"Alright, alright." I gently shrugged Zakira off of me with a groan. "I'll start by saying I'm from Maru. From an Empire called Odissi. I was born as their to the royal House of Cole. We are a family of Sorcerers and the rulers of the Odissian Empire."
"Wait!" Peter crawled back in horror. "It all makes sense now! You're the Grand Duke of Odissi! No wonder she called you a devil!"
"I do not understand." Slate shook his massive head between Peter, Zakira, and I.
"To put it simply." I sighed. "My family is the opposite of the families that rule the Polaris Empire and its sister nations. They are Angels who hold power over everything that is light. We are Devils who claim dominion over everything that is dark. All members of my family hold power over darkness as you saw earlier. But I and my great-grandfather command death. Necromancy is our birthright. And we are seen as sovereigns of both the Plane of Shadow and the Underworld."
"Have you ever been?!" Zakira eagerly stepped forward.
"I have." I calmly nodded, much to Peter's horror. "The souls and devils that live there run when they see me."
"Yeah." Zakira nodded and whispered in her usual way. "I can feel something… darker about you. But not like... edgy. You know?"
"M- may I ask!" Peter lurched forward this time. "What is the great Necro King like?"
"What have you heard about him?" I asked with a raised brow.
"That his army can never be defeated. And nor could he." Peter grimly replied. "No one knows what he's like. But everyone fears his undead. Even the Empress."
"Well." I shrugged in an attempt to hide the devious smirk crawling up my lips. "That is true. And what you said about devils is true too. But not drow. The Dark World starts at ten thousand kilometers below the surface. Dragging a kid down there is just too much work. It'd be much easier to just kill them where they were found.
"As for our undead." I turned my rising laughter away from Peter's unbridled horror to look at the others. "They come in two types. The undead you all know can be killed under the right circumstances. But our sorcery makes undead out of shadows. If they're defeated in battle, they can reform, at the cost of my mana. In that sense, they are immortal. But that can be defeated by first defeating me."
"That's completely broken!" Els slammed his meaty fist against his thigh.
"But it makes sense." Slate affirmed with himself. "The light cannot persist without the dark. A family of light sorcerers means a family of dark sorcerers. I find myself surprised to hear you bear such labels. But I am pressed by the wisdom and kindness you've displayed. It tells me that there is much I have to learn. Please." He held his giant hand out before him. "Continue."
"Alright." I sighed. "My sorcery comes from my father's side. My mother is the one that's a drow. But I was raised in Maru. I was raised freely, but my great-grandfather also taught me how to fight. We fought to the brink of death every day for four years. Then, I took the assessment and came here."
"You were trained by the Necro King." Peter shuddered.
"Yeah." I let out a nostalgic sigh. "It was… extremely painful. But I have a high pain tolerance now. And I know exactly where my limits are. So." I shrugged to finish off my words for me and turned my expectant gaze to the others.
"Well, that sure is something." Els sighed to himself after a few long moments. "I'm glad to hear you're on our team. The gods know I wouldn't want to fight against you."
"I, for one, would love to see how I fair against you." Slate grinned maniacally before holding up his finger. "But before that, I would like to know what you plan to do after we graduate from here."
"Oh!" I snorted. "I plan to form a guild and secure the blockaded continent in our realm. Then, we're going to explore the Mortal Plane. I plan to visit all the realms. And with my necromancy, I can speak to the dead and unearth the secrets from long ago."
"I would like to join you." He declared before Peter could voice his inevitable objections.
"Huh?" I shook my head at Slate. Not because I didn't want him. But because I didn't think it'd be this easy.
"It is as you said with Peter." He smiled. "I can see you are capable of great things. If I follow the winds that blow in your wake, I know I can face and overcome the greatest challenges one could face and learn all there is to know about this world."
"I can't say I'm willing." Els scratched his beard. "But it sure is promising. Your weapons are fine, but you're a royal. So, tell me. Will you help me discover the secrets of my people? Do you have an interest in the artisinal arts?"
"I plan to discover everything." I grinned at him. "We'll travel to all the realms and recover as much knowledge that was lost to history as we can. So, naturally. I'll help you. You have my word."
"Then you have mine that I'll heavily consider it." He harrumphed in an affirmatory way.
"I'll think about it too!" Peter leaned forward almost impulsively. Then leaned back in the next instant and seemed to shy into himself. "I mean, I'm still unsure of what I want to do with my life. But, I'll think about it."
"I'll follow you anywhere, My King." Zakira abruptly took my hand in the vice grip that was hers.
"Okay!" I groaned and attempted to pry my grip away from hers to no avail. "At the end of the day, the choice is yours. And it won't be formed for at least another four years. You don't have to tell me this now. But if you want to, well." I shrugged. "Welcome aboard."
"Very well. With that, I would say our introductions were a success." Slate grunted and rose to his feet. Looked at each of us with a warm smile. Then turned for the door, mumbling to himself. "I'm hungry."
The rest of us more or less followed the same sentiments so we followed him out into the common area to where the other teams were going through the same motions. Mingling with each other over snacks, drinks, and games.
After scanning a room a bit, Slate diverged from his path to approach another of his kind, hovering over two humans sitting off to the edge of the bar-like island.
After noticing our approach, the goliath stood while pulling something from his dimensional storage and held out a glass bottle full of an amber-colored drink in his rocky palms.
"My name is Kaolinite." He smiled. "Consider this a token that represents my admiration of your courage."
