“I’m sorry, Narias,” Emilia said after an extended gap of silence.

Both of them were sitting on the second floor, so they could observe the auditorium down below.

“Sorry? What for?” Narias turned to her.

“For making you feel uncomfortable back there,” the girl said.

“Oh, no. That’s not your fault. I mean, I should apologize to you instead. If I hadn’t suggested for us to walk closer to each other, the other students wouldn’t have stared at us so much,” Narias wanted to take the responsibility for what has happened to them.

“Well, yes, but…” Emilia’s cheeks sparkled with an adorable blush. “If I hadn’t hugged your arm, people wouldn’t have jumped into their own assumptions.”

“But that’s still my fault. If I hadn’t offered my arm, none of this would’ve have happened,” he insisted.

“That is true as well. However, I feel I am still responsible for…” the girl brushed her snow-white hair to the side with a pause. “For walking so close to you.”

“Maybe. But really, you did nothing wrong here. I was the one who…” Narias didn’t want to let go.

“But if I let go of your arm, then we wouldn’t have been…” Emilia stood firm to take on the responsibility.

“No, it was me…” Narias tried to think of something else.

“I was the one who…” Emilia was about to say something as well.

“Huh? Huh?” both of them gasped at each other.

“Hah…” Emilia covered her mouth with one hand, struggling to keep her laugh in. “Hahaha.”

“Ah… hahaha,” Narias burst out laughing too.

“Silly, isn’t it?” the girl asked with a smile.

“Yeah, it kinda is,” he scratched the back of his head.

“Thank you, Narias,” Emilia thanked him.

“Thank me? For what?” Narias was puzzled.

“You’re such a nice person,” the girl showed him a very kind smile.

“Uh…” that just made him blush. “Thanks…”

“You know, you were the first person I met at the school who treated me as a normal person,” Emilia said, looking in front of her, not actually trying to see anything.

“What?” he turned to her. “What do you mean by ‘normal’?”

“Well…” she lowered her eyes while gathering her thoughts. “You spoke to me like you would to any other girl, without prejudice or ulterior motives. Most people would be nice and sweet around me, but they would never invite me to hang out with them. They’d be polite but wouldn’t accept me as an equal. They would talk to me like I was someone out of this world, or a princess, or whatever they thought that I was.”

“Are you really?” the comparison struck a chord with Narias.

“Huh? Ah… ahaha. No, of course not. I’m from this world, just like you,” his question made Emilia laugh.

“Eh? Oh, yeah, of course. Haha,” Narias laughed silly after hearing Emilia’s response. “But well… I actually meant are you a princess, Emilia?”

“What? No, I am not. Haha,” Emilia was laughing again. “Why would you think so?”

“Well, you definitely look like one,” he put a finger to his chin to think about it.

“Huh?” that got her stop laughing right away.

“I mean, you’re very refined, and elegant, and graceful. You always look at your best. Not to mention you’re very beautiful, and your smile is extremely charming. When I… huh?” Narias stopped mid-sentence after noticing Emilia trying to hide her face away.

Eek… Oh, crap. Me and my big mouth again. I definitely said too much. He saw Emilia being tense, almost biting her lip, and clenching her fists gently placed on her legs.

“Are you… ok?” Narias had put himself on the spot again, and he was starting to seriously fret about it.

“D… do you honestly think so, Narias?” Emilia finally looked at him.

“Ah…” Narias wanted to say something but his words had stuck in his mouth when he saw Emilia had tears in her eyes. “I… I’m sorry. Did I say something that upset you, Emilia?”

“No. Not at all,” she smiled her most charming smile.

“Sorry, I sort of… spoke without thinking…” he felt bad about making her cry.

“Well, I’m glad that you did,” the girl with the snow-white hair looked extremely happy.

“Really?” that just made Narias feel uncomfortable, so he turned his eyes away to look down at the crowd below.

“Yes, thank you,” Emilia said quietly.

“Huh? Hey, isn’t that Lilna?” Narias suddenly saw his classmate in the crowd.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. That’s her,” Emilia confirmed it.

“Coming here was the right decision after all,” he instantly forgot about the uncomfortable situation he was in just a moment ago.

“It sure was,” Emilia said, while brushing her snow-white hair to the side.

“Lil- oops… Maybe I shouldn’t shout from up here. Haha,” Narias was about to shout out to Lilna but managed to stop himself in time. “How about we go talk to her?”

