The guild is nearly as busy as the square was yesterday with the preparations for the expedition clearly well under way. The main hall alone is filled with easily a hundred people or more, all rushing about.

  Orders and requests fill the space with shouts and the rustle of papers flying about. Potion vials clatter in their boxes, armor rattles, and there’s a constant thrum of murmurs and whispers in the background.

  A man with a sword nearly clips me with it as he rushes past, and another walks straight through my tail as if it weren’t even there. It’s like someone kicked a hornet’s nest, but even in the chaos, there’s a strange sense of order.

  It takes a moment, but after weaving through the crowd, I finally reach the reception desk. Instead of just one receptionist, there are several rushing back and forth from the rear offices, papers and books in hand.

  “If we’re short then find a runner and send them to Darla’s and get fifty more healing potions!” Cari yells at one of the younger receptionists before turning to another woman and pushing a stack of paper into her chest. “Enari, get this to Lewis! Sam? Where’s Sam?! I swear to the gods, if you’re trying to get out of working today of all days, I’ll shove a tentacle so far up your ass you’ll taste the mana!”

  A smaller bespectacled man squeaks out a weak “here”, and she rounds on him like a viper, unleashing a barrage of commands. From her place at the center of the desk, she looks like a queen in command of her subjects. My grin breaks free at the sight of her in her element.

  She looks good too, if a little disheveled. When she turns back to a party of Delvers waiting in front of the desk, she spots me and her eyes brighten with glee.

  “Emi!” she cries, already halfway over the counter.

  A powerful gust of wind pushes her back into her chair, and she gets a constipated look on her face at the interruption. She spins around quickly and glares at Guild Master Folly, who promptly ignores her and waves me down.

  “You two can talk later, I need to borrow Emilia for a moment,” he says, his voice carrying through strands of air and magic.

  Cari deflates, so I assume she also heard what he said. I give her an apologetic look, but she shrugs it off and mouths “later” at me. Then she’s right back to yelling at the other poor receptionists—and any Delver dumb enough to need help.

  It takes a bit to squeeze past the rushing guild workers, but when I do, Folly sets a brisk pace as he guides me to his office. His incredibly basic, plain office. I don’t know why, but I expected it to be more eccentric…

  He waves me inside and closes the door behind himself, cutting the hustle and bustle of the Guild out entirely. The silence is almost oppressive, it’s so sudden. He directs me to a chair in front of his desk and takes a seat in his own opposite me.

  “Do you know what this is?” he asks after pulling a messaging tablet from one of his drawers and placing it in front of me.

  “I do,” I say, a little nervously.

  They aren’t rare, but they are expensive. A single pair of tablets connected to only each other goes for well over ten gold, while ones that connect to more than that grow exponentially more pricey. This one looks like one of those.

  “Ah, good. To the point then, there is someone who wishes to speak with you and make an offer. Before you ask, no, I will not tell you who it is. This is one of the few times I get to have a little fun, and I won’t be spoiling it,” he says, holding a hand up to stop me.

  Why would anyone want to talk to me, specifically? Unless they somehow knew I’m the System Waker…

  Shit.

  “Ah, don’t give me that look. It’s good news. But before that, there’s work to discuss. Do you have a party you wish to join for this expedition?” he asks.

  The statement throws me off momentarily, and the question derails me entirely.

  “Uh… no?” I say.

  At my confused look he chuckles.

  “That’s fine. I figured you would be a solo Delver, given how many party invites you turned down since your test. I just needed to know for sure so that I could include it in the planning,” he says, then claps his hands once with a broad grin. “Now then! Are you ready to speak to the messenger?”

  I give him a shrug. I was curious now, at the very least. If Folly says the messenger is a bearer of good news, then it can’t be that they found out who I am. But what did that leave? And why now?

  He touches the tablet and activates it. I’m not sure how they work, but its runes seem to slowly blink with the light of the magic in them, as if they’re waiting. Then, after not even ten seconds have passed, they flare to life in full.

  Much like the time I had my Status checked for my new Guild badge, an illusion appears before us. Instead of a status, it’s a man scrutinizing the space with excitement clear in his gaze. When his eyes land on me, he beams.

  “Is this her?!” he asks, turning to Folly.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  The Guild Master just nods with a smile, and the excitable illusory man whips back around.

  “Greetings, Miss Emilia! I’ll get right to the point—I am a representative of Elderwynd Academy, and we’d like to invite you to attend our school,” he says, his smile widening.

  That brings my mind to a stuttering halt.

  “Huh?”

  The Elderwynd Academy is famous. Beyond famous, really. It’s one of the only places I’ve ever read about that was around even before the Undone Age. It was apparently taken over by some old Elf that turned it into a school.

  It's the most well renowned school in all of Tyrania. Possibly the entire world, if it’s actually true that the other nations send their brightest to attend as well.

  Hells, even Cari gushes about the place. It’s her dream to be able to attend, but she’s never been able to afford it.

  “I see that you understand the significance of our offer! Good. Of course, the cost of your attendance will be fully covered. Uniforms, lodging, food… we’ll take care of it. And we’ll even reimburse you the cost of travel. If my memory serves, there is a railway station that connects with Bephis’ first layer, so it shouldn’t be an issue,” he continues, trampling through my confusion.

  “Why?” I ask. It’s the only thing I can think of at the moment, overwhelmed as I am.

