Welldark B1 Ch. 05

Willt spun the book on the polished surface of the table. "You were the hot guy in class that everyone knew they could get together with for a fun time," the warlock summarized. "In a school full of succubi and other demons, no less. The goal was never a lasting relationship for anyone. That's what I mean when I say 'none of them really cared about you'." He stopped and gave me a long, apologetic stare, "Sorry, if that's too harsh."

"No, no, I get it now," I waved off, considerably less annoyed now. Having found out what the issue was already put me at ease. I still had a distance to travel, but at least the blindfold was off. "Thought I had experience with relationships, guess I am just good at 'expanded' flirting..." I mumbled to myself and rubbed the bridge of my nose. "Okay, so what does it mean that Esther is so disappointed with me spending my money frivolously? It sounds like it's a good thing, that she cares about me that much?"

Willt picked his book up again, leaving me and Arlethia to have the talk about feelings. "It certainly means that she cares," the red-skinned succubus assured me. "It also means that you have some improving to do."

"When is that not the case," I managed to joke at my own expense. There was a light, if tired, smile on my face. "So, what now?"

"I dunno know, dude," Arlethia shrugged in an exaggerated fashion and headed back to the bed. "You got to show her that you can handle your money somehow. Can only do that if you get her to talk to you again. That's where you got to start, in any case."

"Right..." That dampened my flourishing mood. I knew the disease, the cure had yet to be made and accepted by the patient. How could I go about showing I knew about and was working on fixing my money issues? Getting enough Dark to cover the rest of the month would be a good start. There were several ways to go about that and I only really liked one of them. Namely, I was willing to bet that I could earn more than a bit by doing well in lectures. As the introduction ceremony had outlined, teachers sometimes hand out Dark to students they were impressed with.

Call it paranoia, but I got the inkling that telling Esther that I was gambling on the graciousness of teachers was not going to make her any less annoyed with me. I needed a solution that was both sustainable and showed that I was working on myself. Once I had that, I was not only in a position to get her forgiveness, but I could also confront her on her own shortcomings. Although her body most certainly was perfect, her personality had flaws like everyone else.

"Well, I guess I will try to talk to her first." I gave both of them a thankful nod, before standing up. "Thanks, guys, for the support and everything."

"Whatever allows me to verbally abuse you a bit," Arlethia stuck out her tongue in a cheeky fashion.

I made my way to Esther's room and knocked. I got no answer, which was of little surprise. More irksome was when I decided to text her and was still met with nothing. Not to be ungrateful for the wonders of technology, but I would have been happier without the little checkmark next to my message. That she had definitely seen it made the fact that she ignored me sting that little bit more. Then again, the sting was better than the steady pull of uncertainty.

What I preferred was of little consequence to the situation. The goal was to get back into her good graces. At the very least I knew she hadn't moved out, thanks to all of the food still in the fridge. Her shoes were missing at the entrance, however.

And they were still missing when I woke up the next morning. I had wanted to catch her before she headed out. My biological clock had disagreed. After the weeks I had spent defying it, the worry that kept me awake the previous night had finally forced me back into my usual rhythm. I had slept soundly through the alarms and only gotten up when Willt came in to check on me. For breakfast and, more importantly, because today was the proper start of the semester.

I wish I could have been excited. There was much to look forward to. Classes would create numerous opportunities to talk to potential partners, in all the attractive shapes and sizes women came in, there were things to learn and knowledge to discover. Indeed, there should have been little else in my young life that caused me such jubilation. If things had gone as I wished them to, every second on the train towards Welldark university would have been one of anticipation, of thoughts towards future conquests, filled with eager chatter, jokes and such.

Instead, I felt as gloomy as the walls and towers of the gothic architecture that loomed over me. The dark colours, stained windows, enormous clocks and ringing of bells all resonated with my mood. Willt walked next to me. "What an impressive building," he said, still in awe at the sheer splendour of Welldark University, "The way these golden trims surround the windows is outstanding. The building looks almost happy today."

"Guess it's just my mood that makes the entrance look like a giant maw then," I grumbled, glaring at the ridges around the gate. We continued to walk away from one of the many stairways that connected the university proper with the underground train station. We followed one of the walkways that would eventually deliver us to the segment of Welldark university that our first lecture was at. The barrier between segments was marked by courtyards and the style differences of the buildings.

Looking at it from a distance, Welldark could easily be misunderstood as one gargantuan building. In actuality, it was a maze of structures sprawling around a central set of structures. Additions had been made as the university grew in wealth and popularity. Despite this continuous expansion, the architects involved had never once given into the temptation into adding something that was 'unique'. All of it maintained the coherent gothic theme and each building had been put together by skilled craftsmen of all trades.

There were thirteen sets of buildings, each dedicated to one of Welldark's thirteen branches of education. Between them were the courtyards, adding places of rest and chatter between the places of knowledge and learning. Some of these courtyards had been transformed into their own pieces of art, be it gardens or plazas of stone and statues. Others had been left alone, separating the dark stone with green grass and even a little patch of forest here and there.

The walkways that cut through and enveloped these courtyards were themselves notable, given how much care had been put into their layout and shape. Not once while walking from one end of Welldark to the other were they ever without the protection of a roof.