“Yes, lets. Hah…” Emilia chuckled, pressing her hand to her mouth to keep herself from laughing out loud.

Narias and Emilia made their way down the stairs to go meet with Lilna.

“Hey Lilna,” Narias addressed her when he finally reached her.

“Oh, hi Narias, Emilia,” the girl greeted them both.

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“We were looking for you. We need all five members present in order to,” he explained.

“I’m so sorry. I had to do something early in the morning, so I was late to show up,” Lilna apologized.

“No worries. But now that you’re here, let’s go meet up with the others. They are probably waiting for us at the drinks and snacks corner,” Narias said.

“Ok,” the girl agreed.

“Hey, Lilna. Finally. I thought we’ll be in trouble when I couldn’t find you,” Flavia was happy to see her.

“Hi,” Growly greeted her.

“Hello, I apologize for being late,” the girl apologized again.

“Ah, no worries. Now all of us are here. Let’s go register,” Flavia flexed in addition to grinning wide.

The group went to register at the registration desk.

“How many are you?” Belinda Salroze asked after Narias’ group approached the table.

“Five in total, Miss Salroze,” Narias answered.

“Full group then. And the members of your group are…” the teacher threw a quick glance to check who the students were. “Oh, I see. So, it was true.”

“Huh? What?” Narias was confused about her comment.

“Nothing. Here, fill out this form and then take it to Professor Zeanlor who will have it approved after checking if you filled out correctly. Make sure you fill all the sections out, including the team’s name,” Belina instructed.

“Our team’s name?” this was news to Narias, and everyone else on his team for that matter.

“Yes. Is there a problem?” the teacher with the purple hair gave him a piercing look.

“Ah, no. Thank you, Miss Salroze,” Narias picked up the form from her hands.

“We also need to write down our team’s name? Wow, cool,” Flavia became excited about it.

“Yeah, but we never thought about how our team should be named,” Narias scratched his cheek with one finger.

Thinking of a team’s name shouldn’t be too difficult, but… he tried to think of one on the spot but nothing came to mind.

“What should we call our team then?” Lilna wondered.

“’Beat Monsters’ team?” Growly suggested.

“No way. That’s too simple,” Flavia objected. “How about ‘The Power Punch’?”

“Aah… I don’t know about that one,” Narias wasn’t sure about that one.

“Yeah, might sound too overpowered. What kind of name do you suggest, partner?” the bunny girl asked Narias.

“Me? I don’t know,” Narias couldn’t think of anything. “How about we fill out all the necessary details first, and think of a team’s name last?”

(Ok my lovely readers, supporters, patrons, here’s your chance to think of a team’s name. Quick, write down your suggestions in the comments under the chapter below. Feel free to be as creative as you want. Anything goes… probably… :P)

“Sounds good to me,” Flavia didn’t object.

After they were done with the registration form, they handed it to Professor Zeanlor. The tall, slim teacher read through it, and then approved it with a stamp. Every member on the team then received a blue badge that they had to hand in to Estella Alifur, so they could receive a backpack with the essential supplies. The stunning cat woman teacher was busy handing out the supplies to the students. Narias and his party members had to wait in line until they could get to Miss Alifur’s table. Once all five of them had a backpack each, they were free to do whatever they wanted.

“Woah, what’s that?” Flavia quickly opened her bag and unwrapped a long sheet of fabric.

“Hey, careful, Flavia,” Narias had to step away.

“Sorry,” the girl with the bunny ears grinned. “Anyway, what is this for?”

“This must be a bedsheet,” Narias wondered.

“A bedsheet?” Flavia gasped. “Why would we need a bedsheet inside a dungeon?”

“Maybe if we want to take a nap?” Lilna wondered.

“What? There aren’t any beds inside the Magic Dungeon. Or are there?” the confused half beast bunny girl asked.

“I don’t think it is used for only that,” Narias touched the fabric.

“Huh? What do you mean, partner?” Flavia wanted to know.

“The fabric is very thick, yet elastic. I think I remember Belinda Salroze talking about it during one of her classes,” Narias tried to remember.

“Yeah, I remember that too. I think this sheet has some special features,” Lilna remembered it as well.

“I think it’s the Heatproof Blanket,” Emilia pointed out.

“Right, the name rings a bell,” Flavia grinned cheekily, probably just faking it.

“I think this sheet is made out of special materials. It can have many uses. If I remember correctly, it could be used as a blanket to keep someone warm. But it also could be used to protect someone from overheating as well.”

