Chương 79: The Beginning After the End of the School Year

The end of the school year came and went, finals a distant memory. LANCE returned to his island and oversaw the continued good labors of his populace. He led his island in prayer regularly, at least while on the island, and lectured when he could on various topics. What he most liked to do while with the former bandits and ex-slaves was discuss 'free range' topics.

Where he and the bandits chatted about things from a godly perspective and attempted to understand something more about the world they didn't understand before; one topic about 'moral intent' proved especially fruitful when it lasted well into the night. As great as it was on the island, things were also going so well as to be boring. Devour as Lance was, he remained a nineteen-year-old young man. Grown by the laws of the land, but still skittish in his desire to remain rooted.

He wanted adventure, battle, to serve his patron god. Not sit around and talk endlessly with his converts. Blessed be the Gods, Cannabus granted his desire when it was time to depart for Tomm. It felt good to travel by his own two legs again. Ever since he had learned the [Teleport] spell to get from campus to the island, he had foregone actual travel for the easy of opening a portal.

But since a [Teleportation] spell could not be used to bring someone somewhere they had never been before, he could not rely on such easy ways this time. He had to walk. Walking was nice. He breathed in the fresh country air, met some intriguing locals, and a few insane locals, and had an otherwise pleasant stroll. He even fought a few monsters. Of course, monsters like gremlins, harpy flies, and such common pests like ogre wolves couldn't hold a candle to the enemies he had 'fought' with his dad.

He gained little XP from such kills and so obviously he did not level up. Even so, he opened his stat sheet once in a while just to be vain and see his numbers: [Name: Lance Chaucer] [Level: 100] [Martial Prowess: 200] [Magical Prowess: 25] [Stamina: 80] [Unallocated Boon Points: 290] The final excursion fighting demon giants with his dad gave him thirty level ups. Which translated to an impressive sum of Boon Points. Which begged the question he loved to ponder — how to spend his Boon Points?

A fair sum would go into his Martial Prowess, of course, as would Stamina. He would save a certain amount for Boon Purchases in the Holy Shop, not that he had bought much from the shop lately, though that only made his need to spend some points in the shop all the greater. Which was what he ended up doing, though after a fair amount of thinking to pass the time. He placed another hundred points into his Martial Prowess. Then twenty into Stamina.

Thus far, he had been fairly circumspect about investing points into his Magical Prowess, his father always insistent on him keeping that low for the sake of his core profession. Without his father's oversight, and with his own circumstances making him see the value of magic, not only for his [Teleportation] incantation but for healing as well, which he had finally gotten the hang of thanks to his course at the academy. So, he put a whole twenty-five points to his magical prowess, doubling it.

Doubling his magical prowess had immediate effects. He felt greatly empowered, for one. He felt empowered enough that he could teleport back to his academy town and maybe rest in an actual inn for the night instead of roughing it outside on the trail. So, that's what he did! His travel to Tomm was thus spent with him walking, running, walking as far as he could in a day before [Teleporting] back to his academy town and resting at an inn.

This led to many an amusing conversation with the locals as they wondered why an 'academy boy' would still be in the town after the school year was over. For over a month, this was his schedule. When he finally arrived before Tomm's massive gates, he did so with pep in his step and a back unaccustomed to the hard ground. That was nice. What wasn't nice was waiting in line for five hours to enter the city. Tomm was one of the world's capitals, so of course it would be busy day or night, but jeez...

five hours was a bit much. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Once he was inside the city, all he could think about was finding a tavern to wet his whistle. And buy some great food. Being the son of the Omni-Wizard had its perks. One such perk was that his family, much as he and his dad could be considered a 'family' when it was just the two of them, never lacked for money.

His dad had royalties always coming into his bank account and then other sources of money besides from his many inventions. Not to mention his many lump sums from his heroics in saving the world. Just one 'lump' of which was a lifetime of wages for an average man. Because of such riches, his father ended up giving him a sizable allowance as a child. An allowance whose sum over the years, was so large, which, even now, he strove to find intelligent ways to make a dent in. Exotic food in a world capital? Why not!

