The three of us got our food before going out on the campus. We all settled in a wooded area. I mostly sat and drank while they chatted like old friends.
"Say, are you going to the ball R?" Philip asked. I shrugged.
"It'd be my first one."
Eris's lip formed a small smile as Philip and I talked.
"Well then you've got to meet Asia. She could teach you a thing or two."
"Like how she taught you that one simple illusion?" Eris smirked. Philip blushed lightly.
"Oh whatever. Like you've never messed up with your arcane," Philip pouted. Eris gave a playful shrug.
After laughing a little bit, I froze. There was a hooded figure in the woods.
I locked eyes with the person. Their head tilted before they vanished altogether. My eyes kept searching for them, but found no luck.
The only thing that shocked me out of it was a tiny wet nose nuzzling my neck. Turning my head to not startle it, I could only see a blur of green.
"Oh hello Mari," Eris said. She cheeped and nuzzled him too.
We stayed and talked for a while before a gong ringed. My head snapped up when I heard it.
"Curfew".
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I stared at the books on my bed, trying to comprehend the material. Lucky for me, this world writes in English.
I figured the easiest to start with would be Swordsmanship, but all the vocabulary was making my head spin. So naturally I worked on Reading next.
Although confusing, the unit was about Loic Religion. It was a lot like Greek and Roman and Egyptian mythology, maybe a sprinkle of Norse and Christianity too.
They have so many deities... wait. Why do they have deities if the citizens preform magic themselves? Especially considering those with a cosmic branch like Eris or a controlling branch like Luana and Remus. Or even flying for crying out loud.
Frantic cheeping made me look up.
"Mari..." I sighed, holding her close to me and stroking her fur, "nothing is out the window. We're okay."
Lightning cracked and she nuzzled further towards me before peering up at me.
I chuckled before going back to bed, holding her as I continued to read more about Loic fables and tales. I read a few out to her before falling asleep.
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A couple weeks of schooling passed. I was getting the language and mythology down, but arcane and my branch still weren't developing.
I rubbed my blistered hands, made rough through my swordfighting lessons. I was doing decent in that class, although I was still far behind the rest of my classmates.
I sighed and cuddled Mari before falling asleep.
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A pair of glowing eyes peered into my soul as I walked backwards. While getting closer to me, the figure slowly raised its hand and conjured more figures.
