It turned out that alarm clocks in magic academies were as annoying as the technological ones we used on Earth. The strange tone emitting from the alarm stone pulled me from a deep sleep, and I woke up groggy, and a bit sluggish. A heated shower in my bathroom helped me to clear out the cobwebs in my head. After getting cleaned up, I dressed in my school robes and headed out the door of my room.
There was a bit of activity in the hallways of the tower, mostly maintenance staff and a few early risers trying to get a jump on their day. The area of the tower I was in housed mostly the low-ranking faculty and some of the permanent employees of the school. It wouldn’t be until I headed up a floor before the passersby became predominantly students.
The faculty dining facility was easy enough to find, I just had to follow the alluring scent of bacon. At least it smelled like bacon, and I might begin to doubt my life choices if this school had something that smelled like, but wasn’t, that perfect breakfast meat. There was a small line at the buffet table where the food was laid out.
Thankfully, most of the offerings were relatively familiar, including bacon, but there were a few oddities. I noticed most people had a small pile of strange, gelatinous blue spheres the size of a marble on their plates, so I placed one on my plate to give it a try. Mostly I stuck with things that were familiar, but I did want to branch out with some culinary risks while I was here.
If I’d survived the MREs from training with the military, I figured nothing here would cause me a problem. Still not feeling entirely comfortable, I picked a spot at one of the smaller, unoccupied tables, rather than the long tables sprinkled with chatting people of various species.
“I see you survived your first night here,” a gruff-sounding dwarf in instructor robes said as he sat across from me at the table. The dwarf didn’t have a tray of food, and instead of eating, he seemed content to just cross his arms and glare in my direction.
“Uh, hi? What can I do for you?” I asked the somewhat rude dwarf. While I wasn’t going to be overtly hostile to anyone here if I could help it, I also was determined to stand my ground if anyone wanted to mess with me.
“Rico? Did you forget me already?” the gruff dwarf asked. It wasn’t until a creepy spider-like shape crawled out from under the collar of the dwarf’s robes and waved, that I realized the dwarf was Melody.
“Sorry, Melody, that’s going to take some getting used to. I wasn’t expecting you here, and I sure wasn’t expecting you to be a dwarf today,” I replied, trying to smile and look casual as I ate the gelatinous blue marble on my plate. To my surprise it had a savory, almost potato-like taste with a hint of onion and garlic. My first culinary adventure had proven to be a successful one.
“Ha, I’m just messing with you, Rico. I normally don’t summon Weffik here unless I’m teaching a section more relevant to dwarves. Don’t worry, the human woman minion you saw yesterday is the one I usually ride along with,” Melody said.
“I just hope I don’t mistake someone else for you and embarrass myself,” I said, looking at my now-empty plate and briefly contemplating getting more of the blue things before the pressure in my overstuffed belly reminded me I should I probably quit while I was ahead.
“I’ll try to give you a heads up if I change my summoned conveyance for the day. I had stopped by your room, and I admit, I was a bit worried you’d oversleep, but I’m glad to see you’re awake early and ready to get a jump on things. When you finish with your meal, we can head to our classroom,” Melody said.
“I’m done now, let’s go,” I replied, placing my tray and plates back in the proper spot before leaving. The last thing I wanted to do was get the kitchen staff annoyed at me on my first full day here.
“I spoke with Glorine about what he wants me to go over. There’s been a minor change in plans. Instead of having you teach a completely new class from scratch, he’s decided to just parcel you out to the other professors so you can lend your expertise when they are in a relevant section of their instruction,” Melody said.
“That’s fine, as long as the change isn’t because he thought I wasn’t up to the task,” I replied, a bit worried that Headmaster Glorine had taken a second look at me and realized that I had no business teaching a class.
“He just figures that he can get more out of your time here if you get a chance to interact with several different classes and instructors. Who knows, you may even be offered another term as an instructor in the future. For now, you can help me get my classroom set up and ready for next week,” Melody said.
It turned out that Melody didn’t need all that much help. She’d been teaching here for a few years and had everything squared away. We did spend some time in the curriculum, and I realized that there were several lessons that I’d like to sit in on and learn from if it was possible. I suspected that would be the case with most of the classes here.
Despite my time as a summoned being, I was still a noob when it came to system life. After a few hours of work, we broke for lunch. Melody went off on her own to eat, which I should probably be thankful for. Before taking her leave, she did introduce me to another human teacher who she was acquainted with, a man named Yarov who taught a combat casting class that was a graduation requirement for most mages.
Yarov was very interested in having me speak in his class, as summoning in the heat of combat was a tricky thing to get right, especially if you wanted to choose the correct minion for the situation. Melody arrived soon after and we made our farewells to Yarov, who challenged me to a duel when we could both find the time. It seemed that dueling was a big thing here on campus and I looked forward to seeing what a master of combat casting could accomplish.
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“Rico, you can see that I don’t need much to get ready for the semester. In fact, I can handle most of the rest of what I planned to accomplish today on my own. Why don’t we head into town and see about getting you signed up with the adventurer’s guild. I know you need to grow your tier and rank, and dungeon delving will probably be the best way for you to accomplish that while you’re here,” Melody offered after we returned to her classroom.
“Thanks, Melody, I want to help in any way I can, but I admit, getting a chance to gain some experience could be a lifesaver,” I said. Following Melody outside the tower, we walked on a new path that led toward the front gates.
I was expecting maybe a small entry gate, where a security guard and a member of the staff would screen and welcome visitors. What I hadn’t expected was a full, stone wall encompassing the school, and the gate to be the same as you’d find on a fortress. Armored guards stood watch, as well as a few mages in their school uniforms to support them.
