Over the next week, Em got used to life at the academy. Living there was eventful, if not enjoyable. Em loved her dormitory, she had to share a room with a black-haired Japanese girl though she didn't see her a lot so Em didn't mind. Her bed was an elegant four-poster one with velvet curtains, feather pillows and a blanket that felt like hugging a cloud. Then on one side of the wall, there was a shelf full of books with her favorite genres: action, comedy and there were even books about dragons. Her schedule was pretty packed too. In the morning, she went to class. She learned about various things like monsters and their weak spots, the history of guardianship, different types of weapons and their uses. Once a month, she got to learn art, which so far, was her favorite subject. After that, she went to the dining hall for lunch. The food there was so good. There were many choices to pick from so you didn't have to worry about allergies. In the afternoon, she had combat training. After learning the basics she got to duel with her friends. She showed such talent for sword fighting that they moved her to the upper sword fighting class. Now she loved sword fighting because whenever she paired up with James she could rub it in his face. One day, while slurping up a bowl of mushroom soup in the hall, Em saw her roommate coming up to her.
"Um, hi. Can I sit next to you?" She asked tentatively.
"Sure." Em said, giving the girl a friendly smile as she patted the seat next to her.
"Th…thanks."
They ate in silence until Em asked "What's your name?"
"Riko, it means Child of Jasmine in Japanese." Riko said. Then she blushed: "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that, you only asked my name."
"No, it's fine. Your name is so cool. Mine's Emily. Emily Maris. It means The Industrious Star of the Sea." Em said, grinning at Riko. "Can I call you Ri?"
"Oh! In my language, Emily Maris means Jasmine of the sea. And yes, you can call me Ri."
"You're my roommate right?" Em inquired.
"Yes." Replied Ri. "Oh. And that reminds me I wanted to give you this." Ri held out a small dagger. The blade was made of a glittering silver that shined with a soft white light.
"Ooooookay. Just so you know, I'm not good with a dagger. I'm better at wielding swords."
"Yeah, I know that. I saw how good you were in combat classes. You beat James so many times." Ri laughed. "Somebody needed to deflate his head. And this is a retractable dagger." Ri tapped the blade and it elongated. "See?"
"Yeah, cool, I'm totally going to beat James