After returning from the expedition into Hedin forest, Lynn resumed his usual academy student lifestyle.
He attended his classes, he studied in the library, and he put in shifts at the factory.
For a time, he enjoyed the popularity boost among some of his classmates that came with being the kid who participated in a Magulheim forest expedition.
Other than that, one thing that was different now that he had returned to his normal life, was his new small companion, the Pellrat that he had brought back with him.
While he was in class, or in the factory, the Pellrat clung to him the entire time. Other times he would ride atop his shoulders, or hide inside his clothes. He never left Lynn’s side.
Lynn decided to name him Rein. Rein became a kind of symbol, or living proof rather, that Lynn had ventured into the forest of magical beasts before any of his peers.
Another upside of his new companion was the attention he got from girls.
A lot of people approached him to talk about Rein.
Gradually, as the days went by, Rein became a kind of trademark of Lynn’s.
“So when will you do something else with Magulheim, then?”
This is a question he got sometimes, which definitely made him scratch his head. Just when would he be called on, indeed.
Come to think of it, I haven’t heard anything yet.
“Oh, I’m sure I’ll be hearing from them shortly”, he would say, dodging the question.
After returning from the expedition, he was kept extremely busy for a while with classes.
While it was all well and good he was becoming more popular, he had to make up for lost time. While he was away on Magulheim duty, his classes as the tower went on as normal, and now he was playing catch up.
Of course, as usual Elios and co’ stepped in to support him through this initial difficult phase.
They even rummaged through their old notes, and brought the relevant ones along to their meetups for Lynn to pour his eyes over.
“I’m sorry about this, Elios. I know you have your graduation exam coming up soon”.
“Please, don’t worry about it. It’s more important to me that you don’t fall behind”.
Though he said such things, it was clear Elios had a clear study plan for himself. He wasn’t the kind of person to fall behind on such things.
Since Lynn was selected as a provisional member of Magulheim, it seemed to him that Elios viewed him differently.
Before, at the most Lynn represented at best nothing more than a pleasant junior who would often lean on him, and seek advice every so often.
Of course, he had always gladly given Lynn a helping hand whenever he could, but now had begun to see promise in him too.
He sat, facing Lynn, and when he spoke he did so with feverish excitement.
“It might be too forward of me to say this, but I think I actually underestimated you before, Lynn. I always thought you had potential, but to be selected for Magulheim… Up until now there hasn’t been a single member in that guild who was a commoner… To put it simply, it’s a brilliant achievement, Lynn”.
I was born as a slave, really… I’m even lower than a commoner.
Class consciousness among the students in the academy often pivoted around one’s birth country, and area within that country.
Not a single person failed to acknowledge the class difference between the elite nobles and the other classes, but when it came to the difference between commoners and slaves, there were several different opinions.
This was certainly the case with many of his classmates. Some of them cared about his slave background, while others didn’t seem to care at all.
Some would say ‘Ain’t we more or less the same?’ on the topic of commoners and slaves, but some would make snide remarks, such as ‘You should be more mindful of where you come from’.
Theo had never once batted an eyelid at his social class. He simply didn’t care.
Elios, too, didn’t seem phased. Seemingly, he thought of him as a commoner.
“You have talent, Lynn. I bet you could even reach the upper floors of the tower. If there’s ever something I can help you with, don’t hesitate. Time spent helping you ultimately graduate is time well spent, in my book”.
Lynn looked up to Elios, so he was over the moon to hear his supportive words.
“Listen up, if you want to stand out as a wizard, all you need to worry about for now is getting the best marks you can in your classes. Study hard. Listen to your teachers and your elders, and follow the rules. Living in this kind of way pays off in the long run”.
Lynn tilted his head slightly as he pondered Elios’s words.
He has the complete opposite way of thinking as Teedro.
According to Teedro, it was no good to simply do what your teacher said. Sometimes, it was even necessary to break the rules.
