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. . .
Professor Levi A. Stein was excited, more excited than he'd ever thought he'd be in his whole tenure as a professor. Once, when he was young, he'd had delusions of grandeur, once dreaming that he'd make discoveries of magic of such great magnitude, and that sometime in the far future, he would be hailed as the next Archemage-to-be.
It's been forty years since those optimistic, bygone days. The years stretched on and it became more and more apparent that as far as talent went, he was only slightly above average. He'd overrated his own genius, inflated his own ego, stuffing his head with fantasy after impossible fantasy, and as with everything in this world that proved too big for it's container, was spilled out as the weight of reality was hammered onto him time and again.
So he was forced to content himself with this meager - if still comfortable - station in life. As a professor he was relatively well liked. His lectures were easy to understand and he wasn't too strict with students that came to him for advice, and though he's never taken a direct disciple before, many students were honored to have said they were taught by him. So for a time, he was content.
But behind that contentment lay a festering weed. A black and consuming fire, one-track minded and obsessed beyond all measure. The desire of his youth for recognition - for true greatness - had not died out. It was merely resting, unable to properly raise its head after his ambitions had died out.
But it had returned. It returned with a vengeance, and the harbinger of that return would see to it that the fuel to the fires that lit it would be properly fed.
The voices at night.
They reached out to him.
Called to him. Spoke to him with soundless voices.
At first he didn't listen - it might have been a form of demon, perhaps a ghost. He wasn't sure. For some reason, he could never muster the will to consult an expert on the topic.
Soon, though, speaking wasn't enough. They began to show him things. Visions. Images from another place - perhaps even another time. Bits and pieces of a long-gone civilization, but that wasn't all.
There was magic, hidden and waiting to be unleashed.
And slowly but surely the pieces came together.
He knew what was in that dead city.
He knew how to get in that dead city.
He knew he had to get to that dead city.
He knew that he needed other people for that dead city.
He knew.
He knew.
He knew.
He knew.
He knew.
He always knew.
And now, so would everyone else.
. . .
Polyanna smiled. "I don't think ye'll have ta worry 'bout that - your roommates are fresh-blood around here, so they wouldn't have time to catch on ta yer reputation. That'll be all for now I suppose - ah, wait, one last thing." The woman shuffled through a few more papers, looking over them before turning her attention back to Viktor. "Yer prevented from using magic for the next week, but on the question of yer room, I can grant you permission to work on it, but only after ye've served your probation. Also, sorry, yer service area's already been decided on."
Handing him the paper she was holding in her hand, she explained further. "Ye'll be helpin' with managing a field trip. A "City of the Dead", I believe, and ye'll be reportin' to a Professor Levi. Further details in that document, but, eh, otherwise nothin' complicated."
"Now before you go, I'll give you some words of advice, and a warning: I know your history, Viktor. Me and the Headmaster know everyone's history, everyone whos' passed through the University - and I'll tell you now that what happened to you in the past has made you something dangerous." The woman folded her arms over the table, peering at Viktor with a serious gaze. Her accent was gone by this point - a clear sign that she intended for Viktor to take this seriously.
"It ain't intentional - I don't think you'd purposely try and be a menace - but the fact is that you take risks without ever looking at the people around you. You've lived up until now not fully appreciating what your magic does, and I think it's for the simple reason that you've never had a need to use it for anyone but yourself, up to this point. You don't know how it's like to use it in anger, or in the defense of another - it's just been about you. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but you've become unaware of how great the magnitude of your magic is. Next time you take risks with your magic, remember that you can't account for everything - no one, not even the Headmaster, is infallible. You're okay now, but picture this in your head: What would have happened if there were people in your room at the time you sealed it away?"
A heavy silence fell as Polyanna allowed Viktor some time to process her words, after which, she simply sighed and smiled, before waving him off.
"A'ight, that's enough o' the heavy stuff. Enjoy th' rest of the day Viktor."
. . .
Rose raised her hands up in a placating gesture towards Alexander. "Okay, okay," she said with a lopsided smile. Sergei wordlessly went ahead of them. After one final one through of the mall, they finally exited, guiding them once more through the train.
The rest of the tour would go by fairly quickly - the gyms and administrative buildings they could breeze through, as they'd be seeing plenty of the former and typically didn't have any business with the latter. While they were travelling on the train, Sergei and Rose would occasionally ask them to look down out the window on the streets below them, explaining about the various small shops and special interest stores that typically weren't found at the Mall, or were otherwise more flexible - though some would say 'sinister' - with their transactions. Either way, the individual markets across the streets of the campus were fairly popular.
Then came the dueling grounds and the cemetery. They briefed them quickly on the rules of using either, but didn't step foot into the cemetery.
"No one's allowed in without clearance, not even staff," Rose gave a shrug in response, explaining why they forewent entering.
After three hours or so, the tour finally came to an end, with them stopping in front of the tower of the headmaster.
It was a breathtaking sight. Large, yet elegant, with the walls of it's base made of sleek black obsidian, with the tower constructed out of pure ivory, and some other, unidentifiable materials. It stretched far up into the sky, standing majestic, and imposing. At it's very top rested a circular platform, with a marble statue - large enough to be seen even from the ground - of a sleeping dragon coiled protectively around it.
Dropping off the train, Rose stepped in front of them, waving an arm towards the tower looming above them.
"Finally, we come to what is probably the most important building on campus," she began a tad theatrically, before coughing and returning to her more professional demeanor.
