“So… should we look into getting you a different room?” Greg asked D as the two of them started to get settled.

D hesitated. “I- no. As long as we're in Callowa, there's a chance for my father to discover me and take me away. I think making sure as few people as possible know my real identity is the best move right now. If I asked to change rooms, the Elder would want to know why I want to change rooms, and then she'd either put me in another room with a woman, which would create more questions, or I'd get my own room when even you didn't, which would create questions as well. I think it's best to just leave things as they are.”

Greg raised an eyebrow at her, before shrugging. “Suit yourself.”

“Could you… change my face again?” D asked tentatively.

“I can change your whole body if you want, but do you really think it's necessary?” Greg asked. “I mean, I don't think anyone is going to bug you about removing your disguise anymore.”

“I know, but… I can't eat under all this.” D muttered.

Greg blinked. “Huh… Alright then, do you want to just be covered or do you want a full transformation? Cover is easy, but might get a bit uncomfortable after a while, cause you're literally going to be wearing a flesh suit, while the transformation is a bit more invasive, but you'd literally just be the person I turn you into. Oh! And I could change your voice. The cover wouldn't let me do that.”

“How can you-” D began incredulously, before cutting off as her expression twisted. She didn't need to hear Greg calling himself awesome again. “What do you mean by invasive?”

“Well… let's just say your body would be more mine than yours during the process.” Greg replied.

D grimaced. “How about you just change my face for meals?”

“Whatever works for you.” Greg chuckled. “Speaking of… it's about time for dinner, huh?” D nodded and Greg sent some smoke to cover her face, turning it back into the scarred man's face. “Remember, your voice is still the same, so no talking unless you're covered.”

D rolled her eyes. “I know. Let's go.” She pulled her face covering back on before heading out the door.

Greg followed her out, the two making their way down to the dining hall. The moment they stepped inside an attendant walked up to meet them, guiding them to a long table with several others already eating. Greg smiled at the person next to him as he sat down, D sliding into the spot on the other side. “Hey there, I'm Yrogerg and this is D. We just joined the sect. How about you?” Greg greeted them.

“Sirhc. The same.” Chris replied with a grunt.

“I'm Eda.” Jade introduced herself as well. “That's Alric, and this is Jaime.” She continued, gesturing to the man on the other side of Chris then to the woman next to her. “We're all new to the sect.”

“Are you both tri-cores as well?” Jaime asked, examining the two of them.

Greg nodded. “Yup! Is this the tri-core table then?”

“So far.” Alric confirmed.

“I guess we're going to be seeing a lot of each other in the future then, huh?” Greg commented. “What brought you all to the Hidden Blades?”

“I want to become a master alchemist.” Jaime replied.

“I'm not into fighting or studying, so the Hidden Blades were pretty much my only option.” Alric shrugged.

“I- just thought the Hidden Blades suited me best.” Jade answered tentatively.

“I rolled a die.” Chris grunted.

“Huh… Well, I'm just here because the Hidden Blades offered me the best benefits, so I suppose I can't judge.” Greg chuckled.

Jaime frowned. “I thought all the sects offered pretty much the same things.”

Greg grinned. “To you maybe.”

Alric's eyes widened. “Oh, shit, are you the guy three Elders got into a bidding war over?!?”

“Why yes, yes I am.” Greg confirmed, smirking proudly.

“Bidding war?” Chris asked, raising an eyebrow at Greg.

“Oh, you know. They kept offering more time in the training formation, more cores to cultivate with, personal training from Elders, personal attendants… you know, the usual.” Greg waved dismissively.

“Lucky bastard.” Alric muttered, shaking his head.

“Hey! I'm not lucky!” Greg retorted. “I'm awesome!”

D groaned, rolling her eyes. “You have to stop saying that.”

“I'll stop saying it when it stops being true.” Greg smirked.

D sighed, shaking her head, but she couldn't exactly refute him. The man could make hyper realistic masks that could fool Circulatory Realm experts in an instant! He claimed he could even transform her completely! If anyone had the right to claim to be awesome, it was him. Of course, that didn't make it any less annoying to hear.

“What exactly makes you so awesome?” Jaime asked skeptically.

