Alex stared at the piece of paper in front of him. His attempt at writing a letter back home wasn't going great. He just didn't know what to write. How did he even explain what was happening to him? It wasn't like they were ever going to read it, but still. With a deep sigh, he read what he had written so far.

  Hi mom and dad,

  You'll never guess what happened. I died, but it's okay. For I live again.

  He shook his head and crumpled up the piece of paper. With his hand in front of his eyes, he tossed it towards the rest of the crumpled-up attempts he had made. Humor, or at least his failed attempt at humor, was not the way to go. That marked the fifth letter he had started, and the fifth he had thrown away. He stood up from behind his desk and walked over to his balcony. Like yesterday, there was a party going on by the massive fire pit, though it seemed on the calmer side compared to last night. For a moment he wondered if he could spot the other first-year boy he had overheard during dinner.

  The ache in his chest surprised him. He hadn't realized how much he missed knowing where he belonged, hanging out with friends. Sure, he could make new friends here, and Henry was already becoming one, but that didn't mean he didn't miss his old friend back on Earth. How he would love to hear that obnoxious laugh of Tim again as he explained what someone in his chat had said during his last stream.

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  Someone was banging loudly on the door to his room, and there was only one person that could be. Only Aro knew where his room was. It seemed his day was going to start and end with the lion-boy knocking his door down.

  "Hey, runt, are you there? Are you still alive?" the Kahrn shouted through the door. Alex wasn't sure, but the upperclassman sounded worried. Had something happened? Or was this just Aro pulling another hazing on him? He carefully opened the door, worried it might be the latter.

  "Thank The Dawn Prince, you're alright," Aro exclaimed as soon as he saw Alex's face. Alex had no idea who or what The Dawn Prince was, but now he had someone he could just ask without raising suspicion. He was really glad Henry was there when Miss Philaxter and Fillonia discovered he was an Otherborn.

  "Are you alright?" Alex asked, turning the question on the lion-boy.

  "What, me?" Aro sounded confused, like he hadn't just banged down the door to Alex's room looking for him. "Of course I'm alright. It's just, I was at the pit and I heard someone say that something happened at the library and a healer had to come. Then I remembered you were at the library, and I hadn't seen you since I left you there. And I just... it would just be a really bad look if something happened to the first-year I was supposed to look over on his first day on campus, you know?"

  It felt sweet that Aro seemed to actually care for Alex, even if he couldn't admit it. He had no idea when the bonding had happened, but in return Alex would also feel bad if anything were to happen to the brash lion-boy. That didn't mean he was going to tell him what had really happened in the library and that he was an Otherborn; there was no way Aro wouldn't accidentally blurt it out while boasting to someone. Even now, rumors were already spreading of something happening.

  "I'm alright," Alex tried to reassure the Kahrn. "I just got a headache. Have been getting them pretty often lately."

  "Are you sure you're alright? Headaches usually mean something is wrong with your mana, especially if they're that frequent," Aro asked, the concern still there in his voice. For how boisterous and aloof the Kahrn presented himself, he was surprisingly smart. Okay, he hadn't figured out Alex was an Otherborn, but he did figure out something was wrong with his mana.

  "I am, Fillonia checked me out and said I was good to go. She has asked me to come and check in with her every day just to make sure," Alex reassured while interweaving an excuse for why he needs to visit Fillonia every day. It wasn't a complete lie that she asked him to check in; it just wasn't for the headaches, at least not directly.

  "Alright, if you say so," Aro said. He didn't seem completely convinced, and Alex just hoped he wouldn't ask further questions. "Since you say you're alright and are just holing yourself up in your room, I'm going to go back to the pit. You're more than welcome to come join us."

  "Maybe later, I'm trying to write a letter back home." Alex pointed at the pile of crumpled-up paper on the ground. "It isn't really going that great."

  "Hah, I remember when my father required me to send him a letter every week," the Kahrn laughed, his large fangs fully visible. "I think he gave up on that after a few months. Hopefully, I'll see you later at the pit; otherwise, I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast. Good luck with the letter, runt."

  With that, the lion-boy was off again. Given the speed he had when taking off, Alex half expected him to start running on all fours. That would have been a sight to see. He closed the door and went back to his desk, ready to start attempt number six at writing the letter.

  In the end, Alex hadn't gone down to the pit. He had started four more letters before giving up. No matter what he tried, he just couldn't put into words how he felt right now. How did you even explain everything that happened to him? After the ninth attempt, he decided it just wasn't for today. He watched the party still going on down by the pit through the window, but didn't feel like joining. Instead, he laid himself down on his bed, closed his eyes, and just let his mind wander.

  The next morning was calm, too calm. The warm rays of the sun shone on Alex's face as he shifted in his bed. He could hear a few voices in the courtyard. A few people must be already grabbing breakfast. Alex opened his eyes wide. He was supposed to get up early and beat the morning rush at the Notice Board. After quickly putting on his uniform, he walked by the large window to see how many students were already outside. They were packed. How late was it? Without Aro waking him up like yesterday, he had overslept. How did people wake up on time without an alarm clock or some kind of alarm on their phone? He would need to ask Henry about that later. He just hoped there would be at least a few good jobs still left on the Notice Board.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  While the board was not as empty as it was yesterday, it was also clear Alex was too late for the good jobs. After browsing the board for a minute, he settled on two jobs for the day. Miss Philaxter had reposted the library job again, so he grabbed that one without a doubt in his mind. The second job he picked up paid even fewer credits, but again, he didn't pick it for the pay, but rather the opportunity it gave him.

