"Everyone. Today, we have a human among ourselves. I want you to construct two hand and join them together in a form of human clap. It doesn't have to be a sound but it doesn't have to fall apart either. I will be marking you based on your ability before we begin the official lessons."
Ash stood to one side of the room while her friend made two hands and tried to bang them together like everyone else. The room erupted in a splatter. Some of the golems managed to keep the their hands but could not keep the shape. A finger flew, a nail fell off, skin pealed off and dust collected on the ground. Mud and stones, and clay and dust were some of the most common materials used to make golems. The high priestess of Kalai had made one for her protection before she left. In the class, she even spied some hay, eggshells and dung. Or was it manure? Unable to tell, she kept to herself.
The professor clapped, slowly with his hands, no sound came out and the class followed. The man address her directly, "thank you for your cooperation. You can take a seat."
The professor looked human if not for the wings on his back, pure white like the one she saw the other day, meeting privately behind the dorms. Ash couldn't tell who he was and it was too disrespectful to ask.
"Now. Repeat with me," the professor walked around the room, carefully stepping over everything and guided golems with patience. Once the professor reached her desk, he said, "if you are even in need of instructing golems, this class is pretty beneficial. This year, we will learn transformation and interacting with the world in a transformed state. The next year will be about developing specific skills, defensive and offensive, trading in the human world so that they can get ready for a life of their own. It is very generous of you to let your golem study. The younger they are, the quicker they learn.
"He is only 4 months old this month, I hope he will get to explore things." Ash said conversationally, keeping the details to herself. The professor moved on after small talk and guided her golem to touch objects, his own hands, body using human hands.
"I am very good with feet." he supplied and the professor looked amused, "then you can show me tomorrow when we practice feet."
Ash found herself sinking into her first ever class, where she sat through the entire thing like a normal person, not being purposefully ignored, not being purposefully bullied. Everyone was busy while she was busy observing.
At the end of the class, the professor clapped his hand and turned back into his original state. Ash blinked rapidly at his stone body and wide mouth. A gargoyle. He raised his hands, turned them human looking and picked up his things from the table and said, "the one who gains control of their hands and feet first will be in the running for the class representative at the end of the month."
Ash felt her entire body coil as she stepped out of class, her comfort left behind. For once, she was looking forward to this class the next day. Her small haven of peace Her golem friend asked, "what is your next class?"
"With goblins. I need to head to the library before that."
Once they parted way, Ash changed out of her splattered clothes and headed for the library. In a sea of tall bodies, she felt small and unseen but not ignored or ogled. It was much relaxing to exist on this side of the university where it did not matter to be human. As she climbed up, a group of cyclopes headed down, moving aside to let her pass.
One of them commented, "she came to our class yesterday."
"It must be a shapeshifter. Those money loving humans do not delve into subjects like ours."
"I am sure it was. There is guy, C in our class, he was with her."
"Maybe she likes it as a hobby."
Once past their group, she turned around and bowed her head slightly, "thank you for letting me pass and even more for giving me the benefit of the doubt."
The cyclopes stood there, mouth agape but said nothing.
The library was large. She started from one end of the room and traced the pattern of book keeping to the other. Arranged alphabetically by name, she traced the line of G and found a section where one after another, multiple books on goblins sat. She picked a thin volume that read, Basics of Goblins, Gnomes and Dwarfs.
Finding a table in the corner of the large space, she flipped through. The book was written by a werewolf who started out a tribe with his small family in the land of gnomes and went on to establish a beneficial working relationship with the three kinds of creatures who lived in the area.
Once she had a basic understanding of three and the difference between them, she headed out. The goblins were in the same building as sirens. She had seen one goblin experimenting. The book said that all three creatures were creatures that favored handy work. Goblins were more enterprising of the three groups and preferred to invent, make or indulge in crafts or inventions that would rake in the money. The dwarfs were builders and makers and gnomes were craftsmen who were somewhere in the middle of the two categories.
Lost in thought, she soon reached the very doors that were smoking yesterday. When she opened the door, 10 pair of eyes turned to her and 8 of them reacted simultaneously, jumping from their spots and heading towards her, something in hand.
"Hello Miss. What a fortune for you to have found us. You must be looking for some rarities for you to come upon her. Interested to take a look at what I have here?"
