Barely finishing drying her hair, Minx heard a knock at her door. Hastily pulling her shirt over her head, she opened it to discover three boys. In the middle was Midas.
"Hey, sis!" he smiled. She smiled and leapt into his arms in a huge hug. "Did you survive our first night apart?"
Minx let out an uncomfortable laugh and nodded, not trusting herself to start rhyming again.
"My roommates and I are starving, so we thought we'd eat together. Want to join us?" He quickly introduced the boys standing beside him. They were the two they were assessed with the previous day.
Minx nodded, "Of course but first is it possible to put an automatic transfer of your credits to me so they won't need to be transferred to me every day?"
Aqua looked confused, "Aren't they his credits? Why transfer them?"
Minx looked at him quizzically, "the bullies here steal those credits. If I have them it's less likely he will be robbed."
Aqua was shocked, while the others seemed less surprised. Even Raven seemed less surprised, even though she appeared sheltered.
The boys entered the room while Midas changed his accounting information on her tablet.
"It's fixed, sis. My card balance will empty out every day at 1 am into your account."
Minx smiled. "Now we need you leveled up so the bullying will stop…Are you going to explain why there is a bruise on your forehead or do I need to go on the war path?"
Looking defeated, he hastily explained the brief interlude in the hallway and his random savior.
"How strange! It's good to know there are strong people here who don't prey on the weak. Maybe I can meet this blond someday. I'm assuming I didn't feel it because of the speed of the encounter."
"Probably. It was over quickly and I raced to my room," Midas threw the words out as quickly. He wondered, not for the first time, how she got the anger issues while he was calm. Yet he was the one targeted by bullies.
She sighed. "Okay. At least it's just a bruise. I'll need to go to the library at lunch and buy pots so I can fix it." She turned to Raven, "do you want to eat with us? How does feeding Knight work here in school?"
"I'd love to eat with you!" Raven smiled, "I'd love to join you guys. The kitchen provides what Knight needs."
"I was informed that I can feed him when I want to regardless of the hour. While the kitchen is open during specific hours, they put food in vending machines after hours. Beasts have a different system. There is a separate area in the kitchen, only accessible via finger scan, like our rooms. This is where they store beast food. If what we need is unavailable, there is a board where we write down what they do need. We all bring a few days' worth of food with us and check beast food availability once we have our room assignment. It's why I was a little late to lunch yesterday."
"It must be so wonderful!." Minx asked a little dreamy.
Raven smiled brightly, "he's very helpful in a fight and keeps me safe. He's my only friend. He takes care of me."
Minx then realized, while Raven came from an influential family, she also suffered from isolation. "Raven, were you homeschooled?"
Raven simply nodded.
"You were never bullied. Have you ever seen it?"
Raven shook her head, "no. My parents were hoping my beast would prevent that. They told me it was possible though."
"Do you have any fighting skills?" Aqua asked.
"A a bit. I signed up for the beast weapons class. I figured that's the best place for me grow."
"I will be contacted by a representative of the family for beast taming lessons. A teacher travels around the schools. They teach the next lesson each individual needs things then moves on while we focus on mastery. The lessons will take place normally on the weekend or after school hours."
As the group entered the canteen a few moments later, the conversation continued with Revlis and Raven agreeing the beast weapons class would best suit them while Aqua and Midas were excited to start training in the elemental ability club.
Minx was happy she was surrounded by people who were excited about the opportunities to grow. While she listened to their conversation while she stood in the breakfast line, she glanced around the room. There was the mysterious blond that she decided she must get to know. Sitting with him were the same two boys he was with yesterday. She figured they were roommates.
"Sausage?" huh? She was broken from her daydream as the server asked what she wanted for breakfast. She nodded then asked for a few other selections just making sure no fish hit her plate.
She turned her head back while the server filled her plate to her specifications, trying to identify the bullies. She needed to know who the threats to Midas were.
Observation was key to keeping Midas safe and Minx was determined to make sure he was. The middle of the room had many long tables that fit about 10 students on each side. More seating was available than was required, which made Minx think the room was set to enable separation.
Between these long tables and the walls were several circular tables for five or six. Minx thought they were group tables to discuss outings during meals. On the other side of the room, she noticed a table full of students who were level 4 and up laughing in a not-so-friendly way.
The serving lady cleared her throat to get her attention. Her plate was ready for her. She placed her plate on her tray, grabbed her drink and utensils, then followed Midas to an empty table in the back.
"Hey, Harley!" She heard from the laughing table. She set her tray down beside Midas who lowered his head to focus on his plate. He knew what was coming. They had heard all the names over the years. Harley was in reference to an old comic character who wore her pony tails the way Minx did. They were just different colors. She toward the sound of the voice. Surprise, it was laughing table.
"Harley Quinn was awesome, so I'll take the compliment. Thank you!"
She sat down trying to ignore the vermin, stabbing a piece of sausage with her fork. She looked at the faces of the others around her and she took a bite. A displeased expression crossed her face as she chewed. She wasn't aware the school served tree branches disguised as something tasty.
Minx had the highest number on her watch of the five of them. She was already in protect mode over these people who drew the short straw on having them as their roommates.
With a smirk, "Well Awesome, you are a level 5. You should sit at a table with talented people. Hanging out low-level trash can be … painful."
She shoved the rest of her sausage in her mouth then stood up. A vine appeared in her hand, "then bring the pain!"