I get to the door of the bathroom, and I hear Enrique talking with someone. I open the door and I see Enrique talking to the vice-president. Enrique seemed to be upset, so I came up behind him and cleared my throat, “What's happening here, Enrique?”

  Enrique turned around with a pissed off look, “This guys says we can’t be in here until the speech is over.”

  I looked behind Enrique to see the VP looking over at me, “President Layla says she wants everyone to listen to the speech the dean is giving. I request the two of you leave and head back to your tables.”

  Enrique pivots, “That old geezer giving the speech can suck it for all I care. I don’t want to listen to another speech after the one you and President Layla gave.” he argues.

  “Dean Hellborg is no ‘old geezer’. He is a refined man with limitless wisdom. You should be in there gaining everything you can from him! If you were in there instead of here you could be being set onto the path of a hero!” Enrique’s words clearly pissed off the VP.

  “I am already on the path of a hero! I went to a mana shrine, and it glowed a bright yellow!” He matches the energy that the VP was producing.

  The VP got into the face of Enrique “I don’t care what kind of mana you may have! You are still missing the point!”

  This argument was annoying. Enrique and I should have gone back to the speech by now.

  The three of us hear a knock on the door. “Yeah?” asked the VP, using his hand to shut Enrique up.

  A female voice was heard from the other side, “Adrian?” she asked.

  “Yeah it’s me.” he replied.

  “Layla said for you to stop messing around in the bathroom.” The voice said.

  “Not now, I am dealing with people trying to skip the speech themselves.” he replies.

  The door opens and in walks the woman. I turned around to see the lady. It was Reia, and she looked to be as annoyed as me. Our eyes meet for a moment before she looked behind me to see Enrique having his mouth held shut by Adrian.

  She gets pissed, “What are you doing to that freshman?” she asked.

  Adrian quickly lets go of Enrique and pushes him into me, “These are the ones that are skipping the speech. Clearly they have no interest in being freshmen!”

  Enrique fixes himself, “Just because I don’t want to listen to another boring speech doesn’t mean I don’t want to be a student here. You are stupid as hell!” he says, verbally attacking the VP.

  Adrian turns over to Enrique and rolls up his sleeves, ready to throw down with Enrique. I step out of the way of them, not wanting to be a part of this.

  Reia steps in, pointing a finger at him, “Get back out to the speech, before I have to call the president over here.”

  Adrian stops in his tracks and rolls his sleeves down and walks out of the bathroom, clearly not wanting to anger the president. After watching Adrian leave, Reia turns her attention to us.

  “I am sorry for my friend’s actions. He is quick to anger when people don’t follow the orders of the president.” she tries to cover for Adrian.

  “Yeah, your lucky you stepped in. I would have laid him out.” Enrique says, trying to make himself seem like a tough guy.

  Reia wasn’t having it, “Just leave already. He was right about the president wanting everyone at the speech.”

  Enrique took the hint and left the bathroom, I followed him out into the main room. The dean sounded like he was just finishing up.

  “AND THAT IS WHY I DEDICATED MY LIFE TO THIS GREAT SCHOOL!” everyone claps for the dean, how bows in front of everyone.

  Enrique starts clapping, “BRAVO DEAN, BRAVO!” he shouts. He is damn near crying. This is 10/10 acting from Enrique.

  We make our way back to Leah’s table, where she is watching the speech with Professor Gilbert. They have already stood up and are getting read to leave.

  “What took you guys so long in the bathroom?” Leah asked us.

  “We ran into the vice-principle. He’s a tool.” Enrique tells her outright.

  “Glad you are already meeting like-minded people, Enrique.” she spits the venom right at Enrique as she pushed in her chair.

  “I am not a tool. I am a well groomed gentleman.” Enrique puffs up his chest, pretending the venom didn’t just strike a critical blow to his ego.

  Phil grabbed his jacket and straightened his back, it cracked and popped. Then he checked his watch. He sighed and lowered his hand, “The event is ending in 5 minutes. After this I still have a staff meeting to attend.”

