Having decided on the next course of action, the two boys headed to the cafeteria in the school's admin section, near the lecture halls next to the library. For some reason, their bald guide hadn’t thought it necessary to inform them of this, leaving many of the students in their group floundering and unclear about where to go next.

Thankfully Aarav and Craden had been told some of the essentials by Haemish.  It took more than thirty minutes to walk from where they were to where the cafeteria was. A surprisingly long trek considering they remained within the building, made even longer because the boys were forced to walk around some labyrinthian maze in the middle of the garden.

This labyrinth seemed small from the outside. However, Aarav’s suspected that it was not in the case thanks to magic.  It was likely to be some kind of training apparatus.  Finally arriving at the cafeteria entrance Aarav marvelled at the sheer scale of the space.  As they walked through the thick wooden doors in became clear that there were not one but two levels within the cafeteria the upper tier seemed to be reserved for higher level students faculty and premium students appeared that the upper level was for paying customers clearly just another way for the Academy to pay for its expenses.

The ground floor is much more Aarav and Craden speed here students of all shapes and sizes milled about chatting and conversing in the varied.  Aarav suspected this was likely because they knew each other before coming to the Academy.  Just as he and Boren did.  It was interesting to note that most groups were formed of a single species. Many of the non-humans students converging together almost as a safety mechanism. He and Boren were outliers in that regard.

“Well this is going to be an interesting year don’t you think Craden?”  Aarav asked turning to his friend.

“Why do you say that?” Boren asked in response laughing. “Though I already agree with you, I have never seen so many people my age before.”

Because I have never seen so many different kinds of people in my life Aarav said

“What makes that so interesting?” Boren asked not following what Aarav was saying or why.

“Learning about all these new cultures and people will be interesting. Obviously!” Aarav said like it was the most basic thing in the world to understand.

Boren had a royal upbringing and was exposed to many people of many different cultures from the very beginning. To him, it was second nature to expect to see and interact with people of different backgrounds, species and means. It was nothing unusual. He had received the finest education from his royal tutors on the various cultures and traditions of the peoples around the continent and some of the islands beyond, hence his difficulty in understanding Aarav’s perspective.

“Knock yourself out at!” Boren said to Aarav. He wasn’t really interested in that aspect since he already knew that. He was more interested in actually making friends and meeting people his own age. But looking around now with the amount of people and noise he had to admit it was a little intimidating. He would need to put his best foot forward and really make a good first impression with them. His father always said that first impressions lasted the longest and many of his tutors had confirmed the same. If he approached with the appropriate eloquence and poise it should be enough to get his foot in the door.

Meanwhile Aarav was thinking with his stomach. Eyeing the food on display, all free and for the taking, on this floor. Once they had earned some money it would be possible to sample the delicacies on the top floor. Still, for now it was necessary to stay under the radar and keep a low profile.

“Hello! My name is Bo-…Craden! It is wonderful to make your acquaintance!” Aarav’s head snapped around to hear Bren introduce himself to a group of boys in Darfan clothing, clearly indicating that they were locals. The Slime-Fairy couldn’t help but roll his eyes at his introduction. Aarav did not know the customs of this world but it seemed unlikely that regular folk would take that type of language in stride.

Sure enough they looked at him askance, not only from the royal court level vocabulary. Aarav winced internally from how close Boren had come to revealing his actual name, even though it was unlikely that people would make the connection to the prince. After all Boren had become a reasonably popular name nine years ago so there were a few here and there.

“Umm…Hi?” one scrawy white haired boy with this hair falling into his eyes said, he gave off a little bit of an emo vibe to Aarav like if it were a thing he would have everything black but in this world he just had the melancholic aura about him. He spoke in a slow drawn-out way like he didn’t know where the word should end and so just kept going a little longer than it was natural to.

“Sorry just one second guys!” Aarav quickly stepped in flashing a smile and pulled Boren to the side. It would take a while to get used to thinking of him as Craden. A short distance from the group Aarav still had a hand on Boren which was odd considering their height disparity. “You can speak like you are in a royal court! Haven’t you ever spoken like a commoner?”

“Well…I was trying to make a good first impression since that is what everyone has always told me to do…Did I do it wrong?” Boren looked genuinely confused about what went wrong. Aarav could do nothing but sigh in defeat.

“Just follow my lead and use the words I do. Nothing too extravagant!” Boren’s face said he still didn’t understand but nodded anyway. It would have to do. As they turned back all the boys in the group of about five had turn to view the odd pairing of fairy and human. The fairy clearly in charge.

“Sorry about that! Just new to the city and asking Craden here to help me understand what is going on Brewyn! It is a little intimidating being in such a large city after spending my whole life in the forest!” Aarav said with an apologetic look in his eyes.

“Oh, no that’s completely understandable. I totally get where you’re coming from. I have family in the country, and they visit from time to time so I know what it’s like.” The emo boy said before extending his hand. “I’m Badru by the way.” Aarav amended his assessment of this boy to lead skater boy. Not so much emo. He seemed relaxed and comfortable leading the group, like he had been doing it for a while.

“Donny.” A larger boy called, who Aarav saw was a little stooped but quite tall compared to the others.

“Franco.” A pale youth with striking green eyes and very angular features said.

“Hey! I'm Bundi, nice to meet ya!" This youth practically bounced out of his seat to great Aarav and Boren, and Aarav noticed that he was half the height of the rest and a bit stouter, he also had a deeper voice than the rest with disproportionately large hands. Maybe he’s a dwarf?

“Formica! I’m this idiot’s twin, haha!” She indicated Badru with a smirk, and he responded in kind. Initially, he thought they were all boys but this girl extended her hand last. They were rough and callused. She also had short hair to rival her brothers so he had made the assumption. She had deep blue eyes and a no nonsense attitude. Honestly now that Aarav saw her he couldn’t believe he hadn’t realised she was a girl in the first place she had the delicate features that made it obvious.

Boren and Aarav quickly greeted all of them and introduced themselves as well. Having moved around the table they got down to more intriguing topics, getting to know each other better. Aarav thought they had really lucked out meeting this group of people, they all seemed so different and yet all were accommodating and friendly.

It turned out they had all met this morning during the orientation. They had been in the same group by happenstance and decided to visit the cafeteria together once it was done. Their guide had been extremely thorough with explaining where everything was, unlike the one who took them around. Aarav once again lamented their choice of guide.

Boren exchanged a glance with Aarav mid-conversation and they smiled. This was going to be quite the year.

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