-That building over there is the main academy building, since classes will official start in a week you should visit the academy before to get familiar with your surroundings and where to go, the main academy building has a lot of facilities too most famously having one of the biggest libraries in our kingdom which gets updated every month, so if you like reading you should go there and have a look on the other hand there is also a training hall both inside and outside where you can practice if you want.

-Thanks senior Caithlyn.

David thanked her for her helpful advice and information, at the moment the girl called Caithlyn was showing David the way to his dormitory, she was a second year student just like Syndra and when she introduced herself she told David she was from the Gastromancy division, David didn’t know what Gastromancy was but he figured it was just like any other division of study, since Syndra belonged to the close-quarter combat division there must be a lot of divisions one could join though he only knew one of them to be exact which was the one Syndra belonged to as she talked about her division more than the others.

Right of the bat Caithlyn looked to be a very reliable senior in his eyes, he didn’t know if it was just because he was alone meaning she could pay her utmost attention towards him or because she was so naturally inviting, because of her easy to approach nature David didn’t feel uncomfortable around her, her smile was particularly calming as she sported black hair, brown eyes and had about the same height as David leaning towards a chubbier figure coupled with brown skin.

He didn’t know if she came from the Grann kingdom since her looks didn’t particularly coincide with the usual natives, but he also didn’t really care as he simply followed the gentle senior as they made their way towards his dorm.

One the way Caithlyn explained everything they came across and what each building was, she even gave out a small map of the school campus to David for him to follow if he got lost later which is what everyone gets once they get here, holding the map David wondered how it is that new students get introduced to the school, by his experience so far it seems as if everyone who is new gets someone like his senior Caithlyn to show them around to their dorm, he in fact asked this very same question in which his senior patiently explained how it worked.

-Long ago when this academy didn’t have a lot of man power it was the duty of the old students to initiate the new students, basically showing them around teaching them the rules and what not, but as time passed and man power was gathered things like this started to become unnecessary, but since a lot of relationships between the old students and the new students started through these initiations the school faculty figured that they should keep this tradition alive so that the barrier between the old and the new wouldn’t be so high and everyone could be nice around each other, in fact because of this tradition our Ravenwing academy is one of the schools with the least amount of incidents between seniors and juniors you could say we are a pretty tight bunch, but don’t misunderstand with so many nobles attending this school obviously there is an already set social hierarchy between everyone, conflicts between certain houses and factions is unavoidable but at least through traditions like these everyone keeps civil around each other.

She said, giving David a bit of time to digest everything as they walked, Syndra didn’t tell him any of these things like tradition likely because he didn’t ask, through this he couldn’t help but remember the little girl with the numerous students behind her back when he first came to Ravennest, those students were likely all freshmen and the little girl just like Caithlyn was also likely doing her duties as a senior guiding the juniors, though the numbers really paled in comparison to Caithlyn which is why he couldn’t help but ask.

-I see, but is it normal for you seniors to guide as many or as few juniors as you like? I mean is it really okay for you senior Caithlyn to waste your time on a single potentially non-important person like me?

Caithlyn smiled wryly at David’s question as she could read the underlying meaning in it, this tradition obviously also had a secondary use in building connections with people as soon as they came in, from what David knew and experienced having connections was always very useful, in a certain sense being a socialite made life easier since you could be flexible with a lot things that required the help of others, those successful in life were also usually those with a lot of connections in certain places which allows them to get better jobs or find opportunities just by asking around, companies usually also hired the people their own employees could vouch for while everyone else who didn’t have those connections needed to prove themselves with their skill and build a reputation for all to see, in David’s previous life if he had a connection to a certain IT company he could have built his name far quicker than before without needing to work 24/7 every day for over 5 years.

Nobles in particular were the kind of connections that almost everyone would scramble over to get as they represented the ruling class of this kingdom who set the laws and managed everything else, they may as well be gods in front of David who was a mere commoner, having someone as nice as senior Caithlyn guide him even though he couldn’t do much for her was really a waste of time if she could just as well guide a bunch of noble kids just like that little girl who were far more useful then him.

