LMS - Bonus Pt.1 - Dreaming (Patreon)

*** I have to concede that there probably won't be another instalment of Lesbian Magic School, so I've decided to share what few chapters I'd already written. 

For those of you not familiar, LMS was a smutty isekai gender-bender about a trans egg who was reincarnated / transmigrated into a world of swords & magic then sent to Sappho's School of Sorcery. 

If you're not familiar with LMS and want to go give it a read, be warned: the original story contains a lot of smut and mind control. Some of it's consensual, but some of it isn't.

These bonus chapters contain neither smut or mind control, they're more of an insight into the world around LMS and some of the characters other than the half-sprite MC. 

A lot of the world building that was meant to happen in LMS book 2 actually ended up in Alchemist's Apprentice, and readers familiar with both stories might figure out the connection between the two based on these bonus chapters.

We begin with a 'flashback' to before LMS began, as told from the PoV of someone you don't know...yet. ^^ ***

=::= Six Months Ago =::=

I woke to the sound of knocking at the door to my chambers, followed by Thomas's voice.

"Sir, it is past time that you were up."

With a frustrated sigh I groaned, "Thomas you interrupted my dreams again!"

The door opened and he let himself in, then moved to my wardrobe and started pulling out the clothes I was expected to wear.

"Apologies sir," he replied calmly. "But it is your eighteenth birthday, and as you well know there is much to be done before the celebrations this evening."

I sat up and grumbled, "According to my mother's stories, I don't truly turn eighteen till noon. Anyways this was one of the good dreams, Thomas. Where I was..."

He glanced over at me, with a look of worry and sadness in his eyes. "In that case sir I am truly sorry. But as you well know, those dreams can never be made real."

"They can, and you know they can." I sighed and shook my head. "And the minute I'm able to work magic such as that, I will make them real."

The aging butler responded with a sigh of his own, "Sir as I've warned you as recently as last week, if you do that your father will disown you at best. At worst he might condemn you to the dungeons. Or even put you to death. There is simply no way the Duke would accept that of his firstborn son. You are the son and heir of Duke Henri Beaumont, you cannot trade that for the life of one of your sisters, regardless how often you dream of it."

I knew he was right but I didn't care. I knew I'd never have a life like my sisters, not that I particularly wanted either of their lives for myself. What I wanted was to be free, to be my true self and to make my own choices. 

Being the son of a Duke had its advantages of course, but unless that was the sort of life you wanted it was as much a prison as the dungeon. Granted it was a prison with very comfortable cells and friendly staff and servants, but to me it was a prison nonetheless. 

My life was already planned and charted for me the moment I was born. Next month I would be sent away to attend five years of school. Then at age twenty-four I would be married to a woman I'd never met. The two of us would live here in my father's castle while I attended him as his second, until the day he died and I took his place as Duke.

Like me, the life of my eldest sister Amelia was charted and mapped for her in advance. She was two years older than I, and two years ago she left for finishing school. Next year she would graduate. Then she would be given away in marriage to the son of some other noble family, a man she'd never met. There was every possibility I'd never see her again after that. 

For that matter I might have last laid eyes on her when she departed for finishing school after her eighteenth birthday.

The lives of my two younger siblings were not so rigidly-planned as those of Amelia and myself, or at least not yet.

The youngest, William, was fifteen now. I honestly felt he was much better suited to be the eldest son. Unlike me, he actually wanted to follow in our father's footsteps. He dreamed of becoming a Knight, and of one day taking over as Duke.

Instead, as a second son he was destined to wait in the wings and hope for my untimely and early demise. I'd have gladly stepped aside and let him take my place, but as father and Thomas frequently reminded me, that was not how the world worked. William was not yet arranged to be married to anyone. Due to his position as second son, he was much less desirable and would likely have to settle for a low-ranking or ill-tempered wife who's parents had trouble finding a willing husband for her.

And in between William and I was Constance, her seventeenth birthday would be next month. Like my brother she had thus far not been betrothed to anyone. I'd overheard some talk between my mother and father, suggesting her fiery nature would make her a difficult bride despite her fair appearance. They spoke instead of sending her to sorcery school when she came of age next year. 

My mother was herself a sorceress, and while she would not talk of her experiences at that school she did speak highly of the skills and talents in magic she learned there.

Indeed it was mother's talk of sorcery which inspired my fascination with magic in the first place. I'd originally enquired about attending the same school she did, but was informed that institution only accepted girls. In fact according to my mother, sorcery itself was a talent limited to the fairer sex.

And that information settled in my mind like salt in an open wound. Would that I could have been born as Constance. A second daughter with a fiery personality, unsuitable for marriage, to be shipped off to magic school to learn sorcery like our mother.

At least education was the one part of my life where I had been allowed to choose. 

My father would have had me continue my education with sword and lance and bow, he wished me to become a Knight like himself and his father before him. By some miracle I was able to convince him to send me instead to an Academy of Magic, where I would be trained as a wizard. I'd have preferred to study witchcraft, but father thought that craft was 'too womanly'. So be it. Wizardry may have been a distant third-choice for me, but it would still get me what I really wanted.

And after two or three years of study I'd know enough about magic to make my dreams come true. I'd lose my home, my title, my inheritance, even my name, but it would all be worth it.

"Sir?" Thomas finally broke me from my reverie as he gestured to the clothing he'd laid out for me. "Must I drag you from bed and dress you myself?"

I took in a deep breath then let out a deep sigh, "No Thomas. Go to the stables, tell Carter I want my horse ready within half an hour. Have some food and drink packed in the saddlebags. I'll be taking breakfast and lunch on the trail."

