Chapter 103
The High River Sect girls are settled into their dormitory, along with a few hundred other early arriving students who preferred not to rent a place for the few months until classes officially start.
Neisa is one of the Girls Dorm supervisors, and following the lead of the High River ladies, the other students have been calling her Nanny Neisa all afternoon.
She keeps correcting them to Priestess, but the nickname has stuck.
About half the teachers are already here, settled into their residences within the university or choosing a nearby apartment.
Not many students yet, but the official letters, sent to the successful applicants both from our world’s magical community and the Drakon Empire’s told them to try to be here 2 weeks in advance to have proper time to settle in and learn the city. So they’ve got over a month.
For the off world students, we were mostly not their first choice, though some came for the adventure of a new world. Instead, most came for the promise of acceptance, being poor in their home world, but having the talent to succeed.
The universities are all free of charge across the Empire, but there are far more hopeful students than available spaces, so the positions go to the ones whose families can afford the bribes to enrolment officials.
We’re working to avoid that, saving a third of the positions for local students with top marks, like a scholarship program, including dorm space and school supplies, plus uniforms instead of tuition money. The rest are agreed to go on a first come first served basis to qualified students until the individual courses requested are full.
The mundane studies, like accounting, art and literature have been moved to a number of small campuses around the city, as the magical and cultivation courses drew enough attention to fill the university on their own.
After much debate it is determined that university courses, so many of which are focused on career training, will start at 14, as they do in the Drakor Empire. Early schooling will be more focused, either on an academic track or a trade based goal.
In the Pack, High school was a mere formality, few went beyond age 16, we dropped out to get on with our lifelong tasks. Karl, for his part left school at 10 to work his parents farm.