Chapter 3 – Early Bird

Dorin woke up first, as usual.

He heard a grunt from beneath him and found Sebastian under his left leg.

"Oops, sorry..." he hurriedly got up and looked at the watch on the wall. "Five am, should I wake Sebastian up? The kitchen opens at six so there's still time for him to sleep..."

He went to the bathroom for his morning rituals. When he got out, he was surprised to see Sebastian sitting on the bed.

"Oh, you're awake?" he greeted his friend.

Sebastian did not reply. He simply sat on Dorin's bed, eyes still close.

"I'm finished with the bathroom, you can use it now."

Still the other did not move.

Dorin went closer and stared at Sebastian who was still unresponsive.

"Sebastian?" he nudged Sebastian's shoulder. "Hey? Are you awake or not?"

Sebastian opened his eyes with difficulty and made it half way.

He gave a long groan.

Dorin laughed.

"I guess you really aren't a morning person!" He took Sebastian's arm and pulled him out of the bed then half dragged him into the bathroom. "Here, the tub's still full," he said as he pushed the other into the cold water.

It was a good thing that the room had a sound proofing spell.

The two left the room later, both dripping wet, Dorin with a red mark on his forehead.

"You didn't have to throw the soap that hard, you know," said Dorin, rubbing his sore forehead.

[You didn't have to dump me in the icy water!] replied Sebastian, his eyes, two angry slits. [Why don't you use the heater anyway?]

"I'm used to taking cold baths in the river near our house," Dorin replied with a frown. "Besides, it's good for waking one's mind and body early in the morning."

[Speak for yourself!] wrote Sebastian. [I take my baths at night. With piping. Hot. Water.]

"Well, at least we're on time." Dorin pointed out as they descended the stairs.

[I'm always on time.] Sebastian insisted, [I may not look like it, but I have an internal clock and I always wake-up on time.] He added, [I even have perfect attendance in all my classes last year.]

The two of them made the rest of the way to the canteen in silence. At the entrance, they met with Johan who was hurriedly stumping on a cigarette butt.

"Oh, it's just you two," he said when Dorin and Sebastian came closer. "What a waste..." he stared morosely at the cig which was not even half finished yet. "I thought you went back home to the mountains?"

"My mother decided to let me study here," Dorin replied. "I'll be a freshman this coming school year," he faced Sebastian, "is that right? Freshman?" Sebastian nodded.

"Huh?" Johan grunted. "What course?"

"I'm thinking maybe Enchantment or Magic Defense."

"Hmm. I'm under magic defense."

"Really? We can be classmates then!" Dorin exclaimed.

Johan did not look so thrilled. "It's a big class. Also, won't you rather take up Enchantment?"

"I've been thinking about that, but I already know a lot of stuff about enchanting stuff, and hardly anything about magical weapons..."

[Magic defense is not just about weapons, it also deals with offensive and defensive magic.] Sebastian interrupted. [Though it is true that it may be the best course for you, since enchanting weapons is also part of the curriculum.]

"Right, so Magic defense it is!" Dorin beamed, "Aunt Agate will accompany me later to the registrar's office."

[I'll be coming with Margarette as well.] wrote Sebastian. [We're going to finalize our enrollment later.]

"Well, it is the start of the week," Johan yawned. "Me, I'm heading over with Prof. Dupont."

"Why don't we all go together then?" Dorin suggested with a big grin.

"I don't – " Johan started, but Dorin went on.

"This is great! We can even take the same classes!" he said excitedly. "Then we can all hang out together!"

"Okay, don't you think it's too early to be this loud?"

Dorin and the others looked at the direction of the voice and saw the cook, Mrs. Cooper approaching them.

"Mrs. Cooper!" Dorin happily called out, "Mrs. Cooper! Good morning!" he ran towards her and tried to give her a hug. The head cook was so round that Dorin merely got a hold on one of her stout arms.

"Yeah, yeah, your aunt already told me about the situation." She patted his head before she pushed him off. "C'mon now, let's get ready..." Mrs Cooper looked at Sebastian who lifted his new slab.

[Good morning] he wrote. [I'll be starting here today.]

"Ah, the new recruit," she snorted. "I believe you still have an outstanding balance from the food you bought from two days ago?"

Sebastian looked even paler. [I wasn't myself these past few days.] was his reply.

"Hehehe," She chuckled as she opened the doors to the canteen and let the group in. "I could hardly believe it when you ordered lunch for all those girls. I was beginning to think that you really got abducted and someone else was sent to take your place!"

Dorin laughed awkwardly. "E-he-he, t-that's really weird, huh?" he stuttered.

