Alex had expected the rest of the day to be more exciting. After the conversation with Fillonia, Henry and Miss Philaxter, he had expected his life to change. They were talking about people worshipping and dissecting him after all. Instead, the rest of his day had been relatively calm. Right after he found out he was something called an Otherborn, Henry had stuck with him for a while. He had explained some, to him, obvious stuff about the world, like for example how to lock his dorm room. Most of the stuff was useful, but not noteworthy.

  After about two hours of just talking with Henry at the Hearth courtyard, the young Fairy parted ways with Alex, claiming he did need to do some studying for his test tomorrow. After that, Alex had been alone again. He ate a slow, quiet lunch at the dorm dining hall. Apparently, most people didn't eat their lunch at the dorm, but rather at the larger dining hall in the main building of the campus.

  Since he had been one of the few students in the dining hall, Tildia had allowed him to try multiple meals to help him figure out what he liked. Unlike this morning, she had no golems helping her in the kitchen; instead, she was doing all the cooking herself. The joy on her face was clear as day as she flipped things that looked like pancakes in a pan. Of all the different meals Alex had tried, he had found a few he really liked, and a few he would never order again.

  After lunch, he decided to see if Henry was studying in the library again. The dark-haired Fairy was, but he also made it clear to Alex that while he would have loved to spend his time talking to the Otherborn, he really needed to pass this test. Alex understood; he had crammed for plenty of tests himself in high school. So instead of bothering him, Alex had decided to just sit with him for a moment. He had grabbed a few books from the nearby shelves that had looked interesting, but he quickly gave up on them after trying for about half an hour. There was something about the Field of Silence in the library that just felt off to him and made him unable to concentrate on his reading.

  After wishing Henry good luck on his test tomorrow, Alex had left the library again and headed back to his room at the Hearth. He wasn't sure exactly what to do now, so far at least an hour he just stood on his balcony and watched other students come and go. Most he didn't recognize, but there were a few familiar faces here and there. He spotted the first-years Aro had scared away at the Notice Board that morning. The one who was deciding between the dishwashing and library job had part of his uniform scorched. Whatever job he had ended up picking in a hurry had clearly not worked out for him.

  Watching the courtyard was peaceful. For a moment, Alex could just let all his worries go. He had so many things he needed to worry about back on Earth. Like taxes, not being fired at work, his parents constantly asking if he found somebody, and paying his bills on time. For now, he could let all of that go. Sure, this world had its own completely new worries, like cults, classes and being dissected, but right now, he could just relax and watch people cross the courtyard. As he shifted his weight to his other leg, the pouch of Merit Credits in his pocket jingled. That was something he could do, count how many credits he still had.

  Alex headed back inside and sat down at his desk. The orb of light emerged from the stone plate above it. With already enough light coming from the large window in his room, the orb of light wasn't really necessary. He was about to touch the plate and see if he could turn off the light like Aro had done this morning, before stopping right in front of it, his hand frozen in the air. He didn't want to completely drain it of mana. Then he wouldn't be able to use it at night anymore. And right now, he had no control over whether or not his body drained artifacts of mana. So, he decided to just leave the light on. It was bright, but not too bothersome.

  He pulled the pouch out and dumped its contents on his desk. The small copper coins twinkled in the orb's pulsing light. Alex moved his finger over the emerald claw emblem on one of the coins. The emblem was rough to the touch, while the rest of the coin felt smooth. He slid them back into the pouch as he counted them. There were still thirteen of them. With two Aro had spent this morning and the five he had on lunch, meant he must have started with twenty. That made sense. If you had to give someone a starting amount of coin, make it a round number.

  He probably shouldn't have spent five on lunch, but he had the dining hall almost entirely to himself, so he wanted to experiment with the food. See what he did like and what he didn't. It probably should have cost him over five credits, but after the fifth Tildia had said he didn't need to pay anymore and that she would gladly make him whatever else he wanted to try that lunch. After that, he had tried three more things, but then he was completely full.

  Still, that meant he had only thirteen credits left. Having spent seven in just half a day meant they were probably not going to last him very long. He needed more. Miss Philaxter hadn't paid him for the library job this morning. But then again, he didn't really finish the job either, did he? He thought about going back and seeing if he could finish it, but decided not to bother Miss Philaxter anymore today. She was helping him look into what an Otherborn exactly was after all.

  It scared him that even the locals had barely any idea what his new body was capable of. For all he knew, he could turn into some kind of gigantic monster once that voice inside his head stopped initializing. For now though, he let that thought slide. He needed to live his life, and for that he would need more credits. He carefully put the pouch full of credits back in a pouch of his uniform and headed outside to see what else the Notice Board had to offer.

  It was empty, completely empty. There was even less hanging on the board than there was this morning after breakfast. Of course, Alex had expected that, but silently he had hoped a few new jobs would have been posted already. Sadly, that wasn't the case. He sat down on a nearby bench and stared at the Notice Board for a moment. What else was he going to do for the rest of the day? He looked aimlessly around him in the courtyard for inspiration.

