In truth, Arras was still rather winded from his... encounter. On top of that, while the actual fabric of his outfit had mended automatically, he was starting to feel a not very pleasant stinging sensation from where Illia's talons had left their (generously underestimated)mark.
He couldn't very well stop in the middle of the hallway, but... he was just the teensiest bit light headed. He was wobbly, off balance, not paying much attention, whatever you wanted to call it. There was also the fact of the matter that his artifact didn't even have that much magic left in it. That really wasn't much of a problem given he could forcibly recover it at the cost of efficiency. That being maybe four or so times the usual amount of magic it would take, but it was just another thing to stack on top of his already annoying pile of things that he was currently struggling to deal with.
Illia was doing the best she could, but her healing magic, much like Arras's own, was less than exemplary. And it had not improved whatsoever since their time in the forest.
"I-I really am sorry about that..."
"It's... not a big deal. Don't be."
"It seems like a big deal!"
The right sleeve of his shirt was... a little red. It really just blended in with the natural black, and he'd mostly stopped bleeding, It also naturally mended itself of the blood just like it would should the fabric be displaced, but it was admittedly a little unnerving... Arras hadn't actually properly bled in a very long time. Sure he'd gotten beaten around somewhat during his time in Efimarus, but the worst he came out of that experience with was an assortment of bruises.
He was doing his best to take his mind off of it, but the crimson fluid was very much a reminder of his mortality... And on that note, the fact that his clothing was still dyed in his own blood despite its automatic repair, was slightly concerning. From what he'd seen, its self repair was pretty quick. In fact, Arras could even see some of the red vanishing over time. A good distraction from the now growing pain in his shoulder.
Disregarding that last thought, the sight of blood alone was bad enough, but that "Lady" Sharran had invoked a primal response in Arras. He hadn't felt so genuinely unnerved in an equally long time. Sure, he'd been nervous about things. Upset, angry... but he'd never been so concerned for his own life in... well... his entire life! Every hair on his body had stood at end, his entire being had straight up stopped functioning in almost every conceivable way. Everything told Arras that in that moment, he was going to die. Without doubt, without fail, should that woman decide it, he'd be dead on the spot.
Even now, despite the blood loss, he could feel his legs jittering. They were practically begging him to run away, to flee to the safety of... literally ANYWHERE but here. But he couldn't do that, something even deeper screamed at him to not infringe on any of his contracts, and he was inclined to follow through on the resolutions that he'd already made as well. It was two against one for his mental faculties, and that was enough on its own to make Arras ignore his more base impulses.
...Even if they wouldn't shut up.
He would afford some of his magic to dealing with that particular issue, but he was already dedicated to optimizing as much of his magic into healing with a slight side of force as of the moment. In an effort to not lose more blood than he already had. It was difficult enough to use magic at all when he could only barely see straight...
"Okay, T31 should be right around the corner." Illia informed Arras in a manner both meant to inform and soothe. Inform Arras, and soothe herself because she was doing her best to not freak out over the gaping wound she'd formerly gouged into Arras's shoulder.
Arras too would be mildly panicked over it, if not for the simple fact that his response to that was currently being completely overridden by his response to what felt like almost dying on the spot. It... still hurt though. Definitely a... not quite favorable experience, but he'd had worse. Disassociating from the world around him probably helped in the moment. He tended to do that when stressed, so, given this far more raw form of the feeling, it was only natural that the same thing should happen on the double.
"T28... T30... T32? How does?!- Bah, other side. Right, there it is. Okay, let's go come on!"
Before Arras could even muster the energy to turn to the side, Illia fluttered off of his shoulder, snatching the key out of his weak hand and perching on the handle of the door in one swift, hasty motion.
"How do I..."
In her apparent haste, it would seem Illia hadn't quite planned out how to operate the lock without... hands. And then Arras blinked, once naturally, and then secondly, in mild surprise.
"Since when could you use force magic?"
"Is that really important right now? Just-come on! Get inside so we can take a closer look at that!" Illia wildly flailed a wing in Arras's general direction, but he got the point. He was still doing his best to stem the bleeding, more so with his force magic as opposed to healing now that Illia wasn't assisting. It was easier to cover the wound than it was to mend the thing. Even if he was starting to legitimately feel the pain, which was only made worse by actual physical contact.
