Dom walked up the steps of the Administration building, at the top of them he was greeted by a large open double door. Beyond the door was an huge foyer, with white painted walls and several wooden desks that were manned by staff covering both sides of the foyer. The floor was freshly polished light coloured wood, and at the rear of the foyer were two large staircases that headed up to a balcony above, which led to further rooms. Between the staircases was another wooden desk, which had the words 'Reception' written on it.
Dom headed towards the Reception desk and was greeted by an extremely tall man with ebony skin. He wore a crisp black suit with a white shirt, whilst on his left wrist was a silver watch. He had a name badge on his suit jacket's pocket, with the name William written.
"Welcome to Central University, how may I help you?" William the Receptionist greeted in an polite tone.
"Hello, my name is Dominic Lazarus, I am here to register my admission in to Central University." Dom replied equally as polite.
"One second please." William replied, before looking down at a screen in front of him and moving his fingers across it. "Please can you head to desk three, they will be able to complete your admission there. Also, welcome to Central University Mr Lazarus."
William pointed in the direction of a desk on the left side of the Foyer, where a young woman was sat in a similar suit to William. Dom headed towards her, and stood awkwardly in front of the desk whilst she looked down at something in front of her. After a few seconds of waiting, Dom did an awkward cough, before looking around to see who coughed.
"I am so sorry, I was in a world of my own!" The woman replied politely, "I assume William has sent you this way, please take a seat and tell me your name."
Dom did as instructed, and told her his name. She quickly scrolled through a screen of her own, before clicking a few times.
"Welcome to Central University Mr Lazarus, I can see that it is you here from your profile and up to date images that had been provided by your previous Academy and your Guardian." She began, "I can also see that you have been registered to be staying in accommodation in the Lakeview area, with two other males. Lakeview is a prime location, so I believe you will have an enjoyable time there. Do you enjoy fishing?"
"It isn't something I have much experience with." Dom replied honestly.
"Well Lakeview is an excellent location for fishing, swimming and water sports." She continued, "I am honestly a little jealous, but don't tell my supervisor. Classes do not start for another seven days, so you have arrived quite early, which is good."
"What should I do for the next week before classes begin?" Dom asked, expecting that he would have arrived early. Many students would be travelling much longer distances to arrive, with some students having weeks to travel rather than days like Dom.
"There are opportunities to join many clubs, as well as visit some of the guest lectures that are taking place. Once classes do begin, it will be slow at first, with the main classes beginning later in the month." She explained, "I would highly recommend some of the physical hobbies, such as swimming and archery, which are both quite prominent in the Lakeview area. You will also be able to eat at the Lakeview Restaurant and Lakeview Bars, which is included in your University Package. It is a highly rated Restaurant and is only accessible to Lakeview based students or invitees, the Lakeview Bars do allow guests from other areas, but you will have access to the priority queue."
"Is there anything else that I need to know?" Dom asked, his mind telling him that this University sounded more like a holiday than a place to study.
"There are some notes on your record about some classes you have been assigned to, however I will have these printed and sent to your accommodation for lite reading. Seeing as some of these are martial related and from the notes on the system, I would recommend you pursue the Sword and potentially the Spear hobby classes if you have chance." She explained, "I also would recommend the Mixed Martial Arts group, but it isn't overly good to spread yourself across many hobby classes."
"Thanks for the Advice." Dom replied honestly, learning a lot in a few minutes from the helpful University Administrator. She scrolled and clicked a few more times, before asking him to wait as she disappeared up the stairs behind the Reception desk. Dom sat and waited patiently, until she returned several minutes later with a box and an envelope, both which she handed to Dom.
"Inside the envelope is your student pass, I would recommend you have this with you at all times as it will grant you access to all of the buildings you are entitled to enter. I shouldn't tell you this, but some places will get to know you over the time you are here and won't be as strict, but it's better to have it anyway." She began, "Inside the box is your key to your accommodation, There have been four keys printed for your Lakeview home, you have been given one, two others for your housemates and the final is a spare. They will be given these themselves upon arrival. It is also noted that a Mr Kai Dawson is the primary owner of the home, so he'll be given the spare."
"Thank you very much!" Dom replied as he took the envelope, opening it up and removing his card from inside. It had his image, as well as his name, which underneath had the word Lakeview written in gold writing. There was also a long number, which Dom expected was his Student Number. He then opened the box, seeing that their was a white key inside that had the number seven on it.
"I have also checked your account, and your Guardian has credited you with a large some of funds, which can be used to eat in places that are not the Lakeview Restaurant or Bar, as well as to purchase any materials such as books, or equipment that is needed." She continued as Dom opened his envelope and box. "You need to earn merits so that you can leave the campus on one of it's away days, but you should have enough funds to allow you to visit any of the nearby Cities when the opportunities arise. The only other time you can leave the Campus is on a University related task, family related issues or during the holiday breaks."
Dom wasn't planning to leave the Campus, having spent the last few years at the Military Academy and not leaving it unless it was for a trip. He was quite looking forward to exploring the University grounds that were the size of a small City, having not had the freedom to visit such a large place before. She explained some of the other areas to Dom, including a shopping district, a guild district where students created teams that competed in internal games. She also mentioned the many different areas that contained the different academy subjects. It seemed that the University was created like a clock, with the lake at the centre and the outer forest on the outside. Each subject was in a different time zone of the clock, but districts such as shopping covered many zones.
