“I didn’t bring anything with me,” Sylph muttered so quietly that Damien could barely hear her.

“Wait, really? Not even a toothbrush?” Damien asked.

“What does the word ‘anything’ mean to you?”

“Right, sorry,” Damien said. “I’m sure there’s a general store, though. Can’t you hop down when we go into town and buy some of the basics?”

Sylph flushed slightly.

“No,” she said. “I meant it when I said I didn’t bring anything with me. I thought the college would have the basic things we needed, at least for the first few weeks.”

“I don’t like her that much,” Henry said. “Don’t even think about giving her the money in your bag. That’s ours.”

It’s mine, not ours.

Damien stepped out of the bathroom and glanced over the stuff he’d laid out on his bed. A large portion of his bag had been clothes, but he’d still packed some extras just in case.

“I don’t know exactly what you need, but I’ve got a spare toothbrush and an extra stick of soap. I’m not sure how much I can help with clothes or anything else…”

He handed them to Sylph, who took them with an uncertain look. When Damien didn’t ask for anything in return, she gave him a small nod.

“Thank you. I don’t think you’ll want these again, but I’ll pay you back for them once I’ve got some money.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Damien said, shaking his head. “They were just spares in case something went wrong.”

“Do things generally go wrong in a way that makes you need a second toothbrush?” Sylph asked curiously as she stepped back into the bathroom and set her new toothbrush and soap on the left side of the counter.

“Well, no. But this is the first time I’ve ever left my town, so how would I know? Statistically, every time I’ve left my home has resulted in someone needing my backup toothbrush.”

Sylph flushed again as she came back out and sat on her bed. She nodded towards the open entrance of the cave, frowning slightly.

“I’m noticing our new home doesn’t have a door,” Sylph said, changing the subject. “Beth said we’d be allowed to change our rooms however we wanted to. I suppose we’re meant to do some renovation.”

“That just seems like an excuse for the school to be cheap,” Damien complained. “But it doesn’t make sense. They said they revert all the changes old students did. It almost feels like some sort of test.”

“To get a door?”

“I don’t know,” Damien said. He shrugged helplessly. “It’s not like I’ve been to a mage college before.”

“Nor have I,” Sylph said. She rolled her shoulders and sighed. “There’s not even any room to train.”

Henry nudged Damien mentally to get his attention.

“The mage told you that you had a few hours to spend, but she didn’t say you had to spend it in the room. She just suggested it. Go look around the campus. It’s got to be more interesting than sitting here.” Henry said. He made a gagging noise. “I can practically feel the teenage tension seeping into my skin. It’s so filthy I’m worried I’ll get acne.”

It was a strange thing, hearing low effort banter coming from a creature that had been born near the dawn of time itself. I had to agree with Damien – that just wasn’t how an eldritch creature should speak.

“I think I’m going to look around the campus,” Damien said. “The dean’s tour wasn’t very expansive, and I can’t think of what else we’d do in this tiny little room.”

Sylph tilted her head to the side. Then she nodded slightly and stood.

“That’s a good idea, actually,” she said. “I’ll join you.”

Damien rose as well. Then he paused and turned back to his bed. He stuffed all his belongings back into the pack and slung it over his shoulder.

“I’m not leaving something here until I’ve got a door,” Damien said as they walked out of their cave.

“I don’t think anyone wants to steal your clothes,” Sylph said.

Damien wasn’t about to point out that he also had money in the bag. She’d been nice enough, but they’d only known each other for less than a day. He just shrugged.

He did his best not to peer into the other two caves as they passed them. Something told him that Nolan and Reena had brought more than enough of everything they needed, and Mark seemed a bit on the wild side. Maybe he could raid Nolan’s bed for supplies.

The walk down the mountain paths was silent, but it wasn’t awkward. Once they were below the cloud line, the view over the campus was absolutely riveting.

Large, beautifully carved buildings dotted the large valley within the ring of mountains. A river cut through the center of the college, ending in a small lake on the opposite side of campus. The streets were lined with lush, multicolored foliage that lit the town up like lights.

Damien could dimly make out the small dots that were students as they milled about the town. The majority of them seemed to be headed towards the north side of the campus, where a large group of shorter buildings was clustered around what appeared to be a massive Colosseum.

Before he knew it, the two of them were standing at the base of the mountain. For the amount of people that had to have lived above them, it was strangely empty.

“Any thoughts on where to go first?” Damien asked.

“We should make sure to be back within two hours,” Sylph said. “We don’t want to miss Beth, so let’s avoid anything that takes too long.”

“What about getting some food?” Damien offered. It had been a while since he’d last eaten, and considering he’d thrown up his breakfast, he was getting pretty hungry.

“That would work,” Sylph said. “That’s the long building with the black stone roof next to the library, if I recall correctly.”

Damien looked out over the rooftops. He couldn’t make out the mess hall, but the library was easy enough to spot. The building was so big that the top scraped some of the low hanging clouds.