"24 days means I will return to Earth on August 6th at 8 AM," Zane thought. This news wasn't as bad as he had thought. Disappearing for 24 hours is manageable, unlike the weeks or months he had initially thought would be. While his mother was prepared for his affairs, his sister, the shop, and his friend, Myk, might not be able to handle such a long period without knowing his whereabouts.
The group followed Xi'Ke as he showed the different school facilities, starting with the outdoor training area. According to the guide, the school was divided into east and west; the east was the Mage Wing, and the West was the Knight Wing. Most of their facilities were separated, but a few were not; the training was shared ground.
From Zane's point of view, the training ground was no different from the gymnasium at MIT or Harvard. There was a state-of-the-art gym with services such as massage therapy, a sauna to facilitate energy recovery, meditation rooms, spell training rooms, and even a gravity room. Zane was happy to have a place to practice his spellcasting and maybe even continue his running routines.
The second place the group visited was the dorm. The man and the woman each had their own building, the former called the Crimson Scale Yard and the other the Crimson Feather Yard. "Why is the room so large?" someone asked as soon as they entered. That single dormitory had four rooms, each with its own closet and bathroom.
"It's like the Tardis — bigger on the inside," another student commented.
"Is this a Spatial Modulation Field?" Zane muttered to himself. "Extending the spatial dimension of an area to create a pocket dimension." Such technology has only been possible in speculative fiction, but now the tower has not only achieved it but also applied it to solve the academy's housing issue.
Xi'Ke subtly glanced at Zane before asking, "What's a Tardis? I've never heard of it. Is this an Earth thing?" Someone immediately explained the concept of Doctor Who and the TARDIS to him.
"You, Earthlings, are quite creative," Xi'Ke smiled. In his home dimension, most mortals struggle to live day-to-day, leaving no time or opportunity to write fiction, let alone to develop a global entertainment system. Most people are illiterate, so there is even less opportunity for them to engage in the arts.
"But, you're correct. The inside dimension of this room has been extended by magic to create more space for the dorm," Xi'Ke explained.
"What level of spell is that?" a student asked.
"I believe it's a 2-ring spatial spell."
"I thought it would at least be 4 rings."
Xi'Ke smiled but did not comment. The power of a Grand Mage is not something even someone of his level could comprehend, let alone these apprentices with less than two weeks of training. "Alright, let's continue."
Zane was the last to live. When he was young, he believed technology was the key to solving all the world's issues: world hunger, climate change, aging, and so much more. His obsession with Star Trek and science fiction further fueled these thoughts. That's probably how his desire, maybe obsession, with changing the world started: he wanted to live in a world similar to the United Federation of Planets.
Sadly, as he grew older, he realized how naive he had been. There were too many societal and cultural issues plaguing the world. Issues that advanced technology alone would fail to solve, but would also aggravate. Of course, the greatest crushing defeat to his dream was when he realized the limitations of technology. The world of Star Trek was centuries in the future, and given the pace of Earth's technological development, Zane knew there was no way he could have succeeded. Reality then forced him to grow up and label these dreams as childish, nothing more than dreams.
"Science and technology have their limits, but the same cannot be said for magic," Zane thought. The idea of molding Earth into what his childhood self had dreamed of suddenly resurfaced, and for a moment, he couldn't remove it from his head. However, he soon remembered the reality of the future.
"Earth will not survive. So, instead of dreaming about such a thing, it's better to concentrate on acquiring one of the spots and leaving this place. Maybe one day, when I'm powerful enough, I can return and retake this place from Shakurri and rebuild it from scratch."
Zane removed these wild thoughts from his mind before hurriedly following the group. The female dormitory was in another door, so Xi'Ke led everybody to the building, but he did not go inside. The third facility the group visited was Zane's Heaven: the library. His eyes almost popped out of excitement.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Xi'Ke smiled. "For us Mages, knowledge is everything. It is the key to our power."
"Is everything free?" Zane immediately asked, knowing how these people operated.
"Yes, well, 90% of it is free," Xi'Ke admitted.
Zane secretly shook his head while thinking, "The remaining 10% is probably the truly valuable knowledge." However, he wasn't going to complain. Currently, he would accept whatever information he could absorb.
"However, I'll give you a tip," Xi'Ke continued after seeing his expression. "If you want to get access to the 10% with a small cost, join a class, gain the professor's acknowledgment, and they will grant you access to their personal library. That's the true treasure hoard."
"Thanks," Zane nodded. This tip might come in handy. Although classes require money, the cost might be lower than renting dozens, maybe even hundreds, of books. Of course, there is also the aspect of gaining a professor's acknowledgment. Zane has met countless professors at school with a variety of strange personalities; so, he reckoned the situation might be the same for this magic academy, maybe even worse.
The library tour continued, and someone else asked a question: "I see there are other floors. What's up there?"
"The second floor contains knowledge for official mages from first to third rank."
"Is there a third floor for Grand Mages?"
"I heard so, but I haven't confirmed it," Xi'Ke revealed. Despite working for the tower, he has only entered the second floor, and information about the third floor was not even a part of his training. Xi'Ke continued the tour, showing everyone the correct procedure for borrowing books, the rules for return, and even proper library etiquette, which were similar to those on Earth.
