I spent a few minutes standing on the lawn staring at the castle. Or more specifically, staring at that sign on the side of the castle.

 

Sappho's School of Sorcery.

 

It felt like a prank or something. Not that the rest of this experience hadn't been surreal so far. I was pretty sure a few more of those genre tags were going to get check-marked in fairly short order. And once again I couldn't tell if that thought excited me or scared me.

 

Not to mention, I hadn't forgotten Natasha's predatory smile and her promise that this afterlife would be 'entertaining'. The jury was still out on who'd be most-entertained, but I couldn't deny I was at least a little bit excited. After all, this afterlife basically seemed to be all my favourite story tropes made real.

 

So after only a few more minutes of procrastination I braced myself, then started walking across the drawbridge. 

 

Oddly I couldn't get a clear view of the castle courtyard, despite it being only a dozen meters in front of me. At the same time I couldn't see anything unusual. It just seemed like there was something obscuring my view of what lay beyond the gateway and portcullis.

 

As I walked across the drawbridge I glanced down over the side. The water seemed dark and murky, and gave me a slight chill as I got the feeling it was impressively deep. 

 

It crossed my mind that with this being a magic school in a fantasy setting, there could be monsters lurking beneath the surface down there. And being a tiny weak defenceless half-sprite I had no doubt if there were beasts around they'd be happy to make a nice light snack of little Abby. 

 

With the thought of monsters on my mind, I nearly jumped out of my shoes when my path was suddenly blocked by a giant clad in shining metal plates.

 

"Eeep!" I squeaked as I leaped back a pace or two. Then I immediately blushed at the high-pitched noise I'd just made. 

 

My head tilted upwards as I took in the impressive mighty figure before me. She was a knight, that much was obvious. Her armour gleamed like polished silver, and she had a sword slung across her back that looked like it was both taller and heavier than me.

 

Her bright blue eyes gleamed and sparkled almost as much as her armour, and her short blonde hair was fair and bright like the warm summer sun. What little I could see of her skin had a healthy tan. I'd guess her age to be about thirty, and she had a pretty face.

 

And to my endless relief, she didn't look angry or uptight. In fact she looked like she was amused but trying not to smile. Probably due to my squeak. Or maybe just my minuscule size in general.

 

Her piercing eyes scanned up and down over my slight frame, and after a few more moments she asked, "Who, or what, are you? And what do you think you're doing here?"

 

I took a deep breath and did my best not to sound like a terrified mouse as I replied, "I'm Absinthe Borealis? I have some letters I'm supposed to give to the dean?"

 

The impressive knight raised an eyebrow and asked, "You're a courier?"

 

"No ma'am," I shook my head. "I'm here to enroll."

 

Both eyebrows moved up this time and she looked me over again. After a pause she held out her right hand and stated, "Let me see the letters."

 

I was about to open my little bag but I stopped myself. My quest goals thing said I was to give them to the dean. If I gave them to this knight, I might mess up the quest. Or at least, I'd probably lose some points or something. At worse though I might fail the quest and lose the game. Or die, I had no idea how serious the stakes were here.

 

The knight was still waiting with her hand out, and she seemed very surprised when I slowly shook my head.

 

"I'm really not supposed to give them to anybody but the dean," I explained. "I'm sorry."

 

I didn't say it, but I was thinking very loudly for her to please not kick me over the edge of the drawbridge and into the scary dark water.

 

After several more tense moments, the knight lowered her hand and said, "Very well Absinthe Borealis. Follow me."

 

She turned and led me under the portcullis and through the gateway. I followed about two meters behind, and I found myself almost studying her as we walked. She seemed like a giantess when she startled me, but now that I was a little less jumpy I figured she was maybe six feet tall. Still tall for a woman, and a solid foot and a half taller than me, but not a giant. 

 

The armour kept much of her figure concealed, but she didn't have huge broad shoulders or thick arms or anything like that. I knew she had to be strong, but I figured her build was more on the slim and athletic side rather than the buff bodybuilder type.

 

As we continued walking, I suddenly wondered if I could get any game info on her. I didn't want to start talking out loud but I tried thinking some common commands as I stared at her. Assess. Observe. Information.

 

That last one did the trick and for a few seconds, a line of text appeared hovering over the tall knight's head.

 

 

We were still walking across hard packed dirt and it seemed like we should have crossed the courtyard twice by now. I glanced around and nearly tripped over my own feet as I stumbled in shock.

 

There was no sign of the castle. No castle walls, no courtyard. 

 

We were in what looked like a small village. Or actually, it looked like a small college campus. 

 

Some hundred meters behind me was a gatehouse, there were two white stone towers on either side, and through the gate I could see the portcullis and drawbridge that I'd walked across. But there was no castle wall, no castle at all on this side.

