"I don't want to fuss with nobles either, but I might have to. I guess you already said you don't know much about them, though. So... who would?"

He shrugs expansively. "Can't really help you there, sorry. There's lots of people who know lots of things at the Rotula Academy?"

"It keeps coming back to the Academy, I've noticed. I genuinely should enroll there, and soon..."

"It's kind of a big deal around here. Not the only thing the city has going for it, but a pretty big one, you know? I got my first survival skills there!"

"What all do they teach besides magic? And what kinds of magic do they teach? Besides combat spells, I mean."

"Like... All of it? They teach most things somewhere in there."

Eefina laughs.

"Okay, what's popular, then? What do students tend to talk about most excitedly as what they're going there to learn?"

"Uh, recently I've heard people gush about the programs for enchanting, architecture, meteorology, and sorcery - specifically chamon. But really, there's a lot of classes."

Eefina is curious about all those things! But also she has food to eat, and is hungry. Nom nom.

When they're finished eating, Eefina wants to go straight to the Academy.

Tret points her in the right direction and then waves goodbye.

The Academy campus is very big, very pretty, and has a lot of tall buildings with flowy lines and large arches and balconies in marble and clean, bright limestone. The Enrollment office is over that way, or she could wander the gardens and squares.

Eefina is very tempted to wander the gardens and squares! But she goes into the Enrollment Office first.

There's a comfortable waiting area with large paintings of rich-looking people and scenes of attractive people having fun in classroms and laboratories, and a line of booths. Only a few are lit up this late in the day.

"I can help you over here!"

Eefina goes over there!

"Hi? I just arrived in the city, and I'd like to enroll in magic classes! What is involved in doing that?"

"Oh, welcome to Rotula!" He looks slightly puzzled. "What sort of things were you hoping to learn? I'd suggest going over your academic goals with a class advisor, normally, and I'm afraid it's a bit late in the day for that but maybe I can help you plan for an appointment tomorrow? We sell access to specific classes if you know what you're looking for, and buffet access to all classes."

"What're the rates for those options? But yes, if I'm being sensible I should probably see a class advisor. There're a lot of things I want to learn and I'm not sure how to prioritize it all."

"Rates for individual classes depend on the Skills of the teacher and the level of the class. They can run anywhere from one silver to a platinum coin or more for the most complex subjects with the highest-level teachers."

He opens a course catalog to a particular page. All the courses list specific Skills as prerequisites, and what levels you should be able to achieve by the end of the course.

"For example, this three-week course teaches Mana Self-Diagnosis and Light Magic both to level one, and it's priced at one silver and eight coppers. A buffet pass allows you to attend any course you wish, however much time you want to devote to it. For three months the price is four gold pieces. The buffet pass also includes library and facilities access fees, but not premium services like special tutoring sessions or gold-boosted office hours."

"It'll be a while before I can afford a buffet pass... Are there lodging arrangements of any kind made for students?"

"You can purchase lodging at the dorms, of course - or find a place elsewhere and commute in. Students on a budget tend to prefer the dorms, but there's a variety of housing options in the blocks surrounding our campus."

"I am definitely on a budget. Tell me about the dorms?"

"Uh - here," he locates a pamphlet about the dorms. "Small individual rooms conveniently located on campus, there are co-ed and single-gender dorms. There's shared bathrooms, showers, and laundry facilities - there are enforced quiet hours and other rules to maintain a constructive study environment that are more strict than apartments. You can have a roommate for more savings, and you have to rent for at least three months. Cafeteria service sold separately."

"How much is three months in a co-ed dorm with a roommate?"

He looks up a number. It's less than the classes.

She doesn't have enough now, but dungeon-diving earned her a lot of money for one day's work. Unless future dungeon-diving goes terribly it won't be hard to make payments for the buffet pass and the dorm if she can set up a payment plan of some kind.

Eefina is from a resourced-based allocation economy and has no idea payment plans are a thing! But she will sign up for one after the concept is explained to her.

If she's stuck paying the dorm for three months anyway, why not also the buffet pass, in that case. She'd still like to make an appointment with a class advisor tomorrow, though.

"Of course! You need to plan out your schedule! Unfortunately I don't think I can get you into a dorm bed tonight, I'm just a front desk guy, but I know a cheap inn close to here and tomorrow we can get you all set up. I can set the appointments for any time of day."

"Okay. I'll be back here tomorrow, then."

Eefina goes to the cheap recommended inn, and (hopefully) pays for a room without complications. Needing money for every last thing is starting to lose its novelty, but.