Book of Kings

Chapter 17

Looking outside the carriage, I saw Dralett in all its glory. I only stayed in the other city, Karia, for a few days and I didn't explore it even the slightest.

I already thought that Karia was big but looking at the capital from this distance it was gigantic, so that was the difference between a city and a town.
"Cities are much bigger than I'd imagine," I thought to myself.

Awestruck I gazed at it for a while and the Magister, who was sitting opposite me, must have noticed that it caught my interest.
"Never sick of the sight," he got closer to the window, "have you ever been to Dralett?" He asked while sticking out his head from the window.
"No, never thought I would. Can you tell me a bit about the city?"
"I don't know," he said unsure, "I don't know that much about things that don't interest me," he got back into the carriage, "as you will, I learned about history in school but that was many years ago so I just forgot most of it already. I think the histories of nations and cities are quite boring," he stuck his tongue out like he just ate something bad tasting. "I can't blame anyone if they're interested but it's just not for me but don't tell anyone, it'll be a hit on my reputation."
I closed my eyes and groaned quietly, I can't believe that a man like him has such a high-ranking position.

"You told me multiple times about what I will learn when I'm in school, can you at least tell me about that? What exactly will I be learning?" I asked, trying to get any information from him.
He sat upright, "oh, you know, the general stuff. We don't give courses on reading and writing, if you think your skills are lacking then you'll have to work on them during your off time. The main thing you'll learn about is science, like mathematics, the study of nature, and philosophy. Geography and history too, which I, as you know, slacked off on. And literature and grammar. You can also choose optional courses, like music, art, or other languages if you want to learn some."
"None of these are related to magic," I said surprised.
"It's just the first part of your education. During your first year, you won't actually physically do magic."
"Anything about religion?"
"No. We did once, but the church didn't like that we taught about other religions so we were forced to drop it, and then we threw out the whole subject."
"But I can go to church if I want to, right? I went there once every month with my parents and I'd like to continue if I could."
"We don't prohibit religious practices. That would be quite cruel. Some members may look down upon them but in the end, we're a school, not a dictatorship. We won't tell you what you can or can't do in your free time but sometimes you have to forgo religion for the guild or the other way around if you're really serious about either of them."

With that said, it was the last serious conversation I had with him until we reached the city, in the meanwhile the Magister made complex loops and swerves with water in the air and I started to read another book about magic because yesterday I had already finished the first one I started to read.

One of the most important substances made from magical power, the official name being arella, was strange in itself. The stronger it was the heavier it got but the volume could be all over the place. You could fill a bucket with the blueish gelatinous substance and it could be as heavy as rocks or cotton depending on the wizard.

"That's why the Magister said that he wanted to weigh the pot after I had poured some into it," I realized.

As we rode into the city it had a different feeling than Karia had. Instead of lots of shouting and horses pulling carts, the people seemed to have a grace to them, an elegance that I never saw anywhere else. The streets were paved with clean cobblestones and were wide enough for two carriages to be side by side on it at the same time.
I was sure that this has to be a richer part of the city.

"Have you ever dreamed of coming here?" Eeming asked as we stepped out of the carriage when we had reached what I thought was another one of his residences.
"No, to be honest, most of my dreams were much smaller than this."
"That means at least one was as big as this."
"Sure," I agreed uncaring, his reasoning wasn't sound but would there have been a point to say anything different?