"Uh, thanks," I said as I reached out for the liquid and held it up before my eyes. "What is it?"
"It is ancient water that has been squeezed from the weight of a mountain and sweetened by a specific type of algae. It is known to our kind as Sweet-rock Wine.
I took a sip and was immediately blessed by a nutty, honey taste and recoiled in surprise. I wasn't one for sweets, but. "Damn!" I beamed at both him and the bottle. "This is good!"
"Yes." He nodded proudly.
"We were just going for our meal." Slate gestured for the door. "Care to join us?"
"Next time." Kao waved. "I only just returned."
"Very well." Slate continued on with another wave and we followed behind.
At the cafeteria, I made a quick note of what everyone ate before I ordered for myself. Zakira ordered a flask of blood while Peter had a platter of rare thick steak and an assortment of vegetables while Slate and Els ordered a larger, modified version of what Peter got. A grilled cow leg and no vegetables for the goliath, and a plate full of bread, a few mugs of mead, and a plate of seared meats that was half as large as he was.
"Now that our introductions are underway." Els slurped through his food. "Let's say we talk about abilities, eh? I'll start."
Despite his words, he took a long moment to down his chalice before turning his hands back to his plate to pick the meat from the bone. "As you saw before. I use a warhammer and shield." He smacked loudly. "That means I light to fight up close and personal. Like this guy." He nudged slate with his elbow."
"With a claymore." He affirmed with a nod. "It is a simple weapon of steel. But I am quite skilled in wielding it. However, my goal is to master the usage of magic. Long ago, I read that our ancestors were said to possess powers of ice and stone. I vowed to one day master these abilities. Until then, I will use my body shall remain my weapon. I am, what the academy would call, a future Barbarian."
"Oh!" Els slammed his mug down. "In that case, I'm a Fighter in the making. But I plan to fall down the Artificer route next year as well."
"Uhm." Zakira hummed to herself as she tapped at her chin. "I'm really strong and I fight with a mace. But, I can turn blood into, like, strings. And I can fight anywhere. But I like to hide and get sneak attacks and stuff like that."
'More like play tricks on people.' I snorted to myself. But nodded for the others to see. "Interesting. My sorcery lets me wield the void, death, and shadows. But I also have four others. They're Space-Time Magic, Gravity Magic, Electromagnetic Magic, and Nuclear Magic. With my affinities comes a preference to fight from a distance, but I can fight close and mid-range as well."
"And what are those magics, exactly?" Els leaned forward with a flair of insurmountable interest.
"Void magic is a step above death magic, which in itself is a step above shadow magic. It destroys whatever it touches. But I use it sparsely. As for the others." I sighed. "I have control of both time and three-dimensional space; as well as the force that keeps our bodies tied to this planet."
"Electricity is lightning, yes? Then, electromagnetism is self-explanatory." The goliath rocked in his seat. "The combination of electricity and magnetism. But what of nuclear magic?"
"It's a bit difficult to explain." I sighed again. "But essentially, it powers the sun and creates the natural elements. It also keeps the blocks that make up all matter held together and…" I dismissively rolled my hand. "A bunch of other things."
"I see." Slate rocked again after a few moments of silence. "In essence, you have the power to manipulate reality as you see fit. Not only that, but you are respectful and courageous. I only hope you have humility as well." His rocky face curled up into a smile as he raised his bottle in a toast. Then looked to Peter after the exchange was complete.
He was a bit in shock after being silently called out but quickly recovered and put on a face of confidence. "My name is Peter Boyd. I told you my affinities before, but I have no experience in fighting or using them. But!" He looked at each of us with steely eyes. "I've devoted myself to training as best as I can. I promise I won't hold any of you back."
"Experience is beside the point. Aptitude is what's important. More so is the fact that you are the only one of us without dark vision." Slate curtly said to Peter. "We will need to overcome this through enchantments."
"We?" I habitually snorted.
"We are a team." Slate turned to me with a flat expression. "Is that a problem?"
"Not at all." I shrugged. "But we need more than just enchantments. We need to grow accustomed to each other's abilities, we need to train and share knowledge with one another. We need to make battle formations, calls, and signals."
"Indeed." The dwarf grunted.
After holding onto my words for a moment, Slate wound down after letting out a sigh of relief " I agree. That will come in due time. For now, our orientation still continues. Let us part ways for now and reunite at the dinner tomorrow."
After we all voiced our agreements. We loitered behind one another on our way back to the rooms. Along the way, I contemplated making a stop by the library but decided against the possibility of going on another bender and missing the dinner. So instead, I walked next to Zakira behind everyone else,
In all, she was quite curious and annoying to most of the others but her… chaotic behavior was hilarious to me. Making it quite the pleasant surprise. Perhaps it was because of my attitude back home, but Toril and the others were far too serious. Which was another reason why I wanted them to make their own contacts.
As for Zakira, her clinginess had a strong potential to become annoying over time. But it wasn't something I was tired of just yet. But other than that I knew very little about her.
But like everything else, that would change in due time.
As we made our way into the courtyard, my thoughts were pulled to the ground by Zakira tugging at my arm and looking up to me with her large, red eyes.
"Uhm." She mumbled. "Do you have a girlfriend?"
"Why?" I coyly smiled. "Do you know someone who's interested?"
"Maybe." she hummed.
"Well." I shrugged. "I'd tell her that I'd have to get to know her first. And she can't be clingy. I need my personal space, after all."