《Stormdancer Cal》 Chapter 1 A trip to the Stars. With a deafening bang, I¡¯m sent flying through the glass my movement restricted from the cords entangling my body. As glass fills the night sky I slowly rotate around to see the car filled streets below me. Slowly my momentum shifted from horizontal to vertical as my descent begins to speed up. I never thought I would die from falling, especially considering my fear of heights, yet here we go. Slowly I close my eyes and accept my fate. -A week earlier- As the sun rises it is another day it Etcka, a beautiful city that is a perfect mix of magic and science. Its got all the features magic cars, some low scale teleportation magic, cool floating screens, you know the works. Shame it''s really just for the upper class though, not for bottom feeders like me. And even though I¡¯m so far from the true beauty of Etcka, it¡¯s fine because I¡¯ll get to the top of the totem pole, or burn it down trying. Speaking of burning I should probably get up smells like Jess is ¡®cooking¡¯ again which means I gotta dip and fast. I quickly roll out of bed and towards my clothing rack and grab a pair of tight jogging pants and my favorite shirt sleeve T-shirts. This cool alternative rock band sold limited editions and I ¡®borrowed¡¯ it from a stranger leaving their concert. As I slowly attempt to leave my apartment I feel a tugging on my shirt and am yanked back into the kitchen and thrust in front of a plate of mystery meat. ¡°Try it Cal, I made some nice and hardy breakfast just the way you like it¡± ¡°Jess I really think I¡¯m fine but th-¡± ¡°Shut it and eat my food, its rare that I cook so you better enjoy it!¡± ¡°Ughhh, alright¡± As I began to choke down the food hoping to eat it fast enough as to not taste anything I sadly slip up and taste the charcoal-like texture of burnt eggs, in addition to the slimy ham with a cold center. Jess was a talented girl but cooking was better left to someone else, or anyone else just not her. After a brief detour in the restroom to relieve myself of the previously consumed toxin, I made my way towards the door. As I swing open the door I¡¯m greeted to the sight of Etcka. Skyscraping towers, floating billboards, air traffic, you know the works. As I¡¯m talking about the city I think its important I fill you in on the interworkings of this magical ¡®little¡¯ city. Our city is home to various organizations, big, small, public, private, however, one of the most important ones is the city is the stars academy. It''s basically a training bay for the future military of our city. When you are this big everybody wants a piece, therefore they always have a garrison at the ready. Of course, there is your fair share of clans, groups, and corporations trying to gain control of the city from inside. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Personally, I¡¯m hoping I can pass into the Stars this is the year I finally meet the age requirement and Jess said she¡¯d kick me out if I didn¡¯t pass so I guess I¡¯ll give it a shot. If you don¡¯t know the requirements are simply to be a youth of 14 years and pass the magic requirements. I don¡¯t know what mine are so I can only hope I pass, one¡¯s parents would normally have their childs magic checked around 5 when it develops. Only one problem though my mom couldn¡¯t handle the responsibility of a child so she ditched me, my dad did it first though so fuck them both. Personally, I hope I have something like fire that way I can just shoot fireballs from a distance and relax, but who knows what the world has in store. Maybe I¡¯ll be some legend with multiple affinities then I¡¯ll be able to laugh at my shit parents. As I make my way into the mass apartment elevator I press the lobby button and begin my descent. As I reach floor 7 the elevator door opens and some girl walks in, about the same height as me, some very long blonde hair, and some powerful blue eyes. I don¡¯t stare too long as I¡¯m not some creep and mind my business. She gets on her phone and I stare at the ceiling as I have no hope of being able to afford one, at least not yet. Slowly we reach the lobby and I move out towards the airbus stop, I notice the girl is still heading in my same direction and seeing as she¡¯s around my age I think I should talk to he- ¡°Hey, are you going to Star¡¯s academy?¡± ¡°Uhh, yea, I¡¯m assuming you are too.¡± ¡°Yep, I¡¯m really excited with my magic affinity I¡¯ll hopefully be placed in advanced courses.¡± ¡°Cool...I¡¯m happy for you I guess.¡± ¡°Yea thanks, I¡¯ve got a real high affinity for water and wind so hopefully I¡¯ll be able to do support magic, what affinities do you have?¡± ¡°I have no clue I was never checked¡± ¡°Ohh that''s weird, aren¡¯t you scared your gonna fail before we even start¡± ¡°Well it is the way it is, I¡¯ll never know if I don''t try, besides everything will probably be fine¡± ¡°If you say so...ummm¡­ what¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Caleon, but you can call me cal.¡± ¡°Ok, I¡¯m Lucy¡± As our conversation toned down we boarded the bus luckily as it was a Monday at 10:00 am there really wasn¡¯t too many people on the bus and as I sat down on the outside part of the seat, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn to see Lucy with eyes that say ¡®you should let me sit with you¡¯. Obviously, I scooch over and give away my premium seating to the pretty girl. The stars academy is pretty far on the outskirts of the city, therefore a pretty long bus ride was in order about an hours worth. About 20 minutes in I feel a bit of weight on my shoulder, of course, Lucy¡¯s head was draped over my shoulder. Being the gentlemen I am I don''t wake her up. As we reach our stop I turn to wake up Lucy only to notice a big wets spot on my shoulder, gross. I shake her and she slowly comes to her senses. And we get off the bus and make our way to Stars we are greeted to a beautiful vista. The buildings are gigantic with several buildings mirroring your above average college campus. I can see off in the distance some sort of Coliseum. Slowly my little duo follow the crowd towards this huge gathering area with a platform with several official looking fellas. Slowly as the stragglers catch up the officials begin their speal. ¡°Hello future students and others of Stars Academy, we hope you found your travels pleasant and we hope for those who go back that they find that journey somewhat pleasant as well. To emphasize most of you will be going back home with our acceptance rate of 12%. We will be accepting based off a few things: raw magic aptitude, physiology, and constitution, intelligence, and finally do we see a spark!¡± The official''s eyes seem to glow with excitement, his wrinkled face¡¯s expressions show a fire within. his long white beard is flowing even with the lack of wind. His robes are black and lined with gold and silver that reflects under the sun. Chapter 2- A shocking discovery The official continues his speech basically outlining the qualification process, it basically consists of a magic test, a practical knowledge test, and a few small sets of tourneys to see the practical fighting ability of the students. In all honesty, I don''t know if I even have magic, much less if I can fight but I¡¯ll figure it out, I always do. Me and Lucy head towards the magic examination zones, there are so many people around us that we are walking basically hip to hip. A few minutes in Lucy towards to me and starts talking. ¡°Hey Cal, I¡¯m surprised there are so many people here, it really seems like everyone and their moms came¡± ¡°Well duh, of course since the tryouts are free, why wouldn¡¯t you, it could literally change your whole life.