“You aren’t going for the steak?”

  “I already ate one yesterday, remember?” Luca said as he put the dle back after serving himself a hefty amount of stew. “Besides, I went for a checkup this morning, and the doctor told me to eat meat in other ways.” She also told him a couple other things, but he’d keep that to himself.

  “A checkup? Was it just routine or what?” Alyska asked with a hint of worry as she made her way through the tables full of people to the empty ones, leading Luca to one of them.

  "Oh, it’s nothing; the director told me to go there after yesterday's, um, incident.”

  "O-oh, right that...” She seemed to already know the details, good, that way Luca didn’t have to be the one who expined it. They sat down on the table, one next to the other, setting the trays with the lunch in front of them.

  “B-But I didn’t suffer from it, a-and the doctor told me I’m fine, so...” He shrugged and struggled to keep eye contact with her. “Happy news all around.”

  "Haha, I-I guess so…” Alyska cleared her throat as she took the utensils out of the rolled napkin. “S-So the director!” She excimed, as eager as him to change the topic. “What did she want to talk about?”

  “Ah! Well, nothing much honestly, just telling me about... my position and everything. She also told me to see her ter today, though I don’t know why.” Alyska shrugged in response and began cutting her food.

  “Beats me, are you nervous about it?”

  “I will be, but for now I’m mostly hungry.” He chuckled as he dug into the stew. “I didn’t eat dinner st night, and this morning the hunger was beating my ass.” Alyska ughed with him.

  How did she do it? How was it that just by talking, Luca stuttered less and found it so easy to talk back to her? He liked her, and she was beautiful! Shouldn’t it have been harder to speak to her? Somehow that wasn’t the case; speaking to her just felt... natural.

  The canteen was more of a school lunchroom, with many tables in a huge space and with a little buffet to the side that changed every day, which was free for students and guild members. The air was filled with various conversations, mostly found in the two rows of tables closer to the food; the third one was reserved for guild members, but because they had money, most preferred to eat at their homes, so it was much emptier than the university ones, not fully empty though; there were at least a couple tables that were completely free—like the one Luca and Alyska sat at—but most were filled by small groups chatting as they ate. All in all, the situation gave for a rather familiar scenario, which, to Luca, contrasted with the fact that he was most definitely not in a familiar pce. The day already felt too long, and it was only lunch.

  “Which doctor, by the way?” Alyska asked as she finished cutting her food and was now pcing the napkin on her p, which when Luca saw he imitated.

  “Doctor Ezza, she’s the beast-woman with the rabbit ears.”

  “Oh my goodness! She's our tutor!” Luca had missed her excited little cps, and it had only been a day. “She’s the one in charge of the role training for us healers.”

  “Hey, that’s awesome! She was very nice and looked happy during the check-up; she seemed very, uh, enthusiastic about her job.” She also seemed enthusiastic about other things, but it was best to push the thought away, no matter how hard that was.

  “Yes! She was very nice; I’m actually kind of excited for the role training, and you?” A fshback of the effort he just had to do with the general ran through his mind.

  “Uuuuh, yeah, I’m sure it will be good…” He took another piece of food and ate it, then he forgot where he had the napkin, so Alyska giggled and pointed to his p; he cleaned his mouth, blushing and swallowed. “Thanks… Heh, anyway; my ‘tutor’, I guess, is apparently the leader of the guild.” Alyska’s eyes shot wide open when she heard this.

  “Oh my! The leader leader? Like the one at the top?” She asked incredulously. Luca swallowed and cleaned his mouth while responding.

  “I think so, top dog.” He cleared his throat. “That’s how he introduced himself anyway; he said that, and general of the army and a member of the council, whatever that is.”

  "Goodness, what a record... oh, the council is the people who lead Zenith.” She said as she ate.

  “I imagined, but does it really work though?” She looked at him confused. “I mean, do people with money and everything really make so many good decisions?” Alyska ughed while still having food in her mouth; she cleaned herself with the napkin.

