Bookworld Online: Marsh Man

Once again, a new classroom was posted on the old one and I went there, only to discover that it was dark inside and locked. I was tempted to enter anyways, then decided I didn't want to break the academy rules so blatantly. I went back out of the building to wait for the other students and met up with Vanessa, who looked very happy.

“I just heard from my mother and she's agreed to come! We have an appointment for next month with Mage Henrietta at your estate.” Vanessa gushed as she took my offered arm and hugged it. “Thank you for suggesting she come along. She's very happy!”

“So are you.” I said and she laughed softy as I led her and the other girls to the proper classroom.

Mage Justin Brown looked like someone that had just graduated. He was bright eyed and eager as we all entered the room. “I'm the luckiest man in the world.” He said and didn't even try to lower his voice. “All of you lovely young women are a sight for sore eyes.”

“Oh, yeah?” Lorna said and squinted her eyes at him as she walked by his desk. “Say one more thing to imply that we're only here for you to ogle at and I'll set your stupid hairdo on fire.”

“Wh-what?” Mage Brown tried to cover his poofy and styled hair.

“We're here to learn and not be stared at.” Lorna said with a huff. “I'd rather have someone teach us that can keep their eyes to themselves, thank you.”

The teacher's face flushed red and he tried to not look at her shapely figure in her academy uniform.

“You've been warned.” Lorna said with a mean voice and went over to sit at her chosen desk. Her opinion was shared by the other girls, even the ever-shy Vanessa, because she whispered the same sentiment to me.

“Ah... well... ahem.” Mage Brown said and dropped his hands from protecting his hair. “I know it looks like I'm a lot younger than the other teachers at this school...”

“...I can still see the three on your pocket.” One of the girls commented.

Mage Brown used a hand and pat the spot that would have had the school emblem on his academy uniform coat, except he was wearing mage robes. That made a lot of the girls giggle and laugh under their breath. He sighed and looked at us with an apologetic face.

“Look, I need this job. If you don't tease me about my age, I promise that I'll do my best to not stare too much at such beautiful and tempting creatures as yourselves.” Mage Brown said.

Two of the girls blushed slightly, half a dozen seemed to shake their heads at his shamelessness, and the rest let out huffs. None of them openly rejected his offer, however.

Mage Brown smiled. “All right. Has anyone opened the book?”

No one answered or tried to open the books on their desks.

“No? Well, that's understandable. Most people think that biology of creatures is beneath them.” Mage Brown said. “They are quite wrong about that.”

Lorna rolled her eyes and the teacher chuckled at her reaction.

“How do you quickly kill a charging boar?” Mage Brown asked her and she didn't respond. “Anyone?”

I raised my hand and he nodded. “There are three ways. One, distract it with noise and slice its throat if you can get close enough. It'll thrash around and bleed out in about two minutes. Two, lure it into a trap, either a man made hole of spikes or a natural trap like a trench of water. They're heavily muscular and will drown before being able to crawl out.”

Everyone in the class was looking at me now.

“Three, if you can't avoid the direct charge path, your best defense is a spear or metal pole braced on the ground with your foot. The boar's own momentum will let you skewer its chest. The optimal spot is three inches from the collarbone on the right hand side. It'll go right down the inside of the rib cage and through the heart. It should die after about three minutes. If you miss the heart, the spear will keep it distracted and you can utilize option number one to slice its throat.”

Mage Brown seemed to be at a loss for words.

“How many have you killed?” Vanessa asked in a whisper.

“I've killed a few dozen...” I started to say and she caught her breath.

“No way!” Lorna exclaimed.

“...each year for about six years.” I finished and even the teacher looked shocked. “It's quite tasty when stewed properly for several days. The tusks and pelts go for a good price, too.”

Silence greeted my words and I looked around at the other students that all looked surprised.

“You all know I lived in the marsh my whole life. I have to hunt animals to eat properly. I couldn't live on just the supplies I can buy at the nearby village.”

“What kinds of animals?” One of the girls asked.

“All kinds. Diamond back snake, near-deer, marsh rabbit, water beast...”

“Water beast!” Mage Brown exclaimed.

“They're pretty easy to hunt if you're careful. If you're not careful, the sneaky things can toss your boat and you'll be eaten for supper and not the other way around.” I said, then I continued to tell them about all of the creatures I had killed in the marsh and how I did it. I wouldn't normally talk so much; but, it was biology class on creatures. It was good to tell the others that even if they get trapped somewhere without rations, there were other food options available for them.

I had used up a quarter of the class time before Mage Brown finally figured out that he should be the one teaching the class and not me.

“Thank you for passing on all of that information, Mr. Drake.” Mage Brown said. “I'm sure that none of us are going to need to know how to handle a death spider brood.”

“As long as the garrisons continue to use the techniques and traps that I told them about to keep the spiders at bay and contained within the marsh, no one should have to worry.” I said and a few of the girls gave me worried looks. “I asked Chief Warrant Officer Gary Stromboli to add it to the normal debriefing and the manuals they give out for new soldiers at the garrisons near the marsh front. They even send out patrols with mages casting flame spells to clear out the smaller nests every month.”

