"Hey." Orion tried to approach his first male friend with a harmless expression on his face. But the boy who looked completely normal from the outside suddenly entered the room through the door behind him and closed it.
He approached a group of three friends on the side, but all of them instantly went silent and stared at him with fear. If Orion remembered correctly, he had seen this trio in the chaos inside the Hell Maze. The blood-soaked armor they were wearing made that obvious.
Looking further down the corridor, he noticed that besides those in combat armor, there were also people wearing more normal clothes. But the two groups were completely mixed together and all of them were whispering as they talked.
In short, everyone already started thinking that he was some kind of monster. For a few seconds, Orion wondered if there was some cliché belief involving churches and burning those who escaped death. But from a distance, it did not look like that.
As Orion walked down the corridor lost in his own thoughts, he continued trying to start conversations with random people. But even those who looked cleaner and had never been in the Hell Maze treated him no differently.
Orion gave up trying and just moved on.
By the time he reached the middle of the corridor, hunger became his biggest problem. "I wish I asked the old man for something to eat."
The people he passed temporarily stopped talking and then continued. He would have cared yesterday. But after hundreds of deaths, he found them cute now. Kids.
For a moment, he remembered his own youth and almost started thinking about the world he left behind. But he pushed the thought aside. There would be time for that later.
As Orion walked thoughtfully, he suddenly heard a girl in the middle of a side corridor excitedly telling her group of friends something like "-it was big and..."
Hearing this sentence from a group of girls was intense. But he felt better. A proud smile formed on his face. His steps accelerated with a joy that every man should feel at least once.
When he reached the end of the corridor and went down the stairs, his eyes caught a girl leaning against the wall, waiting for him. Bright blonde hair and blue eyes. Even though she was wearing her school uniform, she looked like a royal princess.
She looked even more beautiful now.
Orion did not know her name and she looked cold. So he descended the stairs without a sound. Even though it felt awkward, she just kept staring at Orion with cold eyes.
Orion silently passed her and after going down two flights of stairs, a massive door appeared on the ground floor.
Giant corridors, giant room doors, and now giant building doors. He wondered if this place was designed for humans.
Finally, as Orion stepped into the courtyard of Midka School, he was met by the smell of flowers and a strong wind.
Accompanied by the gentle heat and sweet breezes of early autumn, he walked in the direction written on the paper in his hand. He examined the students sitting on benches around and the staff busy with garden work.
He got lost a few times, stepped into extra places and some interesting spots. What he felt throughout this walk was that this place was a giant university campus.
There were young people like him everywhere, looking for directions or chatting with each other. Almost the entire outside area was covered with fine lawns and short plants, except for the brick roads.
Seeing people sitting under the trees eating or studying, Orion thought about how nice it would be to live and study in this place.
Studying magic must be fun.
Fifteen minutes later, he reached the place written on the paper in his hand.
But this place looked less like a dormitory and more like a massive mansion. It resembled the isolated and magnificent estates that super-rich people built outside cities. It even had tall walls surrounding it and a lush green garden inside.
Orion swallowed hard when he saw the huge garden gate and the enormous entrance courtyard behind it.
"Why are you here?" A voice came from an old man.
An elderly man, dressed like a butler but looking like a soldier, scrutinized Orion from head to toe at the gate. With his glasses and the thin chain running behind his right ear, his bowtie, and the tails of his coat hanging behind him, he had an exaggerated appearance.
"What do you think I am here for?" There was a sudden edge in Orion's voice. He knew the difference between being respectful and letting himself get stepped on.
But the old man's gaze and the way he asked the question felt unnecessarily harsh. "Who does he think he is, talking to me like I am a child?"
The old man stood up from the chair he had been sitting on and stepped onto the garden path. He moved like someone who had spent a lifetime obeying royalty and correcting those who failed to do so.
"What is your rank?" His voice was still harsh, and his expression looked like he was ready to punish Orion the moment he learned who he was.
Instead of answering, Orion took out the badge he hadn't yet attached to his robe. He showed it with his hand. "I am looking for my dorm room. Is this the Royal Dorm?" His tone stayed level, even if his patience was vanishing each second.
"This is the Royal Dormitory. Name?" The old man still used that belittling tone.
"Orion Vale."
Orion spoke in a formal tone, but not a respectful one yet. Despite being a white-haired old man, the man's gaze felt extremely intimidating.
The elderly butler looked at the golden badge in Orion's hand one more time and at his black hair for a few seconds.
This time he used an emotionless voice. "Follow me."
"Do you ask everyone with that tone?"
The butler nodded once. "Only those who arrive late."
"I just arrived."
The old man didn't even answer. Just turned and walked away. Orion snorted quietly and followed.
Orion didn't like the guy but couldn't imagine a better butler for this place. The man spoke quietly, with a condescending and commanding tone. He was probably someone used to giving orders.
As soon as they walked a few steps, the chair the old butler had been sitting on disappeared. Orion knew it was probably a small trick but still found that interesting.
Any magic felt worthy of respect.
Just before he started daydreaming about magic, the old man showed the building with his hand.
"I am responsible for the entire Royal Dorm. If you need anything, you can find me on the ground floor. My name is Selavi." His voice softened slightly as he spoke to Orion while passing through the giant entrance path and heading to the front door.
As the two walked, they passed through a garden that took up an exaggerated amount of space even within the enormous school grounds. The mansion at the end of the garden looked even bigger up close. It was the size of a small castle.
Orion followed silently, examining everything interesting around him.
When they reached the entrance of the giant building, they came to an area filled with many tables, wall cabinets for tools and equipment, and various garden decorations. Construction materials and small bags were scattered across the floor.
Small renovations were probably planned before the school opened.
Orion entered through a giant wooden door and found an entrance hall where two female students were reading books. Before he could even say hello, he saw the butler turn into a side corridor and followed him. He wanted to see his room and eat something as soon as possible.
After a series of corridors and stairways, they finally reached the top floor.
This place resembled something between a rooftop residence and a lord's chamber from the Middle Ages. It was a massive attic with its own kitchen, study room, and many other small rooms. Even the scent of the place screamed expensive to Orion's cheap mind.
He had no idea about rich environments, but the quality and detail of everything looked amazing to him.
But Orion's thoughts about its value were interrupted. Butler Selavi waved his right hand through the air and a paper folder appeared out of nowhere. The old butler scrutinized Orion with his irritating gaze as he handed him the file.
"Everyone in the S class has the potential to become future leaders of humanity. You will learn the details later in your lessons. Briefly, every S-level student assigned to this building receives one of the standard files and chooses a protector. You can also buy or request a maid from the school, but that is not a priority.
The file I gave you contains the highest-level candidates available. Choose carefully. The same person will protect you throughout your entire school life!"
Orion had no chance to interrupt with a question while the old man was speaking.
"When you make your choice, dial 9 on the communication portal in your room and inform my secretary. For other needs, press 1 on the same device to receive information." The butler vanished before Orion even finished breathing in.
He muttered quietly. "Everyone uses teleportation extremely often. I wonder if it is common in this world."
Orion was left alone in the dorm room that would serve as his home in this new life. He wandered around the attic for a while, then returned to the giant master bedroom.
He jumped on the king-size bed a few times, something he always wanted to do, but found out it was more boring than he imagined.
He threw himself onto the bed and was happy to finally be alone.
As he lay on the biggest and most comfortable bed ever, his whole body demanded sleep and food.
He ignored it.
"System…"