"Alright, runt, welcome to the Hearth," Aro said, placing a hand on Alex's shoulder. He could feel the power in the grip of the lion-boy through the tough fabric of his new uniform. The older student's hands were covered in brown fingerless gloves, almost blending with the brown fur he was covered in if not for the few dark spots on the gloves of what Alex hoped wasn't blood. "As our Halfling professor might have mentioned the Hearth is the biggest dorm on campus and home to those students that don't have a chosen discipline yet, or those that would rather stay here than go to the discipline's dorm like me." Aro said, subtly showing the red accents on his uniform.
The lion-boy let go of Alex's shoulder and started walking towards the large fire pit in the center of the courtyard. He waved to Alex to follow him. "What are you waiting for, runt? Scared already? Don't want me to show you around?" Alex started following the older student, though deep inside it felt like a trap.
"The dorm's made up of four floors. Aside from the dining hall on the right, it's almost entirely rooms. Things are pretty equal around here. All floors have four showers and about eight bathrooms. Though it might not look like it at first, even the rooms themselves are about the same size. The lower rooms are longer than wide, and they get shorter and wider with each floor," Aro explained as Alex looked around the dorm. Open balconies rung each level of the building, their copper railings reflecting the fire's light as they overlooked the courtyard below.
"The rooms are pretty big, though not as big as in the other dorms. Though I feel like the large communal courtyard more than makes up for that. It's one reason I'm still staying here." The lion-boy waved to some passing students on their way to the fire pit. "Since you're here earlier than most of the students of the class you're starting with, you'll have your room to yourself for now. Depending on how many more show up, you might get a roommate."
Alex continued to follow the blonde-maned boy as he listened to the older boy's orientation of the dorm. Instead of going to the large fire pit, they had turned to the left and were making their way towards one of the many stairs leading up to the higher levels of the building. More and more students started coming out of the building and heading towards the communal area. Most of them were wearing the same black uniform Alex was, though a few had colored accents like Aro, and most of those appeared to be either red or brownish-gold. As for how they looked, most just appeared to be human at first glance. There were a few Drakes here and there, and some of the human-looking ones could be like Fillonia or Mr. Ghestalt, but Aro was the only lion-like student he had seen so far.
They stopped in front of the stairs. "Alright, runt, your room is number two hundred thirteen. It's on the second floor and a few rooms to the left. I'm sure you'll be able to find it on your own from here. Now I've got someone waiting for me by the fire, and I don't like to keep them waiting. Oh, and stay away from the Drakes in room three twenty. Those two are real trouble." With that, Aro ran back towards the fire at a light jog, and Alex was all alone once again.
Curious what his new place of residence would look like, Alex headed up the stairs. Even this far from the actual fire, the heat it gave off was still noticeable. A brass plaque was inlaid into the floor at the top of the stairs leading to the second floor. Alex bent down to get a closer look at what it read: *General Dormitory, Second Expansion - Year 4 after Founding*.
As he stood back up, two young girls rushed past him. "Watch out!" One of them yelled as she almost crashed into him. The other simply jumped over the edge of the stair, falling to the ground. A pair of glowing wings sprouted out of her back just before she hit the ground. "Hey, that's unfair, Bella!" The one that almost crashed into Alex shouted at her friend before turning to Alex, "It's your fault; now she's going to win."
Alex was about to apologize, even though he felt like he had done nothing wrong, but the girl was already gone, jumping over the last few steps of the stairs in a futile attempt to catch up to her friend. He shook his head and continued on his way to the room Aro had pointed him to. The door to his room looked simple. It was made from similar wood to the rest of the building. Right at the top was what Alex assumed to be the dorm's symbol engraved, a stylized flame within a circle. Engraved under the symbol was the room number '213' in bold, deep numbers, showing how thick the door actually was. He pushed the door open and found his new room to be surprisingly large.
The entire place was larger than some apartments he had seen back on Earth. However, the entire room was lit by only a single lantern set into the wall next to the door, giving it a somber look. The lantern glowed with a steady ember instead of a flame. Its orange light flickering like a heartbeat reflected off the polished wood of the desk sitting against the left wall. How anyone was supposed to use that desk with this low light was beyond Alex.
The most impressive thing about his room was, without a doubt, the large windows that led to a small balcony overlooking the large fire pit in the central courtyard. He had seen the balconies from the outside, so he knew his room would have one, but to be able to look at the massive bonfire from up on the second floor was still a sight to behold. He could only imagine what it would be like to look at it from the even higher floors. Large black curtains hung beside the window, ready to be closed to block the fire's light. Even with the window shut, the faint scent of wood smoke and roasted meat clang to everything in his room.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Alex opened the window door for a moment and enjoyed the fire pit from the comfort of his balcony. As soon as he did, a few tiny motes of harmless glowing ash floated in from the courtyard, fading before touching anything. The sound of the singing and talking students down below also was louder than expected. He didn't know how, but the windows and walls of his room must have been isolating him from the sound quite a lot. Something he was immediately grateful for as he imagined him going to bed while the party down below was still in full swing.