  “Excuse me” She said while giggling. “You’ve got a point, but the thing is, the people at the council aren’t just rich men who get there because of family or whatever.” She cleared her throat and faced him to expin better. “The council is formed of the director of Zenith’s university, who takes care of the education in the city and obviously in the university, as well as providing teachers to novices in the guild like us! They choose their successor.” Luca nodded and turned, facing her and gaining a faint blush, but luckily she was so focused on expining she didn’t seem to notice. “Then, there’s the guild leader, who takes care of everything involving the guild, the dungeon, and as you just said, providing trainers for novices and managing the army; they appointed the captain that gave us the physical training! Which reminds me, by the way, where were you?”

  “O-Oh, I went a bit early and chatted with the captain; she told me I could take the physical training on my own if I wanted to, so it’s free time for me.” He looked down, then back up and shrugged. “Benefits of being invited by the director, I suppose.”

  “And here you thought it was a curse.” She said smugly. Luca scoffed pyfully at her reaction.

  “It’s the first day; maybe it’s a curse that takes time.” He joked; she frowned unserious as he took a final sip of his broth, sliding the tray further from him, decring he had finished. “Though the food of the curse isn’t bad, that I will admit.”

  “It better; that sounds like a minimum every curse should have!” Both chuckled.

  “Who else is on the council? How many even are there?”

  “Well, there’s four members: the director, the guild leader, the minister of coin and... my word, I forgot the st one!”

  “Brain already at full capacity with the healing training?” He teased her. She waved the napkin at him pyfully.

  “Oh shush. Anyway, the minister of coin is the man who takes care of... well, the coin.” Both of them ughed. “He takes care of business in the city—imports and exports, trading routes, all that stuff.”

  “Is it always a man?” Luca found himself confused when she mentioned the minister being the man who takes care of the coin.

  “Well, the thing is, it’s always been the same man…” She suddenly gained a worried look on her face, her eyes falling to the ground.

  “Oh… I-Is he an elf or...”

  “He’s a vampire.” Luca got chicken skin when he heard that; he always got that when a vampire was involved; everyone he knew had the same thing.

  “Damn… Hey, do you, um, do you also get freaked out by vampires? Or am I just being a kid?” He tried to joke to get the knot out of his throat.

  “Don’t you know? Every human does!” She said as she wiped her mouth and finished her own food. “It’s the thing with vampires! Every human gets scared when they think about them, even more when seeing them.”

  “Every human?” The revetion seemed too extreme to be true; he trusted her, but it was still unbelievable. “Are you sure? H-How is that even possible?!”

  “I-I couldn’t tell you! But yeah, it’s a thing…” His mood had soured, and Luca shook his head to forget the image of a vampire.

  Looking around the canteen, he saw the familiar sight of Cory, his new roommate, walking through the hallways with a tray of food in his hands. His head was hanging and his face depicted tiredness and discomfort; did he really go to css like that? Last he saw him, he was drunk, and it was that morning!

  Cory looked around for a pce to sit, which is when they locked eyes, Luca waved at him, and Cory had to think for a second, probably remembering who he was, before smiling weakly and walking over to them.

  “Hey, this is my roommate; remember I told you they got me in a dorm?” He said, turning to Alyska.

  “Yeah, yeah! … Wait, he?” Luca simply turned and nodded. Alyska gnced at Cory as he walked over for a few seconds, then looked back at Luca, shrugged, and nodded. “Yeah ok.” Good, now everyone was on the same boat.

  “Heeey… Luca?” Said Cory, his voice now lower and raspier.

  “Hey Cory, and yes, Luca.”

  “Yesss.” He pumped his fist, almost dropping the tray. "Hey, did I see you this morning? I think I remember seeing you this morning.”

  "Yeah, I dragged you to bed.” He did so hugging him, but he wasn’t going to think about that now. Lots of things to avoid thinking about, Luca realized.

  “Hihii, thanks love. Who’s your friend?” Cory leaned to the side to face Alyska. “Are you also in the guild?”

  “Oh! Yes, nice to meet you, Alyska Eain.” She did a little bow on her seat, which Cory returned after a second.

