The entrance area is vast, with an endless number of stairs leading up and down. There are more doors than I can count at first glance and a surprising number of seating options.

"By the way, Miko, you're actually quite well known here. We have both students and teachers who have already worked with you."

"Must have been bad if they're here now."

"Maybe," Hannah shrugs her shoulders with amusement as she heads towards a room on the second floor.

"This is the Student Council room. Let's see if anyone's inside."

Without further warning, she opens the door and storms in. Miko and I trot in after her somewhat reluctantly.

"Too bad, only Elliot is here."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

A young man with white hair is sitting at a long table with a laptop in front of him. Our eyes meet briefly before Miko appears next to me. He suddenly loses all the color in his face.

"Hey, the child soldier has become a woman after all."

His words come across as a bad attempt at provocation, which has lost a lot of weight due to his shaky presentation.

"Did you suck so hard that they sent you back to school?"

If every acquaintance of Miko's jumps into such a lively exchange with her, I'm unlikely to have any problems recognizing them.

"It's nice that you already know each other. You haven't told me anything about it, Elliot."

"Why should I?"

"So I could have beaten that rude behavior out of you! You shameless piece of work." Wow, Hannah is brutal. I think I like the atmosphere here.

"You're still such a gentleman, I can see how well you get on with women. Is that why you went to school again? Hoping the young girls are stupid enough to fall for you?" Miko says, covering her mouth with one hand.

Now it's getting nasty.

"Hey, that's enough, isn't it?" I ask with a nervous laugh. Miko sighs and shows me a pouty face.

"Sorry."

Not a heartfelt apology, as everyone knows, but at least she quits fighting. Elliot also makes no sign that he wants to continue arguing. And why does Hannah look so proud, like she had anything to do with this?

Elliot gets up from his chair and grins. "Somehow, I've missed this."

Yeah, well, there are supposed to be people like that. He stops in front of me. Quite a tall guy and there's definitely a well-built body underneath that school uniform. It's not like I pay any particular attention to it. His defined chest and broad shoulders just catch the eye.

"My name is Elliot. It's nice to meet you, Kayla."

"Nice to meet you, too."

"You're here to learn a bit and use our training facilities, right?"

"You could say that."

"If there's anything I can do to help you, just let me know. As the semester has only started, I still have plenty of spare time."

"I'd like to offer the same, but I'm taking care of some freshmen and giving lectures in medicine and healing magic," Hannah explains and puts her hands together apologetically.

"Sounds exhausting."

"It is, but the fun outweighs the stress. You're welcome to come and assist me."

"I'll think about it." I won't.

"Thank you!"

Ahh, I really don't want to, but she just looked so happy right now that I feel like it would be a crime not to help her in some way.

"Okay, shall we continue? Just for your information, you can usually find us from the Student Council in this room. Besides Elliot and me, there's also Nada and Alex, but they seem to be busy somewhere else. I'm sure you'll get to know each other over the next few days."

I eye Miko to see if she reacts to one of the names, but I get nothing more from her than the usual annoyed aversion to my gaze.

"The entire corridor here leads to classrooms and auditoriums. Our school is a mixture of high school and college. There is the opportunity to learn in a more rigid system, which is very similar to the typical school experience. But there is also the opportunity to choose your own subjects and study autonomously."

"How do you do it?"

"I started general education here when I was twelve and did this for three years. For the last four years, I've been specializing in medicine and magic healing. My goal is to obtain a doctorate in the future."

Wait, if she's been here for seven years, she's only nineteen. Why is everyone younger than me? And if she can use healing magic like I can, surely all options in the world of magic would be open to her, and yet she's still studying medicine on the side? The very idea makes me feel sick.

"Watch out."

A tug on my arm saves me from running into a pillar.

"I'd like to show you the cafeteria and then take you to your rooms." Thank you, Hannah, for not mentioning my almost accident.

"We have to go back to the parking lot to get our luggage." Miko is right. Even if it was only a fifteen-minute walk in this hot weather, that was almost fatal for me. I'm like one of those rare, endangered animals that die at the slightest change in temperature.

"We could take a portal. There's one that kicks us out near the parking lot."

Portal?

"Let's do it." Miko agrees, great… but what kind of portal? Teleportation? Sounds impressive and scary at the same time.

