Chapter 7

  With 10 rooms to split between the 12 of us, naturally two rooms would need to be shared. Lloyd volunteered immediately, and the top ranking diamond class student, Zachariah, took him up on the offer.

  Unfortunately for me, nobody else was so agreeable, and we had to draw straws to determine who else would be rooming together. Of course, Professor Kuhn and the diamond instructor (who had yet to introduce himself to us), made it clear there would be no mixing of genders here.

  I went first, trusting in the law of probabilities to decrease my chance of getting a short straw.

  “Too bad, better luck next time.”

  Kuhn said to me after seeing what I drew. Sometimes I had to question whether I was truly cursed.

  We went through the process until finally my roommate was decided and we found ourselves in our room upstairs.

  “Um… Nice to meet you. I’m Oliver of Bradbrooke.”

  My new roommate introduced himself. He was a short boy with large round spectacles and messy chestnut hair. His cloak made him look like a mage, but it was clearly a few sizes too large for him.

  “Rex Jaeger. Nice to meet you too.”

  I tried to recall if Oliver had stood out at all earlier, but I couldn’t even remember seeing him in the crowd. His duel must not have been noteworthy.

  “Looks like they only put one bed in each room. I guess they weren’t prepared to accommodate this many people.”

  I nodded to the only bed in the room. The place was big enough for us both to have our own spaces, but this oversight would have no doubt caused issues for most people.

  Luckily I wasn’t most people.

  “You take it. Oh, but Tiara will probably sleep there as well. Just push her aside if she’s in the way.”

  Tiara meowed in protest but I ignored her.

  “Are you sure? Where will you sleep then?”

  “I’ll be fine, I’m used to roughing it.”

  This was true, there weren't exactly any nice places to rest in the Feral Abyss, and sleep stopped being a necessity for me anyway.

  “Thank you Rex, I’ll find a way to make it up to you.”

  He awkwardly bowed, and it was only then that I realised something important about our respective positions.

  “Oh. You can speak casually to me. I was born a commoner like you. The surname Jaeger belongs to my adoptive mother.”

  In this world, surnames were reserved for nobility. This was why Lloyd, Rose, and I all added “of Redwater” to the ends of our names whenever we introduced ourselves.

  “Even so, I should show respect to someone chosen by Miss Jaeger.”

  “You know Ada?”

  This was a surprise. Ada had never even come to this town until recently, she usually spent her time travelling and only occasionally stayed in her estate back in the capital.

  “Of course! Her illusionary techniques are remarkable! She can create solid illusions of monsters that mimic up to 50% of the real thing’s power. I have some of her books here, look!”

  The meek Oliver suddenly became an excited fanboy and reached for a bag that wasn’t there.

  “They haven’t delivered our bags yet.”

  I remind him with a smirk.

  “O-oh right…”

  His face had gone red now.

  “A-anyway, if you’re her apprentice does that mean she taught you illusion magic too?”

  “I don’t have a Mana Organ. She mostly taught me theory.”

  Oliver looked shocked when he heard this.

  “Huh? No Mana Organ? That can’t be right…”

  “It wasn’t my magic that caught Ada’s interest. I’m a Druid you see.”

  This was my prepared response to answer any questions without having to mention the Abyss. Druids were practically non-existent in the eyes of this world due to their reclusive nature, however their unique skills were well known thanks to historical texts.

  “WHAT!?”

  I instinctively shielded my ears at Oliver’s raised voice. I nearly shielded my face too when I saw his sparkling eyes.

  “There hasn’t been a confirmed Druid sighting in decades! Well, decade and a half... Still, the last one to interact with us was Freya Wolfslied during the first Taiyin invasion!”

  I had no idea who or what he was talking about.

  “Is it true you can take in the mana from any living thing? How does it feel? Would you mind helping me test out some theories?”

  It didn’t look like this was going to end anytime soon. It was time to pull out the greatest excuse for any situation.

  “I’m new. I can’t do all the things you’re probably thinking of.”

  “Oh… I see…”

  His shoulders sagged for a moment, but then immediately sprung back up.

  “Does that mean you have a master teaching you besides Miss Jaeger? Will they come here too? What circle do you belong to?”

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  I had thought up excuses for all of these questions, but thankfully, I didn’t need to pull any of them out yet.

  Knock knock.

  “Delivery!”

  A familiar voice called out from the other side of our door. I sighed with undisguised relief and opened it up.

  “Hi, Rex!”

  Ada’s beaming face greeted me.

  “I got your stuff. The porters were taking too long, and I got bored.”

  She tossed a couple of large bags into my chest. The weight of them forced me to step back into the room, an action Ada interpreted as an invitation as she glided past me.

  “Hm? What’s this?”

  Ada rudely pointed a long, painted fingernail at Oliver while looking back at me.

  “...”

  Oliver, for his part, could only stare at her with his mouth agape.

  “That’s Oliver of Bradbrooke. He’s your number one fan.”

  “That’s nice. Hey Oscar, scram. This is my room.”

  Oliver flinched in response.

  “U-uh m-my name is O-oliver…”

  “Okaaaay?”

