"Uhhhh... What the hell is this?" Zain spoke in a sarcastic manner as he stared at his room in disappointment.
The room was extremely massive and spacious that it could easily accommodate 10 people with their 10 king-size beds. Zain could not deny the complete five-star rating he would give his room in terms of space. But other than that, the room sucks.
The walls were painted a dull beige, the kind of color that seemed to suck the life out of the room rather than enhance it. A single, flickering dull light hung from the ceiling, casting a harsh, unflattering glow that made everything look even more drab. The furniture was sparse and mismatched, a pile of cheap, second-hand pieces that looked like they had been scavenged for years.
In one corner, a pathetic looking armchair slumped under the weight of a faded throw blanket, while a feeble desk stood against the wall, cluttered with old textbooks and crumpled papers. The only decoration was a sad, half-hearted attempt at art—a poster of a beach that had seen better days, its edges fading and yellowing with age.
He walked over to the window, hoping for a view that might redeem the room. Instead, he was greeted by the sight of a brick wall just a few feet away. The only thing he could see was a pigeon perched on the ledge.
"Fantastic," he said, rolling his eyes. "A pigeon. Just what I needed to complete this five-star experience."
With a resigned sigh, he jumped down onto the bed, which, despite its size, felt uninviting and stiff. "Well, at least I have space to pace around in my suffering," he thought, staring up at the ceiling.
"Maybe I should just start a support group for people stuck in terrible rooms." Zain chuckled at the thought of this.
Zain, who was cursing, noticed the light coming from the atmosphere. It is warm and strange, he noticed, which suddenly made him realize.
"It's not lit up by the atmosphere, it is lit up by the sun!" Zain nearly screamed with a voice carrying enthusiasm as he ran towards the window. "The sun truly exists!"
This is the first time Zain is seeing the sun. The sun is something that Zain has only read about in books; never once has he seen it in real life.
Stretching his hands outside his room via his window, he then smiled. "It is truly warm, no wonder I have been feeling a strange sensation of warmth this whole while."
"Well, this is my adventure. My life is going to be an adventure that I will not make boring... Not when I am living in my fantasy."
Turning towards his room again, Zain then sighed. "I guess it's time to tidy up."
Equipping himself with a broom and other needed equipment he found at a small store inside his room, he then moved into action.
As a matter of fact, the room was dirty and dusty like it hasn't been used for decades.
Deep in the heart of the Lowaling Academy, a young mage could be seen with both knees and palms on the ground, prostrating before no visible object.
He is currently in a dark alleyway begging. "Please forgive me, I haven't gotten to speak to her, I couldn't find the chance to. You know, in order to be perfect, I need to go slow and steady. If..."
"Shut up," the husky voice boomed echoing through the alleyway. "I don't want any excuse, you are just incapable and useless.
I don't even know why a useless pathetic thing is under my wing. I will make dispose of you if you fail one more time."
"Now I have a new task for you," the voice spoke again and a dark, shapeless swirling shadow, darker than the shadow of the alleyway, moved closer to the red-haired mage in prostration. "You've seen a certain new intake, a new male intake with long black hair that has its tip tinted green. He was with you during your assessment and was supposed to be your opponent."
"I believe you know him."
"Yes, sire!"
"Good, good. Now go forth and bring me his head. He is reminding me of a past moment I want to forget." With that said, he dispersed into the air and his last words echoing.
"Hmmm," Zain hummed. "I will be starting by cleaning the room."
Tossing his book onto the bed, he then walked deep into the room. The room was very spacious and big that it had multiple segments looking like small stores and just like Zain guessed, it was not all empty.
The first store Zain went into made a slight grin appear on his face. It was containing all he needed at the moment. Brooms, mops, detergent and so on were packed in it, neatly arranged.
Grabbing the broom, Zain started by sweeping. After sweeping the room, he moved to removing the cobwebs and then moping and so on.
Before he knew it, hours flew by and it was currently fifteen minutes past four. He wouldn't have been able to tell if it wasn't for the wall clock on the wall of his room.
When he newly arrived at the room, it was eleven o'clock, meaning he used five hours and fifteen minutes for cleaning his room.
"That's quite fast," Zain couldn't help but mumble. "This room alone is as big as the entire house I lived in with my mom."
Falling on the king-size bed, he then looked at his wrist. "This tattoo," he mumbled.
Stretching his hands, he grabbed the LOWALING book.
After checking the table of contents, he started flipping the page until he got to where he wanted.
[Stat sticker]
(The stat sticker is a magic imbued to every student of the prestigious Lowaling Academy. It contains various features which a student cannot do without being in the school premises and cannot be erased by anyone other than the school.)
The features of the tattoo include:
- Tracking: Everyone who has the tattoo cannot go missing. The tattoo is imbued with a mixture of multiple magic which is connected to the school system and is constantly supervised by the school administrators. Amongst the magic is a tracking magic.
- Notification: There are various things that can be done with the tattoo and viewing notifications is one of them. Whenever there is a special occasion in the school, guides will be sent to students via stat sticker.
- Updating: The tattoo is constantly updating itself with the student's progress and achievements within the school. It serves as a sort of diary that the student can refer to anytime.
- Store: The tattoo also grants the student special abilities that enable them to connect to the school mage's store. A store where potions and other magical imbibements can be purchased, ranging from increasing skill in magic to enhanced physical capabilities.
- Points allocation and reduction: With the aid of the stat sticker, whenever school points are allocated or rewarded to students by teachers, it will be reflected via the stat sticker. The same applies when students lose points.
Zain couldn't help but marvel at the capabilities of the tattoo. All these can be done by just this plain drawing!
It truly was a remarkable piece of magic that would undoubtedly be useful during his time at the academy.