"Gosh! These classes could get so boring," Shin exclaimed the moment the teacher left. "I am hungry again."
"We have learned so much today and all you can think about is food," Ileana said, squinting her nose at the fellow. "I even wonder how long you will last here."
It was the first history class where the teacher mentioned a few things about how mana came into the world, how devastating the first decades were, and how humans adapted to the changing environment. It was fascinating to anyone in the class, but all Shin could think was that it was boring.
And he was not the only one. Elior was on the list of people as well. But he was different from Shin as he knew about this stuff before. Fortunately, his mental age was higher than a teenager like Shin, so he endured class after class.
"Let's go, I'm hungry too," Elior said. He had been revolving mana in his body nonstop during the classes, so it was not unfounded he was hungry. At least, he had not wasted his time picking his nose.
The three of them left the classroom on the way towards the freshmen cafeteria. And the other students did the same. It was their first day here. It's natural they would get hungry and teenagers felt hunger most of the time than any other emotions.
The first floor of the cafeteria was quite vacant in this time as they came before anyone else. Walking down the white marble, the three of them went to collect the snacks.
There were various snacks available for the evening. Even though it was still a couple of hours before it would be evening, but the cafeteria staff fulfilled their wish. Probably because it was only their second day.
Elior took chocolate with almonds and all other types of nuts. Shin took the chocolate but not the nuts, while Ileana, who could not handle chocolate, took cheese and celery sticks with cinnamon. But all of them had to take a large glass of green-looking weird juice. It was compulsory, as the classes. You could take a few things to your likings, but you have to still take the other things.
They easily found an empty table, as other people were yet to come. They ate without making any noise until Shin opened his mouth.
"Elior, do you have any advice for me?"
"Yes, I do, and it's more than one," Elior nodded, putting a couple of nuts inside his mouth. He looked at the teenage boy who was trying his hardest to be a playboy and a delinquent. He continued in a serious tone. "Get a haircut, knock off all the piercings and conduct yourself like any normal teenage kid."
"Huh? Why does it sound like you are a lot older than me?" Shin asked, tilting his head sideways.
"That was because I'm older than you. At least, I'm a decade older than you in mental age." Elior cursed himself the moment he finished the phrase. He could not keep his big mouth shut. He had to say something like this.
"You are right, El. This fellow acts like a nine-year-old kid." Ileana said in a joking manner. "Even my cat behaves well comparing to him."
Fortunately, the joke from Ileana saved him in time.
Shin glared slightly at Ileana, then looked towards Elior, completely forgetting the advice he was given. "That's not it, I need advice on choosing the courses."
"Oh that," Elior pondered for a couple of seconds while his arm did the work of dipping the nuts into chocolate and stuffing them into his mouth. "What do your parents say?"
"Do what your heart desires," Shin said with a brimming smile.
'That sounded like a lie,' Elior thought, but his mouth said something else entirely. "Wow, you are lucky."
"No, I'm not," Shin denied with no thoughts.
"I wish, my parents said things like that," Ileana added. "Don't get me wrong, they were supportive, but they think I will not be able to handle things."
"Let's don't talk about our parents," Shin changed the topic. "Any advice on my career path?" He asked, looking mostly at Elior.
Elior nodded. "You have the highest grade in Spirit, so you have the aptitude to become a mage, but I think you should not go in the direction of Spells. Even though your two elements would be devastating if you learn it well, but I think you lack too much mental fortitude to learn spells."
"Brother, are you giving me advice on making fun of me?"
"But it's true," Ileana added from the side. "Even though I do not know you for not even a couple of days, I can tell you are just another lazy teenager who was fighting for attention."
"Well, at least he gets the attention, irrespective of good or bad." Elior joined the fun as well.
"Did you see the look Professor Aleister gave him when he said that without perseverance and hard work, the students would go nowhere?" Ileana chuckled, saying that. "It's as if he was literally meant it for Shin."
"Brother Elior don't. I don't think my fragile heart could endure more." Shin stopped before Elior could mock him more. And his way was quite comedic. "Seriously, are you two practise dissing people at home?"
"We never practised, but I think we insulted a couple of our classmates together," Elior added, refreshing his memory. "It was quite fun, actually."
"It built up the syncrasy over the years," Ileana chuckled.
"My god, you two should have been really popular in your high school," Shin said and his voice did not hide the sarcasm.
"I was not actually popular, but she was," Elior said, pointing towards Ileana. He laughed and continued. "She got all the stares from boys, and Ileana's conduct in school was near perfect. If our life was like a high school-musical, then she would have been known as the Highschool queen."
Ileana flustered a little, hearing Elior.
"But you stole the show here, Brother Elior," Shin added, gesturing towards the crowd looking at their table.
"Oh that," Elior sighed. "Well, the popularity will be for a few weeks, but I guess I would not be free from the stares even then."
While in his high school, Ileana was the most famous for her perfection, he was infamous for his conduct.
Letting out a deep breath, Elior unconsciously sipped in the green juice. His mouth twisted in an ugly way in the taste—he nearly forgot how awful this juice was, even though it had more benefit than he could name it.
"Is it that bitter?" Ileana could not help but ask.
"Try it and you will know it."
Ileana made a fearful expression. "Even if it tastes as you made it out to be, I still need to finish it or else I'll get a minus five points to my tally of o points."
"What? we get a penalty for wasting food?" Shin was flabbergasted.
"So you do not even read the rule book," Ileana said. "Seriously, what did you do after coming here?"
"I slept mostly."
"I think you will be nothing but a walking disaster if you continue in this way."
Elior nodded. Even though Ileana said that as a joke, it was quite true. Shin was really a walking disaster in the previous time. To get the attention from his parents, he broke so many rules that he was on the point of failing.
"Let's not talk about this," Shin changed the topic. "Brother Elior, you are saying I'll be bad at spells. What else?"
"I said, you will be devastating if you could master the spells with your two elements, but you can choose not to learn if it is not appealing and goes over your head," Elior said. He knew Shin was not very good at spells, but that did not stop him in the path. Elior's only worry was that his intervention might make Shin's path harder. And there was a chance of failure too.
"I'm learning Mana engineering, so you should not have to go in that direction as well," Wrik added. "You don't look the type to have any interest in alchemy. So it was eliminated as well. My advice is you should practise with your sword and try to learn spells if you can. And there were all the compulsory classes. You will get your hands full with only these many things."
"I guess, it is a good choice," Shin added. "Let's see how I work for this week."
Elior nodded and looked towards the chestnut-haired girl. "Ileana, did you decide about your career?"
"No, but I think my path is already decided," Ileana said, shaking her head. "I don't think I have much time after practising all the four elements."
"You are right there."
"I wished to learn about alchemy, but it seemed I have to say goodbye to it," she added. "By the way, are you serious about continued pursuing all the paths you have chosen? Did you forget what aunty told you? You are supposed to only chose auxiliary courses that stay away from the battlefield."
Elior turned silent. Sighing a little, he said, "It's time I should decide about my life."
_______________________
Hello readers,
I took a break for four or five days, and it cleared out a few things. First of all, I decided to make all the chapters between 1.5K to 2K words long. And if it goes further than that, then I'll cut them into pieces.
You can expect regular release from now on. Thank you for reading.