The two went on their way. From the main gates, they went straight ahead to the main school building, a vast castle which housed the business offices of the University, professors' dorms, and faculties for the 3 major Divisions, namely Military and Sports Division, Science and Technology Division, and the Magic and Arts Division. They turned to the left then, on a clockwise direction, where the main Military grounds lay. Most of the University's west side was for this division, including training grounds and sports fields which lay under the Military division. This includes horse tracks, soccer fields, basketball courts, Olympic size pools, gymnasiums and the likes. The West Dormitory is a large western style building used as barracks for the students with rooms housing as many as 60 students each. They could see 2 of them from a distance, side by side to separate the male from female soldiers. To the north was the Science Department's main building, a massive buildi

"Sebastian!" Mar ran to her friend's side. "Are you okay?" "What the hell is going on out here?" yelled someone from behind. People in the barn rushed outside to see what all the commotion was about. "Major General Muller!" saluted Drill Sergeant Robinson, his face turning pale, "There's been a weapon malfunction."  "Sir." Mar stood in attention, "A civilian has been injured by a weapon malfunction." The general approached and looked at the crater where the target used to be before checking on the two students on the ground. "Would someone tell me what happened here?" he demanded, when Dorin suddenly looked up.  "Dorin?!" the general said with a gasp. "What are you doing here?!" Dorin stared at the general wide-eyed, thoughts swirling in his head. He looked down at his friend, unconscious in his arms. "Marcus," he said, staring back at the general, "my... friend... is hurt."  Major General Marcus Muller stared at

Dorin woke up early the next day. He took a quick bath and hurried to the kitchen, leaving Sebastian snoozing on the top bunk. The kitchen was still under renovation, so he made his way outside to the canteen. It was still closed. He sighed, stifled a yawn, and waited for the cook to arrive with the key. He was getting hungry. Good thing he brought some snacks.  He was humming while he ate, squatting on the ground, when a pair of rugged sneakers stopped in front of him. "What are you doing there?" asked a frowning guy in a frayed shirt and faded jeans. "The canteen won't open till 7 am." "Oh, I'm here for kitchen duty," Dorin said with a smile. "Do you have the keys?" he asked. "Only the head cook has the keys," the guy said, squatting on the ground away from Dorin. He had close-cropped reddish dark brown hair, a dark complexion, and sunburnt arms. "You aiming for scholarship too?" he asked, eyeing Dorin's new clothes. "Scholarship?"

Dorin and Seb sat in the lecture room with the rest of the students as the judges went around to see the photos. "What do you think will win 1st prize?" Dorin asked Seb. [Hard to tell.] Seb answered, [We might have our favorites, but it would depend entirely on the judges' discretion.] "But if you were to choose, which one would you pick?" ['Shadow lace', How about you?] "I like that photo of the moving lights, I'd like to capture something like that soon..." [Hmph. Something like that is already common here in the city. Shadow lace is more interesting. The composition is unique and the lighting was perfect.] "I guess so... How about my work? What do you think about my brick oven?" Seb looked at the picture, the flames dancing inside the oven, the steam from the newly baked bread. [It's good, looks fit for a bakery commercial.] "Commercial?" Dorin looked at him, questioning. "Oh, the judging has begun!"

The three finished the food and were served some apple crumble with custard for dessert. The canteen was full by then, and both Dorin and Johan had joined them by the counter. "How do you like the food?" Dorin asked the professor. "Very enjoyable!" replied Dupont. [I liked the roast, medium rare] wrote Seb. "The apple crumble was my favorite," said Mar. "Oh, that was Johan," said Dorin. Johan merely frowned at them and continued eating. "Don't tell Mrs. Cooper, but he's got this way of keeping the temperature of the old brick stove at a certain level..." "How did you find--" Johan blurted out, but cut off and returned to frowning at his plate. "Don't worry, I don't plan to rat on you," said Dorin defensively, "I'm just amazed at the kind of control you have on the fire, back at home, I had to bind a spell on our brick oven to keep the temperature level and to time my cooking the way the cookbooks asked for," he added, "