  “It’s almost nine already?” Leah has a hint of panic in her voice, “I completely forgot about Frank at the Inn.” she says clenching her purse.

  She quickly comes over to me and Enrique, “I’m going to cut this real short. Remember everything I have lectured you guys about, and stay out of trouble. I will come and visit every Friday.”

  She quickly exits the building, leaving me and Enrique with Phil.

  “Is she just going to leave us like that?” I asked.

  “She really doesn’t care about us, does she?” remarked Enrique.

  Phil tipped his hat, “Seems like that is also my cue to make my grand exit.” he also exits the building, the same way Leah did.

  I and Enrique look at each other, unsure on what to do next. “Wanna hang out in my dorm?” I asked.

  Enrique smirked, “You know me all too well.” we dap each other up, the echo being heard throughout the entire hall. Some people looked at us, that included the vice-president.

  Enrique and I walked out of the building, making our way to Philomon’s hall. The door was wide open, and a large group of students is gathered in the hallway leading to the stairs. They are shouting and hooting.

  Enrique and I gather outside of the group, trying to see what's happening. We hear shouting from the center of the group. I get on the tip of my toes to look over the group, I was barely able to see the center.

  I see a man and a woman arguing. The man was Jonah from my floor and the woman was someone I didn’t know. She had short black hair and sharp red eyes. She also had a shark-like tail. Enrique wasn’t able to see over the group, “Bro, what do you see?”

  “I see a man and a woman arguing. I know the guy, but the woman is new to me.” I said planting my feet back down onto the ground and turning to Enrique.

  “A fight already? It’s not even the first day of school.” He says hopping, trying to get a look into the center.

  “The woman is some sort of Demi-human, she has a tail that looks to come from a shark or something.” I said trying to get another look at the two.

  All of a sudden a loud pop come from the center, and the majority of the crowd darts out of the way. This makes the center visible. I saw Jonah on the floor with his clothes burnt, while the girl is standing over him.

  “Don’t pick fights that you know you can’t win, Idiot.” she kicks Jonah then power walks up the stairs.

  Enrique and I walk over to Jonah, who is whimpering. “What happened?” I asked as we came close to him.

  “That bitch. She attacked me for no reason!” he said as he sat up from the floor, brushing soot off his uniform. I helped him up to his feet and looked him over to injuries. Enrique looked over at the stairs, trying to piece things together while I helped up Jonah.

  “We saw the argument. What did you say to tick her off?” I asked Jonah.

  Jonah looked at me sheepishly, “I simply compared the breast size of hers to the president’s bust.”

  Enrique’s head turns over to look at Jonah, “Are you mentally stunted? Why the hell would you do that?”

  Jonah just laughed, pushing the questions off. “Anyways, Marley and I were about to head over to get some dinner since we both missed the going away party. Do you guys want to join us?”

  “No, thanks, bro. We are heading up to his room to hang out and decompress after the event.” Enrique turned him down.

  “Ah, I get it man.” Jonah says as he turned to leave the hall, “Thanks for the help guys, I hope to see you guys again.”

  “You too, Jonah.” I replied as he left the building.

  Enrique and I looked at each other for a moment, before giggling at Jonah’s actions. “What a dumbass.” I said as we started making our way up the stairs. Around the third floor we spot the same woman that rightfully attacked Jonah, struggling to open her door.

  “DAMN DOOR!” she shouts as she shoves her body into the door, making a great effort to open the door.

  Enrique ignores her and quickly rushes up the stairs, I watched her a moment. You see, her problem was she was pushing on the door. But the door’s hinges faced outwards. She needed to pull the door, not push it.

  “Hey, I think you are supposed to pull the door, not push it.” I said looking over at her.

  She shoots a glare my way before pulling the door open and quickly entering it, slamming the door in the process. I giggled and went up the stairs to meet Enrique. He was waiting at the top of the stairs for me.

  He began to walk down the hall, “so which one is yours? My room is on the second floor, room two. You better remember that.”

