“Kali, what did you score?” Adria asked me as we scanned the pages.

“I’m not sure…”

After completing the written portion of the test a few hours ago everyone got ready for the physical. Since I was injured I was exempt from taking the physical-based test which was fine by me. But unfortunately, I didn’t get to see anyone else take the test.

Tristian was telling me it was an all-encompassing physical test that also included your mana and magic capabilities. Students did various exercises such as running, jumping, and lifting to see where they were physically. Then those who could use magic were tested on their abilities. Those that couldn’t do magic tests instead did mana enhancement tests like carrying an increasing amount of weight on your back till your enhancement ran out. Pretty basic stuff. I was expecting some live combat but I guess that might be a little much for the first day.

I was trying to find my name on the list but I couldn’t see where I was… I was aiming for the middle and even the lower end for the servants but my name wasn’t there. Servants were scored separately from the general student body.

“Kaladin isn’t that your name up there?” Tristian asked while tugging on my sleeve.

Oh, fuck.

“Yeah, I guess that’s me…” I said while scratching my head.

“I knew you could do it, Kali! Congrutionalions!” Adria shouted.

“Good job, hard work pays off, Kaladin,” Tristian said with a smile.

There my name was in the top 10 servant scores. How is that even possible… I purposely tried to tank my score but how was I the 5th-best servant? I didn’t even take the physical test. Are these kids just that bad?

The top 15 servants were so far ahead of the bottom percentile it was insane. The 15th place servant scored 109 out of 400. The 16th place servant scored a 67… This wasn’t supposed to happen.

“Well, well isn’t it Sir Relud? I heard you dropped out of the knight academy, was it too difficult for you?” Some haughty voice called out from behind us.

Tristian groaned and his normal smile faded as he turned around to address the young boy who had called him out,

“Dillian Stav… I heard you failed the knight exam for the last two years in a row? Did this academy finally accept you?” Tristian mocked.

“It was just because I was too young! Once I get older I’ll be going off to the knight academy!” Dillian shot back red in the face.

Dillian was probably around our age give or take a year. He had dirty blonde hair and brown eyes and seemed to be in relatively good shape for a noble child. Behind him was a girl in a servant uniform that looked like she might be his sister.

“Uh-huh. I’m sure daddy will make sure you get in next time. What do they say again? Third time’s the charm?”

“You!” The boy snarled. Then he looked right at me. Sigh… here we go again.

“I see now… couldn’t make it at the knight academy so you’re here to hang out with the enemy, an enemy servant at that. Do you have no shame, Relud? What would your father think if he saw you with one of them?”

“My father is very aware of what I am doing,” He snapped. “And what war are you talking about? The war that ended before either of us was even born? And Kaladin isn’t an enemy servant. He is a friend. You should do your best to remember that.”

Dillian scoffed, “Whatever. He probably placed so far at the bottom of the board that it doesn’t even have his name on it. A mixed gutter Elf like him? No wonder his family tossed him away.”

I know the best son in the world doesn’t kill kids. But how about chopping their hands off? Say what you want about me but leave my family out of this.

“Yeah? Wanna make a bet? I’d wager 5 large silver that Kaladin outscored your servant and he didn’t even take the physical test,” Tristian said with a sly grin.

“Fine you got-”

Dillian never got a chance to finish before Adria cut him off,

“That’s enough. We are attending the same school now so let’s not do this,” Adria said coldly.

Dillian who pretend to just notice Adria as if he wasn’t stealing glances at her the entire time bowed his head like a trained dog,

“Lady Sandervile, it’s an honor to meet you. I am-”

“I know who you are, Sir Stav. Now run along,” Adria said flatly.

“Huh?” Dillian squeaked.

“I said to run along, you are bothering us,” Adria commanded with a shooing of her hand.

Gone was the normal Adria and in her stead was the same Adria I saw in the Mayor’s office that wanted to attend this school. Dillian was so taken back that he just stayed in his bow for too long. It wasn’t until his servant moved forward and bowed even deeper and spoke in a soft voice,

“Please forgive him, Lady Sandervile and Sir Relud. My brother can be over-competitive sometimes but he means no disrespect towards either of you.”

I’m not sure calling me a gutter Elf or an enemy servant was competitive in nature but at least this girl was trying to salvage this situation. Seems she should be the master and him the servant. What a shame this world puts stock on who came out of their mother first.

“It’s fine. Your apology is accepted and there is no bad blood between us. Let’s try and get along, okay?” Adria suggested to the girl with a smile.

