During my daily routine I'd often walk past the Vegan Zombie. It was in the city center, but far enough from the neon-filled nightclub nightmare to make it a good spot for students. It looked and smelled inviting, but I never cared to go in.
Now I had to.
I spotted Bee from outside. Their group was sitting on the upper level. Their window served as one of the eyes of the zombie mural painted on the front wall. I could see her talking enthusiastically while stealing glances at the street.
As the sun was just about to rise, the city felt almost empty. I think I never saw this place before in sunlight. I wanted to walk around a bit, looking into the nooks and corners that normally were covered in shadows. Maybe climb up a building, to get a better view of…
My phone beeped, and I shuddered, breaking the concealment I didn't even knew I put up.
"Are you lost?" asked Bee through the screen. She was getting worried.
I made a mental note to come back some other time to explore around, and with my hiding aura recast, I pushed in the front door.
The first floor was filled with people. The kitchen was in the center, surrounded by glass walls. The chefs were rushing around from one station to the next, preparing every order the quick footed waiters brought in.
Around me, every table was filled. The constant noise people made was spiced with bouts of deep laughter coming from a group of large men with even larger mugs. They seemed to be celebrating something.
"Welcome to the Vegan Zombie. Can I help you?" A friendly voice came from my right that belonged to a girl. She was wearing a black outfit, each piece embroidered with a smiling zombie head.
"My friends are here. Upstairs." I said, and the girl replied without missing a beat.
"Should I take you there?"
"No, it's okay." I said immediately. The girl nodded.
"Well, if you need any help, just ask." She walked away, probably to tend to another customer, and it just hit me, that I have no idea how to get upstairs.
It was too late. I couldn't just run after her with a desperate cry for help. She has way too many people to deal with anyway, so I don't want to bother her.
I looked around for a moment, to get my bearings. Some people brushed past me, and I just remembered that I was still standing in the doorway, being an annoyance. I took some steps forward, watching for every shadow that might lead upwards, but the nonstop chatting broke my concentration.
I took out my phone to look up some pictures online as a last-ditch attempt. Maybe they have one showing the layout.
As I browsed the web, a big white bow appeared in my vision.
"Ava! You're here!" Bee exclaimed as she attacked me with a hug. "I was starting to think you wouldn't come."
Her aura was overflowing and crashing into mine, making my skin crawl. I gently pulled back making her choose between dangling from my neck or letting go. She chose the latter.
I took a better look at her. Other than the oversized bow, everything she wore was black. The sleeves of her top reached her knees, but her tulle skirt ended panty-flashingly close.
"Come, let's go to the others." She took my hand and pulled me to a hidden elevator. She swiped a necklace hanging from her belt on the keypad.
"Why do you need that?"
She shrugged. "RA's renting this place for us." My eyebrows shot up.
"The school is renting this place?"
"Just half of it. And it's not like we have a canteen. We have to eat somewhere."
"But it's a restaurant."
My attempted freak out quickly died down as we entered the upper floor.
The brick walls were lined by runes letting the golden outlines of the busy street below slither about as a living art piece. Some carefully installed windows guided the weak sunlight into the space. It had that sort of gentle, cozy feeling, like sitting in front of a fireplace. I swear I could hear the wood crackling.
Bee led me through the room. The tables were still full, but they were spaced out more, and had some sort of sound-cancelling magic around which pummeled my aura shield like water balloons.
"Is everyone here an RA student?" I whispered.
"I don't think so… Why do you ask?"
"There's dense magic in the air."
Bee stopped and looked back at me for a moment, but then she continued without a word.
We soon arrived at the other side of that window I saw from outside. Both the spikey girl and the quiet one sat at the table. I dug through my mind to find their names: Tia and Sky.
Tia wore a luxurious gold and white cocktail dress that showed off her curves, with a thick belt that had some runes etched into it. Her hair was in the same updo as before, with the shimmering stick pins carefully arranged. She left a couple curls loose around her face. Her makeup gave a slight shimmer to her dark skin, to compliment the dress.
Sky also had a dress on, but hers was less 'I just walked the red carpet' feeling. It was blue with little white flowers. She gathered her hair into a ponytail with a braid running on the side, making the blue ombre more visible.
