Returning to the main entrance of the Fyron Dormitory, Professor Shia led a majority of the students outside across the campus. A large scarlet clump of us walking together, but I was in the back.

Entering the Clock Tower, we went to the dining hall, and no one had a smile. Everyone had a look of uncertainty and fear. It was the complete opposite of what I had seen the day before. Students scurried to their tables after getting their food handed to them by staff at a counter. I picked up my meal, a cube that looked like a block of egg with potatoes and toast on the side. There were other options too, but I decided to keep it simple.

The professors had their own section of the dining hall that was closed off by a set of arched double doors. I saw Counselor Jonathan and Principal Pine go inside together with other teachers.

I surveyed the dining hall, wondering where to put my plate. I hoped someone would wave for me to join their table, like in the movies, but that didn't happen. I just stood there, wondering where to sit. There was an open table where only two other students sat. One had an emerald cloak, and the other had a violet cloak. It looked strange to me because every student appeared to sit with their own kind. There were many circular tables full of fire mages and fire mages only. The same went for all of the other elemental sorcerers.

Approaching the odd table out, I asked, "Hey, would it be all right if I sit with you guys?"

Neither of them were talking to each other. They poked around at their food tray and glanced up at me simultaneously. The kid in green had dark greasy hair that went to his shoulder, the other kid had silver-like hair but it was short and sticking up in a million different directions.

"Sure," the kid in the emerald cloak said.

I took a seat and had my first bites of the egg cube. It was surprisingly delicious, like a perfectly moist scrambled egg assembled into a 3D shape. The potatoes had fantastic seasoning with just a slight amount of spiciness. They didn't need any condiments. The toast was terrific too, which I had never thought about with toast. Usually it was boring, but this bread was thick-cut and rich with a buttery taste. I was so lost in the meal I didn't even realize the three of us were silent.

It didn't feel all that different from high school back at home.

"You had a fight with your friends or something?" the kid in the green cloak asked me.

"What do you mean?"

He pointed at my face. “You have a black eye. You're sitting with two nobodies for the first time, and honestly, I've never seen you around before. You fire mages are fiercely loyal and only seem to hang out with each other. So, what's your story?"

I stabbed a forkful of the egg cube." I'm from the Nomagi World, believe it or not."

"You mean the Nomagi World? Like where they don't have elemental mages?"

"Yes, the very same."

Both stopped eating, but only the kid in green spoke to me."Wow. What was that like?"

"Pretty crappy, if I'm being honest. Why are you guys sitting alone and not with your fellow mages?"

He shrugged. “It's nice to get a break. I've been going here for 4 years now. Sometimes you just want to sit at your own table, and then you have someone like Chris here who also wants to do the same. So we just sit here in silence."

"Sorry if I'm ruining that for you guys," I said.

"It's all good. We can be the group that gives shelter whenever we need a break from our home group."

"You call this a break? We've been sitting here together all year," Chris, the kid in the violet cloak, said.

The two of them chuckled, and the table fell silent for a moment as they continued to eat.

"By the way, I'm sorry I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Boris," the kid in emerald said.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Rollie."

I thought about saying something else but couldn't think of anything. Boris took a deep breath and frowned.

"It's a real shame about what happened with Bradley today."

"You knew Bradley?" I asked. "I've been thinking about it all morning. You know, this is my first day here on campus."

Boris poked at his food, his lips were anchored. "I'm sorry you had to have this tragedy happen on your first day. Don't let this leave a lasting first impression. This is a pretty happy place. Things like this don't usually happen, you know?" Boris shook his head. "I really hope they can figure out what happened. Something isn't right here."

My eyes flicked between the two. ”You don't believe it was just a coincidence?"

"That's one really improbable coincidence. I don't know. Part of me thinks that someone may have planted the hellion there somehow."

My eyebrow perked up. ”What makes you say that?"

"I don't know, man. It doesn't seem right that one singular hellion came all the way here through the arcane spells that supposedly protect this place.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

I paused, wondering what to say next. "Well, they're going to investigate what happened. Can you imagine anyone who would want to do something like this?"

Boris wiped his face with a napkin. "To be honest, I can't. But there's a lot to the history here in Lementum. Have you heard about it very much?"

I shook my head.

"Well, we used to be at war with the gargoyles, the mages, that is. But us mages here used to fight amongst ourselves too. But that was hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Back then, if you tried sitting with the water mages, they'd be the reason behind your black eye, and they would give you another one."

"So you think this is the result of gargoyle activity?"

"Maybe. They're a pretty curmudgeon species. They don't talk to humans much; we get along with them now, but they have some issues with mages that they don't discuss. It's hard to trust any of them, you know what I mean?"

"I guess.” I didn’t want to be disagreeable, but I also didn’t know much about this world. Perhaps he was right, but it felt lazy to blame gargoyles for something like that.

We ate the rest of our meal in silence but sat there for a moment after we finished eating.

"I really want to go visit Bradley. I think I might do that later if I can," Boris said.

"You guys are friends?"

"He sits with us," Chris answered. "The three of us don't really have close friends. So it feels like we're friends by proxy." Chris smirked, but I could sense some sadness in his voice.

"Would it be weird if I visited Bradley?" I asked.

"Do you know him at all?"

I shook my head.

"I think he'd appreciate a visitor regardless. He's like us but a little more extroverted."

