Monroe

Chapter Two Hundred and Seventy-One. Education.

The Warlocks Tower was located in the center of the city, although the name was ill-fitting. There were seven towers that surrounded an eighth in the center, joined together by covered walkways at a variety of levels, each tower to its neighbor and also to the central tower, which radiated walkways to the outer towers like spokes on a wheel.

"Seven towers, one for each of the Arcane Schools of Magic," Yorrick explained as they approached what Ed was mentally referring to as a campus. "The central tower is where we hold general education classes."

Following Yorrick, the broad boulevard they were walking up led them directly between two of the towers. As they drew closer, Ed noted without surprise that they were constructed of stones, each a similar size to the ones found on the wall, although these were curved, as the towers were round. He estimated each tower was likely a hundred feet across at the base and twenty stories or more tall.

When he'd seen Yorrick's promotional video for the Empire, he'd wondered how much of it had been theatre and camera angles, having had long experience with the wonders a studio could produce. After the Cathedral and now the Towers, he was forced to admit that while the camera work had been solid, it was the subject matter that was stellar.

He turned to ask Yorrick a question when he was suddenly knocked off his feet as something crashed into his side.

"Bessy! Abyss, take you, get back here!"

Ed rolled to his side and scrambled to his feet, eyes wide at the spectacle unfolding in front of him.

A young man in dark green robes, with a seven-pointed star contained in a circle embroidered on the chest in golden thread, was frantically casting what Ed thought were Eldritch Walls, attempting to corral what appeared, to the untrained eye, to be a rather large cow.

The creature was bucking and hoping and tossing its head as it threw itself against the walls of force as quickly as they appeared. Suddenly, chains of glittering jade shot out of the ground and entangled the beast, pulling it down and holding it in place, where it let out a plaintive 'mmmooooooo.'

"Stars and stones, thank you," the young man wheezed, turning toward Ed and Yorrick before freezing. "L-l-lord Wrathsbane," he stuttered, bowing at the waist.

"None of that," Yorrick said amiably, "As I've told entire generations of you if I'm not wearing my robes, it's Yorrick."

The young man slowly straightened, his face pale and his breath more ragged now than when he'd been chasing the cow.

"Elrwyn, isn't it?" Yorrick asked.

"Yes, sir," Elrwyn replied.

Yorrick's ever-present smile widened in delight. "I thought I recognized you," he said, then glanced at the despondent bovine chained to the ground. "I take it you're practicing for the ritual summoning exam?"

"I was," Elrwyn replied with a grimace. "I'd say I succeeded, given how lively Bessy there is, but I hadn't ever worked with cattle before, so when I finally got her working, she caught me by surprise."

"Still, well done," Yorrick congratulated him. "The chains should last another minute or so," his grin turned mischievous, "so if I were you, I'd work out some way to get her under control before they do."

Elrwyn nodded seriously and turned his attention to Ed. "Sorry about that, sir, you're not injured, are you?"

Ed shook his head. "Much like you, Bessy just caught me by surprise," he replied.

Elrwyn nodded and then walked over to Bessy. "Bad cow!" he scolded, then began casting a series of spells that created a set of hobbles on the cow's legs, as well as harness.

Yorrick chuckled and turned to walk away, gesturing for Ed to join him.

"Summoning real creatures can be a bit tricky," Yorrick explained. "Often, you just get dull, blank-eyed summons that has to be instructed to do anything, which, as you can imagine, is not useful. You have to really understand the natural behavior and temperament of an animal to summon one that can think for itself." He chuckled. "Young Elrwyn back there probably studied every book he could find on cattle, which will work," he admitted, "but he would have been better served to observe them directly."

"Why summon a cow, though?" Ed asked. "It seems like a waste of crystals to summon out an animal to eat when you can just pull them out of a Dungeon."

"Milk, of course," Yorrick replied easily. "The herds always suffer during a Tide, as while the monsters don't attack them, they tend to get a bit squished in the festivities. Karce has grown over the millennia, and there isn't enough room to bring all of the herds inside, so the summoning exam this year will have our students summoning cattle to replace the losses."

Ed nodded. The fact of the matter was that he still had trouble wrapping his head around the idea that almost every problem had a magical solution.

