I want to look over some of the introductory information for the specializations. We have to submit our decisions on specializations tomorrow and I want to make sure I am making the best choices to start with."

Hearing this the other four looked at each other quizzically. Finally Henry was the one who spoke up after some hesitation.

"Uh.. Jerod, don't you remember that Journeyman Taric said we wouldn't be able to access the specialization books that we weren't enrolled in?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes, that isn't a problem for me. I was able to earn some special accesses from teaching the headmaster about the frost spells, so I should be able to look at them all."

Again the four shared a glance before each nodding their head as one.

"Jerod! Are you going to look over all of the specializations today? Would you share some information with us when you're done? Being able to have a better idea of each specialization can save us 6 months of torture.

If we sign up for a specialization that we are bad at it can affect our rankings. We will pay you back in the future if you help us!"

"I don't mind but how would it affect your rankings?"

This time Riker took back over the conversation, "Well Jerod, if you recall, we earn ranking points based on grades. If we are bad a specialization we won't earn any points in those classes. While we won't lose points our peers will be gaining them which would allow them to pass us by."

"Ahh, I get it. Sure, do you all want to meet in my room after dinner? We can go over the details of what I am able to discover."

With a resounding nod from the group Jerod bade his farewell and went to the library. At long last he would finally be able to browse the content of this sacred place. He entered the building and showed his student ID to the attending personnel. He was then guided to a small room that had a nice reading area inside.

"Young magician Jerod, this room is a private room set aside specifically for your use. Here you will find a communication rune should you need someone to fetch a book for you or if you are having trouble finding what you are looking for. There is a small dining area set up to the side to order refreshments and snacks as well."

Jerod was in love with the room. He thanked the attendant and dived into his exploration of the first floor. Many of the books were personal insights from journeyman and master mages from over the years. There were history books, guidebooks for attuning to the elements, and of course books on the different specializations.

Jerod decided that he would first and foremost grab a book on each specialization but he mentally made a note of the title of some of the books that had caught his eye for future reading. Jerod then returned to his reading room and started to prepare for his day of being a shut in. He ordered a drink settled the light to the optimal angle and finally sat down to pour over the first book from his pile.