Chapter 3: License 

MIKO

Two weeks passed after Kayla signed the contract, making her a member of our guild. Since then, I have seen her only twice because she had to cram a lot for the theoretical part of the exam that would give her the license to legally use and work with magic.

This test was exactly what an outsider imagines it to be. A huge query of useless knowledge about the history of mages, witches, and a few safety regulations. I still get a feeling of anxiety every time I think back to my own exam. I was eleven years old when I took it, and I am still convinced it was a miracle that I passed it on my first try.

I wasn't sure how well Kayla would do. I just met her and had no idea of her performance back when she was in school. You definitely don't have to be a genius to pass this exam, but you do have to be able to memorize quite a bit.

Lilith ordered me to support Kayla with her studies, but after I tried to do exactly that last week, Kayla said that I was no help at all… in fact, she told me that my presence alone was very distracting. That did hurt my feelings a bit. Still, I told her that she could message me anytime, but she never did.

It was not like I wanted to see her, but we had nothing to do in the guild, so I was a bit bored, and my "witch-raising project" was very unsatisfying when I played no active part in it.

◆◆◆

"How is she doing?" Lilith asked the next day while we were eating breakfast together.

"Who?" I asked gingerly.

"Kayla, of course." Lilith sighed and shook her head in disappointment.

"I'm sorry. I will call her when I finish my cereal." To be honest, I wrote Kayla at least one message every day, but Lilith would purposely misinterpret that if I told her about it.

"Call her now." Her voice was soft, but I clearly understood the command. So, I immediately took my phone from the table and called Kayla.

It rang for about twenty seconds before she answered it. Okay, answering was a stretch because she wasn’t speaking at all.

"Hello? Kayla?"

After saying her name, I heard her moaning like she was stretching. "Good morning." she finally answered. I never thought about the possibility that she was still asleep.

Sorry

"Did I wake you up?"

"Yes, but it is fine. I can imagine worse things than hearing your voice first thing in the morning." She chuckled, and I almost choked.

"You're welcome," I said, blushing slightly, curious if she was like that with everyone.

"Should I leave the room?" Lilith asked, showing me a very punchable smug face. I quickly placed my finger in front of my lips and hissed at her.

"Is someone with you?" Kayla asked, sounding sleepy as hell.

"Yeah, Lilith."

"Ah, say hello to her from me!"

"I will… um, I wanted to ask you how your studies are going?"

"Okayish, you said I just need to reach 50%, so I am still optimistic to pass."

"That's the way to go. Actually, this was everything I wanted to talk about... sorry again for waking you." It felt super awkward to call someone for such a simple question.

"Wait…" she said with a much clearer tone than before. "Would you like to come over? I need some help."

I did not expect that, but there was no need to think about my answer. With Lilith sitting next to me, I absolutely had no chance to decline Kayla's request, not that I planned to do that anyway.

After finishing breakfast, I quickly got dressed and went to the office to get some old study notes from our file cabinet.

"Where are you going?" asked a voice behind me. I was startled and turned around. The person standing at the door frame was our secretary, Eliza. She started working here around three years ago, shortly after the guild was founded; unlike Lilith, she looks like an adult, so outsiders often mistake her for the guild leader.

"I visit Kayla, help her study," I explained.

"Why isn't she coming here instead?" her voice sounded disinterested. Why was she asking anyway?

"I don't know... maybe she's shy." That was not really a guess. I knew for a fact that she was too shy, but who am I to tell that to anyone?

"Ah… too bad, I would love to meet her already. Lilith told me that you are checking your phone all the time, awaiting a message from your new friend," she giggled.

Just because she looked like an adult didn't mean she acted like one because if you ask me, I was the most mature person in this guild, even though I was the youngest.

"You will meet her when she passes the exam." With the documents I needed, I walked past her. Don't get me wrong, I really like Eliza a lot. These little teases were our way of showing affection.

Today, I walked to Kayla's place. We had around 15°C in the middle of March, and the sky was clear. I enjoyed the fresh air, and in the end, it felt like just a minute until I arrived at her apartment pressing the doorbell.

