Free Vitiosi Dei (Heritage of the Blood Book 2) by Brent Lee Markee

elsewhere.”
                  “Um, I think I would probably like that, but what more is there to learn than just counting up things?” Mathematics was a foreign concept to Shawnrik, as Victor had never gone into any details beyond making sure that Shawnrik knew how to add and subtract. He listened as she began to list all of the different things that math could be used for, and he was fascinated. It hurt his head a little, but he was fascinated nonetheless. “That all sounds very interesting, but I don't think I'm ever going to be building anything, or doing most of the other things you mentioned.” He replied when she had finished her list.
                  “Think about it,” she said with an amused grin. She added as if it were an afterthought, “You know there are practical military applications for mathematics, as well?”
                  Now how did she... “Well, you did say I should probably take a wide field of study...” Shawnrik said, trying to not seem too overly interested.
                  “Yes, that would probably be for the best,” the slight smirk on her face told Shawnrik that she knew she had him.
                  “If I have any questions about any of these courses, is there someone that I can talk to?”
                  “They should pair you up with a student who has been here awhile. Don't let any of the other students give you any grief, either. I have a feeling that you will fit in well here in time.” Pointing towards a tall gangly fellow in the corner, she said that he would tell Shawnrik where he needed to go next. As he stood to leave, he realized that there were only a handful of people in the room now.
                  The gangly fellow turned out to be the horticulture teacher, who was very helpful and friendly. It turned out that the agriculture book he had read a few years ago finally came in handy. He had a nice conversation with the man about the subject. By the time they reached the boy’s dormitory, Shawnrik was feeling much better about the Institute. He had only been here for a few hours, but he had already met two teachers who were friendly, and he thought that he might come to like going to school.
                  Shawnrik looked around the little room that he had been taken to and smiled. It was nowhere near the size of the room that he had slept in at Nim's manor, but that was good, as he had never liked the wide open room there anyway. The dorm room had two beds, one along either side of the doorway, with chests at the end of each, and a small table on the other side of the room that Shawnrik assumed was for studying.
                  He had just started placing his equipment in one of the chests at the end of the bed he had chosen when the door opened.
                  “Who are you?” the young man asked, clearly puzzled before looking at the number on the door. “This is room twelve, but you aren't a little kid.”
                  Shawnrik grinned, the young man standing at the door seemed to be around his age. The kid was about a foot and a half shorter than Shawnrik, which put him at about five and a half feet, Shawnrik guessed. The young man was very thin; Shawnrik noticed the slightly pointed and lobe-less ears, and realized that the boy was a half-elf like Victor. Unlike Victor, however, this boy had a permanently hunted look in his light blue eyes, and he moved more like a nervous librarian than a street rat.
                  “My name is Shawnrik, I'm new.”
                  The boy's eyes opened wide for a moment before he popped his head into the hallway, trying to see if someone was playing a trick on him. After finding no one in the hall laughing at him, he turned to see Shawnrik's outstretched hand and shook it cautiously. “Name's Verrian, Verrian Smith.”
                  “Smith?”