Chương 34: A Fateful Orientation

Viren didn't actually agree to the half-elvhenan's proposal. Strange mages lying in wait offering help was not a particularly effective strategy for getting him to betray Ryland's trust.

"No, thank you, Miss," Viren said quickly.

"You're new here, right? Don't worry about this stuff. Please, just enjoy the orientation and leave everything to us old hands." The woman gave him a small but imperious smile. She appeared a lot more informal than during the Entrance Trials. Her robes were a little more fashionable and she had even put on some jewellery.

"You're awfully young to be old hands at anything." Viren flushed.

"You know what I mean."

"I suppose I do. Cute little manabeast you have, by the way."

"Thanks. Tallow says hi." Tallow, who had been poking his little head out of Viren's robes, focused on the half-elvhenan woman with the bun and hissed.

"That's a strange way to say hi," she said with a snicker.

"Were you looking for Ryland? I assume that's why you picked this route." She frowned faintly.

"I also thought you were rich… not that wealth is supposed to prevent anyone from completing their responsibilities."

"It really shouldn't," Viren said with a bit of a growl. The woman raised her eyebrows. Viren lowered his head in embarrassment.

"Sorry, I just—""It's alright. But anyway, I don't know where Ryland is. I haven't seen him in the graduate student orientation section. If you were here for him, you're going to be disappointed."

"I wasn't…" Viren frowned. It had been a bit of a coincidence that he had ended up close to the graduate student orientation events.

"But I was intending to find him later." The half-elvhenan woman didn't seem particularly suspicious, Viren had to admit. Just very intrigued. Which he absolutely couldn't blame her for. He'd have felt the same in her shoes. And she had offered to help him as well, so maybe his initial impression of her had been a bit too harsh.

"Why are you curious by the way?" Viren asked.

"Just curiosity," the woman said.

"Honestly, orientation got a little boring after the first hour, so I thought I'd try to find something a little more interesting." Her eyes grew a little shrewder.

"What's your relation to him? Is he an actual relative? Or maybe your mentor?" Viren blinked. He adjusted his glasses so that they were less likely to fall off his face.

"Um, he just rescued me and my cat when we were in a bit of a bind."

"That's it?"

"Um, yes?" Now he felt very self-conscious. What in all the Realms was his connection to Ryland beyond just the fact that he had been saved by the man? And it wasn't like he had even returned the favour. Viren had thought he was helping by guiding Ryland around campus, but that was patently useless. Ryland had merely humoured him. Calling him a friend was weird too. It was like trying to be friends with a hurricane.

Viren didn't mean to dehumanize Ryland like that, but the fact of the matter was that they existed in vastly different planes of existence. Viren couldn't just call Ryland something as simple as a friend. The woman laughed.

"I thought I'd get some insights as to what exactly Ryland is supposed to be, but it looks like he's just as much of an enigma to you as he is to me."

"Well… he did teach me some things." Viren considered for a second.

"Not magic, exactly, so I can't call him a mentor. But important lessons, I'd say." He just needed to get better about actually applying those lessons. Otherwise, it would be stupid to call it learning. The woman got a distant look.

"Important lessons, is it…?" Viren looked around at everyone busy with orientation. An enigma. Maybe that was it. Constricting Ryland to any singular role was a pointless effort. He was just capable of far too much. Which should have sounded like an insane thing to say about a person. But this was Ryland they were talking about.

"My name is Alendra, by the way," the half-elvhenan said, refocusing back on the present.

"Say, you don't happen to be a member of the Excursion Club, do you?" She indicated the badge on his robe. The swords cross with the staff, glowing faintly red. Viren smiled.

"I am a proud member of Arcoryx Academy's Excursion Club. Come on, Alendra. I'll show you where we've got our booth." Viren still had more tasks to take care of once he had guided Alendra to the Excursion Club's table. But he figured he could take a break to actually participate in the orientation activities. He had double checked to make sure none of his next tasks were actually anything intensive.

So he went and bought some treats-on-sticks for himself and Tallow, then went about watching the Acrobatics Club throw up the most extravagant performance he had ever seen, then was nearly lured in by the Alchemy Club to test experimental potions that Viren was sure were actually contraband but were still being snuck into orientation. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Thankfully, Viren was able to get away pretty quickly.

Though, that nearly made him collide with a girl. Okay, he did hit her, but it was like striking one of the giant pillars in the academy's main auditorium.

"Oops, sorry," Viren said. If anything, after that little collision, he felt like he was the one who was owed an apology.

"Tallow apologizes too." Tallow tapped him reproachfully on the cheek, and he had to shush the cat before it jumped out of his robes entirely.

"I apologize as well," the girl said.

"I should have swerved out of your wayward way." Had she just… insulted him? Viren wasn't sure. He didn't want to think uncharitably of someone he had just met, so he decided to ignore it. That said, there was something slightly off about her that Viren couldn't really pinpoint. Her face was carefully neutral. Masked. She was clearly a new student, as indicated by the orientation badge pinned to her dress.

But she also seemed on the wealthier side, going by the shiny sheen of her hair, the bright, yellow-and-white dress, and her polished shoes.

"No, no," Viren said.

"That was totally my fault. Did you… happen to need something?" Since she was a new first-year, it was his responsibility to guide her if she was lost or something.

"I was looking…" She hesitated for a moment.

"I was told I should find something to join. Like a club or society or something along those lines."

