Vord fumed his way through the corridors outside the Great Hall toward the massive gates that separated the sanctified grounds of Unseen University from the mundane mess thronging Ankh-Morpork. The delicate agreement between the Archchancellor of the University and the Patrician of the city ensured that this was a very conditional separation. After all, every citizen of Ankh-Morpork had been promised the use of the Great Library and allowed to petition a wizard for aid. Therefore, the Gates were permitted to hold out the riffraff only on the condition that they be opened if anyone asked to come in. And that's another thing I'll be changing, he snarled in the depths of his mind, ignoring the shocked protests of the wizards who bounced off him like rubber balls off a polo mallet. And the lecture had started so well.
--
Vord had first noticed that the students' attention was less then expected when he had found himself incinerating the fly resting on one lad's pencil in order to wake the little fool. He pause din his demonstration of how certain witch doctors ate the sun, in fact an elaborate illusion rather then a display of power over the elements, and surveyed his students.
Most wore the glazed expression common to students the multiverse over. Behind its bleary eyed façade, the brain was able to absorb only the absolute minimum required from the information washing over it and freed the conscious to engage in daydreams. These frequently focused on the ever decreasing time separating 'Now' from 'The Pub', a formula much lauded by advanced researchers everywhere. Drool dripped in slow globs onto the desks. The sunlight piercing the dusty air was thick and heavy, dulling the senses of the sharper students. Vord had even yawned once!
All of this was solvable. Vord focused on the boy with the phenomenal mole in the third row, quill scritching furiously as he took notes and copied diagrams. The energetic attention reinvigorated Vord.
'Are there any questions about witchdoctors?' he said. Spot lifted his head and glanced around, although he clearly had no questions of his own. A few faces blinked as they shuddered out of sponge-feeding mode, trying to put together enough of what they had filtered from the lecture so far that they could ask a semi-rational question. Before any of them managed to raise an arm, Vord noticed some movement from the third row. He sniffed and raised a dramatic finger to point at the lad with the fish eyes who seemed to be waving his arms about in n attempt to be noticed.
'Yes?' His deep tones bounced off the back of the room. The light shone around him like a nimbus. The student blinked, an impressive sight with those eyes.
'Uh. What?' asked the student, with only the faintest hint of a squeak.
'What?' asked Vord, still posed like a prophetic angel.
'Um.' The student sunk lower in his seat. 'What are we talking about?' He tried to pull his clacks flags off the desktop and into his lap.
The light in the room dimmed. The robes that had gathered in such impressive folds around Vord's arms suddenly looked heavy. He pulled his hand back and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
'Have I mentioned that I will require some assistance for my research tomorrow night? I believe you would be perfect.'
The student smiled slowly. Spot grimaced, closed his eyes and shuddered.
--
The University gates towered over Sartor Square like black stones that might inspire thought in lesser creatures. Beneath them the grasping, shouting, stabbing commerce of one of the cities many markets jostled for position. Instead of bones being hefted with hackle raising shrieks and flung into a ballet of movement, coins were pressed into fleshy palms with surprising vigour. The gates shook and then groaned rapidly open and Vord stormed into the square, bowling aside a merchant selling suspiciously squishy fruit.
'Oi!'
Vord ignored the man, who chased after him and tapped his shoulder.
'Look mate, no harm no foul, the merchandise is awright, but you could at least fling an apology my way don't ya think?'
Vord stopped so suddenly that the man nearly walked into him.
'Yeah, I mean you are a wizard and all, but it's just human decency, innit?'
Vord turned to face the man. His eyes burned like pits of lava in his face and his hands were wreathed in licking tongues of deep red flame. The merchant raised his hands and stepped away, muttering 'Well, like I said, no harm no foul. No need to fuss, we're both busy men with business to look to. I'll just, I'll just, I'll get back to the apples shall I?'
Vord nodded, a movement which caused small flares to burst from his eyes.
He crossed the rest of the square with stall workers falling over each other in their haste to get out of the way. He barely paused to flick his gaze over the sign above the door of the Longfang semaphore store before shoving the door open and stepping inside.