Warborne campfires

"Hello there, I'm Morgan." The boy introduced himself to the young teens sitting around a campfire and eating from their wooden bowls. This particular campfire was one of few around and it belonged to the newcomers, like Morgan, people that have just been picked up and haven't seen the academy themselves yet.

"Ooooh, Moorgaan. Is your hair green?" A short and slim girl with hazel hair and light brown eyes asked excitedly.

"Huh?" Was all Morgan could say at the strange icebreaker and made him think.

'Freaking teens man, what kind of questions is that!? Come to think of it, is my hair green like Sylva's?'

"Don't mind her, Ellie here is very excitable as we all learned." Said one of the boys sitting around the campfire.

"Does look kind of green when the light hits it right, though." Said another boy sitting across from Morgan.

"Mhmm, mmm." Agreed Ellie with a mouthful of some kind of stew, the adults handed out from a cauldron in the middle of the campsite.

"That's a strange icebreaker... but I actually don't know. Does anyone have something reflective on them so I can see?" Asked Morgan, trying to stay polite, but now he was curious what he looked like since he hadn't actually seen himself.

A girl with dark hair sitting next to Ellie handed him a small metal object made from a metal Morgan had never seen before. Morgan looked at it and saw Sylva's own emerald eyes look back, albeit without the glow. His hair a green so deep it seemed black, the boy was right though with enough light the green was visible if only slightly almost like he had highlights underneath. Morgan's features were also a lot like his mother's only more masculine but still a pretty faced boy instead of a chiselled man.

"Thanks." He said as he handed the strange object back to the girl.

"Aye, it is indeed green." He sighed.

"Looks like it is time for the spars." Said the boy sitting across from Morgan as he looked past him towards another campfire, where several of the senior students were getting up. This camp too got up in a rush no one wanting to miss any of the fights. That left Morgan and Ellie sitting around the warm fire and Ellie was furiously shovelling her food into her mouth. Puffed up cheeks and bulging eyes made her look like a squirrel to Morgan and with nothing better to do he waited for her to finish and then they both got up.

The short girl almost ran towards the group of students, but before Morgan could follow he was held back by a massive hand on his shoulder.

"We need to have a short chat" Said Graves. "The young ones can be rowdy and I am told you might be a special case, so mingling could lead to injuries or som'tin." The man coughed, trying to hide his accent. "So, where should we start?" He wondered mostly to himself. "Ah, yes. So are you an other worlder?" He said with a knowing smile on his rough face.

"Aye." Morgan answered, but it had not been his intention to say the truth, so his eyes widened as he froze.

"Oh, are ya surprised that was the first question or something else?" Asked the older man now leaning a bit closer, as if inspecting the youth's face.

"Something else." Answered Morgan again but his intent was a different answer.

"Hmm. I think I know why. First relax we mean you no harm and listen I will explain what I know. This is mostly stuff you will taught in classes anyway." Graves sat down where the students were eating dinner mere moments ago, the man's huge frame covered most of one side of the small campfire and he gestured in front of him for Morgan to sit as well. As Morgan sat down he was startled by hazel hair sitting next to him.

"Holy hell!. Lass, when did you get back!?" He almost shouted in surprise. Morgan was not accustomed to people sneaking up on given that would mean death in his old occupation.

"Why are you even here?" Continued Morgan. In answer the girl slightly leaned towards him, looked him straight in the eyes and in a voice hiding trying to hide excitement she said.

"I'm curious!"

"Hehehe, sneaky that one. Makings of a true shadow." Said graves chuckling at the startled boy.

"Anyway, Morgan listen. You are probably at least part demonkin, that is why you speak honestly, as demonkin cannot speak what they know to be not the truth. Oh boy there is a lot I need to tell you. I guess demonkin is a good start as any. Strap in kiddos cause this might become a lecture." Said Graves before bursting into teaching mode.

"So the young master himself is demonkin so all this knowledge comes straight from him and let me tell ya, there is no better source. Demonkin curses are varied just as much as their powers but truth telling seems to be a constant between all demons. That does not mean they cannot deceive you however, only that what they say, is believed by them to be true."

The girl next to Morgan was nodding along and humming in understanding, paying extreme attention to the big man's words. It seemed like she lived to satisfy her curiosity. Her undivided attention and unbreakable focus were evident in her sparkling eyes. So Graves continued to explain what was known about demonkin and Morgan stayed at attention like the soldier he was and observed. Thirty minutes later the lecture was coming to an end.

"I am sure you will learn more at school but that should be a good starting point. I also need to tell you about the system thingy, ya got that Morgan? Since you are an other worlder." Asked Graves. Then Ellie turned her curious big eyes at Morgan waiting for an answer.

"Aye I do." Morgan answered, hesitating a bit. Talking about seeing things that were not there didn't bode well for his mental health, but it seemed alright in this case.

"Damn. Okay. I don't personally know much about that, but I will tell you what I can remember, so double check this information later when you can. Alright?" Said Graves sounding apologetic and slightly angry. Meanwhile Ellie's head swivelled between the two men.

"Alright." Morgan answered calmly.

"So as far I understand the most important thing about the system, is how mana communicates with other worlders. We don't have that, because we were born on this world and the knowledge just is common here the way of life ingrained in us with the mana. So for others that have not had mana in their own world, they need assistance to understand some things we locals just know. So the system is just a display of these things that you should already know. A key thing to note is that the system won't tell you what you don't or shouldn't know. Although what precisely that information is I couldn't tell you, I never really understood it myself, but don't worry there are people in the academy that can help with that. Other other worlders that have experience."

At this point in the explanation Ellie was already nodding off, the silly girl was slouching forward with half closed eyes, she might have even fell face first into the fire if not Morgan grabbing her arm and gently pulling her back. Graves had lowered his tone halfway through his lecture as he noticed the fires around the camp going out and the crowd of brawling students dispersed. Apparently the calm way the man spoke lulled the girl to sleep.

"Alright, that's about all I know. Try not to get into fights with other humans before you learn how strong you are, given that you have the blood of house Grimm and being a child of a forest mother. Too many variable to be able to tell outright. Anyway I think it's time for sleep." Said Graves glancing at Ellie who now was clutching Morgan's arm like a teddy bear. Much to his annoyance Morgan had no idea if it would be too rude to wake her up or he should let this strange girl use his arm.

"Wait. " He called out to the man that was now standing up.

"If I said I got 20 points in strength, can you tell me how strong that makes me compared to others like me?" Asked Morgan trying not raise his voice too much.

"Hmm. I remember the young master said something like a level 0 adult human having 10 points. So I think 20 is an exceptionally high strength, high enough for it to be easily lethal, so all I can say is control yourself. Just have some patience we will figure it out when we get back." Said the man as his face switched from thoughtful to a mischievous smirk.

"This is great, now I don't have to carry her. You pick her up." He said with a grin plastered on his face.

"What!? I don't even know her, I don't think that's appropriate." Morgan almost shouted in surprise at the older man.

"Heh, you will learn about your strength this way, she is a small girl. I will show you her tent, come on let's go student, don't dilly dally." Said Graves, proud of himself. Morgan just sighed and wrapped his arm under her legs and behind her back to pick her up in a princess carry. Then he froze when he lifted her. Not quite sure what was happening he lowered his arms a little bit and then back up with her still clutching him. His lips pursed and tilted up. Either this girl weighed as much as a new-born kitten or he was as strong as an Olympian. Surprised by his own strength he followed the brawly man and placed the girl inside a tent. However there was another problem.