I nodded as I got my influx of advice, some of it a little... weird. Though a vampire squid did sound funny, that could be put under 'long term goals' for later.

For now though I needed to take a quick look at skeleton mage. It was fairly boring, a skeleton that could have up to two level one spells and an abysmal quantity of mana. They were either conjured or made from the dead by casters and very, very limited in use, at least according to the book.

I made my way back to the dorms as the sun set. The halls were pleasant at this time, shadows and warm colors. There were a few seats here and there for students and a handful of tasteful art pieces. They even had a few lights that spread a very warm light. I didn't need them too much, as I could see fairly well at night, but I lacked a full form of darkvision, so a bit of light was nice.

When I got back I found Shana waiting for me.

"Hello and congratulations on being accepted!" She nearly shouted, standing high with one hand on her staff, the other resting on her hip.

"Um... I literally had to do nothing but prove I could read and had any mana..."

"The speech is pre-prepared for everyone. Please don't interrupt again." After a few seconds I nodded awkwardly. "Excellent! Now that you're here there are a few dorm rules! Don't make a mess, don't go in other people's rooms without their permission, don't do anything too smelly in the dorms, if you borrow clothes, return them, and finally, don't miss class without an excuse!" She seemed, in complete opposite to her previous self, irritatingly perky. "Any questions?"

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

"... why are you the one telling me this?"

"Oh, right, sorry. I'm your dorm's Resident Assistant, I'm here if you need anything, or if things go wrong."

"Okay... when will I get to meet the other people here?"

"Normally after class we get together and hang out, but you weren't here, so... tomorrow. I think they delivered your schedule by the way, it should be just under your door."

"Right, right, is the speech something they make you learn to be a...?"

"Resident Assistant, and no, we just have to know the rules, and tell everyone. I thought a speech was the best way."

I spent a few moments looking at Shana. She was still in her big 'look at me' pose, giving a huge cheery smile. I could only conclude that she was a bit of a dork, a nice dork, but a dork. While I may not have been the 'Good morning!' type myself, it was a bit refreshing, in small doses.

"I think I have everything then. If I need anything I'll let you know. Where's your room?"

She quickly pointed to a door at the end of the hall and bade me well before moving off in that direction. I made a quick mental note to return her dress tomorrow. Since I now had uniforms and that was one of the rules.

I retreated to my room and laid down. I wasn't really physically tired, but I was mentally a bit drained. It was then that I discovered that I didn't sleep apparently. Hours began to tick by slowly as I tried to find some way to use my time productively. I considered going back to the library, but all the lights were out when I peeked out into the hall and I guessed that it would be locked.

As I lay there, counting the bricks on the wall for the who knows how manyth time I saw a rat. The little bugger peeked its head out and began to scamper across my floor. I furrowed my brows on whether I would consider this an insult to housing or an opportunity.