CHAPTER 30: The Importance Of Names.

"Asher...Asher?" muttered the headmaster underneath his breath as he looked through the books and hovering images on it looking for the person mentioned in the second-year book, 

"There's no one here with the name Asher," he finally barked out loud, annoyed for having searched for longer than he should have, 

"What game are you playing Natal?" Headmaster Dramus asked looking down at him from where he stood leaning on the stand, as he waited for an explanation, 

"Headmaster...I would never play games with you. There really is a boy with that name," Natal quickly answered, a little pissed to see Ashen still sitting on his seat, with his head bent, 

Stepping forward, a few steps in front of him out of annoyance, he sucked in his breath before yelling, 

"What the hell do you think you're doing Asher? Stand up and tell the headmaster that you're the one I'm referring to," he yelled into the audience with an intense gaze, relaxing only when he saw Ashen finally lift his head up,

All around him was silence, until he heard Natal's voice which he found funny since he couldn't understand why he was shouting after mentioning two people's names that had nothing to do with him, 

Trying his best to hide his tears, he looked up fixing his eyes on Natal the moment he did, 

"Why the hell are you bending down? Stand up and tell the headmaster that it's you," he spat out in complete confidence the moment he saw Ashen lift his head, 

"Me? You called a boy named Asher. My name is Ashen," Ashen said staring back with a look of confusion as he watched Natal's expression gradually change, his cheeks slightly turning a light shade of red, the moment other students in the hall bursted out in laughter.

"Oh...Asher, Ashen...such a silly mistake," he mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear, as he did his best not to look in Headmaster Dramus' direction, convinced that the man was already making plans to murder him where he stood, 

Aleesia who sat behind them on the stage could merely watch the events that were happening in front of her with a sigh as she thought to herself, 

"He doesn't even know the name of the person he wants and yet, he gets to stay. If this batch is like this, I will have to weed most of them out the moment they're under me," 

She thought folding her arms together before turning her attention back to the stage,

"I pick Anared and Ashen," Natal said in a less confident tone wanting nothing more than to disappear from the stage, 

"Next. Number 25-Tohnsi," The headmaster merely announced ignoring Natal completely after ticking the names he called out in his book, and turning to the final person, 

Quickly, as if he also couldn't wait to finally be called being the last person on the line, the headmaster had barely called out his name when he stepped forward to say the names of the people he had chosen, 

"Xander and Chloe," he said watching his two friends jump for joy from their seats, making eyes and finger gestures at their friend who was on the stage, 

Meanwhile, Shella couldn't help but sigh within her, knowing fully well that if she hadn't been chosen by the burly boy then she wouldn't have been chosen at all. Unlike Dosan who didn't care, her family would see it as an insult and a reason not to care about her anymore.

"From this moment, all those who passed have been promoted to the third year and those who didn't will have only one week to pack all their belongings and leave," Headmaster Dramus announced, leaving the moment he was done speaking alongside Aleesia who stuck to him with a look that told him that she had many things she intended to discuss with him, 

The moment the headmaster left, most people began to leave as well, including Natal.

He quickly got down from the stage already beckoning to Ashen to meet him at the door the moment he did, 

"We'll visit Anared and tell him the good news," Natal said, already pulling him along without allowing him to have a say, as they both headed back to the health building, 

"Well I hope the nurse doesn't chase both of us out this time around," Ashen thought as he happily followed Natal, unable to hide how glad he was not to be expelled from the school.

********

The sun was just setting in the sky as two hooded figures could be seen on a road path standing beside as an empty carriage, toppled over along with all the things it carried as more than five men lay on the ground with varying stages of injury, 

Some only had broken bones and bleeding wounds while others injuries would need a while to heal before the thought of walking or going about their daily jobs, 

"Well, your idea wasn't as brilliant as I hoped it would be. How would hurting his friend make him want to join us," Ahmati asked, rolling his sleeves up to his elbows, exposing a medium-sized tattoo of Two iron arms crossed over one another like an X, a symbol of the organization they were recruiting for, 

"You don't know this because you've never been weak. Once something important in his life spirals out of control as other tragedies follow, then he can't help but blame himself and his powerlessness to stop it," Trisha replied as she continued looking at the man who was the main reason for the attack, laying on the floor unconscious with injuries on his bodies, as she wondered if it was enough or hurting him a little more would be better,

She thought, taking an additional step in his direction right before she felt a strong arm reach out to hold her back, 

"That's enough, any more and he might actually die before any help comes since they're on a deserted road," Ahmati said as he also stared at the bleeding man in front of him who seemed to have suffered the brunt of the attack, 

"Well, maybe him dying is the drive our target needs," Trisha replied jerking her arm which Ahmati still held on to, before digging into her coat and bringing out a black book and ticking a name written in red named " Kleastron"

"Let's go. If this doesn't work then we'll move to a closer family member until it does," Trisha told Ahmati before she turned around to leave the site, and enter the forest they came out of on their left side as Ahmati slowly followed right behind her.