Intimancer

All three of them were quiet after that heavy revelation.  The ramifications of the kingdom losing its best and brightest were dire indeed.  Rick knew enough about history to know about the long term effects of brain drain.  It was an economic death spiral.  One that would take a couple generations to get out of at least.

Eventually the cart stopped in front of a large building near the city center.  “Welp! Here ya are.”  Tyr said while holding out her arm to the building.

Rick was shocked that he spent so much time trapped in his own head.  After he and Sade hopped out, Tyr shouted back at them while driving away down the street. “I got some people of my own ta meet today.  Let's meet back up at ‘The Ocean’s Embrace’ later.”

They stood on the side of the road until the sight of their large friend disappeared over the ridge of a nearby hill.

“Nothing stops her, does it?”  Rick asked rhetorically.

“Indeed.”  Sade agreed.  She turned to face the building, an unreadable expression on her face.  “Shall we go in?”  She eventually asked.

Rick gave a nod and followed his friend inside.  Is this where we part ways? He wondered.  He started feeling a slight tightness in his chest at the unanswered question.

They found themselves in a grand hall.  Paintings of seemingly important people framed every wall in between hallways leading to the other parts of the campus.  In the corner at the far end sat a woman behind a counter like a bank teller.  Sade made a beeline straight for this woman.

She raised her spectacled head from the book she was reading and gave a polite greeting. “Hello there.  Is there anything I can help you with?”

“I am here to register as a student.”

“Oh wonderful!”  The woman beamed. “Do you have your letter of recommendation?”

Sade reached inside one of her many, many pockets and produced a sheaf of parchment.  “I am Sade of Kanho.”

The attendant took the letter from Sade then grabbed an absolutely enormous book from under the counter and opened it up.  After perusing the giant tome, she then examined the letter in great detail.  Eventually she seemed satisfied with what the book told her and the parchment in her hands and handed it back to Sade.

“It seems everything is in order.  I take it you have the initial tuition with you?”

Sade nodded in affirmation and produced a bag from what Rick assumed was the same pocket.  It clanked against the counter and the other woman quietly opened it and started counting.

“Very good.  Is your friend here also a prospective student?”  She asked once she was done.

“He is not.  Is it alright if he joins me for the tour of the facilities?”

The woman shook her head.  “That is no problem at all.  Just remember that student facilities, including dorms, cafeteria, library, and the like are for student and faculty use only.  Outside of the tour, he will not be allowed past this point, even if you are escorting him. Now, If you wish to be shown around, I will summon a guide.”

Sade thanked the woman and before long another attendant led the both of them through the halls of Mya University.

Rick was greatly impressed with the school grounds.  While there was nothing overtly magical about the campus, not like a certain wizard school in the British Isles, but something about the architecture made him feel that there was more than just standard laborers involved in its construction.

They were guided to a couple lecture halls, rows of seats each rising behind the other like an old amphitheater, then off to some smaller classrooms where students could have more personal interaction with their instructors on more specific subjects.  This whole tour reminded Rick of the one of his own he took with his mother about half a year before he left home for the last time.

The sudden wave of nostalgia at the thought of his mother hit him harder than he thought it would.  He slowed down his pace just a bit, leaving Sade and their guide to continue while he hung back to be more alone with his thoughts.  The thought of possibly never seeing his mother again was like a vice slowly squeezing his heart to pulp.

Of his whole family, he was closest to her.  His father taught him many things, which certainly helped when he was alone in a forest, but his mother was who he was attached to emotionally.  They were so alike in both looks and personality.  The biggest reason he hesitated in moving away was because of the distance it would have put between them.  Ironically it was she who encouraged him to go, just like she crossed an ocean to study and eventually met his father while still at university.

While swan diving face first into a new world was a bit more extreme than hopping continents, it helped ease the pain somewhat that he was still following the spirit of her footsteps.  I really do hope I can see them again someday.  He chuckled at himself at the thought of poor Sade having to deal with his mother’s attention.  His mother would just love her to death… almost literally.  She had a surprisingly fierce hug.

