Rays of light cracked through the curtains unveiling our disheveled bed that went through a fantastic night’s sleep. I slept in too long for my liking but it was worth it. The time was a little after eight in the morning.

Alexa and Rhea placed a kiss on each cheek and went ahead to start their day. I knew Alexa had tons of work to do, since she was the one managing almost everyone’s needs. Rhea headed for the cafeteria to eat and meet up with some of the others.

My stomach called for food as well. I headed to the elevator but stopped mid-step in the hallway from seeing something in the corner of my eye. This room belonged to Eris and Tessa. Tessa was nowhere to be seen, but Eris was groggily waking up from bed.

“Was it possible to be any louder last night?” Eris was peeved about the noise or at least that’s what she made it out to be.

“Oh…,” Nervous laughter escaped my throat. “Sorry you had to hear all that, I’ll make sure the rooms are soundproofed!” I bowed apologizing for the fact that it interrupted her peaceful sleep.

Eris scoffed, shaking her head at my response, and let it go.

“Eris, come on. Let’s go eat breakfast together.” I invited her to take my open palm to help her from the bed.

She responded with an audible affirmation, still drowsy when she accepted my hand.

In my attempt to cheer her up I pulled enough to sweep her off her legs and into a bridal carry. Her delicate face was close and it was apparent to see she was letting her light brown hair grow out. How could such a small body wield such immense magical prowess? I wasn’t attracted to Eris the same way I was with the others. It was more of an emotional bond and made my heart feel calm.

“Onwards!” I laughed, smiling at the situation and her surprised reactions.

She elbowed me in the elevator to deal with the embarrassment but made an effort to avoid eye contact. I knew Eris to be very shy about admitting her feelings. and my response was to hold her even closer as if to let her know I wasn’t going to let go.

We went all the way to the cafeteria entrance like this as everyone bowed their heads and greeted us. They let us skip in line to grab food and because of Eris’s increased fidgeting, I let her down. I thought we would be eating take out again but it looked like Alexa was able to work with Claire in acquiring enough food to start cooking for everyone.

Claire chose to make an assortment of simple sandwiches. She said how they were simple enough for those assigned to her to prepare while she taught them over time. I placed two of them on my tray and chose to drink milk and grabbed an extra separate cup of water.

Eris was following and I looked around to see if I saw any of the others sitting at the table. I recognized Rhea in a group of people enjoying their food. “Hey, Rhea.” I tapped her over the shoulder and sat down in the open space with Eris following suit.

“Master, Good morning!” Rhea’s face painted a bright smile.

She had already provided one of the best good mornings possible and I couldn’t help return a smile.

We had over an hour of time to spare until everyone was to meet out in the courtyard for training. I took this chance to begin gauging those that were available to get a headstart on creating individual training routines.

We had enough space to have a few sparring matches on the first floor, but it would be cramped if we held our training when everyone was gathered inside. I did my best to learn and remember each person’s name by placing them into categories based on how well they could fight. I told them to attack me to the best of their abilities, though to keep in mind that we were indoors and not to cause any damage to our surroundings. I wasn’t going to expect anyone to know close combat fighting techniques and wanted to see how they utilized their magic in battle.

A line started to form and Eris worked with Rhea to record every instruction and exercise routine for each person as they finished sparring. I drew out all of the matches and even got hit on purpose from their magic to get a proper understanding of their potential. Most of the time it was dodging and shattering their magical attacks with my fists. I made sure not to strike any of them. I began to see behind the scenes gambling going on off to the side. A large group started to form from those that had their chance to spar. They were placing bets with dessert rations as the prize, for who would be the first one to force me to take them seriously.

Part of me was happy to see everyone getting along but the other, doubted a single person would be able to win the rigged bet. Out of everyone present, I think the only person that would give me trouble is Eris. And luckily for me, she wasn’t interested in sparring.

Or at least, that’s what I thought!