"I had Elwryn in my introductory Abjuration class last year," Yorrick continued. "He's very bright, and I hope he buys an Abjuration Affinity Crystal to use when he reincarnates. Summoning is incredibly versatile, but in my somewhat biased opinion, Abjuration is the real star of the Arcane Sphere."

"How old is he?" Ed asked.

"Seventeen or eighteen," Yorrick replied. "We start our general education when our citizens are eight years old, but we don't allow them to level up or take a path until they turn sixteen." He sighed and shook his head. "Not that the restriction stops them," he grumbled good-naturedly, his grin belying his tone. "It's not unusual for parents to set the foundations of their child's path by having them level up and take a school, or if they have the means, use an Affinity Crystal. I'd say one in ten of our students have sneaked a level or two before they join the Tower, and I'm given to understand that this rate is comparable to the Church as well as the Bulwark."

"We have legislation pending of the same nature," Ed agreed. "Although we have the age set to eighteen, as in the United States, that is considered the age of majority."

As they walked, Ed noticed that more and more of the people around them were wearing the green robes that he assumed were the uniform of the Warlocks Guild. "How many students do you have here?"

"General students, about ten thousand," Yorrick said thoughtfully. "Students enrolled to become Warlocks, around a thousand. We'll likely pick up a few hundred more in the next few months, tides have a way of inspiring people to service."

"How many people live in Karce?" Ed asked.

"Four hundred thousand, give or take," Yorrick replied. "Of which, we boast five thousand Warlocks, ten thousand clergy, and twenty thousand members of the Bulwark, which, to be fair, is often comprised of Warlocks or clergy who have retired out of their respective organizations. But really, those aren't the important numbers. The important numbers are the over one thousand tier eight people in the city," he grinned, "most of whom are either capped or have pushed forward, becoming faux tier nines. Actual tier nine beings, such as myself, are burdened with duties and responsibilities that not everyone wants, so there are many who choose not to advance until they're able to set aside time to embrace everything being a tier nine in the Empire entails."

Ed let out a whistle. A thousand people at the cap of tier eight was impressive.

"Right?" Yorrick agreed. "Karce is the safest city on Thayland during a Tide."

They'd reached the central tower, which was half again the size of the outer towers. An overly large set of outer doors, twenty feet high and twenty feet wide, stood open, welcoming them into the tower.

Ed looked at the tower thoughtfully. "Spatial expansion?" He asked.

"Of course," Yorrick nodded, "we'd never be able to fit everyone in without it. The original tower didn't need it, but as Karce grew, it was either knock down a bunch of people's homes in order to rebuild larger towers, or spatial expansion enchantments."

Passing into the building, Ed was stunned as a veritable wall of sound greeted him. Children of all ages rushed down the hallway, laughing and shouting.

Yorrick made a gesture, and the sound cut off. "Sorry," he apologized, "I lost track of the time, I'd intended us to arrive during classes, not between."

"No, that's fine," Ed murmured as he watched the kids running around. The scene could have been any elementary school in the country if you ignored the fact that the doors were only a few feet apart from each other, implying rooms that couldn't possibly be large enough to hold the thirty or so kids who rushed into each door.

Less than a minute later, the hallway was empty, and Yorrick gestured for them to continue. "Classes are held from two hours past dawn until four hours after noon," he said. "We're pretty close to the equator, so the length of the days doesn't change that much."

"All the kids in Karce come here?" Ed asked.

"They do, even the Noble Houses, although their kids are often ahead of the curve due to tutoring," Yorrick replied.

"So they have the edge over the other kids," Ed said.

"To a degree, but given that the extra tutoring they receive is in line with their future duties, it's fairly minor," Yorrick explained. "The Noble Houses have their own etiquette, but no one uses it except them, so it's not important for anyone else to learn. Whereas a kid who isn't a noble is more likely to pick up more practical skills that the noble kids won't have, but their parents helped them practice. Normally it's their parents' profession, be it tailoring, carpentry, smithing, whatever have you. The real difference," Yorrick's smile turned humorous, "is life skills. The noble kids might know the exact degree to bow to a member of another Noble House based on the House's overall rank, the members' rank in that house, as well as the relationship between the two houses, but the rest of the kids know how to cook, clean, garden, wash and mend clothing, as well as basic first aid. The Noble kids have other people to do that for them, so the first time they go on a multi-day delve, they're always unprepared."