"Oh, right." When Viren had joined the academy about half a year ago, he had also received a recommendation to join a club during orientation. It wasn't mandatory. No one had to join that day. But the academy liked the new students to at least be familiar with the various options around.

"There's lots around. Do you want directions to any specific ones?"

"I believe I've seen enough of them," she said.

"But thank you for the offer."

"Okay… well, if you don't need anything, I'll be on my way then. Enjoy orientation!" She nodded in farewell at him but didn't move. Viren squinted for a few seconds before leaving. What an odd girl. There was still some time before Viren was supposed to start on his food duties. While the cafeteria would have had no trouble holding all the students and their guardians who were attending orientation, the academy had still expanded its dining operations beyond the cafeteria.

To do so, they had requisitioned the efforts of a lot of students, one of whom was Viren. Thankfully, he could get Tallow to have some fun with the kitten's manabeast friends at the Tamer Society first. Several of the members kept teasing Viren, saying if he was banished from the Excursion Club, he'd always be welcome at the Manabeast Tamer Society. Viren just did his best to laugh it off nervously. The Excursion Club was his home.

Curse the Calamities, but there was no way in all the Realms that he was getting banished. When he was walking through the area again, he found the girl was still there at the exact spot he had left her. He was about to conclude she hadn't moved in the entire half-hour he was gone, except she had a treat-on-a-stick that she was gently munching on.

"Nothing to your fancy?" Viren asked as he passed by.

"I'm Viren, by the way."

"Acrypha." She didn't answer his first question.

"Nice to meet you, Acrypha. You know, if you're looking for a fun club to be a part of, I've got just the suggestion." Viren grinned widely at her. He wasn't sure why he was offering, but having collided with her earlier, he now felt somewhat responsible for… Acrypha enjoying the orientation properly.

"What do you think about the Excursion Club?" As soon as he said it, Viren winced internally. He wasn't trying to be pushy. Maybe her idea of enjoying the orientation was just standing there, taking in the sights from a distance by herself. Maybe—"Alright," Acrypha said. Her grey eyes were so inscrutable, Viren could glean nothing from them.

"Great! Right this way." Viren cheerfully led the way, whistling as Acrypha fell in step beside him. He noted that the girl was actually a couple of fingerbreadths taller than him, though that might be in part because of her iron-backed posture.

"I don't know about you," Viren said as they walked.

"But I was feeling very lost during my orientation. I was desperate to make friends. I really didn't want to feel lonely."

"Mm," Acrypha said.

"I can see why." Okay, now she had insulted him. What was worse was the fact that she had said it mildly, almost like it was a matter of fact. It wasn't the arrogant kind of contempt he had come to expect from nobles.

"Is that right?" Viren asked, unable to keep the testiness from his voice.

"Etiquette dictates that one mustn't start with personal information." She said it coolly, taking a small nibble from her treat. Viren's eye twitched.

"And does etiquette say how best to make friends?" Acrypha had no answer for that.

"Look, I'm going to be frank," Viren said.

"I was just trying to be friendly. Problem is, you don't seem to be reacting to anything. You didn't ask for my name, didn't ask about any of the clubs or societies at Arcoryx, didn't look particularly interested in anything on offer." Viren tried not to scowl at the next one.

"You didn't even comment on my magnificently cute kitten." Tallow popped out of his robe and meowed in agreement. Acrypha still didn't react.

"So I was forced to shoot in the dark," Viren continued.

"Reveal something that would pull on your emotions, such as they are," he added in a mutter.

"Your insults could use some work too," Acrypha said mildly.

"No, they don't! I thought that insult was a perfect blend of subtle and personal." Acrypha raised an eyebrow at him. The reaction weirdly reminded Viren so much of Ryland, he had to pause. Those two… they'd get along famously, wouldn't they?

"Fine," Viren said, continuing onwards.

"If none of that interests you, then I'll have you know I've got a Soul Glyph of— mph!" With blinding speed, Acrypha's hand clamped around his mouth, cutting him off. For the first time since they had met, her eyes were finally alight with actual emotion. Though in this case, it was anger, one that actually frightened Viren.

"Are you insane? Why in all the Realms would you reveal your Soul Glyph to a complete stranger?" Viren struggled fruitlessly to pull himself free. Why was this girl so strong?" Mph! Mph!"

"I do not care what excuses you're about to make. You—" The archway they were passing under, one of the temporary constructions for the purposes of the orientation, groaned above them. Viren looked up, heart pounding. For the briefest second, he thought he spotted familiar lines of violet-hued darkness running across the whole thing. Then it collapsed right on top of them. His heart clenched, a desperate energy coursing through his arms as he tried to shove Acrypha out of the way.

And once again, it felt like trying to push a wall. She was slight girl. Why did she feel like a statue? Viren didn't get the time to do anything about the actual collapsing arch other than barely managing to cover up Tallow. Turned out, there was no need. Ryland's spell circle, the one he had cast on Viren back in the dungeon, flared to life. What in the Realms had he called it? [Ephemeral Fortress]?

Panes of translucent purple energy coalesced and solidified across his body quicker than his pitter-pattering heartbeats. And nearly just as quick, Acrypha reacted too. A Glyph flashed on the back of her hand, a silvery cloak shimmering into being a second later, one that flew over the two of them in the blink of an eye. Then the debris crashed in.