Anyways, Arras couldn't exactly pick out whatever Illia was doing at the moment, he was doing all he could to work his own magic. But the important thing was that she'd independently managed to unlock the door, and she was also slowly twisting the knob open. Force magic was extremely difficult to warp like that, so clearly it had to be something else... but he couldn't be bothered to puzzle it together at the moment. But in other words, Arras didn't have to put any effort into it!
On that note, he shambled forward as best he could. Stepping inside his room for the very first time. It was actually much nicer than what he'd been hoping for. Well decorated, a few windows, another door that seemingly led outside? Weren't they at least a five second fall away from the ground? Not that he was particularly concerned about it at that exact moment. Similarly, he couldn't really find it in him to appreciate the nice aesthetic that the room held. Excessive blood loss tended to do that to a person.
"Can you take your clothes off without disabling your metamorphosis spell?" Illia continued to flutter around independently, getting as many points of view as possible. She didn't like any of them, the tinge of red in Arras's clothing wasn't a pleasing sight.
"...I don't think so? Does it matter?"
"Well, sort of... Actually, it might be better if you just disable it... The wound should shift with you and it'll be less area to cover. But, before any of that, lie down would you!?"
Arras blinked a few more times. Before realizing that yeah, he was just... kind of standing there. In the middle of the room, wobbling. He still wasn't actively bleeding, but in the process of stopping that aforementioned bleeding he'd gotten a little bit too absorbed into making sure the magic that was doing that was functioning properly. Oh, and it was a pretty good way to distract himself from the increasingly painful wound. But regardless, he nodded and sat down on the, what he thought was a couch, that was situated in the left most middle point of the room. And then he immediately fell over, and with him his use of magic followed suit.
The only thing left was the force magic he'd basically grafted onto his skin at this point. A blockade between his blood and the outside world. It wasn't so painful any more, it hadn't moved an inch since about five minutes ago now, so that was a bonus. It was a little difficult to spot through his fur though. At least it wasn't matted in blood. From all prior experiences, that was miserable to work out. Arras found it rather amusing, that even through everything else, a dim relief still sounded clearly at the revelation of that knowledge..
Illia landed right next to Arras as he closed his eyes and focused entirely on his current workings. A moment later, he felt her wings against his side, though his breathing didn't so much as startle at the unexpected touch. Even in his current fugue, he was somewhat proud of that fact. If he could "train" his body, so to speak, to not react to Illia, surely other stimuli could receive the same treatment?
"Where is..." Illia mumbled as she felt across Arras's form, before finally settling on the slightly colder touch of the force magic currently in use. "Ah, got it."
Another moment, and once again Arras felt a tinge of healing magic. Weak, as always, but he certainly appreciated the effort. Anything at all was helpful, and it was more than he could do for himself. All he needed to do was prevent his blood from leaking out for as long as his wound was still fresh. Oh and, try to ignore the pain as best he could. It wasn't as bad with healing magic actively being applied, but his sense of self was starting to return now that it'd been a little bit since he'd had the sense knocked out of him. And with that came more recognition of what was actually happening to him.
And to tell you what happened, well, having a multitude of gashes carved into your shoulder definitely wasn't fun. Eight, not small, gashes, mind you. They'd dug deep, almost all the way to bone. It was actually a pretty awful experience now that he thought about it.
"Oh and... it wasn't force magic."
"...Hm?"
"Manipulation magic, to be specific. It has similar principles to force magic, but it's more suited for those better with mental magic. I'd bore you with the details, but I don't think you'd be very interested right now."
"...I see." Arras halfheartedly acknowledged what she'd said, it was something he'd read about, he just hadn't quite put the dots together given his circumstances. And she was totally right, Arras would normally love to be bored with said details, but he had an inkling that the knowledge probably wouldn't take at the moment.
"Sorry, am I distracting you?"
"No... just... a little light headed."
"...Okay, well, let me know when it doesn't hurt anymore, and I'll see what I can do about getting some water?"
"...Okay."
...
Unfortunately, Illia could not acquire a suitable source of water. Mostly because she didn't even know where exactly to do that. She could probably figure it out, and likely would have, but Arras stopped her of his own volition.
It might not do for Illia to just fly around the place on her lonesome. She wasn't technically authorized to even be here, even if the Headmaster knew about her. She wouldn't do anything to cause trouble or anything like that, but Arras was very much inclined to not take any risks. Even if that meant suffering in the moment.