Each sentence was spoke simultaneously by a different goblin in front of her and objects like shiny polished, apple, a spider watch, vial of green liquid and a greyish powdery were shoved in her face. The powder smelled funny and looked far too stable for something powdery. It barely moved irrespective of its master jumping higher for her to have a closer look.
She looked past them. The class was empty except for a goblin at the end of the room she hadn't noticed before. A sand timer sat before him, marked 1 hr in clear writing. Looked like the professor was in no hurry to remove them from her, so she had to work her way through it, herself.
She turned her attention to a new thing. A goblin had the very back hand his hand up and a mechanical snake moved around its wrist. "What is that for?"
"Made of silver outside and it's great for hiding anything inside. Look."
The goblin stepped back, opened his palm and snake like thing strengthened into a stick, with a click of each of its independent part. The maker clicked its head open and with the flick of its thumb and reveled a hollow inside. The goblin looked about quickly, picked a thick wooden stake laying closest to him and thrust it in. The snake body expanded into the size of the wooden stick and made it look like a long silver tooth.
Now Ash was really interested. And the goblins seem to see the change. The seller said, "Pricing it at merely 200 dollars."
Ash asked, "how did you make it straight?"
The goblin closed the head, now a lid and showed her the head of the snake. The snake had a odd nose, sticking out slightly which was button to make it curved or straight. "It wouldn't work now because the item within cannot be curved but it you were to store something flexible, the snake would be capable of shifting."
Ash was sold, "can you produce three more? Half the price. I will provide the raw material. Half the payment in advance and half after completion."
The goblin's eyes widened and the crowd around her shuffled, whispering, "providing silver?"
"Now. Now. I want everyone back to your seat," the professor called from the end of the class. Ash looked up and the professor gave her an inquiring look, "if you'd like to make a deal with one of the students, it happens in none study hours. Currently, we are only focusing on earning from your presenting items."
The goblins all looked back at the professor and then at her. Some of them pushed her to the side and shuffled past her in a hurry, surely to find more customers. Maybe the sirens studying downstairs will find new items today. The goblin that was interested in his purchase led her to the side. "We have a deal for this one? The rest we can negotiate later."
Ash opened her bag and presented the goblin with hard cash. The goblin's eyes lit up. He took the money, gave her the item and rushed back to the professor. Two of the three goblins that remained had something more to show.
The one with stable powder spoke, "it is a potent drug. Just blow it in someone's face and they will be ill for a couple days and out of your hair."
Another one flashed a gold ring in her face and said, "to store the powder," trying to sell it together. A third goblin held a pair of thick goggles, "portable VR experience."
She declined them all, "apologies. I have made a big deal already. No more money on me now."
The goblins all moved away, grumbles on their faces visible as plain as the moon in the night. She had the urge to laugh.
Someone knocked on the door.
"Excuse me professor. Would you mind if I can borrow the human?" said a familiar voice.
"Very well."
In a blink of an eye, she felt hands around her waist, wind in her hair and her body moved through the door, slid down the stairs, feet never touching the ground and jerked to a stop outside, under the cover of a full moon.
Ash caught the back of her neck. And glared at Queen B who smiled sexily. "The warden said you were swarmed. So I came to check in on you. Surprise surprise, not only were you swarmed, you were scammed too."
Ash smiled, and handed out the snake from her wrist to Queen B's clicking the nose. She demonstrated the use of the item by borrowing Queen B's glasses. An impressed Bree finally picked the snake from her hand and looked at its square body.
"Alright. You know your thing. This is impressive."
Ash smiled a little wider, the coil in her body relented a little, in the presence of friendlier face.
She could help say, "thank you."
Lad Bree frowned, pulled out her glances and wore them again. "Mention not."
She did not mention it again but she did explain, "you have little idea what your presence means to me or how my day has been. I can safely say you are my first friend here and I will forever be in your debt. Anything you ever need that I can do for you, all you have to do is ask."
Ash never spoke to Mayra or anyone she felt over the course of two days. Yesterday got progressively worse for her. She was far too worried today to see that her classes were going rather well. The professor had kept the nixies in line, the golems and goblins were far better than she had expected. Standing outside with Bree, she could breathe a little easier. It hit her with the realization that the day was going rather well. Even if it wasn't her family, she had others in her corner watching out for her.
"I will perhaps give this as a gift to the warden. She has helped me out a lot today."
Queen B patted her back. "Being a human around here can be rough. I have seen princesses after princesses come every year and suffer through it. I hope you can grit your teeth. They will all come around once the initial emotions have died down."