Brigit stepped through the door then immediately ducked as a baseball-sized orb of fire shot right through what would have been her face. Kira, who was far too short to have even been singed by the fireball, let out a low whistle as it passed overhead.
"Missed, pay up!" A loud young man laughed triumphantly while a chorus of disappointed groans filled the air, punctuated by just a couple enthusiastic cheers.
"That's so unfair! Chief got all of us on the first day..."
"He didn't use a fireball though, just wadded up paper."
"They were allowed to enroll late, of course they've got some skill."
"Does it really take skill to dodge that tiny puny pitiful little fireball though?"
"Hey, watch your mouth! It's not the size, it's how you use it!"
"Yeah, and you use it poorly."
"You-"
"Welcome to the Tower of Losers," someone draped over an armchair like a used dish rag waved a hand in Brigit's direction, her voice sleepy and lacking any enthusiasm.
The entire bottom floor of the tower was an open lounge space, with a labeled elevator to other floors sitting in the back across from the front door. A mixed menagerie of furniture clustered around the room, chairs and stools and couches and tables all in different styles and varying conditions. Thick curtains were drawn to cover most of the windows, but a majority of the curtains had burns or tears or other signs of disrepair.
The loud young man from before spoke again. "Alright kids, everyone line up! Let's go, time for introductions!"
More groans as everyone present reluctantly followed his orders, arranging themselves into a disorderly line of seven people. None of them wore anything resembling uniforms, though the loud young man had a shiny bronze badge pinned to his shirt.
He stood at attention, in stark contrast to the rest of the slouching lumps shuffling their feet and muttering. A solid build, thick muscles, and an honest face that looked mostly human aside from the tusks protruding from his mouth. His skin was gray with a green sheen, and his ears flopped a little at the tips. "I'm the First Year General 1-9F representative Chen Tuskhorn. Level 6-F Fighter, Demi-Orc. Everyone calls me Chief, nice to meet you!"
Next to him was a tiny adorable dog person with sleek cream white and gold fur who looked very similar to a bipedal Pomeranian dressed in tiny cute clothes. When she spoke, her voice was quiet and sweet, as soft and delicate as cotton candy. "Ribbon, Level 2-F Acolyte, Kobold... Nice to meet you..."
The next two to speak were identical ladies with spearmint green skin, sky blue hair reaching to their ankles, long pointed ears and curvaceous figures emphasized by plain but flattering white dresses. Their neon blue eyes were half-lidded, beautiful faces wearing matching expressions of boredom.
"Minthe Arvex. Level 4-F Mage, Demi-Demona. Call me Mint."
"Meriandra Arvex. Level 4-F Mage, Demi-Demona. Call me Meri, please."
A short, sulking boy with dark brown skin, long ink black hair, and shocking violet eyes pointedly refused to look anywhere except at the floor. He had pointed ears and intricate black tattoos like flowering vines decorating the sides of his charming face. "Simon Elderwood. Level 3-F Rogue, Forest Elf. And you made me lose my bet! Who dodges such a pitiful fireball?!"
Next to him was a much lean man who grit his teeth, glaring hatefully at Simon as he loomed menacingly over the short Elf with his impressive height. He had a messy mane of shoulder-length hair that started white at the roots and faded through yellow and orange to end at red like the flame of a candle. Charcoal black skin and glowing orange eyes seemed to give off heat even from a distance. "Asim Kattan. Level 3-F Squire, Demi-Djinn. Whose fireball are you calling pitiful?"
"Yours."
"Fight me, peasant!"
Simon stuck out his tongue while Asim gnashed his sharp teeth in anger. Ignoring those two, the last person stifled a yawn and dragged a nearby chair a bit closer with her foot. She was chubby, round, and adorable, with curly dark brown hair framing a cherubic face and deep black eyes peering out from behind thick bangs. Beauty marks dotted the corner of each eye, and the right side of her mouth. "Dani Blackrose. Level 2-F, uh... Shifter. I'm a Pooka, yup... How's it going?"
"Brigit Cinderscale. Level 5-F Squire, Drakke. Thank you for the welcome." Brigit clasped her hands and gave a brief bow.
Asim let out a belly laugh and walked forward, clapping Brigit on the shoulder. "Good, good, good! A Drakke, and a Squire too! I can tell we'll be good friends in the future. Let's work hard, Sword Sister!"
"I thought two people were enrolling today..." Chen muttered, scratching his buzzed scalp. "Is the other student late?"
"She's been here," Dani muttered through a wide yawn, collapsing into the chair she so conveniently moved closer and waving one hand in Kira's direction.
