Nagan | Broken Time Series: Book One

Chapter 8

Nagan listened intently as Master Dagmire introduced the teachers and other staff. For each teacher was a different subject associated with them. He quickly noted there were eleven main subjects taught at Carvolier: runes, incantations, botany, potions, combat, channeling & absorption, history, ethics & law, alchemy, soothsaying, and care of dragons. Anticipation and excitement swelled in his chest, and he couldn't wait until classes started.

"With introductions finished, let's go over the rules, shall we?" Master Dagmire interrupted the chattering students who were whispering amongst themselves. "First and also common sense, do not attempt to ride an unknown dragon. The dragon may be tamed, but it will not let anyone else, without their master's permission, get on their back. If you ignore this rule, there might not be much left of you to bury, if anything at all."

The room unanimously shuddered at the clear warning.

"Second, unless you are authorized to do so or if it is an emergency, no boy is allowed into the girl's hall, and no girl is allowed into the boy's hall. We do not consider desire to be an emergency." Nagan wasn't innocent enough miss the implication and heard a few snickers bounce around the hall. Master Dagmire ignored them and continued, "Third, do not attempt to force through magical barriers. There are reasons as to why they're set up — whether it be your age, status, or magical ability — and the only thing you'll gain from trying will be burns and bruises.

"Last but not least, if you are caught practicing dark or forbidden magic, there will be severe consequences. Not only is it a danger to yourself, but also to those around you. Once caught, you will be confined, purged, and put under strict surveillance." Master Dagmire looked grimly at the now silent student body with solemn, grey eyes. "Those terms may sound harsh, but believe me when I say that the process is there to save your life rather than punish you."

Those words settled around them like a heavy blanket. The younger students looked afraid, but the older ones wore equally solemn faces as Master Dagmire or were perfectly blank, as if they were blocking a memory. Perhaps a situation like that occurred recently within the school.

After the moment of silence, Master Dagmire continued on with the list of rules, but the rest seemed...insignificant. It was a bit anticlimactic, actually, in Nagan's opinion. He almost fell asleep as the Master droned on with common rules. Don't cheat. Don't steal someone else's work. Don't leave the castle after curfew. Don't purposely harm another person or teacher. Yadda yadda yadda. Master Dagmire even looked bored with this. After what felt like hours, Master Dagmire clapped his hands together for a single, crisp note, waking everyone up from their nap. "Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's start the distribution of class schedules."

The hall exploded into cheers, which nearly sent Nagan to the floor out of fright. Somehow ignoring all of this, Master Dagmire and the rest of the teachers began passing out papers that came from who knows where with either words or their mind. Nagan has seen a lot of things from his days on the streets, but magic was something entirely different. And it fascinated him.

Due to being near the platform, it wasn't long until two sheets of paper floated over to Nagan and Az. Az eagerly snatched his and scanned it rapidly with a grin, whereas Nagan had a slight dilemma. He was still in Tarkon. All the words were written in Tarkovish. Just because he could speak a language fine didn't mean he could read it well. At least he recognized the numbers.

His confusion must have been clear on his face since Az looked over to him with concern and asked with furrowed brows, "Is something the matter?"

"Uh..." Nagan started and drew a blank. Pride wouldn't let him admit his inability. He didn't want Az or anyone to think of him as illiterate. He could read, just not in this particular language. So, catching a glimpse at Az's schedule, he asked, "Why is your schedule different from mine? Aren't we in the same year?"

"Oh!" Az's brows unfurrowed, and he seemed to perk up a bit. Thank goodness he didn't suspect anything! "It's because I've already chosen what career I want to work towards. They probably just gave you general classes if you haven't picked anything yet."

"You can already choose that sort of thing?"

"Yes...? Didn't you read the letter?"

Shoot.

"I lost it before I could read all the way through it." At least that's most of the truth, Nagan thought with an internal shrug and tried to move on to a different topic, "So what did you pick?"

"Ah, I actually picked two careers," Az said sheepishly. "I couldn't decide if I wanted to be a potion master like my father or an infiniti like my mother, so I chose both. It'll be a lot of work, but I think I can do it."

"I think you can do it, too," Nagan reassured Az before turning to look at his own paper. "Is it too late to choose one now?"

"No. In fact, you can circle one or two right here at the top." Az pointed out the small letters to Nagan while the latter cursed silently. This was going to be tricky.

"Can you tell me what each one is? What do they do?" Nagan couldn't help but congratulate himself on his cleverness.

Thankfully, Az obliged and started to explain what each career did. He did so well, in fact, by the time he was done, Nagan already knew what he wanted. Caster, a master of silent incantations. As if the paper knew what he was thinking, the ink shifted to form new words. Not that he could read it anyway, but at least it showed a small map at the bottom of the page.

There was a sudden sound of a chair scraping against the floor loudly before Nagan felt a presence over his shoulder. He glared at Az, who was now hovering above him, as once again he had invaded his personal space out of shock.

"No way! The words moved without you doing anything!"

"Is...that unusual?"

"I mean, I didn't know that could happen. You were supposed to circle the career to prompt the schedule to change, but it's like it already knew what you'd choose," Az leaned closer, "Caster, huh? I think that's a great fit for you, actually."

Az grinned down at Nagan as the latter continued to glare up at him. It took a few seconds, but Az quickly figured out what was wrong and jumped back with his hands up in surrender. A nervous chuckle escaped his lips. "Ahaha...No surprising you. Got it," and he sat back in his seat.

Nagan continued to glare. "You know, maybe I should give you a good knock to the head to make sure it sticks." It was an empty threat, but Az still had the audacity to laugh in the face of danger. Before Nagan could even contemplate taking a swing, however, Az stood and started to shuffle towards the door.

"C'mon, everyone's starting to head to the cafeteria for dinner."

"Wait, you mean they just give you food here?"

"...Yes?" Az didn't know what else to say to that.

Delighted at the thought, Nagan followed Az without complaint. Oh, how lucky this day has been!