“Mia?”
“Hm?” she replied, lost in her thoughts.
Mia had eventually stretched out on the bed while waiting for her guide, her arms behind her head, and had been staring at the ceiling for a good twenty minutes, attempting to clear her mind to approach the new surprises that awaited her as calmly as possible. She was at least relieved to find that the concept of time seemed the same in this world as in her own. When the young woman approached her, the blonde started. She hadn’t even heard her come in.
Sitting up, Mia was able to study the newcomer. She had medium-length red hair tied in a ponytail, emerald green eyes, small freckles scattered across her face, thin smiling lips, and stood at about five feet one inch.
No wings, red eyes, fangs, or other oddities. On the contrary, everything about her exuded safety, softness, and confidence. She was the first person she had encountered here who looked as human as she did, instantly creating a sense of closeness to the young woman. Mia immediately liked her.
“I’m Arry. I’m going to show you around and try to teach you everything you need to know to live comfortably among us during your time here.”
Arry punctuated her words with a welcoming smile and gestured to indicate the way out of the room.
Before Mia could even get up, a huge ball of fur leapt onto the bed and observed her from its full height, sniffing her, its sharp, inquisitive eyes fixed on her face. She immediately recoiled and swallowed hard as she realized she was faced with a very large dog that looked a lot like a wolf. Needless to say, she wasn’t very reassured.
“Oz! Get down, you’re scaring her!” Arry called out, laughing.
After one last good sniff, he shook himself and his paws found their way back to the ground, beside the redhead. She placed both hands on the sides of the animal’s face and wiggled them to tease him. He quickly pulled away from her grasp and sneezed, looking offended.
“Sorry. I forgot to introduce you to Oz. He loves being the center of attention, don’t you, Oz?” she said to the animal with a teasing tone.
“Is he a werewolf?” Mia asked, confused but nevertheless relieved that he hadn’t come specifically to attack her.
“Oh no,” she chuckled. “Just a grumpy wolf. He’s my spirit animal,” Arry stated as if it were the most logical thing in the world.
Every time someone answered her questions, it only generated more in her mind. She felt like a newborn discovering her surroundings for the first time, utterly lost in this vast unknown reality that seemed so obvious and logical to the people who came and went around her, but she was certainly eager to learn more.
“Spirit animal? I don’t know anything about your world, you know...” she grumbled, trying to stay polite.
“Sorry, your situation is a bit complicated for us, since everything seems perfectly normal to us... I suppose you’ve been told that we’re magical beings. This magic also affects animals, whether they’re domesticated or wild. It’s a rather rare phenomenon, but it happens that an animal and a magician form a bond. It’s quite complex to explain, but... imagine two minds becoming one. Of course, we set limits, otherwise it would be unlivable. If we wish, we can communicate through our minds, feel each other’s sensations and emotions, and our lifespans are shared. We become more resistant and harder to kill, but when one dies, the other dies as well.”
Mia nodded, pondering what the young woman had just explained. She had often seen this kind of bond in fantasy books or TV shows and had often dreamed of forming a bond with an animal herself... She was almost envious. Maybe she could also experience this in this world?
Her pragmatic mind couldn’t help reminding her that relying on the life of an animal, no matter how fierce and intelligent it was, would eventually become a burden and not an advantage in her eyes. She couldn’t bring herself to calmly entrust her fate to the hands of a living being that wasn’t herself.
“Anyway, let’s get going. It’s already ten a.m., and I’d like to show you around before it’s time for a bite to eat. If you have any other questions, we can discuss them along the way.”
The two young women and the wolf left the room to cross a long corridor lined with wooden doors on either side. For a school, she was surprised by the number of available rooms in what seemed to be a mini-hospital, much larger than the infirmaries in her schools on Earth.
This observation left a bitter taste in her mouth. Supply and demand. If there were so many rooms, it meant there were a lot of injuries. The tournaments Vassili had told her about didn’t seem as harmless and lighthearted as he had claimed.
Of course, he’s downplaying it, she thought, he doesn’t want me to panic. A bit too late for that.