  “Oh-hoh! You cut right into the matter, don’t you? Well, there is a catch, so to speak. We have invited everyone who once had no access to the System before the Update in order to study the effects of the Update on them. If you do decide to attend, we will require an interview to learn about your System acclimation experience. We’d also like to observe your growth with the System in real time,” he says gleefully.

  Oh. Well, that’s not terrible, I suppose. I’m still a bit skeptical of being able to hide that I’m basically the reason for the update in the first place. Especially if they’re going to be as detailed and thorough as he’s implying.

  At the same time, the Elderwynd Academy is—without a doubt—my best shot at getting strong enough to handle anything that comes my way. If I want to stand up to the world at large as the System Waker, I need to grow fast.

  According to Cari, attendance only lasts three years, and most people who graduate leave at close to level one-hundred.

  Maybe I could do that on my own, and faster. But I was already reaching the end of the road here in Bephis. When I reach Tier One and am inevitably forced to leave to continue growing, could I grow that much in three years?

  Leveling drastically slows with each Tier, so I honestly don't know. If I went it alone, I'd be short all the knowledge the Academy is bound to offer, and I know exactly how important knowledge is.

  They were offering a clearer path. A direct line to the power I need. I just have to make sure nobody found out who I really was.

  And there was one more thing…

  “I want Cari to go with me. Also paid for in full, just like me,” I demand, and the illusory mans smile somehow grows even brighter as he nods excitedly.

  “Is that all?” he asks.

  My eyes almost widen at his reaction, but Charisma saves me from looking foolish this time. He didn’t even flinch at my demand… so I ask for the next thing.

  “I want the freedom to leave whenever I want,” I say.

  “Anything else?” he asks, still just as excited.

  Well, in for a copper…

  “I want to meet the headmaster.”

  Finally, a reaction. His smile smooths out into a thoughtful expression as he eyes me critically. It makes sense, honestly. The headmaster is notorious for snubbing anyone and everyone he doesn’t like, even going so far as to move the entire academy itself to another nation entirely once.

  That’s actually the reason why Theola is the capitol of Tyrania, instead of Alberin like it used to be. A meeting with the man capable of such feats isn’t a cheap ask. But… if it works, and his reputation holds any merit at all, he might be one of the few people I can actually trust. His hatred of politics and wars is legendary.

  “Hm… I believe I can arrange for that,” he says, a twinkle in his eye. “Very well. We can meet your conditions. Is that acceptable?”

  “Yes!” I say quickly, before he can rethink it.

  “Wonderful! Then we shall be expecting you at the start of the next semester in three months time. The paperwork will be ready with our terms, but you and your friend will still be expected to take the entrance exams in order to determine which classes you will need for your first year. Otherwise… we look forward to seeing you both!” he says with a grin, before waving a hand and cutting the connection to the tablet.

  Before, I was unable to see Guild Master Folly’s face thanks to the illusion between us. Now, I see him grinning like a fool.

  “Congratulations! And you decided to invite Cari along?! She’ll absolutely love that. Though I will certainly miss her… she’s too good at her job. I don’t know whether to be upset with you, or happy for Cari,” he says.

  “Well, you can take joy in knowing that I’m likely to have a broken spine once she hears the news. Her hugs are something else,” I say, chuckling.

  He waves away my fears and says, “I do request that you tell her once we return from the delve, though. If you tell her and do not return…”

  He doesn’t even have to finish that sentence. She would be excited about attending the school of her dreams, only to then lose it and me if I fail to return safely. It wasn’t worth the risk to put her through that much heartache.

  So I give him a solemn nod.

  “Good. Now then, off you go. I’m sure you have preparations to make for tomorrow's delve, and I have far too much paperwork to do still,” he says, waving me to the door.

  Making my way back to the lobby is just as tedious as it was getting to his office, but I don’t mind it. My mind is stuck on all the good news I have for Cari, and my tail refuses to sit still for even a moment no matter how hard I will it to.

  Eventually, I’m back at the reception desk. When Cari stops yelling at a poor D-rank Delver for improperly signing some paperwork or something, I tap her on the shoulder from behind. She spins on me, brows furrowed and a shout ready on her lips, only to freeze. Then she explodes into motion, crushing me with a hug.

  “Emi! I missed you! Also, you’re an ass! You didn’t even say goodbye!” she says, still shouting, but only loud enough to be heard over all the noise.

  “Sorry! I didn’t want to wake you,” I say with a smile as I hug her back.

  She’s looking a bit frazzled, so I decide to give her a little shock while I still have her. With my tail going crazy, I purposefully let out a nice, loud, rumbling purr. My whole chest vibrates with the sound, passing the motion into her own and she jerks back, holding me at arms length.

  “No fucking way, Emi. You can purr?! Since when? How? Why?!” she says.

  “I know, right? I found out yesterday!” I say, laughing.

  “That is so unfair!” she pouts.

  Then she brings me back into a hug, and I start it up again just for her. She huffs at me, but settles into the hug a little more and I can’t help but laugh at that. It stops the rumbling, but I’ve had my fun.

  “Okay, okay. I missed you too. Anyways, I’m going to go do some shopping. Need new gear and stuff for the delve. Can I crash with you tonight? I wanna talk about some stuff, and I don’t wanna leave like I did last time,” I say, lowering my tone and using Hemokinesis at the end so only she can hear me.

  We pull apart fully this time and she gives me a nod. “Yeah, I’d really like that. I’ll see you tonight?”

  “Tonight,” I promise.

  She beams at me, then someone with a blade out of its sheath catches her eye and she restarts her little queendom.