The First Game, The Second Day (2)

The sun was shining bright overhead in the midst of a semi cloudy sky, but the rays of light peaked out from several areas free of cloud to cover the world at large. The entire Academy was covered in this soft morning glow, with people either in groups or trying to hide out of sight all heading for one central location in the Academy.

What they were doing was not important to Cyrus, although he did know thanks to a note he found on the exit of his room, as he had his own problems to worry about. Lugging a large chest full of precious directives on his back, borrowing the chest from his room to replace the strips of fabric, and wearing rough looking travelling clothing that stood out like a sore thumb, he walked through the housing grounds making his way towards the gate. A few idiots tried their luck with him, but they were merely swiftly dealt with in short order with their directives added to the pile.

Coming up to the same man sitting in the chair, apparently the door master, Cyrus asked him

"Is there a Fullones in the Academy?"

The man stirred slightly upon being addressed, popping open an eye from under his straw hat that was resting on his head, and looked at Cyrus. He squinted while looking at his face, as if trying to remember if he knew him, before giving up and inspecting his clothing instead.

Skimming over the fact that Cyrus was clearly not wearing his uniform, he saw the pin on his chest that was as good as any other form of identity.

"Quintus, good morning" yawned the man before continuing, "We do indeed have a place to wash your clothes…ah...they are attached to the bathhouses if I recall. Go around the housing complex and follow any path behind it, first large stone building that looks bathhouse-y and you will know you are there"

Having gotten his information, Cyrus left without so much as another word. He headed out the gate and took a left, walking a ways before turning once more to follow the path to the bathhouses.

"There are so many flies out so early…" thought Cyrus, in reference to the skulking students who were eyeing his prize greedily.

"A good chunk of them are ignoring me and heading straight to the mess hall to not miss out on today's event, or perhaps to get some extra information. Alas, a good chunk is not all of them…looks like I have to get creative" thought Cyrus, with a wicked smile surfacing on his face.

The next group that popped up, saying some line Cyrus might have read in an action novel as a kid, he simply drew his blade and sliced off their arms. He healed them, of course, as he was not allowed to let them die. He also made sure to temporarily preserve the arms themselves so that they could get reattached.

"My other half, see, I can do this kindness thing you are always thinking about" thought Cyrus, pleased with his efforts.

It was not long until another few tried their luck, this time as a series of ambushes. Cyrus, having detected them easily with just a single Vita spell, dropped his chest on the ground and with his blade chopped off all the assailant's legs one battle at a time. He then healed them and then moved on to the next group.

By this time there was quite a lot of blood on him, which should come as no surprise, but this was more of a happy accident than anything.

"Looks like I will have to get these cleaned as well…" thought he as he glanced down at the blood covering him.

"I remember Cato's cleaning spells...sadly the Mor-" a flash of inspiration and then realization then struck him like lightning. "I can replicate that spell with death essence…but the amount of control required would be immense and the time costly…but this could actually be an amazing exercise to teach better control. What an amazing gift, these students really are quite nice…is this the gift of kindness? Maybe my counterpart is on to something…"

Perhaps the students would be most displeased if they were to learn that the result of their limbs being chopped off was perceived as a gift, alas, they were not around to tell their tale at the moment. Instead, Cyrus continued on his way with several more directives on hand, a new idea for training, and a whole lot of blood.

Curiously, after he cut up the first dozen people no one challenged him the rest of the way to the bathhouse. With the distractions gone, Cyrus quickly made his way to his destination.

A series of rectangular stone buildings could be seen, except none of these 'buildings' had a roof. The area around them was covered in cut and smoothed stones, fashioned as a walkway that led one to the bathhouses themselves and also surrounded the exterior like a carpet wrapped around it. Looking up, one could see puffs of steam being released into the air and floating around before dissipating. The heads of various statues could be seen jutting up and out where the roof normally would be, from their places in the interior.

Taking the sight in for but a moment, Cyrus headed towards the entrance of the various baths which was a piece of art in its own right. It was shaped like half of a dome, held up by various thin columns of carefully cut and carved stone. There was no door, just a giant opening that led into an area where each bit of wall was covered in beautiful yet simplistic murals depicting patterns of various flowers. Passing through the entry way, Cyrus entered the opening which to his slight surprise was just a giant hall that wormed its way through each of the bath areas. It retained the half dome shape of the entryway, except now instead of the dome being cut vertically it was cut horizontally, taking the place of an arched roof high above. The area was also entirely naturally lit, with large windows being cut from the stone to allow the warm embrace of the morning sun to seep through.

Walking through, still having his chest, but his tension was lessened ever so slightly as he saw a large plaque on the entry way that read,

"Conflict free zone, on pain of expulsion or possibly death."

"The Empire really does like their baths. The architecture here can easily rival the entryway to the Academy itself not to mention the warning" mused Cyrus as he walked towards what seemed to be the reception area.

Walking up to the table, which was a single stone table and wooden chair with a man wearing an extremely loose toga behind it, he was about to speak when the man interrupted him.

"Quintus, welcome to the baths. Are you here to see the private bathhouse you were assigned? I am surprised, we did not even announce it yet" said the man with an enthusiastic voice.

"No" said Cyrus, cutting the man off before he blathered on more. "I am here for the Fullones, I need a robe cleaned and repaired."

"Oh… I think you need a cleaning as well" said the man, eyeing the mass amount of blood caked all over Cyrus.

"Just keep on walking until you hit the last of the public bathhouses, the Fullones will be through there" said the man, losing interest now that baths were no longer up for discussion.

Not caring one iota about the man's odd obsession, Cyrus continued his escapade. Not long later, he could be seen leaving the bathhouses much cleaner than before and with his objective completed. Thus, he began his journey back… half expecting for more gifts to be delivered to him. Unfortunately for him, all he found were a few people who looked at him and then ran away quickly. This continued on until he turned the corner of whence he came from, putting him back on the path that ran perpendicular to the path that led from the main Academy building to the housing complex, where he ran into a group of people.

They had nothing in common with one another, aside from the fact that they were all students. They were even evidently from different departments, going from the color of their robes. Extending his sense, he did not get the impression that any of them were particularly noteworthy.

"I did not expect such a large group to form. Around 30 students perhaps? Quite the number, so many that even I would not be able to defeat them all by myself. Assuming there is no tactic out of this besides running…" thought Cyrus as he set down his chest and sat on it, surveying the people around him with the beginnings of a devious plan starting to form.