After another few minutes of standing out on his balcony, Alex headed back inside and checked out the rest of his room. The desk he had noticed earlier was nearby, so he headed there first. It was a simple wooden desk. There were a few drawers underneath it to store some small things, but the most unique part of the piece of furniture was the stone plate set into the wall just above it. Geometric symbols, like those he saw on the columns and fountain in the courtyard outside the infirmary, were engraved on the plate.
As he neared the desk, the symbols on the plate started to hum softly and glow with a faint orange light. The closer he got, the brighter the glow and as soon as he sat down in the chair by the desk a small orb of light flew out of the plate and hovered above the desk, providing more than enough light to use it till deep in the night. Alex stared at the orb of light, trying to figure out how it worked. He moved his hands all around it, casting strange shadows on the nearby wall. Nothing, there was nothing, the thing just floated there, ignoring gravity. Another mystery to figure out another day.
He stood back up from the desk, and the glowing orb dimmed until it was completely gone, leaving no trace Alex could see behind. Shaking his head, Alex continued to explore his new room. The next thing that caught his eye was what looked like a sliding door inside the wall next to the bed. He had no idea what could be behind it. Didn't Aro say something about shared bathrooms and showers? Did he really have one of his own? Curious Alex slowly slid the door open. He burst out in laughter. Behind the sliding door was a closet. A rather large closet, but just a closet. The closet was mostly empty, but someone had carefully folded and placed a few spare uniforms on one of the shelves inside it.
The last thing in his room that stood out in the dark was his bed. Even though Aro had mentioned the possibility of him getting a roommate, there was just a single bed in the room. Were they going to bring a second bed to his room if he was going to have a roommate? How would that work? For now, he ignored the idea of him having to share his bed with a complete stranger, and decided to check how good the bed was instead.
Whenever he had to sleep in a new bed, Alex would always first give it the fall test, as he called it. It had been something he had done since he was a kid. Whether it was in a hotel on vacation, during a sleepover at a friend's place or the few times he had moved houses, he would always do the fall test. It wasn't a complicated test, and he doubted many people would consider it an actual test, but it was his little ritual.
He stood at the edge of the bed, his back facing towards it. With a deep breath, he closed his eyes and fell backwards. His body hit the soft bed with a loud thud, louder than he had expected. The mattress itself was surprisingly soft. Yeah, he could imagine himself sleeping soundly in this bed. It definitely passed the fall test. The bed felt so good that, despite not being tired at all yet, it was hard to get back off it. In the end, Alex had to roll himself off the bed, cause he just couldn't get up.
His knees hit the wooden floor as he rolled out of bed. "Ah, that hurt!" he yelled out. It was his own fault, but he still hadn't imagined it would hurt that badly. Now on the ground, he could see under his bed. There wasn't much there except for a small book. He reached out and grabbed it from under the bed. It was a leather-bound journal that had clearly seen better days. The cover of the book didn't give Alex any idea as to what it might contain.
With the book in hand, he stood back up and walked over to the wooden desk. He hesitated for a moment when he saw the symbols on the stone plate started to glow again, then he remembered what they did; it was the whole reason he had walked over to the desk. He sat down in the chair, and the glowing orb floated out of the plate and illuminated the desk. Now that he had enough light to read, Alex flipped the book open to the first page. Right at the top of the page was a short sentence written, contextualizing what he was holding.
This is the journal of J.D. If you find this, please return it.
Reading someone's journal felt wrong, but Alex needed information. He needed to blend into the rest of the students, and he couldn't do that if he knew nothing about the world he was now living in. With a pang of regret, he flipped the journal over to the next page.
Hey Journal, today is my first day at the academy. Still can't believe they let me in. Me, the son of a mareth farmer. Do they really think I can be an adventurer, or do they just take everyone and hope some of us make it out? Doesn't matter, I'm here now. I'm going to make the best of it and prove to my father I can be a hero.
Tomorrow I'll have my first class. It's Crafting Fundamentals given by a professor named Marcus Ghestalt. I remember hearing stories about him. The famous Halfling Engineer. Right, they don't like to be called Halflings. Got to remember that when I'm in his class. I feel like Support might be my field, so I've got to make a good impression on him.