¡± ¡°Yea I know that, but I mean if you didn¡¯t have any training or some sort of insane strong magic there is no way anyone would do well enough to get in¡± ¡°I mean I guess the nobles seem to have a stranglehold on the academy but its hard to say no, ya know¡± ¡°Yea without a doubt¡± We separated into groups and began the wait for our turns for our magic readings. The readings were done when the officials would send a spike of magic into you which would spark the innate magic inside of you. Its a rather dangerous method but it is truly the only option as people had begun developing magic affinities outside of the base elements, thus making our simplistic magic ball useless. We could see the current magic testee as our individual chambers had raised stages for the test. For the most part, it had been fairly unimpressive, a low affinity would mean that the magic spark was about the size of a head, and a medium may be a bit bigger than a person. We had yet to see a high affinity, or at least until a young red-headed boy walked up the steps, he had short red hair and golden eyes. He present his chest to the official and as the robed man places his hand upon the boy a huge flame lion aura burst out nearly the size of three people, it possesd a golden radiance that lit up the room. Slowly and smugly as if basking in his own light he walks down the stairs only to have a female with the same hair and eyes walk up in his place. The room is quiet only to have a larger light fill the room this one with hints of silver in its flame, truly awe-inspiring. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. For a short while, there is no one impressive until a small seemingly gnome or dwarf girl walks up and a brown glow explodes out. Eventually, it seems as if all the heavy hitters are coming out. A young elf boy comes with a deep azure blue and an even green as well as a sweet smell burst out. A skinny girl steps up the wooden step with uncertainty only for a strong glow of brown and a metallic sheen which seems to vibrate intensely. Some girl with raven black hair comes up and the room glows a dark purple that takes the form of a shifting monster, as everyone seems to squirm in their seats. Eventually, the heavy hitters seem to finish, making me wonder if they were all placed together intentionally. Lucy is up right before me a soft green and blue light greets the room. Finally, it was time for the star of the show, me, to head up slowly I walk up the stairs and see the official he is surprisingly youthful and rather strong-looking as he posses broad shoulders and towers over me, maybe he has some sort of earth affinity I hear they are all huge dudes and dudettes. Slowly the big guy places his hand over my chest and I feel a surge of energy burst into me. From my heart and head, I feel energy begin to radiate, with a thunderclap a royal purple explodes out as a light green and blue swirl around it with varying speeds. A light hum from the official is all I¡¯m greeted with as I begin the trek back to my seat. While sitting I attempt to memorize the flow that came from the spike. Lucy whispers into my ear ¡°Cal you do know what your affinities are right?¡± ¡°I can only guess¡± I reply quietly knowing my own ignorance ¡°It was probably really great right?¡± ¡°Great, more like amazing, You have an incredible affinity for lightning as well as strong ones for both wind and water! Not to mention how it moved you should have a special property as well!¡± Lucy yells at me, causing the people around us to forget how to mind their damn business. So quietly that Lucy can barely hear me I mumble out ¡°shit¡­ I¡¯m good.¡± Chapter 3- A Blowout Battle After an eternity the magic parade lost its juice and we moved on to the testing which I found to be painfully simple like, dumb easy, it consisted of some basic maths, sciences, and history. I believe I scored somewhere around the 95th percentile which is pretty high. I¡¯m surprised anyone struggles, must be a bunch of idiots that boosted my score. Lucy however immediately contradicts my beliefs claiming. ¡°Cal that test was incredibly difficult, right? Like I¡¯m pretty smart and I only got in the 70th percentile, can you believe it? Me in 70, there must be some real geniuses hear that lowered my score.¡± ¡°Yea for sure there is no way the great Lucy didn¡¯t do amazing,¡± I say letting only the smallest bit of sarcasm ooze from my voice. It flies right over my friends head as she laughs claiming ¡°I am pretty great aren¡¯t I Cal.¡± It clearly was more of a statement than a question. And with that we began following the crowd to the coliseum is spotted earlier. Much larger than I first thought the coliseum towered over us, a nearly clear energy dome upping its height just a bit more. As the group walked in they began randomly splitting us off into groups. Or so I thought until I saw our crew of heavy hitters from the magic show earlier. The male flaming redhead was in the center discussing something with the elf boy while the gnome made polite talk with the female one. It seemed that we were split into groups based on who was in what magic testing groups we were in and more so based on the magic aptitude of each person. I think this because as I scope out the room I really can¡¯t see any new faces, but I do see the raven-haired girl sitting in a corner bench and the skinny one in the opposite corner. I casually make my way towards the raven girl as I dig her quiet vibe. As I make my way towards her she greets me with a wicked glare, which I calmly ignore as I take a seat a few spots to her left. Just before I can really settle in I hear a gloaty voice from the center of the room. ¡°Aye thunder boy you should really avoid her, really would be a shame if she cursed you¡± It was the flame head boy. Lacking any real care for what he says I state offhandedly ¡°Ahh, curse, smurse, whatever.¡± Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. The flame boy simply shrugs it off. I hear a gentle whisper to my left ¡°Thanks but you might wanna listen to them¡± ¡°Why is that? You seem fine to me¡± I reply ¡°Well we are fine the question is does my shadow beast like you¡± ¡°What the hell does that mean? It''s your beast right, just control the fella.¡± ¡°I would if I could but he''s a rather free spirit in all honesty¡± ¡°Ahh a fellow free spirit, I¡¯m sure we will get along just fine then.