"And... you're sure you're alright?"
"Yes, yes... I'm fine."
To Illia, he did NOT exactly sound "fine". His usual thoughts were certainly more vibrant. He was energetic, if not somewhat dry in his communication. Though that had its own charm to it. Now he just sounded hollowed out, emptied of anything that usually made Arras sound like... Arras.
"I'm sorry... I just... I've never felt so... small. I just dug in my talons out of fear and now I..."
"I already told you, I'm fine." Arras grumbled as he rocked himself into Illia's side as gently as he could. She... was still healing him. It wouldn't be good to actually displace her.
"I... still though! I can't just... what the hell!? I can't just rip you apart because I got startled!"
"Illia... please. I'm perfectly fine."
"You... fine. I'm the one who caused the problem. If you just want to forget about it..." She grumbled as she tightened her hold. "We'll go look around later tonight."
"Sure." Arras nodded weakly as he closed his eyes again. His wound wasn't exactly painful anymore, but he was still rather drained. He might wake up a little worse for wear without actually eating or drinking anything... but he was very tired. He adjusted himself ever so slightly, lining himself up perfectly parallel with Illia. "If I'm not up within a few hours, don't hesitate to make me get up, please?"
"Oh... uh, of course?"
"Thank you." He nodded slightly again and shifted again, wrapping his tails around Illia's plume as best he could.
...
It was very... bright. And that wasn't a good indicator of Arras's good health, given that the sun had in fact almost completely set by now. But at the very least, he could stand. His artifact had also recovered somewhat in his sleep, it had at least two and a half hours that would still be functional.
"So, what is this notch attached to the key-chain?" Arras mumbled as he fiddled with the ring that had been given to him. It had a few different objects on it, one of them being a small cube.
"Oh. Now that you mention it, I uh... I'm not sure, actually." Illia admitted after a moment's hesitation. "Could you take a closer look at it?"
"Why not?" Arras acquiesced as he pinched the small thing between his fingers. With a simple tilt of his head, he quickly figured out what exactly it was.
"It has numbers on it. The classrooms I'll be using, I think? That's what... Lady Sharran said, now that I think about it."
"...Oh, that makes sense."
There was a short awkward silence as Arras sat back down. He felt unwell at best, and miserable at worst. He felt like... well... shit.
"Arras... you can't just sit down, we've gotta go get something to eat."
"I know. Just... just give me a moment."
He closed his eyes. He was tired, despite having just slept for hours, but he also couldn't even manage to force himself to sleep. Probably for the best, to be fair.
"Arras!"
"I'm getting up, calm down." He grumbled as he began to force himself to his feet. His body felt so very weak, and his focus was equally impaired. But simmering beneath that... was his WANT to get up. What had he practiced and studied weeks for? To sit down and feel like a pile of garbage? No, he wanted to go through with this, it was time to do it.
"I want to see what's behind that door." Arras mumbled as he forced himself towards the door that seemingly lead to nowhere. "Illia?"
"Oh, uh, sure." She nodded her head once and fluttered off of Arras's shoulder once again. "Just want me to open the door?"
"If you wouldn't mind." He nodded slightly as he continued to shamble forward. Though he was regaining a little bit of his strength as he moved.
As Illia perched on the knob, she closed her eyes, and a moment later the door was creaking open, just like how she'd opened the door to their own room. It was a little unwieldy, but with a magic she'd presumably barely practiced with, Arras had to give her due credit. It was fine enough work. He couldn't exactly tell given his perception of magic wasn't quite up to full capacity, but he liked to assume the best.
Arras hadn't been sure about what exactly he'd expected. A sheer drop off the building? Perhaps some kind of porch? Some kind of dimensional magic portal?
Well one of those guesses would be correct, given there was an impossibly large library on the other side of the door.
"...What is that?"
No, it definitely wasn't a library, it had books, but it wasn't a library. There was a distinct scent... something that was rather enticing to Arras as he was.
"...I have no idea." Illia shook her wings as she once again perched on Arras's shoulder, staring just as confounded as him at the clear violation of the laws of the world.
"Well... Might as well see what's in there?" Arras suggested as he began to walk towards it. It wasn't much of a suggestion, given he was the one who dictated where they'd go, but Illia appreciated the thought.
