“Oh yeah, no problem,” Salis said easily.“You need to stick to the third-year dormitory?Or are all student halls okay?”
“All of them are fine.”
“Then we are going to the Grand Hall.It has the best food.”
“I thought they all had the same stuff?”
Salis laughed.“I see I have a lot to teach you.They all have the same basic options, but the extras vary.”
Wave smiled a bit.“Then lead the way, sensei.”
“I like that.”Salis grinned.“I might demand you call me that from now on.”
“Sure thing,” Wave said and then poked at his side.“So, was Elisa right?Do you suck at electricity?”
Salis’s face fell a bit, and he nodded.“Yeah.I’m more of an earth and wind kinda guy.”
“Neat.I can barely levitate a grain of sand, if that helps you any.”
“You’re kidding?”Salis’ eyes were round with disbelief.“You almost gave Elisa a run for her money over there, and trust me, she’s not used to competing like that.”
“Uh…”
“Tell me what else you suck at.Just to stroke my ego, you know,” Salis hurried to say, when he noticed her face blanch.
“Fire,” Wave confessed.
“Can’t help you there, little one.But I promise to tutor you on earth if you help me with electricity?”
“You have a deal.”
Salis led her through the hallways to the courtyard and guided her to the Grand Hall.It was aptly named.The whole place brought to mind a church more than a cafeteria.Stone columns arched up the sides of the room, and stained-glass windows filtered in light.These didn’t depict saints, though.Wave peered closer and realized every glass had a team made of one of the realms.
Before she could get too wrapped up in the architecture, Salis tugged her forward, and Wave swiped her card at the machine.Once she got past her ogling, the place looked more normal.It had tables, chairs, several counters for food, and basically everything a functioning cafeteria needed.
“So, lay of the land,” Salis said, tugging her a bit aside so they wouldn’t block the flow of people.“Earth food,” he said, pointing at the biggest line.“Hell Realm stuff that burns your gut.”He pointed at another counter.“Heaven,” he said and shuddered.“Bland if you ask me.It just doesn’t taste the same here.”
“Realm transferring ingredients?”Wave asked.
“Yeah.It just loses something.Anyways.Then there are the fae realm goodies.Goes to my head, but usually it’s worth it.”
“Do they have the feyling bread?”Wave asked, saliva pooling into her mouth.
“I have no idea what that is, but you can ask.”
“And what’s that?”Wave pointed at the last counter at the back of the room.
“Miscellaneous.Grand Hall caters to the biggest realms, and that’s the random assortments corner.”
“Oh, okay.”
“So, what would you like?”
“Let’s start with earth food today?”
“Sure thing.”Salis guided her into a line, and Wave picked some Parmesan fries to go with her chicken burger and salad.“Woman after my own heart,” Salis said, as he piled double the amount of fries into his own plate.
“I see a place there,” Wave said once they had trays full of food.They made their way to an empty table and sat down.Wave was just about to take a bite when Salis gasped.