The girl looked up and smiled faintly back. She bowed a bit deeper and then grabbed her brother by the arm dragging him along as she walked away.

“Tristian… try not to cause problems on the first day, please…” Adria sighed while watching the two walk away.

“Sorry, he’s just a punk. Even though he failed the knight exam twice he kept coming around the academy and bothering everyone. And he made fun of Kaladin…”

“I know. I never said I liked him either but we don’t want my dad to send us home when we just got here. Kaladin is tougher than that. And besides, as long as we understand Kaladin, that’s all that matters,” Adria said matter of factly. But then she turned away shyly, “But of course we won’t let people make fun of him either… I can’t say anything so I’ll leave it up to you.”

Tristian smiled back, “Of course. Just leave it to me.”

So that’s why Adria didn’t say anything to the teacher or this punk. She is afraid that the Mayor is going to send her home if she misbehaves. As the daughter of the Mayor, she has to act accordingly around these people.

Adria ended up placing 5th overall in the student category. The normal student section was much more competitive than the servant section, there wasn’t a disparaging gap and the top 100 students all scored over 200. She did well on the written portion but on her physical exam, she crushed it because of her mana control and magic.

Tristian placed 2nd overall with a score of 389. The first-place student scored a 392 and their name was Rosom Dun. According to Tristian, he was the son of a high ranking official but that was all he knew.

But that was the end of the activities for today. Tomorrow morning we would wake up and come back to this board where we would find our class placements. Judging by both of their scores we would probably be heading for the top class this school has to offer. I was hoping that Adria wouldn’t do so well but I guess she has been working hard this last year. Also, it’s not like this school wouldn’t put the princess in the highest available class regardless of her scores.

For the rest of the day, we walked around the campus and familiarized ourselves with the layout. Reading a map was one thing but seeing things for yourself was better. The outside of the school was simple but the inside was lush. The hallways were lined with paintings and fine rugs. It appears that the budget for this school goes into the hallways… Squeaks told me that Sandervile wasn’t nearly as well off as Ostela or even Whieland in regards to money. Maybe my time in the Sandervile mansion has jaded my opinion somewhat.

Now that Adria was free from the masses of people she seemed to be enjoying herself as we walked around the school. Other students had attempted to come up to the three of us but Tristian was radiating an aura of hostility towards anyone who even thought about approaching us. The only people he allowed through were teachers who gave their kind regards to both Tristian and Adria. Adria would kindly tell them to just call her Adrianna instead of Lady Sandervile and that was the end of that.

It seemed that wearing this white uniform made me somewhat invisible to others. People would give me a pacing glance of interest or indifference. It was normally one or the other but I paid no mind. It was probably better this way.

I was more excited about the lack of guards here. With such little guard presence inside of the school, it would allow me to be freer than I have been in years. Teachers were around but I doubted they would even acknowledge my existence if I was careful about things. Of course, guards were also stationed on the perimeter of the school and they weren’t so far away that I could take advantage and escape from this place. I was still in the center of Sandervile with three districts separating me from the outside world. But it was a start.

We got bored and decided to head to our dorm room. Even though this place had dorms it was less like these noble kids living on their own and more like they were being sent to a boarding school. Everything was done for these kids. Their food, laundry, and other miscellaneous things were all handled by the school. And anything the school didn’t handle, we servants were to fill in the gaps. The students were expected to sleep and wake up and follow the schedule. Those were the only expectations placed upon these kids. And passing their classes of course.

Our dorm room wasn’t even a dorm room either… It was double the size of Adria’s room at the mansion and looked more like a master bedroom fit for a king than a dorm room. I guess this room was specifically designed for the Mayor’s offspring, there was no way the other rooms were like this. The room was sectioned off into 5 smaller rooms and 1 massive room. And there was a sort of common room in the center with long couches and a massive dining table. Some extra chairs were set up in front of a wood fireplace. The room didn’t have any kind of kitchen or anything.

Adria would be living in the one massive room that by the time we arrived, had been completely outfitted to look like her room at the mansion. It was like they just lifted her room and carried it here. Tristian would be taking the room adjacent to her that was filled with his belongings from home and my room…

“Uh, Kaladin… where is your door?” Tristian asked who seemed just as confused as me.

Yes, where was my door? That was the question on my mind as well. Somebody had gone through the trouble of taking the door off the hinges and removing it, leaving the small room wide open to the main common room. Not only that the other rooms had the doors removed and were devoid of furniture. I could only sigh.

