Once Alex had started reading the journal, he couldn't stop. An hour had passed by the time he put it back down, and the only reason he didn't immediately pick it back up again was because the party outside by the massive fire pit seemed to have stopped. The fire still burnt bright, but the number of students had dwindled to just a few. From his window, Alex could see Aro still going strong, dancing with two other students. Both of them were upperclassmen, like Aro, denoted by the colored accents on their uniforms. Even from up on the second floor, the colors stood out against the rest of the black uniform, and Alex could see which disciplines they belonged to. One of them, a tall boy with almost pitch-black hair and pointed ears, had the brownish-gold accents of the Support discipline. His accents seemed to shimmer slightly in the fire's light. The other belonged to the Combat discipline, like Aro. Her red hair fluttered in the wind as she danced, evoking the image of a small fire moving to the rhythm of the music.

  Alex moved away from the window again and stared at the journal lying on the desk. With the glowing orb from the stone plate gone, the book was barely visible on the wooden furniture. He debated picking it back up, glancing back and forth between the book and the fire outside. Most other students seemed to have gone to bed, and he didn't know what tomorrow would bring him, so getting to bed was probably a smart idea. But reading more of the journal seemed enticing as well. Aside from the fact that he had learned so much about the world in just the hour he had spent reading it, the previous owner, J.D., was just an excellent writer.

  Almost everything he had read so far was mostly focused on the academy itself and how J.D. was settling in, but that didn't mean there wasn't interesting stuff in there. Like the fact that the academy was still pretty new, with all the founding members still being teachers at the school, including both Marcus and Fillonia. Or how both Marcus and one other of the founding members were Halflings, though calling them that was deemed derogatory, and that they should instead be called Hearthkin. He wondered what else he would learn through the journal.

  In the end, he decided to head to bed. He hid the journal in a drawer of the nightstand next to his bed, not wanting someone else to find it in case they knew J.D. and wanted to return the book. Alex felt bad as he placed the book down, sure that whoever J.D. was, they would want it back, but he could use every advantage he could in this new world. He promised he'd only borrow it until he knew enough about the world, but promises like that were easy to break.

  After closing the large curtains by the balcony window, Alex undressed and crawled into the bed. The blanket was extremely soft, and it didn't take long before he was dozing off.

  Initializing... 50%

  Initialization still paused. Please insert Power source to continue.

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  The two sounds — the knocking and the unnerving voice scraping behind his skull — woke him up. Wherever that voice came from, he would need to find a way to stop it; it was a horrible way to wake up. Alex sat up, rubbed his eyes and looked towards the window. Even through the black curtains he could see it was morning now, the faint light barely lighting up the room. The banging on his door continued.

  "Wake up, runt!" Aro's voice shouted through the door.

  Alex quickly put his uniform back on and opened the door. The young lion-boy had looked regal last night; now he looked more like a drowned cat. Knots filled his long blonde mane, and it stuck out in strange directions. His yellow, vertical-slit eyes looked exhausted, and he had trouble keeping them open.

  "Is everything all right?" Alex asked, confused why the upperclassman was at his door.

  "What? Yeah, just forgot I was tasked with showing you around today and stayed up too late." Aro responded as he walked inside and sat down in the desk chair. The glowing orb started floating out of the stone plate, but after a quick swipe at the plate, the orb dissolved again.

  Alex looked at the plate confused. How had the lion boy done that? Last night, Alex had thoroughly examined the plate and hadn't found any kind of switch or off-button. For a moment he wondered if he should just ask, or whether that would seem suspicious. In the end, he just asked, and if it came across as suspicious, he would just blame it on the amnesia he supposedly had.

  "How did you do that?" Alex asked as he walked past the lion-boy and opened the curtains blocking the window.

  "Do what?" Aro responded groggily, his hand raised to shield his eyes from the morning light now streaming into the room.

  "Turn off the light."

  "Oh, right, just got to imbue it with some mana to temporarily short-circuit it. Should work again in a few hours," Aro said as if that was enough explanation. "Don't worry about it. You'll learn it in one of Marcus' classes, not sure which one it was again."

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  Going by what Alex had read in J.D. journal that would probably be Crafting Fundamentals, a class he was looking forward to. According to the journal, Marcus Ghestalt was an incredible teacher, despite his carefree attitude. The Hearthkin took care to make sure each of his students got enough challenge during his classes, all while keeping his class entertaining enough for those that lacked the skills. And mana, was that what was needed as a power source for that strange voice in his head? The journal also mentioned a library on the campus, maybe he could check in there for how mana worked.

  Aro shifted slightly in the chair. Like Alex last night, the lion-boy must have noticed the chair's legs were slightly uneven. "Oh, shit, you've got J.D.'s old room!" he suddenly exclaimed. How? How did Aro know that? Was the journal visible? Did he know J.D. well?

  "Who?" Alex asked, claiming ignorance, hoping Aro wouldn't ask about a missing journal.

