Academic Magic: A Progression Fantasy Saga by King DB

Author:King, DB
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-06-18T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Alec hadn’t seen the sun in what felt like days. He knew, of course, that it had only been a few hours since he’d left his dormitory in Maimonides’s care and began his examinations. But it felt like a lifetime had passed between rising and dressing that morning and stepping outside into the courtyard.

The green of the Royal Academy could not be called crowded. Afternoon classes had already let out for the day, meaning the few students milling about were either trying to get some extra sun, or more likely entrance students looking for the one elective that wasn’t down at the arena with the others.

Alec and Eleira walked to the beast stable, with Dean Jonas Wolfe and Maimonides in tow. As he approached, Alec felt a tingle in the air—a moment later, Trystara’s head appeared in one of the stable’s upper windows.

“Alec?” the demoness asked. “What are you doing here? Wait, what are both of you doing here?”

“Signing up for electives,” Alec said with a big smile. “You didn’t think we’d forget about you and Firemane, did you?”

A small group of students had formed around the entrance to the stable. As the door rolled open, a tall, slender woman in denim stepped out and cracked her neck. A hat not unlike the ones L’siel had used for the Enchantment examinations sat on her head, and a long reed of the same grass that grew around the stable hung from her mouth.

The woman took a look at the group and grinned. “This is more than I expected,” she said in an accent Alec couldn’t quite place. It sounded rich and musical, like the woman had lived in some faraway place before coming to the Royal Academy. “Are all of you here for ‘Familiars and Their Care’?”

“We most certainly are,” Alec said.

The woman’s smile grew wider. Despite the fact that she was old enough to be Alec’s mother, there was something childlike and open about the woman who ran the beast stable. Just as Alec had instantly picked up feelings of distrust and dislike from Brutus the Combat instructor, he immediately felt he both liked and could trust this woman.

“Fine looking crop of students,” the woman said, twirling the reed in her mouth. “My name’s Olivia Pawmaw, and I run this facility you see behind me. This is where student familiars are housed when not currently shadowing their mages or out on a mission. Most of you know it as the ‘beast stable’.” She gave no indication what she thought of the nickname. “Quick show of hands: who here’s got a familiar already?”

To Alec’s surprise, only a few hands shot up. Of the dozen or so students gathered before Olivia, only two besides Alec and Eleira had successfully bound a familiar.

“Great,” Olivia said. “You will learn how to take care of ‘em here: how to keep them happy, make sure they grow most efficiently. Ensure that there’s zero friction between familiar and mage. It’s a dirty job sometimes, but you get to work with your hands out in the sunshine instead of staring at dusty old books all day.

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