Birthright-The Technomage Archive Read Online Free PDF

technology he would discover during Phase II.
    He was jarred out of his daydreaming by a hand grabbing him by the collar and pulling him upright. He whipped around to face a rather portly teacher with square glasses, shoulder-length hair, and an immaculately pressed faculty robe. Ceril recognized Professor Nephil at once.
    The teacher frowned at Ceril, then pointed to an empty spot in the line of students. Each of them already faced the center of the room and stood at attention. Ceril’s awe at his discovery of Instancing must have made him stand out. With a nod, Ceril joined his classmates in line.
    “ It certainly is breathtaking isn’t it, Ceril?” asked the professor.
    Ceril knew better than to respond. He stood at attention and waited like he had been trained to do during Phase I.
    “ But,” Nephil continued, “that is no reason for being out of line and not at attention. Stand here and wait for Presentation to begin.” He glanced down at the tablet in his hand and tapped the screen twice. “Where is Swarley Dann?”
    Ceril blinked. He didn’t know. They hadn’t even come in together this morning, what with Swarley being ready ahead of time and all. Ceril looked around and found his roommate in line a little way around the cylinder’s ramp. Ceril pointed in his general direction for Professor Nephil.
    “ Thank you, Mr. Bain,” said the teacher and walked toward Swarley.
    The beam of light in the center of the cylinder came to life and seemed to solidify. Inside it, a man floated in midair directly in front of Ceril. He flickered once before stabilizing. If the man had not flickered, Ceril would have never known he was looking at a hologram. It was by far the most advanced hologram Ceril had ever seen.
    Ceril looked around, and all the other students were staring straight ahead, as though someone were directly in front of them, too. Some of them were talking. The floating man, Ceril assumed, operated on the same technology that the P.A. system did.
    “ Hello, Ceril,” the hologram said.
    “ Hello,” Ceril replied. He made eye contact and kept his arms at his side. He had never been anything less than perfect at Presentation during Phase I, and he was certainly not going to change that now. Especially after Professor Nephil hadn’t punished him for being out of rank.
    “ I’m Gilbert Squalt,” the man continued. “I’m the new headmaster at Ennd’s.”
    Each student had their own private meeting with the headmaster this Phase? After the unsettling welcome message he had been given yesterday, speaking to this man in private was low on Ceril’s list of priorities.
    “ I hope the morning has found you well,” said Headmaster Squalt.
    “ Yes, sir. Well enough,” Ceril said. He was trying to keep his voice from cracking as the hologram's eyes inspected his uniform. He knew he had put it on properly, but with the headmaster’s attention on it, he knew he was going to get reprimanded.
    “ Good. I'm very glad to hear that, young man. So tell me, what do you expect out of Phase II?”
    The question took him aback. Ceril wanted to say, “To know what I’m not ready for,” but he didn’t. Outside of that, he had no idea what to expect from Phase II. He knew what everyone else knew: it was the time when students at Ennd's specialized in an area and began training for their future. Gramps had gone to Ennd’s once upon a time, he had said, and even he wouldn’t tell Ceril anything about the nature of Phase II beyond that.
    “ I suppose, sir,” he said, “that I expect to learn.” His voice rose at the end of the sentence, as though it were a question.
    The hologram grinned. “How very generic, Ceril. Though, I would certainly hope so. This is a school after all. Could you be more specific?”
    “ Y-yes, sir. I expect to learn about agriculture,” said Ceril. “I’m from Ternia, sir, and I want to learn what I can do to return to my grandfather and help him with his land. Maybe help him