Other than Dani and Brigit, everyone jumped in surprise. There were two all along?!
The student in question sighed and raised her hand. "Um, hi. Hello there. I'm Kira Hawthorne. Level 1-F Geomancer, uh... Demi-Elf. Nice to meet all of you too."
Chen stepped forward to pat Kira gently on the head, pity shining in his kind brown eyes. "Don't worry, Kira. We're all classmates now. Just do your best, okay?"
"Why do people keep making that face at me?!" Kira grumbled rebelliously through a deep scowl. "Geomancers are great!"
The other students all laughed heartily, while Brigit moved to stand between them and Kira, brushing Chen's hand away from the Human's head. "I fail to see what's so amusing," the Drakke said, her voice dropping to a low hiss.
Even if she personally didn't agree with Kira about Geomancers, she wouldn't stand for other people laughing at her!
"Geomancers are pathetic mockeries of magic-based Classes," one of the twins said with a snort.
"There's never been a high level Geomancer in all of history," the other twin added. "They're the weakest magic Class."
"If there's never been one, how do you know they're the weakest?" Kira asked, momentarily silencing the twins.
"The fact remains there's never been one so maybe it's impossible to be any good," Simon pointed out. "Maybe they can't even get to a high level at all. Everyone who gets stuck with Geomancer always changes their Class for a reason, you know?"
"Right, right!" The twins chimed up again, speaking at the same time. "We've only heard of a few stubborn Geomancers just barely scraping their way to mid Rank E, and the only Class spell they had the whole time was Throw Rock! If that's not weak and useless, what is?"
Kira shrugged, too lazy to keep arguing with them. If they wanted to think she was weak, it didn't matter. Seeing that she wasn't taking it to heart, Brigit relaxed a little.
"You should change your Class quick," one twin continued. "Or else you'll drag us all down."
"She's only Level 1, she's gonna drag us down regardless," Asim pointed out. "But so what? Are you saying you're not strong enough to compensate?"
"That's not the point!" The twin, which Kira suspected to be the one who called herself Mint, stomped one delicate foot and put her hands on her wide hips. "We have two Level 2s, and a Level 1! The first Trial is coming up, do you think the way things are now we'll have any chance against the other First Year classes?!"
"Trial?" Brigit asked, brows furrowed. "I thought there was just the Assessment Exam?"
"No, no, the Exam is a one-time thing that determines your standing in the school." Simon wagged his finger and explained. "If you're good they treat you really well in the future, while if you show no potential they won't waste their breath or funding."
Kira dragged a chair next to Dani and offered her some chips. Sniffing the air, Ribbon followed the delicious aroma and was also offered chips. She blushed, the cream parts of her fur turning a bit pink, but accepted the bag Kira pushed into her paws. The three of them snacked harmoniously while everyone else sank into a heated discussion.
"Trials are competitions held three times a year and it's treated like a kind of festival, where we use our ability to score well in games and obstacle courses!"
"Don't worry. For First Years there's no direct combat or anything between the classes because we're inexperienced, and the judges are a lot more lenient."
"But it's still important, because if they think we don't have potential they won't pay attention to us in the future!"
"And doing well in the Trials gives us access to Training Gates and elixirs!"
"We're already at the bottom of the ladder and you dare to dream of elixirs?"
"Yeah, most of us aren't even high enough level to use them anyway!"
"But we will be in the future! Elixirs are important to our development!"
"Plus, if you do really well you can get Spell or Skill books as prizes."
"Again, bottom of the ladder. Not only are we all Rank F, we're lower than Level 9. How are we gonna beat the Level 10-14 Rank F class? Or the Level 15-20?"
"And then there's all the Rank E classes above them... And those are just considering the General Enrollment classes. Don't get me started on the Elite or Core classes! The Elite and Core 1-9F classes are worlds away from us, even if they're the same level bracket!"
"Thank goodness anyone who enrolls as a Rank D is automatically put into Second Year. I don't know if my heart could take Trials against Rank D people, no matter what their level was!"
"But Rank E doesn't scare you?"
"Or the Elites?"
"I didn't say that!"
"If you're so worried about losing," Kira finally said, staring balefully at the empty bag of chips in her hand. "Then just try harder to get stronger."
The room fell silent. Then Asim burst out laughing, clutching his sides as he doubled over, shoulders shaking. "Well said! Hahaha, the tiny Geomancer has bigger balls than the rest of you! Clucking and muttering about how everyone is stronger. Just get stronger yourself!"
