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.
The statement shocks the two. "'Only'? In what world does that deserve 'only'?! I've only got one hench-human, myself..." Grim says.
"I'm no henchman," Angel sternly tells Grim, and he only sighs.
Kalim only laughs at the two. "Well, we're a big family," he says. "We need at least that many people to look after them all."
The statement shocks the two again. "Sorry you have THAT many siblings?!" Grim exclaims.
"Yeah," Kalim thinks for a moment, "So many I quit counting. I do remember all of their names and faces, though. Aha ha!"
The two only look at Kalim in bewilderment, processing the information. "You guys do everything on a whole other level..." Grim mumbles.
"Jamil's mom and dad are among our servants," he says. "So Jamil's always around and looked after me ever since he was a young boy, and he is seriously amazing, believe me. He's smart, thoughtful, and most of all, he's a great cook!"
"The proof of that last one's in the puddin', for sure," Grim happily states, remembering about the food.
"You see? You should stay over for dinner tonight! Come on!" Kalim says as he runs ahead of the two, while the two only look at him in surprise.
"Uh, sure..." Grim says as he sighs. "Yeesh, talkin' with this guy throws me off," he quietly tells Angel, looking at Kalim's back.
"I mean, you don't find people this nice at our school every day after all," Angel says as they walk towards him. "After all, I rather him than the other's we've met."
"Hey, you two!" Kalim calls out, getting their attention. "What are you hanging back and whispering for? Come on, this way." As they were walking to follow, Angel could really feel the effects of the heat getting to her, with her outfit and her hair getting in the way, making her pant a little. Though the sound was quiet, Kalim noticed her slowing down and looked at her in concern. "Hey, Angel," He calls out. "How about we get you some clothes for the temperature here? We got plenty so you can take your pick!" She thinks for a moment, and only nods, the heat getting to her as they continue walking. Kalim stopped in front of a door and head inside, leaving the two alone as they patiently wait for him to come out, knowing that it wouldn't be good thing to just barge into rooms. After a few minutes, Kalim stepped out with a smile. "There's something in there for you to change into, so pick what you want! The weather here can be hot, so it never hurts to wear more cool clothing, you know? Aha ha!" Angel walks into the room, with Kalim closing the door behind her in privacy while she changes. She saw that Kalim laid out some fabrics in front of her, clothes she presumes, and look at them, trying to find an appropriate outfit so she could not die from heat exhaustion. After picking and choosing, she found an outfit that suited her: a maroon-colored outfit with a shirt with no collar, starting right where her chest is and covered her stomach, and a pair of harem pants that stopped a little before her ankles, matching the color. She sees that the shirt didn't really have sleeves, instead off shoulder straps that stopped right about an inch or two off her shoulder, laying right on her upper arm. She puts the outfit on, seeing that it was a little bit see-through, which made her blush, but seeing that it was only her stomach being shown, she figured she could get used to it since she felt way cooler with the outfit on. She looked around seeing that there were other accessories such as bracelets, necklaces, and other things she could briefly make out of. She decided to take a collared necklace, a black colored scarf with what seems to be little golden decorations on it to tie around her waist, and braid her hair up from the top of her head, enjoying the cool, or hot in this matter, air on the back of her neck, glad of the fact that her hair isn't flowing down her back, letting the braid hang down, basically stopping at her thighs, which is an improvement. She found some maroon-colored flat footed shoes and gladly she's her boots and put them on, surprised at how the shoes felt like she wasn't wearing at all.* She looks in the mirror and looked over herself, enjoying the light fabric she has on and nodded in approval, stepping out of the room and looking at Kalim laughing at Grim and Grim looking at him with a deadpanned expression. Once the sound of the door clicked, Kalim looked over, seeing that Angel has changed and only smiles excitedly at her. "Whoa! You look great!" He exclaims as he closes up on her, her blushing at the close contact and compliment. "That outfit really does look great on you. You look like you'll fit in great into the Scalding Sands!" He smiles at her and she just quietly nods back, the blush on her face as Kalim only compliments her. "But, I'm sure you'll be cooler with that on, and don't worry, I'll tell Jamil to put your clothes in a safe place!"
