I Wanted A Treasure Chest, Not A Monster

Peren was cursing like a sailor in his native language as Choal laughed at him. "Don't laugh you stupid system!" He snapped. Next to him, Miri whimpered as the mimics growled before lunging at them. "I hate fighting." She muttered.

Peren instantly threw a magic missile at one of the beast and it squealed in pain. Miri placed her hands on the ground and exhaled. With that breath came a mass of tangling vines, wrapping around the mimics, restraining them. In a feat of annoyance, Peren set the vines ablaze. The mimics screeched in pain as they burned alive. Miri stood and wiped her forehead. 'Damn. I don't have the mana for this!' Peren thought viciously slapping a mimic with a whip of flame multiple times. "Wow. Hot." Someone whispered right by Peren's ear. The half elf jumped, startled and turned to glare at a grinning Lart who's snake hair was waving in amusement. "Did you just call me hot? I hope that was a pun." 

[It was not.]

'Shut up, Choal!' Lart shrugged and stomped. The ground shook and buckled as a wave of earth rose before crashing down upon the rest of the mimics. after the dust cleared, Peren stared at the destruction. He stepped forward and noticed that instead of dead mimics under the rubble, there were....normal trunks? They were squashed but still recognizable. What the hell?

"Oh, students!" Someone shouted, jolting Peren out of his thoughts. He turned to see a female owlin walking toward them wings held out wide. "Thank you! Thank you! Without you those monsters would have wrecked havoc. I am Professor Sharpbeak." Peren smiled and approached the professor with Lart. While they talked Miri got closer to the trunks. She could see some type of black oily substance on the surface of one of the trunks. She kneeled and scooped some of it up placing it in a vial she had on her. 

Was this the reason for normal trunks turning into monsters? Miri stood and approached Professor Sharpbeak, who was currently trying to get students back on track. She rolled her eyes as she passed Lart flirting with Peren again, making the half elf blush heavily, which could still be seen even on his brown skin. "Um, excuse me, Miss? You wouldn't happen to know what this is, do you?"

Miri held up the vial and the teacher frowned. She examined it and shook her head. 'Im sorry but I do not know. Maybe leather conditioning?" Miri sighed, her curiosity not sated. "Ok, thanks." Miri stashed the vial away before turning to an annoyed Peren who was gently pushing Lart's snakes away from his face. Lart was so busy talking that he didn't even notice.

"Lart do you not feel what your snakes are doing?" Miri asked placing a hand on her hip in amusement. Lart turned and grinned sheepishly. "Oops. Sorry Per." The gorgon said. Peren sighed in response. 

'Hey Choal? Do you have any idea what happened?'

The system was silent for a second. [Not Exactly. I do have suspicions.]

'Ok, care to share? This is worrying.'

[Someone purposefully did this. I sensed killing intent towards you earlier but decided to not mention it as whatever caused it was not making any sudden moves. Please concentrate.]

Hmm. Could it have been that guy earlier? No. That didn't seem like the case. He would have to investigate later. And he still needed to ask Miri and Lart if they were Players like him.

But that could come when he was more settled into the dorms. 

"Come, I will lead you all to your dorms." Professor Sharpbeak said and everyone followed the professor out of the Biblioplex.

Peren frowned and stared at the huge mass of buildings on the east side of the Central Campus. "These are the first year dorms. Please approach that staff and you will get your room number." Professor Sharpbeak said. Everyone formed a somewhat messy line and one by one they all got their designated rooms. Finally it was Peren's turn. The woman in front of him smiled and flipped through a huge stack of papers. "Name?" 

"Oh, Peren Xiloscient." 

The woman searched before finding his name. "Ok, Peren you'll be in Building 4, Room 124." 

Peren smiled and nodded before heading to his designated building. "Hey, wait up!" Someone shouted. Oh, Lart.

"Looks like we're roommates." The gorgon said showing Peren his room number. "Oh, cool. Better than getting a stranger." The half elf said, smiling as the two of them walked into the spacious building.

After a few minutes of arguing, running around and getting lost they finally found their room. 

"Whoa." Peren whispered as he opened the door. The room was huge and spacious consisting of a small foyer, with a large fireplace against the far wall and couches surrounding it. To the right and left were a set of double doors which Peren assumed led to their bedrooms. "I'll take the one on the right." He said, bouncing excitedly. Lart laughed and nodded and they separated into their rooms. 

Peren gasped as he opened the doors and stepped into a lavish bedroom. The bed lay in the center of the room against the wall. Next to it on the left and right were nightstands. On the left corner sat a large desk and chair with lamps and other items on it. A small couch sat below a large window on the left wall. To the right in the corner was a bookcase and next to it was a cupboard. Next to that in the lower right corner was a door. Peren stepped through it into a large bathroom. To the right was a beautiful vanity and sink with a mirror. On the right corner was a toilet. Next to it was a walk in shower that was surprisingly big. Taking up the entire right corner was a tub. Peren could see jets within. 

Peren cackled in joy. "Awesome!" He shouted. He practically skipped into the foyer and saw Lart already there on the carpeted floor, meditating.

"Oi, Lart? Whatcha doin'?" Peren asked sitting down beside the gorgon. 

"Meditating. To help with my magic."

Peren frowned. Would this be a good time to bring up the Player situation?

"Hey, Lart. Can I ask you something?" The half elf asked tentatively. Lart cocked his head and nodded.

"Are you...a Player?" I whispered. I felt him stiffen and his hair writhed in agitation. "How do you know that term? Are you one too?" Lart asked quietly. I nodded. Then I remembered he couldn't see that. 

"Yeah. How did you become one?" I asked. Lart frowned.

"It might help me figure out why this happened in the first place. So did you die and come back?" I asked urgently. Lart growled. "Drop it, Peren." 

I shook my head. I needed this info. I needed to know why me...

"Lart if you died and came back then you must have a system. How did you die? Was it particularly viole-!"

Lart jumped up and bared his fangs at me his snakes hissing. "I SAID DROP IT!" 

Before I could react, Lart had opened his eyes.