Accountant sighs at that, enormous chest rising and falling. "INDEED."

"IF IT IS YOUR CHOOSING, THEN: JADE IS INEXPENSIVE, PERHAPS 400₭ FOR A STONE OF PASSING QUALITY. ADAMANTANIUM WAS PRICED AT 6.1₭/GRAM AT LAST MARKET CLOSE. AMOUNT OF NECESSARY MATERIAL VARIES, BUT I EXPECT YOU TO BE SECURE WITH 40000₭."

She pauses.

That is a staggering amount of money. Even for a witch. She could outright buy a house for that much. 

But then, presumably this implement will secure her the kind of salary that lets one buy things like this. A single R5 divination is comparable in price. In the long term, not such a great investment; ultimately, this will be replacable.

Still. It is certainly more than she can pay right now. 

Saying yes, here, is committing to become a R5 or at least R4 witch. Right now she's only committed to study for one year; this contract would hold her for as long as it took her to rank up.

"Forgive me if the question seems unrelated, but how long does it typically take witches studying at Hawthorne to increase in rank?"

"SOME LAG. SOME EXCEL."

What a total dodge of the question. 

Quick back of the envelope calculation, then - she's an R3 witch already, she can make potions, if she makes R3 potions then theoretically she could make something like those cake slices that cost 750₭ each, she has a book about cooking potions into food -

So then at let's call it 500₭ of profit/potion she needs to sell around a hundred potions to settle her debt. Which... seems like it would take less than a year. Obviously that's wildly optimistic but even if she's off by an order of magnitude that's probably only a decade of work to pay this off, which is better than most truly expensive purchases. And she has forever.

"...I'll take it."

"Is a pile on the floor really the best configuration for this sort of deal? You couldn't have used say, a wall of safes and a catalog of materials?"

"Before you zap me for wasting your time, I am intuiting, just occupying my verbal brain while I do it."

Professor Ravi folds her hands in front of her. There is a glimmer of hesitation, then she seems to arrive on humoring Marianne.

"We do not have a catalog. We have a textbook. The loose glittering heap maintains its state such that our resident dragon can continually apply his curse — though he has a different setup when he suffers more than three visitants."

"Of course it's all cursed. Shall I at the least be coming to know the speech of birds?"

"The security curse will be rescinded. Make your choice."

"Yes ma'am."

She tucks the others into her arm and lets the empty pearl rest in her palm. A cold and hollow marble of iridescent sheen.

The more she looks at it, the warmer she feels about it.

"One of the more delicate and less popular choices, but there can be no doubt it suits. I expect we can safely elide an augury, but you may ask it of me still."

Meanwhile, Lily has been signing her contract.

With some trepidation, she walks across the room to rejoin the other pair, and waits to be called upon.

"Done? You may return to your room and wait for your materials. Accountant: help the other one through the contract next."

"I'll wait for Marianne, if that's acceptable."

Empty pearls and evermetal are relatively cheap. Accountant recommends 22000₭, which includes considerable safety cushioning.

Both documents are binding covenants with severe penalties in their construction.

An ingot of iron lifts from the hoard into Professor Ravi's hand, in the same motion flattening out as thin as paper. She holds it as a clipboard, eyes trailing across and down it for a time. When she passes it to Isabel, most of its surface is etched with what appear to be book titles. At the bottom is a hasty map of the hallways.

"This is the class syllabus. You will not have time to read everything. This concludes today's lesson. Make progress until you hit a roadblock, then ask for me. I do not accept sendings, but the dolls are able to reach me. If you get lost on the way back, give up and find a corner to sleep in."

The air around her seems to shudder and rush, like it thinks it's trying to fill a vacuum somewhere, then she is gone.

Well then. She scans the titles briefly.

"I think we should retrace our steps immediately before we forget the way back and totally waste the stimulants Professor Ravi gave us. We can talk about the book list later."

Marianne will always walk behind Isabel if it is a matter of navigation.

Once they're a few hallways out, "That was the single worst experience of my life. How did the dragon treat you?"

"The dragon was fine. I'm less sure about the rest. It hurt, seeing you be hurt like that. I - knew you wouldn't want me to risk helping you, with Professor Ravi right there - but -"

She looks down at the map in her hand. "I still feel like I failed you."

She sighs. "So. What did you end up picking?"

"Oh. I wasn't talking about the zap."

She rests three fingers in between Isabel's shoulderblades as she trails behind.

"I chose a capstone called empty pearl and she assigned me evermetal. You?"

"Jade and Adamantite, both by my own choice. Jade for loyalty and mindfulness, Adamantite for stability and endurance."

"That does sound a lot like you. You are my big, old rock. I'm so grateful for you."

Fatigue has started to atrophy the cool clean bubble of Professor Ravi's stimulants, and she gets sappy when she's tired.

Lily smiles softly. "I'm glad. We double back, here."

A few hallways later they emerge back at the elevators.

"I want to go get those textbooks and start working, but you probably need to sleep, if those stimulants will allow you to. - And I shouldn't forget about the dining hall, I am beginning to consider just eating that apple we bought which would be a waste."

"I am not sure words exist to describe how unfair it is that you can eschew sleep. My lineage did not come with its own form of time dilation! —maybe the feat is trivial to alchemy and everyone does it."

She would like to kiss the elevator button. Instead she pokes it.

"Ummm. My interactions with dolls so far have suggested that they are bad at thinking of what you might want and you have to nudge them about it. Like mortal bureaucrats but maybe 50% worse. So if they say they don't have your apples on-site, try to pursue the line further instead of dropping it. Ask what your options are, what they'd do in your shoes."

She has spare verbal cycles, so she reaches into her soul for the telepathy construct that connects to her demons. She's not sure why this thing exists, honestly; it seems utterly superfluous with sending. She spends a few of those cycles coming up with guesses and doesn't hit on anything plausible.

Hi Scythe! We have a dorm room, 1273. You can crash here or at the mortal apartment. Over. She adds static crackling sounds at the end.

There is no response from Cytherea.

"I saw a Wild Gift for sleep substitution in the list I went through earlier. No clue if you'd be able to manifest it, but it might be worth investigating. In the meantime, blood apples."

The elevator dings and opens up to the cafeteria.