“What the fuck was that?” I asked, not even attempting to bottle up my utter contempt at the spoiled Vunerian.

“What? The aura-less? It’s one of the dorm-porters. Am I to assume you don’t have such things back in Earthrealm?” Ilunor snapped back lazily, still lounging on the couch like an oversized cat.

“Elaborate on what you mean by serve, you were treating him like a fucking slave.” I spat back. I knew full well the implications of the smaller elf’s status. However, part of me was too shocked to really believe it. Part of me wanted to believe that it was maybe some sort of cultural misunderstanding. The modern, contemporary human in me simply couldn't believe that slavery could still exist.

“Erm. Yeah? Because that’s what it is?” The lizard responded with barely a hint of hesitation in his voice. “Earthrealmer, I don’t see what the issue here is. I understand that you come from a very underdeveloped realm, but do be sensible now. Even the most uncivilized of backwater realms have some concept of hierarchy and class. You, being sent here, a squire or what have you, you of all people should know a thing or two about class do you not? You’ve quite literally recounted your name and title within the academic rites. You gave a speech about loyalty and submissiveness to the betters in your realm. You respect hierarchy, so what do you not understand about ours?”

“Hierarchy does not require rampant racism, classism, and fuckin slavery, you arrogant lizard.” I practically snarled out, while my hands clenched up into fists.

The lizard, to his credit, seemed entirely unfazed by my verbal confrontation as he only looked at me lazily through my opaque lenses. “What a bizarre concept… maybe we should talk about this in the morning, hmm? I’m tired. We all are. And we should really get our affairs in order before-”

I cut the lizard off, and without warning grabbed him by the collar of his silken tunic just narrowly avoiding his throat, and in doing so bending and ripping the various necklaces and jeweled ornaments that adorned it. “You don’t get to run away.” I tightened my grip and lifted the lizard up about 7 feet off the floor, while what was left of the Vunerian’s jewelry shattered in my hands and fell to the floor with a resonant clank. “We’re not leaving this topic high and dry before we address it. I’ve given you the benefit of a doubt time and time again throughout the whole night. I tried, desperately grasping at straws hoping that all of this was just some big cultural misunderstanding, some dirty jab or some racist remark. But it’s become clear that I was giving you too much credit.”

It didn’t take long however before Thalmin tried his hand at mediation, as the wolf placed a single hand on my own gloved ones, and gripped it tightly. Tight enough that the haptic feedback sensors on my gloves refused to translate the sensations as they reached and exceeded the minimum pain threshold.

Warning: Minimum pain threshold on [RIGHT HAND] and [LEFT HAND] exceeded, auto-disconnect of haptic feedback engaged.

This clearly shocked the lupine as his eyes grew wide at how ineffective that move was, my hands refusing to even register the lupine’s attempt to loosen my grip. However, whilst I got the message, I still refused to let go.

Not before making sure I drew a line in the sand with the Vunerian.

“Let me tell you a little something. You might think that you’re hot shit, you might think that your little world and all of its little party tricks are somehow great, grand and mighty. But I can tell you right now that all of it, every last bit of it, means nothing to us. You’re like a burrowing hermit, living out your life in the woods. Your castles are akin to small anthills, your kingdoms are all but patches in the dirt, your entire realm is an underdeveloped forest… forever stuck and fated to stagnation. Your world is a monument to a backwards and dead system; a system of ideologies and pathetic leaders that my people had long since abandoned in the dustbin of history. So while you continued to wallow in your debauchery, the march of human progress thrummed on. As we forged starscrapers using automated constructs, you continued moving dirt using shovels. As we built amongst the heavens itself, wrapping our world in a construct of our own design, you continued placing stone atop of stone all the while marveling at the rickety monuments to your barbarism. So don’t get cocky. Your titles, your power, means nothing. I want you to know that even the smallest of UN states can march across your lands right up to your castles and there’s nothing you can do about it. Just like there’s nothing you can do to make me let go of you. So don’t get smart with me, because I’ve had it up to here with you!” I seethed, glared, and snarled out through my suit’s vocoders, my grip tightening so much that I began tearing at the seams of the lizard’s shirt collar.

