Friends

"Hey Var, what's up?" Grey asked. It was 3 in the afternoon, but there was nothing to do on The Island. It was strictly for learning and training, as far as he was aware. 

"Well, I met these two on our floor. We became friends, so I wanted to ask if you want to hang out?" Var told Grey the story of how Var went through each room, checking to see if anyone was there.

"I see. Well, I'm Grey Heart. Human, 17. Light affinity. I don't have elf or vampire blood, but my ears and canines are mutated." Grey gave a summary of himself to the two boys, giving them a handshake. "Want to be friends?"

'Yeah, that's right. Nice and direct. Can't go wrong.' 

The first boy, on the left, introduced himself. "I'm Darren Black, quarter dwarf, 17. Dark affinity, but I have a Fire attribute." He was about as tall as your average girl, maybe 5'4'', and was of color. He was extremely sturdy looking, with large muscles, but he was probably quite fast. He had black hair and black eyes, too.

After he finished, the second boy introduced himself. "I'm Elijah Dawn, quarter elf, 17. Light affinity." He had blue hair and purple eyes, with blonde-gold tips at the end of his hair, just like Grey. He was around an inch shorter than Grey, the same height as Var, and quite skinny. Underneath his t-shirt, you could see that his body was toned, and peeking out from the collar was some scar tissue.

'Wonder what happened. Ah well, I won't ask.'

"So, why are you here? There isn't much to do on campus, is there?" Grey asked, confused.

"Well, I heard that somewhere there is a mall, to keep the students from getting too bored." Var whispered, looking around to make sure that no one was nearby.

"Why are you whispering?" Elijah whispered back, asking what was on all their minds.

"I don't know, just seems like the kinda thing you whisper," Var said, speaking at a normal volume. "So, wanna come?" He looked at Grey as he spoke.

"Sure, I don't see why not."

---

As they walked across the campus, the four caught a lot of attention from other students who had arrived the same day.

"Look at them. Aren't they all so hot?" One girl said.

"Damn, I'm so jealous; especially of that guy in the back. Grey hair and red eyes, so cool!" A boy said to his companion.

"That blue-haired boy is so masculine, and that ginger is kinda my type."

The four of them ignored the whispers of the other students, their gossip of little interest to them, except one.

"Ha! Hear that, I'm her type!" Var exclaimed. "Too bad, she's not mine."

The three others ignored him, but he had lit the fuse.

"Haha, She said that I'm so masculine. Being her type means you aren't, I think." Elijah said.

"That's not how types work, dumbass." Darren scoffed at Elijah's dense behavior, but he just laughed it off.

"Sure, buddy sure. You're just upset that no one is talking about you. Besides, out of us four, I think Grey has the most admirers."

"Um, I don't care. Besides, aren't we all handsome in our own right?" Grey tried to interject but was ignored. 'Damn, what do friends talk about?! I'll have to research.'

Var suddenly spoke up, "Yo guys! We're here." He pointed to the large map of the campus on the board in front of them. "First to find the mall wins!"

All of them began to search, and whilst doing so, Grey asked, "What do we win?"

Not too focused on trying to win, Var took his attention away from the board, "I'll buy you anything." 

Just as he finished the words, however, both Grey and Elijah spoke up.

"Found it!"

"Found it!"

"… Wait, no, only one winner allowed." Var went back on his words immediately. A tie meant 2 people, that meant 2 things, and he was damn sure that the mall would be very expensive. 'I might go broke.'

Grey chose to abstain from the winning prize, simply because he didn't feel the need for anything. "Buy me a snack, though."

"Sure!" Var was happy that Grey chose to deny the prize, so he readily agreed to the condition. "So, where are we going?"

"Ahh, it's behind the reception area, near the train." Elijah butted into the duo's conversation, dragging them back to the group.

"OK then, let's get going." The fourth member of the group finally hopped back into the conversation.

---

The four quickly found the mall, and they spent a few hours there. Elijah found an item that he wanted, so Var begrudgingly bought it. He was right, prices on The Island were more than 4x market price. He forked out money for the blade that his friend bought, and his expression made the others have a good laugh.

When the time came for a snack, Grey bought enough food for 4, and Var had to pay. Again, his wallet hurt when the bill came. None of the three cared about his pain, though, as they were too busy seeing how much food they could stuff in their mouth. Grey won, by the way.

At the end of it all, on the 20th floor of the dorms, the group split up. They all stood in front of their respective door and waved goodnight. Var didn't let that be the end of it, though.