“Whaaat? Protect someone from getting cold and hot?” Flavia was confused.

“Yeah. The Magic Dungeon consist of many floors. The first floor is a regular cave type environment. It’s neither too hot nor too cold there. But the lower floors might be different. We will probably be limited to how far we will be able to go inside the Magic Dungeon on our first exploration. But later on, when we reach lower floors, these blankets might turn out to be very useful. We ought to have long term perspective,” Narias explained his thoughts.

“Wow, when you put it like that it’s a pretty cool item, partner,” Flavia was instantly impressed. “Right, what else do we have in here?”

Each backpack contained two empty bottles, some first aid supplies, and a list of other items that would be useful to bring with you when you go inside the dungeon. The students had to get the other items themselves, however.

“Cool, they provided the list of what we will need to bring with us,” Flavia commented.

“The teachers want to make sure we are properly prepared,” added Emilia.

“We need food,” Growly pointed out, which didn’t surprise anyone.

“Yeah, we will need to stack on food. The teachers said they will have some available before we go to the dungeon but I think we need to take care of it ourselves,” said Narias.

“You always think in advance, don’t you, partner?” Flavia grinned at him.

“Well…” that made him feel a little uncomfortable.

“That’s right, I forgot to mention,” Flavia suddenly straightened up. “Ileena told me we should meet up after we’re done here. She said she’d share some information about the Magic Dungeon since she had been there before. We could plan our strategy and discuss other things that would be helpful during the dungeon exploration.”

“That’s a great idea,” Narias instantly agreed. “What time did she say we are meeting?”

“Oh, she hadn’t mentioned the exact time because she didn’t know how long it would take for us register. Ileena said to come get her once we’re done,” Flavia explained.

“Ok. How about we meet up in an hour at the campus diner? Is everyone ok with it?” Narias asked.

“It’s fine with me,” Lilna said.

“Yes. That should be fine,” Emilia added.

“Ok,” was all Growly said.

“Awesome,” Flavia cheered. “I’ll go get Ileena and let’s meet up in an hour.”

The party had been registered and everyone had received their backpacks. There was no reason for them to linger around anymore. The other students were still busy with the registration. Quite a few of the students hadn’t formed a group in advance, so now they had to go with whoever was available.

Narias, and his friends went to their dorms to put their backpacks away. They agreed to meet in about an hour at the campus diner. Narias and Growly were walking together through the campus park because their dorms were in the same direction.

“The backpack is nice,” Growly commented, looking really happy with his new backpack.

“Oh, yeah. That was very kind of them to provide us with backpacks,” Narias added with a smile.

“Good team name too,” the chubby bear boy added with a bit of a grin, showing off his sharp teeth.

“Thanks. I wasn’t really sure about it. The name just popped out of nowhere,” he responded with a bit of a laugh.

“We’ll go to dungeon soon. I will beat lots of monsters, and get many crystals for my dad,” Growly seemed to be excited about it.

“That’s right. Your dad can craft magic items using the magic crystals that we can get inside the dungeon. Can you craft magic items too, Growly?” Narias was curious.

“Not yet. I’m still learning. My dad is awesome. He can craft powerful magic items,” the fury boy told Narias. “But business is bad now. Dad doesn’t get good materials. Little orders. My dad is worried.”

“What? Really? But your dad’s shop has so many magic items and accessories,” that was a real surprise for Narias to hear.

“Yes. But most are decorations only. Not many real magic items. Very little Magic Dungeon exploration happening. Very little magic crystals to get. Can’t craft good magic items,” Growly was telling Narias how things were going at the shop.

“I see…” that got Narias thinking. “You know what? Let’s do well during our Magic Dungeon exploration and get lots of magic crystals for your dad.”

“Really? That will make my dad happy,” Growly smiled again.

Wow, Growly is a really cool guy. He cares about his parents so much. I’m so glad to have him as a friend. Narias could see how much Growly loved his parents. Speaking of which, I haven’t written to my parents in a while. I ought to write a letter to let them know how I am doing.

Narias realized that because of how busy he was lately, he neglected to keep in touch with his own parents. Hearing out Growly talk about his dad reminded him how important it is to keep in touch with his family. Narias would have to go meet his friends now, so he wouldn’t have time to write the letter now. He promised to write a letter to his mom and dad right before he goes to bed tonight.

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