In neat, three metres distances from each other stood grey pillars, carrying tiled roofs of a royal purple colour. Usually, there was nothing between the pillars, letting each student catch some fresh air or easefully step into the courtyards between lectures. It was all very orderly, but the number of walls surrounding the attendants of the university was not so large as to feel oppressive.

As always, I did appreciate Welldark's mixture of natural growth and control. The cosmos didn't need too much swirling chaos nor oppressive order. Balance between those forces was difficult to find. The headmaster clearly understood this and made the effort to do the best he could.

"No, that's not just you," Willt responded to my earlier assertion about the maw. We stopped for a moment before the staircase that led up to the gate. Set several metres into a thick stone construct, the open, dark wooden door was surrounded by several layers of ornaments. They were designed in a fashion that was just a bit too rigid, making them seem like an endless number of canines arranged in to several layers of arcs. The polished stone stairs, narrowing towards the gate, looked like a long grey tongue. It was purely a matter of proximity, but I still couldn't unsee it. This gate was the only part of Welldark's design I disliked so far.

"Truly, it is the maw of renewed responsibility and darkness that devours us to... ah, you know what, nevermind," I sighed. A number of bodacious girls passed us by, walking the same path as we would, and I simply sighed a second time. My friend looked twice between me and the attractive women, who soon disappeared into the building.

"That bad?" Willt then asked, elaborating when I raised an eyebrow his direction. "You stopped midway in your philosophising and you didn't even try to awkwardly flirt with those girls. That's two red flags. You doing alright?"

"Yeah, well,..." I sighed and let my shoulders hang until our eyes were at the same level. "I feel like most energy has been sucked out of my soul and the rest is slowly evaporating. All the while, I can't do anything about it."

"Welcome to the world of having fights with people you well and truly care about," Willt gave me a pat on the shoulder. "It never stops being annoying. I don't look forwards to the next time Arlethia and I get into a fight."

"You guys have those?" I wondered. Their relationship had always appeared harmonious to me, the snarky banter being just that and nothing more. I wasn't naïve enough to believe they never had disagreements or anything, but I connected at least a moderate of shouting with the word 'fight' in a relationship.

"Everyone has fights, if you do it right, you just manage to resolve them quickly and have fewer of them," Willt shrugged, making a gesture for us to keep moving. Soon enough, we were past that devouring gate.

I could basically hear Arlethia commenting on our current talk, 'This just shows you are doing it all wrong, Karitas!' or something minorly mean to that degree. Sadly, she was in another class and had left the mansion before us. It was a truly saddening circumstance. From the outside, our word fights may have looked moderately vicious, but it was all in good fun. At this moment, I could really use a playfight to distract me from my loathing.

"The only way to get over this feeling is to actually resolve the situation, isn't it?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"You could also break up with her," Willt jokingly suggested.

I sighed again, heavier this time. The option was on the table. I didn't want to do it, but saying I would never do it was the same as giving Esther carte-blanche to abuse me however she liked. Being a lovestruck fool was understandable, normal even to a degree, but I wouldn't be enslaved by love.

We took a corner and soon found ourselves in the alchemy class. Analysing the room let me escape my dreary thoughts.

The lecture hall was designed with the specific needs of the lecture in mind. While the general layout remained the same, the teacher having their podium, chalkboards and large table, and the students' seats stacked up in rising rows that allowed everyone an easy view of that podium, there were adjustments made to both teacher's and students' places to make it safe for the practice of alchemy.

There were glass cubicles around every table, preventing potentially explosive results from blasting unobstructed through the room. The table itself was covered with chemical utensils and reminded me of a workbench. A small workbench, by the standards of a proper craftsman, but a workbench nonetheless. The ceiling above held additional sprinklers and the ventilation system was visibly more pronounced. There were other, more arcane security measures whose exact function I couldn't decipher.

If there was one thing to complain about, it was the lack of proper chairs. While adjustable in height, the workbenches were clearly meant to be used standing up. All we got was a wooden stool. I understood that keeping any kind of potentially reactive or dust-spreading materials around was a security concern, but my butt wasn't happy with the difference. Once the lecture began, I tried and failed to listen to the teacher.

I couldn't miss the fact that something was being said. No matter the barriers of glass, speakers in all corners of the room made sure the soundwaves were distributed equally. I also followed the teacher's movements. From the outside, I doubtlessly looked as if I was paying attention. None of what was said really registered though. My thoughts kept circling around Esther.

I went through all the ways I could show my repentance. Then my thoughts travelled over the different levels of anger I could justifiable muster towards the way she left me behind. Finally, the realization resurfaced that I had fallen in love with a rather difficult person. From what I understood about her, Esther was fixated on resolving the issue through her own work, rather than communicating what it was in the first place. That was in some ways admirable, but it also made it difficult to stomach her as a friend or potential partner.

'She is probably thinking about my flaws in a similar way right now... I hope.' It was an odd hope, to want someone to be frustrated with me. More than that, an equally sadistic and selfish part of me hoped she was agonizing over all of this as much as I was.

