Chương 14: First Term Feast

Suria's third day at Darkmoon University was mostly peaceful and filled with reading, which was a relief. After her terrible first hour, part of her had been afraid that her time there would be a never-ending ordeal where she'd never get to study magic. Now she could sink into her books, though they only made her hungry for deeper understanding of their subjects. The first disruption was actually the sound of loud drums pounding out music, apparently coming from outside the building.

When it persisted, even growing louder, she and Maut-mai left to figure out what was going on. From outside, they could see that a group of students were atop one of the towers of the Taedric Building, laughing and celebrating.

"Stop that at once!" Maut-mai shouted at them. Someone atop the tower booed and hurled a bottle in their general direction. It broke against the stones, splashing a small amount of what smelled like alcohol. Maut-mai was shocked, while Suria just sighed and resolved to find a quieter place. She could add silencing magic to the long list of things she wanted to find inscriptions for.

"Are you going to put up with that?" Maut-mai asked on their way back.

"Do you think there's anything we can do?" Suria asked with a shrug.

"Could you call the guards on them?"

"It could certainly be tried. I'm going to start by going up and giving them a piece of my mind." Though it seemed like Maut-mai wanted her for support, Suria didn't feel up to confronting a bunch of drunken revelers, especially if some of them were mages. She instead returned to her room to read, and for whatever reason the sounds of the drums quieted over time until it was easy to ignore them.

Most of campus was still closed, including the library, so Suria resolved to keep reading and be as prepared as possible for the beginning of the term. She was in danger of finishing her main two books and having nothing to read but the boring parts of Magical Law: An Overview, though, so she stretched out her runic training in hopes of improving her capacity further. The other exercises in the book weren't as simple as making crossed runes, though they seemed just tantalizingly beyond her level of understanding.

Instead she absorbed general knowledge about how runic capacity could be increased, which answered a few old questions. Many cultures across the world had discovered ways to increase a mage's strength, from rituals to smoking herbs to modern potions. All of them ultimately provided a surge of energy that eased the creation of the first few runes, so they became less effective the more powerful a mage was and the less relevant those first runes became.

Methods that could improve an archmage were few and far between, and the difference between four runes and six was simply more significant than ninety and ninety-nine. It was possible to permanently increase rune capacity aside from training, however, which was the real revelation. The most common was potions that saturated the body, rendering it better-suited to magic: those could increase a mage's capacity by several runes. Even if each one became rarer and more expensive, it was an advantage no one could ignore.

She was almost tempted to study Alchemy, even if she knew they wouldn't be making such powerful potions in their very first term. If only she had more time to study everything... for now, she would stick to the plan and focus on the specific fields she chose. Interestingly, the book alluded to a few other methods. The soul could somehow be enhanced in a way that increased runic capacity, but soul magic was so far beyond her that there was no point studying it now.

Likewise the vague allusions to physical methods that enhanced the mind suggested they were so complex that even top Medicine specialists didn't use them normally. Before Suria could find any answers, Maut-mai came in and closed the door huffily. She then went and sank on her bed, similarly huffily. When it seemed like she intended to sit there with increasing huffiness, Suria realized she would need to ask.

"What happened?"

"They were extremely rude." Maut-mai glared up toward the tower and the faint sound of drums.

"They treated me like... like I was nobody! Despite them being a bunch of random first year students. I wouldn't want to join their gathering anyway, but I've never seen such disrespect."

"It sounds like you made them quiet down, though," Suria pointed out.

"Thanks for that."

"I reported them, and I sincerely hope that the faculty will stop such things once the term begins. I know that students engage in revelry from time to time, but this..." Maut-mai turned to her desk with a sniff and went silent for the evening. The only other thing to interrupt them was when Maut-mai used a magical letter to order a meal from off campus. It arrived smelling delicious until Suria saw that Maut-mai paid an astonishing 400 oss to the living statue that delivered it.