-Yeah, it’s true that making friends with those in power is useful, but at the same time I am not really comfortable around those kinds of folks, I myself am a commoner after all and I heard something pretty interesting about you ditching Mishalka in favor of Lady Syndra.

-Wait! You heard?

David stunned about what he just heard, looked at Caithlyn’s sly smiling face as she looked at him with a sort of amusement and curiosity in her eyes, he was also sort of surprised that she was also a commoner like him since she didn’t strike him as a commoner with her elegant mannerisms and polite way of speaking, but most importantly the fact she knew that he chased after Syndra was what surprised him the most, he didn’t think rumors would travel so fast and the fact that she could identify him without knowing his name is what made him even more curious.

-How did you…

-Know that you were the guy from the rumors? Well there were a lot of people who witnessed the happenings and since Syndra is pretty infamous in school for her…let’s just say “striking” appearance, skill and cold demeanor, coupled with your willingness to follow her instead of the popular Mishalka will obviously make everyone talk about you, people don’t need to know your name if they know how you look, particularly if you look as handsome as those rumors said you did, and they don’t disappoint or exaggerate one bit if you ask me.

-Eh…

David momentarily blushed at Caithlyn’s barefaced compliment, she didn’t looked fazed either when she said he was handsome, scanning David with her eyes in a sort of hot way, he was already used to girls calling him things like that but he didn’t expected this senior to suddenly call him out like that as she seemed the gentle sort from the first impression he had from her, this only proved that you couldn’t judge people by their cover, luckily he still didn’t feel that Caithlyn was somebody unpleasant, she seemed to have a mischievous side to her but overall he still liked this senior.

-Haha…

Simply laughing it off was the best course of action and Caithlyn also laughed with him as they continued walking and talking along the way, on the way, David tried to ascertain what consequences there may be coming for him because of those rumors and whether or not he should be careful, but Caithlyn assured him that nothing would happen, since he did give a reason as to why he suddenly left nobody thought that David was impolite, the only reason they really talked about David was because his extremely handsome looks that could rival a incubus, the reason they really talked was because of Syndra and Mishalka, it seemed as if these two were known to cause conflict with each other or rather everyone knew that Mishalka always instigated a fight between them, they had a sort of rivalry going on the origins of which were a bit too long for Caithlyn to really explain as she simply said she would tell him later if he wanted to know.

But she also added that involving himself with Syndra would put him into Mishalka’s crosshair so he should be careful if he didn’t want to become a target, David dully noted the advice not sure how to think really before putting it in the back of his head.

Having nothing much to worry anymore David felt calm wondering when they would arrive before Caithlyn suddenly stopped in front of a huge building going at least 5 stories high, going by its appearance it looked really new almost as if it was newly built furthermore David noticed that this wasn’t the male dorm Caithlyn had told about while they were coming here as it was supposed to be a bit further from here, he was about to ask what this building was, but Caithlyn beat him to the punch as she suddenly spoke.

-We’re finally here, this here is your dorm, go in and talk to the dorm manager, once you give your name he will give you your key with your room number, now have a good night and see you later, remember, familiarize yourself with the academy it’s a big campus and it will do you good knowing your way around.

Caithlyn waved David goodbye, David also hastily bid Caithlyn goodbye as he thanked her for everything, not getting the chance to ask anything.

Watching her leave made David want to sigh, but her turned around and walked towards the Dorm entrance, feeling tired all of a sudden, all he wanted now was to get to his room and got to sleep, he hadn’t slept in a proper bed for days and his back was really feeling it.

-Ahh you’re David from Murrtail village, wait here for a second I get you your key and identification card, it will only take a moment.

David talked with the dorm manager, who turned out to be a big owl perched within the entrance, he didn’t show surprise at that as he already saw a something similar in George the black kitten, he did as the owl said and waited, sitting inside what looked like a big lobby as he rested up thinking about the many things he experienced this day, his initial nervousness had subsided quite a bit, but he could tell that once classes would begin he would again feel nervous, maybe more then before.