They gave us a cursory glance, and somehow the system must have identified us as instructors, so they let us pass without a word. Once outside the gate, I could see a large town spread out before us. The construction reminded me of Somhagen, and it appeared to be a bustling place.
“Melody, I wasn’t expecting the defenses the school has in place. Is there something I need to be worried about?” I asked, wondering if I had signed up for something a bit more dangerous than a substitute teacher gig.
“While not considered an elite school, the Starveil Tower Academy is respected enough to attract the wrong kind of attention. There are plenty of nefarious groups out there that would love to plunder the school, and these guards are but one precaution we take to protect our students.
“We’ve never had a major incident, just a few individuals trying to slip in and steal whatever they could, but that doesn’t mean we can turn a blind eye to the potential threats that are out there. I have to say, it also provides a nice bit of real-world training for some of our students. You probably noticed some of the final year students among the guards,” Melody said.
“That’s cool, I was just worried we were going to be under siege or something,” I said, feeling better about the situation.
“No worries, here we go, the adventurer's guild. Just head inside and let them know who you are. The attendant will get you signed up and on the list for a dungeon. I need to scoot back to my classroom and finish up there. Good luck, Rico,” Melody said, waving me toward the large structure she’d led me to.
“Thanks again, Melody,” I replied before heading in. It wasn’t hard to mistake the adventurer’s guild from the nearby shops, warehouses, and housing structures. The place looked like a fortified keep and had a constant stream of armed and armored adventurers flowing in and out of it.
“How can I help you, instructor?” A young gnomish woman asked as I entered the building. I must have looked rather out of place standing there gawking at the queues lined up behind various counters. The main entry hall of the guild looked like the DMV mixed with a row of magical bank tellers, and I had no idea which line to get in.
“Uh, hi, I’m a new instructor at the academy and I was told I could sign up for the guild and get in the queue for a dungeon,” I said.
“No problem, the academy gets to use the priority lane for signup,” the woman said leading me to a counter with only a few people in school robes in front of me. While the guild employees seemed especially nice and polite to the school personnel, the adventurers themselves were a different story. I noticed more than a few hostile glares thrown my way, and I wondered if there was something going on that I should know about.
“Next! How can I help you, sir?” the bored-looking clerk, yet another of those serpent people that I’d met behind the counter of the Somhagen arena said.
“He needs to get signed up and in the dungeon queue, Ssarina,” the gnome said before taking her leave and looking for more confused professors and adventurers to help.
“Very well, place your hand here, and accept the terms,” Ssarina said, placing a wood block on front of me that glowed with enchantment. When I placed my hand on it a system prompt appeared.
You have requested membership in the adventurer’s guild. Should they accept you, the guild will offer access to several facilities located on many worlds. These facilities include many dungeons of various difficulty as well as access to the questing board. Please note that should you be accepted for membership, 10% of anything you earn while on a guild sanctioned quest or dungeon delve will be automatically deducted from your rewards.
The guild has accepted the being known as Rico Kline into its membership. Do you confirm that you wish to join the guild?” Y/N.
I hit yes and the system confirmed my new membership.
“Congratulations on becoming a bronze tier guild member. As you delve into dungeons and complete quests, you’ll earn guild points toward the next tier of membership. The higher tiers earn a reduced guild tax, greater access to purchase guild equipment, and other services. For now, as a new guild member and instructor at the academy. I can place you into the front of the queue for a single delve in the dungeon of your choice. Do you have a party, want to complete a solo dungeon, or do you wish me to add you to an existing group?” Ssarina asked in a bored monotone voice laced with a hissing lisp.
“I’d like to do a solo dungeon if that’s possible,” I said. Maybe I’d party up later, but for now, I didn’t want someone I didn’t know watching my back.
“Here are the available options. The system will scale your choices to match your Tier and Rank. As a solo adventurer, you will be restricted to a dungeon that is of a substantially lower tier and rank than you currently hold,” Ssarina said, pushing the wood block back to me. As I touched it, the system gave me a list of choices.
Your solo delve is limited to a maximum dungeon ranking of Tier 2, Rank 0.
- The Smoldering Vault. Tier 2, Rank 0.
- Grotto of the Shunned Emperor. Tier 2, Rank 0.
- The Blighted Village of Baern. Tier 1, Rank 5.
- The Lair of the Forgotten Sisters. Tier 1, Rank 0.
- Alley of Blades. Tier 0, Rank 5.
I wanted a challenge, so I gravitated toward the two highest tier offerings. Ssarina gave some information on the two. The vault was home to a fire elemental boss, and many of the lesser minions had a fire-based attack. She warned that it wasn’t all flame-based enemies inside, and the dungeon could be rather tricky in how it changed up its roster.
The other option, the Grotto of the Shunned Emperor would have me facing undead, and several deadly traps and creatures. A powerful revenant was the final boss, and the dungeon was a bit shorter than the vault one. That seemed like the best fit, so I picked the grotto.
“Okay, here are the directions to the Grotto entrance, it’s just outside the city. Show the guild representative at the entrance your guild badge, and they’ll place you next in the queue,” Ssarina said, handing me a pre-printed map.
“Thanks for your help,” I tried to say, but Ssarina was already shouting for her next customer to step up.
This was it; I was about to venture into my first dungeon as an actual adventurer and not a summoned being. There was no respawn, and no odd third party determining my performance ranking and doling out the rewards. Anything I wanted, either experience, or treasure, I was going to have to take for myself.