Chapter 29: Sleepless Nights

Karl was nearly too excited to sleep that night, and he was at breakfast first thing in the morning, just after the sun came up. He decided that it must be somewhat acceptable to leave his room. But he wasn't the only one excited about their first day off since arriving at the Academy; the common areas were already packed with students planning what they were going to do for the day. The consensus was that they should explore every bit of the grounds so they could find all the best spots for the next time they had a bit of time off. However, that would put a serious damper on his plans for a calm day of studying with Dana. She joined him while he was eating, looking just as tired as he felt after a sleepless night. "Good morning. It looks like we misjudged the best spot to study today," Dana greeted him as she sat down with a bowl of oatmeal and a beverage that was so incredibly bright green that Karl was certain it must be toxic. She softly giggled at the concerned look on his face, then sipped the drink. "It's an energy drink. They keep them in the fridge over there for students who spend too much time awake studying. It's not as bad as it looks," she explained. Karl nodded reluctantly. They had them at the corner store at home, but he'd never seen one that color before. The miners liked the ones that were mixed with coffee or juice, depending on which side of their shift they were on. Karl tapped his mug. "I will stick with coffee, thanks. But if it's going to be far too loud to study in the garden, why don't we go to the patio in my room? It's plenty large enough, and there is a spell that isolates it from the rest of the campus. It's perfectly silent, and there is a good table out there." "That actually sounds really pleasant. My room is incredibly loud; you can hear the explosions from the students on three sides, and I swear if it was any worse, you could hear them breathing." Neither of them noticed the many envious glances they were getting as they left the cafeteria or the flurry of conversation surrounding whether they had known each other before arriving at the Academy or if they had met for the first time on the way in. With all the studying they needed to do during the first few weeks here, gossip was all they had time for to distract themselves. The students were taken straight from school to the Academy, so they had none of their old belongings with them except what they had at class. Some of the students from the larger towns had brought packed school backpacks full of memories, and they had to cram it all into the Academy-issued backpack when they left the train. But Karl hadn't actually owned anything worth keeping. The only real restriction that the elites advised in advance was not to bring clothing, as the chosen students would be required to be in uniform at the Academy, and outfits would be provided for special events. There was a single picture on the wall and upgraded furniture in the room when Karl moved in, so at least his room wasn't as bare as some of them were. However, it was the patio greenhouse that he was hoping would impress Dana the most. She stopped off quickly to get her books from her room and followed Karl into his suite, staring in surprise at the dark colors and padded leather bed frame. "Well, this is, um, unique. I take it that there is room to study on the patio?" she asked. "Plenty. After you," Karl replied with a smile as he pulled the curtains open. Dana's eyes lit up as she saw the plants outside, and she rushed out onto the balcony to take a look. "Hey, this is a moon berry tree, and one of the fruits is ripe," she gasped as she stopped under a tree with small fruits that were slowly turning from green to white. "Oh yeah, I meant to look that up and pick it when it was ready. Do you know that fruit?" Karl asked. "Moon berries are supposed to be super healthy and good for the brain. I saw them one time being brought to a fancy restaurant downtown," she replied. "Then go ahead and pick it; we can split it as a snack," Karl agreed. She reverently pulled the fruit down and followed Karl down the path through the trees and bushes to the gazebo with the table. "These gazebos are really popular here, aren't they? It's the same style as the maze," she noted. "The chairs are comfortable, though, so I can see why they picked it. The greenhouse, as they call the garden out here, has been passed down between residents of the balcony suites. I didn't bring any of this; I just water it and pick up the leaves for drying since most of the magical plant leaves are good for something." Dana looked out over the school grounds and smiled. "It really is absolutely silent here. I can see the students walking under us, but I don't hear a thing. This is a fantastic study spot." Karl smiled and opened his tactics textbook, the next in the stack of lessons that Sergeant Rita had left for him to do in his out-of-class time. This one would have been useful to have read before yesterday, which made him wonder if he was actually slacking too much on his studies. She hadn't set any sort of due date for anything, and she wasn't giving him tests, so he hadn't thought about it. But perhaps she was, and the training lessons were the tests. Karl felt like a bit of an idiot for not having at least read the titles of all the books he was given. If he had known what they were, he could have read the ones that seemed most likely to be needed for the next day in advance.