He ran to catch back up to the unsuspecting woman in question, who was still enraptured by their guide's explanation of the various facilities at students' disposal, when his feet slowed once more.

Sade was about to start her new life.  She was going to have to deal with lectures, research, and homework.  Her road was going to be filled with lectures, research, and homework.  Was there room on her path for him?  Should he try to find his own instead?  He shook his head to clear his thoughts.  He’d deal with it later.

He managed to catch up to the women just before they visited the library, Rick had to stifle a laugh over seeing Sade practically drool after crossing the threshold.  He did have to admit that the sight was quite impressive.  Every wall was lined with bookshelves filled almost to bursting with various tomes and scrolls.

The center had several tables and chairs for students to study while every bit of floor space in between was crammed with rows and rows of books.  The ceiling also opened up in the middle showing even more stories packed with knowledge at the library’s disposal.  Each new floor was located a bit further away from the center, like an inverted pyramid could be slotted from the roof to the floor.

It was certainly a unique structural design.  Unfortunately, the tour had to continue, and their guide practically dragged Sade out of the library and onto their next destination.

The women's dorms were, understandably, left out from the tour.  Having a man who wasn’t a student walking around that building, even under escort, was just asking for trouble.  Their guide brought them back to the main hall and Sade completed the rest of her registration back at the counter.  With all that done, she would come back in a few days to get her dorm set up before her first classes began the day after.

“Are you excited to start your studies?”  Rick asked his friend after they left the University's main entrance.

“Yes.  Although it is a shame you can not join me.”  She said with all earnesty.  That made Rick feel another twinge in his chest.  He needed to get away from the school and the feelings it brought him.

“Hey, is there a beach we can visit?”

“A… beach?” Sade seemed confused at the sudden change of subject.  Her powerful mind was unable to adjust fast enough.

“Yes.  A place filled with sand where the shore meets the ocean.  Do residents of Shatak enjoy visiting a place like that?”

“I… I have no idea actually.  What would we do at the beach?”  She replied with some bewilderment.

“Great! Let’s see if we can find ourselves some waves and sand.  Oh! And maybe find a public library on the way.  Sounds good?”

Sade just gave him an exasperated look.  She then let out a small giggle and held out her hand for him to grab.  “Let us go.”

…

The gentle roar of the waves filled Rick’s ears as he and Sade walked barefoot along the sandy shore.  The first few times a wave would splash on the sand, Sade would give out a yelp of joy as the water rushed over her feet and ankles.  Rick would laugh and hold onto her so she wouldn’t fall into the soaked sand.

“Aren’t you glad you visited?”

Sade met his eyes and gave the brightest smile he had ever seen.  The sight alone soothed his aching soul.  “Indeed!  I never knew such a place could be so much fun!”  She turned behind her and looked further up the shoreline.  “I can see why she would love to spend eternity gazing at such a wonderful view.”

The statue of the goddess sat sentinel on her own island just a bit further away from where they now stood on the shore.  Up close she was even more grand than Rick thought.  He considered her size and figured that she was about as tall sitting down as a certain famous statue he visited when he was little of a woman standing on her own island overlooking an ocean, torch raised high into the air.  The two were even the same color, but Rick didn’t think the goddess was made of oxidized copper.   He wondered what kind of stone was that particular shade of sea green.

“I’m sure most people would get tired of seeing the same view after a while.  But I think staying a few years wouldn’t cause it to diminish just yet.”

“Oh?  Are we finally going to continue our conversation from earlier?”

Rick winced slightly.  She really was too damn smart.  He briefly considered telling her right then that he was from another world, that he lied about all his memory issues, among other things.  But what good would that do him?  Their destination had been reached, the journey concluded.  They were probably going to go their separate ways.  He just wanted to enjoy his time with Sade as much as he could, not talk about all the painful feelings dwelling inside him.

“It’s just… You helped me out despite knowing nothing about me.  The deal was to get you to Shatak for school.”  He turned his gaze to the distant horizon. “Now that I’m here in the city, I don’t know what I’m going to do.  You have your dream of becoming a mage, I won’t get in the way of that.  But, despite knowing each other for less than two weeks, I really don’t want to leave your side.”