  "J.D.," Aro said, pointing to some scribbles on one of the chair's legs. As Alex got closer to look at them, he saw that J.D. had put his initials on the leg. "This must be the chair he told everyone about. Apparently, Marcus had made him make it after his previous chair had broken. He had no woodworking skills whatsoever, but still made the chair. Damn, miss that guy."

  "What happened to him?" Alex asked suddenly worried about the owner of the journal he had been reading. Was he reading a dead man's journal?

  "Oh, nothing. He graduated a few months ago. Last I heard, he went back to his family's ranch to improve it with the skills he learned on the Support track and ease his father's work."

  "You knew him well?"

  "I knew him all right. He was a third-year when I arrived here. Slept at the Support dorm, but still often came to the pit at night." Aro stood back up from the chair while trying to get his blonde mane somewhat in shape. "Alright, let's go, runt. First stop on the tour: the dining hall. I'm hungry."

  Alex followed the lion boy out of his room and pulled the door closed behind him. There was no immediate way he could see to actually lock the door, but he doubted anyone would try to enter it. Either way, it was something else to look into later. As they descended the stairs, Alex could see that the courtyard had completely changed from what he had seen the night before. The large fire pit was still there, still burning, though not as bright as last night. The wooden tables strewn about the courtyard had been moved to form long dining tables now, most already filled with students eating all sorts of strange meals. A few of the students waved to Aro as they walked past them.

  Entering the dining hall itself Alex was blown away by the wave of fragrance that hit his face. While students filled the tables outside, the scene was nothing compared to the chaos inside the hall. Dozens of accents and dialects mixed into a cacophony of murmurs punctuated by bouts of laughter. Like outside, the hall was filled with long tables, students sitting down wherever they found an open spot. In the corner, a group of students were playing a soft song, which could be clearly heard despite the murmur of loud voices. The whole deal scared Alex. It seemed everyone had a flow and knew what to do, but to him it just looked like one big chaos.

  "Don't worry, runt, everyone gets overwhelmed when they first get here," Aro said, placing a clawed hand on Alex's shoulder. The weight of the claw was still noticeable, but unlike last night there was no malice in the grip. It felt comforting. "Most people decide to sit outside during their first few weeks. Now let's get some food."

  The lion-boy let go of Alex's shoulder again and started walking towards the opposite side from the students playing music. Judging from the amount of students walking away from their direction with trays full of food, they were heading towards the kitchen. The trays were filled with all sorts of food, some that looked similar to something Alex had seen back on Earth, some that looked completely alien. The closer they got to the kitchen, the stronger the waft of flavors permeating through the air got. Alex didn't know what they were cooking up in the kitchen, but it smelled amazing and his stomach started growling.

  "Sounds like I'm not the only one that's hungry," Aro joked, licking his lips. "Any idea what you want yet?"

  "Uhm..., no," Alex said, not wanting to say something that didn't exist in this world and give himself away. What he really wanted, what he always ate in the morning, was some way too sugary cereal. Something to make him feel back at home. So far, however, he hadn't seen anything like that on any of the trays that passed them.

  "Overwhelmed by the choices?" Aro asked as they reached the end of the line of waiting students, "I heard that was a problem for first-year commoners. We had a personal chef back home, so this is pretty similar. If you haven't decided by the time it's our turn, I'll pick something out for you."

  So Aro wasn't just popular and strong, he was rich as well. Once again, Alex wasn't sure how to answer. Maybe letting the upperclassman pick something for him wasn't a terrible choice. For one, it wouldn't embarrass him when it was his turn to order. Second, it would show him what the people in this world ate. He just hoped the lion-boy would choose something palatable. "You can go ahead and order for me. I really don't know what to pick."

  "You really want me to order for you?" Aro asked surprised, "You're either stupid or brave. Either way, respect."

  "Uhm...," Alex started to crawl back from his decision.

  "Nope, too late now. Hope you like meat, runt."

  By the time it was almost their turn, Alex had seen plenty of trays with things he would definitely eat, some even looking like cereal. Other trays had things he would most definitely not get inside him. However, Alex was once again astonished by what he saw inside the kitchen. There were dozens of fires roasting all sorts of meats, at least ten pots cooking some kind of stew, and keeping it all in check was a single woman. Like Marcus, she was rather short, which meant she was probably a Hearthkin. A piece of red string held her brown hair tightly in a small bun, and all kinds of spills muddled her apron with different colors.

  She wasn't alone in the kitchen, however. Waving her arms around, she commanded five large golems made of clay. The massive homunculi looked clumsy, but they moved around the kitchen with organized grace. It was clear they were under her command as occasionally she shouted commands at the constructs and they immediately followed them.

  After serving a plate of what looked like soup filled with pink carrots, she turned to Alex and Aro. "Ah, Aro, and this must be a new student. What can I get for you two?"