Chapter 2, Part 3: Welcome, Welcome

Two days have passed since the entrance exam.

I recalled my memory as I stared upon the beige ceiling of my dorm room, my head resting nicely upon a soft white pillow.

"Zachary, where did you get these coins?" Headmaster Gamon asked me.

With all my strength, I tried my best to utter a sentence.

"I... don't know..."

"...O-Oh, my bad. We shouldn't force you to speak yet. Let your body heal up first, then we'll talk. Now then, if you'll excuse us."

He put my pouch beside me and left after smiling at me and the two girls. The unknown woman bowed to us, fixed her glasses, then followed him out of the room.

"Hm, we should be going too. We'll be late for first period." Salome said.

"What was first period again today?"

"It's CQC class by Professor Kaelen but... it looks like we're doing self-study today."

"Ah, good point. We can't mess up our records now, can we? Well, we'll be back soon, Zachary. Get well soon!"

"Goodbye for now."

The two of them waved at me and left the room as well. I was left there beside an unconscious Professor Kaelen. My ears were met with deafening silence, so I thought, maybe I should just sleep too since there's nothing I can do at my current state.

...

And now, I'm in my dorm room, able to finally walk properly. Salome and Wanda guided me to my dorm room. I didn't know what I was expecting, but there seems to be a lot more other rooms in the building, belonging to the other Magus students.

Anyway, I wonder what part of the world I'm in right now? The settlements and cities never had these Academies. I don't think they even had magic back there. It's all entirely new to me, this must definitely be a far-off land.

I sat up and looked at the small table beside my bed. There laid two pieces of clothing with black as the primary color, and green as the secondary. The color combination is strangely pleasing to my eyes.

I stood up and tried them on, then faced a mirror. A coat of some sort and a pair of pants. A perfect fit, although my hair is all over the place. I brushed the hair on my shoulder to the back with both hands. Now it looks good.

As I spun around checking out different parts of my outfit, somebody knocked on my door thrice.

"Um, hello?" somebody said from outside, their voices muffled.

I hurried to the door, forgetting to remove the attire, and partially opened the door, revealing two people. The one on the right was a male Elf, while the one on the left was a female Beastman from the Entomorph subspecies.

"Uh... how can I help you?" I asked.

"Are you Zachary? The new enrollee?" the Elf asked.

"Yeah, that's me."

"We'd like to give you this as a welcome gift."

The Entomorph handed me a box. I opened it and revealed a circlet consisting of nicely colored jewels.

"Wow, isn't this a bit too... expensive?"

"Ah, no, not at all! It's honestly just the bare minimum, see... well anyway, welcome to Ombero Academy! We hope you enjoy your school life here!"

They bowed and left without another word. I couldn't even thank them for this accessory. Hell, I don't think I even catched their names so I can at least thank them sometime in the future.

I closed the door and wore the circlet on my left wrist. It's not very noticeable with my coat's sleeve covering a large part of it, but I'll just leave it there as a part of the attire.

I took off the clothes, folded it to best of my ability, then put the circlet on top of it. Upon closer inspection, the circlet had three jewels on it, all three a different shade of blue. Are these perhaps Azurite? It's like I'm looking at solidified fragments of the deep sea, how so very relaxing.

...Wait.

"...I should explore the area while I have so much free time." I said to myself.

With that in mind, I regretted taking off my attire. I put them back on and wore the circlet. I took a deep breath, slapped my cheeks twice and opened the door afterwards.

There was a door in front of me with the number plate "156". The room probably belongs to a different student. I looked to my sides. Long hallways with high ceilings. Far into the horizon of the left hallway was a path with opened windows. The sunshine formed shadows on the floor and revealed the presence of dust floating about in the air.

That part of the hallway must lead to a different building. Magus students are coming and going either alone or with their friends. Their listless chatter echoed through the hallway and reached my location, although lower in volume from where they currently are.

I headed their way while taking in the magnificence of the building. There's just so much detail to see.

I was approaching an intersection and decided to turn right. I could see a nice view of the outside world from the hallway. As I walked slowly, someone's voice called to me.

"Oh, it's Zachary?"

"Hey!"

Two familiar voices. It's Salome and Wanda. I looked back and saw them approaching me from the path behind.

"Good day. How'd you two know it was me?" I asked.

"Well, you're the only one here wearing the male uniform with that long hair of yours." Wanda answered.

"Ah, good point..."

"How's the Academy so far? Do you like it here?" asked Salome.

"It's okay so far. Some guys knocked on my door and gave me this circlet too."

I rolled my sleeve by a bit and showed them the accessory on my left wrist.

"Ah, that's proof that you're a student here, other than the uniform, of course." Salome showed her circlet, which was on her head. Wanda showed hers as well, which was being worn as a ring. It looks like it can be customized.

"Headmaster said you can start attending classes today, after lunch. Just to give you a tour and attend a class at the end of the day."

"We came here to fetch you before lunch break ends. You got your coin purse on you?"

"Wanda, I don't think that's a good idea... his coins might be too expensive, you know?"

"Hm, that's a good point. Okay, we'll treat you to a meal then! Come with us!"

How kind... I'll repay them later. I don't know how much a coin from my purse can buy, but if what the Headmaster's assistant said is true, one for each of them should suffice.

We eventually arrived at the cafeteria. It was a vast room with a high ceiling, packed with Magus students of different races and sizes, conversing with each other as they ate.

