First year student

It took a while; initially, Midas planned to awaken during sunrise—yet, unfortunately, he somehow managed to wake up sooner, trying his best at silently walking the dark halls of the dorm building, holding a unlit candle against the flame of one of the many candles that were placed around the hallway, swiftly retreating into his room once he managed to light his own candle.

The tiny light was enough to make out all of the important objects in his dorm room, its light shining onto the corners of his wooden bed frame, shelves, and the table the candle sat on. Looking out of his window, Midas was met with darkened rooftops—their black color contrasted with the deep dark blue of the sky, announcing the sun that soon would arrive on the horizon.

Eventually turning away from the lonely sight, Midas sat on his soft bed again—his mattress most likely the reason he had slept for only such a short time; it was something Midas had to get used to. Staring into the tiny flickering light the candle provided to him, Midas's eyes eventually lightened up—he should be able to use his newfound free time by practicing his mana circulation; the quiet early morning was perfect to do so.

His speed in which mana was travelling through his body had advanced slightly again; with shut eyes and crossed legs, the youth spent his time only by calming his mind to focus solely on his mana—eventually feeling a sudden warmth on his stiffening neck, announcing the arrival of the day.

Raising his head up, Midas yawned—immediately reminding his still somewhat sleepy self of Avalon's words as he made his way toward his door. As he opened it, his eyes met a letter—looking identical to the other letters that lay in front of the many doors to his left and right. Unwrapping it, Midas laid eyes on the same layout of the main building he had spotted the day before with Javelin—a red path marked the route he had to take to most likely enter his classroom.

The youth was only able to guess whether he should put his new uniform on or not, eventually deciding to do so, since this was his first real day he spent at the university to learn. Keeping his bandages wrapped around him, Midas clothed himself, throwing on the blue blazer over his white shirt—trying his best at binding his brown tie around his neck as he switched out his old leather trousers for the matching pair of blue pants. His dusted boots were put at the side of his bed, slipping into the black pair of leather boots instead—freestyling tying their laces together.

Looking down at himself with a pleased expression, Midas eventually headed out of his dorm for good—the metal emblem in his pocket just in case he'd meet the pink-haired girl he saw before the written exams started, again. Making his way over to Javelin's room, the youth was able to see his letter missing as well—the paper still on the floor in front of the door that led to the blue-eyed boy's room.

Knocking at the entrance, Midas's eyes quickly saw Javelin standing in front of him, clearly struggling more with putting on his uniform than him. The both of them are looking down onto each other to compare—silently glancing back onto each other. Javelin's expression soured fast as he saw Midas in front of him.

"How do you put these things on...?"

His voice almost a defeated murmur, Javelin asked the inevitable—clearly needing some assistance, the blazer wrinkled, stuffed under the belt that loosely held up his pants.

„Just do it like I did—I already saw some students wear these. I'm not entirely sure about my shoes and this…"

Grasping his brown tie with his fingers, Midas looked down on himself—the feeling of missing an important detail when binding it crept on his mind. The both of them were forced to guess how to tie their laces together; Javelin seemed fine with simply copying Midas's knot. His soft wrinkles that formed on his blazer were fixed as best as possible by Midas.

Once they were done, both of them turned to the hallway again, instantly met with the sight of the blue-eyed boy standing in front of them. Making the two of them freeze momentarily—making Javelin flash his teeth dimly in surprise.

„What is wrong with this guy—he always stares like this..."

„It's probably just his eye color—he can't really do much about that, can he?"

Nodding unwillingly, the both of them continued walking towards the stairs—Midas gesturing the blue-eyed boy to follow them, also clothed in his uniform. Yet, he missed his tie, keeping his feet bare—something Midas willingly looked over, clearly needing the rest of the remaining time for figuring out where their classroom lay.

Following the red line that was drawn onto the paper, the three of them walked down familiar hallways—passing by the medical room, turning a corner to be met by four identical doors, all of them painted in a dark brown that contrasted the yellowish-white walls of the hall. Checking if the number on the door was the same that was written on his paper, Midas entered the door to his left—Javelin followed him, and the blue-eyed boy came with them, not holding onto any paper.

The only people the three of them saw in the room were a lonely boy in the middle row, silently sitting on his table with a drooping head—his curly hair wildly growing off his scalp. A group of blonde students clothed in the same green uniform that was worn by Midas's sparring partner in the physical exam. The four of them spoke a language that sounded similar to the water kingdom's tongue—yet, it incorporated foreign sounds Midas hadn't heard before.

The group sat around one of the many wooden tables that were lined up with identical spacing in the room, standing in the front row. Midas and the two others passed them by, their chatter shortly halting as they glanced at Midas, their flat grins fading before eventually turning to themselves again as Javelin sat himself onto one of the seats in the back.

The back rows were elevated for them to see the podium on which their teacher most likely would begin teaching better. After a while of chatting amongst them while being stared at by the blue-eyed boy next to them, Javelin eventually shot up from his seat, focused on who came through the door next.

Surprised, Midas's head turned to the door Jevaila currently came through—behind her, the pink-haired girl from before the exams had started glanced through the door. With her arrival, more students filled up the room—most of them joining the now four of them at the seats lined up in the back of the room.Almost instantly recognizing Midas, the pink-haired girl eventually found her way to him—her hand somewhat raised to greet the boy.

„How do you feel…? I heard you had another migraine."

Javelin's voice sounded softer than usual, stepping closer to Jevaila—still surprised to see her standing in front of him. Making her hand swat at him dismissively—behind her, the foreign girl from before the tests has started.

„Don't worry about it, I'm fine… Oh, she right here helped me get to this place. Great to see you making friends as well…"

Stepping to the pink girl's side, Midas realized she was much taller than Jevaila—their difference in height at least the size of a head. Her dark pupils scanned the three of them, eventually resting on Midas; the two of them quietly exchanged glances before the blue-eyed boy sat himself down behind the seat he got up from.

Nudging her head eventually at Midas's silent glance, the youth began to blink, closing his lids as he realized he'd been staring at her face without saying anything. His fingers eventually grasped the medal Avalon found on the mauled girl's corpse. Slowly extending the round bronze piece of metal to her, hoping she would realize who it belonged to.

Her eyes darted down onto the metal, her slim lips parting slightly as she examined the engravings on it—her sleek fingers holding onto it. Her eyes lit up only shortly, looking back at the youth again, her mouth eventually moving to spout a sentence Midas was unable to understand.

Shortly silencing the low-lying chatter between the two siblings as they looked up at the lightened-up face of the pink-haired girl in front of Midas, she eventually calmed again—pressing her lips shut again, dimly frustrated. Whatever she told him at this moment sounded nothing like the water kingdom's language—not resembling the words the group clothed in green spoke either.

Midas was only able to guess where she came from, most likely forced to cross the kingdom's border like him. Her expression eventually began to brighten somewhat again, and with a calm smile, she eventually stepped closer to him, laying the medal given to her onto the free table next to where Jevaila sat.

Her hands eventually grasped the knot Midas had made to secure the tie, opening it up with her almost white fingers. Midas silently watched as she folded the cloth over itself; the newly formed knot then slid up to his collar—her fingers made sure the tie sat straight on his shirt, making sure it didn't wrap around his throat too tight.

Giving her the medal seemed to have paid off—Midas now knew how to properly bind a tie now. Stepping away from him while keeping her smile, she sat down onto her seat next to Jevaila—silently watching the room fill up with more and more students.