Lance sat down to eat in a place called the Royal Rooster inn and Tavern. Made from high quality red oak, his father had always told him he could judge a lot about an establishment by the quality of lumber used in its construction. Red oak was distinctive enough to recognize anywhere. To him, anyway... this inn also used some kind of brick, though, so he wondered if his dad would have an opinion on that and what it meant for a place's supposed quality.

Construction materials aside, he was parched from the wait and ordered several glasses of hempen soda-pop with a pitcher of iced-water and sauced meat from many animals all mixed into a giant salad bowl. And a single beer for good measure, as a treat. He should've slowed his eating down to appreciate the meal more, but being so hungry, he scarfed the protein salad down without regard for its flavor. Alas. Thanfully, there would be many 'next times' when he could better appreciate a new realm's cuisine.

Such as 'tonight,' assuming they were open. He paid his bill and gave some extra as a tip, despite not being sure if tipping was a custom in this land and left for the Planetary Defense Council Headquarters. His internship began soon, so he wanted to make sure he had all the papers in order before the first official day. He found Headquarters easily enough. It was not a hidden building by any means. It was the opposite, in fact. It dominated the city like an ugly, pulsating wart on a teen's unblemished face.

'Ugly' because Headquarters was a large, heavy building made from ultra-dense crystal which stuck out like a sore thumb in a city made from wood and stone. It was impossible to miss. Lance checked in with one of the clerks at the entrance. He said his name and his reason for being here; the clerk brought out a heavy tome filled with so many tiny names, they had to use a magnifying glass to search the pages. After five straight minutes of looking, the clerk finally hummed, "Ah-ha! There you are!"

and handed him an 'intern badge' which he pinned to his overcoat.

"Is it your first time in the city?" the clerk asked nicely.

"It is," he said.

"I've heard about this place but never been. I am looking forward to discovering if all the urban legends I have heard about this place are true."

"Oh! What kind of legends? I've lived here all my life, so I've heard them all, but I am always itching to hear a new one to add my folktale ledger. I'm a history student at the local school, you see."

"A history student? Very interesting," he said, just to make small talk. In truth, he didn't think any of the stories he heard about Tomm were true. He also didn't think the clerk being a history student was interesting. Everyone had a life, after all. Still, he had to say something as she walked him up staircases and down hallways. So, he said, "Well, one legend has it that the wall behind a certain bar leads to a hidden cult society led by an insane witch.

Another talked about a sword stuck in a stone and that whoever removes it will be named the king of a certain province. Or be given a large cash prize, depending on the story you hear. Either of those sound familiar?" The clerk laughed.

"Oh, yes. Unfortunately, I can vouche against both. No such cult societies exist anymore. All cults were violently evicted from the city about the time when I was born. The king's secret police saw to that; as for the sword in the bolder, that was based on a folktale from hundreds of years ago pertaining to the city's founding. You will find many bars and taverns and other places beside, though, that have tourist attractions urging people to pull the sword for a small fee.

Never, ever pay the fee, though, it's all a scam." He and the clerk continued to make small talk for a while. Mostly about the various folk legends. Though Lance thought he detected some filtering from the young lady, he knew better than to stick his stick in someone he might be working alongside for several months.

"Here is your room!" the lady said, bringing him before a normal wooden door.

"You will be sharing it with a few other interns. I know a lot of people have privacy issues, but take it from me, it's part of the experience!"

"Thank you. I am used to the experience, so I will be fine." And he was used to the experience. Though he had a single dorm at the academy, it had not started that way. At the beginning of the year, he had two roommates. Both of them went from the academy at the year's start after failing to attend classes from too much partying. Sad for them, but not for him, who loved the added privacy. He entered the room. It was a spacious area with several beds on each side.

He found both men and women, all similar aged to him, already inside the chamber. Of which, he found an old friend already there waiting for him.