The old butler's expression crinkled into a frown, "Sir your parents -"

"I know Thomas," I stated. "I'm well aware of what they expect. But as you said, it is my eighteenth birthday and I plan to spend it as I wish. Rest assured I will be back this afternoon, and with plenty of time to prepare for this evening's ceremonies."

He was quiet for a few moments. I assumed he was weighing the pros and cons between doing as I asked or attempting to talk me out of it. Fortunately he chose to avoid the argument. He bowed slightly, "As you wish sir."

Once he'd left my chambers I finally rose from bed. I ignored the fine clothes that were set out and dressed instead in the rougher, more common clothes I preferred when I was out riding. The only indication of my rank or station were the sword which hung by my left hip and the dagger in the scabbard on my right. Both were of the highest quality, the guard and pommel of my sword were decorated with gold and silver filigree, while the pommel of my dagger bore our family's coat of arms.

Almost as an afterthought I took two coin purses from their hiding spot in the back of my wardrobe. One was filled with coins, an assortment of platinum sovereigns, gold crowns, and silver steeds. And the other contained a small fortune in precious gems. 

I frequently brought them with me when I went out riding. It was a fantasy I occasionally entertained. Set out for a half-day's ride, and simply never return. 

Although since convincing my father to send me to learn wizardry I was much less inclined to run away. I needed him to pay for that education, so I could one day make my dreams into reality. I still brought the coins and jewels on my rides though, out of habit.

• • • • •

It was another very warm summer day and when I came upon a creek I stopped to let my horse rest and take water. While she was drinking I pulled a skin from one of the saddlebags and took a swig of watered-down wine for myself.

The sun was high in the sky, it was probably right about midday now. I thought wryly to myself, this was truly the moment when I turned eighteen. And it was exactly how I'd have chosen for myself. 

Alone, on a trail deep in the woods, with no parents, no butlers, no rules or expectations. Just myself, free and independent. About the only thing that would make it even better would be if my trousers and riding jacket were replaced with a skirt and blouse. And needless to say, that I would have the body to suit such clothing.

I let another thirty minutes or so pass by as I distracted myself by imagining what that sort of life might be like. If I could be the person I wished I was, perhaps I could even learn sorcery after all. 

A sigh escaped my lips and I finally let the daydream go. Soon I would begin learning wizardry at the academy of magic. In a few years I'd have the skills and knowledge necessary. Thomas and father be damned, I'd do it anyways. Then maybe I'd make a run for it, and try to be free.

I was just about to mount up on my horse when I felt a moment of dizziness, and to my shock words appeared floating in the air before me. It was as though someone had somehow taken a pen and ink and written text on the very air itself.

I stepped back and glanced around, but the words moved with me. I blinked and shook my head, and quickly determined the words were not in the air or moving about but they were either within my own eyes, or perhaps an illusion that followed my vision wherever I looked.

'Congratulations.'
'You are being offered a one-time opportunity.'
'If you accept, your life will change immeasurably for the better.'
'Accept | Decline | More Information'

My first inclination was to panic, I was worried someone had enspelled me and was playing a prank on me. But I quickly got control of my emotions and re-read the text. 

I wasn't sure how I was supposed to answer or respond, so I spoke aloud. "I require more information."

The third option seemed to flicker or blink then all the text vanished, to be replaced by more.

'At the age of eighteen select few individuals are invited to join the System.'
'Those individuals who are in the System receive advantages and benefits otherwise unavailable.'
'Be advised, there are some drawbacks.'
'Accept | Decline | Advantages | Drawbacks'

I looped the horse's reins through a nearby tree branch and sat down as I pondered these strange messages. It seemed too improbable that someone was enspelling me, but any other explanation seemed equally unlikely. Still, I understood how this floating text worked now. 

"Advantages," I stated, and that word flickered and blinked in my vision before the rest of the text changed.

For the next twenty or thirty minutes I sat leaning against the base of a tree as I read through page after page of text. Advantages and drawbacks, additional information, what the System was, how it worked. By the time I was done I had a fair idea of what this strange System was offering me, and what it would cost. 

If I declined, the offer would be rescinded and I would forget this experience ever happened. I would continue on my life as expected, none the wiser.

If I accepted then I would be required to take a new name and my appearance would be changed, I'd become a stranger to all those who knew me. I would lose my home, title, and inheritance. But what I'd gain would be worth so much more to me. The only thing I'd truly miss would be my sisters. I liked Amelia and Constance, and while I'd never entrusted either of them with my secrets I always felt that they would have been sympathetic had they known.

I stared at those two words floating in the air before me. Accept. Decline.

My eyes focused on the word to the left, and I half-whispered "I Accept the offer."

The next half hour was spent reading even more text and making more difficult decisions. And some not-so-difficult ones.

I was given a dozen options from which I could choose my new appearance. Images of six young men floated in the air on my left, and visions of six young women floated in the air on my right. I ignored the apparitions to my left, all I ever wanted was floating before me on the right. 

That was probably the quickest and easiest choice I ever made. The instant I saw that face it called to me. Pretty, rounded, with bright green eyes and full wide lips. The pink hair was unusual but I adored it. In fact every one of the twelve options had some unusual trait or characteristic, be it hair or eye colour or some other peculiarity. But the cute girl with the pink hair was the one for me. 

No. 

The cute girl with the pink hair was me.

That was the only easy choice, after that they were either confusing, difficult, or I simply didn't understand the significance. Much of my time was spent reading 'More Information' simply to grasp what I was being asked to decide.

At long last all my selections were made and I was left looking at text which detailed all of my choices, followed by my remaining options.

'Confirm | Change | Cancel'

I took a moment to read through all the text again. Everything looked right, as best I could determine.

After taking a deep breath I gulped then stated "Confirm."