"Hmm. Okay, I guess there's no harm in t-trying..." he says, slipping into the character's nervousness at the prospect.

Wryly: "Well, if you interrupt him on a walk, you could lose your job if you annoy him. Though you're right, there won't really be consequences just for talking to the secretary."

"Right, yes, t-that's what I meant. The, er, secretary thing."

"Good luck, then. Did you have any other questions?"

"N-not specific ones. Just general curiosity."

"Well, I'm not sure where to start then. Are you hoping to apply to the magic department in the future? You'd probably want a degree, but there's always positions open. Pays well, too."

"Maybe. I'd definitely want a degree, I—I just arrived."

"I studied at the university at Huicoa, in Madeza - most people go to Elgadzhi, in Bajilda, but I like Huicoa better. It's great for ritual magic."

"I heard Elgadzhi was more well-rounded?"

"They're much larger, that's for sure. Not as good for specialization, probably your best bet for becoming a polymath."

"I don't know if I wanna be a polymath... but I don't know if I don't. Why'd you pick ritual magic?"

"It's incredibly fascinating! There's just so much that can go into it - it's like if you crossed chemistry with music."

"But aren't other bits of magic like that?"

"Native magic isn't - it's more like exercise - and most shareable magic styles are runic."

"Exercise?"

"Hmm... I'm no lecturer, but - there's... veins of magic, similar to the ley lines, that run within people. Native magic involves flexing those veins, usually to alter your own body. Sufficiently skilled practitioners can tug on the ley and alter the world around them, too."

"Ooh, that sounds interesting."

"I guess it's more interesting if you didn't grow up with it. It's mostly useful for small stuff - making your muscles work better, that type of thing. Exhausts you like exercise, too."

"Okay, I guess I understand how it's maybe less useful."

"Yeah. Frustratingly, most of the very nice magic systems are origin-locked."

"Like what?"

"Occasionally someone with a ludicrously powerful magic system will show up, though those tend to die out fairly quickly. I don't know a lot of examples, but there's a few origin-locked systems that make their users immortal, or allow them to read and edit minds, or permit teleportation, or let you bring back the dead..."

"—wow. Can't they be—combined? That sounds—wow."

"No one's managed. And they're rare, and most don't pass on well. Unfortunately we've yet to crack all that with shareable magic..."

He nods and sighs.