  “Cory, the pleasure’s mine.” Some table ughed loudly, and Cory shifted the tray to hold it with one hand and clutch his head with the other. “Oh gods, if those idiots don’t quiet down, my head’s gonna explode. You guys mind if I sit with you? I know it’s only for guild members, but..." Luca shrugged, but Alyska was the one to respond.

  “Please, be our guest.”

  “Oh, thank you.” Said the university student while he slid on the bench on the other side of the table. “I’m lucky, my roommate is in the guild AND his friend is nice.” Alyska giggled at the compliment.

  “So your head is hurting? Do you know why that might be?” Asked Alyska. The question made Luca chuckle.

  “Yeah Cory, any idea why you got a headache?” Cory took a piece of carrot and put it in his mouth, then shot a gre at Luca, who smiled smugly.

  “... Not a clue.” He lied as he chewed. Luca giggled.

  He was feeling comfortable; both of them were nice, friendly people, and surprisingly, he found talking to both of them much easier than he anticipated. For the next 20 minutes or so, the three of them chatted; even after Cory finished his food, they stayed a couple minutes, just talking and getting along.

  “Oh my gods! I loooove Pide, the castles, the cloudy afternoons, the food, MMM!” Cory excimed, hugging himself and relishing the memory. He was now wearing a bck puffy hoodie, which made Luca question, did he only have bck clothing?

  “Heehee, I’m gd you like my region so much; honestly, for me it’s long lost its sparkle.” Confessed Alyska.

  “What do you mean?! I could never get tired of the vibe; I’d feel like a novel protagonist every day." Said Cory in a dreamy fashion.

  “Try to feel that when you have to go out for food and it’s pouring down for the 7th day in a row.” Luca ughed at Alyska’s retold dismay. “I’d much rather go to a warmer pce, like Cuartel.”

  “Good choice, Aly.” Interjected Luca proudly.

  “Fair. Hey, what time is it anyway? I got css soon.” Luca gnced out the windows that stood at the top of the walls of the canteen, but Alyska put her hand into her jacket and, with a click, opened her handwatch.

  “Hmmm, 13:32. 1:30pm.” She closed the watch and stuffed it inside her jacket again.

  “Ugh, yeah, I got to css in 15 minutes; I should go.”

  “We can go with you if you want; at least accompany you to the door.” Said Luca as Cory got up.

  “Such a gentleman.” Teased Cory. “Sure, I’d love the company.” Replied Cory, they all got up and walked away from the table.

  “Oh, Luca, do you know when our next arrangement is?”

  “Uuuh, like, at 3, I think? I’m pretty sure that’s when lunch ends.”

  “Hmmm, we’ll have to wait a while.” She said, once again taking her watch out and calcuting in her head how much. “At least…”

  “It’s fine; we can wait together.” Luca didn’t mean to say that out loud; he avoided Alyska’s gaze to avoid awkwardness, missing the fact she was smiling because of it. He met eyes with Cory, who had his eyebrows raised and was nodding proudly. Luca dismissed him with his face, and Cory rolled his eyes pyfully.

  “Aaaanywho, let’s go. I was already te to the first css this morning, and I don’t wanna break my rule of only once per day.” Cory said as they all started to walk to the entrance, Luca was going to tease him again because of his hangover, but Cory predicted it, turned around, and pointed at the sky. Luca got the message and kept his mouth shut.

  As they were walking through the quieter hallway, however, someone got up from their seat without looking out the bench and accidentally bumped into Alyska.

  “Oh! M-My apologies, I didn’-” Alyska quickly expressed her regrets before she was cut off.

  “Hey! Watch where you are going, woman, shit.” The man who bumped into her had spshed a minimal amount of water on his white jacket, which clearly enraged him. Luca recognized him as the blonde man from his delving group.

  “S-Sorry I-” This time it was Cory who interjected as Alyska backed away.

  “Hey fancy man, the dy said she’s sorry; why don’t you apologize for your part, huh?” The man seemed aggressive and looked down at Cory, who was shorter in height but matched him in attitude.