¡± I say a content smile on my face as I turn and lay across the rest of the bench And quietly, almost out of earshot I hear ¡°Sure hope you will¡± We quietly sit until another hooded official comes to pick us and take us out to the arena. As we enter the main battleground the sheer size of the stands astound me there are multiple platforms for fighting and it seems that most are filled. Lurking above is a huge jumbotron showing multiple fights at once. Around every platform are benches holding the next fighters in order. I seem to be the 4th match of our small tourney, so I quietly relax and watch, hopefully, I can pick up some technique. The 1st match seems to be the skinny girl with hair over her eyes, the one with the real glowy brown affinity, whatever that was, I¡¯m guessing earth. She slowly walks up to the stage and quietly stands still, her opponent was some fat kid with black hair, walked towards the center confidence and pride oozing off him like slime. A group of officials begins a countdown and slowly as they chant to zero a flare type spell is shot up. Immediately the chubby fella rockets towards the girl, stomping towards her with surprising speed. He sprints closer and closer as he reels back his fist which seems to burst with a coating of flame, then sends a huge swing towards the poor girl. Who turns her torso to the side causing the fatty to whiff completely, and quickly she raises her knee up and hits with a force that seems pierces through all his fat to stir up his insides. As the fatty freezes and begins hacking as he falls to his knees. The girl showing no mercy kicks him off the stage and watches his body slam onto the ground, the thud declaring his defeat. Damn, I do not wanna fight her, people should be scared of her, not the raven girl. The next to fight were two nameless guys, and in all honesty, the fight was not remarkable, but it was clear they had some sort of training and it brings into question, are they better than me? Like I know that I don¡¯t have any training, but I gotta have some sort of natural aptitude, I did for magic so why not fighting. It''s not worth worrying over I¡¯m Cal and it always works out. I just gotta do what I do. Chapter 4- The Good, The Bad and the Beastly As I relax in my seat I see the young elf boy get up and grab a blunt saber from a weapons bin, which is odd, it seems like I would grab a weapon immediately, like what a huge advantage to pass up. I whisper over to raven girl ¡°Hey, why isn¡¯t everyone using weapons, seems like they are at a disadvantage if they don¡¯t?¡± The wraith girl sighs and lazily says ¡°Most people would but many people are just now learning how to manipulate their energies, and it tends to be much easier to put it in their fist and legs than a sword or spear. And to end this little lecture a magically enhanced anything is significantly stronger than any trash weapon¡± ¡°Wow¡­ your way smarter than I thought, like wayyyy smarter¡± ¡°Yea, I know, I¡¯ve been learning this stuff my whole life¡± ¡°Do you use a weapon, like a sword, or maybe a scythe is more your vibe¡± ¡°I¡¯m more of a baton blade kinda girl I guess.¡± With that, I had turned towards the match only to see it had already been finished the elf boy¡¯s opponent was on the ground with a blade to his neck shaking in fear, his arms raised up by his head. The official calls it and the elf boy returns to his seat. Suddenly I am tapped on my shoulder, and a robbed man points towards the arena, I guess it''s my turn to throw down. Slowly I walk up to the arena, yet I feel several gazes on my back, but I don¡¯t look back to confirm it because that seems pretty lame to me. As my opponent walks up to the ring I can tell by his clothes and his self-presentation that most likely he isn¡¯t a noble, which is good for me. The official begins the fight and I steady myself and prepare to battle, my nameless opponent comes in dashing at me. The moment he¡¯s in range he winds up to punch me, just like ¡®fatty!¡¯ I sidestep at the last moment and show a repeat performance of the one girl''s knee strike. The boy recoils and steps back clearly shaken up yet not in tears like fatty, wonder why her knee hurt so much. My opponent gathers himself and moves into range slowly circling me with his hands up. I kinda just stand there with my hands up as I don¡¯t really know any stances, the boy sends a left hook my way, it seems slow like very slow. I simply turn my chest and punch him in his solar plexus aiming for the spot where I kneed him earlier. He stumbles back in a coughing fit clearly feeling that much more. While he is discombobulated I dash forwards and as I plan my attack I decide not to wind up a punch due to previous examples instead I run and slide take out his legs. He plummets to the ground, and I quickly jump on top and place him in a chokehold until he taps. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. With the announcement of my win, I escort myself back to my seat. The Raven Girl whispers into my ear ¡°You have no clue how to fight do you?¡± ¡°Nope, never even been in one until now.¡± I reply confidently ¡°I must not be that bad, I beat that guy¡± ¡°That guy was trash, there is no way you would be able to beat someone who had any basic training¡± The Raven Girl huffs out ¡°Yea whatever¡± quickly changing the subject I ask ¡°Hey what''s your name I had been talking to without knowing your name for way too long.¡± ¡°Gwen¡± She whispers into my ear as an official taps her shoulder and escorts her to the platform. Quickly the matches start and she begins drawing some strange symbols in the air with this purple gas. Slowly a hole begins to form in the air next to her. Seeing this her opponent, Who I might add is some tall skinny dude with yellow hair, begins barreling towards her determined not to let her cast this magic. As he reaches her the glowing portal in the air next to her screeches as a hand comes out covered in scales and fur, with wickedly sharp claws all tinted purple grabs him. With a hand wrapped around his face, the boy swings his arm in panic as he is lifted off the ground. Before he can gather himself to attempt to pry off the hand he is chucked off the platform, a thud announcing Gwen the victor. Slowly she returns to her seat, yet out the corner of my eye I notice her subtle glance in my direction. ¡°Hey, Gwen¡­¡± I say as I notice her tense up in response, ¡°that beast thing you summoned¡­¡± Her shoulders seem to drop and her head tilts down. ¡°Was really fucking strong, does it have a name, is it a contracted companion, how did you get¡¯em?¡± I ask with excitement. I see her face light up as she begins to tell me that it is essentially her ability and that it has a name but it is unpronounceable. Supposedly it''s incredibly strong so much so that she struggles to control it at times, i wonder what happens if she can¡¯t control it. Slowly the first round comes to an end in our arena, a few more battles happening, one of note was the sister of lion boy seemed to use a sick silver fireball to blast her opponent off stage. But next was round two and hopefully, I¡¯m matched up against some more nobodies, if I¡¯m really as bad as Gwen say. I wonder what I can do to be better, I really don¡¯t think I wanna learn some lame fighting style. It needs to be cool like maybe have some flips and cool kicks, and it should be unpredictable and have some super strong attacks. That''s not a lot to ask for, right, I mean a boy can dream right. Chapter 5- Man Without Mercy The 2nd Round had begun and unlike last time it seemed I had the early ticket, I was fighting 2nd, and Gwen 1st. We were given a small 15-minute break to recoup and prepare for the next fight, albeit most of us didn¡¯t need it as somehow none of us had very hard fights except a few. More likely than not those winded already would not be going very far in the first place. On another note, I find it odd that there seems to be no noise coming from the other arena¡¯s. Looking around I begin to notice a light tinted screen around our barrier, Maybe some sort of soundproofing, this magic stuff it''s weird seeing it all over the place but unless you''re one of the few trained in it you don¡¯t have much interaction with it, we don¡¯t know how things work, how to repair them, and