Maybe she was just poorer than she thought, but Suria would have hiked across the entire city to avoid paying 400 oss for a single meal. Maut-mai had ordered enough for both of them, and for a while Suria was afraid that she was going to demand payment of half, but the other woman didn't seem to think of it again. Suria eventually reassured herself that no one would be so foolish as to make a decision like that without consulting someone else. Apparently Maut-mai had enough money to be extraordinarily generous.

As she went to bed that night, Suria reflected that the next day would include the opening ceremony and the ceremonial feast. Her first term at Darkmoon University was about to begin. ~ ~ ~ The ceremony proved to be extremely boring and Suria was glad that she had brought The Measure of a Mage in her satchel. It took place in front of Convocation Hall, where the students assembled around a floating marble platform.

After walking there alone, it was shocking to see the space filled with hundreds of students, and this crowd wasn't even close to the full student body.

"Many praise Darkmoon University for the weight of its legacies," an official droned on.

"They speak of the grand history of the Hall of Thrones, the wonder of the Sequential Library, the heights of Skypiercer Tower, or the prestige of the Aether Society, and rightly so. But I think the real value of our institution lies in its people..." What disappointed her most was that the head professors weren't present, so she couldn't even check their identities. From the mutterings around her, apparently most people considered the opening ceremony and its speeches to be wasted time.

She'd have to get into the Hall of Thrones, once it was open, in order to learn more about the professors. Since practicing runes in the middle of the ceremony might be frowned upon, Suria made more reading progress than she had expected. As she left with the others, she looked toward the Sequential Library mournfully. Just one more day and she could finally go inside. Their next major event was the opening feast, which was allegedly going to take place in the Hall of Thrones.

When Suria asked Maut-mai about it, however, the other woman shook her head. She seemed distracted as she answered, staring into her mirror and fiddling with her jewelry.

"Sorry, Suria, I'm going to attend a different function at the Cerulean Sanctum." Suria blinked in surprise.

"It takes place at exactly the same time as the opening feast?"

"Everything important happens on the opening day." Maut-mai peered closer and then replaced her earrings with a set of sapphires.

"All the societies have some sort of event, during or after. The academics start in a few days, but socially the term starts now." That was a strange statement that Suria decided not to interrogate further. Her roommate seemed to be worrying over her own appearance, acting more vain than she had up to this point. Whatever it was, Suria wanted no part in it. Instead, a little before the feast was to begin, she left the Taedric Building to explore a little better.

Darkmoon campus was still vast and confusing to her, and she hadn't even ventured into the western side or the northern forest. The Taedric Building was to the eastern end, with only strange hedges further east, and surrounded by all sorts of buildings, most of them smaller dormitories. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Ignoring those, Suria instead headed north, toward the lake.

The opposite side ended in a cliff, atop which she saw a crooked house; no one had ever mentioned it to her and she wasn't sure what to make of it. Instead, her eyes wandered down to the closest shore of the lake, where she saw an enormous building formed from blue glass. Unlike all the stone blocks elsewhere on campus, this one was entirely subtle curves and windows, though the glass was tinted enough to be opaque from the outside.

It extended over the side of the lake, and as she walked around the side, Suria thought that it actually went beneath as well. She was fairly sure that was the Cerulean Sanctum, though she hadn't gotten much other information from her roommate. It was listed in the course catalogue because almost all Conjuring classes took place within. Presumably it had other functions, as basically all of the large buildings did. Suria continued tracing a route around the lake, moving toward the center of campus.

There weren't as many buildings there, just towering monuments like the Cerulean Sanctum or the Sequential Library. Further west there was a region filled with strange arches and stone pathways that seemed to go nowhere, like someone had shattered a maze. She stayed on the green and open lawn between the arches and the lake, heading toward her destination. The Hall of Thrones was basically a fortress, looming at the back of the main cluster of buildings.

It almost seemed to stand guard in between the woods on one side and the lake on the other, though she could see grass beyond. Where most of the other buildings had modern flourishes, the Hall of Thrones looked as though it had been torn out of the pages of a storybook. It was allegedly a good place for her to get information about the head professors, according to Rije.

