Tompas stands beside the window, knowing very well that Agatha is interested in his opinion, more than he is in hers. He voices it in his own way. He isn't sure of the bigger picture, but if anything, his opinion is worth the gold.
Agatha walks to his side, and like any normal-sized human, she is tiny compared to this mountainous man. “Define the right way, Tompas. We want to see the effects and powers of all kinds of Emblems and figure out the truth long ago. It is constant. The stranger, the better they can be to further our progress. Making some unfounded judgments, or even experiments isn't something needed. All that is needed is actual facts that we can see in our own eyes, and not worry about anything else.” Agatha says, her gaze going completely beside the tall Tompas, to seek outside.
Tompas snorts, finding those words hilarious in many ways, and absolutely horrendous in others. “Experiments are there to provide value and are part of the history where people didn't know what to expect or know. It was there to get a better understanding when meeting unexpected and unknown entities, and all sorts of things. Of course, Emblems or Walkers, they are one thing and common sense is the other. I just hope it won't lead to dissatisfaction on many sides, when disaster may strike us again. Well, not us, but someone, or a lot of others. When I see those kinds and the current times, I can't help but think of the future. Isn't that just right? They are changing. Everything is.”
“Can't say I disagree, but a lot of people are of various opinions. What about the kid before? Can you give me your opinion about him?”
“You are asking about the Annihilation kid in particular? I thought you are here for the general gist of my opinion, but it is about this one?” Tompas asks, surprised but not hesitant. “Well, if anyone, I can give a lot of answers. There is a clear instability with this sort of Emblem, and it is a Wild one. It didn't like me... I fear, nor gave me any face.”
“Wild one, huh?” Agatha sights. “Again with the Annihilation... I fear the mistakes will happen again.”
“Depends on the quality of body and mind.” He added and glanced at the pair outside that finally disappeared to the streets. “If anything, the Wild ones are various, but what about the one to cherish it, hm? That boy's rate of improvement is good I suppose, and his Emblem is steady in his hand as if it is part of him. That is good, and surprising, considering he isn't even that far from the Awakening. But I don't understand one thing, Agatha...” Tompas frowns, and touch his face with his palm, scratching it.
“What is it? Feel free to tell me anything. I am all ears, as I should be.”
“Making Roman Antler involved is plain stupidity in my humble opinion, yet he got involved in this case again? What in the world they thought about that? Aren't they careful, or already so detached from reality, they can't see straight?”
“I don't follow which they are you implying.” Agatha plays a stupid one, albeit not in a way that is appropriate.
“Wankers in the Federation, or is this something Margareth from the East Isles did or wanted? I doubt that. She is too full of herself, and this case of the Awakening was some form of vacation for herself to let loose. For once, your Butlers did more than her, but again, the Principal also went there, as far as I know.” Tompas says, clearly agitated by this whole ordeal that went on behind the scenes. A whole lot of things went behind the Awakening, and it involved all the organizations in the world and the most powerful Walkers.
“Do you know the name of that boy?” Agatha asks without giving him the answer. She may listen, but she has every right to not talk about things that are hiding behind the scenes. Tompas understands this, so that is why he doesn't pester her, nor is upset by the lack of her talking.
“Name? Nah. No one at least mentions these things to me. Don't need them. The same goes for everyone in the Trials. They aren't important. Results are, but if I am to tell someone, apart from the son of Prime Hunter for obvious reasons, I can't tell a thing.”
“Figures. You haven't changed, and I like that. So, does the name Gale ring a bell to the big head of yours?”
“Gale? Not much, apart from some gossips a decade or two ago There were a... bu Oh!” Thomas shouts, remembering something at last. “I've go it. An Annihilation... of. Of course. Of course. Gale. That wanker. I know that one, which speaks for me. Interesting. Is that kid...”
“...You have no idea about the bigger picture, though, don't you?” Agatha says, clearly aware of something much more than he knows.
“Bigger or lesser, I can't care about management, nor have I got a lot of that in the past. Presence is different, however. I was a Field Captain. I didn't care for research back then, but now, it is different. It's a long time ago, so is he his kid? I don't remember the specifics, but some missions about Origin. What about the mother? I remember some dramas around back then, but they didn't reach the Outside, nor many divisions. Only a few.” he says, obvious to any form of politeness, or thing he should know or remember.
