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If you only have a few minutes, than it is best to make the most of them, right? No sense in being timid!

With that thought in mind, you gird your metaphorical loins and begin marching towards the threesome of the two blondes and Artie. This was new school! Heck, a whole new WORLD of magic to be a part of and you are thinking about slinking away from your first real chance at personal interactions?! No way!

Artie and the blondes look up from whatever they are discussing as they see you approaching. Artie has the same not-unfriendly but guarded expression as he did before. The pony-tailed blonde looks optimistically curious, perhaps seeing you as a potential new friend. In contrast, the straight haired blonde's curiosity has a more pessimistic edge to it, perhaps seeing you as a potential rival? Or at least someone to be wary of sniffing around her friend seemingly out of nowhere?

Whatever you think their intentions might be, you refuse to let your speculations psych you out before you even introduce yourself! With that in mind, you stomp to a stop, look the three dead on, take a deep breath, and let out a forceful, "HELLO!"

They all start a little in surprise, staring at you for an awkward second or two before Artie meekly replies, "H-Hi?"

Your face starts to turn red as you realize you may have psyched yourself up a little TOO much for this occasion. "Sorry..." you say in a more timid tone, visibly squirming like you were expecting a stage hook to come in from somewhere and yank you away from this entire situation.

The pony-tailed blonde breaks out into a warm smile. "Oh hey, you're that girl who made her flower explode! That was amazing!"

"Yeah, that's... uh... me. You were getting the hang of the actual task pretty fast yourself."

"I'm Selena," the blonde says, suddenly extending her hand while nodding her head at the other blonde, "And this is Mana."

"Hello," Mana says curtly, not extending her hand.

"Hey, be nice," Selena lightly chides before returning her attention to you, "Don't mind her. She tries to act scary to new girls at first but she warms up fast... unless you're planning to stick a knife in my ribs or something."

You blink at the unexpected example. "... I'm most certainly not going to do that."

"Good," Mana says.

"Th-This was your first c-class here, right?" Artie interjects, clearly looking to change the subject, "W-What did you th-think?"

"It was interesting despite the... mishap," you reply, happy to go along with the subject change, "The whole 'going with the flow' thing is going to be hard to get the hang of. It's just so much easier to... yank, y'know?"

"Oh yeah, took me five years to really get that part down," Selena says.

She then giggles at how much your eyes bug out. Five years?! Sure that may be a lot of time in the grand scheme of things but school is only supposed to be four, right?!

"But I DID have an earlier start than most on this stuff," Selena adds, reaching up to scratch the back of her head with her right hand, "So maybe I was a little too young to get it down that fast when I was first trying... or needed the extra time."

"Anyway," Mana says before surprising you by saying more than one word to you, "it was nice meeting you but we should probably get going to our next classes unless we all want to be late."

Selena checks her watch. "ACK! You're right! I don't want Professor Giddeon to make us read his spell poetry in front of the class again! I'd just die of embarrassment!"

"Witchcraft Lit," Mana explains, perhaps a little less coldly than before. "Helps with understanding the language of older spells and the proper way of chanting for certain rituals."

"Neat," you reply, taking a quick glance at your own syllabus, "I've got... Golem Building Basics!"

"O-Oh!" Artie starts in surprise, "Th-That's my n-next class too!"

Mana flashes you another weird look again but before she can say anything, Selena grabs her arm and pulls her away, the two out the door in a flash. "No poetryyyyyyy," the pony-tailed blonde exclaims, her cry fading down the hallway.

You and Artie stare at the now empty space in front of you for a second or two before looking at each other. "... You wanna walk together?" you ask, "I'm... actually not really sure where the right room is, so I could use the help."

"S-Sure, I guess," Artie replies with slightly less caution than he had before.

You smile in a way you hope is cute looking as you both head on your way as well.

As you walk, you decide to engage in some idle conversation. "So you're studying Necromancy, healing magics, and golem making? That's some pretty varied topics."

"A-Actually, they're... more c-connected than you'd th-think."

"Really?"

"Th-They all have m-m-medical... applications. Healing m-magic is obvious, l-limited Necromancy can keep a bad organ g-going long e-enough for a... transplant t-to arrive, and c-certain kinds of g-golem parts can be used as much more dexterous p-prostetic... limbs!"

He sounds more and more genuinely excited, his eyes becoming brighter and his body language in general becoming more animated. This is clearly a subject he cares deeply about and while the smiling expression certainly makes him look cuter, you also start feeling a little guilty.

"Wow," you say, trying to keep your squirming internal, "I just thought it would be fun to learn to build a cool rock robot."

"M-Most who take the class are like that," Artie replies, his smile getting a little sad "I-I'm the w-weird one."

"What, no! That sounds really helpful! It's not weird to be helpful!"

"... Mana and Selena are always saying that too."

Mentioning the two blondes makes you realize there is another question you want to ask. "So... uhh... Mana. Is... is she your girlfriend or... something? She was giving me weird looks the whole time and I... uh... don't want to make things awkward. More awkward."

Artie's shoulders slump and he is becoming more withdrawn looking again. "It's... c-complicated. But we're n-not... dating."

You perk up a little at that bit of information but, not really wanting to risk further souring the mood, you just nod and return to concentrating on your walking.