Ray's room was located on the second floor of the student dormitories while Wolfe's was on the ground floor. Ray, evidently, had opted for a single person room. Wolfe, who had no say in the matter, was put in a joint room, his roommate not present when he first entered the room.
A loud screech sounded all over the campus, swiftly dying out after grabbing every student's attention. "All the first year students are to report to the Arena in half an hour for Orientation." A click sounded after the message was delivered, ending the transmission.
With nothing better to do, Wolfe changed into some of his better clothes - a pale orange t-shirt and a pair of shorts that reached up to his knees - and left for the Arena. He had a rough idea of the campus layout due to Emblaze's teachings, and decided to wander off and explore a little before heading to the Arena.
From an outsider's perspective, Zychs resembled an impenetrable fortress where prisoners of war would slave away for the rest of their lives. Large pillars with spiking tops lined the boundary, arching gateways acting as entrances into a realm of gothic architecture.
The buildings inside were extremely large, and could act as their own mini-castles. Large buttresses grounded the roof with the help of stone pillars at set intervals. Ornate decoration made the buildings spring to life with its perfectly shaped engravings. The intricate slopes and rises popped out of the sides of each wall as they zigzagged along its length.
The overall structure was a light shade of grey with rare highlights of varying colours on the tips of the decorations. The windows were tinted different shades of red, green and blue, brightening up the overall appearance and cheering up the students and teachers alike from the bleak greyness.
The space between buildings was occupied by gardens, some full of trees and others decorated with bushes. Benches were stationed throughout the campus next to water stations for any student's needs.
Wolfe walked out of the dorm and towards the Arena. A few groups of students were also headed towards the Arena, keeping their distance from Wolfe and eyeing him constantly in suspicion.
Wolfe, ignorant to their stabbing gaze, was taking in the beauty around him. The gardens here were much more elegant than those of the Vilhorm mansion. He observed a flock of magenta coloured birds with long feathery tails fly to their nest high up on a willow tree. The northern part of Fothesi provided the perfect temperature for temperate trees such as willows to grow. The southern part, though, was way too cold for them to survive.
Wolfe was ecstatic at the sight of the birds, eyes widened with excitement like a child whose parents bought him a toy he always wanted. His appreciation for nature allowed him to cherish the sight for much longer. He walked along the beige footpaths set down between perfectly trimmed patches of grass, making his way to the Arena.
He passed the Kitchen on his way downhill to the Arena, noticing a few people standing underneath the shade of an oak tree flanking its entrance. Something about them seemed shady to Wolfe and urged him to investigate further. But Wolfe wasn't the confrontational type. He never headed right into any discourse but instead observed from the sidelines, rarely taking part in it.
And so he did just that; observe.
The group of kids wore dark blue v-necked t-shirts with a symbol embroidered on the back, and a pair of light grey shorts underneath. Wolfe didn't recognise the symbol from this distance and so inched closer to them, hiding behind large bushes a few metres away.
The symbol was shabbily stitched onto the backs of the t-shirts, almost falling off as the kids shifted their bodies. There were a total of 4 people, 3 of them surrounding the 4th who was dressed differently. The one dressed differently was the only girl in the group, her demeanor suggesting that she wasn't comfortable around the others.
"So, how about it?" The boy in the middle of the trio, probably the leader of the group, asked, waiting impatiently for the girl to reply. She laughed lightly, trying her best to be considerate of the boys' feelings.
"I'm sorry. But I'd rather be at the Arena right now." She smiled lightly but the boys were persistent. "It'll be alright," the one on the left began. "It's not like you'll be missing out on anything important if you come with us." The boy had a lanky frame and was the tallest of the three, a stark contrast to the third and shortest one standing on the right.
"Come on, it'll be fun. Just trust me." The one in the middle grabbed the girl's wrist and pulled her towards the footpath. The girl resisted and struggled to pull the hand off.
"Please just stop. Its starting to hurt.'' The panic in her voice was clear as day, but the boy continued dragging her along despite her shaking voice. The other two followed in his lead and pushed the girl along, smiling viciously as they did so. "You don't know what's best for you yet. But it's alright, we'll teach you." The lanky one whispered in the girl's ear as the group moved past where Wolfe was hiding.
In that moment, Wolfe broke the unspoken rule he had set for himself. He finally acted up instead of hiding behind the curtains of ignorance.