This time, Kayla looked way better than the first time she opened the door for me two weeks ago.

"Come in," she said cheerfully.

"How are you?" I asked as I put my backpack on the floor so I could take off my jacket.

"Besides the trauma this studying awakened in me, I feel pretty good," she disappeared into the kitchen and returned with two glasses and a bottle of ice tea. 

I felt empathy. The thought of doing the exam again and having to study on a daily basis instantly triggered a slight belly ache.

"You want some?" Kayla asked me, shaking the bottle around.

"Uhm, yes, please."

I was not the biggest fan of sweet stuff, but it may help to activate my brain cells. I sat down on the bed, watching her pour me the drink.

"Here you go," she said while handing me the glass.

"Thanks," I replied shortly and took a small sip. My taste buds started to contract... that is what I would call a sugar rush.

Kayla sat cross-legged on the bed, her feet just some centimeters away from my thighs. She was not wearing any socks, so I noticed her blue-colored toenails. I caught myself staring at her feet. It's not what it looks like, I swear.

"So, what do you need help with?" I asked, smiling a bit awkwardly, looking her straight in the face.

"It is the part about dungeons. I don't really get it… the explanations in the books are way too vague," she explained shyly, looking around the room. I could count the moments she really looked into my face on one hand.

But back to her problem, she definitely hit the nail in the coffin. While we mages entered and cleared the dungeons for centuries, no one really knew what they were and why they appeared in the first place. I suspect that the higher-ups know more than they are telling us, but it's not really worth worrying about.

I sighed. "I'm really sorry, but I can't tell you more than the books in that case." I scratched my nose and looked into her disappointed face.

"I almost expected that, but can you at least tell me what a dungeon looks like? From the inside, of course, since I already found plenty of photos from the gates online." She smiled proudly.

Normally, there should not be any photos of dungeons online. Still, some mages sell insider information for a quick buck, not like a photo from a dungeon gate would do any harm.

I guess I can answer her question... no, I definitely should answer her question. Not far from now, she will be a witch, and the chance she needs to enter a dungeon will be real. But first, I was a bit curious, so I asked her, "What do you think a dungeon looks like?"

She snickered. "You are asking someone who plays RPGs... of course, the first things I imagine are dungeons like the ones from *The Saint Scrolls* or *Dungeons & Goblins*… Something that looks like a dark cave."

"There are dungeons that look exactly like that," I said, nodding. "But there are also dungeons that look like deserts, forests... some are covered in snow. They are whole different worlds." I continued telling her more of the pretty memories from my dungeon days.

Kayla's eyes started shining. Her gaze was fixed on my lips while I explained things that were just wild fantasies for most people. Getting stared at made me a little uncomfortable, but I understood the fascination. Witnessing magic, using magic, that was already something incredible, but being teleported to a whole other world was simply inconceivable.

Sometimes, I thought that dungeons are designed so beautifully that you forget all the dangers you encounter there.

"Could we visit a dungeon?" Kayla asked after I finished my monologue.

"No, definitely not. We need a request note to do that."

"Are there any dungeons nearby?"

"Yes, we have two active dungeons in the region right now."

I pulled my smartphone out of my skirt pocket to show Kayla the app the guilds use to share information about the dungeons.

It was basically another version of Google Maps. There are clickable icons where you can find details such as the date of discovery, which guilds are working in the dungeon, what creatures they have encountered so far, what resources they have seen, and the mana source that was responsible for creating the dungeon gate.

In roughly 9 out of 10 cases, a mostly random object consisting of concentrated mana was the dungeon's core, hidden somewhere. Still, it was also possible that it was a living creature possessing that much magical power, so it had to die to close the dungeon for good.

Sometime during my explanation, Kayla took a small notebook from her desk and started scribbling in it.

"If you have any more questions, please ask."

Kayla looked at me, baffled. Her breathing was a bit uneasy... she was very excited, and her imagination was surely running wild. The shine in her eyes was something beautiful to look at. I hoped that she would never lose that curiosity.