Headmaster Marin silently pondered about the current situation. Ramona Heston was notoriously tight lipped about everything except for her cute little goddaughter. The entire campus had long grown sick of Ramona's boasting about her goddaughter. Yet, she conveniently glossed over her beloved goddaughter's arrival during last night's report. Even during this discussion, he had never seen Ramona gloss over so many issues before. Ramona would keep a tight hold over information, but had never really lied or schemed before.
A large flux of energy followed by the sudden arrival of Ramona's rumored goddaughter? A foreign goddaughter who just so happened to lose her ID papers and needed a place to stay. The headmaster wouldn't believe anyone who said that these incidents weren't involved.
Aayla Glowery herself was a complete oddity. Her mana was entirely non-existent, and Headmaster Marin had never seen artifacts of similar styles to the ones on her wrists. Could she be ill or are those bracelets the cause of her missing magic? No, if she was that ill, then she would be bedridden or dead. Yet, no personal artifact that he knew of could achieve perfect mana concealment.
Despite all of the red flags, Headmaster Marin's instincts subtly told him that Aayla did not hold evil intentions. Well, the old dormitory is far from the main campus, so it should be alright to observe her there for a bit. Let's see what Ramona's first little scheme is about. The ends of his lips quirked up slightly as he thought of a wonderful idea. This would make for an interesting assignment for those little brats under his direct care.
Ramona let out a sigh of relief when the headmaster opened his eyes and began rummaging around in his desk. Since he's not kicking them out of his office, then Headmaster Marin should have decided to let Aayla stay. He pulled out several papers, and the quill started to dance mildly about on its own. The forms quickly filled themselves out while Headmaster Marin pulled out the last files that he was searching for. After briefly checking the forms, the headmaster nodded and stamped the forms for approval.
"Coincidentally, we do have a special student cooperative position opening left for this year. Unpaid, but unlike previous years Nafriton University is providing room and board. Ms. Glowery can stay in the old dormitory, Nafriton Residence Hall, to help manage the students there. If the professors don't mind, she can listen in on a basic class or two, but she will not get credit for them unless she is fully registered for classes. You can be her supervisor for now. Just be sure to send me her ID papers when they arrive."
"Thank you, Headmaster Marin. I'll be sure to keep a close eye on her."
"Yes, thank you headmaster."
Ramona gave a short bow, and Aayla hurriedly followed suit. The white-haired old man then grinned mischievously, which gave Ramona a sinking feeling. He placed a stack of papers on the desk where Ramona could grab them. Then he grabbed a large ring of miscellaneous keys from a shelf nearby.
"Of course, it's my pleasure to have your beloved goddaughter here. Now, since you're so worried about the old dormitory, I'll give you a bit more help and assign your favorite nurse Alicia Rouse to the nursing station to make sure things go smoothly."
Ramona's eyebrow twitched as she smiled bitterly. Alicia was to Ramona like an angry mother was to a naughty child, and she would not be happy after moving from her cushy office to the rundown medical room of the Nafriton Residence Hall. Ramona picked up the papers and began to read them. Her face lit up in surprise.
"You're giving me two more students?"
"Aayla can't take care of the men's wing, let alone all of the residents by herself, can she?"
"Well, no. Of course not. However, aren't these two your personal students?"
"Don't worry about it. In any case, I'm the headmaster and this will be a good experience for them."
Headmaster Marin's blue eyes flickered with glee as he laughed. He flicked his wrist and the keys gently flew towards Aayla. When she caught them, Aayla noticed that they were of many different sizes and shapes.
"The boys should be arriving early in the next couple of days. I'll send them over to the Nafriton Residence Hall after I've had a couple of words with them. Don't worry about their family. I'll let them know that I've found a wonderful side job for their students."
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Aayla looked at the papers in her hand as they left the building. They were partial records for two students.
Daren Forolan. An 18-year-old second year at Nafriton University who entered a year early to study under the headmaster. Originally from Halcyon City and sponsored by the Forolan Family. The solemn, handsome young man in the picture had pale white skin with dark hair and eyes.
Christopher Vear. A 19-year-old second year at Nafriton University. This cheerful young man had vivid blonde hair and blue eyes. From Halcyon City and sponsored by the Forolan Family.
"What's the deal with these two guys Ramona? Is there something wrong with them?"
Ramona wore a troubled look. That scheming old man was always causing trouble. But why send those two? There were other students that he could send if he wanted to investigate Aayla.
"Nothing's really wrong with them, but they are from a major magic family. From what I've heard, the pair is usually well behaved and low key. They're still future top ranking Chinebarian nobility, though. The student council and other factions will definitely get involved."
"At least I have a roof over my head and food to eat. And who is Alicia Rouse, by the way?"
"Just think of her as an old childhood friend of mine. A very persistent one that likes to scold people no matter what they do."
They walked in silence for a few streets. Aayla carefully studied the files. Ramona noticed her unease and her eyes softened.
"You know what we haven't done yet? A grand tour of campus and Forest Waypoint. Since we got the hard stuff out of the way, let's have a bit of fun."
Aayla slowly relaxed as they walked around the campus. Ramona quickly dragged her around to various buildings, statues and other landmarks before they left. Wizards apparently like their statues. Former headmasters, wealthy donors and famous wizards were the most common. From these statues alone Aayla felt like she got a greasy course in Chinebarian history. Helpful, but so boring.
She also noticed several small, blue offices with sturdy doors and window and some pure white buildings scattered around campus. They couldn't walk for five minutes without encountering at least one of them.
"Ramona, are those buildings classrooms? I mean the blue and white buildings."
"No, those are actually the security offices and medical centers. All of the class buildings were those tall grey ones in central campus."
Aayla had a sinking feeling. Why do they need so much security and medical care? The buildings looked rather worn, so this need shouldn't be caused by the recent True Order activities. Ramona smiled knowingly and guessed her next question.
"We get magical duels somewhere on campus daily and occasionally attacks from magical beasts or extremely determined criminals. With highly magical students, fights can get very deadly very quickly. Some students died during fights on campus when we only had the Central Medical Center. After that, several smaller centers were built. Our past few headmasters have preferred hardline stances against unsanctioned duels, hence the added security."
Aayla felt that her lack of mana was becoming a bigger issue than she initially thought if she couldn't defend herself.
"Just how duel crazy are the students here?"
"Campus has calmed down a lot since Headmaster Marin took over, but there can easily be several unsanctioned duels and dozens of sanctioned duels a day. The freshman during the first couple of months are especially duel crazy. Professors are fond of duels too and often encourage them. Other universities have similar situations."
Clearly, Tellans love their duels as much as Terrans love their sports. It's simply a way of life. Tellus was a much more chaotic, fight crazy world by nature. Everyone was ultimately fighting for a way to survive. Peace is a mere illusion. Strength was the only way to secure it.
"You should be safe though. Since you're not fully admitted, you can't challenge or be challenged by others. Just don't anger people enough to attack you directly."
Her other questions were cut short when Ramona dragged her to the next destination.
Ramona happily lectured about the campus while the pair walked around campus for the next couple of hours. With the sites on campus exhausted, they grabbed a carriage and headed directly towards their next destination: Forest Waypoint. Arguably the most magically advanced city in the world after Sarrasak, the Chinebarian capital city, and the gateway to Nafriton University.