A man ran up a flight of stairs. In the darkness, you would expect him to stumble, but he never missed a step. When he reached the top, he held out his arms and pushed at a wall, revealing a secret path that led to a dimly lit room. In the middle of the room was a red gem, and staring in it is a cloaked figure of a person, a pair of bony hands the only thing visible in the gem’s glow.

“Did you find him?” asked the man, trying to catch his breath.

“I’m afraid we have been blocked once again,” replied the cloaked one in a hoarse voice. “We have merely narrowed his location to the kingdom of Beronia, the capital of the Alcione Empire... it seems he’s in the Royal University...”

“Aubrianne...” the man gasps.

“I was able to scry the location, but the University’s charms blocked me, and the connection was broken before I could get past them.” The cloaked figure bowed low. “I’m afraid that’s all the information I got.”

“No, that information is enough.” The man approached the red gem and stared into its depths. In his mind, he saw the octagonal plateau on which Aubrianne University was built. “It is my fault for not arriving soon enough,” he said. “At least we now have a location. Please inform my men about your findings. We shall be heading back sooner than expected.”

***

Sebastian Revious entered his room. He placed the usual charms to lock the door and soundproofed the whole area. He then went to the window to make sure the drapes were closed before he took his glasses off and placed them on his study table.

The sound of a bell suddenly broke the silence.

Sebastian looked at the direction of the door, his lilac eyes irate. He put his glasses back on and mumbled the spell to unlock the door.

“Hey Seeeeb!” said a voice as he removed the silence spell, “Open up. It’s me, Peter, the dorm president!” Sebastian grudgingly turned the doorknob and opened the door a crack.

[What?] said the writing on his slate.

Outside stood the East Dormitory’s president, holding a clipboard.

“You got yourself a new roommate!”

Sebastian opened the door wider and saw Dorin standing there, a huge grin on his face. He had his new clothes on and carried an overnight bag along with his satchel. With a sigh, he pushed the door open to let his new roommate inside.

“This is Dorin Silvius,” said the dorm president before facing Dorin. “Dorin, this is Sebastian Revious, he’s a second-year so you can ask him about Uni stuff...”

“Oh, we have already met earlier,” replied Dorin, his grin getting even wider.

“Good, then, I don’t need to introduce you further.” Peter turned back to Sebastian with a worried frown. “Professor Althea said he’s gonna be staying for just a couple of nights, so be nice.”

[Roger] replied Sebastian.

Peter left after that. Dorin waved at him happily, then faced Sebastian and beamed. “Isn’t this nice?” he said, “It’s a good thing you don’t have a roommate yet!!”

[Great.]

Sebastian turned to the room and pointed at the bed with a note saying [You get the bottom bunk. Let me get my stuff off the bed first.]

The bottom was littered with various books and stuff. He pulled the bed sheet off the bed and hauled it to the top bunk. He then pulled the sheet from under his stuff and handed it back to Dorin.

“Thank you.” Dorin took the sheet and dumped it back on his bed. “How long have you been staying here?” he asked, looking at the books piled on the 2 study tables.

Sebastian stared at Dorin for a while before writing on the slate. [I just came back this afternoon.] He passed his hand on the slate to remove the writing and wrote anew, [Your closet is to the right, also your desk.] After writing this, he moved the books from the right table and placed them on top of the already towering pile on the left.

“Oh, it’s okay, you know I won’t be staying long anyway.”

[Suit yourself.] the other replied.

Dorin took his coat off and placed it on the rack behind the door, while Sebastian removed his cloak, carefully hanging it inside his closet. Dorin went to his side, opened his closet, and dumped the whole overnight bag inside.

“Hey, by the way,” Dorin broke the silence, “Do you really have an extra camera I could buy?” Sebastian looked at him, a bit surprised.

[You still plan to buy one from me?] he wrote.

“Well, I wanted to go buy one today, but aunt... I mean, Professor Althea told me it was already too late, but the photography class will start early tomorrow, so...”

[1,500 Almas for slightly used SLR camera.] wrote Sebastian, pulling out a black bulky package from his luggage. Then, almost grudgingly, he added [I give discount – 1,000 Almas for camera & lens.]

“Really? Wow, thanks!” said Dorin.

He picked up the camera and turned it around in his hands. Sebastian took it from him, snapped the buttons off the case, and pulled the camera out. “Woah!” the boy exclaimed, he took it gingerly from Sebastian “So, this is a camera...”

Sebastian took the camera once more and removed the lens. He then showed the other boy how to manually focus it. Later, Dorin is taking pictures of everything inside the room while Sebastian counted his Almas.

“Very interesting...” mumble Dorin, adjusting the lens. “So, how exactly does it work?” Sebastian handed him a thick book entitled ‘Digital Photography for the Mentally challenged’ and went back to his counting. He is currently checking things off in a ledger with the words ‘Inventory’ written in front.

Dorin flipped through the book, turning to the glossary from time to time. He didn’t notice Sebastian’s slate until the other boy nudged him.

[Can I lock the door?] he asked.

“Sure,” replied the other.

Sebastian went to the door. Dorin looked up as he felt magic build up into a potent locking spell.

“Um... what if I need to go to the toilet?” he asked. The other slowly turned around to face him, his face, blank as usual. He then pointed at a third door, next to the closets. Dorin stood up to inspect it.

“Woah!” surprised, he entered the small room, opened the tabs, and sat on the porcelain toilet bowl. “Running water! We’ve got running water!” he was saying, “And not a hint of magic in it!”

Sebastian merely stared at him.

“We use a magic spell back home, it opens a small portal from the river to our outhouse. I’ve only read about pipes once... my mother rarely brings anything but spell books, though she sometimes brings books in sciences and philosophy, they’re mainly about magic theory.”

[That figures.] Sebastian opened his luggage and starts putting stuff away in his closet. The last thing he took out was a small chemistry set and several vials.

“Making potions?” asked Dorin. The other nodded.

[Potions sell a lot on campus] was Sebastian’s reply. [Unlike your forest, magic in cities is thinner. People prefer to use spells.]

“Hmm... now that you mention it... the wind is a bit heavy here, and that gray fog in the city was quite ominous...”

[Gray fog?]

“The city was covered in it from afar...”

[Ah, you mean the smog?]

“Smog? What is this smog?”

[Pollution combined with fog.]

“Oh... isn’t that... bad?”

[Welcome to the capital.]