I made sure my point was made while I held him as he kicked, thrashed and lashed out ineffectually.

What happened next however was something that I couldn’t anticipate. With a warning from the suit the lizard opened his maw wide, and within the next second, I saw a spark, and a stream of fire which ignited from deep within his throat.

ALERT: LOCALIZED SURGE OF MANA-RADIATION DETECTED, 300% ABOVE BACKGROUND RADIATION LEVELS

My field of view was suddenly blocked by an all encompassing flame, which panicked me at first but was otherwise mellowed out by my training.

ALERT: EXTERNAL TEMPERATURES EXCEEDING SAFE LEVELS. 400… 725… 997… 1227 DEGREES CELSIUS. PASSIVE HEAT SHIELDING NOMINAL. INTERNAL TEMPERATURE CONTROL NOMINAL.

To anyone looking in, all they would see was a desperate Vunerian, held by the collar of his shirt, breathing a continuous stream of fire that engulfed the head of a suited monstrosity. A suited monstrosity which refused to even flinch at this attack.

A suited monstrosity that by the very end of the Vunerian’s attack, was left unscathed. With only a few specks of soot discoloring the otherwise pristine gunmetal blue of the helmet, and two glowing red lenses staring back through the dark billowing smoke.

“Are you done?” I spoke through my undamaged vocoders with a mild annoyance.

The Vunerian ceased any resistance at that point, as he hung limply, almost catatonic with eyes that could only be read as utterly petrified.

With one swift motion I dropped the lizard like an oversized plush back on the couch. I still had the decency to do so above the plush cushions, so he was more or less unharmed.

The ambiance in the room had understandably shifted following the confrontation. With Thacea and Thalmin standing completely stiff, their whole bodies refusing to even flinch. I could see flashes of fear, concern, and panic welling within Thalmin’s eyes. However, much to my surprise, Thacea looked on at me with an expression that I just couldn’t pin down. If avian eyes could translate well enough to a human’s, then I could definitely say I saw sympathy in her eyes. A genuine sense of concern and sympathy, despite having just reasserted myself as all but a monster. I didn’t understand why, I wasn’t expecting anything near a look of sympathy from anyone especially after this sudden turn of events.

To that end, it was Thacea who broke the silence, moving forward and placing herself between me and the Vunerian. “Emma, Ilunor, let’s take a step back to talk about all of this.”

“What is there to talk about, Princess? The Earthrealmer’s a fucking savage!” Ilunor shouted out, his panicked state from just seconds prior melting back into the shriveled pathetic mess.

“Ilunor, you have been nothing but combative and provocative towards the newrealmer for the entire night. You have nothing if not more than a good portion of the blame for this confrontation. I suggest you hold your piece.” The avinor put her foot down, something that Thalmin grinned and nodded in approval at, before turning to face me.

“Emma, I understand how stressful all of this may be for you. You are in a completely foreign land, meeting foreign beings for the first time in your life. You are far from home, scared, and potentially afraid. Your reactions are understandable, but please, could we agree to disagree for now? Can we please try our best to act like civilized, decent beings? There are far greater matters to worry about than our petty interpersonal conflicts. To survive the academy we must work together as a peer group. To ensure our year goes smoothly, we must come together, not tear each other apart at the seams.” The avinor’s voice and facade faltered but refused to break throughout the entirety of it. Before finally it cracked, just a little bit. “Please. All we have here are each other.”

It was at this point that I finally relented. A deep sigh was all that marked my response as I took a seat on one of the couches across from Ilunor. I didn’t even care to calibrate for my weight as the seat moaned underneath my suit’s immense mass, which prompted Thacea to quickly cast another spell, preventing the wood from splintering into a thousand pieces.

