Chapter 34: Roommates
The familiar dim yellow lighting of Arbus's shared dorm illuminated his downcast expression as he stepped inside the room.
His eyes stared blankly at the three narrow beds that stood side by side against the far wall. They were separated by a metal rack holding the few belongings him and his roommates had brought along with them.
For several moments, he stood at the center of the small room silently, lost in his thoughts.
Then, the voices of his two roommates reached his ears as they walked in behind him.
"It wouldn't hurt you if you held back a bit every once in a while y'know. In fact I insist that you do, for my health." A white Mornan with messy dark hair and purple eyes said as he let out a sigh.
"....But, I do hold back." The Blue Mornan with dark hair and golden eyes replied with a hint of confusion in his tone.
The corner of the white mornan, Alexander's, lips twitched slightly as he stared at the blue Mornan, Kaeru, behind him.
"Clearly, not enough."
Kaeru shrugged as he wordlessly strode past Alexander and Arbus.
He reached his bed and pulled out his Naginata that had been gathering dust under it for the last few weeks.
He had been forbidden from using it during training.
Unlike the weapons at the base, it had no safety measures placed on it to stop the trainees from actually harming each other during sparring.
"If I held back anymore than I do now, then there would be no point in me coming here."
Arbus could tell they had just returned from a sparring session.
Alexander finally turned to Arbus with a wide.
"Arbus, you're back!"
"I thought you would spend the entire day in that room again today." Alexander said with a small chuckle.
Arbus stared at Alexander silently for a few moments.
Over the past few weeks, he had gotten along with his roommates quite well, to his surprise.
They had been just as cordial with him as they had been on the first day of arriving here.
Alexander was outgoing, somewhat essentric, and seemed to care very little about being here.
Meanwhile, Kaeru was the stoic type, rarely spoke, and was almost always in a serious mood.
Unlike with the other trainees, Arbus wasn't bothered by Kaeru's disregarding attitude, since it was a part of his complicated character.
Truly, he couldn't have found a more contrasting pair of roommates.
Arbus had been inwardly delighted by the coincidence that had gotten him assigned with the only two trainees in the base who treated him like an actual Renegade.
However, Arbus wasn't sure if he could consider them his friends.
It felt more like a relationship between acquaintances.
Although, Arbus could tell that Alexander had been trying to change that for a while now.
He didn't understand why they seemed so unbothered with being roommates with a half-breed.
He was unused to this type of treatment from his fellow peers. Which was why he had somewhat kept them at a distance.
"So, how did the mental training room go? Are you still struggling with the final mission?" Alexander asked as he walked over to his bed.
"Which, by the way, we don't actually need to do – since completing the first 4 levels is enough to be considered a pass." He added with a sigh.
"Truly, you are making this knights training harder than it needs to be for yourself."
Kaeru paused as he turned to Alexander with what seemed to be a look of disapproval in his golden eyes.
"You're... quite the coward, aren't you Alex?"
"...."
"What?"
Kaeru placed a hand on his chin thoughtfully, his brows furrowing.
"Did I make a mistake? I could have sworn you were quite strong."
He glanced away from Alexander, a bit dejected.
"Hmm. It seems my senses have failed me for the first time in years. I apologize for my wrong judgement"
Alexander remained smiling as his eyes twitched slightly.
"Why you..."
"It was fine." Arbus interjected, finally speaking up.
A small smile crossed his face at his roommates familiar bantering.
He strode toward his bed and dropped down, still feeling the mental fatigue from the simulation.
"There was no need for me to stay long today. Since I finally completed the mission by defeating the Reincarnator."
Alexander blinked.
"..."
"Seriously? That's amazing!" He said excitedly as he swung his legs off his bed.
He laughed slightly.
"You really are something else, Arbus."
"Well, not that I cared to try myself or anything. I'm sure I could do the same with enough effort." Alexander added as he scratched the tip of his nose.
Arbus smiled faintly.
"Sure, sure."
Suddenly, Kaeru's voice reached them, his tone filled with shock and surprise.
"You... Beat it."
Arbus and Alexander turned, immediately noticing the serious expression on Kaeru's face.
It was a bit startling to see this level of interest from him.
"Yeah I did." Arbus responded.
"..."
Kaeru lingered for a moment, then asked.
"How did you do it!? Wait no, don't tell me that."
He said as he considered his words.
"Just tell me, how you got past his impenetrable shield?" he asked curiously.
A small frown appeared on his face.
"No matter how much I try, the pale imitation of my naginata in the simulation just won't stab through it. It's, frustrating."
Arbus lingered for several moments, then waved his hand apologetically.
"Sorry, I don't know about any shield. According to instructor Ty, the final boss is assigned to us randomly."
"The one I've been fighting for the past few days was a girl who could negate the use of every weapon."
A look of excitement appeared in Alexander's eyes.
"Wow, that sounds pretty overpowered." .
"How did you beat her then?"
Arbus remained silent for a moment, then said:
"With my bare bone. My hand had been practically torn to shreds by a flying sword under her control. All I did was finish what she started, tearing off what was left and then using the sharpened bone as a weapon after catching her off guard."
"..."
"Hmm... It seems, you are quite the psycho yourself, Arbus my friend." Alexander said thoughtfully as he placed his hand on his chin.
"I might have been wrong about you simply being a misjudged guy with a harmless nature."
Arbus didn't take Alexander's teasing to heart as he chuckled slightly.
He had decided not to tell them about the true purpose of the final mission. It was something they had to learn themselves.
After all, his roommate, Kaeru, was not someone who would simply listen to others advice on this matter.
He did not seem like the type who would run and hide, if he just told him to.
Kaeru remained silent for several moments as he studied Arbus.
Then, he sighed lightly.
"I suppose that makes sense. I don't think it's possible to beat my boss as I am now. It's quite frustrating."
"Well, I'll figure something out, as always." He said as he turned his attention back to cleaning his weapon.
"I am impressed you managed to beat a boss, though. Despite it being weaker than mine." He added suddenly.
"It seems I had misjudged you too."
Arbus simply nodded in response as he laid down to get some much needed rest.
He did his best to ignore Alexander's annoyed requests for Kaeru to take back what he said earlier.