Banners.
Banners everywhere. Some had Western writing. Some had Southern writing. Some even had demon writing, not that I could read it.
The ones I could read were basically just welcoming the new students to various clubs. The whole campus was overflowing with new faces. Most were kids, and some were younger than me. Most seemed to be about my size but… some were actually taller. When the fuck will I go through puberty?
I wasn't necessarily eager to grow up. I'd already gone through that and honestly, being a child was fun and I had to deal with way less responsibility. Or at least that would have been the case if it were earth. This world operated on different rules and honestly, being a child meant heavy disadvantages. One of the primary ones was powerlessness.
"Excuse me," a girl said. "Do you know where the library is?"
I had the library's badge. And a special badge from the administrative department, as a volunteer. "Yeah, that's the dorm. The black roofed one. You can find the library in the middle from the bottom floor to all the way up to the fourth floor. You'll be allowed entry today but from tomorrow onwards you'll need a membership." I wasn't helping out of the goodness of my heart of course: my reward was simple- three Honeycrisps!
"I see, thanks!"
A lot of kids walked up to me every now and then and asked for directions. Wish I had someone to show me around too… I kind of did though. Back then Gerar and Shia helped me a ton.
These days I didn't see Gerar. Partly because I was too busy. But also, because the dude was super depressed after finding out his own family wanted him dead. He was at a point where he was considering just ending his life entirely but thanks to the counseling team, he hadn't… yet.
Maybe I should do something to cheer him up?
Do what though?
I didn't even know the guy.
"Hey Sol!" Someone called me over. Jake?
"What's up?"
"It's starting. You should go to the back stage."
"Uh-huh."
Not just kids, we also had a lot of merchants visiting today. It wasn't just an orientation for the newbies. But it was also a farewell for the older students. Which meant, fresh feed for the employers.
As for the backstage… well, our academy didn't have an auditorium. At least it didn't have one yesterday. But this morning, a random big fat dome had popped up just behind the academy on the training grounds.
It was fully glass, but didn't let in the heat from the sun. Who or what made it, I had no clue and the seniors didn't know either. They were just used to it at this point.
The inside was almost like an arena of sorts, with stacked seats and a podium at the very middle with a teachers panel, flowers, and all sorts of things. It felt modern, rather than magical.
I made my way to the backstage and met up with some of the speakers. One of them was the headmaster. I'd asked him earlier 'why me'. He didn't have an answer. Apparently, the top of our grade bought her way in and couldn't really speak in front of a crowd. I honestly didn't expect the headmaster to actually say that to my face but he did. "I expect great things from you Sol. And for both your family, and your sake… you should too."
Something about the way he phrased it… I didn't like.
Anyway, that brought me back to the present situation. We'll have some fun speeches from the teachers, some performances from the seniors and some words from them to the new and existing students. And then, I'll be doing a presentation. The headmaster would give his speech last, and that would conclude the event.
Fucking hell…
"How're you feeling?" Miss Chamille was also in here.
"A little nervous. One night isn't enough to write a good speech."
"Write one? Didn't you get our draft?"
"Draft? What draft?"
She groaned, her palm on her face. "I gave one to your sister but… I should have known."
For fuck's sake Shia…
"Well, despite the odds, I did write something. Hopefully, it won't be too embarrassing."
"Oh and Sol?"
"Yes? Now what? You want me to perform too?"
Chamille was silent. And for a good minute too. It was like she was considering what she was going to say next. "No, no. I have some important things to discuss with you later. It's about Denkar."
"Oh… um… sure." Huh… "Did something happen?"
"Chamille, some boys are shouting in the back," someone shouted.
"We'll talk more later."
She seemed a bit hesitant. Almost like… Something definitely happened.
She's not going to ask me to tell Den she likes him, right? Nah, probably not.
.
..
…
Opera!
Yeah, a literal opera. They sung for a good five minutes, some girl played a rather soothing violin bit and then we had some reps from the graduating seniors. Drama club performed an intricate dance which looked awkward because some of their tailenders weren't in sync. Some guy from the culture club sang like a madlad and coughed at the very end; the whole dome erupted… or would have if it were where I studied. Instead, it was pure silence. Poor guy.
A senior gave a welcome speech to the newbies and then it was finally time for me. A lot of people were expecting a lot of things from me but… how in the actual hell am I going to pull this off? I mean, I knew what I wrote, and it was nothing like the speeches the others gave. I was far too casual and I even included some awkward jokes here and there and… sigh.