ALERT: LOCALIZED SURGE OF MANA-RADIATION DETECTED, 225% ABOVE BACKGROUND RADIATION LEVELS

“Listen, I’m sorry for reacting like that okay?” I managed out, tired and absolutely drained. “But I just want to make one thing clear right off the bat, I’m not afraid, I’m fucking pissed. I can’t… I just can’t fucking deal with slavery. If we’re going to move forward with this, I have to just say this outright. Slavery is not a thing where I come from. It’s deplorable, it’s reprehensible, it’s the worst possible evil besides… fuck I can’t think of anything… torture? Warcrimes? It’s the worst thing you can do to a person.” I spouted out in a series of exasperated breaths. “How can you guys be so cruel, so utterly cold, how can you guys stomach this-”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Because we don’t have a fucking choice Earthrealmer.” Thalmin finally responded, a deep growl resonating throughout the entire room. “Because we don’t have a say in how that specific part of our culture works. Because that’s what the Nexus expects of us.” He paused, turning away in shame. “Because… because that’s… because we bent the knee, Earthrealmer.”

A long pause overshadowed the conversation after that point. Turning to Thacea, she seemed to nod in agreement, whilst Ilunor refused to acknowledge anything.

“Things are… far more complicated than they seem, Emma.” Thacea began. “Know that our inactions do not constitute complicitness. We simply are incapable of challenging what is the status quo.” The princess stated a matter-of-factly. “I applaud your realm for being so strong in your resolve, and I can only wish for-” She stopped herself in her tracks, as Thalmin shot her a glance that read don’t.

“I don’t want to be involved with any of this crap.” I spat back. “But I know I’m not a one man army, I don’t have the means of changing the whole world.” Not yet at least. “So fine, I refuse any and all services from this prisoner.” I looked away from Ilunor, then towards Thacea and Thalmin. “I hope you two can eventually come to my side on this. I… I honestly don’t know how to feel right now.”

A long bout of silence once more punctuated the air as the only sound echoing across the room was the roars of the fireplace. I looked at the three closely, Thacea and Thalmin were clearly shaken by the entire turn of events, their expressions reading as remorseful and regretful. Ilunor however remained seated with a shaken expression, refusing to meet my gaze.

“Shall we move on to room assignments?” Thalmin finally broke the silence, much to the relief of everyone present.

“Sure.” I managed out. I knew that the lingering awkwardness in the air couldn’t really be filtered out, but we had to at least try.

“Right, so, seeing as we have two bedrooms, and four of us, we can divide this in one of two ways. By gender, or by random chance.”

I perked up. “Why not by choice?”

“Who would want to stay with the Vunerian, Earthrealmer?” Thalmin replied without a second’s hesitation with one of the most savage off handed remarks I’ve heard from him throughout the whole night. It honestly brought a smile to my face after everything as a small spark of satisfaction welled within me.

“You have a point.” I replied wholeheartedly, to which Ilunor seemed to grumble something unintelligible under his breath.

“If we are to do this by gender, then I’m more than willing to take the sacrifice in staying with the Vunerian, Earthrealmer.” Thalmin continued. If it wasn’t clear already, I felt a sort of strange unspoken comradery forming between the both of us. Maybe I was just too tired and I was reading too much into this, but the more and more I stood up in defiance of the shit I had to put up with, the more he seemed to respect me. At least in his weird, gruff, blunt and confrontational way.

“Thanks, but you know I’m more than willing to like, leave this up to chance.” I shrugged, meeting Thalmin’s eyes for the first time in real, genuine conversation. “Fate works in weird ways, so let’s see what fate has to say about our room assignments.”

“Alright then, as the newrealmer, how do you suggest we play this game of chance?” Thalmin shot at me, throwing the ball back to my court with a sly grin.

