The boys flumped in their chairs after arranging them in a circle at the corner part of the Great hall. Ermand noticed his parents exiting the hall as well as others of children who failed to meet the criteria to be a part of Agledon, exiting the hall. The two boys Ermand recently met completed their interview before him and Timothy.

"Hey, Emile. What do your parents do?" Timothy asked.

"My parents are working at the Institute of Research and Development of Potions and Sprinklers in Galetope. And they're now--"

"That must be cool! They will get to have a check on all sorts of funny stuff right?" Charlie intervened, taking a sudden interest in their conversation.

"Uh...," Emile replied, readjusting his glasses. "Not funny stuff but more useful."

"They must've been chosen for the Inventions and Discoveries department then," Charlie guessed.

"Actually, they had double degrees."

"Double degrees!" Timothy and Charlie gasped, looking at each other in awe.

"Their primary degree was Inventions and Discoveries and for both my parents. Mom chose Healing for the secondary and dad chose Defense. They had received an Extent-one-one in college," he replied.

"What is that?" Ermand asked, who kept quiet all that time.

"It can only be called as Extent-one-one according to the rule of Phineas Thumber. Extent-one-one gives you the regal opportunity to raise your clanship status by one."

"So what's the other one for?" Timothy asked, twirling a toffee in his mouth.

"It is a complicated rule. In fact, I don't know about it very much. My parents denied that though."

"Why? You could've been a Vinn. You'll be called as Emile Vinn instead of the Waps clan as your surname," Charlie suggested as he leaned closer to Emile.

"My parents and I don't believe in clanship. They say it's a waste of time to rely on. They say that clan studies shouldn't even be in our syllabus."

"Did they say that in public?"

"No, Charlie. They would've been slaughtered..."

"Speaking of Thumber, do you guys know that there used to be a clan named Thumber before?" Timothy asked, nudging Charlie, (who was right to him).

"They topped the clanship, above the Qorders, right?" Charlie replied.

"Qorders..."

Suddenly Timothy gasped. The three boys turned their heads at him.

"What is it?" Charlie inquired.

Timothy pointed to a boy sitting opposite to them, who was surrounded with students. He had dark copper hair, just the same as his eyes and had a pompous smirk on his face.

"I didn't realize it was him!" He held his breath, leaning away from his chair.

The others turned their heads (where Timothy's finger pointed).

"Isn't he the Qorder? His name is... Daniel Qorder, I think," Charlie tried remembering , wrinkling his eyebrows.

"Damien," Timothy corrected, still gazing at him.

"What's so special about him?" Emile questioned, leaning back in his chair.

"His dad is the wealthiest man in the whole of New Tawarn and he's staying as the candidate for Tawarn's presidential election."

"You must be kidding," Charlie mumbled.

"He's the son of Ingolf Lloyd Qorder?"

"All that matters is how good you are at making things work out best for you," Emile smirked. Ermand noticed Emile as a contrasting thinker.

Timothy and Charlie sat back in their chair.

"Boy, he's so popular on the very first day," Timothy sighed.

"I'm excited about our first class," Ermand commented, his focus elsewhere. He was imagining how things would be.

Timothy and Charlie stared at him, their mouths gaping.

After a moment, the instructor cleared his throat and gave an announcement:

"Selected students, follow me, please."

All of the students who remained in the hall after their interview were excited to hear the instructor except Ermand. His mind was focused elsewhere after the announcement while the others jumped from their chairs to follow the Instructor.

My score didn't even match the average. Should I really follow the Instructor or go back home?

His feet were affixed to the floor while everybody followed the Instructor. A lot of thoughts were going on in his mind.

I have the professor's note, I'm selected, he reminded himself before joining his friends.

He noticed the failed students exiting the hal through the other door.

They walked through a broad passage tiled with polished Rogiatum stone pieces. They glimmered when light entered through the large opened windows and kissed its surface.

Timothy noticed some girls giggling behind Ermand.

"Well, well, well, it seems you were successful in attracting some admirers," Timothy whispered.

"What do you mean?" Ermand raised his brow as they walked.

Timothy tilted his head backward in response.

Ermand turned back and saw a group of girls gazing at him. He remembers some of these girls were the same who made sheep eyes at him. Ermand turned forward, shaking his head.

"Oh... It's because of my strange appearance, maybe."

"I'll join you in a couple of minutes," he said, grinning before turning towards the group of girls.

"Hey pretty ladies! I'm Timothy Chestnut from New Tawarn. Just to let you know, I'm going for the Defense department."

He turned back after the short self-introduction, joining his friends. He was certain that the girls were impressed about him. He even heard the girls discussing whether to join the Defense department.

Charlie chuckled, shaking his head.

"What?"

"Nothing," Charlie replied, stifling a laugh.

"I can hear your thoughts in my mind," Timothy narrowed his eyes.

"Really? You heard me thinking you're a ladies' man?" Charlie turned his gaze away from him, walking ahead.

"Was that supposed to be a mock?" Timothy inclined his head to Charlie.

"Can you jerks walk any faster?"

It was a female voice, although it was much more fierce than any girl could utter.

The four boys turned back to find the owner of the voice. She wore a crisp white shirt that fitted comfortably on her sturdy body, and skinny black jeans. She had her straight brown hair tied in a wavy ponytail. Her electric blue eyes pierced into theirs. Ermand had never been so intimidated with a person's stare before. Any ordinary girl would look more like a ghoul with that glare.

"A Trainor, I suppose," Timothy smirked.

"So what? Give way!" She shrieked.

"You're commanding me?" Timothy's cool posture was no more. His voice became stern while his eyes narrowed. The boys might never have known that the happy and beauty conscious boy had a quick temper too.

"Whatever. Move!"

"What if I don't?"

"Whoever you are, you don't want to test my patience," she said through gritted teeth.

"Let me see what happens," he chuckled.

It happened faster than Timothy's brain could register, his nose began to bleed. He shut his eyes running his fingers over the tender spot on his face. He winced at the slightest touch. When he saw the tip of his fingers covered by blood, his eyes bulged out.

"How dare you!"

Before Timothy could even curse her, a few pairs of hands pulled him from behind.

"Just let it be. She's insane!" Emile yelled, struggling to pull Timothy back. "Besides, it was you who asked for it."

The girl, without spending a second to take a glance at the bleeding Timothy, walked past them.

"I swear I'll get you, you savage girl!" He shouted while trying to wriggle himself free from his friends' grasps. The girl walked along with the crowd as if nothing happened a moment ago.

Strange... Ermand thought. His gaze followed her as Timothy muttered strings of curse words that would make an elf cringe. He'd seen a lot of Trainors in his life but she was the most aggressive he had ever come across.

************

Editing credits ~ sticklady2015