I was looking forward to having some privacy. I’ve been sharing a sleeping area with other people for almost four years… I can’t have anything, can I?

I walked into the small room and took stock of everything. It was nice, very nice actually. The furniture was all high quality and the bed looked comfortable. I had a dresser, bed, chair, and desk. All things I would want or need in a room. On the desk was a piece of paper written in Elvish,

Sorry about the door. Mayor’s orders. -Sylros

I scrunched the paper up and was tempted to set it on fire in front of everyone. But I bit down on my frustration. How petty can someone be… what’s the difference between me having a door and just sneaking out on my own? Ridiculous.

“What did the note say?” Tristian asked me.

“No door for me, Mayor’s orders apparently.”

“That… that makes no sense? Why wouldn’t he want you to have a door?”

I just shrugged, “It is what it is.”

I also didn’t have much to my name either. In my drawers was an extra school uniform along with a summer warmer weather uniform. Two pairs of sleeping attire. Athletic wear. And my mansion uniform. This was everything I owned in this world.

Adria and Tristian both decided to stay in the dorm until dinner time. I on the other hand had made a decision, it was time to do some learning.

—

The library was, as expected, big, and there was so much paper… Rows and rows of bookshelves filled the place and I was happy to say that the books here didn’t seem useless. No books on how to bake a cake for a noble around here thankfully.

I was in search of a few things here. I wanted every book I could find on vampires and more specifically blood magic. Next, I wanted a few history books from the last two or three decades. And then after that anything that seemed interesting.

I had about two hours before I had to meet Adria and Tristian for dinner. I would have liked to skip out on it today but I had to maintain my good servant facade. The librarian and the older students eyed me suspiciously but there were plenty of servants in the library so it wasn’t odd for me to be here. My fake status as a servant changed everything for me. If I was still a slave, being here on my own would have seen me getting punished.

I pursued the library and selected anything that seemed useful. There were only two books on blood magic. A handful that had anything to do with vampires but what surprised me was the severe lack of history books. The entire section for history was about half a bookshelf full at the back of the library. And most of the “books” were translated manuscripts that had barely anything to do with history. The others were similar cases of persevered documents or journals. It was very lackluster and surprising.

Especially since that Deguzman merchant wrote his own history book and it was a few hundred pages long. Was history being censored by the state? If so, why? Wouldn’t they then want to push their version of history more? How odd.

Ignoring the things I couldn’t control, I set myself down at a small table in the back and began flipping through the books I selected. The books on blood magic were things I already knew for the most part.

Vampires used blood magic and blood magic did something to people’s blood... not very descriptive. But what I did learn was that all vampires could use blood magic as they were one of the only races that had a guaranteed ability to use magic upon birth. Also, any race that bred with a vampire produced a vampire 100% of the time.

The usage of blood magic varied from individual vampire to vampire but they were known for being able to enhance their bodies to the extreme, making them powerful warriors. From what I could tell it didn’t seem like they could use magic in a traditional sense. No blood magic mages or something. According to this book, vampires can’t use any other type of magic whatsoever.

This book also mentioned that vampires used to be even stronger and that you could tell a vampire’s strength by how red their eyes were. Vampires of old had completely red eyes and were far more powerful than current generation vampires. I guess that is where Squeak’s saying “Redder the deader” comes from.

That was pretty much it for that book and the other book had even less information. The other book focused on slave/obedience collars and covered topics I was already aware of. Vampires could use blood magic to create an obedience collar. A little bit of blood from the master and little from the servant in conjunction with a slave collar would see a master-servant pack made if placed onto a person. Those under the effect of an active obedience collar couldn’t disobey their master. They also couldn’t harm themselves or their master. A slave collar could be taken off by an Expert level mage or higher using a strong pulse of mana. However, an obedience collar couldn’t be taken off by anybody other than the master. If one tried to take an obedience collar off by force, it would kill the slave.

After that little tidbit I skimmed through more of the vampire history books and learned some minor things, most of it was just hearsay, however. So apparently after Emperor Talgan was defeated by the Dragon Emperors and The Six, the Empire of Nul fractured into smaller countries. These smaller countries warred for years trying to gain land and power over each other. Many nations fell and rose since Talgan’s defeat and even today the northern part of Amoth where the vampire’s native land is a warzone.