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"Sure, why not? I'd say we should really focus on figuring out where the heck we can get you some water... but I think I might have some clue as to what exactly this is...?"
Arras gingerly stepped through the door, turning back to glance at the room that he'd left mere moments ago. "And that would be?"
There was an open door, leading to where he'd just come from obviously, but next to it there was also a second door with the label "T31". Curious, but Arras couldn't possibly fathom himself going anywhere other than the tantalizing scent of sustenance at the moment.
"Well, I'd like to say it's a meeting place? For professors, probably. I mean, look!" She threw a wing out in the direction of the ground far beneath them. Pointing out a few other individuals, all of whom dressed in flashy and or formal attire, just like Arras.
Speaking of that, as Arars began to note his surroundings, he had to admit he was somewhat impressed.
This place was large, very much so. There were no windows, yet somehow that didn't bother Arras. The scope of the place was massive, it felt as if he were outside despite clearly being in a confined space. There was a natural light that permeated it, yet no visible source of light besides a few hanging chandeliers. An oddity, but a welcome addition.
Predominantly, the place was a soothing purple. The shades of color that found themselves decorating the hall were deep, pleasing shades. Lining the bookshelves, carpeting the floor. The place was extremely alien to Arras, he'd never seen anything like it, yet somehow he felt rather at ease within its confines.
Speaking of Arras, he currently found himself standing up on a walkway far above the ground level, a wooden railing preventing any would be accidents. Other pairs of doors much like the set he'd just come from found themselves adorning the halls, presumably connecting to whichever room somebody had been assigned. Off in the distance was an equally large to scale staircase, and out of the corner of Arras's eye...
Food.
He didn't want to make any premature judgments, but Arras was quite certain he detected a not so faint hint of a sizable amount of meat and various other foods which he had a lesser comprehension of scent-wise. And, he also spotted others similar to him eating in the vicinity. Not too many people, just a little less than a half dozen, but he would NOT be denied his fair share. Well, his probably fair share. He worked here now, didn't he?
"Do you see that?"
"See what? The... dining hall, I think?"
"Yes."
"Oh, yeah, just-ARRAS DO NOT JUMP DOWN THERE! Take the stairs!"
Arras blinked, and guiltily pulled the leg he'd already gotten over the railing back down to the ground. What? It wasn't like he was just going to drop. He was going to catch himself with his... magic...
Oh Nine Tails what was he doing? Holding his own weight with force magic was challenging even with the entirety of his magical prowess available to him. Best not to break his own body in such a stupid fashion.
...
Arras ate slowly at first, simply regaining his energy. He sipped precipitously from the water so graciously given unto him. And then a ravenous beast was loosened upon the meal presently available.
"Arras? Might want to slow down a little?"
He'd not eaten much these past few days, the carriage ride hadn't exactly been luxurious pickings, and he hadn't eaten since entering the Capital grounds either. So that was... almost twelve hours since he'd last had something? Bleeding out a huge amount certainly hadn't helped on that front either. He... was... very hungry.
"Okay, seriously, you're gonna make yourself throw up."
He wasn't, at least he was pretty sure he wasn't... But those fruits were so very sweet, and that sweetness iggled a certain craving very well in that very moment-
"Alright, take it easy!"
Arras paused as he stared at his hand, suspended in place against his own will.
"Illia?"
"Arras, just slow down for a moment please? Eating that much is not going to pan out that well for you. At least, not at the rate you're going at. Also, I'm pretty sure they're staring at you." Illia craned her neck in the direction of an individual for a short moment, feigning it as a mere stretch.
"...Okay." Arras relented only a moment later. He couldn't very well say no when Illia was asking like that. Though, he was curious about something.
Slowly, he flexed his fingers out, his magic circulating through his body. It felt as if he was pushing his hand through a thick mud, but with a pulse of his own magic the invisible swamp dissipated in an instant. As it did, he could've sworn he felt Illia twitch, though her talons distinctly loosened as she did. Almost enough for her to fall right off.
"Sorry." Arras preemptively apologized. He hadn't meant for any harm to come to her. He was merely curious about the magic she found herself making use of now that his focus was returning to him somewhat.
"N-no, it's fine, I was just surprised. Glad to see you're feeling a little better."
"Hm. Thank you." He nodded, and raised his glass to his lips once again, taking a more moderate sip.
