Chapter 9: Room Choice

"Interesting choices. I can see the others, but why did you pick the balcony? The room itself is barely a bedroom." The teacher in charge of reception asked Karl. "I can always set something up on the balcony, but mostly it's for training. I have an area attack skill that I can't train indoors easily. But the room is fine, it's bigger than mine at home, and it's got both a bed and a desk, with its own shower and water closet." The others quickly double-checked to make sure they had picked rooms with their own facilities and sighed in relief. Not only did the rooms they picked have a full bath, they also had a small kitchenette with a fridge and hot plate for cooking in the room while they were studying. "In that case, I will give you all your keys, and wish you well in your studies." The teacher's smile told them all that they had probably screwed up somehow, but they had no idea what they should have done differently in that situation. Unless the juice was poisoned, they had just picked the rooms that seemed the most appropriate for their class. Or the biggest ones, in the estimation of James and Kruger. They took a few steps, and students from the senior classes, wearing badges with White, Black and Bronze symbols on them, fell in beside the group. White for Common Grade, Black for Awakened, and Bronze for Ascended, according to the text on the badges. The badges on the new students' uniforms were all white, so Karl hadn't noticed until now that they represented anything but the Academy. "Welcome to the Academy. We will show you to your rooms. It's always fun to see the newbies' first experience of the dorms, you see. It's a completely magical building, so whatever you were expecting, just put that out of your mind right now." The student with the bronze badge, the strongest of the three, explained. They didn't say much more until they got to the main doors of the dorm. "On the right is the cafeteria, open from four in the morning until midnight. On the left are the laundry facilities, they're a drop-off service, just give them the basket, and they'll launder it and bring it back to your room. This isn't a hotel, there are no maids, but the cleaning supplies are right here. Don't forget to keep your room clean, everyone gets punished if too many students fail the dorm inspections. That way is the supply room, you can go visit him later, when you have academy credits, to get essential supplies and things you want for your room or your studies. Now, there is no elevator, but there are three staircases. The main ones are the best, as they're five metres wide, and you don't get jammed up with cross traffic. Your year is lucky, you got rooms on the second floor, mine is up on the fourth floor, and these two are on the fifth floor. It's a long walk down to get to class, but I heard that the rooms are nicer at the top than they are on the lower floors." The boy's smirk told Karl that he was definitely pranking them. Either there was an elevator, or the rooms were all strange, no matter where you went. The three older students put their hands on the shoulders of the newbies and led them up to the second floor with a smile. "You two are right here, since you picked the square internal rooms." The leader of the senior students informed them, gesturing to the doors on either side of the stairs. That was a factor that they might have forgotten to consider. Being right next to the stairs could be loud. But the hallways were decorated with thick red carpets, hanging tapestries on the walls, and plenty of decorations that should prevent echoes. The two warriors opened their doors, and looked at the bare rooms. Stone walls with multiple scorch marks, cut marks and absolutely zero furniture in the main room greeted them. They stepped inside in shock, and found that the bedroom had a simple single bed in it, unmade, but with quality linens and a comforter emblazoned with the school's crest folded at the foot. The main room had a stone golem standing in the middle, the training dummy that the diagram had informed them the room included, and the older students whistled in appreciation. "Now that's a nice bonus. They left you the training dummies from the last senior class. Those are Commander Class, you'll never break them in the first two years, maybe not at all. I think it's a good tradeoff for the initial cleaning you'll have to do." The student with the black badge laughed. Karl gave them a suspicious look. "Are these just as the students left them, or is there some system to it?" The others just smirked and shrugged. "Why don't we let the others get settled in and see where you and the mage are staying?" Dana sighed and gestured down the hallway. "If I remember the map right, I'm that way. Room 17, the long training one." The student with the bronze badge nodded in appreciation. "I'm also a mage, so I picked the same room on my floor. Let's see what you got." They opened the door and looked at an incredibly long hallway. Far longer than the actual dimensions of the building should allow. But at the entrance was a small bedroom, restroom and a kitchenette along the wall, followed by the vast stone expanse of the training hallway. It was spotlessly clean, and there was a single potion sitting on the table with a welcome note from the last occupant. "Congratulations, you got a decent senior. Check out your welcoming gift, we will get Karl here settled into his room." The balcony room was just around the corner, and at first, Karl almost missed it. The supply closet room was right next to his, so the doors were narrow and very close together, but the older students knew which one it was. "Right here. Let's see what it's like. The balcony on our floor is empty, we didn't have as many students as you guys do, so some of them aren't in use." The door swung open to show a very plain room past a short hallway with a bathroom on the left. The main room was just a metal desk and a large bed, trimmed in black leather, with drawers underneath. The walls were painted dark grey, giving the room a very odd feeling, but the curtains were the academy logo gold ones that presumably came with the room. "Well, this must have been the kitchen witch's room. Creepy goth girl. You can repaint once you get some credits to buy the supplies. Good luck with that." The Gold badged student sighed, obviously disappointed that there wasn't anything special about the place. But they had forgotten the most important part. Once they left and the door closed behind them, Karl opened the curtains to the balcony and stepped outside, only to find himself in the middle of a greenhouse. There were plants everywhere, blocking his view, and Karl smiled. He had never had plants in the house before, his parents couldn't even keep flowers alive. But the Windspeed Hawk was overjoyed at the potted trees, flowers, and vines that were scattered all over the balcony. Karl didn't recall seeing this from the entryway, and he should have, as they passed right under it on their way in. However, the more he walked, the more Karl realized that the balcony was not normal. It was at least three times the size that it should be, and nearly filled with plants, until he got to the far end and found a gazebo with a hammock, a curved bench, and a small table that contained a well-worn notebook. [Care and keeping of the balcony. Abridged version.] Karl smiled at the title and flipped the notebook open. [While I don't know if you will appreciate the legacy of the greenhouse, you will find that it is effortless to care for, and every plant here has a purpose. You see, they are all edible. Most of them are for humans, to help your growth, but I have personally added a few important ones of my own. This is the catnip plant, the feline type magical beasts love it, and you can use it to keep them from reporting you when you sneak out at night. This one is the Honey Berry, which is popular with bear type monsters. If you smear the pulp of this plant on the shoes of other students, it will attract the giant grizzlies to them in the woods. Be sure to wash your hands before following. The final one is only edible in a limited quantity, the clear mind fruit. Use it before the major exams to help you focus. But keep in mind that it only works a few times, so use it sparingly.] The rest of the book was just a watering schedule for the plants, and a note that the magic of the balcony would take care of the rest. 'So, the last resident planted a fruit to help her cheat on exams, one to sabotage other students in the woods, and catnip to bribe the security so she could sneak out at night. This senior was definitely an interesting person.' Karl decided.