What on earth should he make of these two conflicting ideas? Which philosophy was right?
He decided he would follow Elio’s advice. Besides, his way of thinking probably meshed better with his personality, anyway.
To Lynn, Elios was a good role model. It was also thanks to Elios that Lynn had developed his extensive reading habit.
“A wizard’s ability is only as big as his knowledge. Read as much as you can. That knowledge will become your weapon”, he had told him.
There was something else, too, that Elios had said and which Lynn could remember clearly.
“There’s a lack of talented men among the common class. The commoners need more people of excellence to represent them. So that’s why I want to stand out and set an example, myself, and I also want to help younger students who show good prospects for the future, the way I help you and Theo”.
Lynn didn’t want to let him down.
As usual, Yuven had been cold towards him, but there was one time when he was able to talk to her about Magulheim.
One day, at class, he noticed her stealing glances over at him after he had sat down at a desk.
As soon as he looked up at her, she quickly looked away.
He thought to himself that she must want to talk to him about what he had been up to on his expedition, and so he decided to try striking up a conversation with her.
“Hey Yuven. It’s been a while”.
“Oh, it’s you. You’re back” she said, looking surprised.
By her reaction, anyone would have thought that she had only just seen him.
Oh, how he had missed her difficult nature, he thought to himself wrly.
“I hope you enjoyed the expedition with Magulheim. Did you manage to make any connections? Did you receive any invites to tea parties from an elite noble, perhaps?”
“No, I didn’t get anything quite like that. But it was a good experience, being able to meet and work with wizards who are more powerful than me”.
“That’s such a shame. Well, at least you tried, even though it turned out to be a fool’s errand. I guess it can’t be helped though, considering your social standing”.
At that, she turned on her heels and walked away.
As ever, it seemed her mind was full with nothing but tea parties.
At least she seems her usual self.
He decided to leave it at that.
Academy life was, in comparison to the time he was just a wizard understudy in Renryll, unbelievably busy.
Between classes, work at the factory, and adjusting to his part time office job in Allfrid, time went by, and with it so did the seasons.
While Lynn was busy shifting through his gears, juggling the various elements of his new life in Allfrid, the time for Elios to take his graduation exam came to pass- and pass it he did, which gave him access to the hundredth floor.
Lynn went to see the ceremony, and there he saw others in attendance too. There was Shila and Agul, ofcourse, but also Teedro’s other friends were gathered, as well as juniors who looked up to him the way Lynn did.
Kruga, too, attended the ceremony.
Lynn shouted out in greeting.
“Congratulations Elios!”
Elios, hearing Lynn, turned to face him with a big smile on his face.
“Lynn, you came too huh?”
Elios was wearing a light blue robe, proof of his ascension to the hundredth floor and above.
“Of course!”
“By the way, is Theo here too?” He asked, looking around.
“Ah, Theo. I think he was busy with something, unfortunately” he said evasively.
In truth, he hadn’t come for the simple reason that he thought the ceremony to be a bother.
Unlike Lynn, who was interested in the upper stratum of the tower, Theo wasn’t particularly interested. It didn’t matter to him even if Elios was ascending to a new floor tier.
After all I’ve done for him, the least he could have done is see me off, Elios thought to himself.
“I see… That’s too bad. I won’t be able to come down below the hundredth floor for a while, so it would have been nice to see him today”.
Elios truly looked disappointed. He rated Theo highly, and saw a lot of potential in him. Theo, on the other hand, didn’t place much importance on their relationship.
“So it’s true, we really won’t be seeing you for a while then”.
“Yeah, the hundredth floor and above really can’t be compared to the academy or the forest of magical beasts, so I’ll have to work hard for a while. I won’t be able to show my face at the academy or Renryll for a time”.
“Good luck Elios”.
“You too. And don’t slack off! I’ll be waiting for you on the higher floors. And Theo, tell him too for me, ok?”
“Ok, and I will”.
