After Clay finished inspecting his uniform, he turned his attention to the door beside his bed.
He opened the door, thinking it was just an average bathroom.
Holy airball.
Clay was greeted with lights so bright he literally had to shield his eyes.
Well, he might be exaggerating a little bit.
But it was still bright regardless.
Clay saw a bathroom that was so white, so clean, so spotless, he doubted that it could even be called a bathroom.
The term even seemed insulting for it.
It was a bathroom on a different level.
There was a speckless white tub in the corner, something Clay had only heard about from some rich aristocrats he caught having a conversation.
There was also a sink, a toilet bowl, and a spotless mirror. The walls, the floor—everything was so white and clean it was almost blinding, it was the most white Clay had ever seen in a single room.
'Everything looks so expensive.... Are these really for the students?' Clay couldn't help but wonder about the cost of everything.
If every single dorm room had four bathrooms, and each of them looked like this...
He shuddered, his mind incapable of comprehending the budget the academy spent on such luxurious bathrooms.
'Well, they aren't called the most elite Academy of Adurep for nothing.'
Clay looked at himself in front of the bathroom mirror.
'Woah. Who's this handsome guy?' Clay chuckled as he struck a pose.
Clay admired everything in the bathroom for a short while.
He quickly got bored so he wen't back outside to try on his uniform.
'How did they even find my size anyway?' Clay thought as he tried on his uniform.
First, the slacks, then, he put on the top.
Arranging the collar and his badge, Clay walked in front of the bathroom mirror to check how he looked in the uniform.
"Wow. Not bad" Clay nodded proudly as he admired himself in the mirror.
'This uniform really fits perfectly.'
He then went out to showcase the uniform to Josh, only to find him also wearing the uniform.
"Hey, Clay, I was about to show you how good I looked with this on." Josh chuckled, running his hands through his oily, smelly, and dried-up hair.
"Uh...." Josh chuckled awkwardly this time, trying to pull his hands away from his hair, it seems it was stuck.
It didn't work.
He pulled again, causing a few strands of hair to detach from his head, making him wince.
All this unfolding as Clay watched on with amused eyes.
"You need some help?" He asked.
"No, I got this..." Josh, previously smug, lost his composure, along with it probably some aura as well.
"Well... Okay, I'll be waiting outside when you're done, let's look at the cafeteria next, I'm starving." Clay shook his head at his friend.
"A-alright, sure, g-give me a second." Josh said, somehow getting his fingers even more tangled in his hair than they already were.
Clay gave him a weird look.
How could one mess up so badly when running their hands through their hair to look good.
"Mind if I come with?" Khael overheard their conversation and wanted to tag along.
"Sure, why not." Clay agreed as he headed out, following him was Khael who was occasionally glancing at Josh and the predicament he was in.
The two waited outside, leaving behind only Josh with his hand still stuck in his hair.
"Why. Won't. This. Come. Off!" Josh spat out each word in between tugs and pulls.
A while later and he had finally separated his hand from his hair.
He then tidied himself up, arranged his hair carefully, and then proceeded to also walk out the door.
"Took you long enough, we were about to leave without you." Clay sighed.
Josh rolled his eyes, not willing to retort like usual this time.
"Let's just go to the cafeteria already, I'm hungry." He patted his belly.
The trio were just about to make their way to the cafeteria before one of them realized something they should have realized a long time ago.
"Uhh, where was the cafeteria again?" Clay paused, looking at the other two.
....
...
..
.
The group had finally arrived in the cafeteria after a bit of asking around and a few arguments here and there deciding which way to go.
"It smells amazing here!" Clay sniffed the air, wiping the drool trailing down from the corners of his mouth.
"What are we waiting for, let's line up so we can eat already." Josh said, also wiping the drool from the corners of his mouth.
The three took their place at the back of the line, waiting for their turns to get served food.
Clay looked around as they were waiting.
The cafeteria was packed with students, it seemed like it would be very hard to find places to sit.
Just watching the people gobble and devour the food made Clay wish the line went faster.
Thankfully, the line did indeed go faster, because before Clay noticed it, they were now at the front.
Clay grabbed a tray and proceeded to check out the options presented to him.
"What would you like, young man?" A cafeteria worker asked Clay.
"Hi, I'd like to have.... This, that, and that as well, please." Clay gestured at his choices.
"Alright. That would be a 30 credits."
"Wait, what? I thought this was free?" Clay furrowed his brows.
The cafeteria worker gave out a hearty laugh.
"Every meal decided by the academy for the day is free, but meals you choose for yourself must be paid with credits, young man." The cafeteria worker explained.
"What are credits? And how much do I have now?" Clay tilted his head.
"Wasn't that already explained in the orientation?" The cafeteria worker asked Clay.
"Oh, the orientation.... R-right..." Clay chuckled nervously.
Frankly, he couldn't remember a single thing from the orientation. everything explained there came through one ear, and went straight out the other.
The cafeteria worker sighed.
"I guess I'll explain then, basically you can use credits for almost everything in this academy. you can earn credits by completing missions or from the monthly allowance from the academy itself."
"You can check how much credits you have on you right now by scanning your badge here." The cafeteria worker brought out a device.
Clay fumbled for his badge on his chest, eventually detaching it and scanning it on the device.
Beep.