The Greatest Sinner

"Assignments? "Moon Coins?" Evan asked puzzled.

In his mind, the Academy of Magic was something boring, but useful. Lessons, training, and the library- he couldn't imagine other activities in a place like this.

Nevertheless, he had too bad an idea of what an Academy of Magic was, especially "The Last Moon". If all the students did was go to classes and the library, then what was the point of the Academy? It would be much easier to hire a teacher and that would be it.

Sana nodded: "Yeah, the Academy of Magic, you know, gets resources and money not out of thin air. Any student can take assignments from the notice boards and get "Moon Coins" for doing so. Of course, assignments can also be given to you by your teachers. Usually their tasks are easier and they pay more."

<Hmm, that's a pretty good system. Students do assignments, gain experience and knowledge, and get rewarded for it. Whereas the Academy gets various resources all the time and if there's a problem to solve, it can be just assigned a reward for it>.

"I see, but what to spend these "Moon Coins" on? For spell books and artifacts?" Evan asked.

The girl looked at Evan in surprise and said: "You don't seem to know anything at all about "The Last Moon" or how the Academies of Magic are set up. Where are you from?"

Evan quickly replied, "I'm from Mossy Vulture."

"Then why is your knowledge so limited? Last year, the newbie magicians from Mossy Vulture were among the best ones."

Evan frowned and replied, "I was suddenly able to enter "Nirvana" and become a newbie mage. My case is pretty unusual and I haven't had much time to learn more about the Academy of Magic."

"Okay, don't worry, as a senior I'll tell you all about it!" With a satisfied smile on her face, Sana said.

Evan was the first person she had ever taught and she was glad for such an opportunity. The thing was, Sana herself had joined "The Last Moon" a year ago, so she still had a lot to learn herself, before she could act like a teacher.

The young man smiled and nodded. On one hand, he was grateful to Sana for all the information she had given him, but on the other, he was amused by the way, the second year student was acting.

"Any Academy of Magic is not really an Academy. It would be more correct to say that it is a special mini-city with its own infrastructure, and the more popular the Academy, the richer the city.

"So, the "Moon Coins" are the currency of this city?"

The girl nodded: "Yes, furthermore, our Academy even has its own cards, you can't use regular coins. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA."

"What's so funny?" Evan didn't understand why Sana suddenly laughed.

"Sorry, I`ve just remembered that some students didn't know that and brought thousands of gold coins with them. Later they had to nearly throw them away."

"Okay, then how big is this town?"

Although Sana called the Academy a city, Evan thought that was an exaggeration, because he couldn't imagine that everyone in the city was a magician.

"Well, about as big as half of Mossy Vulture."

"What?" Evan was shocked by this, he couldn't believe that so many magicians were concentrated in "The Last Moon". Zak had said him that only one person in a thousand had a talent for magic.

"Аh? What surprises you? Look, the city is divided into two parts - the main part and the side part. The main part is the huge building of "The Last Moon", while the side part is divided into three zones. Unlike the main part, the side part is where ordinary people can live along with the magicians."

<So that's the thing, wait, how do ordinary people survive in this city, if you can't use regular money?>

Evan thought to himself and immediately said: "Ordinary people do tasks for the Academy, too? Like gathering herbs and such?"

The girl looked at Evan puzzled and said: "Well, looks like the situation is even worse than I`ve imagined. Of course, not, assignments are only done by the magicians, ordinary people have other ways to earn "Moon Coins".

"What ways?"

"Well, do you think magicians cook their own food, clean, sew clothes, and so on? It's all done by the ordinary people, and for their goods or services the magicians pay with "Moon Coins". Of course, by doing tasks of the Academy you can earn coins much easier and faster, but that's as far as magicians are concerned. Even if ordinary people could take assignments, they still wouldn't be able to do most of them."

"So you're saying that collecting three Azure Dandelions and picking a couple dozen fruits is a task that only a magician can do?" Evan said with obvious sarcasm in his voice.

Sana was confused, but quickly thought of an answer: "I agree that also ordinary people can cope with such tasks, and you know we are not the only ones who understand this. I`ve learned from my teacher that in the past such tasks could also be undertaken by ordinary people. But even if a task seemed safe it wasn't necessarily so. For example, could a person collecting herbs be attacked by a monster? Yes, and it did happen quite often. When such incidents became too numerous, the head of "The Last Moon" forbade ordinary people to do any tasks, even the simplest ones."

"I see, there's some logic to it, although, on the one hand, it's unfair. So what exactly can the "Moon Coins" be spent on?"

"For just about anything. Weapons, artifacts, food, water, clothing, living in different zones, access to the library, and even lessons."

"How do the zones differ from each other?"

"There really aren't any strong differences, just that the closer the zone is to the Academy the more expensive it is, better stores, forges, and so on. It's mostly where those who have a lot of "Moon Coins" live, as they can afford to live in the first zone."

Sana continued: "Of course, you can also live in the main area where "The Last Moon" is, but only some magicians have permission to do so and it costs incredibly much. Only teachers and the best students can afford it."

"I see, Sana, what zone do you live in?"

"In the third, to be honest I could easily live in the second, but I don't see the point. In my opinion, it's much better to save the "Moon Coins" to buy the spell you need or for a lesson with the best teachers."

Evan nodded and thought, <I'll have to do the same, money never hurts. Of course, I need to look at the assignments, maybe, I have to do a lot of them.>

He thought that the assignments were first of all a way to learn new things, to visit previously unseen places and to gain experience, only then it`s a way to earn "Moon Coins".

While Evan and Sana were pondering, they were getting closer to the exit of the abandoned mine. With only a few steps to go, Evan would finally see the Academy of Magic, "The Last Moon".