Just then someone shouted for Elios.
“Elios! It’s time. We have to get going”
“I know, I know, I’ll be right there”.
The elevator to the hundredth floor could be ridden at any time, but it was said that riding it later in the day could be dangerous.
Lynn didn’t really understand the details, but he had heard that when you ride it for the first time, it was best to do it as early as you could manage.
Just as Elios was about to enter the elevator, his closest friends- Shila, Agul, and Kruga- all shouted out farewells.
“Take care, Elios. Be careful!”
“Don’t push yourself too hard”.
“I’ll be alright, don’t worry about me. Oh, Kruga, you came too”, he said, mildly surprised.
“Of course I did, would I really miss such a gala occasion for my good friend? But Elios, how could you just go ahead and graduate while I’m still having trouble with classes on the ninetieth floor!”
Kruga spoke in a good natured way. In actual fact, Elios had graduated on an extraordinarily fast time scale.
He had graduated faster than any of his peers, and certainly faster than anyone else in the academy within recent history. He was an undeniable talent.
“You check in on me way too often, Kruga”, he ribbed.
“That may be true, but graduating so fast is abnormal, man. It’s unnatural”.
“Come on now, you’re exaggerating”.
The two talked for a couple of minutes. Watching them, Lynn felt the mutual respect that they had for one another, and the bond that that kind of relationship forged.
At last, Agul urged on the departure, sensing that time was threatening to break away from them.
“Elios, why don’t you say something to us all as a last farewell?”
“Ok. Everyone, listen up”, he called out, addressing the small gathering.
“What drove me to graduate as fast as I did can be owed to nothing else other than my desire to raise the respect of the common class. The wizards enrolled in classes in the upper floors are clearly biased towards the nobles and the elite. This kind of bias based on social class is seen throughout the tower, as well as in other places. It’s rooted in discrimination. And it’s preventing the development of many many wizards from the common class, who would otherwise grow into great wizards. And so, I’m recruiting others who share my view and ambition, to join the guild I’m founding. For now, there can’t be many who would want to join a guild started by someone who’s fresh out of the academy. But if I can just show some success on the upper floors, I’m sure that will change. Now, I might never become such a great wizard myself. But with many small victories for the common class, one day I hope we can contribute to the evolution of society, to the point where the idea of a great wizard emerging from the common class is no longer seen as something far fetched”.
The small gathering erupted in applause.
Lynn too felt moved by Elios’s ambition.
As one would expect from Elios san. He’s always thinking of others, and not just himself.
Suddenly something occurred to Lynn. He looked over to where Agul was standing.
Agul was from a high class family. Just what was he thinking as he listened to Elios’s speech?
Next he looked over to Kruga. He didn’t seem particularly happy, nor did he seem particularly annoyed. He had listened with a neutral expression.
It was exactly as if he simply wasn’t interested in what he was saying.
Seeing Kruga’s demeanor, Lynn felt slightly uncomfortable.
Elios embraced Shila and Agul in one final goodbye hug, and said his last goodbye.
“Well then, I’ll see you guys around”.
With that, he bundled into the elevator.
“Elios!” Kruga shouted, as if to stop him.
“What is it?” Elios asked, looking at Kruga suspiciously.
Kruga was silent for a few, long moments.
“No, it’s nothing. Be careful”.
Elios laughed coldly, and said “You hurry and get yourself up there, too. To the hundredth floor”.
At that moment, the elevator doors closed shut.
The elevator, which cradled Elios within its grasp, groaned to life ominously, and shot upwards.
Lynn suddenly felt afraid for Elios, though he didn’t know why.
“Will Elios be ok?” He asked Shila.
“He’ll be fine. After all, he’s always matured faster than anyone else. That’ll be the same even on floor one hundred. I’m sure when we see him next, he’ll be even stronger”.
Next time… Chapter 43, ‘Theo’s Suspicious Behaviour’.
