“Can’t believe you beat me again.” Chima laughed, while Alice was healing its wounds.

“Well, that was still a close battle, compared to last time.” He replied, casually.

“Sorry for wasting your mana to heal me, Alice.”

“Oh, no… It’s fine. I’m sure Jayce has his reason.”

She went to mend Chima’s wound without asking Jayce for a reason. But the fact that Jayce conversing with Chima as if they were friends. Except for the serious battle between them where they almost killed each other in the process. Either way, they went back to their casual conversation.

“Oh-ho. Even though you’ve just met him?”

“Wait, how…?”

“I can tell by your scent. Pardon me for being rude, I assumed you’re Jayce’s new partner?”

“Nope,” he interrupted, “We’re just forming a party to explore and obtain ancient glyphs in this world, temporarily, at least.”

“I see. Both of you will now have my permission to enter the next room, where the ancient glyphs lie.”

Once Alice finished healing Chima, it bowed to her, thanking her for mending its wounds. She responded with a bow, with her hands held onto the hems of her robe.

As they headed to the next room, they waved their goodbyes to Chima.

They had found the ancient glyphs, carved onto the wall across the room from them. Jayce reassured her that the room does not possess any traps. She went ahead and began deciphering the ancient glyphs.

As she did so, the ancient glyphs illuminated drifted in the air and entered her chest. Incantations of the newfound spell formed in the back of her mind, miasma.

She blinked a few times, and looked at Jayce, leaning to one of the walls with his back.

“Seems you’re done. Ready to head home?”

She nodded, and they went to a portal that was built on the floor.

____________________

Alice opened her eyes, finding herself that she had returned back in reality, but for some reason, she felt as though she was lying on a hard cushion. She looked what lies beneath her only to find she was sitting atop of Jayce.

Jayce, still asleep on the floor next to the couch that she had occupied. She covered her mouth to avoid screaming and swiftly removed herself away from him.

She returned the grimoire, she had borrowed, back to the bookshelf.

“Phew, we made it out.”

She startled and looked behind. Jayce had awakened from his slumber on the floor and stretched his arms and legs to remove the strains.

As he did his stretch routine, their door suddenly opened. A man with white hair, wearing a double-breasted suit, entered. “Jayce, I’ve brought all the ores and herbs that you’ve requested.”

“Lucius, you do realize that you can send familiars to deliver them to me, right?” He jabbed.

“Is it wrong to see my own son at this hour?”

Jayce narrowed his eyes. “Correction: adopted son.”

Lucius pretended not to notice his glare. “Anyway, I’m here to inform you that you will be relocating to a new accommodation. This time, it is an apartment.”

“What?! I did not make any such request.” He protested.

Jayce had been living in a small house located at the outskirt of the Academy, keeping his research and skills as secrets from everyone. Due to the sudden announcement from his guardian—Lucius—it was going to be difficult to move his research materials and equipment to his apartment, subtly.

Ignoring Jayce, Lucius noticed Alice’s presence and continued his attack on Jayce, verbally. “Alice, sorry for not noticing your presence. I see that you’ve met your new roommate.”

“Eh?” They exclaimed.

They exchanged glances, then looked back at Lucius. “Headmaster, wouldn’t it be unwise for me to live under the same roof with an opposite sex?” Alice retorted, aware that this would violate the academy’s rule.

“Don’t worry, Alice, Jayce may look mysterious on the outside, but rest assured, he is a kindhearted person. And here are the keys to your room and your student ID.” Lucius reassured his authority, as a headmaster of this academy.

“Then what about my things? I need a few days to move them to the apartment.”

Lucius, however, had already set his request in motion. “I had already summoned a few golems to help out moving your things.”

Summoning familiar was a common technique to every adventurer. The familiars’ nature reflected in their master’s personality, and they also represent as their spirit animals. There were cases where adventurers were unable to summon their own familiar, so they are required to form a contract with familiars they had encountered during their journey if they wish to do so.

Both Alice and Jayce knew they had nothing left to retort.

“Headmaster.” She asked, keeping the conversation formal.

“Please, call me Lucius.” He suggested.

Alice hesitated for a moment. It was not because that he was her roommate's guardian, but, rather, he was also the headmaster of this academy.

Silence slowly crept the room, she decided to address him by his name. “Lucius, I had finished filling the application for the classes, so I was wondering if it is okay for me to submit it to you right now.”

“Certainly, I will make sure your application goes through the faculty.”

She gave the application papers to Lucius. Lucius, however, brought his lips close to her ear. “Please take care of Jayce.”

Before Alice was going to question him, he immediately walked out of the room, leaving Jayce and Alice alone again.

They exchanged glances, then looked away. The situation was getting awkward, and the first person to break that silence was…

“Nice to meet you, Alice, I will be your roommate for three years from now, I think.” He welcomed, smiled wryly.

____________________

It was late afternoon—5.00 pm—Alice and Jayce found their apartment.

It wasn’t that difficult as their apartment unit was part of a forty-story building with numbers assigned to each unit, while the private training rooms were in the underground section of the dormitory. The private training rooms were available at all time to every adventurer, and the entire internal surface of the room was sturdy and sound-proof.

Fortunately, with the advancement of magic application, there was an elevator system in this building, so they don’t have to walk up forty flights of stairs. But most adventurers preferred to walk up the stairs to improve their endurance and physical physique.

Their accommodation was surprisingly large for a dormitory room. It has a bathroom, a large kitchen, a large dining table for six, a room containing the necessary tools and equipment for blacksmithing, and two bedrooms. Each bedroom had an alchemy table, a large study table, a wooden chair, a single-sized bed, a large closet, a small cabinet and two large bookshelves.

