Toma stretched as he came to the main gate of Hoseforn. The journey had taken a week of constant walking, and while the young man enjoyed the difference in scenery, his donkey Oats was far less amicable with the distance they had to move. Toma couldn't really blame him - after all, if he was the one pulling the cart, Toma would probably have liked the trip much less. Toma could see a few other of the new arrivals as well - although, he was the only one who was walking. Everyone else was either coming by horseback or carriage, and Toma tried to shake the jealousy he felt. He wanted to ride the small wagon he brought with him, but it was small enough that even a slight bump or hole in the path sent him falling off. 

Still, no reason to be jealous - he probably could have hocked some items in Windleton if he really wanted to purchase a ride to Hoseforn. And besides, Whitelot was pretty close to Hoseforn, all things considered.

Toma directed his cart inside the academy, doing his best not to cause too much of a disturbance as he made his way through the crowd of students. He spent 10 minutes wandering around aimlessly, but luckily he managed to find the stables (after a particularly annoyed book vendor at the Hall of Preparation yelled at him). Trusting the Stable Master with Oats and his wagon, Toma quickly shifted directions to the Main Hall. Everyone else was headed there, so he probably needed to go there too!

The man marveled at the various buildings he saw in the grounds of the academy - many of the vendor stalls in the Hall of Preparation were larger than most of the houses in his home village, and the church in his town was nothing compared to the Main Hall he was walking up to. As he followed another student in, he saw a massive crystal, easily twice as tall as his home.

[color=a36209]"Woah..."[/color]

Toma had seen a gemstone before - Mrs. Redwood had a ring with a small sapphire as its stone, something her husband had bought in Windleton for their 10th anniversary. But Toma couldn't even imagine what kind of monster would need a crystal this big to make a ring...

Toma's odd train of thought had seemed to take up a bit of time - another student was waiting behind him, clearly annoyed at how he wasn't going to the crystal in front of him. Snapping to attention (and apologizing to the student), Toma quickly walked up the gargantuan crystal. Finally, the exacerbated student grabbed Toma's shoulder and pointed towards one of the booths nearby.

[color=a36209]"S-sorry, thank you..." [/color]

Head down and blushing, Toma quickly shuffled to the booth he was directed to. Suddenly, a rainbow of colors appeared in front of Toma, and he nearly fell back in shock, his small scream of fear causing several students to turn and look at him.

[color=ffc0cb]"Greeting's new student. I am Athena. Welcome to Hoseforn's Academy for Gifted Adventurers. I apologize for any surprise I may have caused you."[/color]

Toma got back up, staring uncomfortably at the crystal. He never really seen much magic before - the odd healing spell from Tarkus, the town paladin, was about all he had ever seen. Nothing nearly as advanced as this crazy crystal...

[color=a36209]"O-oh, it's okay... Just spooked me a little, that's-"[/color]

[color=ffc0cb]"Please present your acceptance scroll now." [/color]

Toma quickly pulled out the scroll he had found a week ago. While most of his luggage was horribly dirty from the trip, he had managed to keep the scroll in almost pristine condition. He didn't know how to read, after all, so he wasn't sure how much damage it could take before it was illegible. A ray of light shown on the scroll as the man opened it up, and before he could be surprised again, the crystal had managed to finish its observation.

[color=ffc0cb]"Letter accepted. Welcome, Toma Enow."[/color]

The scroll changed before Toma's eyes, the ink shifting shape and colors until a map was formed. 

[color=ffc0cb]"This is a map of the school grounds, your dorm number is 645. A fresh uniform and any supplies you require will be waiting for you. Please change... bathe... and return to the Main Hall within 34 minutes for the welcoming feast. Attendance is mandatory."[/color]

Toma nodded to himself, thankful that there was clearly a line leading him from the hall to his room. He wasn't exactly the most well-read, and his sense of direction wasn't the best either - trying to find his dorm would probably be impossible if not for that.

[color=a36209]"Where's the river? I will need water if I'm to bathe."[/color]

[color=ffc0cb]"There is a bath within your room."[/color]

Toma shook his head and began leaving for his room. He was thankful for the help that the weird crystal thing had given him, but a bath in his room? He had heard luxuries like that existed in Windleton, for the wealthy, but he had never bathed in a private bath. He had always done so in the river...

