Walking along the path to the mess hall side by side, one uncaring of others and the other lost in thought in regard to all the experimentation he wished to do with the rest of his free time today. Everyone they passed was quite haggard, even though all the students now had a full nights rest, with some even showing signs of no sleep at all as they trembled with each step they took seemingly afraid of every shadow that surrounded them.
Cyrus noted all of this, somewhere in some dark recess of his mind, but cared little about this as he had much more important things to ponder upon.
"If I can combine what I know of Adara's Valkyrie with my guesses on how Cornelius makes use of his magic…perhaps I can create a new spell that is much easier to use. My Vita domain has been lacking offensive measure for far too long after all" thought Cyrus as he and Minerva entered the mess hall.
They walked past the small line that was formed on one end of the hall, a privilege of the badges that were pinned upon them, and went to the petite café that was reserved for the top ten students and those under them. Cyrus knew little of this, but Minerva dutifully explained to him this specific privilege that they had, only adding to the extremely long list that already existed of course.
Entering in through the entryway, Cyrus was greeted by the site of wooden floors and tables lining alongside the left and right wall. The front of the café was reserved for the counter and kitchen behind it, and on the wall where the entryway was contained were self-serve refreshments of various wines, meads and tea. On the ceiling was a large skylight that let in plentiful natural light, with a few smaller magical lights in the corners to keep all the shadows at bay. There was even the sound of a Cithara being strummed in the foreground, playing a sonorous yet relaxing tune that allowed any listener to fall deep into the sounds of each string being plucked and strummed. In the center of the room was a small indoor fountain, with an armored man raising the banner of the Empire high in the sky placed on the top of it, standing upon a hill made up of the stacked bodies of many of his assumed enemies, the spigot of the fountain erupted from behind the man as if to say that his passion alone brought forth the infinite spring below.
Quickly scanning the café, he found it to be empty of people which was as expected since it was an hour or two past when lunch would ordinarily be.
"Were there more people earlier when you ate here?" asked Cyrus as the two sat down.
"Not really. We saw Cornelius and two of his followers here as well as some other fellow who brought five other people. He was an odd guy now that I think about it, he came in and saw Cornelius eating and tried to get him to join his group…called the peoples party or something. Eventually it turned into a philosophical debate so I stopped paying attention, but I did notice the guy running out in apparent defeat with a red face after a few minutes" remarked Minerva, oddly talkative about such gossip.
"Hmm, that guy does sound familiar. I wonder if I had met him before. I should have remembered someone who was in the top ten though…odd" thought Cyrus in passing as someone came to take their order.
After choosing a varied meal of porridge, bread, cheeses and a hefty helping of vegetables for himself Cyrus examined the 'bill' he was handed.
"Eating here costs Fidem?!" remarked Cyrus as he saw that all the bill stated was that he had been deducted a single point.
"Correct. It costs Fidem to eat here, except for in the mornings, while the same is true for all the other students as well. Water is available to all no matter what, but if you wish to have anything more than water and a single meal in the morning then you must pay up" explained Minerva as she swirled a glass of cool water idly in her hand.
"I suppose this is both to firmly cement the idea that Fidem is a key part of the Academy structure as well as to build up the worth of Fidem itself. A fictional currency would be hard to come to grips with if it did not have some kind of reference point, such as the most basic unit being worth a single meal" thought Cyrus aloud.
"Makes some sense I guess" remarked Minerva as the conversation died between the two, simply idly waiting until the food arrived.
"How stifling" thought Cyrus for a moment before completely falling into his thoughts once more, continuing the train of thought from earlier about his spells.
Some time later the food had arrived, a rather hearty and varied meal for Cyrus and an extremely plain one for Minerva.
Spotting the platter of nothing but leafy greens, Cyrus raised a brow and remarked "Does that…taste good? Not even prepared in a certain way, just raw?"
Minerva, whom was munching on asparagus like one might chew on a carrot, swallowed her mouthful and muttered,
"It all tastes the same anyways"
Of course Cyrus easily heard this and was quite shocked to say the least, good food and wine were one of his favorite things recently and he had long assumed it was a shared interest of all of humanity.
He spooned a bit of his porridge with an unused utensil and held it in front of Minerva in half curiosity and half shock,
"Eat it" said Cyrus in more of a command than a request, his eyes bright and his aura intensifying.
Perhaps born out of the recent stint that Cyrus had as a leader in a survival situation, Minerva obeyed without even thinking at first before her mind caught up and she was left with a spoon in her mouth. Having come this far, she begrudgingly chewed and swallowed the porridge as she leaned back in her seat.
"How did it taste, describe it as best as you can" pressed Cyrus.
Minerva thought for a moment, before answering truthfully
"Cold and bland"
Cyrus then spooned some for himself and ate it promptly.
"Warm, with a grainy flavor wrapped in butter with a hint of salt peeking through as it goes down. Warming both my mouth and stomach up, lifting the mood with its fluffy texture and light taste" described Cyrus as best as he could.
"Quite the difference in our takes, no?" asked Cyrus.
Minerva merely looked away, resuming in her consumption of the plate of green in front of her. Cyrus, however, did not even need his other half to press him as he was quite concerned himself.
"Yet another crack in glass, so to speak. What a troubled individual, yet also one with so much potential…" thought Cyrus as he continued to stare down Minerva, pressing her silently to explain herself.
Eventually even Minerva could not fully block out the intensity that was radiating from the one across from her, so radiant it was that even the ice that frosted over her exterior was starting to show signs of melting.
"All food tastes much the same, including drink of course. Since that is the case, then why not eat the most beneficial food and drink; vegetables of all kinds, nuts, and water. Simple but efficient" explained Minerva, finally.
Pleased that he got his answer, Cyrus happily resumed eating as he thought of an appropriate response. He had much experience in analyzing the patterns of humanity, how they thought and acted even though he did not really understand why they did what they did.
"One time I met another individual who had a problem similar to yourself. He was a man who had suffered greatly in his life, having devoted his entire being to revenge for his family that had been slaughtered by an Anjem, a leading figure in wasteland society, who betrayed him. One day I saw him spooning the air above a plate that was long empty of any food, when I asked him why he was doing such a thing he responded with 'I did not notice that I had finished, the air and the food taste so similar after all'. Out of interest I listened to his story, to hear of all the horrors that he had gone through…that had broken him" finished Cyrus.
"And? What are you implying…" said Minerva, visibly uncomfortable.
"Nothing yet, but one day I will be saying quite a lot I imagine. Just know that both halves of me are quite hard to shake when we find something to study in earnest" said Cyrus with a slight smirk as he continued to eat his food.