“- And that concludes our lecture for today,” Professor Paraveral’s loud voice echoed through the otherwise silent lecture theatre. “Now class, I do expect you all to revise and familiarise yourselves with the concepts and ideas we explored today as they are imperative if we are to delve deeper into the theoretics of magic,”

At the professors’ dismissal of the class, the rows of students began to get up as they filed out of the auditorium. Lucas and I had been sitting near the back of the room so it would be a little bit before we got out, which made the perfect opportunity for some light conversation.

“What do you have there?” he asked, pointing at my open notebook which was now scribbled with a jumbled mess of ink, roughly drawn sketches and diagrams of artifacts with arrows seemingly connecting one incoherent blob of writing to the next.

“Uh nothing important, just some random stuff I drew out of boredom,” I dismissed, quickly shoving the notebook back in my bag. I had managed to narrow down my sights to only a handful of artifacts to hunt down, but it was still way too early to let anyone else in on the plan.

While I would eventually have to find a party, and Lucas would likely be included, there was no benefit in letting him on early.

After our Magic Theory Lecture, our only other class for the day was a combat-related class in the afternoon, so Lucas and I decided to grab some lunch at the school cafeteria before we figured out what to do next.

“The workload here is surprisingly little compared to what I remember,” - I quickly cut myself off - “I mean compared to what I heard,”

“Well the second-years have it somewhat easy,” Lucas replied casually, seeming not to pick up on my slip of the tongue.

“You take fewer classes a term than first-years and the stuff you learn isn’t as advanced as the things the third-years do,” Lucas continued his face grimacing slightly. “Just the thought of having four or five classes a day like I did in first year and having to juggle all that homework? No thanks.”

A slight smile crept onto my face. “I thought someone as studious as you would like having more classes,”

“Uh Huh, as if anything they could teach me in the first year was actually useful. They mostly just give you a sampler of everything so you know what you want and don’t want to continue studying in the higher years. Besides the spare time, the higher years offer has definitely been a blessing,”

“Oh really? I don’t see you clearing rifts,” I taunted.

“It’s not just about clearing rifts you know? Not everyone’s excited about being an adventurer,” he responded defensively. He shook his head slightly as the two of us turned a corner. As we did the hallway expanded into a massive hall, an exquisite chandelier lined with gemstones illuminating the hall from above. The pearlescent brick walls of the hall housed elaborate golden sconces that held up decorative torches beside grandiose marble pillars, sculpted with various designs, which seemed to wrap around the pillars and embed themselves slightly within the walls.

Four long gilded ebony tables spanned the length of the halls, each one having ornate repeating decorations that spanned across the length of their sides and down to their legs.

There probably wasn’t a shared finishing time for all classes as the dining hall was relatively empty despite the see of students I saw this morning

“Not bad for a school cafeteria, huh? I’ll go grab us some food, so just find us some seats, okay? " he asked, walking off once I gave him a wordless nod.

With Lucas gone, I began scanning the long rows of tables for a place to sit. The cafeteria was decently empty, so I had originally intended on sitting away from the other students, an idea quickly dismissed when I caught a group of students waving at me from my peripheral vision.

"Hey! Over here!" one of them called out. As I got a better look, I recognised her as the red-haired girl who had been sitting next to Evelyn in class. Intrigued by what they might want, I made my way over and took a seat, leaving space for Lucas to join us when he returned with our food. The group consisted of two girls and a guy. The girls sat across the table from me, chatting amongst themselves between bites of their meals as if they were the only two in the world, whilst the guy, seated on my left was silently indulging in his own food.

“So what did you guys want with me?” I asked, feeling slightly awkward that I was the only one at the table that didn’t have any food.

“What's wrong with trying to get to know our new transfer?” The red-haired girl quipped, her tone laced with playful teasing. She was about half a head or so shorter than the blonde-haired girl on her left, who was roughly the same height as Evelyn. She had a petite frame, emerald eyes and a mop of fiery red hair that dipped slightly below her shoulders. I couldn’t quite seem to remember what affinity she had, though it would be quite fitting if she had an affinity to fire like me, seeing as her messy hair seemed to dance through the air like flames.

“That reminds me,” She continued, leaning across the table, though having to lean slightly upwards as well due to our difference in height. “I saw you eyeing Evelyn earlier. She might have tons of guys going after her but I’m sure someone as handsome as you would be a nice break,”—She leaned closer— “So what me to set something up?”

Before I could muster up a response, or lack thereof, the blonde-haired girl who had been sitting on her right hit her on the side of her waist, causing her to lean back in mock pain. Her build was a lot more mature than the red-hair which I assumed to also be reflective of their personalities. She seemed sort of reserved and a bit tom-boyish, though it was quite easy to make the second assumption due to her short hair and the way she presented herself.

“That's enough out of you Iris, stop teasing him,”

The red-haired girl, Iris, turned her head back to look at her friend briefly, rolling her eyes as she sat back down.

“Jeez, you’re ruining the fun, Chloe,” she sighed dramatically, turning her attention back to me with a mischievous smirk plastered across her face. “And you’re no fun Mister … Arata was it?”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

She tilted her head slightly, before briefly glancing away. "They wasted such a good face on you," she muttered, just loud enough for me to catch, as if daring me to play along.

“I guess they did,” I replied sarcastically. “Anyways, Iris and Chloe right?”

“Mhm,” Iris cooed playfully. Meanwhile, Chloe just gave a wordless nod, her facial expression composed and almost unreadable like a mask. I turned my attention to the boy sitting on my left. He looked a bit like Lucas, minus the glasses, brown hair instead of black and a slightly shorter and more muscular frame.

“And you are?”

