Chapter 3: The academy… and my mistress?

The next morning I woke up at 7:30, and, after taking a quick shower and brewing a cup of coffee, I drove to the academy. Once I arrived, I pulled onto the campus, the front gate was wide open for some reason, and… I was lost.

This campus was way bigger than I imagined. From my half-assed understanding of the signage and maps on my phone, it looked like the campus had four main areas: the dorms, the dungeon, the traditional school, and the system school.

I figured I would drive toward the dorm area first and see if there was an office there, although I don’t know anything about campus layouts. The center of the campus had a huge roundabout with a few trees. To the left were the dorms, so I turned that way.

The campus was far more beautiful than its pictures, the grass was greener than I’ve ever seen, the trees all had their autumn orange and red colors, and the buildings all looked like cozy cabins made of logs, which were all a darkish shade. I don’t know trees very well. None of the buildings were more than three stories high and all were adorned with flowers and plants. It felt like a different world from the polluted city just outside its gates.

It was also lively, there weren’t many cars, but people were walking everywhere in every field of life. Some were clearly students (based on age) and others professors and a few gardeners who all wore blue uniforms.

Continuing along the road, I eventually reached an oval-shaped roundabout that had buildings on all sides, along with walkways in between that led to more buildings. The building straight across the oval was only one story tall and had a grand entrance, a triangular log pediment with a large two-door entryway below that was wide open. To its left and right, it had small parking lots, while most of the other buildings had roads leading down to what I assumed were underground parking lots.

I drove over and pulled into a spot in the right lot, before stepping out and walking into the building. The inside was a lively place, filled with couches, TVs, a couple fireplaces on the edges, and a small buffet area with some pastries and drinks. The center had a reception desk, made out of, to no one's surprise, wood. I walked over to it, and brought the receptionist's attention away from her book. “Hi, how can I help you?”

“Ah… hi. I’m Scarlet, I was supposed to meet…” I don’t know his name. I really should’ve asked more questions yesterday. “...someone, the overseer of the awakening somewhere on campus.”

I looked down at my phone and realized it was already nine thirty, I guess I spent more time admiring the campus than expected. “I might be a little late.”

“Let me check the system real quick…” the receptionist said, moving down to a computer hidden behind the desk. “Ah, found it. He’s cleared from seven to noon for you. I’ll page him, feel free to relax here until he arrives.”

“Awesome,” I replied, stepping away from the desk. “Thanks.”

I looked around and found a less occupied corner, with only one person sitting on a couch, and sat on the neighboring empty couch. The couch was leather but surprisingly comfy; it felt like a giant plushie. I scrolled around on my phone for a bit then went and grabbed a cup of coffee, before plopping back down.

About fifteen minutes later, the suit man from yesterday walked over to me, his hair as shiny as a freshly used purple vibrating dildo. He sat down diagonally across from me, where a person was seated when I first sat down. “I’m glad you came, Miss Scarlet, we can get started working on your enrollment now, if you’d like?”

“Sure.” I nodded my head as he pulled out a small foldable tablet, which he unfolded and tapped away on.

“First things first, let’s set you up in a dorm,” he said before looking up at me and asking, “Would you like to be alone?”

“No,” I replied instantly. I’m not sure why… probably a combination of reasons. Especially imagining certain scenes where an unaware roomie walks in. And general loneliness I guess. Besides, can you really have a college experience without a roommate?

“Okay.” He clicked a button on his tablet. “I’ll set you up in our luxury dorms; would you be okay sharing a room with the S tier who will be in the same year as you?”

I nodded. “That’s fine.”

“Perfect,” he said. “I’ll get you into the dorm and food system as soon as we finish here. Next up, your classes. Do you have a major in mind?”

Huh. That’s a good question. I was going to go for computer science, but with a system… “Um, what would suit a support system?”

He looked surprised for a second, before skillfully hiding his expression. “I guess I’d suggest… either your specific field, like healing or buffing, or a more general support major, which we can continue with or switch later. I’m sure you’ll excel in anything.”

“I’ll go with that, the general support.” I’d choose something more specific if this dumb system would tell me anything.

Fine, have a little taste, you nympho. I got a response I never expected. You’ll grow in whatever you do, related to a support role.

That’s… really overpowered. So, I can do anything?

With some conditions, of course.

And you won’t tell me what those are, will you?

Nope, not yet, go whine some more.

“Miss Scarlet?” the man said after I probably just ignored his question while talking to BDSysteM.

“Ah, sorry. What were you asking?”

“Your support courses and the basic curriculum for first years will fill most of your schedule,” he stated before asking, “but are there any non-system classes you’d like?”

I guess… “Some computer science classes? Nothing specific, just general.”

“Okay,” he said. “They also have some math requirements, is that fine?”

“Yeah.”

“Perfect,” he began, then put away his tablet. “I’ve taken the liberty of hiding your tier for the time being. We’ll be forced to reveal it eventually but I’ll attempt to keep the government at bay.”

I nodded.