  “It’s room seven, at the end of the hall. I got a few things already unpacked, but there are still a lot left that still needs to be unpacked.” I said getting in front of him to lead him to the room.

  “Have you read the booklet yet?” Enrique asked as we got to the door of my room.

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Not really, I skimmed through it. I was looking at it when Leah gave us them.” I used my key to unlock and open the door.

  “This is the crib?” asked Enrique as he walked into the room.

  “Nothing much, it’s very humble.” I said following him.

  He sniffed the air of the room and nodded. He then inspected the room, looking through everything. He was making sure that everything was up to his code.

  After searching my bed, he turned around and gave me a thumbs up, “This room gets the stamp of humbleness. You got lucky with this room.” he then sat down on my bed.

  “That's great. Everything I own needs to be approved by the great Lord Enrique.” I walked over to the bookshelf and started looking through it.

  “Did you see how that Violet girl was looking at me? I think she was into me.” he laid down fully on the bed.

  “Nah, no one could be into you. Maybe that was her first time seeing a Mexican like yourself.” I explained.

  “Says you, you are like 450 pounds and ugly as hell.” he bit back at me.

  “I think I actually have lost weight here. In the other world I was around 227 pounds before we were transported here. But now I bet I am around 220 flat. I bet you haven’t lost a single ounce since we got here.” I claimed.

  “You may have lost weight, but you still haven’t lost the ugly, while I am a good-looking fat guy.” he retorted.

  “pffft, sure.” I grabbed a book and sat down next to Enrique. The title of the book read ‘Motif I: I Fall In Love To Easily’ a retelling of historical events.

  “What's that?” asked Enrique, sitting up to read over my shoulder.

  “I don’t know. I just found it on the bookshelf, it seemed interesting.” I opened the book and began to read it.

  Enrique walked over to the shelf and picked out a book for himself, and began to read it right next to me. We spend a good amount of time hanging out in the dorm before the campus curfew horn rang outside, cueing Enrique to leave my dorm and head down to his. After that I read a bit more before setting the alarm clock I packed and falling asleep.

  The dream was similar to all the other dreams I’ve been having. Strange faces, memories, and that same long table with strange men. But I wasn’t able to get them to notice me this time, so I was just third-wheeling the party.

  I slept all throughout the night, waking up to my alarm clock going off at 6:00 AM, the time I used to wake up for school and work. I got up, rubbed my eyes and adjusted the boxers I slept in. I stretched out on my bed for a while before sitting on the edge and looking out the window that faces the courtyard.

  I saw a group of people jogging around the courtyard, the group was led by the vice-president. I can’t escape this guy. I watched them jog about for a little bit, before I got up and searched through the boxes for a towel.

  Then I went into the bathroom and stripped down. I went to turn on the water, but I remembered that I needed help with using runes. So I wrapped myself in the towel and exited my dorm.

  I went across the hall to room six and knocked on the door. I waited. I heard no one coming to the door, so I prepared to knock again, but as soon as I was about to the door opened. There, in the doorway, I saw her. The white haired half-elf with pretty blue eyes.

  She looks me up and down, seeing how I was only wearing a towel. She blushed and turned her head, “D-do you need something?” she ashed.

  I wasn’t expecting to see her living right across from me. She hasn’t even changed out of her pajamas. “Can you please help me with my bath? I am not able to work with runes yet.”

  “Why aren’t you able to use runes yet? I thought everyone here had 2nd gate mana or higher.” she asked me.

  “I have negative mana. Professor Gilbert called me a ‘null’ and I can’t use normal mana yet. So runes are off the table for now.” I explained to her.

  Her ears perked up at the mention of negative mana, “A null you say? How interesting.” she looked over at me, “I can help you with the runes, as long as you tell me about yourself.”

  I nodded and agreed with her, “I think that’s fair. But I’d like to bathe before I explained things to you.”

  “After your bath, do you want to go get breakfast together?” she asked me as we walked into my dorm.

  “Sure, I’d like that.” I lead her to the bathroom.

