Cold reception

The butler looked at Malus for a moment before grabbing his face and looking into his eyes with a serious expression.

"Are you feeling alright, young master?"

Malus gave a puzzled look. "Yeah, I'm feeling fine, why?"

The butler turned his face from side to side, inspecting it before eventually released him and stepped away. "It should be nothing, sir, but your eyes..." he inhaled sharply, "your eyes have changed color sir. One of them is dark red and the other is dark green." Malus recoiled [So it wasn't just a dream!] "I'm sure it's nothing, I'll ask my mother about it when I return home."

The butler looked at Malus for a moment then returned to the front of the carriage. "Very well, you are expected inside."

Malus stepped out of the carriage and looked up the large gaudy building that reminded him of a school of magic from a movie series in his previous life. The school was very large, almost a castle of its own. It was located in the northwest side of the city and took up nearly ten city blocks, consisting of two sprawling buildings and fields for practice of magic and various forms of combat. Students began arriving in droves and poured up the steps, all wearing uniforms indicating rank with a special badge that indicated their family or organization. Malus was wearing a uniform that indicated year 1, however Malus wore no badge because his mother said, "anyone who requires their family status to move forward in the world won't move very far," which is true, but it still would have been nice. Malus walked up to the gates and immediately noticed that all the surrounding students had stopped moving and just stared at him as he passed. [What, is there something on my face?] Malus made it through the gates and halfway up the massive staircase when he realized that the students in front of him had also stopped to stare at him. He stopped and stared back at the students. However, when he went to meet their gaze they turned their nose up and looked away.

[Oh, that's how it's gonna be. It's because I have no family badge, isn't it?] Malus continued up the stairs, making sure to meet as many students' gazes as he could. [I'll remember all of your faces, all of you, and when you need me, you'll regret how you've treated me.] When Malus made it to the great hall where dining and announcements are made, he could hear the chatter and bustle within. He walked into the chamber and cast a glance around. It was large and had many stained glass windows between pillars. There were large tables spanning the length of the room, each one was covered in food and various supplies. There was one table on the far side of the room that had significantly less students who were much poorer and obviously beaten and the food on the table was little and of poorer quality. Still better than the common man could afford, but not by much. Because of this, there was a clear divide between the rich and poor in the room. When Malus entered, no one seemed to notice, so he continued forward and took a seat at the nearest table. As soon as he sat down and looked up, he noticed the entire room had gone silent except the whispering of students. Malus looked around and cursed inwardly, [seriously, it's that bad? Well screw you, I do what I want!] and turned his head back to the food in front of him. He went to grab a piece of chicken that was directly in front of him, as he had not had breakfast. As soon as his hand touched the piece, a hand appeared from his left and slapped his hand. "Get your hands off that, you filthy peasant" Malus turned to the left to see a blond-haired teen boy with a long scar on the side of his cheek. "Your kind belongs over there, filth," the boy stood and pointed to the far side of the room that was obviously poorer.

Malus chuckled and stood up, he was a bit shorter than the blond boy, but not enough that the boy had an advantage, "I shall go wherever I please, and no one shall stop me." The students gasped and began whispering to one another.

The blonde boy's face changed from confusion to anger and began furiously screaming. "How dare you speak to me like that, you filthy half-breed wretch, know your place, you are filth, you are nothing, not even the scum on my boots, you are less than even slave breeds!"

Malus scowled, [What? I'm human like you, I just dont wear my family wealth as a shield,] and sat back down right where he was and grabbed the chicken as fast as he could, fast enough no one could react, and began eating it. As soon as he was done, he looked up to the dumbstruck boy and grinned, "you aren't worth my time."

The boy's face scrunched and his lips pursed as he grew red with rage. Students at the rich tables either laughed or adopted similar expressions. The poorer students either pretended not to see anything or looked on with an expression of worry. The boy grabbed Malus' shoulder and attempted to pull him into a punch directed to his jaw. Malus parried using his forearm to deflect the punch to the side while grabbing his arm. as Malus was about to counterattack by punching the boy in the gut, his left eye, the one that had turned dark red, began to burn like it was being scrambled with a red hot poker causing Malus to fall to the floor screaming while clutching his eye. The boy took the opportunity to step back out Malus's grasp and kick him in the stomach. Malus looked up after recovering from the kick, still holding his burning eye, to see a cloud of smoke and purple cinder-like lights begin to materialize less than two meters away and rush towards the boy, encompassing him, causing him to shriek and cry. The cloud swirled around the boy for a few seconds before coalescing into a humanoid shape, holding the boy off the ground by the front of his uniform. The smoke form then threw the blond boy across the room to the poor table, then turned back to Malus before compressing to the form of Zal'tai. "Man, you sure know how to pick fights," Zal'tai chuckled.