Viktor sat in his window seat, gaping at the wonders of Genbofen. The vehicle followed the main road into the city and rattled on the cobblestones that paved the streets.

In the eighteen years of his life, Viktor had visited cities before, of course. Once or twice a year he had accompanied his father to the main market in Vengenholt to collect alms from the Church of Mortis and to purchase supplies for the Chipped Chapel. But Genbofen was something very different, five times the size of Vengenholt and with a population six times the size. For the young magic student it was a wonderful thing to behold.

The houses rose to heights of three, four, and even five stories above the street, and many of the upper floors jutted out beyond the main wall of the buildings. That was not important in the case of the main avenues of the city, but in the secondary streets the floors stood out so much that they transformed the roads into dark tunnels in which the sun, if it shone, penetrated the icy depths for a few minutes when it was at the zenith. In the winter months this could mean that these streets did not have any light and, therefore, they were only used by those who wished their businesses were not known, or those who preyed on the businesses of others. And it was even worse in the poorer parts of the city.

The streets of Genbofen were quiet at such an early hour. Before long they would be crowded with people going about their daily business. For the time being, they were still the preserve of the guards returning to their barracks after the night shift, the market vendors who arrived early to pitch their tents, and the office workers devoted to their work ready to make the most of the day after having finished. marched home late the day before.

A city like Genbofen was as prosperous and rich according to its bourgeois class.

Viktor could see other streets veering off to the left into the city's prosperous mercantile district. To the right were narrower streets that wound tortuously through the craftsmen's quarter and the poorer areas to the east.

And then, just two hundred meters further down the cobblestone road, he saw a reclining sign hanging from a rusted iron fixture on the outside of a sturdy stone building. It was an imposing four-story building with small leaded glass windows on each floor and topped by a proliferation of turrets and pointed slate roofs.

Viktor stared at the sign swaying in the gentle morning breeze from the river, which entered the city from the main street, carrying the scent of stagnant mud and rotten fish. And then he no longer passed his eyes over the city, but fixed them as his heart raced and a smile spread across his face.

On the poster, whose paint was peeling, you could see the image of a magic-looking staff crossed by a wand, it was the symbol of the imperial school of arcane magic.

Viktor wanted to jump up and shout that the carriage must stop and leave him there, at his goal, the place that would mark the beginning of a new course in his life, here in Genbofen. But Viktor had never been the most confident of men, and his inherent shyness now got the better of him. He stayed where he was and said nothing.

The carriage passed by and Viktor saw the street before them, and his attention was drawn back to Genbofen as new wonders of the city appeared before him. The carriage left the main street and entered the paved expanse of a plaza.

The wide open plaza was a stark contrast to the crowded houses, shops, and offices in the rest of the city. And it was also a fantastic sight, as it featured the temple to the six great gods and the temple to the Triumvirate, facing each other.

The square was dominated by the great Temple of the Triumvirate, a huge building with three towering bell towers and surrounded by its own walled enclosure.

Viktor lowered his head slightly as he passed the humble temple of the six great gods. Mortis, the god of whom his father was a priest was one of the six gods that made up the pantheon of the six cult. Although Viktor was not especially religious, he did possess a certain respect for the god of his father.

Unlike the imposing temple of the Triuvirado, the temple of the six great gods was made up of six smaller buildings

The frost was melting on the cobblestones and stone slabs of the plaza.

Some of the most devout or desperate faithful were already heading towards the different temples to attend the morning prayers, most towards the dominant presence of the Temple of the Triumvirate. The clear tone of a tolling bell could be heard above the spiers of the temple.

Then the carriage reached the other side of the square and entered the administrative area of ​​the city. The tour was short from there, past the impressive Genbofen City Hall with its colonnaded façade and towering spiers, and past the massive building that housed the Merchants Guild, to a two-hour carriage station. stories high.

Viktor eagerly stepped out of the carriage as he clutched the backpack that contained his precious few books and what little money he possessed. But then he had to wait for her trunk to be unloaded while the older woman authoritatively demanded that the driver help her out of the vehicle before doing anything else.

Viktor was weary from the journey but full of excitement and silent enthusiasm for the adventure before him.

