Chapter 10: The Man With Connections

Alex made his way back to the lunch room that he had passed earlier. He still wasn't used to the campus yet, so it still took him a half hour to find it again. On the way he passed many groups of first years who were out touring the grounds. A few of the groups that he passed were much more focused. Everyone in these groups were holding the same form. It was the class registry. Carl had given one to Alex along with the keys to his house.

With everything that had happened since then Alex had not had time to look at it yet. He resolved to be like the other students and search out his classrooms after eating.

As luck would have it, Alex saw a pair of familiar faces as he entered the lunch room. There sitting off to one side was Red and Tom. From the looks of things they were getting along very well and had even had lunch together.

Alex didn't head over to them right away. Instead he lined up for food. For what seemed like the hundredth time today he was astounded. It was Rank 1. They were actually serving the meat from a Rank 1 monster. Normally, Alex would not have known this. There was really no way for him to tell, he had never had monster meat before. It was quite dangerous for anyone under or even at the rank of a monster to eat it's meat.

It was Eluril who told him. As he took a large steak from the chef he felt her stir. "That is the meat of a water elemental monster. That meat will be very beneficial to you. Make sure you eat as much as you can." Her voice was much stronger than before. Alex's smile was so big that it made him look creepy. He couldn't help it, and he didn't care.

"Thanks for the advice. Shouldn't I be worried about eating too much and getting mana sickness?"

"Mana sickness? What is that?" Her pale pink tong kissed the air slightly. Alex began to wonder if she was hungry again.

"You know, where you take in too much mana and you lose control causing damage to your organs and such." Alex was confused. She had taught him how to control mana. How could she not know about something like mana sickness?

Eluril tilted her head to the side in thought for a moment. Suddenly, Alex's mind was filled with a melodic laughter. "No. You do not need to worry about that. Your 'mana' is much to strong now for something like a Rank 1 monster's meat to effect you. At most you will feel bloated." As she said the word 'mana' he could sense a tone of derision. She didn't explain and Alex was satisfied with just being able to talk to her more, so he left it alone for now.

By the time he got out of line Tom had noticed him and was waving Alex over.

"Hi guys." Alex said as he took a seat.

"What took you so long?" Tom asked in a reproachful tone. "I knew you would come to get food eventually. Me and Red have been waiting here for you ever since we got settled at our place."

"Your place?"

"Yeah, me and Tom really get along well, and I pride myself on making connections. So, I pulled a few strings through a friend of mine at the housing office and got us a three person dorm." Red said with a large smile. "Once you are done eating we will head back and get your room changed to ours. That way none of us are stuck with bad roommates. Better the devil you know. As I always say." Red was sitting proudly at the table. Anyone could tell that he felt very satisfied at being able to pull some strings. It wasn't much, but having a good roommate was very important.

Alex was just about to dig into his streak when Red said this. He couldn't help but sigh. "I don't think that will work, unfortunately." He then proceeded to tell them everything that had happened since they parted ways at the exam. He was able to finish his meal while telling the story by taking advantage of the laugh breaks provided by Tom. Red on the other hand seemed horrified at first, but he seemed to calm down once he figured out what professor Keller's revenge was.

With a sigh Alex finished with, "And I still have no idea what I did to piss off professor Keller so much."

Hearing this, both Red and Tom were stunned. Red began laughing after a moment, but Tom just shook his head. "How many times do I have to tell you. Pay attention to how you present yourself. It is bad enough that your white hair makes you stand out, but add to it your size and tan. You look like some sort of enforcer, or mercenary at best. Not to mention the fact that you scowled at him and insinuated that his invention was faulty." By the end Tom was nearly yelling.

Red put a calming hand on Toms shoulder. "I have not known you both long, but you do seem to have an issue with communication." Red had a slight smile as he said this.

"What do you mean? I speak perfectly fine?" Alex was confused by Red's comment, and frankly a little insulted.

"You speak very well." Red quickly added to placate his new friend. "The problem is with subtext, body language, and expression. Communication is about more than just words." As he said this Tom began nodding fiercely.

"I have told you again and again. Stop scowling at people just because you are thinking! It is your worst habit." Tom said dejectedly. "Well at least some good came of it. Honestly, I was very surprised to see Eluril on your shoulder when you came in."

At the mention of her, Alex lovingly pet her scales with a smile on his face. "Yeah, I am not sure if I should be angry or thankful in the end."

"Well, I can tell you what you will be at this rate. Sore. No furniture is going to be a problem." As he said this he leaned back in his seat. "I suppose we can take the furniture from our room that you would have used. You will have a bed, book case, and desk at least."

"But wont your new roommate need those things?" Alex asked.

"Don't worry about that." Red waved off the idea. "I will just have my friend in housing mark it off as filled." He said it so casually that neither Alex nor Tom questioned him any further on the topic.

"Well, I guess that just leaves moving the furniture to your house and picking our classes and submitting the paperwork. Have you looked at the class list yet?"