"Ah...thank you very much, Kalim," Angel shyly says to him.
"Aha ha ha! It's fine! It won't help you enjoy dinner if you're under heat, and these clothes should help with that! Now, let's continue on!" He says as he heads on ahead of the two, making them sigh.
"Geez, this guy never runs out of energy, does he?" Grim mumbles as they hurry to catch up with him, following him closely for the rest of the tour. After a while, Kalim runs ahead of them again, only for the two to see him stop in front of another door. The two stop and look at the door towering over them in confusion, wondering why he stopped at this door specifically. He smiled at them as they looked at the door and slowly open it, a light blinding the two as the door opens, making them close their eyes. Once the door fully opens, the two crack open their eyes, only to widen their eyes at the sight in front of them.
"Sweet mother of loot!" Grim exclaims in shock as they walk into the room, seeing piles of gold filled with vases, plates, gems, chests, and other valuables stacked all the way to the ceiling, with the two looking at disbelief at the room. It wasn't just a simple one or two piles of gold, it was about 20 piles of gold, in which that even proved to be wrong seeing the enormous size of the room in front of them. "What IS this place? It's got piles of treasure taller than I am!" Grim steps in front of a pile, only to spot specks of gems glittering in the light.
"This is all the stuff Dad sent with me when I departed for school," Kalim explains, making the two look at him in disbelief. "It couldn't possibly sit it in my dorm room, so it's all kept here in the storeroom," he says with a disappointing sigh.
"This ain't a storeroom! This's a whole treasury!" Grim exclaims, looking at the many piles of gold around them.
"Oooh, you know some big words, Grim. Very Impressive!" Kalim smiles and heads ahead of the two, with them following him, looking around and trying their best not to break anything if, Seven forbid, Kalim wanted some kind of compensation for it. Angel looked around, seeing rolls of different color fabrics scattered about, and found a roll of turquoise-colored fabric. She carefully touched it, feeling how soft and thin the fabric was, but mainly surprised with how light it was. It's silk! She looks at the other rolls, seeing that there was silk everywhere. Her eyes widen in excitement at the sight, remembering that the nightgowns that Crewel has given her was made of silk, and relished in the softness of the fabric. Kalim noticed this and smiled at her. "Oooh, Angel, you like the fabric? The Land of Scalding Sands is mostly known for their silk."
"It's feels so high-quality," Angel states as he feels over the fabric, letting it fall in her hands.
"Production of silk in the Scalding Sands is always high quality because we get it straight from the source!" Kalim proudly says. "If you want, we can make you some outfits out of it so you can experience the feeling!" He smiles.
"Oh really?" Angel asks, and he nods. "If you wouldn't mind, then I'll gladly take some," she quietly says.
Kalim only laughs. "It's no problem! It's good to find out my friend's favorite things!" He looks around the room, trying to find something. "My favorite out of all these treasures is, of course..." He looks around, only for the smile to fade from his face. "Huh. Where'd it go? Sometimes it moves around on its own." Angel only looks at him in confusion, fear starting to creep up at the thought of something hiding among the treasure. "Hey, where are you?" He calls out.
"Wooow..." Grim says as he looks at the area around him. "Huge gemstones just scattered on the floor, shiny golden goblets..." He smirks, not knowing that something was slowly creeping up on him. "With this much stuff, surely no one would notice if one little thing went missing...Myeh heh heh..." Suddenly he felt something poking him, in which he only swatted it away. "Angel, I'm kinda busy!" He says as he starts to pick up some gems. The poking only continues, annoying Grim. "Yeesh, whaddaya want?" He says in annoyance. "I'm tryin' to-" He turns around, only to be shocked at the sight of a carpet hovering around him. "GYAAAAAH!" He screams, getting Kalim and Angel's attention. "Th-the carpet's movin' all on it's own! It's been possessed by a ghost!" Grim screams.
*- outfit I was describing here was basically Princess Jasmines outfit just with more clothing around her stomach with Asher through fabric. The rest is added details (9/9/23)