"So, after I'm done eating-" Arras began unprompted, but quickly stopped as a thought occurred to him. "oh, I totally forgot to ask you! Would you like anything to eat? You haven't had anything for awhile as well."
"Oh, sure! I guess you could call this a date?"
"A date?"
"Yeah, you know. A date...! I uh, admittedly, I don't really know much about them myself. I just read about it in passing once. Something that romantically involved people do, I think?"
"Is that what we are?" Arras pondered to himself as he took another bite.
"Uh... Yeah. That's what we are, I mean, you literally called me... your mate... to my sister..." Illia's thoughts slowed as she pondered the situation that had occurred mere hours earlier, and then they went into overdrive. "Hold on, hold on! Arras, I almost forgot to talk to you about that! Please do not call me your 'mate'!"
"...Is that not what you are?"
"No, and also technically no??? No in both senses! We're not actually married, and it's not like we have kids? N-not that I'm particularly against that, I mean, at least when we're not so young? But seriously, that's not what we are! It'd be more accurate to call me your fiance."
"What's the difference?"
"Well, by technical definition I'm pretty sure a fiance is somebody who's yet to be married, but's going to be married, and well, being actually married and being somebody's mate would be the same thing. But it'd be closer to say that two mates would be people who've already ha-"
Arras paused for the moment as Illia continued to ramble, and simply smiled as he scratched at Illia's head, cutting her off mid explanation. "No need to get so flustered. If it matters to you that much I'll just go ahead and call you my fiance instead. Now, what would you like to get to eat?"
...
With a full stomach at last, and his headache somewhat abated, Arras evenly stepped out of the door of his room. Back into the wider halls of the Academy itself. He was in a good mood at the least, so his still sort of prevalent headache was negligible, but he wasn't exactly thrilled to find himself traversing the halls once more.
At the very least, he had an idea of the place by now. It wasn't too bad once he figured it out, he just... hadn't figured out much of the place. There was certainly a pattern to it though. The hallways winded and twisted, but in such a manner that you could figure out where the next would lead. A left turn, and that would lead to a long hall. There were classrooms all along the wall, and windows to the outside world on the other opposite to it. From there, he simply walked straight forwards, and came to staircase leading down.
The next floor was similar, similar halls, similar rooms. The only major difference being the rather large and open space. Seats adorned it, and a few other objects that he vaguely remembered littered the place. Unfortunately, he didn't much care to appreciate the architecture at the moment. He had his sights set on a particular destination.
C51. One of the supposed rooms that he'd be teaching in.
"C41. C42. It should be around here, yes?" Arras mostly asked himself as his hand trailed across the wall.
"Uh, I think so?" Illia affirmed as she scanned the surrounding location. "C48, and I think C51 should be just around this corner, ah, yep!"
C51. Unlike before, this room wasn't exactly locked, all Arras needed to do was push it open. Seemingly only doors with some semblance of a personal matter lying beyond them had locks. Arras had passed down a set of doors labelled "S" while heading down a floor, which were also locked. So he presumed that they were for a different set of people, perhaps the individuals who would actually be learning at the Academy?
Regardless. Arras forged onwards and stepped foot into the room. He wasn't exactly displeased with the place, but nothing about it surprised him. It was mostly the same as the previous classroom that he'd walked through. The only difference being that there were a few less tables.
"So, this is the classroom for the basics of mind realms? I suppose it'd do well enough." He mused as he strolled up the steps. Now that he was actually looking to inspect it a little more closely, he noticed a few more of the smaller details. An emblem emblazoned each desk. What seemed to be a tree, surrounded by various inscriptions of different creatures. Replicated to an exact upon each other piece of furniture as Arras observed now that he paid closer attention to the room.
"Oh, about that." Arras paused as he brushed a hand over one of the many insignia plastered across each surface. "I know Eric said I wouldn't be teaching new students, something about it taking a more specific skill set... but why is it that I'm teaching the basics of Mind Realms? This is an introductory class, is it not?"
"Ah, well... I don't really know why. I don't think it's an... introductory class per say, but it's still a pretty formative class. Maybe Alexarius thought you would be fit for it? He seemed pretty happy discussing the contents of a contract with you to me. He was delighted with how you performed. And Mind Realm users are fairly rare, at least competent ones are. Somebody who can actually do it properly is worth a lot, so if you can do it properly... It's not too out there for you to teach people how to do it. I'm not really knowledgeable on stuff like this though... so take that with a grain of salt?"