After returning from the expedition into Hedin forest, Lynn resumed his usual academy student lifestyle.
He attended his classes, he studied in the library, and he put in shifts at the factory.
For a time, he enjoyed the popularity boost among some of his classmates that came with being the kid who participated in a Magulheim forest expedition.
Other than that, one thing that was different now that he had returned to his normal life, was his new small companion, the Pellrat that he had brought back with him.
While he was in class, or in the factory, the Pellrat clung to him the entire time. Other times he would ride atop his shoulders, or hide inside his clothes. He never left Lynn’s side.
Lynn decided to name him Rein. Rein became a kind of symbol, or living proof rather, that Lynn had ventured into the forest of magical beasts before any of his peers.
Another upside of his new companion was the attention he got from girls.
A lot of people approached him to talk about Rein.
Gradually, as the days went by, Rein became a kind of trademark of Lynn’s.
“So when will you do something else with Magulheim, then?”
This is a question he got sometimes, which definitely made him scratch his head. Just when would he be called on, indeed.
Come to think of it, I haven’t heard anything yet.
“Oh, I’m sure I’ll be hearing from them shortly”, he would say, dodging the question.
After returning from the expedition, he was kept extremely busy for a while with classes.
While it was all well and good he was becoming more popular, he had to make up for lost time. While he was away on Magulheim duty, his classes as the tower went on as normal, and now he was playing catch up.
Of course, as usual Elios and co’ stepped in to support him through this initial difficult phase.
They even rummaged through their old notes, and brought the relevant ones along to their meetups for Lynn to pour his eyes over.
“I’m sorry about this, Elios. I know you have your graduation exam coming up soon”.
“Please, don’t worry about it. It’s more important to me that you don’t fall behind”.
Though he said such things, it was clear Elios had a clear study plan for himself. He wasn’t the kind of person to fall behind on such things.
Since Lynn was selected as a provisional member of Magulheim, it seemed to him that Elios viewed him differently.
Before, at the most Lynn represented at best nothing more than a pleasant junior who would often lean on him, and seek advice every so often.
Of course, he had always gladly given Lynn a helping hand whenever he could, but now had begun to see promise in him too.
He sat, facing Lynn, and when he spoke he did so with feverish excitement.
“It might be too forward of me to say this, but I think I actually underestimated you before, Lynn. I always thought you had potential, but to be selected for Magulheim… Up until now there hasn’t been a single member in that guild who was a commoner… To put it simply, it’s a brilliant achievement, Lynn”.
I was born as a slave, really… I’m even lower than a commoner.
Class consciousness among the students in the academy often pivoted around one’s birth country, and area within that country.
Not a single person failed to acknowledge the class difference between the elite nobles and the other classes, but when it came to the difference between commoners and slaves, there were several different opinions.
This was certainly the case with many of his classmates. Some of them cared about his slave background, while others didn’t seem to care at all.
Some would say ‘Ain’t we more or less the same?’ on the topic of commoners and slaves, but some would make snide remarks, such as ‘You should be more mindful of where you come from’.
Theo had never once batted an eyelid at his social class. He simply didn’t care.
Elios, too, didn’t seem phased. Seemingly, he thought of him as a commoner.
“You have talent, Lynn. I bet you could even reach the upper floors of the tower. If there’s ever something I can help you with, don’t hesitate. Time spent helping you ultimately graduate is time well spent, in my book”.
Lynn looked up to Elios, so he was over the moon to hear his supportive words.
“Listen up, if you want to stand out as a wizard, all you need to worry about for now is getting the best marks you can in your classes. Study hard. Listen to your teachers and your elders, and follow the rules. Living in this kind of way pays off in the long run”.
Lynn tilted his head slightly as he pondered Elios’s words.
He has the complete opposite way of thinking as Teedro.
According to Teedro, it was no good to simply do what your teacher said. Sometimes, it was even necessary to break the rules.