So far I’ve learned nothing in regards to my injuries. No vampire curses or blood magic being used to cause permeate injuries. I’m at a loss on what to do. I’m afraid I’m going to have to get another vampire to help me or get in contact with a high-ranking light mage. Preferably I could just go back to Grandpa… Going to the Holy Kingdom might be a possibility. The Holy Kingdom of Arotal fought Talgan along with The Six and the Dragon Emperors so surely there are some records there.

So for my injuries, I’m going to have to take another path. And I’m wondering if something in this book can help me. I grabbed a book on plants and herbs in central Illyrcium. Most of my botanical knowledge was for plants and herbs native to Syn’nari which had a completely different ecosystem to the mainland. I flipped through pages and read through anything that could possibly cure injuries, reduce pain, or even…

What is this? Why did Dad never mention this to me? I read a little more and I understood. Well of course he wouldn’t want his son to take something like this.

Consuming this fungus native to the southern lands of the Dark Elf tribes sends the user into an uncontrollable berserk-like trance. The affected individual sees a dramatic increase in both strength, stamina, and combat prowess. However, the user loses full control of themselves and is incapable of performing higher functions such as using magic or critical thinking. The fungus also has a severe backlash. Once the user comes down from their berserker-like state they are hit with waves of extreme fatigue and mental fogginess. These can be mitigated by a light mage, however. Repeated usage of the fungus will lead to a state of mental weakness that even the strongest light mage can not cure.

So a mushroom that turns people into mindless berserkers, huh? I was curious because one of the main points for this fungus is the fact the user feels no pain and it has a few other interesting qualities. It almost sounds like the start of… mmm probably not. The side effects and the uncontrollable mental state are too much of a downside for me to take it as is.

It seems it’s common for Dark Elves to use this drug in rituals or honor battles. Honor battles? Ah, yes, Dad did mention Dark Elves fought honor battles with the Dragonkin that also called The Barrens home. Even though the Dragonkin live there as well it seems people still referred to The Barrens as Dark Elf territory. But I wonder what kind of rituals it was used in? The book has it written down as if they are two separate things. Mmmm….

I didn’t have much time to think this over since dinner was rapidly approaching. I placed back the books I didn’t plan on reading anymore and checked the herbal book out. To anyone asking I was simply just following my Elven blood and was curious about the plants of this region. That's what I planned on saying to anyone who asked anyway. Within two hours I’ve learned more than I have in four years. This was a very good start.

—

“Stop right there you gutter Elf,” A familiar voice spat.

It’s literally the first day. Why can’t you bother someone else, Dillian?

“Yes, sir. How can I help you?” I said as calmly as possible.

Even though I was a servant I was still leagues behind this kid… and his little entourage. It seems he left his rational sister at home and opted for some extra meatheads. Dillian had about four other students with him as they surrounded me on my way to the Dorms.

“What is a baby-eating monster like you getting all buddy-buddy with Lady Adrianna? Huh?” Dillian questioned.

“Baby eating monster?” The words flowed from my mouth without me even thinking.

I’ve been called a lot of names over the years. Since I’m a mixed Elf I get the whole catalog of insults. Gutter Elf is for Dark Elves, knife or dagger ear for High Elf, and even though I’m not a Wood Elf I still get tree fucker occasionally. But baby eaters? That’s just… weird. And it must be a relatively new insult since I’ve never heard anyone call me that.

“I know you heard me the first time! Everyone knows Dark Elves eat babies, my dad said during the war the Shadow Dancer mercenaries would steal children and eat them!” Dillian yelled. The others who were trying to intimidate me just looked at me like I was the devil walking.

“I’ve never eaten a child in my life, nor do I ever want to?” I responded not being able to hide my confusion.

I was so taken aback by this I didn’t even feel threatened anymore. I’ve noticed that I am the only full-blooded Elf in this entire school. Some half-Elves are roaming around but they were all servants so they must just be some noble’s bastard children. But this was just insane. I get that people fear what they don’t understand but how did my Dark Elf kin ever get associated with eating babies?

“Lies! It doesn’t matter! How about you just do what’s best for Adrianna and Tristian and go back to wherever you came from,” Dillian threatened while walking towards me slowly. I was sure he was trying to be intimidating but he just didn’t have it in him.

I would love nothing more than doing just that.

But I couldn’t say that out loud. I couldn’t say or do anything right now. If I even so much as scratched these kids I was putting my life in danger. This was the difference between being a servant and being a noble. And if it got out that a non-Human slave attacked a noble child… I don’t even want to think about what would happen to me.