  He would need to ask Henry who Mister Klynth was, but the job would allow him to explore the campus with a purpose instead of walking around aimlessly. With the two pieces of paper carefully tucked away in a pocket of his uniform, he headed towards the kitchen to order breakfast. There was a slight pang of guilt in the back of his mind at the fact that he had taken two jobs at once. He hoped that wasn't something people frowned upon.

  The line for breakfast was even longer than it had been yesterday. It took him almost half an hour before it was his turn to order, and his stomach had been growling for at least the last ten minutes of that. The kitchen was filled with six golems today, and Tildia was too busy taking orders to do any of the cooking herself. It was clearly busier than yesterday.

  "Morning, Alex," the stout Hearthkin said as it was his turn to order. "What will it be today?"

  For a moment, Alex hesitated between the Haldynian sandwich Aro had ordered for him yesterday and the Sugar Flakes he saw Henry eat that same morning. The flakes had looked eerily like the cereal he usually ate back on Earth. In the end, he went with the sandwich. While the flakes looked like the cereal, he had no way of knowing if they also tasted like the cereal. At least he knew he liked the sandwich.

  With his breakfast in hand, Alex started searching for a place to sit. This proved harder than expected. Inside the dining hall, every seat seemed taken, and as soon as a spot opened up, it was quickly filled by another, faster student also looking for a place to sit. After circling the hall twice, Alex gave up on finding a place inside and headed outside. A shame really. The musicians playing inside the hall were playing songs he liked, and he would have loved to eat and listen to them play. Of course, they weren't songs he knew, but he liked the melodies.

  Outside, his luck seemed to turn. He had only been searching for a minute or two when he saw someone raise their hand in the air and wave for his attention. It was Henry. The young Fairy was sitting all alone, Aro and Cynthia nowhere to be seen. There were still a few spots available next to him, and it seemed he was keeping them free for people he knew. Another first-year student tried to sit next to him as Alex walked over, but Henry said something to them that made them turn away. At least he hadn't yelled at them like Aro had done at the Notice Board yesterday.

  "Hey Henry," Alex said as he sat down next to the dark-haired boy, "no Aro or Cynthia today?"

  "Hey Alex, and no, they're probably still in bed. It was unusual for both of them to be up that early yesterday."

  "Really? Don't you guys have classes early in the morning?" Alex asked, confused. This was a school, wasn't it?

  Henry shook his head as he shoved a spoonful of the same Sugar Flakes he had yesterday in his mouth. "Us third-years don't have that many classes anymore. Most of our time is spent practicing our skills and on trial missions. Fourth-years almost exclusively go on trial missions before they graduate. How are you feeling today? And did you really take a Haldynian sandwich again? You know you have nothing to prove to Aro, right?"

  Alex chuckled. "I'm alright, no headaches yet. And I know, but I really like it. Kind of reminds me of home."

  It seemed Henry really didn't get that as he had a disgusted look on his face as Alex took his first bite from the sandwich. "So what are your plans for today?" He asked, his face still not recovering.

  "Picked two jobs from the Notice Board earlier. Was that alright?" Alex asked, hoping he hadn't done something that was looked down upon.

  Henry laughed, "Two? Yeah, that's more than fine. Almost everyone takes more than one at once. I think I saw Aro take ten once. He was running around campus all day and failed a test he had the next day."

  "Thank you, I was really worried after I picked that second one, but I didn't know how to put it back on the board. Is that even possible?"

  Henry shook his head. "No, once you take something off the board, you need to at least try to complete it. Only certain members of the staff can put things on the board."

  "So there's no way for a student or someone from outside the academy to post something on the Notice Board?" Alex asked, trying to figure out what the scope of the jobs on the board could be. So far he had only seen jobs that looked to come from the academy staff, but maybe the others had been taken before he got there.

  "No, there can be jobs from students or civilians as well. Those just need to go through a staff member and get approval. I can show you where you can post a potential job later if you want. Do you have a job in mind?"

  "No, no, just trying to figure out how the whole thing works."

  "Alright, if you have any other questions, just ask. This must all be a lot for you to grasp, right? Did you have something like this back home?"

  Alex had to think about that question for a moment. This was the first time Henry had asked about something on Earth for the first time and Alex wasn't sure how to answer it without confusing the Fairy even more. "Sort of, we had small machines we could put into our pockets. They connected everyone with each other, and there was something similar to the Notice Boards on those machines." It was hard to explain cellphones and forums to someone completely foreign to them, and he just hoped Henry could at least somewhat understand what he was talking about.

  "Really? You definitely need to tell me more about those... once we're somewhere a little more private," Henry whispered that last part as he glanced at the other students sitting nearby. "So, what jobs did you pick up from the board?"

  "I picked up some kind of courier job. Figured it would let me explore the campus with a reason. Just need to figure out who Mister Klynth is."

  "Oh, Petrus Klynth, he's the guy working in that small supply shop I showed you yesterday."

  "Perfect, I already know where to go for that one then. Miss Philaxter also reposted the library job I tried yesterday, so I picked that one up again as well. Just got to make sure I don't use a Catalogue Stone this time. I needed to be in the library anyway for the checkup."

  "Makes sense. You heading there after breakfast?"

  "I am, why?"

  "Mind if I tag along? I wanted to get some studying in before my test in the afternoon, so I was heading to the library anyway. So I was wondering if I could be there when Miss Philaxter tests you?"

  "Sure, I wouldn't mind having someone I trust there with me. Let me just finish this sandwich first."

  "Do you have to?" Henry said, his face contorting in disgust again.