“Sooo…Which room would you prefer?”

There wasn’t much difference, as the bedrooms had the same furniture arrangement and they are next to each other. She thought about letting Jayce pick the room first, but knowing him—during the period of teaming up with him in Grimoire’s world—he would probably refuse, so she decided to pick the room on the right.

Jayce lifted his bag on the floor to his shoulder, then entered his room on the left, and started to unpack his contents from his bag.

Alice entered her room and did the same.

After unpacking their things, Jayce suggested Alice to take a bath, while he will prepare and cook dinner for two.

It wasn’t unusual for male adventurers able to cook nowadays. Cooking was an essential skill for every adventurer to survive in a wild environment.

Alice gracefully accepted his offer and went to the bath.

Jayce looked into his magic gloves for useful ingredients for their dinner. The ingredients he had found were onions, mushrooms, leeks, full medium sized chicken, four eggs, herb, rice and green tea leaves.

After taking some time into consideration, he decided to make a full course meal dinner.

“Have to take note to restock my ingredients,” Muttered Jayce.

After taking a bath, Alice wore her night; it consists of a white short-sleeved top and a white short pair of trousers.

As she came out of the bathroom, assortment of dishes layout on the dinner table.

“I… did not expect to be a full course meal, dinner for you.” She began.

“Well, this is your first time coming to this academy, and not to mention, your first accommodation in your Academy life, so might as well go all out occasionally.” He went to one of the dining chairs and pull it out, offering her a seat.

She accepted his offer and sat down. He then pushed the chair gently and went to sit on the chair across from her’s.

“So, what do you have in store for us?”

“We have some white rice, onion soup, pan-fried eggs with chopped mushrooms and leeks, baked chicken wings with herbs, and a complimentary drink of green tea—”

Suddenly, Alice’s stomach growled, she looked down, flustered.

Jayce pretended he didn’t hear that. “Well, the food’s getting cold. Let’s eat.” He insisted, didn’t want to keep her starving any longer.

They both sat down on the dining chairs and started to eat their dinner.

Alice didn’t know where to begin.

Sensing that Alice was in the pinch. “You can start with the onion soup, then the eggs, chicken, and rice together. Overall, you don’t have to worry about table manners. I don’t really mind about it,”

Alice felt relieved, and they both resumed their dinner in silence.

After finishing dinner and washing the dishes, Jayce asked her a question. “I don’t mean to be rude, but how can you casually eat the food that I just cooked knowing that we had just met? Including the time we had spent in the Grimoire’s world, and not to mention, we are living in the same apartment unit.”

That question didn’t even cross her mind, except for the latter. “I didn’t sense any malicious intent from you the moment we met, so I trust you.”

“I see.” He folded his arms, leaning back to the dining chair.

“Anyway, what’s with your fighting style? You were a thief class, as suggested by your twin blades, but you’ve suddenly switched to an archer class.” This time, it was her turn to ask a question.

He brought his gaze toward his sheathed scimitars and brought them up on the dining table. “To answer your question, my vocation is neither a thief class nor an archer class…”

“Huh…?” She tilted her head.

“Alice, are you aware of magic circuits?” Instead, he replied with a question.

“Yes. A magic circuit is a crucial part of an adventurer’s body system. It allows us to perform spells and skills related to their respective class.”

“Correct. Now, what is your magic circuit based on, and what can you do?”

“Magician. I can perform offensive spells, defensive spells, curses and cure ailments.”

“Now that you’ve understood about magic circuits. To answer your question, I have four magic circuits—“

As she was about to take a sip of her green tea, her hands abruptly came to a halt. “—Eh?”

“Eeehhhhhh?!” She stood, eyes widened, both hands on the table.

“You don’t have to be that surprised.” He sighed. “Yes. I have twenty-four different combinations of fighting style. As for the weapons…” He held them up and brought both hilts together. The runes on both blades illuminated, and they combined into a bow. “…This was done with isolation gravity magic rune, engraved on the bottom hilt of each blade. For the bowstring, it was made of mana, activated by small runes embedded at the tip of the blades, the same property as magic arrows.”

The weapons that Jayce possessed were a pair of black obsidian scimitars. Each blade was strangely curved. Most short swords, in the market, were made and sold to adventurers were linear.

“…”

“Ah… The magic arrows I’ve used were produced from a magic circle, drawn on my right magic glove.” He set his bow down on the table, and show his right hand to her.

The magic circle was drawn with white strings, but…

“…The string used to draw that magic circle is not made of normal string. And I do not want to get that into too much detail. Anything else?”

He disconnected the links between the scimitars and sheathed them, and sat down back to his chair, resumed drinking his green tea.

“Are you in a guild? How many members are there?”

“Yes, and none.”

“None? But why?” She can’t help it, considering the vast collection of books and grimoire, and his skills she had witnessed, students will be willing to join his guild.

“I casted a cloaking spell on the entrance of my guild room. I only recruit adventurers who are able to see and enter the guild room.” He refilled his cup with more green tea and took another sip.

“If that’s the case,” She steered her gaze right into his eyes, serious expression across her face. “I would like to apply to join your guild.”

“You may, but on one condition.”

“That is…?”

“Don’t tell anyone about my magic circuit. That’s my only condition.”

“Deal.” She didn’t leave a fraction of a second to decide; she extended her hand towards him.

He took her hand, his hand was strangely warm, perhaps it was because of the green tea, and shook it gently.

“Welcome to my guild: The Liberators. And also, welcome to Adventurer’s Academy. Hope I won’t hold you back.” He welcomed.

“Thank you for having me, and please take care of me.”