  Ada tilted her head at him and lazily waved towards the door.

  In a daze, Oliver slowly made his way to the door, which Ada promptly shut after him before jumping on the bed and looking at me.

  “Hug?”

  She reached her arms out.

  “No hug. Get off the bed.”

  Ada’s reputation for seducing men of influence was well known. She was a wicked woman who enjoyed being in control of others, and once she had someone wrapped around her finger, she would discard them without a care. I knew full well she only acted like this with me because I never gave in to her so called charms.

  “You’re so cold to your caring mother! Boo hoo!”

  She made a show of wiping her false tears away.

  Ignoring her, I began unpacking my things.

  Soon enough though, I felt a warm breath at the back of my ear. Ada had slumped her body over my back. Her voice came out as a sultry whisper.

  “I guess I can’t expect too much affection from you, I am only your third mother after all.”

  Her eyes flashed yellow, momentarily hinting at her true appearance.

  “...”

  I suppressed the urge to react. Despite her personality, Ada was still one of the only beings who knew my soul wasn’t from this world, and I did trust that she wouldn’t leak that information with such a careless remark.

  Seeing that I wasn’t flustered, Ada chuckled.

  “Hmhm… That’s why I love you Rex, you never go with the predictable reaction.”

  She went back to normal, rocking her head back and forth happily while pushing her chin into my back.

  “Your entry always causes a commotion, they’ll be at my door soon.”

  I subtly hinted for her to keep the strange comments to a minimum.

  “I know. Do you think your ears are better than mine, pup? That glasses kid has barely moved five steps out there, and we will have a very fun encounter in three…two…one…”

  In perfect timing with Ada’s “go!” the door opened again, this time with Professor Kuhn in my doorway. Behind him, I could see various heads peerng in.

  “See? I knew my eyes weren’t wrong!”

  A boy with red eyes and black hair in a ponytail grinned.

  “Hoho! Well done baby-fangs.”

  Lily was peeking from just beneath him.

  “...Interesting.”

  A person opposite them mumbled. The voice made her sound like a soft spoken girl, but she looked more like a mummy with a tattered robe draped over her body.

  “Oh, hello there.”

  The last of the curious children was an adorable girl who vaguely resembled a lamb thanks to her soft curls. It was the same girl from the medic tent earlier.

  I was certain she wasn’t in the chamite class, which meant she had to be that name I saw below Lloyd’s. I would have to confirm later.

  “Ada.”

  Professor Kuhn’s stern voice cut the chatter down.

  “Parents and guardians should have left the campus by now.”

  “Booo!”

  Ada pouted childishly, letting her body slide limply off my back to the ground.

  “Society may not bless us, but our love will prevail!”

  She declared from the floor.

  “Professor Kuhn, this strange person is impacting my student life.”

  “Of course she is. Allow me to assist you, Rex.”

  He stepped forward, looking down at Ada like she were living garbage.

  “Ack! Alright, I’ll go! I’ll go!”

  She leapt up and began to head to the door. But she stopped to stare at the other students who were still watching the show from the hallway.

  “Hmmm…”

  Specifically, she was staring at Lily. They both wore similar mischievous grins, something Ada must have interpreted as a challenge.

  “Let me just say a final goodbye to my boy first.”

  She came back to me and gave me a hug. I wish she could have been normal for a moment and hugged me in a sensible way.

  “Woah… lucky bastard.”

  The ponytail boy commented. Lily whistled in interest, and the medic girl covered her face and shyly backed away. The mummy didn’t say anything, but I felt a judgemental gaze behind those bandages.

  Ada had wrapped her arms around my neck and nestled her face into mine. She definitely did this just to mess with me, but it wasn’t entirely pointless.

  “I left a present. Check your journal in private.”

  She whispered into my ear before backing off, leaving for real this time. The scent of lavender and honey clung to me even as the source vacated the room.

  “...Please keep in mind you represent our Empire now, Rex. Your behaviour and propriety reflects on all of us.”

  Professor Kuhn chided me, and ushered everybody back out. Oliver came back in as well, his face flushed red.

  With the door closed and sweet silence returning, I placed my hand on Oliver’s shoulder.

  “Sorry about that… Where I come from we have a saying, never meet your heroes.”

  He did not respond to my wise counsel. Instead what he said lowered my opinion of him a few notches.

  “...she’s even prettier in person…”

  ***

  The two classes were gathered in the main room with the intention of getting to know each other.

  I intended to join them, but with Oliver out of the room I had a moment to follow up on Ada’s direction first.

  Included in my belongings was a blank leather bound journal that Ada had gifted me shortly after we first met. Over time, I had filled it with pictures and information relating to various flora and fauna. I brought it with me as filling it out had become something of a hobby of mine.

  Surely enough, something fell out from between the pages when I opened it up. A small note that smelled faintly of lavender, I knew immediately this belonged to Ada.

  I read the note a few times over to properly commit it to memory, then I held it against the candle Oliver had brought with him and burned it away.

  I had received my first direction with the following message:

  The Fallen Stag’s soul has been detected in the Verdant Divide. You will have an opportunity by the end of this month. Seek Blightblade, and do not let it be claimed.