definitely not how to create them. It seems like maybe that''s how our society keeps us commoners on the bottom. Maybe one day I¡¯ll teach my people a thing or two. My monologue is interrupted by the sound of rocks being smashed together, I turn my head to see Gwen fighting against the earth girl, or what I assume she is her as she is entombed in rock. Gwen is standing across the arena summoning her creature, The signs begin to appear as the murky aura radiating off her form a portal. Out comes the creature, Its fur black and scales red, yet it¡¯s claw radiate a dangerous purple aura. Standing tall above Gwen the lycan like creature begins to look at Gwen, they exchange gaze for a while and with a nod of her head, the beast begins to move. It launches itself at the earth dome, and begins a series of vicious attacks breaking apart the earth barrier, only to reveal an empty spot with a hole underneath it. While preparing the earth girl had dug some tunnels underneath them. The moment Gwen realized this she begins to move towards her beast. The moment that she steps like a blunt spear of earth shoots from the ground. Launching Gwen across the stage causing her to skid for a moment before recovering Gwen light on our feet jumps back and upon reconnecting another spear is launched. This continues as Gwen begins running around while chanting something and symbols begin to form suddenly her beast jumps into the air and howls which morphs into a screech as it grows wings and transforms into a giant vulture. Swooping down it picks up Gwen and she begins to fly around the ring the earth spear cease their attack as they can¡¯t find their target. Gwen begins opens up a small bag on her hip and pulls out a flask which she shakes and then swallows. She flies towards the entry hole and hovering just above it begins to breathe out this noxious smelling gas into the holes the arena is silent as the gas penetrates the tunneling system. All is quiet. Suddenly there is a rumbling and out burst the earth girl from her burrow. Purple gas floating up from the hole. Shakily the earth girl takes a step forward and then another and another as her lower body attempts to keep her upper body stable. Suddenly she collapses face first, the rank gas had made her lose her consciousness. Slowly Gwen walks over and begins to chant, the people sitting around the arena begin to freak out. Some of them yelling stop others shaking like they are going to get up and stop her. Even a few officials looked unnerved. Gwen scratched up rather badly from her initial hit looks around the arena, a sorrowful smile upon her face. Our eyes lock, and I give her an affirmative nod, attempting to show her my support, returning my nod. She begins to finish her chant. Suddenly the girl''s body begins to twitch and squirm, the audience around the stage roaring now some on their feet moving towards the stage. With a ¡®wooosh¡¯ a huge cloud of purple gas exits the girl''s body through her mouth ears and nose. Earth girls eyes begin to flutter and she groans and sits up as the audience¡¯s anger is stifled. Slowly Gwen returns to her seat next to me, catching my eyes only to see me look to the hand in the sky I left up there for a high-five. With surprise she slaps my hand with immense speed causing both of our palms to turn red, gripping her palm I begin to laugh out loud. Only to be stopped by a tap on my shoulder it seems it was my turn. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Walking up onto the stage I notice that my opponent seems to be some sort of noble, I can see it in his stance like he is looking down on me. I hate it, just thinking about it makes me feel this tingle down my spine as if all my muscles are jumping. As the official begins the match I rush forward into a slide attempting to kick his legs out from under him. He jumps back to avoid, only to have me follow up into a forward roll that and springing from my hands I send a two-legged kick his way catching him off guard as he is forced a few steps back, unfortunately, I¡¯m lying on my back. I begin to roll to get to my feet only to be kicked to the side by the boy. I regain my bearings and get up only to be greeted with the sight of the boy crossing his arms across his chest. With a shout, his hands are coated in fire. He rushes towards me, feeling an odd tingling in my spine I begin to place my foot behind me and load up a kick. As he enters my range I suddenly unleash a kick spinning across my body towards his head, which he blocks with his flame-covered hands, burning the Christ out of my leg only to be numbed by a deafening buzzing in my ear, in an attempt to maintain momentum I bend my leg at the knee and continue to rotate, catching myself close to the ground as I spin around my feet coming back around sweeping his legs from under him. He falls to the ground, the wind knocked out of him. I stand above him, he attempts to get up to his feet as he rises so does my leg as he gets himself to his hands my leg comes down like the executioner''s blade. A thud, then silence as my foot is planted on the back of his head, he lays there silent and unmoving, maybe unconscious possibly dead. The buzzing in my ears slowly quiet down to become background noise as the silence of the other competitors fills the air. An official grabs the boy as I am sent back to my seat. The weight of my actions lay lightly on me but to the others, it seems to bear heavy, my enemy is down and I am victorious. Chapter 6- A beast within Chapter 6 As I return to my seat I feel the usual tingle of the eyes of others on my back, however, one pair seems to bore into the back of my head. I feel hints of danger and something else¡­ intrigue possibly. Despite this, there isn¡¯t much to do about it except deal with it, so I just try my hardest to ignore it. As I return to my seat, Gwen is smiling at me, switching her focus from me to her hand over and over again. I simply have no option but to begin swinging my hand as fast as possible watching her face scrunch up in preparation for pain yet leaving the hand up, gently I slow down to leave her with a crisp high five. The smile on her face just can¡¯t be ignored, but what can be are the other matches as I sink back into my chair to relax for the remainder of the battles. The short period of rest concludes as the third round of matches begins, It seems I¡¯m going first, I know that some people hate the feeling of going first, but I like it just gets stuff out the way quicker, get that pressure off your back. Either way, Gwen is going second to last, can¡¯t wait to see her fight, her fighting style is so cool. It really makes me want to refine one of my own. The Official once again begins the silent ritual of tapping me on my back and leading me to the ring. It is odd how they move so quietly, but my rule is if you don¡¯t know it¡¯s magic. I¡¯m led into the ring and in front of me is my first heavy hitter of the night the elf boy. He glares at me like I¡¯m trash or something, honestly who does this twink bastard think he is. As the official begins the match I begin to size up the opponent. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you this so you can tell your parents who beat you when you go home, my name is Elias Grundwood,¡± He says pompously, continuing his glare, somehow looking down on me despite being similar heights. ¡° As a word of advice giving up is the best plan of action a commoner like you has no ch-¡± A buzz fills my ear deafening to me, the words of my opponent are lost to the void. -Elias- ¡°A commoner like you has no chance¡± I yell out towards the boy. He begins to stare at me oddly, swaying ever so gently, I feel a tingle down my spine. It¡¯s clear to me that he has some sort of weak eye based ability, truly useless. He slowly begins to move forward a gentle walk towards me, a clear challenge. Not to be outdone I begin moving towards him, I would draw my sword but that¡¯s hardly necessary for an opponent of this caliber.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. As we reach each other I test him with a straight jab. He turns his chest to dodge the strike lashing out at me with a left hook. Stepping back out of its way I attempt to throw a kick at his exposed left hip. He takes the hip only to grab my leg and throw me to the ground. I take my leg back and scramble to my feet, like a fucking loser! ¡°Who the hell do you think you are, I¡¯m gonna fucking ruin you!¡± I say as I begin gathering the latent nature essence around me. I pull the seeds from my pocket and chuck them to the ground. Quickly they rise without dirt or water, simply from my will and energy, forming sharp rods of living wood they bend and curve to my every command. Now it was time to really fight, I willed my plants to shoot towards the commoner. I see him weave and bend at disgusting angles to dodge the wood spears. He begins rushing towards me swaying like a sapling in a storm. Quickly I throw more seeds down attempting to overwhelm him with the sheer amount. The new wood spears quickly join the onslaught. The increased number seems to prove just slightly too much as he is forced to take some hits eventually knocking him back. As he is sent flying I begin to gather essence and recharge to prepare for the next onslaught. Suddenly I hear tons of sharp zapping noises and as I look over I see the commoner on his hands and knees with lighting snaking all over him his body shivering and shaking as if he''s being electrocuted, It''s quite an odd way of mana manifestation normal mana does no harm to its user, as it is in essence yourself. This, however, seems to harm him, is that why he didn¡¯t use mana in the past two fights? No, he possesses two other mana types there is no way, the odds are to low. Either way, he still can¡¯t beat me. He slowly stands up as the small shocks cause his body to twitch, moving like a puppet on a string he begins making his way towards me at first somewhat uncomfortable, slowly however he moves faster this time much more so than before. I shoot my spears towards him as he sidesteps a cluster then using another few to launch himself upwards. Thinking I have him I launch one I had in reserve towards him. Flying into the air the spear nears his body, suddenly he catches the side of the spear and pulls himself downward flying at me rapidly, soon he begins spinning gathering momentum. Seeing the incoming attack I raise spears as a pseudo shield. With a sickening crack, I see a knee pierce through my shield followed by the rest of the knee smacking me backward towards the edge of the ring. Gathering myself I grab my sword that had flown away towards me. It seems if I don¡¯t go hard I may go home. While the edges are blunt it should still hurt enough to keep him at bay, he can probably only take a slash or two before giving up. As I gather my spear around me for my next assault. I see him standing there twitching, small zaps popping off of him like he is shorting out. He begins to move his gait unnatural, and his eyes glowing purple. I feel uncomfortable so much more so than before, but still, I must fight. I need to bring pride to my bloodline. As I gather myself for the next exchange, an official comes down to the stage. ¡°This fight is over, The winner is Elias¡± The official announces loudly, before teleporting behind the commoner and knocking him out with a blow to the head. A Important question for my like 10 readers I wonder if you guys would enjoy the story more from a different perspective, I could extend page length and possibly increase the output rate of my chapters. If yes I''m just going to start doing it and edit the story later. Also I need like 500 words so: Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Bionacles Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Chapter 7- Efforts to Fruition Groggily Cal comes too, looking around the room observing the near blindingly white walls, rows of beds lining the walls, some of them unfortunately filled. Its is a seemingly normal nursing room, except for the raven colored blob of hair laying on his legs. Shifting his leg slightly, Gwen pops up from her nap, her hair matted against her pale face. ¡°Thought I lost my pal for a second there, how are you feeling?¡± Gwen says as casually moves her hair out her face. ¡°Think I¡¯m fine, the only thing that really hurts is my pride,¡± Cal says through clenched teeth, ¡°Never did I think I was so weak to be knocked out in one hit.¡± Gwen, with confusion running rampant across her faces replies ¡°Cal what the hell are you talking about?¡± ¡°No, what are you talking about, I lost consciousness right after he bopped me with those wood spears, bastard never even used his sword!¡± ¡°No, Cal the official knocked you out, you got up after that even started using lightning and stuff, you never lost to that elf boy¡± ¡°What¡­ did someone hijack my body then because that was a lot of things but not me. It¡¯s fine though because who ever fought for me must have been doing a damn good job.¡± Cal says his face slowly loosening up and relaxing ¡°Alright, since your fine with it I won¡¯t pry but at least go talk to an official, things like that aren¡¯t normal and you know it!¡± Gwen states as she pulls out her phone, suddenly shock fills her face as she grabs Cal ¡°Hey, if you''re fine we gotta go or we are gonna miss the acceptance announcements.¡± Quickly Gwen shoots outta bed excitement on his face ¡°Good I need to get accepted or I won¡¯t have a place to sleep tomorrow¡± The odd duo rush out the infirmary, Gwen taking the lead with Cal walking close behind her. Slowly as they reach the announcement hall Cal grabs Gwen''s arms. ¡°One second I need to find someone- LUCY!¡± He shouts shocking everyone around him Suddenly a small hand shoots up from the crowd waving, ¡°There you are Cal, one sec coming to ya.¡± Roughly slamming her way through the crowd Lucy appears wrapping Cal in a rather uncomfortable hug ¡°There you are thought my only friend here just disappeared on me¡± Stolen story; please report. Gwen making a rather odd face ask ¡°Hey where¡¯d you meet her, how did you make so many ¡®friends¡¯ already?¡± Cal, casually ignoring the accusatory tone in her voice says ¡°She met me on the way to Stars, if it wasn''t for Lucy I wouldn¡¯t even know what my elements are.