Donner and Thalia: The Anastasia Academy (Episode 5)

Chapter Eight

8.

This was the most work young Wizard Leonard had ever had on his plate. To think he once thought the rigorous schedule of lessons and chores that Vibrus gave him an abundant amount of work. It was worth it, though, to study at the Anastasia Academy meant that the older Wizards would consider him a student of the highest order. To think all those afternoons sweeping up after Vibrus's experiments, tending roses with obsessive care, and falling asleep almost every night at his desk with a tome as his pillow.

He was in the library seeking out Illusion tomes for Professor Dimmer's next test. While Illusion tomes were written in the common tongue, they were just as protective of their secrets as the Elven tomes of arcane magic were. In a demonstration for the introductory Illusion class, Lenny had tired turning invisible. That attempt did nothing more than treat his classmates to a view of his muscular system, though that was markedly less embarrassing then Taylor showing up stark naked for a second in front of the other boys. The more he learned about that mysterious school of Illusion, the more his respect for Thalia grew. Same age as himself, and already she could be considered a master of the art compared to him.

The class that needed the most reading though was History of Magic, and by a wide margin at that. The Academy stressed that this one of the most essential mandatory classes a Wizard could take. Reading the great deeds of the Wizards of the old-time, from those first readers of the Elven language who joined Sir Clifton's campaign, to those who had a hand in founding the hallowed halls of this very Academy. This far into the semester, Lenny felt like he could name every First Wizard of the Royal house of Highlorn for the past hundred years.

Professor Umatha didn't assign much reading. Plenty of work mixing and making new and interesting potions, though, her teaching style focused more on doing than listening. He certainly couldn't turn invisible with a spell, but with one of Umatha's potions he could vanish for three seconds, sometimes four.

As Lenny carried his books to a table to start his studies for history class about the conquests of Sir Clifton's Wizard, Wizard Tallen, someone was waiting for him. A familiar face, as familiar as a face could be if you've only had one meeting with him.

"Wizard Adruvior?" Lenny asked, putting his books on the table. Adruvior is, was, Sir Theodore's Wizard. It was odd seeing him sober for a change. He just sat across from the young Wizard, stroking his patchy black and gray beard. Was what the other students told him true? Was Adruvior nothing more than a drunk and substandard Wizard who latched on to a hero to win glory in the background of a better man's adventures.

"Wizard Leonard, I've been looking for you, how are your studies?" he asked.

"Good, studying hard, learning the ways," Lenny said, "What are you doing at the Academy? Surely as Castle Woodsford's Wizard, you have duties to attend to there," he asked, curious what a Wizard of such high regard was doing here.

Adruvior laughed, "Castle Woodsford's Wizard, I wish," he said. "I was Sir Theodore's personal Wizard, I'm sure if my name has come up in conversation with your classmates, but they would tell you I'm not qualified to Wizard for a whole castle. Even though I am, by the way," he said with his eyes on Lenny and body a bit stumbling, maybe he had few drinks today after all.

"With my Knight killed in an honorable duel that I didn't have the opportunity to interfere in, I find myself between jobs. You'll find if you're ever a Wizard between jobs, all roads will lead you back to higher floors of the Academy. Doing busywork, research, and other such nonsense until you can find something, anything else, to do with your time. I heard there was a town in need of a Wizard, but it's too far north on the island, too cold for my sensibilities, so until a better job opens up or I find another Knight as Mighty as Sir Theodore, doubtful as that is, I'm stuck meandering here for the time being. Just got to do just enough to earn some spare coin from the vast treasury of the Academy and get a warm bed and three hot meals daily. It's driving me crazy," he looked away.