She hadn't been able to enter before this point, since the faculty were busy, and she was afraid that tonight it would be impossible to properly explore. Still, she would be glad to finally get inside... just another step closer to understanding Darkmoon University. When Suria entered, she saw that she was in the extreme minority, wearing her university robes. Almost everyone seemed to be wearing clothing from their home nation, even those she had seen elsewhere on campus in black and white.

Was that a custom that no one had told her about? In any case, no one stopped her or seemed to pay much attention to her at all. Old friends were meeting one another again, new friends were being made, and everyone was being funneled from the entrance hall to an enormous chamber. As soon as she stepped inside, Suria realized that it couldn't possibly be a natural room, because it looked larger than the entire building.

Some sort of spatial magic must be involved, but she didn't even see any glyphs, so it was so far beyond her that there was no point considering it. Instead she just drank in the chaos of the endlessly unfolding chamber. The furnishings and structure reminded her of a throne room, especially how one end had an elevated section with Darkmoon banners hanging overhead. Where a throne might have been elsewhere, there was only a long table with empty chairs.

No one neared the raised section, instead finding places in a sea of smaller tables on the main floor. There were all manner of people, from a woman about her age with a little girl in her lap to groups of rowdy men. In one direction she saw an old man in heavy fur robes, in another a young woman in a ruffled pink dress, in yet another a blue-skinned man wearing a crystalline crown. None of those tables seemed particularly welcoming to her, but there were always more.

Suria ended up sitting in one of the less occupied corners, though something about the walls of the expanded room made her nervous. She looked around, marveling at the sheer variety of people who had come to attend Darkmoon University. There were huge contingents from the great powers of the world, like the Akrashic Union or Republic of Junn, but also representatives from the old kingdoms of sorcery and corners of the world she'd never even heard of. And she knew literally no one.

Maut-mai wasn't attending and few of the students even looked familiar, leaving her entirely alone. Beside her there were a few others who didn't sit in groups, though for widely varying reasons. Not far away there was a woman smothered in robes who was vibrating anxiously and looked like she might explode if anyone spoke to her. In the opposite direction sat a voluptuous woman baring a shocking amount of skin, as relaxed as if she was in her own home.

Both several years older than Suria and otherwise nothing alike. When the chamber became full, the doorway into the normal building abruptly vanished. Some of those attending murmured and Suria shifted nervously, but most eyes were on the raised section. All at once, every flame and crystal in the room turned blue, bathing the room in a surreal light. Within that light, the leaders of the university appeared at the head table in a great rush of flame.

The audience clapped and cheered while Suria's breath caught in her throat: she recognized many of the professors from the basement meeting. The strange blue light wasn't the best way to view them properly, but they were still undeniable. In fact, the only person from the basement who she didn't see was the man with silver hair. There were others she didn't recognize: two men wearing professorial collars, a collection of nobles in rich clothing, and an old woman.

It was the old woman who captured most of Suria's attention, even though she didn't stand out. Unlike the others, she had appeared sitting directly in her chair instead of standing, and she was seated in the very middle. She didn't acknowledge the clapping and cheering of the audience at all and it wasn't clear if she was paying any attention.

"Welcome, one and all!" A man wearing gold and black robes stepped forward to greet the audience and silenced their cheers with a wave.

"Today officially begins the 1018th year of Darkmoon University. Soon enough we will begin our feasting to start the new year, but there are a few matters to be addressed first. Those of you returning may notice the absence of our esteemed Professor Zaasif Drazen... regrettably, the professor has chosen to depart the university this year. But never fear, we have made plans so that all courses in the Perception department will proceed as normal."

The man went on to discuss some other announcements, like the closing or opening of certain dorms, something about "wyvernry policy", and changes to saintsday scheduling. That all sounded less important to Suria and the crowd seemed to agree, mostly murmuring about the missing professor. As the official spoke, Suria tried to figure out exactly who all the unfamiliar figures on stage were.

