Inurol’ah and Yerive looked at Tepo with blinking eyes. Their minds were still a little more naïve compared to the man living his second life.

“You… are right.”

Noticing the faint disappointment in Inurol’ah’s voice, Tepo understood how she felt. He hastily added:

“Well, I’m not saying this is bad. Your tale is still fascinating. If anything, you are even giving the headmaster less credit than he deserves!”

Inurol’ah pondered for a moment. Slowly a smile formed on her face again as she accepted Tepo’s explanation. Subsequently she continued her role as a tour guide and led Tepo and Yerive through the dungeon.

They climbed stairs upwards and downwards, observed statues and monuments built on the many rocks, and learned more names and deeds of impressive warriors.

After a few minutes Yerive was once again stuck at a monument carrying many famous swords, leading to Tepo and Inurol’ah advancing by themselves.

They were mixed in the crowd, sometimes spotting warriors who obviously tried to solve the dungeon.

“Inurol’ah, did you never try to accomplish the quest?”

“Of course. This was one of the first things I did after joining the forum. I brought a lot of helpers and let them grow in the dungeon.

But eventually the curators reminded me that they looked like they were about to die, so I had to bring most of them out. But one or two still hold on to this day!”

Inurol’ah spoke with a proud smile, leaving Tepo confused for a moment. But then the young man remembered how she seemed to communicate with plants earlier.

Really, everyone has their own specialties. Maybe Inurol’ah’s method works someday.

After a few more minutes of small talk, a huge stone wall suddenly drew Tepo’s attention. He turned towards it, looking at the long list of names.

“Ahh the list of forbidden spells!”, exclaimed Inurol’ah dutifully.

“Forbidden spells?”

“Hmm? You don’t know of forbidden spells?”

“I don’t think so, no.”

“Forbidden spells are spells which have enormous power, but the wielder also has to pay a price. The people on this list are those who are known to have a forbidden spell, but naturally there might be others out there.”

Tepo rose his brow as he studied the lists. They were divided in a senior list and junior list, dividing veteran and new warriors.

Naturally Tepo was especially interested in the names at the top. Although all forbidden spells were terrifyingly powerful, people always like to rank and compare things.

Hub City Alliance, Lord of the Apocalypse, Spell: [Harbinger of the Apocalypse]. Ranked first among the senior warriors. With this rank he should be among the strongest beings alive.

And among the junior warriors…

Cronar Clan, Seddious Cronar, Spell: [Mark of Death]

Tepo felt some conflicting feelings fighting in his chest. On one hand his goal in this world was to find the outsiders.

But Tepo was used to being great at what he does. He had always excelled as a fighter and as an investigator in his past life.

Now that he had entered the path of a warrior along so many others, he couldn’t deny that a competitive spirit burned withing him. The desire to see his own name remembered for a long time to come couldn’t be suppressed so easily.

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

“Say, Inurol’ah. Forbidden spells have to be pretty rare, aren’t they?”

“Oh of course. I don’t even know how to discern forbidden spells. They are so rare that no teacher bothers explaining much about them.

Only one senior teacher once mentioned something in passing. She thought us about legendary materials, saying that those often form forbidden spells.”

Tepo’s eyes lit up form Inurol’ah’s words, but he immediately hid his emotions. He shook his head, chuckling faintly:

“Aren’t legendary materials just as rare? I guess I shouldn’t get my hopes up.”

“Yes. Nine-circled spells are rare but can still be acquired. But legendary materials and forbidden spells? You would need the luck of two lifetimes to get your hands on those…”

Inurol’ah let out a sigh, her body drooping faintly. Luckily, she didn’t notice Tepo’s strange expression.

The young man coughed lightly, changing the topic:

“Let’s not beat ourselves up over forbidden spells. We’ll leave it up to fate. Come, I think we have seen enough.”

“You’re right. It’s getting late. I’ll show you the dorms.”

After the discussion Tepo and Inurol’ah collected Yerive again before leaving the Hall of Heroes. The trio talked about what they had experienced today as they approached a rather long building.

