“Welcome”, Rhawn entered the classroom and spoke to the class. Eos had already counted the students in the class- 94 in total: 14 elves, 76 humans, 3 beastkin and one red-haired demon girl- small horns protruded from her scalp. All the elves had a younger appearance than the rest, but this much was expected from their slower growth; Eos appeared to be around the age of the other elves. She expected them to be around 8 years old. 9 of the elves had blonde hair, the other 5’s hair was as dark as oil.
She sat at the back of the lecture hall- it had more open seats than children. The rest of the children were strewn in clumps, three to five kids in each clump. Only Eos sat alone, away from everyone else. I suppose that’s what I get for missing orientation. The three beastkin sat together- three girls: wolf ears, like Amulree and Beira, rabbit ears and bear ears. The demon sat with three humans. Eos caught a glimpse of her eye color- orange and red, like a flame. Cool… Eos found who she wanted to be her best friend.
“All of you have already been shown the campus, however we will now go over expectations.” Nobody seemingly paid attention to Rhawn, however Eos wanted to figure out the plan. “For the first two years, you will learn the basics of theory- magic schools, rituals, balancing with a spear and swinging a blade. By the end of year three, all of you will be able to cast or leave the school. The fifth year you will choose what to specialize in. Swords or Spears, Fire magic or Plant- there are many options, and you may be the only individual in your cohort to choose yours. The ninth, you choose a second specialization. This will run parallel to your first specialization. The twelfth, you will have reached the age of majority- and in all hopes, be graduating.” Rhawn looked around the room carefully, “We don’t have any Dragons again.”
“Most of you,” Eos felt Rhawn staring her down, “will end up with your family after you graduate. Some of you come from adventurers, others nobles, others from the clergy. I don’t expect all of you to graduate, but I expect most of you to learn something. Most of you.”
Many of the students turned their heads towards Eos. Every eye in the room was staring her down- she wanted to melt into the floor. She physically shrunk in her chair, as if she would disappear into it.
Rhawn continued, “I must say this as a formality,” He held a paper up, reading off of it, “‘Any previously mentioned role would be suitable for after graduate employment.’ However, we have had only a handful of students not go back to their life- most, of course, being public admits.”
A rueful smile appeared on Rhawns face. Most students were turned away from Eos by now, but she had lost focus on the lecture- her face was painted beat red, and she kept a frantic paranoid look on every other student. Occasionally, while Rhawn probably said vitally important info, Eos’s brain was focused on noticing when the other children would slip a look at her and then giggle amongst their cluster, or talking in whispered hushes, or any slight movement made by them. Perhaps, if she sat in the front, she would not care- she’d be in everyone’s line of sight regardless. But nary a student sat behind her- so if anyone was looking in her direction, they were looking at her.
After an eternity, other students began to stand up. Eos clicked back into reality- Rhawn had finished up. It dawned on Eos that she’d missed everything except those few paragraphs- Orientation, The first day of class, everything. Eos began to stand up, and before she could even turn around, there were three girls standing next to her.
All three of them stuck out their hands.
“I’m Lillian”
“I’m Filos. Filos Wuther.”
“I’m Gen, I like your hair!”
The three of them said. Lillian and Filos had similar colors of hair to Eos, a dark blonde. The last was a brunette. Eos could tell, all three were humans. She even blinked twice- no aura around them appeared, confirming their race. She shook their hands, in the order they introduced themselves. “My name’s Eos!” She attempted to say confidently, with whatever she could feign after that class.
“You're an elf? Also… are you supposed to be here?” Lillian asked.
“Yes?” Eos asked.
“Oh, we didn’t see you during the tour..” Gen commented.
“I, uh,” Eos stammered, “got lost.”
“So, what do your parents do!” Filos asked.
“They-” Eos felt a need to lie. She wasn’t sure why. She didn’t want to seem lesser to her classmates, she supposed. “They’re natural philosophers for the King.” She’d heard the term in passing. Not entirely a lie, she thought. “What about you?” Eos continued.
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Gen replied first, “My family is devoted to the church. My father is a bishop!”
Bishop? I guess- with cardinals in the church that makes sense. I didn’t really question until now.
“Nobles. Daughter of Duke Wuther, at your service.” Filos followed up.
Lillian was last to reply, and she seemed a bit hesitant to. “My mother is… a Master of Water.” She finally said.
“What does that mean?” Eos blurted out. Seeing Lillian’s reaction, she realized how she blundered.
“Her mom’s an adventurer.” Gen said uncharitably.
“She’s a high ranking one! She can beat anyone else’s mom or dad here!” Lillian shouted.
Everyone laughed a small amount, then Filos turned back to Eos. “So, your parents serve the King?”
“Yeah?” Eos asked, confused as to where Filos was leading.
“We should be best friends then! Both of our parents are nobles, and we’ll do what they do!”
Upon this declaration, Eos realized she might have messed up. Her parents definitely did work for the King, but…
“Better a noble than an adventurer.” Gen said, looking at Lillian again.
“HEY!” Lillian shouted again. Everyone else began to laugh a little. “So mean!”
“You could always join the church instead.” Gen commented.
A thought jumped into Eos’s mind. “How often will you guys see your parents?” Eos asked.
“I’ll see them every weekend.” Gen said, “I have to go to church anyways.”
Filus pondered for a moment, “Occasionally? I lived about a week's ride away, so whenever they need to come to Infally, I'll see them.”
Everyone looked at Lillian, who seemed to be doing some math in her head. Suddenly, her head shot up. “About 2 months. She’ll be judging a match in the arena.”
“Huh?” Eos asked- the other’s expression showed they didn't understand either. Eos remembered what Amulree said, about proving rank in combat.
“A match? Ranking match? For the adventurer’s guild?”
“No idea.” Gen said.
“You need a judge to officiate a match between a competitor and the challenged. If the competitor wins, they go up in rank.” It was clear to Eos that Filos and Gen had blanked out, and Lillian caught on soon. “Wanna come? It’ll be interesting to watch.”
“Sure?” Eos hesitantly agreed.
“Absolutely!” Filos’s eyes almost shined with excitement.
“I have church that day.” Gen said.
“I didn’t even say what day it is!” Lillian replied.
“Don’t care!” Gen said, giggling.
Out of the corner of her eye, Eos spotted the demon talking to Rhawn in the front. “Uh, who’s that?” Eos asked, drawing the attention of the three other girls to the front.
“Alana?” Gen replied.
“She’s a demon.” Lillian replied.
Well obviously. Eos thought, knowing some thoughts shouldn’t be said.
“We should go up to her!” Filos said. Gen looked unamused, but Lillian seemed accepting of the idea.
The group of four girls waited for Alana to end her discussion with Rhawn, and ambushed her as she was leaving the hall.
“I’m Filos!”
“I’m Lillian.”
“I’m Gen.”
“Hi, I’m Eos.” She barely stopped herself stammering it out- being a member of a quartet was nearly unbearable to Eos.
“Uh…” Alana’s face went pale. Her wide eyes seemed animated, the firelike dancing contrasting against her ever-whiter skin. “Alana.” Her hand flew up and pointed at Eos, “I didn’t see you during orientation.”
“I-”
“She just got here!” Filos said.
I said I got lost?!
“I see.” Alana said flatly. “Elf, human, human, human.”
“Demon.” Gen replied.
“Of fire.”
“That adds up.” Eos said.
“So where are y-” Filos tried to say.
“No thanks.” Alana said, and turned away.
The four of them looked in disbelief as she walked away.
“Not one much for talking.” Lillian said.
“I can tell…” Gen replied.