  “Excuse me? Who the fuck do you think I am, huh?” The guy got farther away from the desk and closer towards Cory, who didn’t back away.

  “Well clearly the idiot who can’t recognize his fault.” Cory pointed to the seat he was at. “I mean you got up without checking; she was just walking; it’s both your fault. Yours even more!”

  “Do you even know who I actually am, bitch? I’m in the guild! My family is rich; I don’t have to listen to a weakling student that has sticks for arms.” The guy was becoming more aggressive by the second, and Luca thought about telling Cory to drop it, but he responded before Luca could even suggest it.

  “Yeah? Well these sticks have hands at the end; you wanna find out what they do, huh?” He brought them up into fists, but then chuckled and dropped them to his sides. “Well, your dad already knows something they can do, and let me tell you, he loves it.” Someone on the table behind the guy snorted at Cory’s (to be fair, pretty escating) burn.

  “You fucking-” The guy then pushed Cory, sending him tumbling backwards. He was able to keep his footing, but the blonde man started approaching.

  However, before he could get two steps towards Cory, Luca stood in front of him and stopped his walking, bumping him with his shoulder, standing straight with both fists to his sides, and looking at the man dead in the eyes.

  “Luca!” Alyska said, surprised as she helped Cory stand up straight.

  “Get out of-” The man's sentence was cut short when he looked at Luca in the face, a hint of recognition spreading fast around it. Luca stood silent and stoic. “Hey, I know you; you are in the fighter’s group, aren’t you?” Luca again said nothing; instead, he followed the man’s eyes with his on every move he made. “Listen, I know some things about you, and I know you are from the country, so let me say this slowly so you understand.” He had a fake friendly grin on, to mock Luca.

  “...”

  “I am Preston Tarnul, of the Tarnul family?” Luca kept looking at him in the eyes while he tried to persuade him into talking. “Now, just so you understand how important my family is, we have connections with every royal in the continent under the mountains, hm? And I have enough money in my pocket to buy your little town 100 times, and I still would have enough to buy a vil to pce there, hm?.” Luca kept silent, and he saw Preston’s eye twitch slightly. “So do me a favor, save me the trouble of doing the paperwork and buying your shitty, crumbly little town, and get out of my way before I’m forced to. Get. You. Out.” He leaned back to let Luca move; he stood silent and looked him in the eyes.

  In the distance, between the chatter of the crowd, Luca could hear the cnking of metal armor as some guards entered the building, which was usually, by the looks of it, not guarded by anyone. Luca deduced what that meant.

  “You are really getting on my nerves, you know that?” Laughed the rich man. “Last chance to move, dude, or you’ll force my hand.”

  “C’mon Preston, drop it; it’s not that serious.” Said someone from the table he was sitting at, but Preston ignored them and tilted his head down to gaze at Luca, who, as expected, didn’t move.

  “As you wish, Redneck.” Luca felt a sharp sting to the side of his face as the man threw a punch straight to his jaw. The sting quickly became numb for a second, and Luca felt his jaw clench as the pain arrived; the punch forced him to catch his footing, and he was now leaning over, his arm caught by Alyska, who gasped as soon as the punch connected. “I should thank you really; it gives me an excuse to beat your stupid face to a pulp.”

  “Please h-” Alyska pleaded before a voice silenced the entire building.

  “Enough!” The echoed voice resounded in everyone’s ears. Luca felt his ears ring with the familiarity of the tone, and he straightened up as Cory walked to his side and pressed a hand on his back.

  “Dude, are you alright?” He whispered as they all walked to the side to leave space for the director to walk through.

  “Yeah, don’t worry.” Luca patted Alyska’s arm as she held his, which caused her to cautiously drop it. He smiled at Alyska, thankful, and then looked at the director as he answered the question. “It barely hurt.”

  Luca rubbed his face to make it seem like he was calming the pain, but in reality, he was hiding the smirk of satisfaction he had after seeing his pn work.

  Time: 13:42