Races: Online (VR Smartphone App)

It wouldn't be fair to say that everyone had arrived, but a vast majority of Calum's companions had arrived from Diov, Lu Rei, Teresa and even Russel. The ones that Han knew weren't around, but he sat down and managed a sheepish grin, "Hey, good morning." He was about to ask if he could share a table with them, but it was him who got here first.

"Oh, it's you—Han." Russel said with a smile, "You're early."

"Yeah, can't let myself run around being chased by the Tri-Elemental Orbs, you know?"

Diov gave him a small nod as he removed his gauntlets and plopped them on the table, the sheer weight of it enough to make it unsteady for a moment. Lu Rei gave a deeper but shyer bow, whereas Teresa just gave him a wave. Calum amidst this was already eating even while the others hadn't eaten yet.

Whether he could respect that… actually, he could respect that.contemporary romance

"Oh, that—I still need to at least get an orb up before that happens." Russel slapped a hand over his face. "Thanks for the reminder. Nearly forgot that."

"How could you forget about an assignment?" Teresa sniggered at him and grabbed the tray containing their food from a cart that finally stopped in front of them. She and Lu Rei distributed them at the table.

"Well, it's not like I have people who can remind me." Russel grumbled as he took out the lid covering his meal and drink. He glanced down at a bowl of oats and various fruit slices on the side. He stabbed a fork and ate. "You guys are all in Physical Combat."

"It's not too late to change curriculum?" Lu Rei offered.

"Are you trying to copy Professor Uriel?" Han raised a brow. The memory of the Professor telling that to him to change from Rogue to something else present in his mind. It elicited some chuckles and sniggers from the table, and he was only glad that he said it.

"Ugh, Professor Uriel was unfair in the matches yesterday—heck, why did he have to pit me against Merame?" Russel said with a grimace. "She kicked my butt and I still feel sore."

"A sore loser?"

"Oi, just because you did well doesn't mean you can mock me, Teresa."

"But I was just telling the truth."

"Maybe you two could cut it out?" Lu Rei said with a sheepish smile, cutting into what seemed to be a usual spat between their two friends. "I have to agree that Merame is a tough opponent though, she has benefits since she's half-beastkin."

It was enough to make Han look up from his own plate and frown, "What?" Did he hear things correctly? He thought they mistreated people of other Races, and yet Lu Rei didn't exactly sound negative. Only informative.

"Well, I don't see her having any tails or cat ears, so I can't say that's true." Russel shrugged.

"Heard the same rumor, her mom's the Innkeeper at the Sleepy Cat's Inn, and her father was the bartender?" Teresa added in and then sipped her drink. "More human than cat beastkin though, she took after more her father than anything. Maybe their father made a special drink?"

Russel made a face. "That makes little sense."

"Hey, if you have a Skill for it."

"I can understand someone who's an Alchemist who'd have a Skill related to affecting children during pregnancy, but a bartender? That's some stretch." He said.

Somehow in this group it was Teresa and Russel that were the conversationalists, Lu Rei the peacemaker and Diov and Calum the serious types? Or maybe Diov was the sulky one? Either way, Han cleared his throat and addressed them. "I can't help but notice that you don't have any problem with this girl being part beastkin, but Ellynn—"

Diov sighed and placed his fork down, "You seem to act as if you haven't learned history."

"Well, he's from a village and just enrolled—maybe we can't expect too much?"

Han rubbed his face and then sighed, "History isn't my best subject… not that I actually studied before getting here. I'm Han, the Level 1 Student."

"Wait, are you serious?" Teresa glanced at him with a raised brow.

"No, I'm just kidding—but I'm not really high leveled." Han scratched his cheek and didn't mention that his actual Student Level was not that far off from 1 and he only had one Skill under it.