¡± ¡°That makes sense you literally know nothing,¡± Gwen says as she walks into the hall, Cal, and Lucy right behind her. The group filter into seats and begin talking, which mainly consisted of filling Lucy in on what happened during our tournaments. The old man official who had led the magic test walks up onto the stage of the announcement hall, his steps seemingly ring out even over the cacophony of the hall and its students. In response, the hall slowly quiets down everyone taking notice of the white near shining beard of the official. ¡°Hello potential students, I¡¯m so happy to see so many of you, all these fresh young faces bring life to this campus us elders can¡¯t ever bring. It''s a clear indicator that not only is our city getting bigger and better, but we are also as well. We¡¯ve seen some rather skilled participants so far, with outstanding magic user accompanied by unique abilities. Incredibly intelligent individuals, who passed our test with flying colors. And let''s not forget the strong among us who bested their opponents in our tourneys. That''s why I am proud to allow these students into the academy¡± With a wave of both his hands a light blue screen is projected into the air, the names of all the new students of the Stars freshmen, written elegantly in cursive. The room sounded out in an mix of groans, yells, sobs, and cheers, the energy was electric. To Cal¡¯s left Lucy¡¯s face went from a painful squint to a gentle smile upon seeing her name, while Gwen had not even looked knowing for a fact she was in, most likely for her unique skill set and powerful backing. Cal looks up to see his name in those beautiful cursive letters ¡®Caleon Luxum¡¯. This was it his opportunity to finally climb out of his station, Cal had given everything for this, he had worked since he was 7 doing any odd job he could find attempting to feed himself and differentiate from other street urchins. His arms and legs always tired and his stomach rumbling, yet always having enough strength to beat the kids that wanted to take what was his. He had worked like that for 2 years before he met Jess. She had seen him sweeping the floors of some small library, one of the nicest jobs he had, She needed a little bit of money to afford this apartment and this little fella could be the perfect tipping point. So she took him in, of course with strict guidelines and rules. At first, they were rather distant but as time went on they slowly became like brother and sister, working in unison to make ends meet in a tiny apartment in the shittier side of town. Jess being an assistant tailor hoping to become a major player in the fashion industry, and Cal was just working almost purposeless, at least until a year before the Stars entrance exam. He began filling his nights with studying using a favor from the library that had once before changed his life and hopefully would do so again. And all these efforts finally came to fruition as he was a student at the prestigious Stars academy, where he would learn to not only fight, but develop as a leader, researcher, or some unimaginable offset that he could not imagine. The future was limitless. ¡°Well for those who are accepted within our walls we hope you are ready to learn and live within these halls. We will begin our classes starting next Monday, so be prepared. Other than that you kids are dismissed stay safe.¡± Leaving the hall Lucy and Cal split from Gwen who had seemingly already had a room. The two begin their walk towards the bus stop, waiting for it to arrive. ¡°You know Cal, I get a feeling this is gonna be the beginning of something amazing, I never thought I could have this much freedom.¡± ¡°Really why is that, I hear people say school is like a prison,¡± Cal says with his usual nonchalance. A sorrowful look crosses Lucy¡¯s face only to be quickly removed, she quietly says ¡°Cal, my house is more like a prison than a home¡± ¡°Well¡­, if you do good enough in the academy you won¡¯t ever have to go home, who knows if it all goes on I bet Jess and I can fit an extra roommate¡± Smiling Lucy says ¡°Thanks Cal hopefully I don¡¯t need to take that offer-¡± A flash of confusion is present on Lucy as she quickly questions ¡°Who is Jess?¡± With a smile, Cal replies ¡°Basically my big sister.¡± Chapter 8- A Warriors Will Lucy and Cal board the bus. Sharing a seat despite the room on the bus, Lucy absentmindedly staring out the window and Cal humming a song whose lyrics he can¡¯t remember. The scenery outside the bus slowly changes as the buildings slowly look more and more dilapidated. ¡°Lucy, if you''re a noble why are you in our apartments? Can¡¯t you stay somewhere much nicer?¡± ¡°Well I normally could but due to reasons I couldn¡¯t,¡± Says Lucy resting her head against the window. ¡°Reasons¡­?¡± Cal says in question. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you another time I just don¡¯t really wanna talk about it right now¡± Cal opening his mouth in realization begins to mouth words but simply closes his mouth and pats Lucy¡¯s back ¡°I get it, LIfe is tough, but you¡¯ll be fine things work out, Eventually.¡± After a quiet ride, Cal returns to his small co-owned apartment. Opening the door to his living room, kitchen, and bedroom, he walks over to the couch/bed and lays down. ¡°Hey, Cal did it go well, just so you know I was joking about the ¡®kick you out thing¡¯ you¡¯ll always have a place to stay, as long as you work,¡± Jess yells from her room. ¡°Don¡¯t worry I passed with flying colors, your talking to the newest Stars student¡± Cal shouts back ¡°Cal it¡¯s alrigh- Huh, you said you passed are you serious? There is no way! What was your magic affinities, I didn¡¯t even think you had magic!¡± ¡°I got some pretty strong affinity for wind and water, as well as a really strong one for lightning, or so I''ve been told¡± ¡°And the test you were cramming like a madman for, did you passed, you killed it right?¡± ¡°Of course with flying colors, It wasn¡¯t nearly as hard as I thought it was.¡± ¡°Oooh, But what about the fight, you didn¡¯t get hurt or anything did you.¡± ¡°Me, never I won my first 2 rounds and got knocked on the third by some asshole¡± ¡°Dang! Cal, I¡¯m so proud of you, I believed in you, but still hearing it now, you''re amazing!¡± Jess says as she walks into the room. Her scarlet red hair braided and falling to the small of her back, her pale face sprinkled lightly with freckles. She walks towards Cal, and pulls him into a tight hug, rubbing and patting his back. ¡°This is gonna be great for you, I¡¯m so happy to finally see you get what you deserve, Just don¡¯t forget about me when you''re famous alright?¡± Jess says sniffling in between her words. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Jess you pulled me out the gutter, so I¡¯ll pull you to the top of Etcka, Jess and Cal forever!¡± Cal says as he tightens his grip on Jess, feeling wet drops on his back. As they pulled away, they looked into each other¡¯s eyes, sharing a look of genuine care and love. Returning to the ¡®Cal Couch¡¯ Cal begins to think ¡®Alright so what¡¯s the big plan, whats next?, I can¡¯t waste this chance, I guess the first thing I¡¯ll work on is this magic shit. From what Lucy said it must be pretty strong.¡¯ Getting up from the couch Cal moves towards the small dresser he has in his room, rounding all his clothes up, and begin to put them into a suitcase Jess had given him. Loading in his few clothes into the case he notices something in the bottom of his dresser. A small ring with a string tied to it to make a necklace.