-Hah! Hah! Hah!

-Huh?

Suddenly while he was in the middle of his thought he could hear someone shouting in a rhythmic manner, the shouting sounded to him like those martial art training exercises for when hitting a target, and David wasn’t far off the truth either as the hollow sound of wood being beaten could be heard after each shout.

Curious David stood up and walked towards the door from where the sound came from, this dorm was shaped like a big square from what David could tell where behind the building there was a flat square space like a backyard but a lot bigger then a ordinary yard looking more like a sports ground.

Within this sports ground David could spot a single girl with fair and white skin, long golden blonde hair going down her waist and red eyes, striking a stationary wooden practice puppet with her bare hands wrapped in only bandages, her each strike had quite a bit of force behind it as the heavy looking wooden puppet swayed back with force before returned just as quickly from the rebound, the girl was ready for it repeating her well-practiced strikes as she concentrated on a single spot while using only a single hand to strike which was her right hand at lightning speeds.

David was dazzled by her display of skill and force, but more than anything he couldn’t help but admire this girl’s beauty as well, she was just as seductive as Syndra having all of her womanly portions filled in and grown out, she was on the tall side as well similarly to David, her waist in particular looked hot, but her long legs together with her thick and well trained thighs were also quite notable as her large rack lightly shook after each strike clearly held in place by something she wore which looked like a sports bra visible through her thin sleeveless shirt, she also wore hot pants with a pair of sandals giving a free and unrestrained look which bordered on sexy and mature as she was covered in sweat almost looking as if she was about to release steam.

But while thinking about how pretty she was, David was suddenly reminded about the beauty standards of this world, remembering how similar she was to Syndra when it came to body type and face made David quickly realize that she was likely similarly considered one of the ugly ones in this world, David honestly didn’t want to think about this as he didn’t like his conflicting thoughts which is why he rather focused on her training more than her appearance watching this girl train in silence.

While doing so he couldn’t help but compare her to Syndra, but as he compared both of them he immediately noticed how different they were, one notable difference was that there was a sort of suffocating hot and savage air about this girl in comparison to Syndra who was cold and aloof, David felt that this girl was only similar in the way to Syndra with how determined they were and how much pride they showed through their eyes, other than that they were as different as ice and fire, David had the thought of going over and talking to the girl and maybe introducing himself, but he felt a bit scared by her savage aura as if she would hit him if he said something wrong plus she was in the middle of training which he didn’t want to interrupt.

And because of that David simply stood near the door watching the girl hit the target dummy, he didn’t know how long he stood there watching but the more he looked the more he was amazed by her strength, if it was him who was hitting the dummy he probably would have stopped after the 3rd or 4th strike with the way she was hitting it, he couldn’t imagine how much endurance, resilience and willpower you would need to continue doing this without becoming crazy from the pain, but then again the proverb “no pain no gain” existed for a reason which fit this girl exactly with the way she trained.

-Well, I should probably leave before she discovers me, I don’t want to be misunderstood as a creep after all.

David thought, about to make his exit until he noticed how suddenly the air surrounding the girl changed as it seemed to go still, his eyes widened as his heart quickened watching the girl attentively as her right hand looked as if it was glowing for a second before shooting like a cannon and hitting the dummy square in the chest, strangely enough there was no sound upon impact instead the place she hit momentarily contorted holding the shape of her fist before crunching up and finally making a sound which culminated into a explosive break that shattered that dummy in two.

David was utterly shocked by what just happened his respect for this girl went up even more as he couldn’t help himself before walking into the sports ground and clapping his hands for her display of strength.

-What?

Hearing the sudden sound of clapping the golden haired girl immediately turned towards David panting heavily while looking confused, and as soon as she spotted David her face changed into befuddlement before concentrating her red eyes onto David enveloping him with her with that savage aura that immediately made him stop clapping.

Before he could even say anything there was a single thought that came to Davids mind that aptly described this situation.

Damn it.