“Well, I've been Awakened for four months and I already have a tier two Rune of each type.” Greg grinned.

Jaime's eyes widened. “That- that's impossible!”

“Impossible for you maybe.” Greg shrugged. “But as I've said, I'm awesome.”

Jaime shook her head. “No, you- you'd have to be able to comprehend an Initial Rune in a matter of days!”

Greg raised an eyebrow. “Your point?”

“My point is that that isn't how Runes work!” Jaime growled. “What you're claiming is impossible!”

“Yet here I am.” Greg spread his arms.

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Jaime grimaced. “Did- you must have rushed your comprehension! That's the only way this makes sense!”

Greg pulled down the collar of his shirt, revealing his shape Rune. “Does that look rushed to you?”

Jaime's expression twisted. “So you have a good Qi Rune. I bet your Spirit and Essence Runes are crap!”

Greg sighed, shaking his head. “You're just begging for trouble, aren't you?” He pointed at his forehead as his Terrorize Rune was revealed. “Ta-” He lifted up his shirt to reveal his Devour Rune. “-da.”

Jaime went pale as she saw the crisp, clear Runes. “H-how?”

“Because-” Greg began.

“Don't!” D snarled, cutting him off.

Greg clicked his tongue, crossing his arms petulantly. “Everyone's a critic.”

“Don't you think you're being a little much?” Chris muttered, raising an eyebrow at him.

Greg shrugged. “Only way I know how to be.”

Chris grunted. “If you say so.”

The attendant finally arrived with Greg and D's food, D pulling down her face covering and going silent as she ate. “Do any of you have any plans before we leave for the sect?” Jade asked, changing the subject. “I can't imagine we'd have much free time after we get there. The sect is going to push us to make the most of the resources they're providing us.”

“I was going to check out the Center Market Square.” Alaric replied. “It's all mortal goods, but there are merchants from every nation, so you can find almost anything.”

“There's going to be a joint demonstration put on by the three major sects at the end of the week.” Jaime added. “The Circulatory Realm disciples will be taking turns showing off their skills.”

“There's also the Grand Auction at the end of the exams.” Alaric nodded. “There will be unique items and materials from all over there. Nothing we could afford, obviously, but we could at least see something cool.”

“Why would I want to spend hours watching people buy things?” Chris frowned.

“I would literally die of boredom.” Greg shuddered.

“I was just putting it out there.” Alaric grumbled. “What are you going to do?”

“I haven't decided yet.” Chris replied. “The Center Market Square sounds interesting.”

“Yeah, I'd be down to check that out.” Greg agreed. “A bunch of interesting goods we can actually afford. Oh! There's got to be tons of new foods there!”

“Hm.” Chris nodded.

“What about the demonstration?” Jade offered.

“Could be interesting, I guess?” Greg shrugged. “Depends on how they do it. If it's about showing off what they're capable of, it could be fun, but if they're just sparring or something it's kinda meh.”

“I don't see what's so entertaining about watching other people show off.” Chris frowned.

“It isn't about the showing off, it's about the performance.” Greg retorted. “If you're going to show off, you're going to make sure what you're showing off is impressive. Like you could have the biggest house around, but if it's ugly as hell, you aren't going to be showing it off. In order to show something off, it needs a certain level of… pizazz, you know?”

Chris cocked his head. “I suppose that makes sense. Sure, that could be interesting to check out then.”

D finished eating, pulling up her face covering. “The demonstration is definitely about showing off and attracting disciples. Not everyone immediately agrees to join a sect at the first offer and a good performance can sway those on the fence to join yours over anothers.”

Greg nodded. “Makes sense.”

“That's all in the future though.” Jaime commented. “Is there anything anyone wants to do tonight?”

“Ugh, I already spent half the day standing in line.” Greg groaned. “I don't want to do anything but sit around right now. Maybe play cards or something.”

“I could play cards.” Alaric agreed. “Does anyone have a deck?”

“I do.” Chris replied, pulling one out. “What's the game?”

“Y'all ever heard of rummy?” Greg offered.