"Bold words from a Level 1," Mint sneered. At her side, Meri slowly shook her head.
"Mm, yeah, I'm Level 1 for now. Are you planning to be Level 4 still when the competition starts? I'd understand why you're so afraid then."
Mint snapped her mouth shut, which only served to make Asim laugh even harder. Simon joined in, even Dani started to chuckle, and the embarrassed twins crossed turned away from the group.
"They do have a point though," Chen sighed once the laughter died down. "If we don't do well it'll be tough for us in the future. We won't have access to the Gates, our class resources and Training Zone time will be restricted, and then it'll be even harder to advance for the next Trial."
"I don't think it's that big a deal," Dani muttered. "No one expects anything from any of us anyway. We're the Class of Losers, remember?"
Aside from Brigit and Kira, everyone let out deep, weary sighs. Then Chen clapped his hands to get everyone's attention again. "Enough of that, we have two new classmates! Cheer up, cheer up, let's all go eat dinner together! Yes Dani, you too. We're not bringing you dinner back this time."
"Ugh..."
The cafeteria Chen led everyone to was an inexpensive buffet for lower Rank classes so it was big and crowded, occupying a relatively plain building. Food was served to long tables with rows of metal trays placed on their surface, and people were expected to fill their own plates and locate their own seats. The food wasn't excellent quality, but it was edible and affordable.
Usually Credits were withdrawn for the meal fee the instant they passed through the door, but the group instead received a notice.
-----
[NOTICE]
Two of your classmates have Gold-Tier Scholarships. Your class now receives the following perks for the next year:
*Access granted to all cafeteria facilities
*All meal fees exempted
*Take-out and delivery available from all cafeteria facilities
-----
Brigit and Kira yelped as Simon, Dani, Chen and Asim swept them up into a big hug.
"Goddess bless the both of you beautiful ladies!" Dani sobbed, rubbing her face affectionately on Brigit's arm.
"Gold-Tier Scholarships..." Mint muttered. She and her twin wore complicated expressions as they stared at the small Geomancer being swamped by the group hug. Brigit narrowly escaped, patting her chest with one hand as she struggled to catch her breath.
She was not used to being hugged.
"A Geomancer with a Gold-Tier Scholarship, is just..." Meri mumbled, pressing her lips with the pad of her thumb.
"Unbelievable?"
"Yes."
"Indeed."
"Perhaps..."
"We should keep an eye on her."
"And the Drakke."
"Yes."
"Forget this crappy place," Chen said, face splitting into a grin. "Let's go to Blue River!"
"Blue River?" Dani scoffed, tilting her head back so she could look down her nose at the much taller Demi-Orc. "Chief, I'm disappointed! You have no ambition! All cafeterias are open to us and meals are free. Blue River, why bother with that mid-tier trash? Let's go to Ninth Heaven!"
Everyone went starry eyed. The best cafeteria on campus was Ninth Heaven, a place most could only dream of. Private dining rooms, meals made with the best ingredients by top chefs, even the after-dinner mints were worth more than their annual living expenses!
Simon breathed heavily. "For the next year we can eat there... Every. Day! For every meal! Do you think their desserts really help increase strength?"
"Even if they don't, will you really care?" Chen asked, a bit of drool dribbling from the corner of his mouth. "I heard their cheesecake tastes like a piece of heaven, and that's how they got their name."
"I heard you can only have one scoop of their ice cream because the taste is so sweet and mellow you'll get addicted if you have any more."
"I heard the meat is so tender you don't even need to chew it!"
"I heard-"
"Argh, I can't wait any more!" Dani shouted as she locked a vice-like grip around Brigit and Kira's wrists, dragging them off at top speed.
Ninth Heaven was across campus, but they could smell the aroma of its kitchens before they even got halfway there. As they approached, they left crowds of people in ordinary clothes for crowds of people with sharp uniforms and even sharper auras. Only the elite could afford to eat at at a place as prestigious as Ninth Heaven, after all.
The ragtag group of classmates seemed very out of place when compared to the higher Rank uniformed elites, but their grumbling stomachs and growing excitement overruled any discomfort they may have felt otherwise.
As they approached the impressive tall building that held Ninth Heaven, a group of Elites walked out the glass front doors. Silver badges gleamed on each of their chests.
Startled by the odd group of people who didn't even have uniforms, the man in front sneered and jerked his thumb to the left. "The help is supposed to enter from the back."
"Okay." Kira nodded and kept walking forward, unlike her classmates whose steps shuffled to a halt. Even Brigit hesitated, feeling a bit of sweat trickle down her neck.