“Ok. That’s it. This is the male dorm, so I can’t bring you further. The door will open if you press your token against it. You can ask the receptionist inside for you room number.”

“Thanks a lot, Inurol’ah.”

“Yes, you were a great help today! Thank you for the tour.”

“You’re welcome, guys. Let’s exchange contacts. If you have any questions, you can always ask me!”

“Thank you. I hope we’ll see each other around.”

“Definitely!”

Subsequently the trio warmly said goodbye. Inurol’ah turned around while Tepo and Yerive approached the big but simple wooden door before them.

Or so they thought.

It turned out the door wasn’t that simple as the two friends put their tokens against it, causing the door to blur and vanish.

Tepo and Yerive smiled wryly, wondering if this display was necessary as they entered the dorm building.

Immediately they found themselves in a small lounge. It wasn’t overly luxurious but gave of a comfortable atmosphere with some plants emitting a relaxing smell.

Looking around, the two friends easily spotted the reception Inurol’ah mentioned. Upon confirming their tokens they received their room numbers, a thick stack of white student robes and a small booklet with all kinds of information for newcomers.

Yerive and Tepo thanked the receptionist, entering an adjacent hallway. They both were assigned the same room, 221.

It took them a while, but they soon figured out that the first two hinted at the second floor. But after going up the stairs, Tepo looked around with a slight frown.

Just on the first glance the sharp-eyed man noticed how the second floor was obviously in worse condition. The carpet was dirtier, the doors closer to each other. Not a lot of light fell in the corridor.

Great. This somewhat confirms what we have seen throughout the tour. Obviously, this place has a problem, with those rich aristocrats getting preferential treatment.

This was the conclusion Tepo came to after a whole day of observation. It started from the tuition fee which shouldn’t exist and could be seen in all corners of the forum, leaving Tepo somewhat disappointed.

But overall, the forum was still a good place to facilitate his growth. Thus, Tepo didn’t complain much as they walked deeper into the corridor and soon reached an old wooden door with the number 221 on it.

“This will be our home for the foreseeable future, Tepo.”

“Yes. Let’s make the best off it!”

Encouraging each other the two friends politely knocked on the door.

“Mourtih, I told you I have no time today. I need to engrave my spell! I need my allowance!”

An annoyed voice came from the room, followed by a few steps. Suddenly the door turned blurry and vanished, revealing a young man in a white shirt and black trousers. His short hair stood in spikes form his head, maybe to add at least a few centimeters to his short frame.

He was just about to open his mouth when he noticed the two unknown men before his door.

“And you are?”

“Hi. My name is Tepo, and this is Yerive. It seems we are your new dormmates.”

The young man stared ahead with surprise, his lips twitching faintly before he let out a mocking laugh.

“Ha! So, who did you piss off to land in this shithole?”

Tepo and Yerive were taken aback. They looked past the student into the room. Although it was somewhat dirty, the room didn’t look particularly bad to them.

“Whatever. If you really want to live here, come in. But don’t complain that I didn’t warn you! I’m Shorey by the way.”

Despite their new dormmate’s discouragement the two friends entered the room. It wasn’t big, with only a few tables and couches and five doors leading elsewhere.

“So, welcome to your new home, I guess. You can take the two rooms to the back. This door here leads to the bath. Make sure to be quick in the morning because Quordh always take for f*cking ever.

Quordh is our fourth roommate by the way. He’s probably out chasing girls. Or boys. Who knows with that guy.”

Tepo nodded with a smile, glad that their roommate seemed uncomplicated.

“Thanks for the introduction. Anything else you would recommend to new students?”

“You got the rulebook, right? Brand every single word of it into your minds. That’s your best weapon against these aristocratic snobs.”

“Is the situation really that bad?”, asked Yerive somewhat downcast.

“Even worse. Those snobs don’t want us here. They are always coming up with ways to make things hard to access for others.”

“But… why? What do they get of it?”

“I’m no expert but I guess it’s to defend their status. You should’ve seen their protests when director porter was made vice-headmaster.”