At the edge of his vision he saw Sade stand beside him.

What he completely failed to notice was her hand cocked back and ready to swing.  Mild pain erupted in the back of his head as Sade’s palm slammed into it.

“I know you are not stupid, so why are you acting like an idiot?”  Rick turned and saw Sade’s fierce glare of disappointment.  “I thought men prided themselves on their calm judgment and deductive reasoning.”

“So why are you not asking me important questions? Why are you making assumptions?  Why didn’t you trust me enough to talk about your feelings?”

Each question uttered felt like another slap upside Rick’s head.  While his skull still stung physically from earlier, the realization that she was right and that he acted like a complete idiot stung even worse.  He felt soft hands cradle both sides of his face and he stared into his friends' warm eyes.

“Are you done being stupid and ready to have a conversation like an adult?”

Rick nodded.

“Good.  Now, we will need to talk to Tyrillian about our future plans together when we meet back up with her.  Do you agree?”

He nodded again.

“Wonderful.  As I promised you, I will do everything I can to help you understand your magic and get your memories back.  Since I have access to one library of knowledge, you will have to search the other one for answers.  Then we can compare notes in the evenings.”

On their way to the beach they did indeed find a public library.  But Rick was still slightly confused.  “What do you mean ‘In the evenings’?  Don’t you have a room on campus that you need to stay in?”

Her eyes widened slightly in understanding before she let out a slow chuckle. “Ah. That is where you made your incorrect assumption.  Mya University may give me a room to stay in, but there is no reason I actually have to use it.”  She gave him a knowing smirk. “Besides, whether one person or two stay in a room, the price does not change.”

“Wait… wha?”

Sade leaned forward and kissed him, quick and passionate.  “You are far too enjoyable in bed for me to just give that up.  No, I am far from done with you.  And I am assuming you feel the same?”  He nodded enthusiastically.

She smiled then broke contact with Rick and began walking slowly back to the city proper.  With her slightly enhanced curves, Rick could have sworn her walk was more like a sashay.  She leaned her head back over her shoulder to look at him.

“I am also sure our large friend is not done with you either.  Her elven pride would never allow her to have a smaller cock than you.”

…

Tyr could not stop laughing.

“Oh come on! It’s not that funny!” Rick whined.

This caused the tall woman to just erupt into even more laughter.  Both sets of her fangs flashing in the dim light.  Even Sade had a slight smirk on her face as the elf continued to enjoy the story of Rick’s blunder on the beach.

The three of them sat in a corner booth at ‘The Ocean’s Embrace’, a pub that catered to sailors and the more ‘rough and tumble’ type of people.

When Rick and Sade followed the directions from the beach to the pub, they found Tyr already there, singing a jaunty tune with a mug of alcohol in one hand and a large bull of man in a headlock with the other.  Several other, equally large men sat slumped in chairs or were laying prone on the ground.  There were also more than a few dwarves in the pile of muscular bodies as well, if the short yet equally as broad statures were any indication.

Rick wasn’t sure if he stumbled across a party or a fight scene.  He distinctly remembered Sade’s warning about getting close to drunk elves, and shivered slightly.

It turned out to be both, oddly enough.  Sailors tended to be a tough and hardy lot, so whenever someone new shows up, the patrons like to have contests of might and establish a pecking order.  Rick knew that Tyr was strong, just one glance at her biceps was enough to tell him that, but the body count she racked up in the pub was still quite impressive.

“My aunt Kar’a told me these lads are good fer a tumble.  Said if I ever found myself in the city I should visit.”  She told the two as they sat down in the booth.  “So!  What’cha think the plan from here on out should be?”

It was then that Sade, with the biggest ‘I told you so’ smirk Rick had ever seen, began their story, starting from when they left the university.  A story that amused the elf greatly.

“All right, all right.  I get it.  I was stupid.  Can we move on and discuss what we are going to do, like where we’re going to sleep tonight?”

Tyr wiped a tear from her eye and did her best to calm down.  “Actually, I already got it taken care of.  Wanna see?”  Rick and Sade both nodded and Tyr, still chuckling, led them through a side door and into another building attached to the pub.