I walked to the center of the stage without tripping. I made extra sure, I didn't trip. We didn't want that middle school shit to happen again… no sir.
I didn't speak right away, or tested the mike or did anything in particular. I just stood there, as everyone's attention slowly made my way, keeping my breath level, and without really looking at the audience… but then I did look at them. To no one in particular.
"Good morning," I started. "You've already sat through half a dozen bouts, so I'll keep this short." I'd heard this very line again and again during my academic career, and honestly, this basically meant, they had no idea what they were doing and they were going to ramble for a while. However, "I came here last year, and I was a freshman like you. Unfortunately, I enrolled late and didn't get to experience something like this, so a little overwhelming, I must admit. I graduated grade 1 with excellent marks and I'm the top of my class; no, I'm not boasting. I brought that up, just to iterate, I could do it; me, who was behind my peers by a month, didn't know anything about the school or the curriculum, and had to start from scratch in a new environment, with new challenges. Having done all that, and excelled at it no less, I can say, I can do it, and so can you. However, that would be really, really, ignorant and reckless of me; a little more than usual. (Wink). I mean, not everyone is blessed with the same circumstance or the same set of talent, so everyone has their own pace." Yeah, I was definitely rambling on at this point and confusing myself no less. But I did have a point I wanted to get across. "I never really considered myself special. Even now, I feel like, I don't deserve this, I'm not good enough; what am I even doing here. It's true I always feel that way but I'm trying my best and that's true as well. So, even if things don't work out for you, even if you can't really outshine your peers, if you fail… remember, as long as you try your best, that's good enough…. Try to seek help if you need it. Our teachers and helpers are always waiting for students to help… Goodluck and welcome to Schalion."
I got a round of applause. Not too loud, not too quiet. I probably did okay but my speech was probably a hit or a miss and I honestly didn't know if I even said everything right.
In the backstage, I found Shia. She was snickering silently at my face. Meanwhile, I could hear the announcer introducing the headmaster. Just seeing that geezer's face, the children erupted way louder than they'd done so when my speech ended. Yeah….
The headmaster went about the history of Schalion and how the first headmaster was a beast and a true prodigy but valued teamwork and hard work and crap like that. I'd heard these things enough times to realize, the folks just make them up in more cases than not.
He then went over how life in Schalion is different, how students would be protected, and how freeing it is to be away from friends and family (apparently, it's a good opportunity to grow?), things like that. Standard stuff. He finished with welcoming them again and announcing the end of the orientation program with some gifts: a small pouch containing some juice and bread.
"You should have tried harder," Shia said.
"And you should have just given me the draft," I said.
"But then I wouldn't have gotten to see you struggling with anxiety like that, would I?" She showed me her teeth and was gone before I could open my mouth again.
Tch.
I spotted Miss Chamille in the distance and called out to her. She motioned to her left and we entered a room.
"You wanted to talk," I said.
"Yes, you see… should I even tell you," She mumbled.
"Well, you already made me curious."
"Denkar sent me a mail the other day," she produced a letter from her sachet. "Just informing me he was coming to Sun port and would eventually come here to see you."
"Wait, really!?"
"Yeah. But the thing is… he should have been here two weeks ago."
"Maybe he's just taking his time? I mean, he loves to laze around every now and then."
No, that wouldn't make sense if he was with Lin. Considering how Rexen turned out to be a deity or whatever, maybe she came along with him, to see me and….
"I just got this mail from the post office; I'd sent it to him. It bounced."
"You mean, he didn't pay for it-"
"No, I mean, they couldn't find him." The words bounced off me, almost like I was going deaf. Like, I knew what she just said but my mind refused to process it. "So, I checked with the harbor and… there were two shipwrecks last month. I believe Denkar was on one of them; we're not sure which one."
"No… it can't-"
"I'm sorry…"
No…
No!
[A/N]
Okay so, expect regular updates starting today till Friday. Now, I understand that's not much but given this week was supposed to be my holiday week, well, you should understand.
Even so, I actually wrote way more than I anticipated and completed 2.5 chapters yesterday and will complete 3 today.
I even finished that 'Draconic Sexy times' short story (it was already written). It's now titled 'Taming the wild dragon' Fantasy Romance: I'll leave an Amazon link in the comments in case you're interested.
Anyway, considering I plan on writing myself to death (not literally) this week, expect more releases and maybe even bonus chapters!
Thank you for reading.
I wish you all a great day.