[Thank you for letting me work here as well.] said Sebastian with a little bow.

"Well, since the new school year starts next week, I would need all the hands I can get," she sighed, "you know how difficult it is to feed a dorm full of kids with bottomless pits as stomachs. Now put on an apron and get disinfected, we've got a dorm to feed."

For the whole morning, the three kids worked in the kitchen. They prepared more food than they did the previous days. When the canteen opened, Dorin noticed that there were more students than before and that there were a good number of adults as well.

"Aren't there a lot more people today?" he asked Sebastian when they got a break from cleaning dishes.

[It's a Monday, and also the last week of summer vacation before regular classes start.] wrote his friend, [It's also the start of enrollment week.]

"Are there usually this many kids in here?" Johan frowned, "It looks so crowded..."

[It gets more packed when classes start.]

"Wow... so there's that many mages here in Aubrianne University..." Dorin whispered low. "Back in the mountains, there were only mother, Eirian, me, and the occasional wondering wizard..."

"Where I came from, I didn't even know I was called a mage," Johan said beneath his breath.

[Then how did you do your fire magic?] Sebastian asked Johan.

"I just did it," the other replied. "Just like breathing... or taking a shit..."

"Yeah, right?" Dorin stared at Johan with understanding, "Just like perspiring!"

Sebastian decided it was an elemental thing and just kept quiet. He was, after all, more of a mental type.

"You boys go ahead and have your breakfast," Mrs. Cooper called from behind them, "All the cooking is done, and the dishes can wait `till later." She handed them trays and scooped an extra large serving of breakfast for each of them.

"Thank you Mrs. Cooper!" Dorin gave her another hug as he took his tray. The cook seemed to be beaming. The three found an empty table and settled there.

"You gonna eat that?" Johan asked Sebastian, pointing at a sausage.

[Of course,] replied Sebastian, [but you can have the other muffin.] Johan quickly took it and popped it into his mouth.

"Ah, you beat me to it!" said Dorin with his mouth full.

[You two eat like there's no tomorrow, where do you put all that food?] Sebastian asked, eyeing his two lean companions.

"I need to burn fuel," Johan grumbled, his mouth full of food.

"I'm still growing," Dorin insisted.

[Here, you can have the rest of my breakfast.] Sebastian pushed his tray towards Dorin and Johan.

"You sure?" Dorin asked. Johan grabbed another sausage.

[Yup, I can't really eat much in the morning,] Sebastian replied, [I haven't much of an appetite yet.]

"So, what time will you be meeting Margarette?" Dorin asked Sebastian as he swallowed a poached egg before Johan got a chance to snatch it.

[Any minute now,] Sebastian wrote, [she knows we have to work till 8:30.]

"How about Prof. Dupont?" Dorin faced Johan. "Is he going to pick you up?"

"We're meeting in the Main Building," the other replied, his part of Sebastian's leftovers, already gone.

"Dorin! Sebastian!" called a familiar voice. The three turned and saw Margarette making her way towards them.

"Margarette!" Dorin stood up and offered her a seat. "You're just in time, we just finished our breakfast."

[Can you wait for us a bit?] Sebastian wrote, [We still need to clean up.]

"No worries," said Margarette, "By the way, General Muller came with me...

Before she could finish, a heavy hand dropped on Sebastian and Dorin's shoulders.

"Good morning boys, how you two been keepin' hear at the university?" beamed General Muller as he stood behind them in full military fatigue.

"Marcus!" Dorin said with a big smile. "Sir!" he quickly added.

"Your aunt told me to pick you up," General Muller said, "are you finished with your kitchen duty?"

"We just need to clean up a bit," said Dorin.

General Muller looked around the table and saw Johan eyeing him. "And who might you be?" he asked the fire mage. Johan just continued staring at him.

"This is our friend Johan," Dorin introduced them, "He works here with us," he then faced Johan. "This is my mentor, Major General Marcus Miller, from the Military division." Johan just nodded and went back to the kitchen first without saying a word.

"What's that boy's problem?" asked the General. "Was that another mute?"

[No, sir,] wrote Sebastian. [He's just not used to people.]

"Well, anyway, get up and head outside, I've got my jeep waiting in front," said the General. "Prof. Althea expects to meet you there at 0-900 hours."

"Coming..." said Dorin as he cleaned after himself and headed for the kitchens.

[Mrs. Cooper, do we still have chores to do?] they asked the head cook who was busy washing dishes with Johan.

"Is your guardian here already?" she asked the two. "You can go ahead then, Johan and I will finish up here," she pointed at Johan who didn't even bother to look up. "Make sure you make it back at 5 pm sharp though," she added. "Most of the borders are back so come on time."