The Academy wasn’t quite what he was expecting, though Bird would admit he came in with a very vague guess to begin with. His education in Lowmyre had been through his peers, and without a lot of consistency. Trying to parse out what it should be like attending a class or lecture before actually going was tricky.

The maroon robes and the yellow mantle sat strangely on him, bringing a constant struggle against the need to fidget. Bird had opted for a few sleeveless robes that would simply sit open, keeping easy access to his normal pockets. For as strange as they felt, he did enjoy a bit of comfort from wearing them; he felt much less out of place with them on. The air was heady with excitement and nerves, and it did wonders to mask his own.

A journal sat open in front of him, pages blank with a pen sitting to keep it open. It was a curious little innovation, keeping the ink inside rather than relying on an inkwell. The pen was one of a handful of wonderful little quality-of-life things that Bird had come across in his short time here; it still seemed a little alien to him, but he had to admit the practicality of the inventions. Glancing over the room at how many people had the pens however, Bird had to wonder how something so common and useful hadn’t made it to Lowmyre.

Towards the front of the room, a woman with a silver medallion affixed to her mantle was in the process of organizing notes and pulling chalkboards around to where she needed them. There had been no introductions yet, but this was to be one of his teachers for the lectures on alchemical basics.

She had dark, frizzy hair that had been subject to some manner of containment that morning, and clearly now resented that attempt. Bird couldn’t make out much else beyond her skin being a few shades darker than his own, save for the fact she looked human. It was a distinction Bird had only really started making recently, and only because it seemed important up here.

“Good morning students.” Her voice stoked the excitement of the room with levity. “I am sure this is your first lecture with the Academy, so allow me to formally welcome you to academia. My name is Asha Vedda, and I will be your lecturer for this course on alchemical history and basic practices.”

“How shall we address you?”

“Professor Vedda will do for the context of this lecture. If you are unsure of how to address other teachers, I suggest you call them first by title and then by surname. Conversely, you will likely be addressed as a student and by last name.” Vedda smiled, turning to the board behind her to begin writing, “That does segway nicely to a point of alchemical history, however. The only particular distinction at the Academy is one of experience, outside of the ruling body of the Assembly. This is why we often reference a person by their role, as a form of honoring that experience. It also lets us stay true to the purpose that founded Alchemy as a style of magic. Can anyone tell me what that is?”

If Bird had anything going for him, it was manual dexterity. He wrote quickly, keeping relative pace with everything the lecturer said. Someone supplied a response of “Equality”.

“You have the concept, yes. The founding principal of Alchemy was to create a system of magic that was accessible by anyone so long as they put forth effort to learn it. It was not meant to be gated by natural talent or by lengthy rituals with slight chances of success.” She wrote as much down, turning to finish speaking, “Natural magic is helpful, certainly, but everyone has to walk the same road of gaining experience. Drive and dedication will be your guiding forces on that path.”

The process of writing as the lecture went on helped Bird to take in the information, and he was thankful that Professor Vedda seemed content to call for answers from the room rather than individual students.

While the exact beginning of Alchemy was vague, the founding of Goldwind had marked what was widely considered the start of the system. It formed around a group of mages that had wanted to create a system of magic that was accessible to anyone through study. Prior to this, “magic” was only accessible to the naturally gifted or through complex rituals that were closely guarded by practitioners; barriers of bloodline or faith were the two most common.

At their base level, these older schools of magic were somewhat unreliable. Ritualistic magic often involved the entreating of spirits or deities, which were commonly thought of as sentient mana in the modern day. Those rituals were often fiercely guarded by whatever clergy or shamans that practiced them, and only worked when the whim of that mana was inclined to do so. This was also ignoring the possibility that some of these methods were hoaxes to begin with.

The naturally gifted were a more concrete area of magic, even in the present. The historical position for such people was in the classical idea of a wizard or a sorceress; one whose body was naturally infused with magical talent or ability. Those individuals had historically hoarded their power, and it was the founders of the Academy that seemed to break from that trend.

The lecture skimmed over the more modern interpretations of Alchemy as a magical systems, instead referencing the means by which the founders studied and taught. All creatures had some amount of mana within them, but the ability of the average person to simply push it into a shape was on par with the same person moving a chair with their mind alone.