The girls let out sighs of relief and Vanessa took my hand and squeezed it.

“Thank you, David.” Vanessa breathed the words.

“Well.” Mage Brown said and looked like he wasn't sure how to continue.

“What's the first creature we're going to study?” I prompted.

“Yes, right.” Mage Brown said and opened the book. “I think the first thing we should study is the near-beaver. It's population locally has been suppressed, thanks to the efforts by local hunters and mages stopping their dam construction.”

“Suppressed? You mean killed, don't you?” One of the girls asked. “Can't they be relocated?”

“They breed much too quickly to attempt to move them to another area. We would be just shifting their damage capabilities and not dealing with the problem.” Mage Brown replied.

“They also taste great chunked up with mushrooms and water bank tubers on skewers.” I said and once again gained everyone's attention. “I hope they aren't wasting all that meat. Even smoked it would last for months.”

Mage Brown looked to be at a loss for words.

I saw his reaction and sighed. “Never mind. I can see from the look on your face that they just dispose of them. What a waste.”

Everyone was silent for several minutes and Vanessa's hand clutched mine tightly as she gave me a sympathetic look.

“Yes, I... suppose.” Mage Brown took a breath and let it out. “Anyway, the most vulnerable spot on them is their belly, since it lacks both thick fur or any hardened or calloused skin...”

The class seemed to pass by in the blink of an eye and half the morning was gone. As I left the room, several of the girls gave me sad smiles and Vanessa gave me a hug and walked off. Even Lorna touched my arm briefly and then she went with the others.

I had the rest of the morning off, so I went right over to the classroom that Mage Marks used and saw that no one was inside. I also saw that the door was locked both magically and physically, just like she did at the end of every detention. I glanced outside to see how much time I had left before lunch and held in my sigh.

I didn't want to waste my time running around looking for the teacher to get some empty potion vials from the room, so I went to the main administration building for the academy and asked the woman that sat at the front desk how I could find Mage Marks to ask her about retrieving some potion vials.

The woman gave me an incredulous look. “I'm not bothering her or disturbing her with your trivialities. You will have to wait for her to go to her classroom on her own.”

“Where is she now?” I asked, in the hopes that rewording the question would get me an answer.

“That's none of your business.” The woman spat. “I'm not telling you where she spends her off time.”

I knew I wasn't going to get anywhere with her, so I left and went to the library to Eludora's delight. She was still almost giddy from having normal endurance and gave me an enthusiastic hug as soon as she saw me.

“I hope you've brought more potion to treat the maps.” Eludora said and then let out a little moan as I gripped her backside. “I really should stop you from doing that.” She said in a teasing voice and then she chuckled. “It's just too bad that I don't want you to, isn't it?”

“I did bring more potion. I would have brought over a crate or two, except I can't get into the potions classroom without Mage Marks being there.”

“I assume you tried looking for her?”

“I went to the administration building and asked for her. They wouldn't tell me where she was or when she would be back.”

Eludora sighed. “I don't know why they couldn't just send a message to her.”

“They said that they didn't want to interrupt her during her personal time.”

“I suppose that's a good reason.” Eludora said and waved at the map room. “Let's treat the ones you've built already and we will have to be happy about getting that much done for now.”

I nodded and we worked for the rest of the morning until the lunch bell rang.

“Thank you very much, David.” Eludora said and looked at the stacks of maps we already had. “We might have to pull out some of the existing shelves to make a good place to set them up and keep them off the floor.”

“I think we have to wait to get one side cleared out first before we need to worry about that and to get the room we need to do it.” I said and waved at the piles of scrolled maps on the shelves. “Doing the already flat ones is easy.”

Eludora nodded and gripped my shoulder. “You're right. We can worry about that when we make enough room to move around in here.” She let my shoulder go. “Go and get something to eat. I'll see you the next time you can spare me some more time.”

“Bye, Eludora.” I said and went down the stairs, through the crowds going up to the cafeteria, and left the building. I quickly walked to my dorm mansion and the guards out front opened the doors for me. I nodded to them and entered.

“My lord.” Hope said and bowed slightly. “Lunch is ready.”

I gave her an odd look and she laughed a little.

“I'm practising to make sure I don't get rusty. If anyone else had been with you, I wouldn't want them to think I wasn't giving you the proper respect.”

I understood that, so I nodded and she led me to the dining room. I sat by myself at the large table and she sat by herself at the small table. It seemed to make the place kind of empty with just us there and I think that was the point of why we were only allowed one servant for the first year. Of course, I haven't seen what the real student dorms were like. Maybe they didn't have the room in the smaller buildings.

I finished lunch quickly and thanked the kitchen helper, told her to give my compliments to the chef, and Hope checked me over to make sure I looked and smelled okay to go back to school. I gave her another odd look and she laughed.

“I think Helena would hurt me if I let you out of the house and you showed up among the rich idiots smelling bad.” Hope said with a huge smile. “They don't need more excuses to not like you.”

I had to agree with that and left the mansion to go to the civil construction workshop.