Jovena looked afraid.

The arrogant Shooter was usually mouthy, but I’d figured out that was just her way of keeping people away from her. I hadn’t figured out why she didn’t like people getting close, but I had a feeling that I’d have plenty of time over the next six years to figure it out.

“There were three there when we got in.” Jovena reached over and picked up the discarded pillow and handed it to Ether.

Our ivory Tank took it and put it behind her as she scooted back to sit next to me.

“You’ve got most of your team.” It was the same amount that we had. I wondered if the teachers were taking turns picking students again.

“We’re missing our Buffer and Caster.” She leaned back on the bed. “We don’t have a teacher yet, so we don’t really have much to do at the moment. I think Warder is going to try to rotate us with Bethil until we get full teams.”

“Celia doesn’t want to share?” I smiled at my joke, but the look on her face told me I wasn’t far off.

“Savyn is the one who doesn’t want to share.” Jenne sat down on the foot of my bed. “Arlo came back with them and he’s already got a full team…” She raised an eyebrow, “One woman and eleven guys..” She smirked as she looked over at Mitchel, “I think she does the harem thing better than you.”

“That’s…” I sighed as Ether giggled. I looked over at Jovena. “Are you going to be okay while we’re gone?”

The Shooter shrugged, “I don’t think Savyn’s going to be too much of a problem, we shouldn’t be in the Dungeon at the same time, so the only other time I could really run into her is when we’re in the cafe.”

“I should introduce you to Wrye.” I was a little shocked at how easily I thought about him as an ally. When I’d first met him in my first week here, he and his team had tried to rough us up. Then Rix had almost killed him and another member of his team. The few times that I’d seen him since, he had seemed genuinely friendly.

“I’m not looking to get set up.” I could see the panic on her face.

“No.” I waved the hand on the arm that Ether wasn’t cuddling with, “He’s one of the second years and Trent’s old team. And I know he wouldn’t mind looking out for you while we’re in Mive and Klix.” I nodded at the black-haired woman talking to Justia. “Plus Oz’s dad is working as their assistant teacher, so you’ll have someone you kind of know.”

She didn’t look convinced, but that was the end of her resistance to the idea.

“How much do you think they’re going to be in here?” Ether looked over at me.

“You don’t think Oz and Justia will go over there?”

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Ether sat up so she could look at me. “Oz might have waited until her dad got back to take her trail, but she was staying with the Dispatchers instead of across town with her parents. She might go over there sometimes, but he’ll be over here more.”

How she explained it made a little bit of sense, though I was still curious why she’d choose to live with the Dispatchers. I’d lived in a Dispatcher’s Hub for over four years before I’d received my Mantle and been moved to the Cathedral. It wasn’t an experience that I’d want to repeat, though I’d been working from sun up until sunset almost seven days a week. That coupled with the meager wages that I had been making and I’d almost never had time to do much of anything other than sleep when I wasn’t in the Dungeon.

I looked around the Dorm room. It was large enough for the eight beds and three bunk beds that were in it, but if we were going to start having a lot more traffic, then it was going to start feeling cramped very quickly.

“How much time do you think we’ll be spending in the dungeon?” I looked at the woman next to me.

“Not as much as you have been.” Gesai walked over, which prompted Jenne to move to the other side of the room. “Trent is going to start using Pocket Dungeons once we get back to give my class enough time to catch up.” She stopped at the foot of my bed. “You’re far enough ahead of the other classes that he’s going to be using a private one in the courtyard instead of the one that the four teams are supposed to share.” The redhead sighed, “Which is only going to put even more pressure on my team for the Adventurer Games this year.”

“What does that have to do..?” I saw Ether shaking her head and knew that I’d missed something.

“Rix is too high level to participate.” Gesai shook her head when Jovena’s eyes lit up. “No, you can’t substitute for her this year.”

The white-haired Shooter folded her arms in front of her and scowled.

“Which means that people will be expecting your team to be the one to win?” I had a feeling that we weren’t going to be allowed to compete, though I’d been basing that more off of trying to keep my Godling class a secret than it being because Rix was too high level. Though that might have just been a convenient excuse to keep both of us out of the spotlight.

“Yeah…” Gesai shook her head. “Maybe if it was some other year, but most teachers who want to compete in the Adventurer Games try to avoid the years that Trent teaches. Bethil isn’t here for that, but Celia and Warder are. Which means I’m going to have to go up against some of the best.”

I could tell by the tone of her voice that she didn’t have very high expectations for herself. “Hey, you’ll still have Trent to help you and so far, you’ve got a pretty awesome team.”

Gesai forced a smile, “Thanks.” She looked down at her crystal band, “Trent’s going to be back soon.” She looked at the other side of the room. “We’re turning in early because we’re going to be on the road before six!”

I heard groans from most of them.

“Vena, you should probably head back to your dorm.” Gesai looked at the student on Ether’s bed.

“Ether said I could sleep in her bed whenever I want.” The white-haired woman settled in, “And Atlas said it was okay for me to spend the night tonight.”

The glare I received was as far as Gesai pushed it. As far as the silver-skinned teacher was concerned, I was second in command only to Trent, and I had a feeling that she would take my side more often than not if the two of us ever disagreed on something. I thought about pointing out that I’d never said that she could stay tonight, but that would start a debate where for now, everyone had let it rest.

I settled in as everyone else got ready. It was an eleven hour drive to Mive, so we were going to be on the road for most of the day tomorrow and I had a feeling that Trent was going to want us to go into the Dungeon first thing after we got there. For now I was going to enjoy sleeping in my bed.