"Hm. Perhaps It couldn't hurt to do some last minute studies tonight? It would seem there's quite the assortment of knowledge to be found in... our room?" Arras paused as he turned to face the door once more. "Would that count as our room? It is connected to it, but I don't really think it's our room..."
"Probably not. Anyways, now that we found one of your classrooms, I think it's about time we go find the next, don't you think?"
"Mmm. You're right. O7 is probably outside, right?"
"It's for a combat class. It should be." Illia remarked dryly.
"Then best to do that before it's completely dark outside. Or maybe not? I could do without the sunset." Arras half-jokingly rubbed at his head. It was a joke, but he also still had a pretty horrible headache.
"I mean, if you want to-"
"No, no, it's fine." He waved off her concerns and immediately took for the door. "I still want to see what was behind that other door, the sooner the better."
...
There were a few less people outside by now. Which made sense, most colonial species weren't exactly night owls as Arras had come to learn. He still found refuge in the dark himself, and he was more than happy to have it TO himself. It being so dark because, despite his intentions, the duo had only managed to make it out of the building after the sun had set completely. It wasn't too bad, Arras was more than happy to take a moonlit walk, but there was a downside.
The downside being that he couldn't exactly see all that well while using his metamorphosis spell. His eyes were simply less adjusted for the dark as he was. But, given the lack of people around... he was more than happy to bend the usual status quo.
Strolling around on all fours for the first time in a long while, Arras simply enjoyed his time out in the dusk. He wouldn't be there for too long, but it was certainly a nice change of pace. Illia didn't have to worry about anybody questioning her, given nobody was even around. So the two walked and flew respectively in peaceful silence.
As he thought, the "O" classrooms, were very different when compared to the indoor rooms. There weren't any seats, for one. It wasn't very accurate to call them a classroom. It was just a flattened area, to be honest. There was a heightened point of elevation, some of them had what appeared to be dummies, and mostly flat ground with a certain substance coating the ground. A mix between gravel and dirt. Arras wasn't quite sure what it was, but that was how he'd describe it.
It didn't take too long for him to find "O7". And as he'd expected, it was largely the same as all the others. Save for one, key difference. There was actually somebody inside of it at the moment. Well, there had been a few people hanging around the other outdoor classrooms, but none of them had been practicing like the individual Arras currently found himself eyeing.
A lone flame manifested itself into existence once every few seconds. A pulse of magic, that soon faded to nothing. At first, Arras simply observed in mild curiosity. He paid attention to how the magic flared into existence, and then dissipated. It was mild in pretty much every conceivable way. Lukewarm at best, small, inflexible. There was no room for the magic to bend to its users whims.
He would've simply turned away, but something piqued Arras's curiosity.
Flow...
Ebb...
In, out. The exact same, each time. It was the same spell casted without flaw, the pattern of magic was the exact same between each instance of a cast. The spell itself was certainly VERY flawed, but it was reproduced without a flaw each time. So, he drew a conclusion. Clearly it was just a usage of a Casting Pattern. Visualizing the same magic each time resulted in the same spell without any room for error. But then that brought on a second question.
"Uh, hey, Arras?"
"Hm?" His head turned to Illia along with his focus, whom currently found herself perched on a nearby tree.
"Are we gonna go back inside? You wanted to go back to our room, didn't you?"
"...Eventually."
It was curious. Their usage of magic was poor at best. It leaked everywhere with each cast, an incredible waste of perhaps a tenth of the total magic it took to cast the spell with each usage of it. The power put into the spell would make one assume that it would amount to more, but no. It was weak, it was small, it was dim.
And despite all that, it wasn't even fast. Ten, maybe fifteen seconds for each instance of magic. He almost felt bad... but it wasn't his... job... to interfere?
...Actually, wasn't it?
"I'm going to speak to them."
"Wait, what? Why?" Illia asked in surprise. "Since when did you go looking to start conversations?"
"...I'm supposed to be teaching, aren't I?"
"I... I guess? You're the one who wanted to be back inside sooner rather than later. Do what you want."
Arras nodded in appreciation, and once more turned his focus back towards the individual sat on the cold gravelly floor.
Technically, he didn't have to teach anybody for a few days now, but it would be a good test for him. If this was what he was to be doing for months, better to have experience.
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