“I know you guys more than likely have your magical equivalents of determining chance.” I began, as I rummaged through one of my suit’s pockets. “My kind however, has perfected the game of chance. With advanced mathematics, statistical analyses, and a bunch of other fields I’m more than likely going to butcher, determining true random is something that is vital to some of my world’s scientific and technological fields.” I pulled out what was one of the few personal items I was allowed to bring to the other side. An early 21st century US penny, one of the few keepsakes I still had from my old life before the move to my Aunt’s. “However, I’m not about over-complicating things. I like to keep things simple, so, let’s do this the old fashioned way.” I flung the coin into the air, before catching it with a finesse that would’ve been near impossible given the bulk of the suit, if it wasn’t for all of the active hand-eye coordination systems that gave me the sensitivity and reflexes of an olympic athlete. “It’s a little game back in my world called Heads or Tails. If I flip this coin, and it lands heads up, I’ll stay with Thalmin. However, if it lands tails up I’ll stay with Thacea.” I turned to Ilunor cocking my head to the side as I did so. “And for the record I’m deliberately picking this method to remove the Vunerian from the equation. I don’t think it would be in our best interests for me to be rooming with a puntable chew-toy.” I spoke, quickly asserting my decision as both Thacea and Thalmin nodded in agreement.

The dynamics were quick to form here, and I was glad I was able to tackle it head on. I was trying my best to establish myself not as just some mindless and disagreeable brute with a short fuse, but a reasonable, rational sapient with a willingness to compromise.

As a gesture of good faith I handed out the penny to Thacea. “You can confirm there’s no funny business going on with that coin. No weighted sides, no enchantments. It’s just a solid piece of zinc, nickel and copper.”

The avinor gave the innocuous object a good look-over. Flipping it through her fingers, before she handed it off back to me without much fuss or fanfare; it was a scratched and aged coin with surfaces that barely resembled what they once were almost a millennium ago. “I’ve looked it over. I detect no enchantments or magic on this copper-piece.” She stated confidently to the others.

I waited for something to happen. It was becoming a bit of a habit to just see a bunch of those mana-radiation warning pop-ups appearing whenever magic was being used. But nothing happened here. It irked me somewhat, and I wanted to raise my objections to the confident declaration of the coin’s lack of enchantment given that no detection spell was just cast. But this wasn’t the time or place for that. I didn’t want to stir the pot even more as I grabbed the coin back from Thacea and nodded confidently.

“Alright then. If there are no objections, I’ll do the honors.” With a dexterous flip of my thumb the small coin was flung 5 feet in the air, before dropping back down, with all eyes practically glued to my closed off hand. “I’m not one to keep everyone in undue suspense, so here goes nothing.” I lifted my hand, revealing…

“Emma, what the hell is this?” Thalmin growled out.

I cocked my head at the coin which had clearly landed on tails, then turned back to face the wolf. “Erm, it’s tails.” I replied unceremoniously.

The Lupinor, clearly unsatisfied, leaned in closer, his eyes narrowing and his pupils constricting as if to corroborate my statements.

“That’s a building.” Thalmin said flatly, my eyes darted back and forth between the coin and the Lupinor before I realized just where the point of failure in our cultural miscommunication was.

And I laughed.

For the first time in this bizarre fantastical world, I genuinely laughed.

I didn’t even attempt to hide it as I was barely able to hold myself together. It was as if the collective stress that had been building up throughout the evening had finally been released in the span of a few minutes. First with outright rage, and now, with an unrestrained fit of humor; my own very specific brand of humor but it was humor to me all the same. I felt mental relief washing over me over this one, silly, ridiculous misunderstanding.

I laughed long enough that the three began to take a few steps back away from me in concern, with only Thacea moving forward to place a hand on my shoulder, displaying genuine worry once more. “Emma. Is there something the matter? Is everything okay?”

“Sorry, I… That was inappropriate of me. I apologize.” I started off, coughing a bit while I put myself back together. “Back in my world, tails is what we call the side of the coin opposite of the face or main feature of the coin. This penny here for instance has the Lincoln Memorial, a monument built to commemorate the leadership of one of my state’s ancient leaders who abolished slavery.” I explained, rubbing the back of my neck.

I needed that laugh.