“Now, let me show you to your dorm. Your roommate arrived earlier this morning so I’m sure you’ll meet them today,” he said, standing up and gesturing for me to follow, which I did.

We left the lounge/reception building and took the first walkway on its right, passing by the lot where I parked my car, and directly behind the reception building was another relatively small building, being two floors, and walked to its entrance, which wasn’t nearly as grand, but still consistent with the cabin style that permeated the campus.

After entering, we were greeted by a lounge area with a kitchen on the left and a hallway on the right. Pointing to the hallway, the man said, “That leads to the rooms here, all the rooms.”

He pointed to the left. “There’s the kitchen, right behind it in the corner is the bathroom.”

“In the center is the lounge, as you can see.” We continued walking forwards into it. “And behind it, is a garden and backyard area.”

As we stared out the windows, he continued. “This dorm building only houses our S tiers, and now our X tier, so you should be able to make friends at a similar skill level.”

X and S aren’t very similar, but I guess it's as close as it gets.

“Our campus has four S ranks, one of them being your new roommate. The rest are your seniors,” he said, then with a spin towards me, he pointed to the room hallway. “Now, let's head to your room.”

We walked through the hallway and entered the second door on the left, which wasn’t too far. There were only five doors, two on each side and one at the end. Entering the room, there was a staircase a bit in front and the room expanded to the right with a large living room with a huge tv and fireplace.

“The actual bedrooms are upstairs.” The suit continued walking and led me up there. There was a hallway that turned right, with three doors, one on each side and one at the end. “The end is the shared bathroom, the sides are the two rooms, yours is on the left, which has some nice windows.”

Inside the room, there was a bed on the far left corner, a desk on the far right, and a small black bean bag chair in between them. The left front of the room had a dresser and a door that led to a closet which contained a full-length mirror, and the right had an empty shelf. The room’s walls were logs, to no one's surprise.

“The bathroom area downstairs has a laundry room beside it, where you should be able to find some clean unused sheets and towels.” The man turned toward me. “Did you bring clothes yet?”

I completely forgot. “No, I will later today.”

“Great, well, here is a student ID,” he said, handing me a black card, then asked, “Any more questions?”

Just one pressing issue… “Who are you, exactly?”

“Ah! Thanks for reminding me.” The man made a quick bow once more and continued speaking. “I’m Headmaster Blanchard. You’ll achieve great things, Miss Scarlet.”

Blanchard walked out of the room and left me alone. So, headmaster. Huh. He seems a little young, I expected some old dude with a long gray beard, like Dumbledore or Merlin or Gandalf. Anyway, I guess it's time to move in…

I went back to my car and drove all the way home, packed up a suitcase of clothes, then drove all the way back to the academy, stopped by the reception area to throw away the cup of coffee I’d forgotten, and took my suitcase to my room, unloading my clothes in the dresser and closet.

After I finished, I walked down to my not really a dorm's living space. Is it really a dorm if everyone has their own room? Hmm…

As I walked to the couch area, I saw the head of a girl with long brown hair, and called out. “Hi.”

She turned around, locking her bright blue eyes with mine, and smiled. “Hi roomie, I’m Melody.”

“I’m Scarlet.” I continued walking as her eyes followed me and sat on the other of the two couches; both were leather like the reception area. After I sat down, Melody stood up from her couch and sat down right beside me.

“Uh…” I tilted my head a little in confusion. She was much closer and I was able to get a great look at her. She was wearing a short black skirt and had a blouse with the first couple buttons undone. Her skin was pearl white and she radiated a friendly innocent aura.

“We’re roommates, might as well become friends.” She adjusted her sitting style, pulling her legs up on the couch and laying them under her. “I hear you’re an X tier?”

“Ah… yeah.”

“What can you do?” she asked immediately.

“Support things…” I replied hesitantly. She’s not going to ask what I think is she…

“Can you show me?” Shit… She jumped up from her seat. “Can you heal or something? I’ll go cut myself a little.”

Oh fucking fuck. “NO! Don’t—don’t. Ah don't do that.”

“Hmm…” She tapped her foot as she was thinking. “Is there some condition attached? That’s odd for an X rank.”

How on earth do I explain this… “Um… yeah.”

“What is it?”

“It…”

“Tell me…” She grinned. “...or I might just go do what I intended to do in the first place.”

“No… don’t…” I mumbled out, looking up into her shimmering eyes that bore down into me from above, sending a shiver down my spine. I felt so small. Like a little ant. God it was hot, but…

She crossed her arms and smirked. “Come on, out with it!”

“I…” My voice became little more than a whisper. “...need a mistress.”

“I can’t hear you. Louder.” She tapped her foot impatiently. “Or I could…"

“I-I—I,” I stammered for a while before finally blurting out, “I need a mistress!”

“Eh?” She sat back down. “I didn’t expect that.”

“So… that’s why I can’t do anything yet,” I continued.

“Do you want me?”

Quest Updated

A welcome quest to ease you into the system.

Task: Find an owner.

Inquiry: Would you like to accept Melody as your owner?

Reward: Stats unlocked

Failure: N/A (No time limit)