 

The campus village consisted of maybe two dozen smaller buildings surrounding a half dozen larger structures. The whole collection was dominated by one really big mansion in the middle.

 

The smaller structures were like cottages with thatched roofs. The larger buildings were a mix of wood and stone, and could have been shops or businesses but may well have been school buildings or even residences or something like that. And the big mansion in the middle was all stone construction. That was where Grace was leading me, and I figured that was the actual school itself.

 

The knight hadn't slowed when I stumbled, and I was forced to run a few quick paces to catch up with her. As we walked through the village I saw a few people looking at me through windows, like the locals were staring at the peculiar little newcomer.

 

Grace remained silent as she led me up a few wide low steps to the front of the big mansion. She opened the door and I had to scurry through to keep up with her. We went up a big wide staircase, down a long hall, and at long last stopped at a fancy-looking wood panel door.

 

The knight knocked at the door and asked, "M'lady? I bring an outsider who seeks an audience."

 

"Enter," the word was spoken with authority, and even without seeing the woman who uttered it I knew she was someone either rich, or powerful, or very important. Or all three.

 

Grace opened the door and once again I had to hurry to keep up with her.

 

We walked into a large well-appointed office. It was all ornately carved and polished dark wood with brass fixtures. Everything looked expensive and important. And it felt odd, like I could totally imagine this being the office of a dean at someplace like modern-day Oxford or Cambridge or Harvard. The only thing missing was a laptop or PC on the desk.

 

Seated behind the large mahogany desk was another tall imposing woman. I wasn't sure how tall exactly, but she was very impressive. Her hair was brilliant red and practically gleamed. Her eyes were like emeralds and felt like they could cut straight through me. Her lips were a deep red that reminded me of blood, while her skin was as fair as my own. She looked just a bit older than the knight, maybe about thirty-five. She wore a forest-green velvet gown, though it had a deep V neck that showed off her rather bountiful cleavage.

 

As soon as I saw her I thought 'Information' to myself, and was rewarded by a line of text above her head.

 

 

She stared at me with a slight scowl on my face, and her gaze left me feeling even smaller than I already was.

 

After a few long seconds she looked at the knight and asked, "What is this you've brought me, Grace?"

 

The knight responded calmly, "An applicant, Headmistress Siusaidh. She claims to have some letters for you." 

 

To my relief the dean's name wasn't that hard to pronounce after all. The way the knight said it sounded like Susie, which was honestly a bit anti-climactic considering how it was spelled.

 

Those laser-like emerald eyes were back on me again and she stated, "Approach. Let me see these letters."

 

I scurried forward as I dug into my bag with shaking hands. I managed to extract the two folded sheets of parchment without dropping them, and reached out to place them both on her desk before her.

 

Siusaidh picked them both up and unfolded them. She still had that slight scowl on her face, but as she read the two letters one of her eyebrows slowly arched up as if she was surprised and trying not to show it.

 

She glanced up at the knight and gestured her forward, and let the knight read the letters as well.

 

I was left to stand there and fidget nervously as these two powerful women seemed to be about to decide my fate.

 

Grace made a brief "Hmm" sound as she surveyed the letters, but she quickly went quiet again.

 

While I waited, I thought to bring up my status screen. I wanted to see if I had any new goals, now that I'd completed my two starter tasks. Before I had a chance to do that the dean's eyes locked onto mine again and she addressed me once more.

 

"So Absinthe Borealis, you wish to be a sorceress?"

 

I gulped, "Um, yes ma'am. I do."

 

Siusaidh's lips twitched slightly into a smile that reminded me a little too much of the one Natasha wore. She looked at Grace and commented, "Well I can't say we've ever had a scholarship student before, but..."

 

The knight's eyebrows both jumped up as she looked surprised. She remained silent though.

 

"Very well miss Absinthe. Welcome to Sappho's School of Sorcery. I am Headmistress Siusaidh, and my word here is law."

 

As she spoke she opened a drawer on the right-hand side of her desk, and my two letters were tucked away inside. Then the drawer slid closed, and suddenly my vision was obscured by a lot of notifications appearing one after another.

 

I only caught a few of them as they came and went, but hopefully there'd be a way to retrieve them again later. Among the ones I did see were 'Class updated!', 'Abilities unlocked!', and 'New goals assigned!'

 

As the last of the messages faded I thought 'Status' because I really wanted to see the updated details.

 

While I was basking in the warm glow of my freshly-minted status as Sorceress, the headmistress addressed her knight "Take her to Elizabeth please Grace, then you may return to your duties."

 

"Of course Headmistress," Grace replied with a bow of her head. Then the tall imposing knight moved past me towards the door, and once again I had to scramble to keep up.