Interlude

He grinned from ear to ear when he came out of the tent.

"Looking at you, they gave you quite a plentiful reward?"Thyph sat in the shadow of the dome, her arms crossed.

Vincent patted her shoulder. "You seem happy too though?" He turned his head around. "Unlike those guys."

A group of students, mostly from the so called elite, were fervently arguing with one of the guards, trying to change the outcome of the assessment. They did not have the guts to complain to Nero.

"Do you have any idea, how things will continue, will there be classes today?"

She shook her head, so they both just relaxed in the sun, waiting for something to happen.

It took a while for things to wrap up. A lot of students still got their grades, some left happy, some angry.

Then, after a while, they got called towards the theatre again. This time, it was not crowded. About half of the students were still present, their guardians had left during the long trial.

"Congratulations, you have my permission to feel proud." The loud voice of the instructor bellowed through the air. Imposing.

Vincent started clapping, until he got a few weird looks. "What?"

"There will be some shared lessons and all assessments will be completed together. The most of your first three years however, you will spend in with your class."

Nero let his gaze swipe across them, and made a gesture with his hand.

Blood seeped out of their hands, painting an eery number on the palm. Vincent could hear the screams and screeches of the weaker minded.

He only felt a shiver on his back.

'Number 3, I wonder who my classmates will be.'

Typh leaned over and glanced at his hands. "What a coincidence, we are in the same class. I wonder why that is the case." A cheeky smile on her face.

Vincent turned around suspicious, jet he had no time to raise questions.

"QUIET"

The chattering stopped at once and the old veteran began explaining the rough outline of their next three years.

They would live in the dorms they previously held the test in, only now with their classmates. A teacher would give them lessons in one of the many practice areas. A test was conducted at the end of the year and it together with the observations of the teachers would decide if one passed or not. After three years the school structure would change, though it did not concern them now.

"See ya soon" Typh waved him as she walked towards the opposite direction. They had a week to spend with their family's and prepare themselves.

~

"Well you would have had to try, if you wanted to fail." Arminius stood still, his black uniform ordered and clean. He did not wear armour today.

"But I guess some sort of reward is due."

Before Vincent could open his mouth his brother patted him on the shoulder.

"We will visit the Arena, it will be interesting."