Going through a teleportal was something strange for someone like Erix.
This was the first time he had gone through an actual teleportal. It wasn't like the one he took when he was on the bus. The process wasn't painful, instead, he felt dizzy once he came to the other side.
It was as if his body was decomposing and recomposing itself immediately after.
The academy was situated at the center of a special city where those in the military could live. Like this, they could be able to do other stuff that wasn't fight-related, other things like running convenience stores and health care operations.
The war was quite traumatizing for a lot of people so many wished to have a somewhat peaceful and normal life where they wouldn't have to bother about their safety.
Because of this, the city was built to be large to accommodate such people.
But before he could admire the futuristic city a little more, Erix needed to catch up with his group. They had already walked a lot when he was daydreaming.
The moment he caught up with them, the giant building construction of the academy came into view. It was so large and grand that he almost stopped again to look at it, but alas Shota was there.
"Careful, Erix. There are too many people here. I might lose you to the crowd if you keep on stopping now and then." He said as he took Erix's hand to not lose him. He looked like a child that was lost, so to not really lose him somewhere, he needed to stay like that.
"Y-yes, you're right," Erix answered and began to walk again. "But should we really stay like this?"
"Wait, don't tell me you're shy," Shota asked with a smug, and Erix began to blush in the ear. His teasing was getting a bit much for him. "Haha, alright I will stop." He laughed. "Yeah, I would be annoyed if you get lost among so many people."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Erix replied as he looked down and continued to be dragged by Shota.
'I forgot I should be playing along with his every move, not the other way round,' Erix cursed inwardly.
Hearing that, Shota felt Erix must have misunderstood his words, understanding it like 'a high level was complaining'. And he knew Erix didn't have the best experience with those people, so he quickly cleared things up.
"I'm sorry, Erix. Don't get it that way, I was only concerned that you might get lost in the crowd. And I don't want you to have a problem with the high levels," Shota meekly said while at the same time letting go of Erix's hand.
Erix didn't say anything and just decided to continue walking. This was also a reminder for him to stay at his place.
Without saying another word, both continued walking. The teleporter had dropped them a little farther from the academy, so they just needed to walk for a while.
During the entire walk, Shota was racking his brain to see if he would come up with something to make up for his error but unfortunately, nothing came up.
In the end, they walked silently until they got to the academy walls, the dormitory precisely.
"You all, listen carefully because I won't repeat myself." Leo finally said after a long silence from the teleporter. "Our business for today ends here. Classes begin tomorrow morning, so until then you're free to do anything you wish provided it's not against the rules. Curfew is at 11 pm, and all students must be in their dorm by that time, is that clear?" He asked as everyone said yes.
"Fine, your dorm room number will be displayed on your watch in a few minutes. You will share your room with 2 other first-year students so don't be surprised if there is someone already in your room when you get in. Room numbers are never to be swapped or exchanged. Any action contrary to what I've just said now attracts drastic punishment. Every other information you need to know will be forwarded to your respective wristwatches. Like I said today, you're free to explore the city or you can check out your dorm right away," Leo said as he began to walk towards the teleporter that just opened with a snap of his finger, and in the next moment, he left the students alone.
After a few seconds, Erix noticed that his watch displayed a different number than it did before.
RMN 107.
That must be the room number of Erix's dorm.
After that, many students started leaving to go find their rooms with the number sent to their watches.
Natasha was the first to leave in their group of four. She didn't want to stay with the group for reasons known to her, so she went into the girl's dorm that was just beside the boy's dorm.
Ambry too, since he wasn't welcomed by Shota, decided to go to his room. He needed to find people below his level and beat the crap out of them. He was awarded level 2 and a low E-Human rank while Natasha was level 4 and a high D-Human rank.
So after some time, only Erix and Shota were left in front of the dormitory's entrance door. They didn't say a word to each other, and in the end, Erix decided to go explore the city first before entering the dorm.
The reason is to get accustomed to his new surroundings, and as well, buy food with the little money he had on him.
"I will go ahead first. I'm kinda famished so I wanna grab lunch outside," Erix told Shota before turning around to walk away, while subconsciously praying Shota won't ask if he should come along, but unfortunately, a voice was heard calling from behind.
"Hey, Erix, you don't mind if I join you because I'm famished too? Also, I can show you around the city since I know the city very well." Shota said with a smile. This was his opportunity to make up for his errors and he didn't want to miss it.
Erix gritted his teeth in frustration before nodding, but not even once did he turn to look at Shota or slow down his pace.
"Erix, wait," he said to stop Erix. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier, it wasn't appropriate." Shota finally blurted.
"Oh no, please don't be," Erix turned and answered immediately while waving his hands to show it was nothing. "You didn't do anything. On the contrary, it was normal for you to say that. I know you were just watching out for me, so don't be sorry about anything."
"Then did we make up?" Shota asked. He guessed Erix only said that because he was shy and didn't want any problem, so he just decided to play dumb and go with the mood.
"We never broke up though."
"Yay!" Shota rejoiced as he put his arm around Erix's neck. "So which number is your room?"
"107, how about you?"
"Really? Mine is 107 too. That means we are roommates." He smiled widely.
"Wow, w-what a coincidence," Erix said while inwardly cursing his fate.
'Does this mean I will have to be bullied behind closed doors every day? Shit! My bad luck is just too much.'
Erix was having this thought before Shota suddenly interrupted him.
"Why don't we head to the city already, I'm famished?"
"Y-yes, why not?" Erix said before leaving with Shota.