Chapter 116 - Settling In

"Oof! That was tasty!", Bori said as he collapsed onto a chair of our new abode.

"Too full. Can't comment", Savina as she passed out on the couch.

Dinner was actually quite a tasty affair. Due to today being a welcoming ceremony of sorts for all the new students, an absurdly lavish feast was presented for everyone to consume. There were a variety of dishes I never heard of before like curry and fried rice, fruits and vegetables I have never seen before such as star fruit and rock roots, and roasted animals ranging from chickens to pigs to something called a camel. I don't know what a camel looks or sounds like, but it was delicious and I want more.

After stuffing ourselves silly, the four of us returned to our assigned room and promptly settled in. Due to how big this academy tuned out to be, we only had enough time to open the door, throw our respective luggage into it and run like Mastyffs were chasing us to the dining hall. But now that we finished eating, we finally had time to relax and settle in.

The rooming in question included a surprisingly big common room with four bedrooms and two bathrooms, which I swear was magic until Voxea explained it was actually some kind of plumbing science. The common room had a large center table with a spell circle carved onto it,but the function was unclear to me, four chairs and a sofa.

[This apartment is surprisingly large. And mixed gender housing! How forward], Voxea commented as I collapsed in the third chair.

"Hey, anyone know what's up with the table in the center ?", I asked aloud and to Voxea.

"I heard about this before", Albina piped up as she joined us, "it's a Keeper's Table relic".

"A what"?

"You know how it takes a quarter of the day for our monsters to heal if they get aethered? This relic speeds up the process to about a third of the time, so it takes about two hours instead of six", Albina said before placing her drajule embedded pipe onto said relic. Two of the three crystals in the pipe began to glow with a soft light.

"See"?

"That's useful", Bori commented.

"And foreboding", Savina added.

[Is that all it does?], I asked Voxea while also verbally agreeing with Savina on the foreboding nature of the relic.

[No, but I didn't know that that circle could do that too... I'll tell you more about in private and when everyone else has gone to bed], Voxea said mysteriously.

[Alright...].

"Hey I just noticed, you got two majimonsters bonded ?", Savina asked Albina.

"Aye. You met Indigo, my Djinncense, earlier. The other one is my buddy Cinnamon, a C.u.mulem", she said with a smile.

"A C.u.mulem?", Bori asked.

"It's a majimonster resembling a cloud, packs a hell of a punch though....say, why don't we use this time to introduce our monsters to each other? I know for sure you all have more than one monster. What's everybody packing"?

The three of us looked at each other for a bit before Bori shrugged and said, "I'll go".

Bori proceeded to put both of his hands into his mouth and around his tusks. After fiddling in there for a bit, an audible click sounded and he produced two crystal studs that he wiped with a handkerchief before placing it on the table. One of the studs began to glow red whilst the other glowed yellow.

"Did.. did that...", I began to ask.

"Hurt? Dreadfully so, but it's a tradition in my family. It was either that or a nose ring", Bori said jovially. Evidently, I'd probably have gone for the tusk studs too.

"Anyways, you all met my Boaruptodon, Ulvor", he said while pointing to the red crystal stud, "and the other is my Blitzhog, Zola", as he pointed to the yellow crystal stud.

"What's a Blitzhog? Is it another pig majimonster?", Savina asked.

"Mhm", Bori replied with a nod, "Terraboar is home to all type of swine majimonsters. It's not uncommon for binders who grew up there to have at least one or two pig-like majimonsters".

[Mmmmm. Bacon].

"My turn next", Savina said as she pulled out her two drajules and introduced them to Triton and Banda. After telling them the story of how she met Banda and how she "found" Triton, it was finally my turn.