"Hey S'ffa... do you think you're gonna be safe down here???...." I asked as we all made our way back to the main entrance.
"We take extra care when expanding into new caverns.... making sure we don't open ourselves up to many predators...." she explained.
"Ohhh..... What sort of creatures roam around here??..." I asked.
"Well we are currently still in a relatively shallow depth but deeper down.... there are Slimes, Umberhulks, Elementals, Dark Elves, Mind Slavers there's many dangerous creatures once you go deeper...." she explained.
"How do you defend yourselves?...." I asked.
"There are some of us.... that can fight.... but generally we just hide." she answered.
"Ohhh no ...." I replied worried for her
"It's okay..... Atlantais has given us a way to contact them in Emergencies and there's an Emergency Response team if anything bad happens." She answered.
"What sort of relationship does Atlantis have with you guys?.." I asked a little curious and slightly relieved
"We supply Atlantis with subterranean Reagents, and in return they help and assist us if we are in need." She replied.
"Ohhh that nice... is it..... Okay?....." I asked feeling a little insecure after hearing all the news about Zessia.
"Yeah.... Life before Atlantis was a little rough... alot of Running and hiding...." She answered.
"... Yeah but Atlantis doesn't take advantage right?.." I asked again in another way.
"Ummm no.... we still live a quiet peaceful life.... we do try to fill our quotas but nothing strenuous..." She answered.
"Ohh that's.... nice..." I answered feeling a reassured.
"Don't worry we are in good hands. We keep growing and growing instead of struggling for survival." She tried to reassure me.
"That's Great" I replied with a smile.
"Yeah.... life is alot better for us now." She said with a smile.
"I think we gonna need to speed up guys..... I think they are waiting for us." Jay said as we approached the pedestal we arrived at with a large number of students shuffling in to the portal.
"Ahh crap..." Grace said starting a jog causing us all to begin a small run to the school group.
"Come along children! It's getting late!" The Deputy Headmistress yelled out to us.
Arriving in the queue I held S'ffa in my hands, "Thanks for today S'ffa!" I said with a giant smile.
"It was great to meet you, I had a great time." She said with a smile.
Hugging her like a small pet I placing her down on the floor, "I'll try to keep in touch!" I said bidding her farewell.
"Bye Emilia! I hope we can meet again!" she said with a smile waving.
"Take care! Look after yourself okay!" I said to her.
"Of course!" She smiled.
"Good bye!" I said following the students into the portal giving her one last look and wave before entering. In an instance we were transported back into the courtyard of the school, the World Tree glimmering in the sunset.
"Come along children let's head to the dining hall for dinner." The Deputy Headmistress instructed us.
Slowly the whole class began making their way to the dining hall. "Man I'm starving!" Daisy said to us walking and stretching.
"No surprise there.... you did alot to help them out." Grace commented.
"By the way what did you do Grace?.." Helen asked.
"Me?... I just taught them how to make bows and arrows and how to shoot them..... Simple boring stuff." She said with a big yawn.
"YOU guys excited for tomorrow???!!!" Grace asked us excited.
"Of course! We get to see other students duelling each other!" Jay replied.
"What is so important about these "Ranks?..." I asked feeling a little uneasy.
"Well firstly it's like a status symbol the higher rank you are the more respect you get!" Daisy replied.
"Yup .... Also you can take up bounties and missions that pay better at a higher rank." Jay replied.
"Hmmmm..... come to think about it.. We are pretty tight on gold ourselves..." Helen replied looking at Grace.
"I thought you both were royalty?... or Nobility...." Jay asked looking a little confused.
"Yeah but remember our families didn't like out decision... so we are basically on our own...." Helen replied.
"Yeah..... We also went to a human School... instead of an Elven school.... so that made it much much worse..." Grace added.
"Why did you go to a Human school?..." I asked looking a little curious.
"Well.... it's because we wanted to see the world with our own eyes...." Grace answered.
"Yup.... we didn't want Elven prejudices to influence us." Helen replied with a giant smile.
Making it inside we quickly took the seats that were left free for us eagerly waiting for our dinner. "These reserved seats are so continent! Even arriving late they were still free" Daisy said with a giant smile getting ready for dinner.
"I know right....." Jay added patiently waiting for everyone to get their food before quickly scoffing down food.
"So are you guys going to challenge someone or wait to get challenged first?.." Daisy asked while eating.
"I'll probably wait to get challenged first... I don't even really know who I should face off with." Grace replied.
"How does the ranking system work?...." I asked.
"From what I understand..... You're ranked by position in school... say... 600th.... you jump positions based on who you beat that is higher than you.... you ascend one rank higher than them." Grace explained.
"You also don't get anything from beating unranked students or students below your rank." Helen added.
"I see..... Can you just remain unranked?..." I asked feeling unwillingness to hurt someone.
"Yeah... of course that's fine." Helen smiled.
"It might be harder to get into certain groups and Jobs but it's completely fine." Grace added.
"Yeah I'm the same..... I'm not really fussed with these 'ranks' either." Jay said taking a pause from his eating.
"This may sound selfish or shallow.... but I wanna be highest ranks as possible!" Daisy said with a giant smile holding up a balled fist, "Maybe I should challenge Calista!" Daisy yelled causing several students to turn their heads.
"You shouldn't be so cocky.... she's apparently very adept at spell casting already." Grace said.
"Yup..... She would have received prior teaching and training...." Helen added.
"Yeah so have I! and I'll still kick her butt!" Daisy replied dismissing their warnings.
"How do you challenge someone?..." I asked.
"In the Colosseum there will be someone there who you can talk to and issue a challenge..." Jay explained.
"And how do you know if you've been challenged?.." I asked.
"Generally you will have been given 1 weeks' notice before you have to participate to you know... do some training and studying.... But I'm not sure how they issue it to you..." Jay added.
"Can you refuse or decline the duel?.." I asked.
"I don't think so.." Jay answered.
"Well that sounds a little stupid..." I replied.
"Well you can just forfeit the duel once it's started." Jay explained.
"Can I just not turn up?..." I asked uninterested in this silly little popularity contest.
"I guess?...." He answered.
"I'm not too fussed about this whole duelling thing.... I'm just here to learn magic and have a good time." I answered.
"Ummm it's not all bad.... duelling is a great way to gain insight into fighting other people and style of fighting..... You're not only going to be coming across creatures outside these walls..." Grace explained.
"True but I'll still rather study first and fight later." I explained.
"You do have a point..... And you'll be unranked so no one will gain anything from duelling you so you should be fine." Helen added.
As soon as we finished eating five blue rectangles began manifesting themselves one for each of us.
"What the...." I said in shock.