What on earth should he make of these two conflicting ideas? Which philosophy was right?
He decided he would follow Elio’s advice. Besides, his way of thinking probably meshed better with his personality, anyway.
To Lynn, Elios was a good role model. It was also thanks to Elios that Lynn had developed his extensive reading habit.
“A wizard’s ability is only as big as his knowledge. Read as much as you can. That knowledge will become your weapon”, he had told him.
There was something else, too, that Elios had said and which Lynn could remember clearly.
“There’s a lack of talented men among the common class. The commoners need more people of excellence to represent them. So that’s why I want to stand out and set an example, myself, and I also want to help younger students who show good prospects for the future, the way I help you and Theo”.
Lynn didn’t want to let him down.
As usual, Yuven had been cold towards him, but there was one time when he was able to talk to her about Magulheim.
One day, at class, he noticed her stealing glances over at him after he had sat down at a desk.
As soon as he looked up at her, she quickly looked away.
He thought to himself that she must want to talk to him about what he had been up to on his expedition, and so he decided to try striking up a conversation with her.
“Hey Yuven. It’s been a while”.
“Oh, it’s you. You’re back” she said, looking surprised.
By her reaction, anyone would have thought that she had only just seen him.
Oh, how he had missed her difficult nature, he thought to himself wrly.
“I hope you enjoyed the expedition with Magulheim. Did you manage to make any connections? Did you receive any invites to tea parties from an elite noble, perhaps?”
“No, I didn’t get anything quite like that. But it was a good experience, being able to meet and work with wizards who are more powerful than me”.
“That’s such a shame. Well, at least you tried, even though it turned out to be a fool’s errand. I guess it can’t be helped though, considering your social standing”.
At that, she turned on her heels and walked away.
As ever, it seemed her mind was full with nothing but tea parties.
At least she seems her usual self.
He decided to leave it at that.
Academy life was, in comparison to the time he was just a wizard understudy in Renryll, unbelievably busy.
Between classes, work at the factory, and adjusting to his part time office job in Allfrid, time went by, and with it so did the seasons.
While Lynn was busy shifting through his gears, juggling the various elements of his new life in Allfrid, the time for Elios to take his graduation exam came to pass- and pass it he did, which gave him access to the hundredth floor.
Lynn went to see the ceremony, and there he saw others in attendance too. There was Shila and Agul, ofcourse, but also Teedro’s other friends were gathered, as well as juniors who looked up to him the way Lynn did.
Kruga, too, attended the ceremony.
Lynn shouted out in greeting.
“Congratulations Elios!”
Elios, hearing Lynn, turned to face him with a big smile on his face.
“Lynn, you came too huh?”
Elios was wearing a light blue robe, proof of his ascension to the hundredth floor and above.
“Of course!”
“By the way, is Theo here too?” He asked, looking around.
“Ah, Theo. I think he was busy with something, unfortunately” he said evasively.
In truth, he hadn’t come for the simple reason that he thought the ceremony to be a bother.
Unlike Lynn, who was interested in the upper stratum of the tower, Theo wasn’t particularly interested. It didn’t matter to him even if Elios was ascending to a new floor tier.
After all I’ve done for him, the least he could have done is see me off, Elios thought to himself.
“I see… That’s too bad. I won’t be able to come down below the hundredth floor for a while, so it would have been nice to see him today”.
Elios truly looked disappointed. He rated Theo highly, and saw a lot of potential in him. Theo, on the other hand, didn’t place much importance on their relationship.
“So it’s true, we really won’t be seeing you for a while then”.
“Yeah, the hundredth floor and above really can’t be compared to the academy or the forest of magical beasts, so I’ll have to work hard for a while. I won’t be able to show my face at the academy or Renryll for a time”.
“Good luck Elios”.
“You too. And don’t slack off! I’ll be waiting for you on the higher floors. And Theo, tell him too for me, ok?”
“Ok, and I will”.