"The Headmasters tower is, well, in simple words, it's his seat of power. It serves as his office, and anything that goes on in the school is made known to him - and while there are many people that help run the university, and in general he administrates with a fair and liberal hand, it shouldn't be forgotten that he doesn't run a democracy here - ultimately, the power to decide anything here rests with him. Even should all the professors disagree with the Headmaster Niccolo, if there's something he wants changed or done, it's going to be done." Rose stopped for a moment, looking thoughtful. "Though that hasn't ever happened in all my years staying here. One or two might disagree with him on occasion, but the majority often take his side. The Headmaster certainly isn't omniscient, and he's as capable of making mistakes as any other man, but he's no fool. Not once has any major decision he's made been contested outright."
"Oh, but now I'm just waxing poetic about the Headmaster. We're here to see the Tower. Now, while the Tower is largely for decorative and private uses, it does serve as an administrative building for anyone who wishes to use the graveyard or enter the forest. More than that, the tower in and of itself is a defensive mechanism. It generates the barrier around the school that isolates it from normal reality, giving us practically limitless room to develop land. Should the tower fall - pray that doesn't happen - then everything in the campus would be dislocated into real-space and fall from the sky and into the Atlantic ocean."
Fearing her might have come off sounded a little frightening, she attempted to placate them. "But don't worry about that. Not only is the tower enchanted to the brim with Master-class spells, it was constructed by the Headmaster himself, and then further reinforced by Polyanna Saccharine, our Head of Security. In all honesty, it would take a literal army of Master mages or maybe a few Archemages to topple the tower, not even considering that they'd have to go through the portal to get here plus our own forces before even attempting to do so. It's highly unlikely that such a scenario would ever occur."
"Do you know what they say about tempting fate, Rose?"
A sudden arrival caused the woman - and Sergei, though he managed to conceal it better - to jump up in surprise. Walking towards them calmly, with a smile on his face, was the Headmaster himself. He was dressed in his usual dark purple robes and white tunic. Waving off their bowing to greet them, he clasped his hands as he approached the three students behind them.
"Good morning to you, Leo, Alexander, Charles," he said nodding slightly to them in greeting, "it's good to see you haven't gotten too bored with the tour" Rose coughed indignantly in the background, while Sergei snorted in amusement, "and though we've seen each other on the train, we've never actually met," he said, addressing Alexander and Charles, "so let me introduce myself anew: The Headmaster Niccolo, or if you prefer, just Headmaster will do. Personally I'd prefer that you address me as just 'Niccolo' or 'Nic' buuuut I am afraid that quite a few of my professors and dear friends insist that I instill a bit of 'gravitas', as you say, on the students, so sadly those are out."
"In any case, Alexander, it's nice to meet you," he said, shaking his hand. His grip was firm, yet gentle, "and I know that despite what you may think about yourself and your abilities, it's not as bad as you believe. And I hope you don't mind me getting a little too nosy, but I will say this: There's another person hear, on campus, who shares your abilities. You are different in many ways, though just as equally similar. I daresay he would make a good friend for you, in time."
Turning to Charles, Niccolo patted his shoulders encouragingly. "Charles, I'm certain you'll find the answers you seek - this is, after all, first and foremost, a school. If there's any place in the world where you could go to if there was something you wanted to learn, it would be school."
With that being said, he suddenly winked at them before leaning down and whispering conspiratorially.
"I have to say though, I feel ashamed on behalf of the school for you; it hasn't even been a day since you got here and already the staff are proving themselves incompetent. Honestly, whoever heard of using the tour for new students as an opportunity to take your fiance out on a date."
He whispered everything out loud, and, catching every word of it, the usually professional looking Rose lit up, bright red in the face, her mouth opening and closing in perfect imitation of a gasping halibut. Sergei rolled his eyes, though he did turn around to not face them.
"H-H-Headmaster! Please do not insinuate such scandalous things!"
"I'm sorry, so does that mean I heard wrong when I was told that Sergei proposed to you three months back?"
"T-That-!"
Suddenly, the Headmasters voice became airy and a tad exaggerated as he recalled what he had heard tell. To add to the theatrics, a string orchestra of violins began playing quite literally out of nowhere. It was apparent that the Headmaster was responsible, but he showed no sign of casting a spell or even doing anything remotely magic-looking.
"And that it was done on a wonderful, moonlit night, where, after a romantic candle lit dinner - Italian by the way, good choice on that was, Sergei-" a subdued "Thank you sir" was heard in the background "and in front of a dozen hushed restaurant-goers, he got down on one knee and-"
"Stop! Please, sir!" yelped Rose, completely red, and unwilling to look anywhere that wasn't the ground beneath her feat.
A small mischievous grin made its way across the Headmasters face before he laughed heartily. "I'm just teasing, Ms. Motif - or perhaps you prefer Mrs. Karakov now?"
"Sir!"
Still chortling, the Headmaster once again turned to the students. "I'm sorry about that. Ms. Rose here is so uptight most of the time that I'm surprised she even thought of mixing business and pleasure like this. Hopefully she still did her job properly though?"
"I assure you I have, sir," replied Rose behind, looking thoroughly indignant.
"Haha, if that's the case, then I'll be leaving them in your hands now," he said. "Take care, you kids. And remember, above all, don't just strive to be better - learn what it is that makes up what you think is your ideal self."
Walking with his arms clasped behind him, he passed by the students quickly, patting Leo on the shoulder as he went. On the outside, it looked like a simple final parting gesture, however the moment he touched him, the Headmasters voice echoed in his mind.
"If you can get a message to Daniel, tell him to tread carefully. He may be a Master now, but that does not mean he is on par with other, older, more experienced Masters, and he's nowhere near ready enough to challenge a Grandmaster, never mind an Archemage. If he digs in too deep without preparing himself further, he may not be able to come out of whatever conspiracy he's tackling alive.
"Just because he's graduated doesn't mean he's not my student anymore. I won't pry into your business but I will assist when I can - especially if it's as you suspected and an Archemage is involved."
With that final farewell, the Headmaster boarded the train, and disappearing from view.