Not this time.

You decide that you would probably have a better time by yourself today. “I’ll see you later,” you call over your shoulder with a wave. “Have fun with that book.”

“Uh, yeah,” comes the numb response. You can’t tell if he’s hurt by not getting an invitation or if he’s just engrossed in the book again. You shrug, not letting it get to you. Even if he is too timid to ask to come along, you shouldn’t feel guilty for not inviting him. You’re not his keeper, and you’ve offered enough times that he should know he’s welcome to join you.

You quickly walk down the hallway, your mind weighing a hundred ideas about things you could do. You’re so excited that you take the stairs down two at a time. When you get outside, you’re relieved to find that it’s even nicer outside than you thought. You immediately start walking across the expansive grounds toward the main gate.

Many students had the same idea that you did, apparently. Here and there, students are scattered about the lawn, talking in small groups, reading, studying, or napping on the manicured grass. All are dressed just as you are, in the loose white robes that are the school’s uniform. The only differences are the colors and symbols that trim the robes. Your robes have a light blue trim with the symbol for the school of Illusion (the outline of the human form, empty) repeated around the cuffs and neckline. During your time at the school, your robes would be replaced by deeper and deeper shades of blue, but since you have been in the Institute for only several semesters, the shade of blue is miniscule.

As you pass one couple, you overhear a snippet of their conversation. The Divination student is conveying a Vision that he had had, about people traveling through the sky in a giant, steel bird. The attractive girl he’s telling, a Summoning student by the coloring of her robes, is thoroughly enraptured. You stifle a snicker to yourself. You understand why she would be so interested, but you have a feeling his aim is not to help the girl discover a new spell for her department.

Looking at the girl again, you start imagining her without her robes. The uniforms may be loose, but they are also silk and don’t do much to hide the appetizing shape of the girl underneath them. You start imagining the girl without them on, and curse the Diviner’s luck, that he will no doubt learn–from a senior student, not an instructor–how to see through clothing at some point during his studies. She has large breasts, and from what you can see not covered by the robes, well-toned, long legs. The image of those legs wrapped around your back jumps to your mind, her full lips open wide as she screams your name in orgasm while you pound your cock into her pussy, filling her soft flat belly full of cum, her nails raking your back--

You **** the image out of your mind as a familiar need catches your attention. The robes do just as little to obscure the underlying form on you as they do her, and if you keep thinking about that, you’re going to have an embarrassing problem in front of all these other students. You keep your mind as blank as possible as you walk the remaining distance to the gate.

As you pass under the main entrance arch, you hand your backpack to one of the guards stationed on either side of the portal. As expected, the guard takes no notice of the blatant contraband (the dagger) lying on top of your clothing, in plain sight inside the bag. Due to the Obscure spell, the guard’s mind does not make the connection between what his eyes are seeing and how he should react. His mind “skitters” over it, like an arrow that deflects off smooth stone as it travels. Unless specifically asked about these things, he would never even remember having laid eyes on either item. This way, you don’t have to worry about him discovering something solid that he can’t see within the bag and catching you.

Once again, you mentally thank your father for the gift of the necklace. He never explained where he had acquired it, but you happily accepted the going-away gift, understanding its power and its versatility instantly. Its only power, the invulnerability to any Divination spells that would be cast against it, has once again allowed you to smuggle something under the magical archway. For the safety of both the Institute and the surrounding island city of Antillia, the archway had long ago been infused with the ability to automatically detect any magical item or spell in effect that would pass beneath it. But though the ordinary dagger had no spell cast upon it, and since it was “wearing” the necklace, the dagger had received the necklace’s gift of non-detection in addition to the Obscure spell that had been casted upon the necklace.

Satisfied, the guard hands you back your bag. He asks you a few perfunctory questions like your name, why you are leaving the grounds and such. You answer with practiced lies, hardly even paying attention. He scratches a few notes on his ledger, and bids you a good afternoon. He picks up his spear again and returns to his post, now paying you no attention at all.

To keep up the ruse that you’re on your way to…wherever you said you were going, you start making your way down the avenue. After a few steps, you realize that you still haven’t decided where you want to go yet. A few different destinations jump to your mind right away.

You could go out into the country and spend a day or two just walking around the city’s surrounding farmland (and prowling for farmers’ daughters). If you stay inside the city, there would be plenty of taverns to gamble in or brothels to visit. With your Institute robes, you would be able to walk into any upscale establishment you like, and the owners would wait on you like a king, so well known is the ample allowance that the Institute pupils receive. Though it would be a good idea to avoid the less-than-reputable places around town in this clothing for the same reason. But then, that’s part of the reason that you brought the change of clothing. And it might be fun to take in a bar fight. Ultimately, between your skills and your large allowance, the choices are endless.