After leaving the classroom, Yavi returned to his dormitory with his newly issued textbooks. Once he had put everything away, he changed into casual clothes and set off for the artisans' district.
A short while later, Yavi arrived outside the smithy and called Thomas out. Thomas greeted him warmly.
"What is it, Mr. Yavi? Is there anything else you need help with?" Thomas asked with a broad grin.
"I do need a favor." Yavi took out Demon Breaker and the griffin feather and said to Thomas, "I need you to make me a scabbard, a metal one, with a hidden compartment that can hold this griffin feather. Can you do that?"
Thomas bent his head closer for a careful look. Stroking the stubble on his chin, he thought for a while, then went inside and brought out a ruler. He measured Demon Breaker and the griffin feather separately, then said it would be no problem.
"Then roughly how long before I can pick it up?"
"Three days."
After paying Thomas a sum in crowns, Yavi left the artisans' district and headed toward Oxenfurt Academy.
That morning, when the opening ceremony had ended and everyone was preparing to leave, Yavi had received a magical voice transmission from Loriess, telling him to come see her in the dean's office that afternoon.
It was already noon now. The blazing sun hung high overhead, and the heat made Yavi sweat a little. After grabbing a bite to eat on the way, he went straight to the dean's office on the fifth floor.
He knocked lightly, and Loriess's voice came from inside. Upon entering, Yavi found two other people there besides himself. One was an old man he had never met, with graying hair and a slightly balding head. His face was full of disdain and arrogance, as though everyone owed him money, and the sight of him was irritating. The other was Suge, whom he had just met that morning. She looked surprised to see Yavi as well.
"All right! Now that everyone is here, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Atle, the deputy dean of Oxenfurt Academy. He's usually busy with his own affairs and rarely makes an appearance. Suge is my student and my assistant. You two just met this morning. Yavi is the student of an old friend of mine, a witcher with a talent for sorcery." Loriess introduced the three of them to one another.
Apart from Yavi, who was new, the others seemed to have known one another for a long time. Only Yavi was still unfamiliar with them.
Upon hearing that Yavi was a witcher, the disdain in Atle's eyes became even more obvious. If Loriess had not been there, he probably would already have spat a mouthful of old phlegm at Yavi's feet.
Suge, on the other hand, grew even more curious upon hearing that Yavi was a witcher. She kept looking him up and down, but did not seem to find anything unusual.
"All right. The main reason I called you here today was for you to get to know one another, because the four of us are the only people in all of Oxenfurt who can use magic. Yavi and Suge are still not very proficient, so after you two finish your morning classes, come see me in the afternoon. I'll give you more detailed instruction on how to use magic. When I'm not here, Deputy Dean Atle will instruct you. Understood?"
"Yes, teacher."
"Understood, Dean."
"Yavi, when there are no outsiders around, you should call me teacher too."
"Understood, teacher."
"Good. That's all. You may go. Come see me tomorrow afternoon after your classes."
The three of them then left the dean's office. The moment they stepped through the door, Atle quickened his pace and left without looking back.
"What's he in such a hurry for? Is his wife about to give birth?" Yavi had a very poor impression of Atle. The man all but had his disdain for Yavi written across his face.
Suge covered her mouth and laughed, saying that Atle had been like that ever since she had known him. Along the way, she also shared some gossip. After the previous dean's death, Atle had been the most likely candidate for the position and had poured a great deal of money and effort into securing it. To his surprise, however, Aretuza had directly selected Loriess as dean. Though Atle was utterly unwilling, both of them were sorcerers trained by Aretuza, so he had no choice but to obey the Academy of Sorcerers' arrangements. After all, Oxenfurt Academy was also a branch of Aretuza.
Hearing this, Yavi more or less understood what had happened. Years of effort had been on the verge of paying off, only for a suddenly appointed administrator to reap the rewards. Anyone would have been unhappy in his position. No wonder Atle looked sour no matter whom he saw.
After parting with Suge at the academy gates, Yavi did not linger outside but went straight back to his dormitory. Following an uneventful night, his first day as a new student arrived.
At the first light of dawn, Yavi was already up and exercising in the small grove behind the dormitory. He had hardly given his body a proper workout since arriving in Oxenfurt. Only the forging he had done a few days earlier could barely count as exercise.
After finishing his morning workout, Yavi quickly washed up, ate some breakfast, and went to the alchemy classroom on the third floor. He was not particularly late, but several classmates were already there when he arrived.
Before long, the students trickled into the classroom. Suge arrived afterward, and the first lesson officially began.
The first lesson began with some fairly basic alchemical theory. There was nothing particularly new to Yavi, but he still listened attentively to Suge's lecture. Soon, half the morning's classes had passed. During the second half, the students each shared some insights into alchemy or things they had developed.
Everyone went up to speak about their own experiences with alchemy, medicines they had developed, or various strange and unusual things.
When Yavi's turn came, he held nothing back. He openly took out a bottle of potion and explained that it was a weakened potion that ordinary sick or injured people could take, and that it was especially effective for external injuries. What Yavi had brought out was the Weakened Swallow Potion he had modified himself. An ordinary person would die on the spot from drinking a normal Swallow Potion; only witchers could withstand it. After Yavi's modifications, however, ordinary people could take the Swallow Potion too. Its healing effect was simply not as fast as the normal version.
Before long, the morning's alchemy classes ended. After having lunch together, Yavi and Suge went to the second basement level of Oxenfurt Academy. Loriess had renovated it into an area specifically for practicing magic. Though it was two floors underground, the magic stones made the entire level look considerably brighter than aboveground. They found no sign of Loriess when they arrived, so they found somewhere to sit and rested for a while. When the click, click, click of high heels came from the corridor, Yavi knew that magic training had officially begun.