I really should have listened to the teacher, especially given the laboratory setting of the class. As was tradition with the first lectures, there was very little in terms of actual lecturing. Instead, we discussed what was planned during the semester and what we could expect to learn. There was also the standard organizational stuff.

One thing I did catch was a joke about how he expected attendance to half by the end of the first month. While that was true, such was the nature of voluntary attendance, it was the security protocols that I really should have listened to. Even with an Astral Body, there were things that could cause permanent harm. A wound that stayed open until one's mana was depleted became a permanent part of the body. Embedding a glass shard into the back of my eye socket was a pretty good way to go about that.

I heard what certain signs meant, where the fire alarm was and all of that stuff. The noises entered my left ear, swirled around in my skull for long enough to let me know that something was going, then exited through the right ear without having actually let me save any of the provided information. Then, suddenly, the class was over. It caught me off guard, not because time felt as if it had passed particularly quickly but because I was somewhere else with my thoughts.

When I realized that the teacher let us go twenty minutes early, I felt a little more justified in my surprise. That was yet another thing that reminded me of typical school experiences, both those that I had experienced myself and the university life I had read about. On the first day of every class, the teachers ended things early because they just had to blow through a bunch of organizational things.

As we headed out, Willt assured me that he would let me look over his notes late. Even on days on which I was concentrated, I only took minimal notes. My memory was splendid and had always been enough to get me through, provided that I listened to enough of the lectures. In my current mindset, my friend was a lifesaver and I thanked him honestly.

We had to separate afterwards, having taken different classes for the next time slot. Willt went to a class on herbalism, while I headed to my music lecture. When I was alone, I simultaneously appreciated and loathed it. On one hand, it gave me a bit more silence to order myself in, on the other, that wasn't something I really wanted to do at the moment.

I distracted myself by closely analysing the classroom of my next lecture. It deviated from the standard design in a different, and in many ways more concrete, ways than the alchemy lab. Rather than a room with declining rows of seats, it was a simple flat room of rectangular shape. A large number of instruments were orderly distributed along the walls, with small chairs and stools available for those who wanted to take them. Attached to this room were several smaller side rooms, I guessed for practice, and an actual recording studio. It was impressively equipped and it still failed to properly distract me from my current situation.

When the teacher came in, she managed to catch my attention for a little while. She was a human, an Asian at that, with almond shaped eyes. Going by her appearance, she should have been in her early thirties, but with magic involved such things were hard to say with certainty. While she was doubtlessly attractive, it was her clothes that made my gaze stuck to her for a little bit.

The tightly sitting vest she wore over a plain white shirt, combined with the short pencil skirt, gave her the kind of sexy secretary vibe strippers were aiming for. Her dark hair was tied up into a bun and a pair of black glasses finished the outfit. Personally, I fully supported teachers wearing things that made them look good. Tight shirts and short skirts were the norm on Welldark anyhow, especially on hot summer days like this.

She introduced herself as Maria Trostwald, which was a rather Germanic name for someone of her ethnicity. Not that it mattered to me. I tried my best to keep listening to her, as she walked up and down in front of the gathered students. The steady staccato of her high heels gave a rhythm to her words that made it a bit easier to concentrate. Her speech was brief, clarifying that this was a class about learning music together, not putting together some great musical or orchestra. That was exactly what I had signed up for, so it was reassuring to hear. After she had made that point abundantly clear, she told all of us to just fiddle around with the instruments.

Everyone eagerly sought out something they were either interested in or they already knew to varying degrees. I let myself be taken by the stream of people that were drawn to the most stereotypical instrument: the guitar. There were more than enough for all of us, so I just grabbed one and retreated to one of the stools. Then I sluggishly pulled at some cords, trying but not really trying to produce a pleasant note.

The more 'intimate' layout of the class allowed the teacher of this one to catch my evident distractedness. I noticed that she was strutting over to me quickly and invited the opportunity to stop mindlessly looking at my hands. "You must be Karitas?" she asked, a playfully stern expression on her face.

"Yes," I answered, nodding in a respectful manner. Usually, I would be more wordy when responding to a good-looking woman. However, my mood aside, I had a valid reason to keep my flirting to a minimum, namely the black mark that circled around her left ring finger, like an actual ring tattooed into her skin. It was the clearest and simplest sign that she was the member of an Anomalia.

"I didn't take you to be a loner, after your performance at the introduction ceremony," she said, not minding the scarcity of my words. "This class is about performing in the art of sound. You can do it alone, but I judged you to be more of the group activity type."

"Oh, I don't usually produce pleasurable sounds on my lonesome," I couldn't resist that little innuendo. Her friendly approach succeeded in pulling me out of my bubble of relative misery. "There is simply a lot on my mind, as of now, Miss Trostwald."

"Maria is all fine," she assured me and dragged a chair over to sit down. "You don't seem like you want to talk about it."

I shook my head, confirming her suspicion, "I already know what the problem is and I have to solve it myself." As friendly as she may have been, I didn't want to just pour my heart out on a stranger. Even less did I want her pity. Taking gift horses was one thing, begging for scraps wholly different. "I'll have it resolved next week," I promised, hoping she would stop worrying.