Just then someone shouted for Elios.
“Elios! It’s time. We have to get going”
“I know, I know, I’ll be right there”.
The elevator to the hundredth floor could be ridden at any time, but it was said that riding it later in the day could be dangerous.
Lynn didn’t really understand the details, but he had heard that when you ride it for the first time, it was best to do it as early as you could manage.
Just as Elios was about to enter the elevator, his closest friends- Shila, Agul, and Kruga- all shouted out farewells.
“Take care, Elios. Be careful!”
“Don’t push yourself too hard”.
“I’ll be alright, don’t worry about me. Oh, Kruga, you came too”, he said, mildly surprised.
“Of course I did, would I really miss such a gala occasion for my good friend? But Elios, how could you just go ahead and graduate while I’m still having trouble with classes on the ninetieth floor!”
Kruga spoke in a good natured way. In actual fact, Elios had graduated on an extraordinarily fast time scale.
He had graduated faster than any of his peers, and certainly faster than anyone else in the academy within recent history. He was an undeniable talent.
“You check in on me way too often, Kruga”, he ribbed.
“That may be true, but graduating so fast is abnormal, man. It’s unnatural”.
“Come on now, you’re exaggerating”.
The two talked for a couple of minutes. Watching them, Lynn felt the mutual respect that they had for one another, and the bond that that kind of relationship forged.
At last, Agul urged on the departure, sensing that time was threatening to break away from them.
“Elios, why don’t you say something to us all as a last farewell?”
“Ok. Everyone, listen up”, he called out, addressing the small gathering.
“What drove me to graduate as fast as I did can be owed to nothing else other than my desire to raise the respect of the common class. The wizards enrolled in classes in the upper floors are clearly biased towards the nobles and the elite. This kind of bias based on social class is seen throughout the tower, as well as in other places. It’s rooted in discrimination. And it’s preventing the development of many many wizards from the common class, who would otherwise grow into great wizards. And so, I’m recruiting others who share my view and ambition, to join the guild I’m founding. For now, there can’t be many who would want to join a guild started by someone who’s fresh out of the academy. But if I can just show some success on the upper floors, I’m sure that will change. Now, I might never become such a great wizard myself. But with many small victories for the common class, one day I hope we can contribute to the evolution of society, to the point where the idea of a great wizard emerging from the common class is no longer seen as something far fetched”.
The small gathering erupted in applause.
Lynn too felt moved by Elios’s ambition.
As one would expect from Elios san. He’s always thinking of others, and not just himself.
Suddenly something occurred to Lynn. He looked over to where Agul was standing.
Agul was from a high class family. Just what was he thinking as he listened to Elios’s speech?
Next he looked over to Kruga. He didn’t seem particularly happy, nor did he seem particularly annoyed. He had listened with a neutral expression.
It was exactly as if he simply wasn’t interested in what he was saying.
Seeing Kruga’s demeanor, Lynn felt slightly uncomfortable.
Elios embraced Shila and Agul in one final goodbye hug, and said his last goodbye.
“Well then, I’ll see you guys around”.
With that, he bundled into the elevator.
“Elios!” Kruga shouted, as if to stop him.
“What is it?” Elios asked, looking at Kruga suspiciously.
Kruga was silent for a few, long moments.
“No, it’s nothing. Be careful”.
Elios laughed coldly, and said “You hurry and get yourself up there, too. To the hundredth floor”.
At that moment, the elevator doors closed shut.
The elevator, which cradled Elios within its grasp, groaned to life ominously, and shot upwards.
Lynn suddenly felt afraid for Elios, though he didn’t know why.
“Will Elios be ok?” He asked Shila.
“He’ll be fine. After all, he’s always matured faster than anyone else. That’ll be the same even on floor one hundred. I’m sure when we see him next, he’ll be even stronger”.
Next time… Chapter 43, ‘Theo’s Suspicious Behaviour’.