I was hoping they would go and invite me, but they didn't. It felt like both of them were going to go separately.

"Well, I'm going to head out and get ready for class later," Chris said.

"You're actually going to go?" Boris asked.

"Yeah, I'm not trying to fall behind this semester already. I've been struggling a little bit."

"All right, maybe I'll see you for dinner later. I'm not going to go to classes this afternoon. I'm still feeling pretty rattled about all of this."

An angelic bell rang out through the entire hall. One singular note. High-pitch with plenty of echo and reverb. I observed the rest of the students to see their reactions. They all looked ahead at the professors' doors, where they exited and stood before us. Principal Pine stood in front of the line of teachers and cleared his throat.

"With all of you here, I would like to apologize again for what happened today on campus. It's a tragedy, but fortunately, I've received word from the medical staff that Bradley will be okay. He will stay in the medical hall for a couple of days to ensure he recovers. The Mage Force Officers are also here, so I encourage you to attend your afternoon classes. But before I sign off here, I wanted to thank the medical staff for working hard. We greatly appreciate all that you have done for our Bradley. That is all I have for you."

The entire dining hall was filled with claps, myself included.

Most of the students cleared out of the dining hall, and we all went back to our respective dorms. I went to my room, and the door was still closed to my bedroom. But two guys were sitting on the couch in the living room, having a quiet conversation. They both looked similar, short copper hair, clean-cut, and a hooked nose. They glared at me as I walked in.

"What are you doing in here?" the taller one shouted. "Who are you? How did you get in?"

I dangled the key in front of them. “Relax, bud. I have a key. I'm your new roommate," I said.

The more petite boy whispered to the taller one, but I still heard him, "That's the new kid that Professor Shia introduced us to this morning."

The taller kid dropped his jaw and his eyes bugled.

"That's right, you're new here. I'm so sorry about that. My name is Randolph Villo. This is my younger brother Tim Villo."

"Nice to meet you guys." I waved.

Randolph looked like he was about to sweat, trying to think of something to talk about. "So, what's up with your hair?"

"Yeah, it looks bizarre," his brother Tim said.

Randolph struck his brother on the side of his arm. "Don't be rude."

"You brought it up first!"

"But I wasn't being mean about it."

"Oh, come on, you know it looks weird too. You were thinking it, but you didn't say it."

"Doesn't matter, still doesn't give you the right to say something like that.” He pointed at him like a misbehaved dog.

"Look, you're not going to parent me this whole year, are you?"

"What year are you guys in?" I interrupted.

"I'm in my third year here," Randolph said.

"I'm in my first!" Tim said.

I half-smirked, sharing something in common. “Me too."

"But you look so much older. I would have thought you were a third year at least," Randolph said.

"Only because he's freakishly tall," Tim said.

"What is with you today, man? Your manners are all over the place.” Randolph nudged his elbow into his brother’s side.

"Sorry, I guess," Tim said, but he didn't look at me. He only apologized to his older brother.

"I'm just gonna go in my room," I said and turned the ornate brass knob.

Finally entering my shared bedroom, I couldn't see anything. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, but only a little light was coming out underneath the curtain hanging in front of the window. The room had an unpleasant smell of dirty laundry. As I stepped further in, I realized I was stepping on clothes lying on the ground.

"Mortimer," I said, but there was no reply. "Mortimer!" I said louder.

"Yeah? What's up?" He said in a hazy, tired voice.

"How do you turn the lights on in here?"

There was a brief pause. "What?"

I got so irritated I marched over to the window and yanked the curtains to the side. The overcast outside light filled the room. There was a bed in one corner and a bed in the other. The entire room was filled with papers, textbooks, clothes, and other trinkets I couldn't quite recognize. Everything was scattered all over. Not a single sign of organization, a hoarder in training.

I wanted to scream, but I bit my tongue.

"How about you pick up your after yourself this afternoon since you're not going to classes," I said.

"Dude, I'm sorry. I had no idea I was getting a roommate today. Chill out." Mortimer sat up in his bed and exhaled. His face had line impressions from the pillow, and his hair was all over the place.

"You couldn't at least tidy up a little bit when I went to get breakfast?"

"I fell back asleep, sorry. I need a lot more rest than normal people. Is this really how you talk to people you first meet?"

I blinked. I didn't realize it, but I had clenched my fists. Letting my fingers open, I took a deep breath. "Sorry, man. It's just been a bit of a weird morning for me."

"You and me both. I'll pick up all this stuff later. Do you mind if I close my eyes again?"

"Do whatever you want. I don't care," I said, short and sharp. I stepped out of the room and left the suite.

"Where are you going?" Randolph asked me as I held the handle on our main door.

I scoffed. "Am I gonna need to check in with you every time I leave the room?"

"Sorry, Rollie, I was just seeing if you had any more questions about being on campus or wanted to talk about anything. I don't know. You stormed out of here after barely being in your new room. I just wanted to check on you, jeez," Randolph said.

I hung around the door for a moment and grimaced, but they couldn’t see me. ”Sorry, I guess I just need a little bit of space right now. I'll see you guys later."

"Maybe you can join our table for dinner?” Randolph said.

"I don't know. We usually don't have a lot of room. It fills up pretty quick," Tim said.

"Don't even worry about it. I'm fine. Thank you, though." I marched out of the room and went down the spiral staircase. On my way, I wondered how well I'd fit in and how long it would take to start to feel at home.