Following the instructions sent his communicator he quickly found his room, then, He got inside and closed the door behind him. He wanted to rest a little before going to the cafeteria.
The room he had gotten was spacious and cozy. The most notable thing was the separate bathroom, which was nice. The only issue was that the room was warm, a bit too much for his liking. Finding a control key for the cooling system, he dropped the temperature and sighed with satisfaction.
"Yeah that's better," he said to himself as he opened the closet. He found a set of clothes provided by the academy. Changing into new clothes, he went and plopped on the bed and Closed his eyes for a few moments. Taking a few deep breaths, a small smile appeared on his lips. It was hard not to fall asleep but he forced himself to get up and went to the cafeteria, he didn't want to miss it.
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Once he got there, he filled his plate with anything he could find, meat, bread, rice, curry, noodles, and various side dishes like sauces and vegetables. Anything that smelled good found its way onto his plate, he wasn't a picky eater, and he liked almost all foods. Once he was done, he went to find a place to sit. He had arrived early which was a surprise, it allowed him to find a place most comfortable with no hassle of asking people if he could sit with them.
Finding his spot, he sat down and began to eat. He was mid-bite for a specially juicy cut of meat when he got approached by a group of three sleepers. Sighing inwardly he prepared for a fight but nothing of the sort happened. Once they got close enough, they stopped with their trays in hand and one of the boys asked him with a polite tune.
"Hi um… sir. Can we sit here if it's not an issue with you" asked a boy with brown hair and strangely gold-colored eyes.
Li cringed a little for being called a "sir" 'Why are you calling me sir, you're probably older than me' shaking his head he returned a smile and said "Sure make yourself comfortable, it's not like I own the table"
The three nodded and sat down. Looking them over he saw two boys and a girl sitting opposite him, the girl's aura was odd like she wasn't there. He had to focus to perceive her actively. Noticing his gaze the girl smiled and deactivated her aspect, seeing that the two boys relaxed and smiled at Li, which creeped him out.
Whatever she did, was a test. And Li seemed to have passed. Not letting it show on his face, he continued eating as if he hadn't noticed anything at all. The girl however suddenly began to speak.
"Sorry about earlier, that was my aspect ability. It makes it so that people can't see me unless they tried really hard, and makes me invisible to people with bad intentions. Sorry If I've offended you sir" the girl said, her tone sincere.
Seeing that he was caught, he dropped the act and said, "It's no big deal, that is a smart thing to do. I would have done the same."
The girl sighed with relief, it seemed like she had this conversation too often. She wanted to say something but Li wasn't done speaking.
"And please don't call me sir, it's kinda awkward. I've just turned fifteen" Li said with a forced smile at the end to drive the point across. As he said that, the three sleeper's jaws hung in shock as some heads turned to their table with similar expressions.
Seeing their reaction Li couldn't help but laugh. While getting infected by the spell under the age of sixteen wasn't exactly uncommon, it was still rare. So he could understand their shock. After a moment of silence, the boy with golden eyes cleared his throat in an attempt to change the subject and began to introduce himself.
"That's nice… well I'm Gael and these guys are my friends Dante and Iseul, and you are?" Gael asked, clearly kicking Dante under the table, who was currently red-faced trying not to laugh.
Li faining ignorance said in an amused tone, "I'm Li, with an 'I', it's nice meeting such… 'eye-catching' people" Li was right, it's like the three were made for a stunning painting rather than being real people.
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To the left sat Gael. He was incredibly tall and muscular with broad shoulders and big, strong legs. Li was sure his aspect was related to strength, he looked like a tank or a rock and He had short messy brown hair, which complemented his tan skin well. He seemed to always have a bright smile on his lips. But the most intriguing thing was his eyes, they were a strange golden hue that made people to be glued to them, They were mesmerizing.
In the middle sat Iseul, she had long black hair and jet-black eyes that seemed to have a depth of their own. Her irises seemed to move like the waves of an ocean. Even now that she had deactivated her aspect ability, it was hard for Li to see her features clearly. The only thing visible seemed to be her eyes. He could tell that she had pale skin when he first saw her.
And to the right was Dante, he had white shoulder-length hair and striking dark vermilion eyes which contrasted nicely with his white skin tone. He was built like an athlete. He wore a cocky smile and the attitude to go along with it.
They all had strong characteristics of their own but what made them eye-catching was, the color of their eyes, They made for a strong first impression.
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Hearing his terribly made joke, the three laughed in unison. It seemed that his attempt at lightening the mood had worked as the tension was much lesser now.