I could feel several gazes around me as we made our way to the counter.

"Ah, it's you two again... who's this?"

The lunch lady greeted Salome and Wanda.

"We'll have the usual, please. Oh, add another order of that for our friend here. His name is Zachary."

"Oh, the new kid? Well, nice ta meet you, young 'un. Here's your order. Enjoy!"

"Thanks!" Wanda said.

She put the orders on three separate trays and slid them across the counter. She had quite a grumpy voice but it seems she's kind. We carried our trays and looked for a vacant table. I followed the two girls.

We stopped finding a table at some point and decided to settle for seats instead. All tables apparently have occupants already.

We sat on a table with five other students. The two were greeted by their seatmates. It looks like they're acquainted, which is lucky for us.

"Ah, Salome, Wanda! Come sit with us!"

I sat on the edge of the bench and quietly listened as they chatted. When they started to dig into their meals, I did so as well.

It was a bowl of rice topped with many kinds of meat, along with shredded vegetables and an aromatic brown sauce on top, most of which has already been absorbed by the rice. It smells amazing. I took the spoon and fork on my tray, shoveled a little bit of everything, and took it into my mouth.

"...!?"

Beautiful.

I almost broke character from that combination of flavor. What is this?

Salome, who was eating in front of me, chuckled. "How was it?" she asked.

"Haha, I think you'll know by his facial expression, Salome. Look, he's shocked!"

N-No, please don't say that word. I'm having flashbacks of that entrance exam...

Wanda pointed to me. She was sitting to my right at that moment.

"What is this?" I asked them. "It's delicious!"

"Right? It's called a... well, it's commonly called a rice bowl, so..."

"I think it's really the only thing it's called, Wanda..."

As they thought about the rice bowl topic, the student sitting beside Salome noticed me. I felt her gaze and crossed eyes with her by instinct. She immediately averted her gaze and started a conversation with the others.

I shrugged it off and continued eating. Afterwards, we head to a certain section of the cafeteria to return the trays and bowls and drink water. We exited the cafeteria and they continued guiding me.

"Zachary, the Headmaster has taken care of the paperwork for your enrollment. He took three coins from your purse after asking you about the fee two days ago." Salome told me.

I don't remember that bit, but okay.

"Yeah, so from now on you're a Magus student here. We're in the same class, so we're going to the classroom now."

We've arrived at our destination. Before us was a tall door, and above it was a plate with the same color scheme as our uniforms that read "1-C".

"Well, here we are. You ready to go in?" Wanda asked me.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I'm kinda nervous. "...Yeah. Let's go."

They nodded, then opened the door, making a loud but brief creaking noise. The inside was something I haven't seen before.

There were long desks in rows of threes reaching to the back of the room, which was elevated. On the opposite end was an elevated podium and a wide blackboard. Sunlight peered through the windows.

The students' chatter ended abruptly as they simultaneously faced forward to see who opened the door.

They saw the unfamiliar face that was me, walking behind Salome and Wanda and following them.

"Zachary, you can sit here for now." Salome said.

"It's our desk. Pretty close to the front, huh?"

We were at the second row of desks, on the left hand side of the room. I sat on the farthest side. Beneath the desk was a... bag. With the same color scheme as the uniform.

"Whose bag is this?" I asked, lifting the bag up onto the surface of the desk.

"That's yours. The lady from the dormitory provided you with some supplies that'll be essential to learning magic. We put it there for when you finally come to the classroom." Wanda informed me.

Before we knew it, someone else opened the door. It was a man I'm slightly familiar with. That nice dark brown hair, posture that looked like he's tired of doing things, and some bandages from the entrance exam a few days ago. There's no doubting it, it's Professor Kaelen Springford.

I turned my face towards Wanda and asked, "Why is he here?"

She replied. "Oh, didn't we tell you? Today's last period is CQC class. Maybe we should've given you a schedule?"

Professor Kaelen immediately saw me. "Ah, you're here! Welcome, welcome."

Following this, I felt an immense pressure from the gazes of the students around me.

"Have you introduced yourself to everyone? No? Well then, come to the front. Introduce yourself to the whole class, yeah?"

I haven't even answered you yet, but...

I looked at Salome and Wanda. However, they smiled at me and gave me a thumbs up like everything's up to me now. Which it is, at the current situation.

I gulped and stood up, then headed to the front. Why am I so nervous anyway? It's just an introduction...

Upon arriving there, I suddenly saw how many students there are. I got cold feet, but I can't back down now.

"...M-Māee—"

"Eh? Are you okay?" Professor Kaelen asked.

Damn it, I bit my tongue... I covered my mouth and restarted my introduction by clearing my throat.

I spoke in a loud, clear voice. "...My name is Zachary. From today onwards I'll be attending this... class. I have no recollection of my upbringing, nor my last name, but please feel free to call me by my name. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance."

"That all? Anyway, welcome to class 1-C. I'm your advisor, Kaelen Springford. I teach CQC and bounded field creation. We're a family here unlike the other classes, so please be at home in our humble classroom."

"..."

I nodded to him and returned to my seat. I released a sigh of relief.

"Good job." Salome praised me. Wanda gave me another thumbs up.

Professor Kaelen walked behind the podium, put a considerably thick book on its surface, then spoke.

"Now then, let's start final period."