When class finished, Uriel attempted to find an opportunity to talk things over with Tina, but she darted out of the classroom without giving him the chance. He followed her outside the faculty building, only to be stopped at the exit by Mark and his goons.

"Hey! you lost your chance already, leave her alone Urinal!" Mark said pushing Uriel without using too much force. He knew Uriel was a wimp and no matter how influential his father was, he could still get in trouble if he attacked another student out of the blue and the other resulted wounded.

"Leave me alone Mark, I'm not in the mood today." Uriel said trying to push past him, but it proved to be impossible.

"You just don't get it, do you? She's way out of your league, don't embarrass yourself any further. I'm just saying this cause I'm your friend. Now, get lost before I lose my patience!"

It had been an awful day for Uriel so far, but he was already on the verge of a mental breakdown. Enduring the abuse for so long, first from his uncle and high school teachers, then from his roommates and even professors. Uriel was one step from spiraling down to madness.

Clenching his fists with all his might and gritting his teeth was the only thing he could do to feel better, even if he had the strength to beat Mark, which he did not, it would only end up in getting expelled and that was something Uriel couldn't stand. Studying was the only way for him to climb out of poverty and maybe, just maybe, find out the truth about what happened to his parents.

The large clock tower on campus resounded signalling it was noon already and the students nearby hurried their pace to get to class leaving Uriel with no choice but to let Tina go. He could only watch in despair as Mark turned on his heels to follow her and provide his support to the heartbroken girl.

In a daze, Uriel let a couple minutes pass as he couldn't muster the courage to move from his spot. All he could think of was of Tina and what would happen next. When Uriel came back to his senses he rushed towards the gym, it was time for the mandatory physical training imposed by the army.

Every college student was subjected to this course of training, no exceptions were made unless someone failed the health requirements.

"Alright maggots, take a lap around the gym and you better give it your best or I'll make you keep running until you drop dead."

Captain Silvermane shouted with a grin on his face. He was a middle age man with a muscular physique and a torso much more developed than his legs, it gave him a somewhat comical appearance, but his deep angry voice countered every possible mockery before it even happened. Uriel didn't know much about him, the only times he talked to him was to scold him about being a wimp or getting tired too easily. One of the few things he knew about the captain was that Silvermane wasn't his real name but a nickname, oddly enough, his hair was black and he didn't have a clue about the reason behind people calling him like that.

If he had gray hair it would be obvious, but even the well trimmed beard on his square face was black. Like any aspirant archaeologist, Uriel couldn't stand being in front of a mystery without attempting to solve it which was the reason why he took a glance at the captain any time he thought he could do so unnoticed.

Before running the first quarter of the lap he was supposed to, Uriel was already sweating profusely. He just wasn't built to do any physical effort, every single one of his talents was of an intellectual nature and he just didn't see the point in sweating.

"You there! yes, the wimpy one! if you finish last again I swear on the flag you'll regret it!"

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'Oh! crap! he's talking to me!' Uriel thought as he prepared himself to sprint. 'Redirect all power to my legs' he joked inwardly, pretending he was a ship in one of those old sci-fi shows. Of course he also did put all of his effort into running to avoid finishing last, but it turned out to be useless.

"Don't say I didn't warn you, you're the last one again miss Cassandra" The man stood in front of her with a threatening demeanor, but the girl remained unfazed.

Her face was aloof and expressionless, as if the hulking man in front of her was invisible. She didn't even seem to be tired, she just didn't care.

"I see you're pretty good at pointing out the obvious."

"Oh, and now you got an attitude. Drop and give me five!"

"What's the point?"

Her cold reply didn't make any sense to Silvermane, he wasn't a bad guy nor was he unreasonably strict and, despite using harsh words all the time, he was well liked by everyone. Yet, he was a simple minded man and, when he couldn't understand the girl in front of him his mind collapsed for a few seconds.

"I said, what's the point..."

"Do you not understand the importance of staying fit? I'm only being strict to increase your chances of surviving!"

"Pfff, yeah, nope, I can do that pretty well by myself. I don't need to do this stupid laps, or anything. The only reason I'm taking this course it's because it's mandatory, but there's no need to be any good at it."

Her words opened Uriel's eyes, he had been doing his best all this time to avoid getting scolded by captain Silvermane. It's been over a month in which his legs hurt all the time and he felt he was wasting his time sweating when he could've been studying hard for important subjects, like professor's Pangiotis anthropology class for example.

He couldn't believe that he never realized that there was no need to try hard on the physical training, he only needed to attend. It was only thanks to that girl, Cassandra, that he was now free from this physical torture the captain called training.

"You really don't get it, you think you're all high and mighty because you're studying and will become scholars, but don't forget that the army could eventually draft you in case of an emergency and if that happens, it's better if you're fit enough to not be a nuisance."

"I said it already, what's the point? All I need is to get a strong trait and that will be it."

Cassandra scoffed at the captain making him flush in anger.

"It's funny that you mention traits, because if you happen to get a physical trait you'll be forced to fight on close combat and if you're not ready..."

"Whatever."

Cassandra looked the other way signalling that she wouldn't be listening to anything else the captain had to say.

In the end and, despite having every intention to give up on his physical training, Uriel couldn't drag his feet like he wanted because captain Silvermane became even more strict after his encounter with Cassandra. The first time he attempted to slack off he was targeted by the captain who scolded him in front of everyone, that's when he realized that he couldn't handle the pressure as well as Cassandra did.

"Gather 'round kids, I got something to say." Captain Silvermane cleared his throat before continuing. "As you all know, the army is in charge of your first incursion that will take place next week. If you want to participate you have to get the permission signed and don't forget to pay for your tickets, the university won't be paying for your travel expenses unless you get a trait, and since it's your first time it's obvious most of you don't have one. This is a once in a lifetime chance and if you don't take it you'll regret it for the rest of your lives. It doesn't matter if you want to be academics, join the army or work behind a counter all day, whatever you decide to do will be a lot easier with a trait and this is the only time the army will be assisting you in getting it safely. That's all, class dismissed."

Uriel knew exactly what he meant by that, he himself didn't want to have anything to do with hunting or fighting and he couldn't care any less about the army. One thing he did know, though, was that if he wanted to be an archaeologist, he would be in the face of danger most of the times. He could only pray to get a trait strong enough to defend himself, but not that strong as to be forcefully drafted.

Anyway, thinking about it would make no difference if he wasn't able to get enough credits to pay for the ticket and he only had one week left.

Although he wouldn't recognize it, even to himself, he was kind of counting on Tina stepping up for him and paying for his ticket. She was rich after all and Uriel had never asked anything from her, but now that she broke up with him he deeply regretted not asking for it in advance.

'How pathetic, I can't even pay for my own ticket.' Uriel fell into a self deprecating line of thought as he kicked a stone in the ground.