Chapter 8

The wooden doors leading into the mess hall were wide open, so the two of them stepped inside. A rush of cool air hit them instantly. Long marble tables ran along the entirety of the building. They weren't exactly packed, but there were still a good number of students eating there.

The right wall had been converted to something resembling a buffet, and a small line had formed at its front. Sylph got into the line, and Damien followed. It stopped in front of a large woman's counter. She wore a dirty smock and a hairnet packed so tightly it looked to be an inch from bursting open.

The woman wrote furiously within a small book nestled in her hand, glancing up whenever a new student approached her. The line moved quickly, and it didn't take them long to reach the front.

"What do you want?" the woman asked Sylph.

"Something free," Sylph said. "Do I have options?"

Everyone around them shuddered. Even the woman raised an eyebrow.

"Free? Are you sure?"

"Yes?" Sylph said, drawing the word out and raising an eyebrow. "I'm a new student. I don't have money to spend on food right now."

A male student stepped out of the line behind Damien.

He had short, dirty blond hair and wore some sort of leather armor. He strode up to stand beside Sylph and showed the large woman his wrist band.

"I'll cover it," he said. He glanced at Damien and tilted his head. "You new as well?"

"Yeah," Damien said, nodding. "We're roommates."

"I'll cover them both," the student said, flashing a charming grin. He didn't give them a chance to refuse.

"What do you want?"

"Thank you. Could I get something with protein. Is there pheasant?" Sylph asked.

The lady nodded and turned to Damien.

"Uh…could I get pasta or something?" Damien asked.

The woman nodded once more, then turned her gaze to the student who had bought them lunch.

"The usual, please," he said.

"I don't know who you are."

"Oh, don't be like that," he said, groaning. "The lasagna."

She nodded, hiding a flicker of a smirk, and jotted something in her book.

"Come on," the mage said, grabbing Damien and Sylph by the shoulders and dragging them out of the way. Sylph flinched, nearly jerking back slightly. She stopped herself and allowed the student to lead them to a table.

The kind student hopped effortlessly over the table and sat on the far side. Damien and Sylph sat across from him, leaving space for two people between them.

"I'm Sean," he said, flashing a charming grin. "I take it today's your first day?"

"It is," Damien said.

"Welcome to Blackmist! I'm a Year Three," Sean said.

"It's a good mage college. I suppose they all are. But, between us and anyone else that goes to Blackmist, we're the best."

"Are we really?" Sylph asked, cocking her head.

Sean's grin flickered.

"Well, no. That would be Kingsfront. Doesn't mean we have to say it, though."

Damien cleared his throat. "While I appreciate your generosity, is there a reason the free food is so bad everyone is scared of it?" Damien asked. "There is," Sean said, shuddering. "The free food is a plate of unidentifiable mush. Everyone ends up getting it once, but I've only known a few people who have dared to try it a second time. It's the same meal every time, and it tastes like lukewarm vomit. When I got desperate enough to try it in my first year, I'm pretty sure I saw it move on its own. Nobody should have to go through that."

"Oh," Damien said, gagging. "That would explain it.

Thanks for rescuing us from that."

"Just pass the favor along if you stay at Blackmist," Sean replied, grinning. Damien and Sylph nodded. Sean tapped on a white circle composed of miniscule runes inscribed into the table.

It lit up with a dull blue glow. Damien spotted an identical looking circle in front of him. He didn't recognize it, but he tapped it anyway. Sylph copied them.

"It's how the food shows up," Sean explained. "So, do you guys know your class schedules or majors yet?"

"It's our first day," Damien reminded him. "We only got here recently. The dean took us on a tour, and then they showed us our rooms and said we could kill a few hours."

"Huh. I remember that part. I also remember not leaving my room until my buddy came to get me," Sean said, laughing. "Maybe the students are getting bolder."

"Or dumber," a low voice said from behind them.