The burly merchant anxiously supervised the unloading of his belongings as soon as it could be done, then disappeared into the nearest inn, followed by the boor. The last thing Viktor heard through the open door of the establishment was the voice of the merchant demanding a room for himself and the young man whom, once again, he was presenting with great care as a nephew by his sister.

Viktor's trunk was unceremoniously tossed onto the street almost as if it were an afterthought by the grumpy coachman and his assistant. Then they climbed back up and led the horses, which dragged the creaking carriage behind them around the rear of the station, toward the stables.

With his fellow travelers installed in the nearest inn, Viktor was left alone in the street. At the other end of the street he could see the fortified structure of the west gate of the city, as impressive and imposing as the gate through which they had entered, passing under the portcullis and the embrasures of the mighty fortifications.

Viktor turned his back on the west door, as it was not the direction he wanted to go. He had in that city for the magic school.

Gripping the leather straps at the end of the trunk tightly and lifting the end of the trunk, he walked in the direction of the magic school.

♦ ♦ ♦

Taking a deep breath, his heart pounding with anticipation and his mouth dry with nerves, Viktor knocked three times on the door at the top of the creaking staircase.

He wished the blows were loud and sure, but in reality they were weak and pathetic.

Viktor felt tired after having to drag the trunk with all his worldly belongings along a stretch that had seemed as long as if he had gone from one end of the city to the other and back to the middle of the city. path.

He hadn't been able to afford a private carriage or sedan chair, or even hire a jobless dock worker to relieve him of his burden. His money was a finite resource, and he would continue to be at least until he graduated.

Viktor sensed movement on the other side of the door, and then it opened. Standing in the doorway, with the bare wood and the latticework and plaster of the attic ceiling visible behind him, was a tall, lanky young man, about Viktor's age, though judging by the undisguised expression of bitter weariness. of the world in his face, perhaps he was older than him. It was obvious that he was not amused to be disturbed.

The young man wore an ill-fitting robe, too short for his stretched body. He was worn out and in some places you could see a great deterioration, especially on his knees and elbows. He looked haggard and seemed to have not eaten well for quite some time. His hair was greasy and messy. In his long-fingered hands she held a skinny ginger cat that seemed to have eaten no better than the boy.

"Yes?" the young man asked irritably.

"Eh ..." Viktor hesitated. “I am the new guest. I will share your rooms. " His arm was beginning to feel tired from holding the trunk at the top of the bare wooden plank ladder.

"And are you?"

The cat shot Viktor a wild-eyed look, as if he were watching a fleeing mouse.

"Drichey. Viktor Drichey. "

“So old harpy Enye Hawk found someone dumb enough to share this drafty attic, huh? In that case, I suppose you'd better go inside. "

The gaunt young man backed into the room to allow Viktor to lift the trunk over the threshold, but he offered no help.

"Sorry, but I don't remember your name." Viktor said, hesitantly polite.

"It's because I haven't told you," replied the young man. “My name is Lieter. Erich Lieter. "

The ragged-haired young man closed the door just behind Viktor, then looked the hopeful apprentice magician up and down.

“And tell me, what brings you to Genbofen? You are not from here, that is clear. The force with which you pronounce the r's, betrays you shamelessly. "

"I…, I have come to study at the School of Magic," Viktor replied nervously, although his voice was not without a certain pride. "Mrs. Enye Hawk mentioned that you are also a student of magic."

"Fuck me," Erich replied as he fixed Viktor with an almost suspicious look as he stroked the cat in his arms.

Viktor couldn't help but feel a little dejected as he received another blow from his idealized image of what it would be like to study as a wizard at the famous School of Imperial Arcane Magic. This showed on his face.

"Look, there is no reason to make that face, it is not something serious, you know?" Erich said as he raised his expressive eyes to the ceiling. “My advice is that you get back on the carriage that brought you here and return to your place of origin. That way you will have a much more rewarding life, I assure you. "

"How is the school?" he couldn't help asking Viktor.

"An institution of old men whose minds are stuck in their own ridiculous arrogance."

Viktor looked at Erich, horrified. Erich did not miss the expression of innocent horror.

"Not bad if you don't mind being given all the dirty work."

"Aren't you guys having a good time with the apprenticeship course at school?"