"I will have one of our porters direct you to your accommodation, normally we would provide a map but as you are in a premium area, you receive a premium service." She laughed, before calling over a young man in his early twenties that was stood nearby in a similar suit. The young man had black hair and a small black beard.
"Mr Lazarus, this is Mr Khan who will take you to your accommodation." She explained, "Mr Lazarus is staying in Lakeview Seven, please can you escort him there."
The young man Mr Khan's eyes went wide when he heard the instructions, before leading Dom away. Dom realised as he left with Mr Khan, that at no point did he get the Administrator's name.
...
Mr Khan had left Dom at the front doors of the Administration Centre for a minute, before returning with a small open topped vehicle that could drive down the streets. It could seat four people if they were squeezed tightly together, with two in the front and two in the back, but there would be no space for luggage if they did.
They drove down several streets towards the Centre of the Campus, only driving slightly faster than those that were walking. Mr Khan had explained that he was one of the many workers at the Campus and that if Dom ever had any issues they were always available to support the students.
After travelling for about fifteen minutes, they arrived at the lake. Dom was surprised by it's size, only just able to see the buildings on the other side of it. In front of the lake was a small beach, which was surrounded by restaurants, shops and some three floored high quality apartment blocks. The streets were lined with colourful flower beds and the path was patterned with colourful bricks.
Mr Khan drove down the path for a few minutes that circled the lake, with people kindly stepping to the side to let him past. Dom was surprised by how polite everyone had been, either older students or any of the large number of staff that worked here. Mr Khan had explained that there was around ten members of staff per student that studied here. With many staff having their own families here, as those that lived within Central University could have their children join the University through a separate route to regular students.
They soon arrived at a more secluded location, where around ten small manor's were situated a few metres from the beach. Each Manor was like a mini mansion, with two floors and huge glass windows that allowed the view of the lake to be taken in. Mr Khan parked the vehicle and walked Dom towards the seventh of the Manor's. It had two large white double doors, and was made from white brick. The Windows were huge and Dom could see that the inside was furnished.
"This is your accommodation Mr Lazarus, please let me know if you need anything in the future." Mr Khan said, passing Dom a personal card which contained his contact information. Dom thanked him, before walking up the three steps to the double doors. He entered his key, turning it to unlock the door, before stepping inside.
Dom was greeted by a large open planned downstairs, to his left was a large U shaped Sofa, that could easily seat ten people, all directed around a long glass table. On the wall was a large Screen that must have been over three metres from the top left to the bottom right corner. Behind the Sofa was a blue Pool Table, a game that had survived for hundreds of years with minor amendments.
On the other side was a huge kitchen area, with a breakfast bar. Behind this area was a large Dining Room table that could also seat ten. Behind both the Pool Table on the left and the Dining Room Table on the right were more huge floor to ceiling glass windows, with glass doors that showed the large private garden. In the middle of the room, separating the open kitchen and living space, was a white staircase that headed upstairs. Under the staircase was a downstairs bathroom, which was handy for guests as well as those that would live here.
"This is definitely an upgrade on our old apartment." Dom laughed, surprised by how lavish the Manor had been so far.
Dom decided to visit the garden first, heading through the kitchen area to the doors at the back. He turned the latch, unlocking the door and was greeted by a large private Pool with deck chairs around it. In the far corner was a white shed, as well as an outdoor weights section and a long grass area at the rear. The Garden was surrounded by large green shrubs that provided privacy from those around them.
"Kai has really spoilt us." Dom commented to himself, not realising just how wealthy Kai had been, and wondering why he had decided to stay with Dom and Andrew in their small apartment at the Academy.
Back in side, Dom headed towards the stairs that led to the second floor, but noticed a panel with many switches on it. He had a quick read of the notes above them, with some controlling privacy controls on the outer windows, which changed their colour so that people couldn't see inside, or they could darken to shade the inside. There were also switches for air control in the house amongst other things.
Finally, Dom decided to head up the stairs. The staircase split in to two directions at the top, with two locked rooms on the left and two locked rooms on the right. Dom could see that the left rooms were room one and two, which had engraved plaques on them with the names of Kai at the front of the house and then Andrew at the back. The second side had rooms three and four, with the third room being Dom's at the front of the house, with room four currently empty.
He headed straight to his room, pulling down the handle and entering. Inside was a large double bed and two huge wardrobes that were built around the bed. At the bottom was a desk and a small two person sofa. To the left was the large window where he could see the peaceful lake beyond, where as to the other side was a door to his en-suite bathroom, which included a shower, a bath, a sink and a toilet.
Placed on the two seater sofa was Dom's belongings that had been shipped directly from the Academy, as well as his folder from the Hundred Peaks, which he was unsure how it had arrived before him. Beside them both was his headset and personal device, that had been removed from his case and placed neatly ready for him.
Dom checked the time, he was hungry, but he also wanted to visit Riverside. He decided that he would order some food to the house from the internal ordering System that Mr Khan had explained to him on the drive, and then log in at his usual time in around an hour. Firstly however, he would check if there was any important updates from Golden Sun whilst he waited for his food to arrive.