"Well, you clearly didn't pay attention to Miss Jeanne's lessons just yesterday then." Russel laughed. "I mean, we just finished reviewing the Beastkin Uprising incident from seven years ago, and if you had to compare them to a…"

Han frowned but then sighed, "If you can continue?" Some of the Races weren't looked upon as harshly as Elves. And though it seemed like the typical portrayal of narcissism and arrogance was actually present in the Wood Elf he had encountered, and maybe even the Light and Shadow Elf—it didn't apply to Ellynn.

"Elves attacked our lands in the past—we keep our grudges." Diov spelled it out for him plainly and succinctly. The man stabbed his fork through his steak and took a big bite, his manners not exactly noble-esque as Han thought it would be. "As for the Beastkin, most of their affinity for magic is on the low side…"

"Except for Lamias and Lizardkin." Lu Rei added with a look.

Russel elbowed him and whispered, "She's from under the kingdom claimed by the Matriarch of the Lizard Folks. In the border between Yegarian and then the Beastkin territory."

"The Uprising was said to have been because of the unequal treatment between the Beastkin trying to find work here in our lands, as we're more advanced in terms of technology… but a certain number of detestable Nobles have also been found to be keeping some Beastkins as pets." Diov—who now seemed more known for being Diov Brande—said it with a disgusted look on his face.

"That's just repulsive," Han muttered. Now the lesson about how some uncivilized Races were when compared to Humans came to his mind along with the memory of him practically crunching a Goblin's nose. It was enough to make grimace, and yet that Goblin tribe attacked him and even the Wood Elf had wanted to share the territory he had reclaimed from them.

It was another thought for the day.

He didn't know what to feel about it and continued to eat, glancing now and then—and then blinked. "But you guys, you can't exactly say that all of us are the same, right? Russel is different from Calum."

Calum raised a brow at him.

"That's a little obvious, you can't mistake Russel's ugly mug with Calum's." Teresa chuckled and earned another glare from said man. She somehow gave him a hand action that almost resembled flipping a finger at Russel, while Lu Rei practically gave up and ate her meal.

Diov raised a brow at him, "And this comparison I suppose is for you to convince us that Miss Ellynn is different, I suppose? That the Elves of the past differs from her, especially that she is a Half Elf and not a full one."

Han scratched the back of his head, "Uh yeah, you figured it out."

"You're like her only friend." Teresa chimed in. Despite being in what seemed to be a medieval fantasy kind of world, she sounded almost like a Valley Girl. "It's kind of obvious that this was where we were heading towards."

"But you know, we spent time with her during the Spin the Bottle thing and she was as mute as a slime." Russel said. "I mean Merame's friendly at least, and you know maybe if she put in a little more effort? I mean, look at you. You're not so bad yourself."

Not so bad himself? Han knew that he should have focused on what they said about Ellynn, but had focused on that last bit instead. What was this guy trying to say? Did they look down on him for being from some backwater village again? Not only were they speciesist but also considered upbringing?

Diov sighed and once again stepped in, somehow also taking a more mediator role. "He doesn't mean anything bad by that. But your situation is special after all." He shrugged. "It was hard to get an understanding of what kind of person you'd be and how you got here in the first place. We saw that some form of tournament was held between you and your friend with both Ellynn and Sir Harrington, but why did the Academy consider it?"

Compared to Sir Leon's often kind if not supportive tone, this man wasn't exactly as charming, but their words did seem honest. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to tell them? Han scratched the back of his head, "Someone from our village knew the Headmaster and asked him to take us in?"

"A patron then and someone who can pull their weight." Teresa raised a brow, and the woman leaned closer to him. "Makes more sense than paying your way in, but ah… what village did you come from again?"

"Wait, are you from the hometown of the Headmaster?"

"It just couldn't be anyone from his home or else every young man or woman would be squeezed in here with us." Teresa pointed out.

… Han appreciated the attention and how they were friendly enough, but compared to Sir Leon and the others he first met, at least two of the people here were interested in talking about almost anything. He was almost half-sure that he'd rather deal with Penny getting angry at him than this.

done.co