Experience

"I had a reputation here before I lived in Brergan, boy. While I don't make as much as the last time I lived here, everyone knows me and trusts me to provide quality. Now that I'm back in business and out of retirement, I drudged up some of my older contacts.

"I supply three hundred and twelve of Hetforn's stores with repair services, twenty stores with wand cores, another two hundred stores throughout the empire with wands and repairs, and I even have a side business making windows and fixing infrastructure for the cities."

"Please don't take offense, old man, but how can one man do so much?"

"You forget, boy. I'm an Adept. While I still need sleep, it's only about twelve hours a week. And for me, there's nothing more enjoyable than plying my trade. With how long I've been doing this, I can finish anywhere from thirty to two hundred jobs every two hours, depending on what the task is.

"Now, are you going to answer me, or keep pestering me with questions? I'm not as patient as I was in my youth."

"I accept," Fate replied immediately.

"Good. You start tomorrow. Be here by five o'clock, and not a second later. Now go on, I need to finish this damn bridge before I get an earful from the city planner."

"It's nice seeing you again, old man," Fate called out over his shoulder as he made to leave.

"Just don't go causing trouble like you did in Brergan!" Old Man Travis called as Fate left the store.

'Too late for that,' Fate thought with a wry smile.

With that out of the way, he went back to his dorm room and sat down on the couch, pulling the last two lectures, physics and etiquette, out of his storage ring and using the former.

This lecture expanded upon the previous one, going into deeper detail on the laws of physics. He spent the next forty-five minutes letting the knowledge merge with his mind before moving on to etiquette.

Between physics and etiquette, Fate expected the latter to be more useful at this moment. He'd already gotten into two fights just this week because he didn't know how to walk the minefield that was a battle of words.

But he was left disappointed. Like the first lecture, this one covered irrelevant topics that Fate doubted he would ever need to use. While the first introduced them to the evolution of etiquette, this class the professor discussed a staple of nobles: banquets.

When to eat, when to sit down, when it's appropriate to talk, which napkin to use to wipe your mouth. The professor covered all this and more, and promised that the next class would be more of the same.

Fate finished the memory and could only think of one word to describe his feelings: robbed.

'None of that's going to help me not piss off every noble I speak to,' Fate sighed. 'And I doubt a commoner like me would ever even need to worry about tea parties.'

Although when he thought about it, this information could come into play if and when he ever became a Guard. Along with being soldiers, peacekeepers, and police, the Guards were also the Empress' diplomats.

On top of meeting with the various sentient species on Ziobrun, the Guards dealt with nobles on a regular basis. They were often called to resolve disputes between houses and between the nobles and their subjects.

Since they were representing the Empress herself, they were expected to be the picture of respect. When Fate got to this line of thought, he spent another ten minutes going back over the material.

It was boring, but he pushed through because he knew he had to. Even if he had no plans to become a Guard, he still needed to pass the class.

When Fate was done, it was three in the evening. With nothing better to do, he cracked open his history textbook and got to reading.

Fast-forward to Monday, and Fate was sitting in his first class of the day. His Vice category class was taught by Professor Andena, a brash woman in silver robes. Her long brown hair framed her pretty face and black eyes, cascading down her back with more volume than she herself had.

She was worryingly skinny, so much so that Fate could see the bones in her ribcage through her robes. But even with such an appearance, she wasn't the most exotic woman in the classroom.

In the front of the class, on the opposite side of the room from Fate, a unique teenager leaned against the wall with an attentive expression as she absorbed Andena's teachings.

She had four ridged horns jutting out of her skull, the spot where they protruded hidden within her hair, with two horns much larger than the others. The larger ones were about nine inches long, with a slight backward curve.

They were an inch thick at the base before tapering upwards starting an inch up. The smaller horns were around two inches long and a quarter of an inch thick, and were found outside and slightly behind the larger horns. Behind these was a pair of fluffy, dark brown fox ears, the same color as her hair.

Her skin was a light brown, complimenting her large brown eyes, which remained acutely focused on Professor Andena. The dark brown fox ears jutting out of her head pointed toward the professor to catch her every word.

Although Fate couldn't see a tail, he instantly recognized her as a kitsubus thanks to his history professor's memories. He gave her a short glance when he walked in but afterward remained focused on the professor.

Professor Andena, somehow harsher than even the militant Professor Redek, was currently explaining one of the common misconceptions of Vices.

"Many people think the Vice Facets are purely negative. A Lust Mage is some sex-crazed maniac, a Wrath Mage needs to feel blood on their skin to increase in power. While these can be true, the majority of the time it is wrong.