The Dungeon Crawler's Academy

The Story of Lilith

As sunlight peaked around the edges of his curtains the sounds of the first bell barely managed to rouse Argent from his heavy slumber, his exertions from the day before having left him in a state of sleep nearly as deep as his prior unconsciousness had been. The first bell sounded at six hundred hours in the morning, two hours before homeroom class began, providing generally enough time for students to get their equipment in order for the day's affairs and to grab a bite at the dining hall if they so chose. Yawning, he noted the dull white light of the morning sunrise filtering into his room, and tentatively pulled the curtains open a bit whilst shielding his eyes. As his vision acclimated to the light, outside in the distance, movement on the training track caught his attention. Many students of the Academy were early risers who took their studies and training very seriously, and to find them out in the gardens and fields was not uncommon even at the crack of dawn, but today it was the familiar sight of tall rabbit ears which pulled his attention. Following their movement he found Shizuka and Naiara paced side by side, running laps together on the track.

"Those two really are something.."

He mumbled to himself, stretching a bit before heading into the bathroom to prepare for the day to come. His mind wandered absently back to the bell system here at the DCA as he went through his morning routine, contemplating that in reality this 'first bell' was actually more of a heavy gong struck twice, as was the final bell which signified the end of day curfew at twenty-two hundred hours from which all students were required to be indoors. The warnings which sounded ten minutes prior to the start of a class were more like chimes. Only the 'be in your seats by this time or be marked tardy' sounds were actual bells, but everyone called all of them bells, and it somehow didn't sound right to call them anything else.

It was this mundane train of thought which rumbled through the alchemist's head as he idly brushed his teeth and fixed his hair whilst still only half awake, coming to the fullness of his senses only after he slapped his cheeks with a handful of cold water. Moving back into the main section of his room, Argent managed to get himself half dressed when there was a knock at his door.

"It's open."

He called nonchalantly, expecting that it could only be Gauge. As the door pushed open it was not the rogue, however, but a particular little pixie who came fluttering in without hesitation.

"Goodmorning, Argent! I wanted to come check up on you before homeroom, I heard what happened yesterday. Sounds like Naiara roughed you up a little, huh?"

She greeted him cheerfully, all smiles.

"I-instructor! I'm uh.. I'm sorry. I didn't know--"

"Oh hush, kiddo. You're only missing a shirt, don't be such a prude."

She cut him off airily, waving a hand in dismissal. Inwardly, Argent wanted to argue that modesty wasn't exactly the point in this situation. Her being an instructor and all, it was more a matter of professionalism and respect, but he knew better than to try and make that argument with the entirely too lighthearted pixie. This being the case, he only nodded and quickly pulled on a shirt.

"Sorry.. In any case, I'm doing fine. A little sore, but honestly I blame Instructor Hanill's smoke sessions for that more than Naiara."

"Hehee, well that's fair. I'm happy to hear it~"

The tiny Fae giggled in response, her eyes lingering on the many bruises and shallow cuts which were still quite fresh on Argent's body before her gaze moved along to assess the shelves upon which he had carefully organized his books and alchemical supplies. Everything was meticulously neat, clearly marked, and painstakingly categorized.

"What a good boy you are."

She commented with a smile, quickly flitting through the air to hover just in front of Argent's eyes and pat him on the head, softly ruffling the front of his hair. He felt the unmistakable rush of healing magicks flow through him in that moment, similar to the regeneration spell the pixie had used to mend his shattered leg after the entrance exam. The questioning look he gave the pixie garnered him a small wink in return.