They were both surrounded by bags bearing the names of high-end clothes shops.
"We're here!" Bee sat down beside Tia, pushing the pesky bags to the floor.
I surveyed the booth for a place to sit, but came up short. Skylar noticed my hesitation, and cleared some space at her side.
"Come, Ava, I don't bite." She said, then smiled reassuringly.
I inched into place, doing my best not to disturb the new clothes. I didn't want to lose all my savings just to replace a trampled item.
"It's nice to see you here." Tia said gently. "I feared we scared you off for good."
"She won't get scared that easily, right Ava?" Bee rebutted.
I nodded.
"Did you order?"
"Just some appetizers. I did not want to leave her out." Tia smiled, then slightly raised her hand.
A waiter appeared next to us, as if out of the thin air. Surprised, I tried to poke him with my aura, but it passed right through.
"How may I serve you?"
"Bring her the menu. Also, a bottle of sweet witching wine. Andalusian." She ordered.
The waiter bowed and disappeared as quickly as he came.
"A projection?" I asked. "I've never seen one before."
"Good eye, Ava." Tia praised. "Most don't catch it."
"They swapped the real guy after Tia made him drop a bunch of plates by winking too seductively." Sky added calmly, and the accused just smiled.
"What projection?" Bee perked up.
"You'll learn next year. It's an advanced light manipulation technique. They use it in the movies a lot." Sky explained.
"Wow."
"It is certainly harder to tell on screen. You can feel the emptiness inside in person." Tia said.
"Yeah, pretty pokeable." I said. When Bee looked questioningly, I added. "With my aura. It went through like it was nothing."
"You can extend your aura?!" Bee squeaked. "How can you do it? Can you teach me?"
"Now, now, Beatrice, calm down. It is not nice to attack someone with your questions." Tia said and the girl calmed down immediately.
"Sorry."
A woman stepped to our table and gave me the menu. It was only one page so I quickly read it and pointed to the first interesting line. "Number three please."
She nodded. Tia has just finished sampling the wine, so she poured us some before leaving.
I swirled about the red liquid, trying to look like I know what I was doing, and took a bite of the tiny bread with vegetables. I couldn't taste anything, but it was at least crunchy.
"I hoped the texture of the bruschetta would compensate for the lack of taste." Tia said.
"How did you know?" I asked after I munched another bite.
"I have a friend in the same situation. He always orders the "loudest and brightest" to quote."
"Well, the first thing that comes to mind for loud and bright is a firecracker, but I'm not sure I'd like to try that."
We laughed and slowly cleared the plate. They chatted about school and magic and I tried my best to listen.
As I gathered, there was a party coming up. That's probably why they bought new dresses. Or for fun. I wasn't sure.
I also learned that RA had a general curriculum that was the same for everyone, as well as specialized classes where the different grade students trained together. They seemed to focus on either real-life use of spells, which were the 'applied' classes, or the theory behind it in the 'research' classes. All three girls were in the former.
Tia could manipulate objects with runes etched into them. She had some requests from work agencies already. She righted a capsized ship from the shore by telling the crew what to etch on the walls.
Bee had ambitions to learn fire-based magic, like I have. She said it so enthusiastically, I didn't have the heart to tell her she'll always be a fire spirit short of my level. She would go to the fire department with other students to apply magic on their gear that allowed them to stay in fire longer without getting burned.
Sky designed arcane objects that could be manipulated without the active use magic, to make everyone's life easier. They were currently working on a project to convert electricity to magic and back, so areas with low mage count could start to use enhanced items and escape the pre-magic era.
It all sounded so cool.
Suddenly, my goal of for being a magic beast wrangler somewhere far from civilization didn't seem good enough. It was my lifelong dream to get as far away from people as possible, and I knew that neither the hot jungle or the freezing tundra would bother me much. As a Hunter, I could overpower most beasts that escaped the nature preserves, and more importantly haul them back without the need of equipment. The job fit me well, but still, something was nagging me in the back of my mind.
I have been so lost in thought I didn't notice that the other stopped talking. Only after someone touched my shoulder did I snap back to reality, just in time to hear Tia's question.
"Now tell me, what brings you here today?"