Aric was making his way back to his dorm, with a dark oak staff on his back.
It had two brass handles on each end and was exquisitely made, nothing fancy, but more than enough for now.
Aric didn't have the right to negotiate anyways, he was dirt poor and there was no denying that.
As he walked down the same paths he's travelled several times before, he found out something strange, the road was a lot more crowded than usual, and there was more than a handful of blue robes making they're way down the tiles, socializing and stuff, it was insane!
The blue robes are such a rare sight to behold, you may not see one in a whole month, yet now they're travelling in bulk!
Aric was first bewildered and imagined that maybe a war had finally broken out between the northern lands or the darkwoods tribes and the empires, but was then disappointed when he made it back to the dorm and found the place bustling with movement, the new recruits are here!
It took longer than it was supposed to, there were rumours that the headmaster had made explicit changes to the test system uphold by the academy and that's the reason it took so long to finish.
Aric walked down the usually empty dorms that were now crowded with people communicating with one another, as humans do, and getting to know eachother.
He couldn't help but already miss the peace and quiet of old times, but it couldn't be helped, these are the new recruits dorms, they were meant to be a pain and bustling like rural lands, if one wants peace, he needs the merit to suffice.
He travelled through the crowded road, and was stopped twice by recruits selling all sorts of tools and weapons, he Ignored them both and kept travelling down the path towards his room.
This dorm was full to the rim all of the sudden, excited kids brimming with hope and dreams, they were admitted to the ancestral school after all! It could only go up from here.
You can see all authenticities standing in this one space, northerners with their pale skin and blue eyes, southerners of the seven empires with their explosive hair colours and bright eyes, and a couple of tribal descent with their murky skin and tribal tattoos.
New recruits kept approaching Aric with smiles and asking him about his identity and where he came from and his marks in the entrance trails, and every time he dodged the questions professionally and kept moving until he made it to his dorm's wooden door.
He crossed his fingers and prayed to the goddess that he received two-thirds of a sane roommate, he knew with his luck hoping for a sane one was too much to ask for so he decided that two-thirds is more than enough.
He pushed open the door and on the other side of the small room, his eyes met with those of a small teen laying in bed beside the door.
The boy was of average height, he had broad shoulders and a shredded body, quite obvious from the hair-thin white robe.
His eyes were a pair of crystal-like, dark blue colour and his hair was golden and bright, reflecting the rays of the sun, like a mirror.
The boy was stunned when he first gazed at Aric, immediately after he jumped off the bed and reached with his arm towards Aric's hand and a warm smile appeaed on his face.
" Hi, I'm Evan Ellis, it's nice meeting you roommate ."
Aric reached for the boy's arm and shook it and replied with a stiff smile. " you can call me Aric, Aric Damar. "
He tried thinking of any noble house that carried the Ellis name but none came to mind, it sounded somewhat familiar though, and he didn't know why.
Aric decided to tell him his name, it wasn't worthwhile keeping his origin a secret, it'll be known sooner or later, he was after all quite a famous figure in the Damar empire.
" It's pleasure meeting you Aric Damar "
Evan didn't seem to mind Aric's origin, or maybe he just didn't recognize the name of the infamous bastard of the royal house.
Aric wasn't going to complain about having less trouble to deal with, he sat on the bed on the other side of the room and looked Evan straight in the eyes.
" So Evan, from now on we're not only roommates but a team as well, and we'll probably remain as such for quite a while, so it's probably for the best to know what are the specialties and weaknesses of one another, don't you think ?"
It was well known that the first year in the academy was the toughest, it was meant to teach the recruits the basics of teamwork and collaboration, after all no paladin is complete and everyone has a weakness, teamwork helps eliminate such weak points and strengthen the power of a partie times from that of a lone warrior.
" I do believe that would be for the best " the blond Evan respond cheerfully, he seemed to still have the excitement of enrolling in the academy pulsing in his veins.
" Great, then I shall begin ." Aric said calmly while laying his dark staff on his shoulder " Well as you can see, I use the staff as a weapon, I train in fire arts, with a 6,2 rating with the flame attribute, I have yet to do a strength test but I do assume it's above a hundred kg of strength, " Aric laid down his attributes flat on the table, Evan was going to be his teammate and it's best if he knew his power well, even if he did undermine his strength range,he wasn't willing to be an open book with someone he had just met .
" Alright, I guess it's my turn, my weapon of choice is the longbow and I'm quite proficient in its use, I train a wind-based art and have a 7,8 rating in wind attribute, I have 112 kg punch power, but as you can imagine frontal battle ain't my specialty" Evan answered calmly with a smile, he didn't seem to condemn Aric for his lower attribute rating.
_ a bow? _ Aric was surprised, but a happy surprise it was, range paladins are extremely useful in the wild, especially if paired with a frontal melee fighter such as Aric.
It was also pleasant to have a guy with a 7.8 rating on his team, a strong teammate would make his job easier and wouldn't hold him back at all.
Aric smiled broadly and said to Evan " I hope we'll have a lovely stay together Evan ".
" I do hope so as well " Evan responded with a cheerful bright smile, his face appeared to be glowing slightly as if there was a lighting specialised team in the room.
Aric's smile stiffened and couldn't help but sigh internally, thinking it'll be a pain difficult dealing with such a handsome fella in the future.
but he was still quite happy with his luck of roommate's, if it was a noble who supported one of his brothers it would've been truly hellish.
...
far off the dorms and on the top floor of a tall tower standing straight in the heart of the academy.
Leonard was standing next to headmaster Laince looking down at the bustling dorms below and couldn't help but sigh then turn towards Laince and say.
" do you really think putting those two together is a good idea ?!"
Laince had a lovely smile and told Leonard " well both are special case, and I do believe monsters should be put in pairs, it'll make it interesting anyways "
Leonard started at the smiling Laince for a while before he shook his head and sighed, with this woman's rock headed mind, there was no chance to change her mind .
he then turned around and started walking towards the shadows and disappeared without any signs left, like the work of an expert assassin !