"I have to say, you are quite the looker yourself, I mean those purple eyes and the black fur go crazy together. Do you always stay like this or it's just a fetish?" Dante asked, wanting to sound casual, this was something that everyone here wanted to know. He cursed under his breathe as Gael and Iseul kicked him again.
Li laughed inside knowing what was coming and answered nonchalantly, with a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, "Thank you for the compliment. And yes this is form is my Aspect but my Flaw makes it so that I'm stuck like this" he wasn't left disappointed as he saw the three look at him, mouths open like a fish. He got this reaction out of most of the people present in the hall.
'Now you all must feel so bad Huh? Now I get to beat up whoever talks shit about my looks from now on'
Gael, bless his soul, cleared his throat again in an attempt to salvage the situation, but it was too late for that. Now the hall was filled with hushed murmurs of the sleepers, some embarrassed, while some still mocking Li, but he wasn't finished.
"I mean, it's not all that bad. One boon of this body is my enhanced senses, like hearing for example." Suddenly all the murmurs grew silent as Li tried to suppress a grin. 'Eat shit losers' he thought to himself, at least he could laugh in his mind. He didn't exactly have a problem with the three sleepers, they were respectful at least.
And what a coincidence it was that he'd finished his food at that same moment. Wiping his mouth with a synthetic paper towel, he got up and thanked the three for their company and went to his appointment with the Academy personnel.
***
Soon, he was sitting in a small office, and across from him was an administrative worker. Saying their greetings, the interview started right away.
"Firstly I would like to inform you that are entitled to receive free psychological counseling. No matter what traumatic experience you have encountered, there is no shame in asking for help. Your mind is as important as your body, it's only right to keep it healthy. Are you interested?" the interviewer almost parroted the same thing Master Jet had told him before.
Li shook his head and said flatly, "No, I'll be fine, thank you" he worded it like that to let them believe something had happened but he was reluctant to share. He threw in some shaky hands to go with it, just subtle enough. He wanted to paint the picture of a scared kid, special but not on the level of the legacy kids.
The interviewer switched to questions about his aspect, he had to be careful here. Especially his aspect rank, he had to say the right rank that would make sense for his power and at the same time not too low.
"Would you like to tell me about the type of Aspect Ability you received, as in combat, sorcery, or utility?"
"I've got a sorcery aspect which also allows me to transform," Li said, guessing the next question to be about what type of sorcery it is.
"Would you like to share what you can do with it exactly?"
"I can create and control elemental energy, like fire, water, earth, and wind. I can do a lot of things with them, it's quite versatile." 'Good continue this line of question till we get to my Flaw' Li wanted to mention his Flaw as a way to show that he is sincere and a little naive.
"Like what, if you don't mind me asking"
"Like short bursts of flying with wind, creating drinking water, fire arrows, and so on"
"That is very versatile indeed. What is the Aspect rank you'd received if you're willing to share of course,"
"Transcended"
"Thank you for sharing, that is very impressive" Li could see that the interviewer wasn't expecting that. 'Can you imagine if I've told him the real rank, now that would be something' Li chuckled inwardly at the thought.
"Would you mind telling me about the Other part of your Aspect?"
"Yes it's a two-phase transformation, one is this and the other makes me much bigger and stronger, I'll be around 10ft in that form. I can show you if you want."
"That won't be necessary, I trust your words." After a short pause, the interviewer continued.
"What is your Flaw, if you're comfortable sharing" 'Yes'
"My Flaw makes it so when I transform, I can't turn back" The interviewer was shocked for two reasons, one that he'd even shared his Flaw with him, most people wouldn't do that and secondly, the severity of the Flaw.
"I-I see that is quite a severe Flaw, thank you for sharing it with me"
The interviewer then shifted to more subtle questions and soon he let Li go to his dormitory. Just like Li had wanted it, he didn't want to share anything about the events of his first nightmare.
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Reaching for the door of his room he opened it and went inside.
"I would like to take a shower first, but I'm so tired… I'll do it early in the morning." With a yawn, he threw himself on the bed and went to sleep.
***
'Wake up'
'…'
'Wake up, Aian'
Aian was suddenly awake when he heard someone calling his name.
"What the fuck was that? …Who am I?" Aian—Li—was very confused. He didn't know where he was, everything looked strange and alien. Not like anything in his chambers.
"What happened… wait…" he said as he struggled out of the bed, it was very hard for him to stand, his body seemed… different.
"I am… Aian… no, no… I'm… I'm…"
"I'm Li…" Li seemed to have finally come to his senses.
"I'm Li the werewolf, I'm fifteen." After a short pause, he added, "I'm not Aian, it was just a dream." With a deep breath, he stretched and went to take a shower.