The elevator ride up was a quiet one, with no other student joining him which was strange since the ground floor had been filled with them.
But Nox didn't spend time thinking about why he was alone in the elevator, rather, he spent it trying to make sense of what the headmistress had told him.
'Trying' was the key word, after all, nothing she had said made complete sense.
At the time, he had just nodded along, pretending he understood...which she knew he didn't, judging by her smile, but now that he was alone he tried, and failed, to make sense of her words.
"Well, she did say I'll understand when the time comes," Nox muttered before leaning back on the slowly ascending elevator wall.
"To reach the light, you must first descend into the heart of darkness." Her words replayed in his mind.
Ding
The elevator let out as it reached the tenth floor snapping him out of his thoughts. The elevator doors opened, revealing a massive hallway of golden before him.
The ceilings were high and covered with lights that showered the floor with golden lights, probably powered by SE.
Banking the hallway were doors, each holding a number at the front.
But what surprised Nox was the number of students in the hallway. They all wore the same grey uniform with golden patterns as he did and they all paused the moment the elevator door opened, looking at the new arrival.
Their stares only lasted a second though, as the went back to searching for their rooms and placing their cards on the doors when they found it.
Nox sighed and walked out of the elevator, as he joined them in searching for his own room.
He soon found room 312 at the very end of the hallway and like the others had been doing, he placed the card given to him at the scanner on the door and with a subtle flash of light, the door let out a click and opened.
The door slid open and Nox was immediately hit by the scent of soap and steam the moment he walked it.
"'bout time you showed up, I've been wondering who our last roommate is." An easy going voice was heard, causing him to turn to the left.
Standing by a doorway, which probably led to the bathroom, was a tall guy, easily six feet two, with dark skin.
He had a head full of locs tied to the back and one allowed to fall on his face, this one decorated with two golden rings on the end.
A white towel was draped over his head, with another hanging on his shoulder. He had on a black vest which showed off his built frame and the same grey pants as Nox.
The guy gave him a once over and grinned, rubbing the towel over his head. "Name's Devon," he said, offering a handshake. "Zone 3. Don't stress, I ain't as mean as I look."
Nox took his hand, albeit a bit reluctantly, "...Nox," he said.
Devon's grin widened. "Cool name, sounds like some anti-hero from a comic book."
Before Nox could reply, they were interrupted by a loud snore causing them to turn towards the sound.
Lying on the bed closest to the window was a guy with messy blond hair, half-buried under his blanket. His uniform jacket hung off the bedpost, his white shirt was half unbuttoned, and a thick book was open on his chest
Devon groaned. "Ain't no way he's still sleepin'," he muttered, walking over and tapping the edge of the mattress with his foot. "Yo, Cass, wake yo' ass up. We got company."
The guy didn't even flinch. The only response was a soft, incoherent mumble and a snort before he rolled over, causing the book to slide off his chest and onto the floor.
The title read: Theoretical Applications of SE Conductivity.
"He like this every day?" Nox asked, as he turned towards the unconscious blond.
"Pretty much," Devon said with a shrug. "But when he is awake? Dude's a genius. Got all that book smarts, none of the common kind." He glanced at Cass again and snorted. "You'll see."
He walked past Nox and pointed toward the last bed near the wall, and said "that one's yours, you can put your st—"
Devon paused and looked at the empty handed Nox and frowned, "where your stuff at?"
"I… don't really have any," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck.
Devon was a bit surprised by the answer. "Huh? What you mean you ain't got—" He stopped mid-sentence, watching the look on Nox's face, "ah, got it."
He rubbed his chin, then sighed. "Aight then, don't sweat it. We'll figure somethin' out. If you want clothes or supplies, some of the vendors down on the shopping area sell decent stuff cheap. I'll hook you up later."
Nox looked at him, a bit surprised. "You don't have to—"
"Relax man," Devon interrupted with a small grin, back to his usual self. " This ain't no charity. You just gotta owe me one, simple as that."
"And what will I owe you?" He asked, suspicious, from the Slums, Nox learnt that nothing came for free, but Devon's answer surprised him.
"If we pass the admission test, you wake us up every morning for class," he said simply. "That's it."
"…That's it?"
"Yup." He shrugged,"See, Cass over there's allergic to alarm clocks—" he pointed a thumb at the still-snoring blond, "—and me? Let's just say I don't do early mornings unless someone's draggin' me outta bed."
"I see," Nox said after a while, "then we have a deal."
"Bet," Devon said with a grin as he walked away from the bathroom door. "Go 'head and get comfy, man. Hot water's still runnin' if you tryna freshen up. I got somethin' to handle outside real quick."
With that he grabbed the grey jacket hanging off the back of his chair, slung it over his shoulder and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
With that, Nox finally had the chance to observe the room. It was bigger than his apartment back in the slums, like three times bigger or maybe more.
A bit after the door and towards the left was the bathroom. Just a bit forward was a space that Nox guessed was the general study area.
After that, there were four beds, each with a drawer for clothes at the bottom, by their side was a separate study desk and chair.
Even with all the stuff that filled the room, there was more than enough space remaining.
The bed close to the one Devon pointed as his had a bag on it which told him that there was a third roommate, one that was probably out.
"Let's get settled in," he muttered with a sigh.