Thus, the founders studied ways by which small amounts of mana could be coerced into specific tasks. They took formulaic aspects of rituals and turned them into what modern alchemists called Components; gestures, patterns, incantations, and reagents that shaped and focused mana into something capable of completing a task.

It was fairly controversial in its youth, as it gave power to the masses on a scale that was unheard of. The great balancing factor was that much like any skill, alchemy required time and dedication to do anything particularly impressive. The common man could spend a month learning how to interact with a construct, but would have no need to go farther for his profession. Those that dedicated themselves to the craft could produce truly amazing results, but time was the great equalizer there as well.

Bird found his hand somewhat sore by the end of the lecture; it had been a lot to write down as someone spoke. There had been a few moments where he had begun falling behind, only to catch up when Vedda would pause to ask a question. He didn’t argue with the good fortune, though he swore she had an amused grin tugging at her lips when he looked to her.

***

The first classes and lectures that Bird attended were meant to be the basics, covering everything the Academy considered necessary to further pursuits. History of the art, Goldwind’s economy, current integrations of alchemy in society, and an overview of different alchemical disciplines to name just a few. His classmates seemed to have mixed feelings about the lessons, some finding them as enthralling as Bird and others finding them pointless. Maybe some had already had lessons like this, and that was the reason for their boredom.

The only thing he couldn’t figure out was if there was supposed to be a lecture on rules of the Academy; he still hadn’t been able to find a copy of the promised rulebook. Such a lecture would have been boring, not doubt, but useful nonetheless. Bird would have likely been the most attentive in that space, perhaps standing out more than he already did in these basic classes.

That said, even Bird felt his enthusiasm waiver within the first few days. It was hard for lectures like these to not feel a little vapid when he knew a workshop was two buildings over. It was extra hard considering he had been doing alchemy in Lowmyre since he was a kid, likely in ways that were more practical and exciting than Bird would get to see for weeks here.

He tried to think of all this as the teasing of dawn after a long night; once these lectures were over with he would be able to dig into almost anything he wanted to.

It seemed to be the stance of the Academy that a person’s interests were the most likely to lead to meaningful innovation. A student that had shown to be proficient and knowledgeable with the basics were given free reign to begin exploring different areas. In some ways that simply translated to different lectures, but those at least featured a more hands-on aspect from what Bird had come to understand; in other ways, it meant sitting an actually working with alchemy rather than just hearing about it.

Bird stayed as motivated as he could for the sake of his notes if nothing else, taking down almost everything that came up in the lectures. His dedication to detail seemed to have impressed Professor Vedda at the least, though she had seemed less impressed by his handwriting. That was fine; he didn’t care to endear himself to anyone overmuch.

He wasn’t necessarily trying to avoid good relations, but Bird didn’t let it progress particularly farther than pleasantries. The closer he got to people, the more chances there were for his cover to get blown.

It was also just hard to forget all the hardships that Lowmyre endured because of Goldwind. Even if some problems weren’t directly Goldwind’s fault, the upper city had done nothing to help the lower.

The mechanical nature of simply waking in the morning, going to his classes, and returning to his room felt like it was helping to maintain his cover at least. Mostly, maybe. Bird told himself it did. A week passing seemed like proof it was keeping him safe, but the weekend proved to be the most trying of times strangely enough. Some lectures still happened, but the Academy largely postponed most official functions on the last two days of the week for a few reasons. Rest, travel, personal errands; it was just free time to do things that didn’t fit into the week’s schedule.

It was a time where Bird felt trapped in his room. The time had been nice for transcribing his notes to a second book, slightly neater than the first, but that task had finished more quickly than he wanted. He tried to wander the grounds, but it didn’t go particularly well; Bird still felt like he stuck out. It felt like there was inside information that he just didn’t have, and that everyone would know. He felt too exposed outside of his room, and maddeningly isolated within.

The week starting again had been a blessed relief, but now that he was halfway into the next week Bird found himself dreading the week’s end. He had been a social creature in Lowmyre, even in the act of being alone together with people. Here he just felt alone. Every message of unity or cooperation within the Academy just made him feel different and separated. He had practical experience with the fact that universal sentiments of unity or equality meant “except Lowmyre”.

He had almost spent more time trying to find a way to dodge the feelings of isolation than he had trying to maintain his cover, at least in the last few days. It was at one such moment, just after his last lecture of the day, that Bird ran into a temptation.