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Hugh could feel the other two apprentices staring at him. “You, Hugh, are what is known as a warlock.”
It was at that point that the events of the day caught up to him. Hugh burst into tears.
only to have Alustin snag him by the shoulder and turn him towards one wall, where one of the chalkboards had been erased. “Second lesson!” Alustin said. “Second lesson?” Hugh said. “I’m not actually keeping track,” Alustin said. Hugh thought better of responding to that.
Alustin, however, had swiveled around to walk forwards again, dodging an origami messenger crane flapping through the air. Hugh was now absolutely convinced that Alustin lived for being dramatic.
Alustin had thrown book after book of ward design and theory at him, giving him lecture after lecture. The book throwing wasn’t always metaphorical, either- once Hugh had begun crafting wards meant to guard him against physical attacks, Alustin started throwing books, pens, and any other objects he had to hand at Hugh.
“It eats scents,” Godrick said. “Rub it in yer armpits and it’ll… eat the scent, make ye smell better.” Hugh blushed a little, but grinned. He definitely had a little bit of an issue with getting a bit ripe-smelling, so this would be incredibly handy.
“No, I was asking if your banter could get any more boring and unoriginal. You really have depended on your position more than your wit, haven’t you?”
His anger grew and grew, and Hugh felt like it was going to explode out of him, until, all of a sudden, it just… drained away. Hugh burst into tears.
It’s a bit of a long story, but yes, there’s a demon named Bakori wandering around down here who has offered me the power to save my friends, but I’d really rather not sign a contract with a demon. Understandable. Contracts with demons tend to turn out very, very badly.
Hugh was starting to suspect that the Index was a little more than semi-sentient, as Alustin had called it.
“I bet you have an affinity for sheer idiocy,” Talia said.
“You didn’t form a contract with the Index, Hugh. You formed a contract with the mind controlling the Index. You pacted with High Librarian Kanderon Crux.”
Impressiveness alone is not enough for me to pact with someone. No, I only brought that up to make it clear that I would not pact with a nobody, and that I most certainly considered you worthy in that regard.”