Mia and her guide quickly passed by the infirmary’s lobby, which she didn’t get to observe much due to the redhead’s hurried pace. All she had managed to glimpse was a large wooden room from floor to ceiling with a few tables and chairs made of the same material, giving a very cozy atmosphere to the lobby, which also seemed to serve as a lounge. Indeed, some fairies – whom she recognized by their wings – were chatting quietly among themselves over cups of some beverage resembling tea and a few biscuits.
The healers discreetly looked her over as she passed, and some even allowed themselves to greet her with smiles. At least they seemed to react in a friendly manner to her presence. The infirmary would be a good refuge for the young human if the other students turned out to be... less benevolent.
Leaving the infirmary, the cozy ambiance faded in favor of cold and impersonal stone. The long corridors of gray bricks were deserted, making the place seem even more sinister than it really was. The structure looked more like a labyrinth than a school, Mia noted as she looked around. All the corridors and doors looked the same, so she would have quickly gotten lost without her guide. Only small signs next to the heavy wooden doors informed her of the purpose of the rooms they passed. Most of them were simple classrooms.
“At this hour, most of the students are in class, which is why the place seems empty. You’ll quickly notice that it’s a real beehive when we have free time,” Arry explained as they walked.
“So many of you... study here?”
“Hm... I couldn’t give you the exact number, but it must be around three thousand.”
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“That many?” Mia exclaimed, astonished.
“The Arena is the only university of its kind for hundreds of kilometers around. Since it brings together all the populations, it quickly adds up to a lot of people.”
A shiver ran up her spine as the idea of being lost in the midst of hundreds of inhospitable creatures crept into her mind. Would she really be able to live here without risking death at every turn? She, the little defenseless human, facing beings with fangs, claws, and magic? She shook her head mechanically to rid her mind of her fears, not wanting to feed her anxiety.
Never show your fear, she repeated to herself.
“What do you study here?” she inquired to quickly change her thoughts.
“Oh, it depends on the species. Magicians, for example, have a lot of practical courses to master their magic. History, both of their own species and others, is common to everyone. What else... Geography, anthropology, diplomacy, etiquette... Each species has crafted a program that seemed suitable for them. Essentially, we all learn about the other species in the hope of strengthening the bonds.”
“And does it work?” Mia couldn’t help but ask.
The redhead’s grimace was a sufficient answer.
“What should I expect regarding the... species that live here?” Mia continued, trying her best to hide the anxiety creeping into her voice.
“Come, I’ll explain when we’re outside.”
As they crossed the vast hall, they passed by some hurried students who cast curious glances at the blonde. They all looked human, like her, and yet... what were they? How could she recognize them? She felt like she was walking on eggshells, playing Russian roulette with each person she encountered. In short, she wasn’t very comfortable, and that was an understatement. She felt completely foreign, navigating in enemy territory, always having to be on her guard, with caution becoming her main fuel. The idea of landing in a magical world no longer seemed as appealing to her as she confronted the reality of what it meant. The sound of her steps echoing on the hewn stones didn’t ease her anxiety.
Well, discretion is out the window, she thought.
Mia didn’t really have time to carefully observe the hall, too focused on scanning the inhabitants for any possible signs of attack. Anyway, she would have plenty of opportunities to discover the place in more detail in the coming days.
She had to blink several times to get used to the bright sunlight when the two young women reached the outside of the structure. Astonished, the blonde observed the surroundings, devouring every bit of the landscape unfolding before her eyes.
“Quite impressive, huh?” Arry exclaimed, visibly proud of her school.
“It’s... beautiful,” Mia whispered, lost in her contemplation.
There were gardens and trees as far as the eye could see. All sorts of plants and all kinds of trees lined brick paths meandering through the vegetation. And those colors... From purple to red, passing through green, all the colors of the rainbow were represented. A scent of flowers and nature accompanied the place, to the delight of her sense of smell, which unfortunately was far too accustomed to the stench of city pollution. In the distance, she could see snow-capped peaks surrounding the structure.
“The school was built between two mountain ranges. Normally, it should be freezing cold here because the region is always snowy, but the magicians managed to create a kind of biome around the school with its own ecosystem and climate. Don’t ask me how, even I don’t know, it’s very complex magic. But I won’t complain: we alternate between spring and autumn all year round!”
