He slowly turned his face at the sound of the groggy voice behind him.
'Wow, I'm surprised.' He acknowledged, fully turning his body and sitting upright on the bed to take in the individual behind him.
The sound of his voice didn't match his body build one bit, he had a deep voice but he looked 5 '5 in height. Though Cheryl wasn't all that tall, being 5'8, his bunkmate seemed a bit short compared to him.
As someone who was an introvert, mostly because of his life back in his home. He never really saw people much, unless there was an event in their home.
In all his years, he had never seen anyone with a deep voice and a short height. They had always been tall and bulky or broad-shouldered, making their voice fit their menacing figure.
Not to compare since he had a bit of a broad shoulder compared to Cheryl, but his height made it look a bit weird. With a taller height, he would have definitely looked a bit menacing.
But that wasn't all. Since everyone here was supposed to be between the ages of ten and fifteen, he could guess he was between those ages. But he had already begun undergoing puberty earlier than Cheryl.
With a closer look, you could see little hair beneath his chin and at the corners of his face. His moustache looked convincing, and his body hair was well-groomed.
'No way this dude isn't fifteen or above!' Cheryl stared in astonishment.
"What's your name?" Cheryl asked out of curiosity to get to know him more.
"My name is Manuel. Nice to meet you." He brought out his hand for a handshake.
Cheryl took the hand, still very much curious about his age.
"I'm Cheryl by name, no relation to any noble family." He added unknowingly.
"Cheryl? It's not a bad name. It sounds a bit girlish, but it's cool. And if you're not from any noble family, then we might end up being very good friends." He further said, throwing his bag on the bunk bed above Cheryl's.
'Good thing I said that unknowingly then, I don't want to start creating enemies on my very first day.' He heaved inwardly.
"Why do you consider the name girlish? And what do you have with noble families?" He asked, shifting so Manuel could jump onto his own bunk bed.
"Cheryl sounds like a flower, or at least to me, it does, not sure how others view it. But there's nothing wrong with it anyway, just a personal opinion I made myself, don't let it get to you." He answered, ignoring Cheryl's second question.
Cheryl further asked the question again, his curiosity getting the better of him in that situation.
"What do you have with noble families?" He squinted his eyes above him, where Manuel sat.
"Well.." He started, swinging his leg below. Ignoring that Cheryl was sitting between his bunk beds and could get to his leg.
"I have personal issues with them, and I would rather not discuss it with someone I just met today. Who knows? They might have sent you as a spy." He answered, rolling his eyes and pulling his leg up.
"I've had a stressful day, and I'd love to end it peacefully, so I'm heading off to bed now." He waved Cheryl off, pushing his bag to the side and falling off.
'One weird human indeed, telling me about that. What if I actually was a spy? You'd definitely be my first victim.'
One right thing Manuel said was that the night was drawing closer, and Cheryl definitely felt tired from the continuous walking around.
'Might as well join him since it's almost past 5 pm.' He shrugged, slipping his legs onto the bed.
He dropped his bag on the ground and slid it under the bed before settling on his bed properly.
'I didn't get to know his age though, I will try again tomorrow morning.' His eyes slowly closed shut, forcing himself to sleep as early as possible.
His decision to sleep might just be the thing to save him the next day, or make him physically prepared for the next day rather than staying up all night trying to get to know each other.
He thought for a while as he was not used to sleeping as early as before, he usually went to bed by ten or eleven due to work or something keeping him up.
Usually the idea of him getting his new abilities as the years drew closer, but now he had gotten them. The feeling of staying up at night had left him, with nothing but his overthinking mind keeping him awake.
He should easily be asleep within a 30-minute time range, unless his mind decides to keep him awake past that.
'Been awake for thirty minutes now.' He sighed, slightly opening his eyes to glance around before closing them to try again.
'I have to really sleep now, the better I learn, the better for me in this school.'
He cleared himself of all the thoughts bothering him and let his body take over, reminding him of its fatigue. Then slowly, his eyes began to see images and from there he fell asleep.
The Veyris warm breeze swept across the room, caressing each and every one in the room. And it was during this season that Cheryl slept best, because of its warm breeze, keeping his body warm and settled for the night.
The chatter continued after Cheryl fell asleep, everyone awake busy exchanging details about each other. It took a long while before the noise died down and the dormitory was now quiet.
Unlike Cheryl's home, where he was usually woken up by the blue rays of Aurivon, the dormitories worked differently. A loud bell rang across the whole academy, its noise loud and unforgiving.
Everyone within the dormitory woke up in panic, still new and unaware of the situation they were in. Cheryl also opened his eyes and slid down the bed, slightly panicked but kept his cool.
Just as the noise and commotion in the room was rising, someone with a menacing aura walked into the room, leaving everyone in gasp.