"Ever used one?" Hannah asks, and they both look at me intently.

"Nope."

"Haha, that is great."

"Why?"

"Unlike dungeon gates, these portals are a bit more intense in sensation."

"What kind of sensation?"

"You'll see in a minute."

I just start to feel nauseous in advance. The delicious smell coming from the cafeteria makes it even worse.

"As you can see, you can enjoy freshly cooked food here, but there are also countless vending machines with all kinds of ready-made snacks."

Stop talking about food! I'm suffering here! Miko and Hannah occasionally look at each other and start giggling randomly. It's nice that the two of them get on so well when it comes to seeing me suffer.

We stay on the lower floor and, in my opinion, walk far too quickly. Are they afraid I'll run away? They're not wrong, but they're making it too obvious.

"Here we are."

The portal room looks less spectacular than I expected. In the end, it's just a reasonably empty room with a stone floor. There are five open cubicles, which are decorated from floor to ceiling with writing in a language I don't recognize. A sign hangs above each of the booths, indicating the destination.

"We take the portal to the swimming hall. It's the closest."

Hannah walks ahead, and Miko grabs me by the hand, pulling me after her. There's room for two or three more people in the cabin, so I could volunteer to make room if anyone else wants to come along. But without a warning, Hannah puts her hand on the wall, and the runes start to glow in a bright blue light. The next moment my stomach tingles as if I'm in free fall. It takes a while for my brain to realize that we are already in a completely different place than before.

"How was it?" Miko is the one who grins at me excitedly.

"Not as bad as I thought."

One step is enough to make me aware of my dizziness, and I stumble forward slightly before I feel Miko's hand on my waist. Although I am a little queasy right now, this firm grip she has on my body is doing certain things to me. Only her stupid, smug face ruins the whole experience a little.

I managed to walk to the parking lot on my own without assistance. Packed with my bags, I am already occupied with a new suffering. Just now, I remember that we probably have to go through this portal again. I sigh a little dejectedly but resign myself to my fate.

"It's okay, we'll walk. Do you want me to carry your bag?"

I think that was the first time today that Miko had paid any attention to my feelings. If her voice didn't have an undertone of pity in it, I might even shed a tear of joy.

"That was the plan anyway. It's quicker to walk to the dormitories from here." Ah, thanks for the info, Hannah. But it's alright. This mental battering should set me up nicely for the next weeks.

The dormitory in which, according to Hannah, three-quarters of all students live, is just as significant and magnificent as the school building itself. The interior is very reminiscent of a hotel, and there is also a canteen where you can have breakfast and dinner. The cafeteria in the school is mainly for lunch. Don't ask me why I'm so focused on food. It might be because I haven't had anything today.

There are several areas on the first floor where you can hang out and study. All in all, there are a lot more people around here than I have seen on the school grounds earlier.

Most people actually look at us with a slightly critical expression. Hannah assures us that it's more because we're traveling with her, but it's difficult to shake off the negative feeling. Even Miko seems slightly annoyed by all the unwanted attention.

"Here's your room. Mine is on the same corridor. Maybe we can have a girls' night together sometime."

"Maybe," Miko is bad at concealing her disinterest, although I have subtle doubts that she even tried to hide it.

Hannah gives us each a key card. Now I really feel like I'm in a hotel. At first glance, the room seems quite small, probably because it is. Right next to the entrance on the right-hand side is the bathroom with a large shower.

If you go straight ahead, you come directly into the sleeping/living area with a large double bed, a closet, a bedside table on each side, and a TV on the opposite wall. Under the TV, there is a small sideboard with an electric kettle, a microwave, and a mini fridge.

As I happily put my bag down on the bed and sit down, I notice the skeptical look on Miko's face.

"What's wrong?"

"The bed."

"What's wrong with it? It's not our first time together."

"Last time I was drunk, I can see a small but subtle difference here."

"Oh, come on, what's so bad about sharing a bed with me? With this weather, I'll be the one suffering, thanks to your stupidly hot body!"

"I think I'll leave you two alone for now. You know where to find me."

Hannah bursts out of the room with suspicious haste.

Somehow, I think she interpreted my comment about Miko's body heat as an attempt at flirting and wanted to provide us some privacy. While I really didn't have a single horny thought in mind… yet.

"The right side is mine."

I bow my head in submission. "All right, princess."