"Money suckers, I swear. Argh, I wish I never made that bet!" Elijah and Darren ignored his whinging, it had been going on for hours, Grey followed their reactions, still determined to research how kids his age acted.

The next 3 days passed by quickly, Grey spent his Friday training, and then the weekend with his new friends. It seemed there were no others on the floor, which made sense. It would be weird for the top 10 to all be male.

Grey had done his research, so he blended in with his friends a bit better, but he was still a bit iffy. He looked like someone who had one foot in the friend group, and he was determined to change that.

At the moment, the group was eating food in the cafeteria, which was located inside the main school compound, and it was free. 

"So, tomorrow is the day of the assembly. The headmaster wants me to give a speech." Elijah spoke out of the blue, turning the heads of the others. "Since I'm Rank 1, I am the elected spokesperson, whatever that means."

'Wait, aren't I Rank 0?' Grey looked at the group and saw that Var had a similar, confused expression on his face. 'He must have realized, too.'

"Does that mean you're the strongest in our year, Elijah?" Var questioned Elijah, to see if he knew what was going on. But before he did, Grey gave him a look, so he worded his question differently.

"I think so. But I heard that this year there is someone anomalous, who is ranked 0. So, they're probably stronger. Wonder why the headmaster didn't ask that dude, though."

'Yeah, me too?… Oh well, I don't want to give a speech either.' Grey thought.

"That sucks, what are you gonna say?" Darren asked. Grey had noted that Darren rarely spoke, and he always seemed a little down. Darren's family was quite famous, and he was expected to be Ranked 1. However, Elijah came out of nowhere and took the spot from him. It was quite a shock, but an even bigger shock was that no one knew about Grey.

"I don't know yet, but I'm sure it will come to me." Elijah said.

---

The next day, Grey woke up at his usual hour and went to the gym in his room. He did his daily run finished a quick workout, and then had a cold shower. He fixed up his hygiene, too After he stepped out of the bathroom and got dressed in his usual baggy white t-shirt and ripped black jeans, the doorbell rang. 

He opened the door and there stood a man with a box. "Here's your uniform, buddy." The man swiftly passed him the package and then left, leaving Grey alone in the hall.

He went back inside his room, and put on his uniform.

Standing in front of a mirror, Grey looked at his reflection. "So, fancy black shoes, black slacks, with a blue tie. You have the choice of a white or black shirt, and there's a grey blazer. On its back is a logo; a phoenix rising from the ashes. 'Because we raise Heroes and Hunters with aid from previous Heroes and Hunters, just like a phoenix rises from its ashes.'" Grey recalled the slogan of the school. 

'Bit long-winded, no? Still, I look good!' Grey had chosen the black shirt, as it went with his silver hair. 

After admiring himself, Grey left his dorm, 'Can't be late.' 

In the corridor, he met up with the other three, so they headed to the assembly together.

"Damn, Grey, the black and grey works!" Var complimented. "And the white shirt suits you Elijah, and you, Darren."

"You're not too bad yourself, Var." Elijah praised back.

"Let's just go; we'll be late otherwise." Darren was grumpy, and it was clear in his voice.

"Not a morning person, are ya?" Var asked, as cheery as always.

"No."

"Well…" Var ran out of things to talk about this early in the morning, so the rest of the walk was done in silence.

The students congregated in the arena, the email they had received yesterday told them to. The stadium was jam-packed with students in blue or red blazers. 'Second and Third years. So the Fourth years must be out.' The group took a seat somewhere near the front of the seats, close to the arena stage.

The school had 4 years, so they gave each year different blazers to differentiate year groups.

The first years got grey blazers, the Second years got blue ones, while the Third years got red ones. The Fourth years were rarely in school, but when they were, they wore purple blazers.

The students were chattering away, some friend groups had already been made, but all were silenced when a loud bang came from the center stage.

BANG!

"Welcome to The Island, dear students. Both returners and newcomers, it's good to see your faces. For those of you who are unaware, I am the headmaster here, Jay Alv. I look forward to seeing how you all fare in this competitive environment, and may you go far in life. I won't bore you all with a long speech, so may I please have the student council president and the Rank 1 of the first years come onto the stage." As Jay spoke, the students were all captivated, and no one dared let out a peep. At the mention of Rank 1, however, Grey swore that Jay looked him in the eye.

'What for?'

"Good luck, mate." Var whispered to Elijah. "Knock 'em dead."

"Thanks."