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡®Ohhh, it''s you, I haven''t seen it since I threw it in here, that was like a year or two ago. I could never fit it on my finger, maybe it will now though¡¯ Slowly he slips the ring onto his finger, and then nothing. Cal stood up with his suitcase packed and moved it by the door. He had decided to leave tomorrow. Of course he could go later but it still was better to be there so he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about anyone else and could just relax maybe talk to some teachers about his magic. He paced around a bit before his stomach started rumbling. Moving towards the kitchen Cal sees a mystery something wrapped up in foil, fear and apprehension fill his face ass he pulls the ¡®food¡¯ out of the fridge. He opens it to reveal some sort of beef curry, he questioned the quality of the food, but his rumbling stomach silenced his thoughts. Heating it up he sat down and took his first bite. ¡®I¡¯m not dying, Jess really is getting better, thank the gods¡¯ Cal thinks before diving into the curry. After getting his fill Cal returned to his spot and crashed for the night. Cal awakens, laying on a small sailing boat, in a cruel and angry sea. The black waves crashing around violently, The wind swirling around threatening to knock him off his boats. Above him dark cloud loom, a purple light condensing within them. In panic Cal attempts to row his boat away from the madness of the storm, not realizing that as he gets further away it suddenly gains speed to put him back in the center. The waves continue to rise and throw his boat around, Cal not knowing the first thing about boating begins to shake and stumble around the boat. After being slapped around by a strong wave Cal falls onto his back, smashing his head against the boat. His head spinning, with stars in his vision looks up into the clouds only to see the clouds and there purple aura glow in response, the thunder within in them growling. Cal feeling an immense pressure building up from within him, begins to stand up. Grabbing the tiller of the rowboat Cal pulls it back, gaining control of the boat he begins to turn around. Facing the storm he was running from he begins to brave towards its center. The small boat had no choice but to be a victim of the waves that Cal placed in front of it. As he rode towards them. Eventually meeting them, and as they rose up in front, he maneuvered the boat to ride the wave. Gripping the tiller in one hand and tying the rope from the sail around his arms for balance, he attempts to keep the boat up. The waves and wind, as if his mortal enemy pick the boat up and sink it under the waves. Miraculously, Cal and his boat rise from the black sea, he was alive and strong, albeit his boat was damaged from the wave. Parts of it cracked and chipped from the pressure of the water. Yet still forward he rode towards a center he knew may not exist. Meeting wave after wave he pressed on, the growl of the clouds became roars as he rode towards the center. As if yelling in defiance the Waves and Wind gathered themselves to swallow Cal. Rising high into the sky, seemingly reaching the clouds the wave towered over Cal, before crashing down on him. The sheer power destroying his boat and sinking him. As if vengeful the wave continues to push him deeper and deeper into the sea of black, causing him to lose himself in the water As Cal finally regained control he was deep within the water unsure of what was up or down. Realizing he still had the tiller and rope in a steel-like grip he let them go. Barely able to see the movement of the light objects he follows them up as they rise. Slowly but faithfully he swims up towards the surface, his lungs burning from the lack of air. Still unable to see the surface his vision darkens, the water and wind seemingly calming down in response to him. As they went from towering foe to a comforting grave. Suddenly with a gasp, Cal opens his mouth as a rush of water fills his lungs. A burning fills his body, death seemingly inching ever closer by the second. With a final close of his eyes, Cal begins to sink. Deeper and deeper into the abyss that is the Black Sea. A quiet fills the sea as its challenger is gone. A piercing roar erupts from deep within the Black Sea stirring it back into action, the cloud rumbling even louder in response. Cal deep within the Sea feels the roar ripple through his soul. His body sitting at the sea floor littered in bodies and ruined ships begins to twitch. Suddenly he rises with a renewed energy, a gold light radiating from his eyes as he swims up with steady strokes. Every pull upwards moves him meters towards the surface. Suddenly he surfaces. Surrounded by the wreckage of mighty boats and the floating corpses of warriors he moves himself to a piece of driftwood. The clouds above him roaring, kicking into action the purple aura within them begins to radiate out. Cal standing upon the wood, his body bleeding and battered from the waves roars to the clouds in defiance ¡°Face me¡± Cal screams into the sky In compliance the clouds open up, in their clearing the outline of a warrior is seen. Covered in glowing armor he lifts his arm holding a simple javelin. And with a high pitched screech it is thrown. Without time to react Cal is pierced through. A eruption of dark purple lighting snakes towards him following the spear striking Cal. With a scream Cal¡¯s body begins to twitch and shake, as if every cell is screaming in pain. A wicked energy courses through his veins causing a dull purple to glow from within. The boats in the area light on fire creating a burning pyre on a watery grave. Cal burning and shaking from the shock, slowly looks into the sky to see the warrior. Seeing a nod from him everything goes black. Chapter 9 birds of a feather Dripping wet and aching, Cal, awakens. Glancing around the room, it is in clear disarray, clothes everywhere, the floor was soaked. Cal¡¯s shirt was ruined a giant hole in the center of his chest the rest of it scorched. Jess standing just behind the ruined couch looked tired and concerned. ¡°Jess, you good? You look horrible¡± Cal groans out ¡°Am I good, I¡¯m fine. I should be asking you what¡¯s wrong. You spent the whole night freaking out, you were rolling around and mumbling and then things got weird. ¡°Weird how?¡± ¡°You were doing magic shit in your sleep, there was wind and water and shit everywhere!¡± ¡°Shit that sounds cool as hell, lik-¡± ¡°¡®Cool as hell¡¯ are you crazy, I thought you were dying, you were yelling and twitching in your sleep, for a moment I thought you stopped breathing, and I don¡¯t even know how to talk about how you fucking struck yourself with lightning.¡± ¡°Well it''s over now so don¡¯t worry about it, also I¡¯ll pay you back for the couch, I promise¡± ¡°Fuck Cal, I¡¯m not worried about the couch, your powers seem dangerous, I don¡¯t know a lot about magic but that can¡¯t be normal¡± ¡°Jess listen, it¡¯s all under control don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m fine now right? I¡¯m not gonna die, at least not yet.¡± Cal gets up from the couch, removing the rest of his tattered shirt and makes his way to the bathroom. He starts a shower and quickly cleans up. Gathering his things Cal grabs his suitcase, tells Jess goodbye, and heads out. Making short work of the trip between the apartment and Stars Academy, Cal finds himself in front of the Administrative building. Walking into the building he sees a front desk with a young bored man sitting behind it, clearly these mysterious officials can¡¯t be caught dead doing the busy work. Walking up to the bored secretary, Cal quickly greets him. Only to receive a empty glare from the secretary, clearly upset his difficult task of staring at the wall aimlessly was interrupted ¡°Hey bro, do you know what I need to do to get myself all situated, I¡¯m one of the accepted here but I¡¯m not really sure what I need to do.