There were eight departments, so the two men in professorial collars must be the other department thrones, but she hadn't been able to research which was which. The others might be administrators, but one had a leader's sash from the Republic of Junn and there was a woman wearing an actual crown, so Suria began to suspect they were political representatives. Darkmoon University was an independent institution, but perhaps independence required balancing other interests.

"I think that's all our sundry business," the speaker said as he walked along the side of the table toward the central chair.

"But before we begin, as is customary, we will hear a few words from our beloved Archthrone Sanqual Hesbath. Tell me, Sanqual, are you excited for the new year?"

"Well..." The old woman's voice practically shed dust, and she didn't look up at the speakers.

"Looks like we're having another one." Then she said nothing. A few in the audience tittered, but as the silence stretched Suria realized that this was not a planned joke. The lead speaker looked pained before he turned away with a swirl of his sleeve to address the audience again.

"Taciturn as always," he said with a clearly false chuckle.

"But I had a few remarks of my own, to begin our year. Why, fundamentally, do mages seek one another's company? Why do we have universities at all? Are we here to further our knowledge, or because learning enriches the soul, or because education improves society? In the modern world, so different from the sorcerer kings of old, what role should a university like Darkmoon play?" Based on the murmurings and shiftings in the audience, most seemed to find this boring, but Suria listened with rapt attention.

Those sounded like good questions... and she was disappointed that the speaker didn't seem interested in answering them. Maybe he just wanted them to think about the questions for themselves, but she felt that there should have been at least an attempt to answer. She certainly preferred that speech to the ones that followed: several of the political leaders came to speak about their pet causes.

A representative from the Akrashic Union spoke about the potion economy, which seemed like opaque nonsense to her, and a woman from the Republic of Junn gave a familiar speech about magic's equalizing role. A prince of Febek-Rai, wearing wraps that reminded her of Maut-mai, gave a meandering speech that didn't seem to have much point at all. Eventually, however, the speeches ended and the first speaker announced the beginning of the feast.

All of the lights faded from blue to a warm orange and plates of food began to descend from the ceiling. Every single table was soon covered with dishes, even the mostly unoccupied regions like Suria's. The variety of food was just as overwhelming as the sheer diversity of the crowd, so Suria just stared at it all for a while. There was what looked like a roast boar with dozens of tusks, alongside some sort of scorpion that had fish stuffed into its claws.

Even familiar foods like bread had been transformed into strange spiraling constructions. She saw luminous blue fruit and blood red vegetables and mushrooms that twitched on their plates. Everyone else was digging in, so Suria hesitantly took a few familiar items. Everything she tried was good, though admittedly she didn't attempt any of the more adventurous dishes. The truth was that she wasn't hungry and her attention continually slid back to the front.

No one was approaching the professors and this didn't seem like the time to address them. From a distance she could only tell that they were eating while talking amongst one another. The Archthrone slumped in her chair, doing neither, her long silver hair crowding around her like a nest, or perhaps wrappings for a coffin. The door to the chamber had reopened when the lights changed, so Suria considered sneaking out and getting more information from the Hall of Thrones.

When she realized she wasn't going to get any information or eat any more, she made her way out of the expanded room. There were others leaving as well, but everyone was redirected toward the exit. Best not to draw attention to herself, not so early in the term. Tomorrow she would most likely be able to explore properly, without breaking any rules, so that would be the best time to start her investigations. Maut-mai hadn't returned, so Suria went to bed on her own.

She slept restlessly, troubled by the sounds of revelry, and woke up entirely too early. Once she washed her face and put on her new robes, Suria felt surprisingly refreshed. When she ventured out onto the campus, she saw that it had come alive with the beginning of the new term. There were people moving between the largest buildings, all of which were open. Even the library had finally stopped being an impenetrable block of stone and had gained an entrance. She was finally here and it was time to get started.