Mia didn’t even bother to respond, as all of this left her speechless. She could spend hours wandering through these gardens. To be precise, she could even spend hours just observing all the flora and inhaling the fresh and pure air that tickled her nostrils.
Arry turned towards the school and Mia imitated her, reluctantly tearing her gaze away from this surreal nature. The view of the castle was impressive too, she noted as she absorbed the landscape with her gaze. The building was immense and constructed from black stone, starkly contrasting with the wild ivy that grew haphazardly on the dark walls. Massive glass windows partially covered the walls, allowing sunlight to penetrate. She could see through the windows on the lower level rows of students in classrooms that looked like those in her world.
She swallowed hard, feeling ridiculously small compared to the towering castle and the number of inhabitants she could see moving within its rooms. And this was just the ground floor.
“The school is divided into several wings, each accommodating a different species. Apart from some activities like sports and training, tournaments, or meals, they prefer not to cross paths too much,” her guide explained, pointing out the different sections of the castle as she spoke.
Mia focused attentively on her explanations, choosing to ignore that the redhead had just confirmed that the school was filled with tensions between the different species. If they were already hostile towards each other, she couldn’t even imagine what it would be like with her...
“In the basement live the vampires...”
“Do they tolerate sunlight?” Mia abruptly interrupted, her curiosity taking over.
“Of course,” Arry chuckled. “I don’t even want to know where you got that idea from! But they do prefer cold and damp environments. Again, it’s not a matter of tolerating or not, it’s a preference due to their usual habitats. The fairies live in the infirmary, the whole wing belongs to them. The centaurs live in the forest behind the school. I advise you not to approach them; they don’t take kindly to strangers. The werewolves live in the east wing, over there,” she pointed with her finger, “and the magicians in the west wing. We have the largest quarters because we are the most numerous. And finally... do you see the tall tower behind the west wing? That’s the vila’s quarter.”
“Vilas?” she repeated, her face reflecting her confusion.
Mia had never heard of such a creature. In fact, she wasn’t even sure if there was a legend in her world about magical beings with that name. And that might not necessarily be a good thing.
“Avoid them like the plague. Never cross them. They might seem like nothing under their human appearance, but... they’re the most dangerous of them all. One could think they’re entirely pacifist because they rarely participate in the tournaments and don’t seem interested in combat, but really, be cautious around them and always stay on your guard in their presence. In fact, pretend they don’t exist, that they notice you as little as possible. They have a particular history with humans... I don’t want to scare you, but it’s not a pretty story.”
Arry emphasized her words with a serious and meaningful look at the blonde.
Okay, major danger, noted, she nervously thought, if you didn’t want to scare me, you failed.
The two young women spent the next hour exploring the interior of the castle under the watchful eye of Oz, who still remained cautious around Mia. The blonde finally had a chance to better observe the hall they had passed through to exit, deciding to ignore the gazes of the other occupants. It was nothing extraordinary in itself, except for its spectacular size, both in terms of its spaciousness and its height. A large crystal chandelier provided illumination, reflecting the sunlight onto the gray brick walls. A massive black stone staircase split into two separate flights in opposite directions, leading to the upper floor. The hefty wooden doors resembled arches since they were all fully open. A large bulletin board covered half of the right wall, wedged between two doors, and she caught a glimpse of a few texts and drawings that she didn’t have time to examine closely.
The rest of the tour consisted of showing her the entrances to the different wings of the castle, a few empty classrooms, restrooms, and the door to the library. What she saw confirmed that there were no significant differences between her world and this one, except for the glaring absence of any digital technology. The structure resembled any inhabited castle adapted for modern comfort, minus the phones and televisions. Obviously, if they could control the weather, they probably relied on magic to supply the building with water, light, and heating.
They then headed to the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat. The wolf left them after a nod from the redhead, disappearing at the edge of the forest. Mia felt a slight relief, not that she was afraid of the animal, but its presence had made her a bit uneasy, as the wolf had been keeping a constant eye on her.
She wasn’t exactly in the mood for food, but she followed her guide nonetheless, lacking a better plan. She was still torn between awe and anxiety about her new environment, and the nervousness stemming from her interlocutor’s warnings about the possible encounter with the vilas. And she didn’t even know what they looked like or what they were capable of... Let’s just say she was expecting the worst.