Into the World of Twisted Wonderland Pt 2

🐍 Schemer of the Scalding Sands: Chapter 8 🐍

After a few hours of training, luckily not being the entire 6 hours that Jamil stated before, only to settle for two thank Seven, most of the students seemed a little refreshed, maybe because the practice time was reduced considerably thanks to Kalim's command. Many of the students sighed in relief, and started to relax after using magic, with Kalim, Jamil, and Grim heading towards Angel, who just smiled at them and thanked them for their hard work in training. "Okay, training done!" Kalim happily exclaims. "Now let's be off!" He says as he grabs Angel's hand, dragging her along the tour he was set to give, with Grim quickly following along.

"Wait, you've got other work to-" Jamil calls out, only to see that Kalim turned the corner, seeing that he didn't hear anything he said. He sighed as he turns around to the students, remembering to tell them about Kalim's suggestion earlier.

While walking the hallways, Angel and Grim looked around, admiring the details they missed when walking with Jamil. Kalim was happy enough to explain many things about the décor of the hallways, from the potted plants native to the Scalding Sands, the carpets that lined the hallways, the pieces of art carefully placed around, and even the columns that lined the walls. The two looked around in awe, seeing that the whole place sparkled, as if it was all made of solid gold, which the two deemed impossible to happen since there's no way a palace of this size would have items that was made of pure gold. "Maaan, this place is FAN-CY!" Grim says as he looks around in awe. "Nothin' at all like Ramshackle Dorm."

"Is it really that impressive to you?" Kalim asked the two.

"From what we've seen of other dorms, this doesn't even compare," Angel states as she looks at a vase with gold lining.

Kalim crosses his arms. "I know back when I enrolled, Dad said he donated a bit to the school to give the place a fresh coat of paint, but..."

The two only look at him in surprise at the comment, then looked around them, seeing that it wasn't just 'a fresh coat of paint'. "Geez, how rich are you?!" Grim exclaims in shock. "Are you some kinda prince like Leona?"

"The Asims aren't royalty, and I'm not a prince," Kalim explains. "I've got some relatives in the royal family, though."

"Wait, Asim?" Grim asks. "I thought your name was Al-Asim."

"'Al' means 'son' in the ancient language of the Land of Scalding Sands," he explains. "So we name families after the founders that start them, and all the men of that line refer to themselves as the founder's son. In my case, Asim is our honored founder's name, and 'Al' means son...So Kalim Al-Asim means Kalim, Son of House Asim."

"Huh," Grim crosses his paws in thought. "I never though much about where names come from. Fascinatin'."

"I guess if there are too many members in your family, it makes it easier to distinguish based on your first name than the family name, right?" Angel asks.

"That's right!" Kalim happily answers. "I hope that wasn't too in-depth for you?" He asks and Angel only shakes her head, helpful for the description. "Anyway, feel free to just call me Kalim.

"This place really is a melting pot of students from all over," Angel states, remembering how there are beastmen, merfolk, humans, and even fae enrolled at the school.

"You should pay the Land of Scalding Sands a visit sometime!" Kalim happily says to the two. "I'd be happy to have you as a guest." The two only smile at the invitation.

"I bet you live in some kinda fancy mansion that's halfway to bein' a castle," Grim states, excited at the prospect of visiting a castle.

"Oh, hardly. We only have around a hundred helpers," Kalim says.