"That's it for the library. Any last question?"
"I have a question, but I don't know if you can answer," Zane asked.
"I'll do my best, "Xi'Ke smiled.
"The tower specifies that any free knowledge granted cannot be passed on to someone else," Zane stated. Xi'Ke had reiterated this rule during the tour. "What about knowledge bought? To be specific, I want to know under what circumstances we could share the knowledge we acquire."
"That's a great question, and one that I have some answers to, but not all," Xi'Ke uttered. "Firstly, even if you buy, you cannot share with others. The buying process even involved signing a binding magical contract. Secondly, knowledge acquired through some of the dimension shifts is yours to use freely."
"What do you mean by some? Can you be more specific?" someone else asked before Zane could.
"I can't, since there isn't a system. But you will be given a heads-up beforehand."
Zane nodded. Although this information wasn't as detailed as he wanted, it was enough for now.
"Knowledge exchange between recruits is permitted, but they are not under the tower's supervision unless you use an official service. So, if one person refuses to fulfill their part of the agreement or hand off faulty information, the tower will not be responsible.
"Lastly, knowledge created by you belongs solely to you. So, if you were to publish an article or create a new spell, you would have the sole right to utilize it. Of course, you can also sell all the rights to the tower, but in that case, you would lose control — unless you negotiate an agreement in your contract."
"What you're saying is that the tower encourages innovation?"
"Not just the tower. Mages across the Astral Cosmos encourage innovation and creation," Xi'Ke smiled. He then looked at Zane. "Does that answer satisfy you?"
"Yes. Thank you."
"No problem. Anyone else?" After seeing no one raising their hands, Xi'Ke led the team out of the library. Zane took one last look at this place, then set an alarm on his phone before following the group. The tour took more than two hours, and around noon, they finally reached the last stop: the cafeteria.
Everybody sat at a long table, which was obviously set up just for today's orientation. Xi'Ke demonstrated to the team how to order by tapping on the table to manifest a holographic menu. "Just choose what you want, and it will be delivered," the handsome mage said with a playful smile.
"Hmm? This menu — why does it have every Earth food?"
"You're right. I see French escargot, Spanish paella, and even authentic and American Chinese food."
"It's true. I've never left the US, so is this my chance at tasting foreign food?"
"Forget foreign food. I want to experience other states' food."
"I'm also interested in US food."
"You're Canadian?"
"Yes."
"Oh."
"Why did you say it like that? You have a problem with Canadians?"
"No, no, just unexpected."
"We are part of North America, so why wouldn't we be here?"
"Don't mind him. He's American, so it's normal if he thinks the world revolves around him."
"With that accent, you must be British."
"And what of it?"
"Do you want a reenactment of the War of Independence?"
Zane zoned out of the conversation and focused on the menu. Indeed, as everybody stated, there was food from every country and region; he even checked from the motherland, Ghana, and saw a long list of dishes, many of which he had never heard of. However, since he had leftovers of jollof rice this morning, he was not interested in traditional Ghanaian food.
Instead, he bought from the two countries he thinks have the best food, besides his mother's cooking — Mexico and China. On his trip to Mexico, he had the best tacos of his life, and ever since, he has never been able to experience that taste again. So, he ordered five Carne Asada Tacos with a large serving of braised pork belly and a mango agua fresca.
There was a thirty-second wait, so Zane focused on the menu, thinking about what he would eat later. The cafeteria was free, and he planned to take full advantage of this fact. However, his eyes suddenly wandered to a section labeled: Magical Food.
Zane immediately checked and soon shook his head. Food cooked from magical creatures and special methods was available, and they had many effects, including raising mana capacity. The issue was that everything was costly. The cheapest item on the menu costs 20 magic crystals.
"The price is at least 20% cheaper compared to the plaza's restaurant," Zane thought as he forcefully removed his eyes from that section.
Thirty seconds passed, and something magical happened: a white light descended before Zane, and the food he had ordered instantly appeared on a tray, along with utensils such as napkins, spoons, forks, and a pair of chopsticks. He glanced around, and the same phenomenon was happening to everybody.
"Magic is magical," Zane thought. He couldn't stop saying that, but each time, he meant it with all his heart. Without wasting another moment, he took the first bite. What can he say? The food was impeccable. The smell was appetizing enough, but it somehow blended with the spices to create a unified whole. The final product was a taste that can only be described as heavenly.
While enjoying his food, Zane suddenly felt a sensation in his left hand. To his surprise, he had received an email from the tour guide, Xi'Ke. Why did the guide suddenly email him? Intrigued, he opened it to see the content.
[I can't publicly reveal too much information, but I know that at some point during the training, the tower will release Vouchers that allow the Earthlings to freely use all the knowledge they have acquired and build their own power. However, the voucher prices are high. The lowest tier costs at least 25,000 magic crystals, and the highest tier goes for a few million.
[Please, keep this information to yourself for now.
[Signed: the best guide in the world, Xi'Ke Zeluo.]