Signs Of Trouble

"Yo, welcome back!" Corbin greeted Thomas once he found them in one of the parks outside the main garden.

Alex and Corbin were leaning back while sipping some cold drinks.

"Here catch," Alex tossed Thomas a drink.

Thomas opened the can up and gulped it down rapidly. All the reading and flicking through pointless books had tired him out. The drink felt cold and refreshing.

"Did you know I was coming right about now or what?" Thomas asked.

"Nah, I had a hunch! And if you did not, I would have two drinks! Not bad, right?" Alex grinned and Thomas smiled back.

He was glad that Alex appeared to be back to his usual self prior to the stairs incident and the lingering eyes back at the canteen.

"By the way, do you guys know anything about that girl, Emily?" Thomas posed a new topic.

"The cute one with the cap and long silver hair?" Alex immediately remarked.

By the looks of it Alex knew at least who he meant.

"Not really, she keeps her identity to herself and always wears that cap. It is almost like she is hiding something…" Alex later added.

"Yeah maybe she is a non-human or something," Corbin laughed.

That was an interesting remark now that Thomas thought about it. Inside the humans walls there were other races, both demi-ones and half-elves. Perhaps she was one of them?

From what Thomas remembered in one of the literature works when he was studying for the entrance exam, non-humans were heavily discriminated against. They could even be sold off as slaves. Keeping her identity intact would then make sense. However he still needed to scan her in order to find out.

Corbin and Alex turned to Thomas, both with a serious look on their faces.

"What is your plan moving forward in regards to training?" Corbin asked and hinted at the wooden sword on his back.

"We really need to upgrade that weapon of yours, it is ancient…" Alex joined in.

Thomas knew they were right. His initial plan was to get into the academy no matter what, he never considered step two. The next step would be to earn money eventually and upgrade his gear since he had no ability. But now that he had the system, maybe he did not need one?

"I thought about upgrading once I save up some money…" Thomas answered.

"No need! Ever considered forging one? I can purchase the materials for you, and it will be much cheaper if you forge it and use the academy's facilities!" Alex smiled broadly.

Thomas was thankful for Alex, even though he was the first to bully him in his first attempt, ironically somehow, he also became his first friend. They left the topic at that and decided to look into it the following day.

Corbin and Alex decided to show Thomas around the capital and the group ate out before heading back to the dorms and calling it off for the day.

"Rise and shine boys!" Alex grinned first thing in the morning.

Thomas and Corbin got dressed then they headed for class. One of them was somehow really energetic this morning and refused to stop talking.

"I know you like to talk… but can we please just relax this one time?" Even Corbin wanted to quiet things down.

"Ah you guys just suck! Come on! Today we get to look at the material for Thomas' new sword, how can that not excite you?" Alex was in an extremely good mood.

First class ended abruptly and there were no signs of any students interfering with their day. Even during lunch hour, it was the first time the group experienced an interrupted time to just eat and discuss away at random topics. The upstairs area was completely empty today to their surprise, and they thought nothing much of it at the time.

Thomas decided to head for the library before meeting up with them to head out and look at some materials. Alex insisted throughout the entire day and yesterday for him to not worry about the cost of things.

Back at the library, the second day was a dead end as well. The new books he managed to find were more pointless than the first ones. Right before Thomas decided to leave he came across Emily. She was standing and reading an ancient looking book in one of the sections.

His daily quest persisted through to the next day, and Thomas decided it was about time he scanned her this time around.

[Scanning...]

[Scanning Complete]

[Name: Emily Moon Fae]

[Appearance: Long Silver Hair. Light Purple Eyes. 5'7]

[Race: Half-elf ??]

[Ability: ??]

[Level: ??]

[Vitality: ??]

[Strength: ??]

[Agility: ??]

[Intelligence: ??]

[Stamina: ??]

Her status was shrouded in mystery, just like the rest. The more interesting part was the "Half-elf ??". Was the system unsure or faulty?

Thomas moved his lips as he read the race status and accidently uttered the words, "Half-elf…?"

Emily instantly turned around and walked up to Thomas, then pressed his back against one of the rafts.

"What did you just say?" She glared intently at him.

Thomas shook his head, "Nothing, I swear!" and Emily let go of her grip.

She sighed and apologized.

"Sorry, I must have misheard you," Emily disappeared promptly.

Thomas knew already then. Whatever secret she was keeping, it was probably for the best that he kept it as well. If the status was true, then the cap would make sense, just like Corbin joked about yesterday.

He took his leave and pondered about Emily for a while. Does the academy discriminate against half-elves or something? Then Thomas remembered the entire "hierarchy" thing and shook his head.

Thomas found Corbin standing all alone at their rendezvous point.

"I thought Alex was with you?" Thomas asked him.

"No he disappeared a while ago, I thought he was picking you up!" Corbin instantly replied.

They both looked at each other before a cold realization dreaded over them.

"It cannot be?" Corbin cracked a laugh and they thought back why the school cafeteria might have been empty earlier today.

"Let's split up, he might need our help!" Thomas yelled.

Evening was already upon them and the sun was settling in. Thomas ran around looking everywhere for Alex and was drenched in sweat. Only later did he hear some weird noises coming from the North-Eastern Wing on the 8th above him and ran quickly up the stairs.

Two loud thuds were heard and he then saw an abnormally large silhouette reflection against one of the walls. It was coming from the main hallway. Right before Thomas managed to turn around the corner to see what was happening, he heard Alex scream.

"Run you goddamn idiots, or it will kill all of us!"