Now that his ‘assistants’ were ready, he now needed to prepare the trigger, he manifested a single string from an instrument, upon which he imbued magic so tiny that the best eyes in the world couldn’t read it unaided.

  —--

  Into the room with speed and haste,

  Came a Halfling with no time to waste,

  Dressed in shorts and shirt that just shouted,

  This person had power that they flouted,

  Made from threads of more than platinum and gold,

  The ensemble was worth more than most would hold,

  Looking our Hero up and down,

  Their face showed a great frown,

  They introduced themselves as the Dean of Magic,

  And our Heros fashion looked quite tragic,

  The recommendation letter from the Mayor,

  Named him as an accomplished Demon Slayer,

  It also mentioned that help was required,

  To get him home to the place he was sired,

  While the Academy could offer him his way home,

  The answers weren’t written in a helpful single tome,

  It would require much detailed preparation,

  It is time to decide his next step without hesitation,

  As reagents, magic and time were in need,

  If the portal home were to succeed,

  Announcing that our Hero was too poor,

  To find any help within this Mages door,

  And his journey was likely to end,

  Unless our Heros finances were to mend,

  The recommendation letter allowed him to stroll,

  And pick a few classes in which to enrol,

  Of which there were countless he could pick,

  Enough to keep him until he was old and sick,

  But the Dean suggested that he make a decision,

  And at least consider accepting the admission.

  Most students start with three classes to follow,

  To ensure their skill breadth isn’t hollow,

  But as our Hero doesn’t plan to stay long,

  There is no need for a syllabus as strong,

  So pick just what he needs,

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  To ensure that the Portal succeeds,

  He should join the lessons on Hunting the Extreme,

  To source materials that are supreme,

  As Planar travel is not easy to do,

  Without bodies ripping in two,

  Many goods must be gathered,

  To stop our Hero from getting lathered,

  The Dean did also suggest to visit the Tower,

  Where the Planar Mages unleash their power,

  To make sure the Portals they can make,

  Match the destination he wants to take,

  As the Planar Tides are quite scary,

  Enough to make even Archmages wary,

  Our Hero agrees with the Dean's suggestion,

  That only left one remaining question,

  What materials did the Mages need,

  And what they wanted for their greed,

  But that could wait till his schedule was set,

  And the professors he had were met,

  To the Lobby desk our Hero is directed,

  Where his schedule will be formed and inspected,

  Combined with the map he already does hold,

  He has everything he needs to be direct and bold,

  The next step to his way home is clear,

  Now to enact it without any fear,

  The meeting is now over its time to leave,

  Without warning the room started to spin and heave,

  A simple gesture and our Hero was banished,

  With a sudden lurch and the room just vanished,

  Leaving our Hero on the Librarys front steps,

  Next to a student getting in his upper body reps,

  Such a sudden change left his legs like jelly,

  With great effort he avoided crumpling onto his belly,

  Slowly and with great care he went to the lobby,

  Passing many a weird a strange hobby,

  Even so a commotion in the lobby surprised him,

  An explosion of lights from radical bright to dim.

  —---

  It was time to pay for information,

  Of his preys destination,

  As his crows were distracted,

  His own surveillance impacted,

  The local brokers would demand a price,

  Hopefully negotiations would be nice.