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  The board grabbed his attention again as one of the dull gray crystals hanging on it brightened back into a bright yellow. A paper note materialized under the crystal as if it were burning in reverse. Then another note appeared, and a third, and even a fourth. Alex nearly jumped up from the bench to check out what the jobs were. His face drooped as he read the first job.

  There was no way he could do that. Even if he knew how to recharge a lamp, he doubted he would actually be capable of it since he had no innate mana, as Fillonia put it. He glanced at the other jobs, but as expected, they all read the same. With a deep sigh, he sat back down on the bench and tried to think of other stuff he could do today. He had really hoped he could do another job and earn some more credits. Should he go back to the library after all and see if he could finish that job? No, he said he wasn't going to disturb Miss Philaxter, so he should stick with that.

  Alex just sat there, not sure of what to do next. There was a whole new world out there for him to explore, or at least a whole campus for now, but for some reason he felt stuck. Was it the anxiety of the unknown? Or the fact that he just didn't feel like himself right now? Either way, he lay down on the bench and just stared at the sky for a moment. He took another deep breath and closed his eyes.

  "Wake up, Alex," the familiar voice startled him. When he opened his eyes again, Tildia was standing next to him. Next to her stood one of her large clay golems. "Sorry to wake you, but I need the bench. We're getting the courtyard ready for the dinner rush," the short Hearthkin explained. As Alex looked around, he could see a few other golems carrying benches and large tables through the courtyard.

  "Sorry, I didn't mean to doze off," he explained.

  "Oh, that's alright. You ate quite a lot. Your body needs time and rest to digest all that," Tildia said with a hearty laugh.

  "Do you need any help setting things up?" Alex asked. He had nothing else to do, so he might as well ask if she needed help.

  "Nah, that's alright. My boys will take care of it in no time," the Hearthkin nodded towards the clay golem as he picked up the bench Alex had been lying on. "If you want, I can get started on your dinner already? That way you can beat the rush."

  Alex thought about it for a moment. While he didn't really have any hunger yet, there still wasn't anything better he could do. "Uhm, why not? Are you sure though?"

  "Of course, don't worry about it. There' are a few other students eating already in the dining hall. Besides, now I can still cook for you myself. In the rush, I'll need my boys to do most of the cooking."

  The stocky Hearthkin waved her arm to gesture to Alex to follow her. The surrounding golems continued to arrange the tables and benches to match how they stood during the breakfast rush. Alex followed Tildia inside the dining hall and could see that she wasn't lying when she said there were already a few students eating dinner. He didn't recognize any of them, but from the lack of accents on their uniforms, all of them were first-years like he was.

  After the dishes he tried at lunch and some general information on local cuisine that Henry provided, Alex had at least some idea as to what he liked. Thus, when it came to ordering his dinner, he knew exactly what to take, a mareth burger. Apparently, the mareth J.D.'s family farmed where some kind of livestock. From the description Henry had given him, they looked similar to Earth's sheep. The burger included what looked like a breaded mutton chop, the same salad from his morning sandwich, some cheese, and an amazing-smelling sauce.

  With dinner in hand, Alex sat down at a mostly empty table. Two other students were a bit further away, but still close enough that he could overhear what they were talking about. From the way they talked, it was clear the two of them knew each other very well. He listened in to make sure they didn't somehow know about him or had heard rumors of something strange happening at school.

  "I still can't believe we're actually here," the one closest to Alex said. He looked human, but in this world that was just a guess. At least he wasn't a Drake, Fairy or Hearthkin. His brown hair was messy, and a pair of thick-framed glasses rested on his nose.

  "Neither can I," the girl next to him answered. Unlike with the boy, it was clear she wasn't human. Her green hair was neatly tucked behind her pointed ears, and she tied it into a decorative braid that looked like a crown on her head. "Who would have thought, Ghel and Hyntia, future adventurers."

  "Definitely not Miss Hanex," the boy, who Alex assumed was Ghel, laughed. "I think she's just glad she doesn't have to teach us anymore."

  "Oh, she definitely is. So what are you going to do later tonight?"

  "I don't know. I heard they throw some crazy parties at that large fire pit in the courtyard. Probably going to see if that's true. How about you?"

  "Hmm, I think I'm going to see if I can write a letter home. I'm sure our parents are worried sick about us."

  At that point, Alex stopped listening to their conversation. It was obvious they had no idea who he was or had heard anything strange was happening at school. A letter home, maybe that was something he could do as well. Of course, there was no way to actually send it there. Thinking about that stung. He would probably never see his parents or his friends again. They probably all thought he was dead. Even he thought he was dead when he first arrived here. For a moment he wondered if that would have been so bad. Then he wouldn't have to deal with being an Otherborn.

  It might be good for him to put his feeling on paper, something he now also had in his room thanks to Henry. One of the first things the young Fairy had shown him that morning was the small supply store in the main building. He had even offered to pay for some basic stuff like paper, ink, and a few notebooks. So far, he had been a way better guide than Aro had been.

  By the time he was finished with his burger, the rest of the student body had started to rush the dining hall. Alex didn't feel like sitting in that mass of people, so he headed back to his room. He thought back to the first-year girl and how she was going to write a letter home. While he couldn't actually send it, he was still going to write one too. He sat down at his desk, grabbed a piece of paper and started writing.