[X] Spend the day in the College. You can thank the TA, do some studying, maybe figure out what exactly your reputation is among the other students.
[X] Ambivalent. She doesn't think it makes much difference.
[X] "And what if I lose the fight?"
[X] "How common are these blessings? How many people is the Goddess keeping an eye on? Should I worry if I meet one?"
[X] Will she withdraw her blessing if I do anything in particular?
The first thing that you think to ask is, "What if I lose the fight?"
"When you pledge your victory to her?" Sammy shrugs. "So long as it's an honest loss, she will hold no grudge." There's a smile in her voice as she continues, though with a wistful edge to it, "As you can see from my situation, granting mercy to the defeated is also part of her divine mandate."
Always a good thing when your God is understanding of defeat you suppose...
"Another question then; how common are these blessings? How many people is the Goddess keeping an eye on? Should I worry if I meet one?"
"Blessings in general? Not as uncommon as you might think. Perhaps one in a thousand people are touched by the divine in at least some small way, though I do mean small- blessings much less miraculous than even your own, and most of these people are entirely unaware that they are blessed. As for how many are blessed personally by the Goddess of Conquest...I-"
She cuts off then tilts her head slightly. She coughs after a moment, poorly trying to disguise her pause as her non-corporeal throat somehow being irritated.
"I could not possibly begin to guess."
You open your mouth to comment, but she smoothly moves on to the next part of your question and you get the sense that she's shooting you a 'look' under that helmet. You decide to just let it pass.
"But! I doubt you have much to fear from others blessed like you are. Like I said, there's an aspect of picking a side here, and while normally there are those blessed by others that I might tell you to watch out for... Let's just say that things are in a quiet period. I would expect being blessed to stop fights for more often than start them."
"Then I guess my last question is do I have to be worried about her withdrawing her blessing?" You ask instead.
She stills a bit at that question. "Don't go around desecrating any shrines to her and I doubt you'll have many problems. And..." She hesitates. "Don't embarrass me."
You nod at that and say simply. "I won't."
With that you excuse yourself to get to sleep. You don't have to worry about an upcoming fight and you've covered the window in what you hope is a satisfactory enough manner to let you finally sleep in. As you drift off, you find that you don't really feel much of anything in regards to being blessed by a Goddess. You're not unhappy, but... You don't think it changes anything. You don't think Diadem is a city where even a Goddess can change the order of things.
---
You dream of fire and blood.
---
You wake up. A quick twist to the side reassures you that the blanket you had carefully arranged to cover your window was still up, and with a jerking twist you pull it away to you can see outside. It looks to be around noon, but that's all you can figure out before you overbalance and fall with half you covers to the surprisingly soft carpeted floor of your room. You consider getting up, but really, "This is far too comfortable," you yawn to yourself.
---
Peace.
---
Two hours later, you wake up once more, thankfully not punished for your slothfulness by a crick in your neck. Half an hour later after showering and getting properly dressed, you head to the dining hall to get a bite to eat. On your journey through the halls, and when you reach your destination, you notice that things seem... A lot emptier. Objectively, you had known that first years like you made up by far the majority of the college- the curriculum for the second semester of first year had a lot of rumors surrounding how it was designed to weed people out. But the archmage had skipped all that by cutting the first year class in half the first week. A few more weeks and the first year class would be down to almost nothing. You wondered when the archmage would stop, or if he would just go on until the only people left were the ones too important to be subject to the college's normal rules. You desperately hope that for once in your life, you count as one of those important people.
You walk a bit faster on your way to thank the TA for her help.
Finally, you get to her door and knock.
"Hello?" You call.
You hear a muffled "It's unlocked," and push the door open. The TA is once more in her pink pajamas, though this time she's managed to shatter the cool image you have of her in your mind even more by reading while lying down on the floor with her legs propped up on her bed.
"Uh." You try very hard not to stare. You'll just... Continue. Yes. "I just wanted to stop by and thank you for helping me out yesterday. I very much appreciate all the trouble you're going to."
The TA flaps a hand at you in response, the half of the book she lets go of falling on her face before she grabs it again and says. "It wasn't a big deal. Anyways, you can repay me by offering your opinion on this." She gestures with the whole book this time, pointing up at a diagram she has pinned up on her ceiling.
It's complicated.
"Take your time. I just want your thoughts on it." She says.
"What is it?" You ask.
She shakes her head. "I want your uninfluenced opinion on it."
You frown and stare at it. After five minutes, this causes some strain on your neck, and with a quick glance at the TA you lie down on her floor too.
An hour later, you still have no clue, and you say as much to the TA. She just nods, seeming unbothered, but asks you to come back tomorrow to look at it again.
With that, you leave her room.
+3 points to dimensional science
What else do you do today (Choose 2)?
[] Look for Henry.
[] Look for Ruby.
[] Run into Viola.
[] Run into Adam.
[] Meet someone new.
[] Figure out you reputation at the College.
As no one has voted otherwise, Henry is officially staying at the college for the foreseeable future. On the one hand, no future climactic showdowns with Henry, Seeker of
Glory, but on the other hand, you guys get to interact with him at the college.