  She uses the runes to fill the bath then leaves back to her own dorm. I close my door and drop the towel to take the bath. The bathtub itself was a ceramic bath, with a black accent. It was very fancy. A fair amount of time passes in the bath, most of that time being spent making sure I was clean, and I didn’t smell.

  After that I got dressed in my uniform and walked out of my dorm. Then I headed over to the cafeteria, where I met up with Reia. She was waiting for me by the door, she was also in her uniform.

  We quickly got seats by a window that looked over the arena that is used for competitive mana casting. I ordered a breakfast of eggs toast and wild boar bacon, while Reia ordered a crêpe filled with raspberry jam and whipped cream.

  The waiter left and the conversation began. “So, what were you doing in Ever-Cold?” she asked me, breaking the ice.

  “We were making our way up to the mountain shrine, so that my friend and I could get our mana read. My friend cut himself and bled onto the stone, and it glowed a bright pale yellow. But when I bled onto the stone, it shattered all over the place. This lead to a party member kissing my hand and calling me a null.” I explained my situation.

  She relaxed into her seat, “How did your party member figure out that from kissing you?”

  “She said she brought mana to her lips and felt if it was being removed or displaced by my skin.” I looked out of the window, watching a few athletes practice.

  “Who is your party member?” she asked.

  “Her name is Mika, she is a great mana user.” I tried to keep away from the topic of Mika.

  She looks into my eyes for a moment, “You keep getting more and more interesting, Shrugs. You should ask me a question now.”

  I look away from the window and looked at her, she was grinning, and her eyes were filled with curiosity. I thought of a question, something I wanted to know about her. “How did you get into this school? As you were living in a rather rural mountain-side village.” I asked.

  “Well, both my mother and father come from noble bloodlines. My mother was a high-elf noble and my father was a part of a former noble family. So last year, my uncle decided to enroll me into this college. He thought I would be good at magic due to my mother’s affinity.” she explained in detail.

  She is using past pretense when referring to her parents. It might be a good idea to keep the conversation away from her family. “So what about you joining the student council?” I changed the topic.

  “Good topic change, Shrugs.” she commented, “During my enrollment interview, I was in the same group as the President. We got to talking, and it ends up we have a lot in common, both in our history and our personality. This led to her choosing me as her secretary.”

  “Now, I have another question for you. You are a human, but you are over 6’0” tall. You have a different looking forehead, and your ears are long. Tell me, Shrugs, where do you come from? Are you part of a noble bloodline?” she digs deeply into me with her words.

  She caught me off guard with this question, and she was able to read my face just like a book, “I-I’m from the countryside, about ten miles away from Ever-Cold-”

  “Don’t lie to me, Shrugs.” she looks me dead in the eyes, her lips going stern. “I grew up in Ever-Cold, and I have never seen you or your friend in my life. But I have seen Mika and Leah before. You are new here, aren’t you?”

  All of a sudden I hear a familiar voice from behind us, “Shrugs? What are you doing here?” I looked behind me and saw a smiling Enrique. Reia sighs and relaxes back into her chair.

  Enrique pulls up a chair and sits down at the table, “Do you guys mind if I join in breakfast?”

  “I don’t mind, but you should ask the secretary before you join us.” I explained.

  “Just call me Reia, Shrugs. And I don’t mind if your friend joins us.” she replies quickly.

  I introduce Enrique to Reia while our food arrives at our table. Enrique took this opportunity to order himself the same breakfast I got. Reia askes a few question to Enrique, one of them was where he came from. He answered by saying “Same place as Shrugs.”

  Reia laughed at this and we finished our breakfast. We began to discuss our school schedules. It turns our me, Enrique and Reia have very similar schedules, sharing the majority of classes together. Perfect. We hung out a little longer before we decided to walk to class together.

  Our first class of the day was intro to conjuration with Professor Colins. As we made our way there, Reia took it upon herself to explain to Professor Colins was. He is a gate 6 conjurer, who made great advancements in the field of conjuring.

  He is also the father of the vice-president, but I am told they don’t talk to each other very much, aside from basic parenting. She described their relationship like one of an eagle and their young. Whatever that means.