Sporemageddon

"Out sick," the man said.

"Oh, shoot. I was supposed to bring some bio textbooks to the Herbology and Botanical Magics classroom. Some of them are pretty heavy. I don't know if..."

"That's not my job," he said. "I'm supposed to watch over this place, that's all."

"Oh, okay," I said. I smiled sweetly at him, then darted off and grabbed the last few books, making sure that a boring biology book was at the top. I was pretty sure that he wouldn't be able to pick me out from the crowd. When the actual librarian came back and found some books missing, he'd probably be sent down a rabbit hole chasing them down.

I'd be long gone by then.

In no time at all, I had all of the books out, and was stuffing them into my bag. It barely fit, which was annoying, but hey, a wealth of free literature and books to cross-reference, and all for free.

I... had liked my time here.

My time at the Academy from the point where I'd done my work until the end of that first year went by relatively calmly. There was drama, and maybe a few close calls, but I kept my head down and did my best to grind the more academic skills I had access to.

My goal was to grow as much as I could while I had access to the privileges that these other students were taking for granted. There was a gulf between the speed of growth that a common-born person had and the scions of the elite gained just on account of being born in the stations they were from.

And now that was coming to an end.

Oh well. My ultimate goals didn't require a good education and contacts amongst the nobility, just enough knowledge to cause trouble.

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