Damien twisted to peer over his shoulder. A large, heavyset student with a buzz cut and a square face offered him a mirthless grin.

"Hello, Don," Sean said, inclining his head. "Don't be rude. They're new students."

Don yawned in response. He stepped through the table —shimmering as he quite literally walked straight through it, ignoring the marble as it cut through his torso—and arrived on the other side, sitting next to Sean.

He was easily three heads taller than the blond boy. Don gave Damien and Sylph a lazy grin, then stuck a finger in his nose to dig for something.

"This is Don," Sean said, unperturbed by the other boy's behavior. "He's crass, but he's a damn good fighter. He also happens to be one of my teammates."

"Is fighting important at Blackmist?" Sylph asked, leaning forward.

"Incredibly so," Sean said. "Blackmist has produced some of the best combat mages in history. Even Kingsfront graduates respect us. Well, the ones of us that graduate.

We don't tend to do all that great in tournaments because most of the real learning we do is in the latter years. I'd say over half of our curriculum is field training. Don't worry, your first year doesn't go too crazy. It's the same introduction stuff everyone else gets."

Damien pursed his lips. Rune drawing was about the farthest you could get from combat, and Sean didn't make it sound like the college cared much for the former.

"The training is a lot of fun," Don rumbled, wiping his hand off on his sleeve. Damien suppressed a gag.

"It looks like the only thing he trains is the stretchability of his stomach," Henry said. Damien, as usual, ignored him.

"In fact," Sean said, "you'll likely be taking part in some placement matches very soon. The school needs to figure out where everyone stands so students can pick teams properly."

"Teams?" Damien said. "For what? The quests Dean Whisp mentioned?"

"Correct. Teams are made up of two to three people. You want to work with someone who has talents that complement yours for the best results," Sean said. The rune beside him lit up with a dull green glow. He grinned and tapped it. A white dish with a large piece of lasagna on it hummed into existence directly in front of him. The food looked good, but it wasn't particularly impressive either.

A second later, the runes beside Damien and Sylph lit up as well. They both imitated Sean. A plate of pasta in red sauce shimmered into being before Damien. It had been sprinkled with a fine white cheese.

"Thanks for the meal!" Damien told Sean, picking up a fork.

"No problem," the blond boy replied, grinning. "Once you start going on quests, you'll find that getting money is no trouble at all. We're not allowed to leave the college, but the stores here have everything, and the prices aren't terrible. Between the gold and the contribution points you earn, so long as you're a half-decent mage, you'll be swimming in coin before long."

Sylph's brows furrowed for a sliver of a second before her normal, uninterested expression returned.

Damien stuck his fork into the pasta and took a bite. It was surprisingly good, with small chunks of salty meat and a rich tomato sauce. The cheese provided a nice kick that rounded the whole dish out. It couldn't compete with his mother's cooking, but Damien decided he could certainly get used to this.

"Don't get too comfortable," Sean said, noticing Damien's pleased expression. "You're going to want to be cooking yourself more than eating out. They only use normal ingredients in the mess hall."

Don grunted. His rune turned green, and he tapped it, summoning a plate piled a foot high with fried eggs. The large student grabbed a fistful and shoved them into his mouth, chewing twice before swallowing.

"It's not my favorite," Don said with a nod. "Lacks nutrition."

The table grew quiet as they all dug into their food.

Damien found himself sneaking glances at everyone as they ate.

"It seems strange this boy is so kind," Henry telepathically said. "He carries himself like that noble boy you met on the wagon."

Damien blinked. He didn't stop eating, but he snuck an extra glance at Sean between bites. He hadn't seen Nolan eat before, but each of Sean's movements was precise and practiced. If Nolan had been the one in front of him, Damien wouldn't have blinked.

It just means he's probably wealthy. Even if he's a noble, it doesn't mean he's also a dick.

"Bah. You need to start practicing your magic. If you knew some, we could rip open that boy's mind and take a little peek. I can practically feel you bubbling with excitement like a full caldron of disgusting human emotions. Why haven't you started yet?"

