His eyes opened slowly, blinking away the rest he had gotten that night. The room was completely dark. For the next few seconds, Luca experienced that peculiar bliss that comes from the ignorance one gets some lucky mornings; his entire life came rushing, and he remembered his situation, which made him groan when he remembered where he was. But he shook the feeling off; today’d be better; he assured himself that, and with everything in his power, he’d make sure of that.

  Standing up, Luca stretched the sleep away, and as he did, he heard the quiet rhythmic breathing of someone; that’s right, he hadn’t slept with Cory the other night on account of his party; he’d have to be quiet now. Therefore, Luca sneaked to the washroom and did his morning routine, but when he scratched his face, he noticed it was slightly wet; he had drooled—a sign of a very well-rested man.

  “Guess I was as tired as I remember.” He muttered to himself.

  The next few minutes, Luca dressed himself with the clothes he prepared as he recounted everything in his head; he now had his priorities straight, and he was determined to see them all to their end.

  1- Do well with the itinerary, and of course any other task required of him by his higher-ups; he wasn’t going to go anywhere if he didn’t do that right.

  2- Get some coin, which he would be able to do by the start of next week if he remembered the director’s words correctly.

  3- Get better, stronger, smarter, and more adapted to this new world; through training and learning, he’d do this one.

  4- Have fun; his mother told him that one; not going to get anything done if he doesn’t enjoy himself a bit.

  5- … Start working towards the kiss thing.

  The list was clear, and Luca lied to himself by putting the kiss at the bottom, but he did need to focus on the first things, so it was a necessary evil.

  With his thoughts organized, he opened the door and let the sun that came from the hallway windows into his room as well. Walking forward and bending a bit, he could see it was around the same time as yesterday—six and something in the morn. This time he didn’t have to go to the doctor, nor was he unaware of where to get breakfast, and he had more time than others to get his affairs in order, train a bit maybe, before following the tasks.

  Luca took a deep breath as his spirits felt refilled; it was already panning out to be an easier day, so he decided to use all his energy to train for the tournament (after breakfast), as it presented itself as an opportunity to clear some of the things from the list, much easier and almost guaranteed; how he’d do it he didn’t know; he probably couldn’t, but he’d try his best, that much was clear.

  “Uuuugh, close the damn door…!” Cory’s voice showed he was much less prepared for the day ahead than Luca.

  “Morning Cory.” He said, walking back inside, closing the door, and turning the mp back on, which provoked relief and despair in his roommate, in that order.

  “Uuggghh.” The student resigned himself to groan and cover his face with the pillow.

  “Oh, c’mon, not keen on waking early?” The guild member novice was feeling leagues better than yesterday, and, with his good mood reignited, he decided to try and infect Cory with some of it.

  “... Luca…” Spoke Cory from under the pillow. “For 18 years I lived on a farm and was forced to wake at a farmer’s hour, but for the st two I’ve been waking up two hours after that.” He finally moved the pillow a bit and gred at Luca from under it. “Guess which one I prefer…”

  “...” The newcomer simply stood there smiling, as he felt that little twinkle of smugness and mischief that came from annoying others, surely inherited from his life as an older brother. “... Did you know I worked on a farm a couple times?” The response he got was only a louder groan from under the pillow, which in turn made the teaser ugh. “What time do you usually wake up at, seriously?”

  “Seven thirty... most times.”

  “Alright, I’ll let you sleep till then from now on.” Said Luca as he walked over to the light tube. “Won’t force you to adapt to me; you’ve got css and all.”

  “Waait…” The voice made him turn. “I’m up already; don’t bother.” Said Cory as he moved his covers and slowly sat up, his face still buried in the pillow.

  “S-Sorry…” He said, now a bit regretful for his trickery.

  “Mm mmm.” The future member of the guild walked slowly towards the washroom, face still buried in the pillow as he held it up, an act that confused Luca. After he entered the washroom, the door opened once more, but only his arm holding the pillow came from it. “Here, put this back.” Luca, confused, obliged and grabbed the pillow from the arm; the door suddenly smmed close. “Thanks.” He heard from beyond the door.

  “...” The rookie stared for a few seconds at the pillow before getting to a reason for the strange acts. “Is this the makeup thing again?!”

  “Yup!”

  “Mother in the..." Luca sighed and chuckled at his roommate’s behavior. After putting the pillow back on the bed and after fixing his up, Luca grabbed his few belongings from the closet and prepared to go for some early sustenance.

  “Oi, you are waiting for me, aren’t you?” Said Cory’s voice after Luca closed his closet.

  “What?”

  “I mean, after waking me up and all, you are waiting for me to be done so we can go get breakfast together, obviously, right?”

  “Y-Yeah! Of course!”

  “Oh good good, just making sure.”

  And with that, Luca id on his bed once more, carefully as to not undo it again. He checked he had everything he needed: the manual, his coin bag, his guild badge, which he took out of his pocket and admired.

  He ran his fingers through it; it was made of multiple stones, and the texture was rough, but it didn’t leave any trace of dust on one’s fingers. The design was a bit fshy for Luca’s taste, but it had a meaning, surely, and he wasn’t keen on questioning it. He held the badge with his hand, wrapping his fingers around it, and then let said hand rest upon his chest as he contempted how, whatever the meaning its design had, now he had to represent that meaning as much as the very badge—represent a guild, a duty that would earn him everything he needed as payment.

  The rookie pced his other hand under his head and waited patiently for his new roommate to finish preparing himself up; the man knew Luca was waiting, so it wouldn’t be too long now. He took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself for the day ahead; it wouldn't be easy, but from now on, he knew enough to not let it be like yesterday, the bad parts at least. In fact, Luca felt so good about the day ahead, he didn’t feel the need to count the time it was in his head; for now, he wasn’t looking forward to the day ending just after it started.