He had never used his powers on a person before, not even when training with Emblaze, but he had no choice this time. This time he intended to hurt the people in front of him for the way they acted.
Wolfe sneakily maneuvered his way behind the group, going unnoticed all the while. As the girl's pleas continued eroding the air Wolfe prepared his attack. Emblaze had taught him 4 offensive techniques including [Flamethrower], and Wolfe had chosen to use the hardest, but strongest of the 4 to end this fight instantly.
Unlike Ray, Wolfe had no plan to overpower his opponent and that would be the first of many problems he would encounter today. He had not ascertained his opponent's powers, a rookie mistake when facing anyone.
Concentrating his will into his fist and around it, Wolfe manifested a raging flame that burned with passion. His anger fueled the strength of the flame, causing it to burn brighter. He lunged forwards, aiming for the lanky boy's back, the image of victory already sprawled across his mind.
His fist connected with the small of the boy's back, the flames acting as thrusters, exponentially increasing the speed and strength of his attack. The impact of the punch sent mild waves of pain through Wolfe's knuckles, but he made sure to continue all the way through, pushing his fist forward into the opponent in spite of the pain.
The boy flew forwards, missing the girl by an inch and crashing right into his leader. The two of them were not knocked out, but Wolfe had enough time to deal with the third before they could stand up again. Wolfe, now concerned for the girl's safety while still agitated at the boys, readied another attack aimed at the third.
But the boy had already noticed Wolfe, and immediately countered before he could ready his attack. He jumped at Wolfe and swept him off his feet. As Wolfe's body fell to the floor, the boy initiated his technique. He stomped the ground next to Wolfe and caused a blunted spike to project out and into Wolfe's back. An immense pain swept across Wolfe's spine as consecutive blunted spikes projected themselves towards his vertebrae, the force of the impact nearly fracturing them. The attack lasted only a few seconds but felt like a lifetime's worth of torture to Wolfe, who now lay on the floor, incapacitated and worried.
The other two boys got back up, the leader helping the taller one who still felt the burn on his back radiate heat and agony through his body.
The boy who had attacked Wolfe walked towards the girl to grab her hand and make sure she didn't run away. Wolfe had lost hope now. The hits to his spine had paralysed him for a few minutes, leaving him at the mercy of his opponents. He closed his eyes in fear, almost soiling himself as the enraged leader inched closer.
Noises of a swinging blade filled the air along with agonised screams, urging Wolfe to open his eyes again. The leader was nowhere near him, instead, the girl stood next to his body, the air surrounding her significantly different from that of the panicking teenager from a few moments ago. She wielded a light blue spear in her right arm and swung it in long arcs to keep the boys away. Wolfe noticed the leader on the floor, several cuts spread across his body, each just deep enough to immobilise him.
A cool air passed over Wolfe as the girl's spear vanished, replaced by a light blue cutlass. She took on a battle stance, her eyes focused only on the boy who had attacked Wolfe since the other two had already been defeated. Looking over at his friends sprawled on the floor, the third boy scurried away as fast as his legs would take him not looking back at all.
Wolfe sighed in relief as his vision slowly began to return. The enemies were dealt with and the girl was safe. He reflected on the situation quickly. He had made several mistakes through the flow of the fight and had been severely punished for them. But he couldn't help but smile since his goal had been achieved.
Pulling him off the ground, the girl glared at Wolfe, her expression treading the thin line between angry and grateful. "I didn't need your help, you know." She began as she propped Wolfe against a small tree before standing up and stretching.
She looked at him once again. "But I appreciate you acting up like that. It really gave me the opportunity I needed."
She smiled at Wolfe's beaten body compassionately. "I'll see you around." She extended her hand and Wolfe barely lifted his to grab onto hers and shake it.
"What is your name?" Wolfe asked before she could walk away. "I'm Wolfe," he said, and the girl looked at him in confusion as he waited for her to reply. "That's it? Just Wolfe?" She finally asked.
Wolfe laughed nervously and winced as the pain made its way through his chest. "Us servants don't really have last names," he wanted to say. But the prospect of calling himself a servant even at Zychs built up a sour taste in his mouth.
"Yeah. Just Wolfe." He said, smiling heartily.
The girl smiled too, almost laughing at Wolfe's supposed carefree manner before replying.
"Well, Wolfe. I'm Nova.
"Nova Emblaze."