Every floor I explored was one step closer to getting Tristan back and I was far from giving up.
I also needed a book on attunements — I hadn’t recognized the ones on Curtis’ arm at a glance, which was embarrassing. There were only eight local ones, but I could only remember about five of the symbols at the moment. I’d make it a priority to pick up the book for my attunements class soon.
I headed out to the grass after the hour was up, a book still in hand. I stood a few paces away from the gathering crowd while they chatted with each other, awaiting Curtis’ arrival. That took a few more minutes, then it was a few more before the grass was fully populated. Curtis instructed us to gather in a circle.
“All right, people. Looks like we’ve got a few dissidents who aren’t going to show. That’s fine. They’ll just have to miss out on my brilliant sense of humor and style.”
He laughed, and there were a few half-hearted chuckles in reply. I appreciated his effort at humor, even if it fell mostly flat.
“Uh, anyway, yeah. I stayed here last year, and we made a great team. Well, six great teams, actually. Later in the year, you’re going to get split into teams of — you guessed it — six students. So, get to know each other while you can, yeah? Much easier to take the tests if you already can work together.”
He pointed at himself. “I’ll be your dorm chief. You come to me if you have any problems with anyone, from this dorm or otherwise, and I’ll try to straighten them out. I’ll also answer questions, provided I’m allowed to. We’re going to go around in a circle and introduce ourselves, then I’ll let you guys take things from there.”
He pointed to the guy to his right to start with introductions. I paid minimal attention, only noting people who mentioned experiences that interested me, until the rotation reached someone I hadn’t expected to show up — the almond-eyed teen who had knocked on my door earlier.
“Jin. Pleased to meet you all.”
Jin. Just Jin. He didn’t give his surname, nor his attunement. Both omissions were clearly deliberate.
He must have caught me looking at him. He flashed a half-grin my way, dark eyes alight with amusement.
When the rotation reached me, I kept my own introduction brief, but more informative. “Corin Cadence. Enchanter.”
I wasn’t going to make any claims about being happy to be there; the lie would have been obvious.
A few students later, a short, overweight blond hooked my attention. “Oh, hey everyone, I’m Tom. McCormick, that is. Most of my friends call me Tommy, or Big Tom, but don’t worry, it doesn’t bother me. Anyway, I guess I’m what they call a Mender. Pretty good, huh? I think it’s one of the best attunements, except maybe Summoners, who are pretty much the best at everything.”
His rambling was excessive, but there weren’t a lot of Menders in my dorm; it was mostly other Enchanters. If I needed a Mender for a group activity later in the year, I’d keep him in mind.
After the introductions, we dispersed pretty fast. I noted the general direction Jin was heading — second floor, toward the right — before he disappeared from my line of sight.
I’d figure him out. It was just a matter of time.
Chapter VI — Precautions
Wyddsday, my final day to prepare before classes started, hit me faster than expected. As I’d suspected, all my basic school books were unavailable in the library, so I’d spent some time browsing local shops to find the cheapest used copies that I could. Every coin I saved was one more I could put toward enchanting supplies.
I’d looked into those, too, but I didn’t have enough context to know what I’d actually need to buy. Mana crystals came in dozens of elemental varieties and several different sizes.
I checked the magic book for replies several times, but the Voice never wrote anything further. I concluded that either it was too busy or that it could only communicate through the book while it was in the tower. I planned to continue checking periodically anyway. It wouldn’t hurt.
I bought some basic food, easy to store food for my room as well. It’d be important if I needed to skip going to the dining hall for any reason. I kept to the cheap stuff, wanting to save as much money as possible.
With all those basic preparations in place, I spent most of my time reading my introductory books. Most of the students seemed to want to use their last days of freedom to socialize, but I was more interested in getting as much of an advantage as possible.
My final errand was one the most interesting, and one I’d been simultaneously excited and terrified about. It was time to visit Professor Orden and talk about what I’d seen in the tests.
I found a long line of students in front of me when I reached her office.
Of course there’s a line. She’s the supervisor for one of the classes. I’m sure a lot of the students are meeting with their supervisors for advice or any way to get an early edge.
I was, of course, the only Enchanter in line for the class that was meant for Diviners and Shadows.
Jin was at the front of the line. He saw me, quirked an eyebrow, and disappeared into the professor’s room.
As the students in line conversed with each other, I considered Jin. His black shirt had a high collar, and he wore gloves on both hands — an irregularity that was most likely designed to conceal his attunement.
He was in the Phoenix Division dorms, which implied that he was an Enchanter or a Mender. Of course, it was also possible he had a foreign attunement that was similar to ours.
Either way, he probably wouldn’t be getting training from Professor Orden. She was in charge of Diviners and Shadows, which had little similarity to the attunements used by the Phoenix Division.