Still, if the Crystal said it was true, it probably was. It had to know far more about this place than Toma did. Toma hastened his pace, desperate to not be late for the feast - attendance to that was mandatory!

Eventually, he came to his room - he didn't even notice the small click as the door unlocked itself for him. He did notice the luxury of the room before him, however. The dorm room was only slightly smaller than his old home... but when you considered that his old home was a single room large, and this dorm room was part of a massive academy and filled to the brim with furniture of the highest quality, Toma quickly realized that the place was probably worth more than many of the houses in his old village combined...

Toma gulped, finally coming to the realization that he [i]really shouldn't be here[/i]. There was no way in hell he could afford it if he had to pay to be here, and Tarkus didn't exactly seem like a crazy rich guy... He fingered his Sword slightly, the thought of asking it a question coming to mind.

He shook his head and began undressing, dismissing the thought. The spirit within was far from coherent, and if he asked it a question it might go on some nonsensical word-vomit monologue again. He had given up talking to it on his journey to the academy, and Toma really didn't have the time to worry about it right now.

Peeling off his sweat-stained tunic and breeches as quickly as he could, Toma explored the room, searching for the bath that the crystal was talking about. The wardrobe had a few uniformed within, and Toma would probably leave his old clothes there only to forget about them later. There were two beds, so obviously he must share this room with another student...

Toma must have gotten here too late and they already left for the main hall! Hopefully whoever they were nice, whoever his roommate was.

Toma finally found the bath, and after about 10 minutes of investigating and burning himself, he finally managed to find how the water worked. He didn't even know what to call the tub, or how the knobs managed to make water warm - but warm water was something he was not familiar bathing with, and it felt very nice! Eager to finish as soon as possible, Toma rushed through his shower and took one of the towels nearby to cover himself with.

[color=a36209]"How the hell do I put this on...?"[/color]

Toma had managed to don most of the school uniform, just struggling in tying the cape... cowl? The only thing he ever wore similar to it was a cloak, and he didn't see the point of such a garish item... Giving up, he simply decided he would not wear the item. If someone was upset by that, he could just ask them to show him how to put it on.

Or kick their ass if they're mean about it...

Toma fixed his belt and Baldric, making sure he wouldn't accidentally hit someone with his scabbard. Satisfied, he grabbed his map and quickly began following it towards the Main Hall, thankful that it was once more giving him directions.

[hr]
As he arrived at the Main Hall, Toma was shocked by the sheer number of students. He didn't think he was late, but clearly, he must have been pretty close to the time the feast started. There were more people here than he had ever seen in his life... 

Toma looked around, eager to find somewhere to sit and eat after his journey. Many of the tables were already claimed, older students having congregated and forming their own cliches. 

Luckily, since many people were sitting with each other, there were still a few empty tables. A few tables caught his eye, especially one with a few kids dressed in weird cloaks and a dwarf (aren't they fun to eat with? They probably know the best beers). But Toma really didn't want to be rude and ask to sit with someone - besides, one of the humans looked a little annoyed already. Instead, the young man chose to sit alone - people might come in later looking for seats, and worst-case scenario, he really didn't mind eating alone. What mattered was that he was getting a free meal.

... And that he was sitting away from the more [i]exotic [/i]students. Toma was very surprised to see so many nonhumans in the hall - humans were still the majority, but Toma would guess that a little under half were another species. Most of them were Elves and Dwarves, the odd Orc making Toma a little more nervous. Orc slaves were pretty big in Windleton thanks to their strength, similar to how Elves were valued for their dexterity and speed. Because of that, more than a few escaped Orc slaves arrived at Whitelot because of its proximity to Windleton, and while Toma couldn't remember any trouble being caused by the Orcs, he had definitely heard stories from older villagers.

Some of the students even had wings and other more exotic body parts - one girl had a fox tail, which really weirded Toma out. He never heard about a race like that... If he didn't think it would be frowned on, Toma probably would have kept a hand on his sword the whole feast. 

But they were students too, right? Toma breathed slowly, making sure that he wouldn't embarrass himself as he did with the crystal from earlier. If they were too dangerous or monstrous, the academy wouldn't have accepted them. Treating them badly when he didn't know them would just make him an asshole. If they were training to be adventurers, that meant they had to be good people.