"I can see that," Ed agreed, having seen the issue himself when dealing with royalty.

"The notable exception is House Kol'Geith," Yorrick continued. "That House doesn't believe in hereditary positions, and anyone who joins the house starts at the very bottom."

Ed cocked his head. "How does that work?" He asked.

Yorrick shrugged. "The founder of the house codified our Dungeon designs, but the Noble Houses wouldn't allow him to inspect or regulate their Dungeons. The Emperor solved the problem by naming him the progenitor of his own Noble house, taking the vacant seat on the Noble Counsel, which had been empty ever since your friend Harveste's ancestors disappeared. That gave him equal standing, and the rest of the Houses had no choice but to allow him to attend to the duties placed on his house by the Emperor. Ever since House Kol'Geith has had a single interest; Dungeons. Only the best and brightest curators are considered for membership, and the application process is even worse than the requirements for graduating from the Warlocks Guild, which I can assure you are quite stringent."

"I had meant to ask you about that, I know in Greenwold there are a couple of types of Dungeons, although they're all being switched over to the Gated design," Ed paused as they reached an intersection where six other hallways came together at the base of a massive staircase. "Are those magic stairs?" Ed asked.

"Just regular stairs, I'm afraid," Ed replied with a grin, motioning for Ed to follow as he began to walk up the steps. "You were asking about our Dungeons?"

"I was," Ed shook his head as he walked up the stairs. He didn't get tired going up multiple flights of stairs anymore, nor did he go out of breath, but his right knee still didn't like stairs, and he hadn't reincarnated to fix it. "Does the Empire use the Gated design?"

"Yes, but not really," Yorrick hedged, "although technically yes?"

"Oh good, I was worried that the Empire wasn't ever going to give me the nonsensical nonanswers that I usually get back on Earth," Ed replied.

Yorrick laughed and motioned for Ed to keep climbing when they reached the second floor. "Our Dungeon design philosophy is a lot different from Greenwold's," Yorrick began. "Greenwold's Dungeons, regardless of the model they've used to deliver delvers to the desired level of challenge, have always been designed with the monsters spawning at specific points at specific frequencies. This allows for a high degree of safety and productivity but fails to serve as a training tool for facing waves and tides, as well as those who venture outside the safety of our walls and explore our world. The Empire's Dungeons, while arguably more dangerous, resulting in more competent people."

"You have Dungeons that replicate a wave or tide?" Ed asked in disbelief.

"We do," Yorrick nodded. "They train our people to work together as a cohesive unit."

"So when you said a multiday delve, you mean that people practice facing tides," Ed muttered.

"Well, yes, but that's never a student's first multiday delve," Yorrick replied. "Their first multiday delve is an exploration scenario, and that delve is held towards the end of their last year after they've all taken their path and had a bit of time to practice their skills and spells."

Yorrick must have noticed his expression as he continued. "They are all sixteen during their last year, so we spend six months delving for a few hours each day, where they learn to delve safely, as well as leveling up their skills and gaining the crystals they need to advance." He threw a grin back over his shoulder as they passed the landing for the fourth floor. "Once they're pathed up, we start alternating, spending a full day delving, then a day of classwork. Towards the end of the last semester, they'll start doing three days in, three days out, doing exploration Dungeons. We'll also mix in some delves that simulate waves. The last month is spent preparing for, and then delving, three separate delves that simulate tides, scaled-down, of course."

They'd reached the fifth floor landing, and rather than continuing up, Yorrick walked down one of the hallways.

"Believe me," Yorrick had paused at one of the doors, and he caught Ed's eyes, "we do everything in our power to make sure our citizens are prepared to take responsibility for their own safety. My sincere hope is that your people will follow our example. Starting with them," Yorrick gestured as he opened the door, revealing a classroom full of people who were definitely older than sixteen. Judging by their clothing, laptops, and tablets, they were from Earth, and they were all listening intently to the woman at the front of the classroom. She paused her lecture as she noticed the open door, then smiled at Yorrick. "We have a rare treat, it would seem. The High Seat of the Warlocks Guild, Yorrick Wrathsbane, has come to visit us."