“I have decided that it is a tedious and exhausting profession. You spend your time studying arid texts of pompous and old-fashioned language, recommended by teachers devoid of imagination, tedious, obsolete and groggy from old age; you're lucky if during the first year you even manage to cast a paltry zero-level spell successfully. But even that is more interesting than cleaning up when the veteran students have left the school, rather than practicing and getting better at using magic.

Erich paced the attic now like an actor delivering a soliloquy on stage while he stroked the cat behind the ears.

“Some manage to put their theoretical knowledge to the test in practical classes, barely managing to correctly execute the components to create a spell. But even in those cases, as apprentices, you practice under the direction of the school teachers who never have the time or interest to explain the correct techniques for using magic. If you want my opinion, those old school teachers are just taking up space uselessly. "

"And what about the headmaster of the school, Professor Theodria?"

“He is the worst of all. Anything I have to say is a criminal waste of the air we breathe, if you ask me, which, I hasten to add before you look at me like that again, is what you have done. You asked me. "

For a moment, neither of them said anything.

"Well, what is Genbofen like?" Viktor asked to break the conversation stalemate that the two new roommates seemed to have reached.

“It's okay if the smell doesn't bother you. In summer, the river, not to mention the open sewers that run through the middle of the streets, smells of demons; and in winter the fog can be so thick that you cannot see your own hand before your eyes. And the icy wind will freeze your bones to the marrow… especially in this room, ”he concluded, taking in the attic space with a roll of his eyes.

Viktor's disappointment was mounting, but he had to admit that he was colder there than when he woke up in the drafty carriage in which he had arrived in Genbofen that morning.

He began pacing grumpily around the attic, leaving the trunk where he was, and looked through the grimy glass of the closest of the two loft windows. He faced east, and over the rooftops was the tall shadow of the city wall. This area of ​​Genbofen was an overcrowded neighborhood of dilapidated towers and apartment houses whose maintenance had been neglected for decades, far removed as it was from the commercial and administrative centers of the city. Ridged by a maze of hidden and nearly forgotten alleys and passageways, some buildings were connected by apparently inaccessible buttressed pedestrian bridges and wooden staircases precariously attached to the moldy brick walls.

Beyond the black line of the battlements, the watery yellowish ocher disk of the sun was transformed into a pale line that delineated the parapet of the wall.

Viktor realized that he had completely lost track of time throughout that incident-filled day in which he had first had to wait at school for what seemed like an eternity while his application was processed, after having the porter determined that Viktor was not an envoy from one of the most politically influential noble houses who requested the aid of a magician for his master and lord, and afterwards had had to seek accommodation in the city, since unfortunately the School of magic did not have facilities to accommodate students.

Look, that's enough. Even I am starting to get depressed. Let's go have a drink. "

Erich dropped the cat, which howled as it landed on the floor. He snorted at his fickle master and stalked to the other side of a dividing wall where Viktor saw the foot of an unmade bed.

"Ah ... uh ... okay," Viktor ventured. He wasn't used to that kind of thing. To tell the truth, he was not at all used to or comfortable with social relationships.

There was only one tavern in Chipped and Viktor did not feel comfortable in it. They all knew who he was, and his father would inevitably find out.

A village tavern was not the kind of establishment a priest of Mortis would choose to spend his time in, at least not Brechtal Drichey, and therefore neither should his son. But now Viktor was on his own, and while he might still not be the kind of thing he was used to doing, he didn't want to antagonize the new roommate he would have to spend a lot of time with and who was the only person he knew in an unknown city.

"Where will we go?" he asked.

"Don't worry," Erich replied, smiling for the first time since Viktor's arrival, though it was an expression that warned the latter of more awkward situations ahead. "I know a place."

There was only one tavern in Chipped and Viktor did not feel comfortable in it. They all knew who he was, and his father would inevitably find out.

A village tavern was not the kind of establishment a priest of Mortis would choose to spend his time in, at least not Brechtal Drichey, and therefore neither should his son. But now Viktor was on his own, and while he might still not be the kind of thing he was used to doing, he didn't want to antagonize the new roommate he would have to spend a lot of time with and who was the only person he knew in an unknown city.

"Where will we go?" he asked.

"Don't worry," Erich replied, smiling for the first time since Viktor's arrival, though it was an expression that warned the latter of more awkward situations ahead. "I know a place."