I watched as the rest of them closed in on me slowly but Tristian’s voice echoed through the hall with palpable bloodlust,

“Get away from him.”

Tristian along with someone else had approached the group from behind. I didn’t recognize the young Human boy next to Tristian but he was tall with blonde hair and green eyes. He just had a placid look on his face with his arms crossed.

“Tristian! I’m doing you a favor. Please just let me handle this,” Dillian spoke vehemently.

This kid… actually believes this doesn’t he? I thought he was just an asshat noble brat but the way he is talking he genuinely believes I’m a baby-eating monster here to kill Tristian and Adria.

“I believe Sir Relud said that was enough, Dillian,” The boy with blonde hair spoke. His voice was calm and even. It was pleasant on the ears.

“But Rosom! You can’t be taking this Elfs side!”

“What do you have against him? I fail to understand how you could harbor any ill-will to a crippled Dark Elf boy. You claim he is our enemy yet the Dark Elf mercenaries fought with us, did they not? They fought till their commander was assassinated,” Rosm said matter of factly. There was no anger in his voice; he was just stating what he believed to be true. If anything he seems confused.

So this was the number one student in the academy? And I knew the city-states were in an alliance with the old empire so Dad did technically fight as an ally. But I didn’t know the bit about the commander of the Dark Elf forces being assassinated.

“But-bu,” Dillian stammered.

“Besides, you inflicting injury on Lady Sandervile’s servant would be uncouth of somebody of your status, Sir Stav. Yes?”

“That’s…”

It seems Dillian couldn’t say much to that. As soon as Adria was brought up he couldn’t say very much. It was true I could have never stopped Dillian but other nobles of equal or higher standing could easily put him in his place. Tristian was standing at the side glaring daggers at everyone while Rosm handled the overwhelmed Dillian.

Either from anger or embarrassment, Dillian stormed off in a huff. His pathetic group of cronies followed close behind him while Tristian walked over to me,

“Are you okay, Kaladin?” He asked, worry evident in his voice.

“I’m fine, thanks to the both of you,” I said.

“I didn’t even do anything…” Tristian said quietly.

“It’s nothing,” Rosm said while extending his hand, “It’s nice to meet you, Kaladin, my name is Rosm Dun of House Dun.”

Does this guy want to shake my hand? How long has it been since somebody has offered a handshake to me? Taking my surprise with a chuckle he just grabbed my hand that wasn’t holding a book and shook it.

Rosm turned to Tristian, “I’m glad we could find your friend.” Then with a slight wave as he walked away he left me with some parting words, “If those guys keep causing you problems, Kaladin, you should stick with one of us. I’m sure they won’t bother you then.”

No can do. Being able to move around freely is worth more than whatever injuries Dillian and his little crew can inflict on me. And this Rosm guy… unlike the Prince of Luminar I don’t get the same feeling.

Have I gotten better at understanding people? Perhaps all my time around these nobles has helped me understand people who don’t seem genuine. I feel like this Rosm kid has alternative motives. He probably just wants to get closer to Tristian and Adria and helping the poor little servant boy makes him look good. That’s the feeling I get at least, I can’t be sure.

“What was that all about?” I asked Tristian.

“Well I thought I was going to find you in the library but by the time I got there, you had already left. And then I ran into Rosm and we talked for a little bit and we found you together,” Tristian explained awfully fast.

“You came looking for me?”

“Well yeah, I had a bad feeling since you were taking so long so I told Adria I was going to get you for dinner and it seems I was right,” Tristian said somewhat proudly.

“Thanks for looking out for me, Tristian,” I responded truthfully.

“Uh… yeah no problem let’s go eat,” He said quickly.

“Sounds good. Hey Tristian, what do you wanna do with your life?” I asked.

“Huh? Do with my life?” He asked scratching his head.

Oops, probably phrased that a little wrong for a kid.

“I mean like… What do you wanna be when you grow up?” I corrected as we walked together to meet up with Adria. And by walk I mean I limped and he kindly matched his pace with mine.

“Well… I’m not sure. I like practicing and using my sword so maybe a knight like my dad? Honestly, I’ve just never really thought about it,” Tristan said thoughtfully. “What about you, Kaladin?”

“I just want to live my life, that’s all.”

Tristan smiled, “Yeah, that would be nice too.”

You’re a good kid, Tristian. Much like Adria, if the circumstances were different I’d like to be real friends with you someday.

Too bad I don’t see that day ever happening.