Most of those students weren't anything special in terms of strength, but someone hidden in the group was really dangerous!
She took a step forward to pull Kira back, but her entire body locked up in the next second. Someone swept a casual glance across the 1-9F class, freezing them in place with the sheer pressure from their aura.
The man in front frowned and stuck out his arm to block Kira's path. "Didn't you hear me, kid?"
"Yeah. We're not the help, thanks though." Kira tried to duck under his arm, but was stopped yet again by the man roughly gripping her arm. She frowned, staring at the offensive hand.
Hunter Goodvane was baffled. The thin girl didn't seem affected by his aura at all, and even seemed impatient to get past him. At least the rest of the garbage was trembling in place with fear in their eyes! Judging by their lack of uniforms and thick stench of poverty, they couldn't be anyone other than a First Year General class. Nothing an Elite like him should take note of.
Especially not with a Core student behind him watching his every move! "How dare you?! Don't you know who we are?"
"You didn't introduce yourself, how am I supposed to know?" Kira rolled her eyes. Some people were really so self-centered. "Can you let go now? I just wanna go eat."
Hunter sneered and tightened his grip until his knuckles turned white. "You think you have the right to eat here? Trash like would be considered lucky if you fed from the dumpster!"
Kira sighed and grabbed the man's fingers, exerting her full strength to pull them away from her arm. She could tell his STR stat wasn't anything impressive, but she was still surprised when his bones snapped with a series of sickening cracks. Kira stared at her own hand with a mixture of confusion and horror.
The man shrieked in pain, backing away while clutching his hand to his chest. "You... You...!"
"Oh... Oops! I'm so sorry, I didn't think they'd break that easy! Are you okay?"
"Pfft..." Seeing Kira's genuinely apologetic expression and obvious concern, Simon broke free of the pressure holding him in place, just so he could double over with laughter. Hunter's face turned red with shame and fury.
Trash, laughing at him in front of his friends! In front of a Core student!
"Impudent b*tch, you dare?!" One of the other Elite students shouted and dashed forward while drawing his sword, but Kira used Earthshaping to make the ground twist and undulate briefly under the man's feet as he approached. He tripped, sprawling onto the stone path with all the grace and elegance of a newborn baby giraffe.
The clatter of metal on stone snapped Brigit to awareness, freeing her of the aura suppression. She drew her own sword, moving to stand beside Kira.
"Er, it really was an accident..." Kira muttered, glancing at the rest of the Elite students with pleading eyes.
"Forget it." An attractive redheaded woman with long pointed ears and a bobbed haircut drawled as she strode to the front of the group, her voice refreshing like spring breeze. Unlike the other students, the badge on her chest was an eye-catching gold.
She glanced at Kira with mild interest in her dark phoenix eyes, plump pink lips curved into a faint smile. "All of you, accompany Mister Goodvane to the clinic."
"But-" The student sprawled on the ground started to protest, only to stop when the redheaded woman leveled a glare in his direction.
"Are you really wanting to pick a fight with General students?" She purred, a dangerous glint in her dark eyes despite the soothing tone of her voice. "Shouldn't such behavior be beneath your status? Or should I start behaving the same, Mister Elite student."
"Y... Yes... I mean, no! Ma'am. Miss. Of course not..."
The woman smiled at Kira, then walked away on her own. The Elite students clustered around Hunter, while the man on the floor peeled his face from the pavement.
"I'll remember this!" Hunter spat, pointing a shaking hand at the confused Human girl.
"Well that was scary," Chen sighed, patting his chest with one hand. "But Kira, that was pretty cool! I think I see how you got a scholarship now, even as a Geomancer."
"We're already here so we should just go inside and eat," Dani said, scowling at the retreating backs of the Elite students. Behind her, Asim pantomimed his hand breaking with dramatic movements as Simon feigned concern, fluttering his lashes and opening his eyes wide. Then they both dissolved into laughter again. The twins stood off to the side, expressions revealing poorly suppressed amusement.
Chen nodded. "But maybe in the future, let's order delivery."
Everyone agreed, especially Brigit who glared at the sword in her hand as though it betrayed her.
Kira wasn't afraid of facing the Elite students alone while she'd been frozen in place for so long. How embarrassing!
Get stronger, get stronger, get stronger! Brigit sighed and sheathed her sword, chanting the two words over and over in her heart until it became a mantra.
Leaving the unpleasant business outside, the group of 1-9F General classmates enjoyed their first dinner together at Ninth Heaven.