I'm not learning anything that evil. And I haven't started because I don't know how to.

"Then ask me, you idiot. I've forgotten more about magic than your entire little school has ever known," Henry said. Damien could imagine the creature stalking circles around his mind with his arms crossed.

Then you should have said something. Unlike you, I can't read minds.

The spark of longing within Damien flared up. A small grin would have crept across Henry's face had he been present in the physical world. He'd been getting worried for a moment, but there was nothing to fear. The boy's desire to learn magic hadn't weakened in the slightest.

Henry grew silent, allowing Damien and the others to finish their meal in peace.

"Well, I've got a theory class I need to get to," Sean said, setting his fork down gently beside his plate. "It's been a pleasure making your acquaintance. I don't know if we'll meet again soon, as your first year is…a bit of a whirlwind, let's say. However, make sure to try your best! If you do well, we might run into each other at the end of the year tournament."

Sean rose from the table and bid them farewell before striding away and heading out of the mess hall.

"We should probably get going as well," Damien said, licking a bit of pasta sauce off his lips and rising to his feet.

"You're telling me like I care," Don said, but he gave Damien a small wink.

Sylph stood as well. She inclined her head slightly to Don. Then the two of them headed out the doors, avoiding the small crowds of students, and set off toward the base of the mountain.

The trip was faster on the way back. Now that they'd traveled the road once, they managed to shave a few minutes off their time. When they arrived, a familiar looking woman was already standing there.

"Hi, Beth," Damien greeted her. She turned, her eyebrow raising slightly.

"I see you decided to explore," Beth said. "Was your room not to your liking?"

"Well…it's got some things I think we can improve," Damien hedged.

"It's not good," Sylph said bluntly. "Where am I supposed to train? In the bathroom?"

"Of course not," Beth replied. "There are a multitude of different places to train on campus. And, like I said, you're welcome to make any modifications to your room you'd like. If you don't have a place to train, build one. If that's too hard for you, you don't belong at a mage college."

"So, any reason you're waiting at the base of the mountain?" Damien asked, clearing his throat.

"I'm waiting for your friends," Beth replied. "I'm checking to see how long it takes you all to get bored and head down the mountain. I just didn't think you two would leave so quickly. Did you leave immediately after I did?"

"A few minutes after," Damien admitted. "We went to the mess hall."

"I hope you had money," Beth said, shuddering.

Could the food really be that bad? It feels like more students are scared of it than the Dean.

"Only one way to find out," Henry said. Damien couldn't argue with that.

"Are you just going to wait here for the next hour?"

Damien asked.

"No. They'll be down in a few minutes unless they already left," Beth said. "There's only so much you can do in those rooms on the first day."

Beth turned out to be right. No more than a few minutes later, the other three students sharing the cliff face with them stepped away from the sloping mountain path and headed toward them.

"I see you two didn't wait around," Mark observed.

"When did you leave?"

"A little over an hour ago," Damien replied.

Nolan and Reena turned their noses up, pointedly ignoring Damien. Beth rolled her eyes. Her gaze went unfocused for a few moments. Then she swiped the air before her away and gave them a nod.

"Right. We're a bit early, but there's no harm in that.

Come along."

Beth set off, and they fell in behind her. The older student led them back to the teleportation arch before the mountain and stepped through it without a moment of hesitation.

"Maybe getting food wasn't the best idea," he muttered as they stepped through the portal.

His foot landed on the black rock of the obsidian courtyard. Damien braced himself, preemptively putting his hands over his mouth. Predictably, his stomach lurched a few moments later. He managed to keep his lunch down and let out a relieved sigh.

"You'll get used to it," Beth said, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for everyone to recover from the teleportation. "Now, Sylph asked about training locations.

We're actually about to visit one."

Beth led them down the rows of arches at the edge of the courtyard before arriving at one near the middle of the row. They all stepped through it.