Disclaimer: I didn't invent Mordenkainen. All non-original characters belong to their respective owners.
This place was wonderful.
As Lynn got accustomed to her new life of stowaway student, she got bold enough to take a seat in one of the classes during lecture. She expected the teacher of magic to be a bearded old man in robes, but no, it was a fresh-looking young man with a stubble instead. He wore a red shirt with golden buttons in the front and black pants, the kind of outfit that was quite common among duelists. But something was off about him. The way he moved and avoided making eye contact with anyone, it all came across as terribly awkward.
Right off the bat, she realized that attending classes was far more productive than combing the dark, dusty corners of the library. Not only this handsome man leading the class had already deciphered many an obscure tome to do his craft, he was sharing the results right away.
"Yes…" she whispered to herself. "Work for me…"
Another girl noticed her saying that and gave her a look. Lynn decided not to care, which creeped her out even more. She went to sit further in the back of the room.
The teacher called out for someone to come over to the front of the class. Ignoring the fact that someone raised her hand and got noticed before her, she stood up and acted as is she was the one who got chosen.
"Right… so, I will need you all to memorize the gestures and…"
"Um, mister Galliwick?" said the student, making gestures towards Lynn.
"Um. Yes. Well, the gestures…" said the professor as he tried to carry on.
"She was not called… You were not called!" he protested.
"Mister Galliwick will have us demonstrate the somatic and verbal components for the benefit of the whole class." taunted Lynn with a bow. "Why not make a competition out of it? What do you say? The first one to perform the spell wins."
"This is not the Fencing Club!" frowned the student.
"A motivator?" said the teacher with enthusiasm. "Excellent!"
The whole class applauded in politely contained excitement. It was then that she noticed all the familiar faces. To the far left, unmistakable with their brown hair and green attire were the Hunters, a family who rose to prominence by sending all their daughters to the Sisters of Nature and marrying off as many boys as they could to the Sinclairs. In the center, far back, were the Glittergolds, a bunch of upstarts in the higher spheres of society who secured the massive fortune of a lonely dwarf through tenuous connections. And in the right wing were the Whisperleafs, the half-elf bastards their parents got through affairs and are too ashamed to send to Noromath, their very own academy.
Should anyone recognized her, it could spell disaster. For a moment, she regretted being there. Then, one look at the frustrated student next to her sparked her resolve once more. What was the point of being here if she couldn't do anything?
"And so," the teacher explained "you move like this, drawing this form in the air. You only need one hand. As you do that, you must utter the words: Ar Kara Batala."
A little bit staggered by the revelation of her audience, Lynn missed a few details about the gestures. Hiding her embarrassment like a pro, she watched her rival execute the gestures, counting on him to get it right on the first try.
She visualized herself playing with the weave like a musician does a lyre and executed the gestures. Right from the first moments, she felt something change in the air around her. This emboldened her to try and mix in the words. She felt something around her fingers, as if she had stirred a dry liquid. She tried again with more conviction and she swore she saw a faint trace of colors around her right hand as it moved.
Going all out, she uttered the words with her singing voice. A shower of multicolored sparks sparkled around her. Fitting for her victory. Frustrated, her rival went back to his seat without completing the spell. She turned to the teacher, smiling.
"Yes. Right. I'll let that pass." he nodded. "You have so much to learn."
Success! Lynn was so thrilled right now. Though this was merely the first step towards magic, she felt like she just accomplished a lot. Stella, a cousin who got disowned, once told her that wizards who devoted themselves to the craft could come up with their own way to cast a couple of spells now and then, foregoing the need of a tutor. And she had just taken the first step in that direction.
"Excuse me, young lady?" interrupted mister Galliwick as she was about to go back to her seat. "What was your name again?"
"Lynn." she responded curtly.
"Strange, I haven't…" the teacher mumbled. "Please come see me after the lecture, would you?"
Satisfied, she returned to her seat. Everyone looked astonished. She expected they would ask her to do the shower of sparks again and was ready to turn them down. After all, decorum was to be maintained in this place.
As mister Galliwick wrapped up his lecture, Lynn started noticing that everyone's reaction to her feat was not amazement, but derision. Them having their eyes wide open was not them saying: "By the gods, how did she do that on the third try?" and more: "Can you believe she did that? How embarrassing!"
Some imitated opera signers silently as they eyed her, while their surrounding comrades snickered. Others locked eye contact with her before breaking it by shaking their head. A mix of embarrassment and rage arose in her mind as the class emptied. A talk with the teacher would clear up everything. "They're all jealous." she repeated herself.
"Yes. Miss Lynn, was it?" said Mister Galliwick while looking through a pile of parchment.
"That's who I am, yes. Was there a problem with the spell?"
"There are always problems with spells, don't worry about that. You'll learn what those are in time." the teacher reassured. "No, what bothers me is that your name isn't on my list. Or anyone's for that matter."
"Now, now." Lynn sighed. "Why does it matter?"
"Why, we need to keep track of your progress, of course!" he exclaimed joyfully. "That and you have to give your name to the faculty to get access to resources, like paper and ink."
"But I don't need…"
"You wish to study the arcane, surely you don't mean to flawlessly memorize an entire library, yes?"
"Well…"
"Because I assure you, even Mordenkainen himself, talented as he is, would have just been a complete amateur without access to fine ink and sturdy parchment! Could you imagine creating high magic without jotting anything down? Madness!"
"Right…"
At this moment, Lynn just wanted to go away. Her plans were ruined and she just wanted to go hide in her room. This is where she went, not caring if the conversation was over.
On her way there, she encountered one of the Glittergolds. Young, shifty and unkempt. His dark brown hair seemed black from not being washed for weeks.
"Hey! If it is not the traveling minstrel!" he sneered.
"What?! How dare you!" Lynn snapped, ready to draw blood with her nails.
"That was a beautiful song you performed for us. Here."
He handed her a copper, which landed at her feet. She expertly kicked it away far down the hallway.
"What is wrong with you?" Lynn asked.
"What is wrong with you?" Glittergold retorted. "You didn't cast from your mind, but from musicality and willpower. That's for whorish travelling minstrels!"
A wave of embarrassment overcame her. She felt herself getting beet red, as heat and cold sweat wreathed her face.
"Well, perk up, young minstrel!" Glittergold laughed. "If a prostitute is good with money, she won't end up poor!"
As much as she wanted to just murder him for insulting her, she had to admit she committed a grave mistake. Now, the not-so-enthusiastic reaction from mister Galliwick made sense. How could she be so stupid, humiliating herself in front of a whole class?
As she reached her room, two girls were already there, unpacking their belongings.
"Oh, hello there!" a young blonde greeted. "I'm Ewila, and the shy ginger girl with freckles over there is Orpha. You're new here?"
"No…" Lynn said with all her emotions draining away. "I've…"
"Great!" Ewila marveled. "You could show us around after we get a week of rest from the ridiculously long road we traveled. Can you believe the next big town is nearly a thousand miles away from here? I didn't know they exiled Gavin the Oathbreaker this far inland."
"Excuse me?!" Lynn flared up.
"Yes! Gavin the…"
"Ewi," Orpha interrupted with a barely audible voice. "It's bad form to talk about the Oathbreaker. Especially in this region. He's their founding hero."
"Oh! Oh, sorry." Ewila apologized. "I didn't mean to…"
Lynn stormed off. Not only were these strangers taking her room, but they were insufferable airheads. After a roaming the campus for a while, she sighed, wondering how this day could get worse.
"Miss Sinclair?" someone called.
She did not respond. She didn't even glance in the direction of the man who called her. All she knew was that she was discovered and that she had to be quick enough to avoid getting caught.
