Ray sat beside Madison, eating in small, contented bites. It was supremely delicious, better than anything he had eaten in about a decade. He didn't think anything could burn away the memory of MRE's, but damn it all if this smorgasbord didn't. His lesson plans were sorted, his curriculum all but memorized and he was now available to catch some small moment of leisure before trying to whip these kids into something closely resembling decent spell casters.
The real trick would be to teach them how to make better decisions than he did. He would teach from the basics of Necromancy and Blood Magic beyond, but place heavy, heavy emphasis on defending against both of them. Blood Magic and Necromancy had gotten into the mess that had been his twenties. No other foolish kid deserved that life.
He leaned back in his chair, taking a short break from his meal, and spoke to Madison.
"It's kinda funny, isn't it? We fought a war once, but I'm quaking more about my first lesson than I was about my first battle."
Of course, back then Ray was hoping his first battle would kill him, and so was the Council. No need to waste time on his execution that way.
Ease up, there Ray ol' boy. This is a nice dinner time chat. Don't get all morbid on things now...
"Who knew this many kids could be so damn scary," he said with a light chuckle."