“Damian,” he replied courteously before shaking my hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Arata. I’m a friend of Lucas, we’re in the Relicography club together,”

“See, at least someone here gives me a normal introduction,” I laughed, looking at Iris.

Iris smirked, leaning her elbows on the table and resting her chin in her hands.

“I’ll take that as a way of saying I’m unique,” she chuckled, “After all it’s good to be memorable isn’t it?”

“Anyways,” I continued, ignoring Iris’ antics which caused a pouty expression to form on her face, “What was that about Relicography? It sounds interesting,”

“Well, that depends on the person. It is basically the decryption and study of artifacts that have been retrieved from rifts, among other things. Most schools wouldn’t have something like this. Still, Lexion is a pretty hands-on school regarding rifts, so many students will privately ask us to help with any artifacts they’ve recovered from their own expeditions. Still, we also work with the school to help decrypt and categorise artifacts for the benefit of the whole kingdom. In fact, these days Lucas and I are working on cataloguing a collection for the school. You should stop by sometime if you –”

Damian’s explanation was cut short by the sight of Lucas, who had walked up behind me carrying a tray of food.

“Looks like you’ve made some friends already.”,

“Something like that,”

“Welcome to the club. They’re not so bad once you get used to them.” he laughed, setting down a tray of food in front of me as he took a seat to my right.

Iris grinned slightly “Oh, Lucas, don’t scare him off. We’re delightful, aren’t we?”

“Delightful might not be the word I’d use,” Lucas said mockingly in between bites of his meal. “Anyways Damian what were you saying before?”

“Oh, I was just telling Arata about that catalogue of relics we’re making for the school.”

Iris groaned loudly and leaned back in her chair, throwing her hands in the air.

Ugh, Damian! Some of us are trying to enjoy a meal here so cut you it out with the nerdy talk about relics? You’ll put Arata to sleep here on his first day!

She gave a dramatic roll of her eyes before turning to face me again.

“Besides, Mister Arata here is quite the seasoned adventurer if the rumours about him are true. I’m sure he’s had more hands-on experience with relics, among other things, of course, than someone like you.

Damian sighed but didn’t do anything in response to Iris’ comment. "As I was saying, if you’re interested in learning more about rift-related phenomena or the stories behind these relics, it’s worth a visit. Don’t let Iris scare you off. She’s never set foot in the Relicography room, so she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. I think that all of our club members are also quite friendly and welcoming..”

“Yeah for a bunch of nerds,” Iris muttered under her breath.

Chloe, who had been silently observing the whole situation unfold, finally spoke up, her voice laced with an edge of playfulness.

“You really shouldn’t be calling them nerds after you begged me to teach you about runic script last week you know,”

Iris froze for a moment, her smug grin faltering slightly as a faint flush crept up her cheeks.

“Chloe! You promised you wouldn’t tell anyone,” she pouted. “B-Besides I was… looking at the practical uses of runes and glyphs in combat,” she stammered her usual confidence seemingly disappearing by the second.

Damian raised an eyebrow. “Wow I’m surprised you even know the difference between those two,” he laughed. “Must have studied a lot huh?”

“Oh shut up Damian, you can laugh all you want, but I didn’t spend more than, like, an hour looking at those stupid things! Not a second more!”, she retorted defensively.

Chloe, not one to miss an opportunity, smirked as she chimed in. "Didn’t you say you spent three hours last week trying to decode a rune you found in Damian’s notes? What was it you called it— ‘mind-blowingly cool’?"

Iris’ face turned bright red, her mouth opening and closely wordlessly like a fish out of water. "That was… I mean… I just was…” she fumbled hopelessly, her usual sass and playfulness nowhere to be found.

Lucas and I couldn’t contain our laughter anymore, and both started to laugh uncontrollably, which earned us both ‘death glares’ from Iris, though the effect was significantly diminished by her crimson cheeks and inability to meet our eyes.

"Okay, fine!" she finally blurted, throwing her hands up in defeat. "Artifacts aren’t totally nerdy and useless. Happy now?" She crossed her arms and sank lower in her chair, as if wanting to melt away and disappear forever, muttering under her breath, "You guys are the worst."

"Don’t worry, Iris," I said with a small grin. "I’ll make sure to bring you back something extra ‘cool’ from the Relicography room."

Her eyes narrowed at me, though her flush hadn’t faded. "Watch it, Arata. I don’t need you joining in on this."

But the damage was done, and the table dissolved into laughter as Iris buried her face in her hands, clearly mortified yet unable to escape the teasing.

After that, the five of us began to discuss various topics as we ate our food. My plate had been piled up with various cuts of meat which had been drowned in sauce, with a couple sides of carbs for good measure. I slowly cut off a chunk of meat from one of the massive slabs on my plate before eating it. The sensation was unfamiliar yet nostalgic. How long had it been since I’d enjoyed food as delicious as this?

The soft texture, combined with the rich decadent sauce was a perfect match, incomparable to the dry bread and meat scraps I’d eaten day after day during my time in retirement in the first round. Things had already taken a slightly different turn, I had never gotten close to these people before, so a part of me wanted to keep things as close to how they were in the first round as possible. Yet looking around at their smiling expressions and hearing the sound of their laughter, I found myself relaxing more and more. This group was far from ordinary, but maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing, it's not like my original friend group had been all that different..

The faces of two students popped into my head, one of them I knew would be unwise to seek out as of right now, yet I had already been contemplating whether of not I should befriend the other one this early on. They were also a member of the Relicographer club, so it wouldn’t be that strange if I approached them under the guise of Damian’s invitation. Still I decided to think about it a bit longer, and pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind. Right now, I had more urgent matters to attend to, finishing this delicious food.