¡± ¡°First off, good job of not only coming here but doing so early, most of you idiot freshmen just walk around like chickens with your head cut off. And the ones that do come here seem to wait until the very last minute¡± ¡°Thanks, I guess¡± ¡°No problem, freshie, anyway I can get you assigned a room, one sec.¡± The young man fiddles with his computer for a second until a sudden ding is heard. His eyebrows raise inquisitively, as he glances towards me then back to his computer. ¡°Hey, you must be pretty special considering your in resident house S.¡± ¡°What¡¯s special about that, is it some housing for elite students or something¡± ¡°You pretty much have the gist, essentially if you score high enough on all three of the exams, have a truly unique ability or skill, or have some amazing connections, you can snatch a spot in resident house S or as we call it, the mansion.¡± ¡®Not surprised that you can buy your way in, piece of shit nobles¡¯ ¡°So what''s the mansion¡¯s purpose, keep the undesirables away or something,¡± Cal says as he is becoming more and more displeased. ¡°Essentially, they say that being around people who are your level will increase the speed that you advance and gain strength. As well as hopefully making bonds with people who will be as important as you in the future.¡± The young man says his face scrunching up as if tasting something foul.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Just trying to stop ties with the bottom tiers I bet¡± Cal spits out ¡°Exactly someone finally pulls their head out their ass and realizes it, the city of Etcka is poisonous, the lower class is forced to walk with their heads down instead of being allowed to develop and succeed. Unlike those pig nobles who we pay our taxes too.¡± ¡°Damn right! Honestly just wait one day things will change they won¡¯t be on top forever, eventually they¡¯ll crumble.¡± Cal says suddenly changing tone ¡°So let me guess you''re a commoner entry. Bet you got in off a killer exam and some strong magic¡± ¡°Yea pretty much, the names Lawrence, the smartest man you¡¯ll ever meet. And I¡¯d be even smarter if I had a damn sponsor, then I could get into the upper section of the library. They will do anything to keep a commoner down¡± ¡°Sponsor?¡± ¡°It¡¯s someone who basically says ¡®this is a talent worth investing in¡¯ It provides tons of perks. When you get one it allows you clearance into certain parts of the library depending on the master and your own power tier. Not to mention that with the backing it means you are much less likely to be preyed on by other students. And finally but most important with the right mentor you can get tutoring for your magic and skills.¡± ¡°Hmm, hopefully I¡¯ll get one, by the way where is the mansion at anyway? Or actually where is everything I have no clue where anything is¡± ¡°Here,¡± Lawrence says as he hands Cal a map ¡°this is a map of the campus all the buildings are labeled so you shouldn¡¯t get lost¡± ¡°Thanks, I¡¯m gonna head out then. My names Cal just so you know¡± Cal yells as he is already rolling his suitcase out the door. ¡°Why should I care runt¡± Lawrence laughs as he watches Cal leave his building. The smile he didn¡¯t know he had slowly faded as he began looking aimlessly at the wall. The map that Cal had been handed was incredibly comprehensive, it showed him everything. He was just outside the administration building, which was directly to the left from the central entrance. Forward from that same entrance was the main teaching building where students would receive general lessons. To the top right of the campus was the residence halls, which were split by year 1-4. The mansion oddly enough was nowhere near that. It sat towards the back of the campus surrounded by what I would call a small forest, an odd yet aesthetic choice. To the left of the central learning building were specialist halls, for lessons that need special environments And the official houses were above those as to ensure a short walk to their necessary buildings. To the opposite side of the learning halls, was the coliseums, multiple large battle arena¡¯s some open-air yet a few with closed ceilings. With this map Cal was able to easily navigate the campus towards the mansion is soon to be home for the next few years. Making his way towards the mansion, he takes in the scenery passing the main learning hall. Taking in the 5 stories of learning that is contained within Cal found himself utterly impressed. Continuing his trek to the mansion he finds himself at the foot of the woods. A beautifully bright shades of green sitting atop and in between trees as tall as the learning hall. Cut through the dense forest was a small path paved intermittently with small stones in addition to small magic powered lamp. With a step inside the forest the pressure changes, a thick aura of magic is permeating the forest. Nearly like a blanket, the elements are heavy in the air Cal in a moment of odd reflection thinks ¡®Odd, there is so much magic floating around is it amplified, or just naturally abundant. Could it be the trees, they clearly possess some wicked vitality maybe their magic is the cause.¡¯ Strolling ever closer, Cal sees the mansion within his vision. Its sheer size was underestimated possessing 4 stories and what seems to be a raised roof, clearly this was intended to fit all the special stars students comfortably. Stepping into the house, he is greeted to a large entrance room, feeding off into a larger living room. Rolling his suitcase into the area Cal takes note of the 3 couches as well as the coffee table with a TV sitting up on a stand, only to walk around a corner and reveal another living room just as equipped, this time connected to a full kitchen. ¡°Hello is anyone here?¡± Cal shouts out to anyone that may here him. Clearly, the house is empty, as his shouts go unanswered, never one to sit around and wait to be helped Cal decides to find a room to occupy. ¡®Clearly, the floors are separated based on age I can only assume that the oldest is on top knowing how nobles act. Even though I much rather be on the bottom floor, less walking¡¯ Walking towards the back of the house, he sees a hallway of rooms all of them lacking clear markings, thinking he must be the first among the residents to arrive he places himself in a room near the end of the hall. Walking in he realizes that this is single-handedly the nicest room he¡¯s ever had. With a full-size bed with a connected nightstand, in one corner and a large wardrobe, as well as his own personal desk sitting right under a window. The room was large enough so he could lay down and only touch the bed and wardrobe by fulling stretching his legs and arms. After a quick unpacking session, Cal works his way into the kitchen to see how stocked it was. Inside the pantry was all the foods he could imagine, Granola bars, cereal, spaghetti noodles, rice, anything I could need to not starve. And it only got better the fridge was loaded with drinks, and fruits, cheeses. The poor boy Cal was truly satisfied, grabbing a banana from the fridge and a granola bar he sat down on the couch in the first living room he saw. Excitedly looking for the remote, he finds it and proceeds to turn on the TV. The machine blinks on as a tall man with slicked back hair, begins to recap the recent happenings in quarter 8 of Etcka. This truly was the life Cal thought as he laid across the couch and slowly fell asleep.