Before long, we began discussing the implications of these results. “Right, so, this means I shall be sharing my quarters with Ilunor.” Thalmin spoke with a disappointed sigh, and to his credit said nothing else to demean the lizard. The wolf really did have an unfiltered and upfront personality, one that I was beginning to see had a reasonable logic to it. He was brash, and seemingly aggressive at times, but it wasn’t without provocation or reason.

Which was more than I could say for the Vunerian.

“Oh joy, my roommate is a Mercenary Prince. May my throat remain un-slit, and my purse remain untouched, or by the Goddesses may your house be struck by the wrath your kind so deserve.” The Vunerian spoke halfheartedly. It honestly struck me as impressive how he remained so casually combative despite everything.

“Careful, Vunerian. You said nothing of bites or slashes.” Thalmin growled back, which didn’t seem to have much of an effect on the likes of Ilunor as he sat unfazed, probably still shaken up by my actions.

“With the layout of the dormitories being rather straightforward, I assume that both bedrooms are identical. Emma and I shall take the left, and you shall take the right.” Thacea interjected, making sure to keep the conversation flowing as it was clear that was the only thing keeping Ilunor from interjecting.

“Fine by me, Princess.” Thalmin responded.

“Any reason for choosing the left, Thacea?” I inquired.

“Oh, just Avinor tradition is all, dating back to our migratory days prior to contact with the Nexus. Prior to contemporary civilization we flew as flocks across our realm, and tradition states that the left of the flock is far less vulnerable than the right. As a result, females fly on the left, and males fly on the right.” Thacea explained without much fuss.

“I mean, I have no issues with that. So if we’re all in agreement?” I asked, craning my head to Ilunor who just lazily waved a hand in reply.

“Do as you wish.” He said dismissively.

“Right, so I assume it’s time to move in?” I quickly announced. The momentum of the conversation began taking a dip towards lethargy which was more than understandable given everything we’ve been through.

“Yes, we just have to move our luggage and get settled in.” Thacea nodded, grabbing her own luggage, as did Thalmin.

It was only Ilunor who raised his hand in the air, as if ready to snap his fingers for this trivial chore. This was promptly stopped by my red tinted lenses bearing down on him, making sure that the prisoner got as much respite as possible whilst I was around and had a say in things. He put his hand down immediately, as if realizing what I was implying with that glare, which prompted him to get up to start tugging at his oversized luggage himself.

The fact that my luggage hadn’t arrived yet suddenly hit me, which prompted me to crane my head around throughout the entire room, confirming my suspicions in the process.

“Wait, where’s my-” Was all I managed out before a series of three loud knocks came from the front doors of the dorm.

Adrenaline shot through my system, as the haze of lethargy was swiftly pushed aside in lieu of the sudden interruption to our closed off world.

Thalmin took the charge once again, taking to his feet as he approached the door, and swiftly pulled it open.

In front of the door wasn’t the Academy’s secret police, or some magical golem tasked with whisking us away in the middle of the night. Instead, it was a finely dressed female elf. She was dressed in what I could only describe as a cross between Thacea’s academy robes, and the robes the professors themselves wore. Except whereas both were of a single color, hers was this silvery, almost gold color, outlined in the same dark gray trimmings of Thacea’s cloak.

The figure stood prominently in the door frame, and would have taken a good chunk of the space if it wasn’t for another figure immediately behind her.

A gargoyle.

Muscle-bound, and dressed in a simple loincloth, but with bits and pieces of highly mana-enriched armor strewn across its form tied together with leather belts and straps.

Yet instead of seeming menacing, the scene was almost comical with the gargoyle pushing one of those bell carts you’d see ferrying luggage at hotels. Instead of normal suitcases however, this thing was stuffed to the brim with my cargo: boxes and containers with reinforced spacecraft-grade material and double-vacuum sealed hatches that looked entirely out of place in this fantastical world.

“Emma of Earthrealm.” The figure spoke, eliciting my attention as I stepped forward towards the door. “Your luggage has arrived.”