*

The six of them spent the next few hours playing cards and slowly getting to know each other. No more tri-cores joined them, so they were fairly certain they were the only ones recruited so far. Elder Jocelyn briefly stopped in to eat her own meal, watching Greg curiously, like she was trying to piece together a puzzle, but she didn't seem to find a satisfactory answer before she left, looking vaguely frustrated as she did. Eventually it got late and they all began heading back to their own rooms.

“Alright, I'm heading to bed.” Greg waved vaguely at D, taking off all his clothes, with the exception of his underwear, before climbing into bed. He glanced over towards D, only to see her standing next to her bed, looking uncomfortable. “You okay?”

“I- didn't think this through.” D muttered, flushing slightly. There was no way she could sleep in her heavy outfit, but she also couldn't take it off with Greg in the room, and that didn't even consider her undergarments, which she might be able to handle, but she'd prefer not to. “Could you step outside for a moment?”

“You don't think that'd be suspicious?” Greg asked, raising an eyebrow at her. “I can just close my eyes. Oh! Better yet-” His eyes were covered by a thick layer of skin. “-no eyes at all! Do what you need and just let me know when you're done.”

D hesitated. “You promise you won't look?”

“Sure. I'm not desperate enough to steal a peek at anyone. Plus, what's the point of seeing someone naked if you can't do anything about it? Like the difference between a painting of a cake and the real deal. I have no interest in looking at cake, I want to eat it.” Greg replied, before pausing. “Ahem, stressing the fact that I would only eat the cake is said cake was willing to be eaten. I won't eat a cake that isn't mine.”

D glared at him for a moment. “If I catch you looking, I don't care what the consequences are, I will end you.”

“You can try.” Greg chuckled. “But you won't have to, don't worry.”

D grimaced, before letting out a frustrated groan. She waved her hand in front of Greg's eyes, making sure he had no reaction before starting to strip off the heavy outfit, keeping her eyes on Greg to make sure he didn't look. She had to look away as she leaned down to rummage through her bag for her night clothes, when Greg let out an impressed whistle. D immediately flushed, jolting up and covering herself. “You-!”

“Kidding, kidding!” Greg cackled. “Sorry, when I heard you going through your bag, I couldn't resist.” D narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously, leaning down again to mess with her bag, but keeping her eyes on Greg. “Man, whatever you're looking for must be buried in there.” Greg muttered.

D flushed again, quickly turning back to her bag, getting her night clothes out and putting them on before crawling under the covers. “Okay, you can uncover your eyes now.” She announced.

“Eh, I'm good.” Greg waved. “It's actually kinda nice. Like a night mask.”

D shook her head. “You must have a special Rune to do what you do. Is it your Spirit Rune?”

“Uh… can we actually keep that between the two of us?” Greg coughed awkwardly. “It isn't an ability I'd like people to know I have at the moment.”

D paused, before nodding. “I understand.” It was always good to keep a few hidden cards, just in case. She hesitated, frowning slightly as something occurred to her. “Why would you risk using it to help me?”

Greg shrugged. “I felt like it? I enjoyed talking to you, you looked like you might be in trouble, and I had the ability to help. What's the point of even having an ability like this if I can't use it to help people I like? Besides, it isn't like it'd be terrible if people found out what I could do, it'd just be… inconvenient.”

D smiled slightly. “Even so, thank you.”

Greg waved dismissively. “It's nothing, honestly.” He hesitated, considering something for a moment. “If- things might get- difficult in the Hidden Blades. If they do… you can come to me. I can help. Okay?”

D blinked. “What- what do you mean?”

Greg shook his head. “I can't explain, but… trust me, alright?”

D frowned for a moment, before nodding slightly. “Okay… I'll trust you.” She wasn't sure if she meant it, but right now… she wanted to trust him.

“Oof, that got heavy.” Greg huffed. “Oh, shit, what's your real name? I mean, you don't have to tell me, but-”

“It's Daphne.” Daphne cut him off.

Greg grinned. “Right… Well, good night Daphne.”

“Good night, Yrogerg.” Daphne smiled.

“Uh… Greg, actually. But don't tell anyone that either.” Greg coughed.

Daphne blinked, before letting out a snort. “I was right. You have too many secrets.”