Chapter 89: The University
They began looking around the place. Their first stop was the dormitories.
"These are the dorms, you will be assigned one each. There are family dorms as well, for couples and children." Helen purposefully looked at Sera and Vicky. "Also, you can find some apartment buildings in the vicinity of the university. You can commute from there as well, but those are a bit less convenient."
They looked into one of the single rooms. It had everything one could want. A bed, separate bathroom, wardrobe, TV, window, everything none of them had for 6 months. All of them started to feel nervous.
'Do they really letting us live here for free? That sounds like a scam!'
They made their way to the family section of the dorm building and they went to look at a room. This room was pretty much the same with the exception of king sized bed and a separate room for children. The room for children had all sorts of toys as well, Vicky's eyes instantly brightened, but also saddened. Understanding her feelings Sera put her hand on her shoulder.
Looking at this other room the group was really suspicious, in the end Bea was the first to ask.
"Helen... This might sound weird, but..." Before she could finish Helen spoke.
"...But how much you have to pay to live here. Most ask these questions, but the answer is always the same. Nothing, it's free."
The group looked at her skeptically. 'Nothing is free in this life or any other!'
Helen just laughed and began walking out of the building complex. When they started to approach the next building she spoke.
"I understand why you can't believe it, but in Castleburg this is how we do things. As you can probably already tell I'm not an Evolved, on the other hand you probably saw those temple looking buildings." She stopped and looked at the group and said with a solemn face.
"We worship you, the Evolved. We don't believe in some God that sent you, but we as regular humans appreciate and support everything that you do! Because your sacrifice is larger, than any human's. So that is why all of this is free, the people already pay for it in the form of taxes."
They stayed there for quite a while, there were some students walking and looked at the group with interest, but seeing Helen they didn't approach them. If she was with them that means they are new to the University.
Vicky was the first to speak, but none were prepared for her question. "What are taxes?"
They looked at each other and collectively laughed and began to walk again. They approached a building that wasn't too big, at least compared to most buildings here, it was still huge.
"This is the mess hall. They serve food 24 hours, every day. You can set up your own menu and ask them to make anything, well they can't literally make anything, there aren't enough ingredients for that. If you don't know what you want, they have a menu as well."
They walked into the building, it was pretty empty at the moment, when they asked about it Helen only told them that most were either in class or just somewhere else. The group looked at each other with knowing smiles.
"Hey, Helen. Could we perchance have something to eat?" Asked Lucy with a grin. Helen was a bit surprised, but then she realized where they came from and felt bad.
"Oh! I'm so sorry! I haven't even thought, that you just arrived in the city. You can go and eat whatever you want, we will continue with a full belly." She said with an awkward smile and a bit of blush, then she turned around and walked outside.
The group didn't really care, they looked at each other and went to the nearest server. He was a young man with a face that seemed to be in constant state of happiness. It was kind of creepy. They arrived and saw the amount of food they could order. With so many options they were really lost.
"Uhm... You can just give us whatever you want." Said Sera still feeling lost from the amount of options. The man looked at them weirdly.
"Okay... How about some steak with boiled potato."
They looked between each other and nodded. The man smiled again. "You can sit down I will call you when it's ready."
They sat down at a table and waited.
"So what do you guys think?" Asked Sera after a while. Vicky was quick with a reply.
"I like it! This place feels safe." Sera smiled at her, but her eyes were stayed serious.
"I think we should give it a chance, see what it's like. We can always leave... Probably..." Hellfire didn't sound too convincing.
"I mean do we have a choice. I don't particularly want to go into the wild for a while. This place looks and feels safe, that is good enough for me." Said Lucy, but Sera's eyes were on someone else. The only person whos opinion really matters to Sera.
"I also think we are ought to give this place a try. We can work towards becoming stronger or whatever. The real question is, what do we do next. Other than relax for a long time."
Before anyone could speak the man at the desk called for them. They went and took the food, then sat back down. With a bit of reluctance they began eating and dropped their fork after the first bite.
"Oh my god! How?!"
"This is the best food I have ever eaten!"
"Okay we are definitely staying!"
All of them had similar reactions about the meal. It was just too good, they ate all of it in a minute or two, then went to the man and asked for more. This scene repeated itself for at least 3 more times, before they were finally full. They heard a loud sigh of relief from the man.
They stayed in their seats for a good ten minutes before Helen came back, to continue their tour. With much reluctance they stood and went with her. The next stop was the classrooms.
As they walked Helen never stopped talking about the campus. Sera was very impressed. 'Just how did she memorize all that information this young.' Then she looked down at Vicky who was looking around with awe and she smiled. 'But she doesn't compare to my child!'
"...There are many classes. Ones related to realm history or our own history. There are classes related to fighting, survival, better utilization for your abilities. We will actually go and check out one of the classes."
They turned and stopped near a door. Helen opened it and ushered them inside. It was a huge room, with a stage at the bottom and hundreds of seats. Most of them were occupied as well. The teacher stopped talking, but seeing Helen he just waved and continued the class.
"...If you want to survive in the wild, the most important thing to know is how to fight. The monsters will kill you other wise with ease..."
Sera looked at Bea and whispered. "I think there are way more dangerous and mundane things out there that can kill you. For example thirst, remember when I had to drink blood for a week!"
Bea's head was red from trying to hold in her laughter.
"...You will learn actual martial techniques, weapon usage and ways to fight better with your ability. Does anyone have questions before we start?"
Lucy probably feeling mischievous raised her hand. "You in the back!"
"Yeah, my question is what do you do when you can't fight?" Asked Lucy with stupid grin. The teacher looked confused.
"What do you mean you can't fight? You can always fight!" Said the teacher with a bit of annoyance, but Lucy just continued.
"Good luck fighting a 1st Tier Horror, as an Evolved!" She was laughing at this point. Silence spread through the room and only Lucy's laughter could be heard, but that stopped quickly when saw everyone looking at her terrified.
'So, we are this special huh? They can't even imagine a scenario, like the ones we had many times.'
Even Helen went white as a sheet, and what was even scarier to her is that Vicky wasn't even a little bit surprised. She just looked at all the people still in awe.
"Well... I think I know who you are. The new arrivals correct? From Copen." Then he turned to Sera specifically. "And Newber."
This ignited a lot of whispers from the students, but Sera just stared at the teacher and said. "You are correct. Sorry for my friends interruption."
The teacher nodded and continued the class. But the group wasn't there anymore, they left to explore another part of the campus. The library. Helen still looked a bit shaken, but hid it well and continued the introduction.
"The library has a lot of books that remained from before the Apocalypse. There are ones that have been written after it, but they are mostly for people who don't like to read on their Watches. Also you can only read within the library, most of these books are very old and you have to be careful handling it."
They entered the gigantic library. 'This girl knows how to undersell things. A lot of books is a huge understatement.' She wanted to look around, but the others quickly got over their surprise and were already looking bored. With a sigh she reluctantly looked away and they went to the next stop.
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