He lacks keenness of memories about people, but when it comes to the Walkers, he is one that anyone can rely on.
Agatha visibly frowns, her hand clutches behind her back, and her brows twist. “That's something a lot of people would love to know too. It is Classified, and it is also unknown what happened with Gale. Even the existence of this kid is something the Federation got a while ago, while they didn't even inform us until recently. Can you imagine that? It is about Clasiffied rank, and they took it for...” she says, forcing her words out, but Tompas laughed and stops her.
“I don't care for much of your complaints. Never been one to be a pillow to talk to. Trust me. Politics or not, Federation wankers are helpful, while we are here. Simple as that, so what about it? Have you got enough from me? I can talk for ages, although the kid didn't tell me much. I looked enough, however. So?”
Agatha doesn't take no for an answer, so she snorts, and ends this conversation with a stomp, before walking away.
She stops behind the chair as if she realized her wrongdoings. “I will talk to you later after these Trials. It is about Emblems, after all. Can you at least manage any potential outburst of his Annihilation before we will get to know more? This is bigger than some present time, according to the information we have, but it is old, hard to guess, and involves mess that reeks blood.”
“Again, you speak more than you wish, but no. I refuse. There are better options than me, but talk? Sure, count me in, but I wouldn't call it an option. More like a variable, and I am not one to be the most interested in this kid. ” Tompas says, still intrigued by her strange answer that speaks many secrets.
Tompas may be Rank 8, but he is never one to care about politics or management of the Walker organizations, even though his Rank is that high.
“Figures you would say that. Have a good day then and I will hear you soon.” Agatha says, disappearing into the door before a blip shatters the space, and she is no longer in the room.
Tompas takes this with a smile, but then, he thinks of Gale, and what it entails.
“She talked about Gale's kid alone, but there are others to be worried about as well. Is this her, or someone wants more information? Who? Tiberon? Who else is up to Agatha? Hm... Pretty much everyone, or the... Principal? Times sure are changing and becoming chaotic.” he sights, before going back to work.
***
Time flows through the motion of this planet, making the lives pass by with their worries or fun, while the Outside is a massive pile of death and darkness. But there are places that are surviving, and some places that seem to be away from the apocalyptic sights.
At the moment, there are 5 groups of the first timers, with their respective students accompanying them. Each is going by their day, teaching, and sightseeing the Academy grounds. No one is opted out of the pairing which is a custom for this sort of occurrence, apart from some rarer occurrence.
Stark, Louise, and Rozzante are alone and without any students. Apart from Rozzante, the rest are familiar with the Academy because of their status. Then, there is Celleste and Sharie, who have a single student that follows them, even though one of them wants her, and the other does not. Onga, Kiryu, and William are alone, with each having their own following student to give them some familiarity.
At the moment, William sits at the table and faces Jullieta opposite to him. He is gulping down a tasty soup with some noodles and all sorts of seasonings. She took him for a meal, as she promised, which leaves William extremely happy and fulfilled. They already talked for some time, and William no longer thinks of her as annoying.
“What do you mean?” William asks after gulping down the noodles.
“I mean what I said.”
“You mean we will be classmates because we are the 58th batch, and you were the 57th? How does this work? Classmates....”
“It is exactly how it sounds.” Jullieta nods, revealing much-founded knowledge that she knows for a long time. There aren't a lot of students in each batch, so the Academy combines the 2 batches to form a class. Though it's somewhat troublesome revealing it now, it's not like someone will scold her for that.
William is yet to even become a student, yet she talks as if he will finish the 3rd Trial on a whim. She is quite unyielding and carefree when it comes to any verbal and wordy affairs.
“Wait... wait.” William pauses his eating or chewing, clearly confused by her revelation. He is yet to process the exquisite food before him, which consists of a rich soup base, long noodles, meat, some veggies, and whatnot. There are some oil sauces and chili seasoning and it makes him question reality by how good it tastes. It's like having soup, and a full meal in one sitting.
It's marvelous, causing his mind to shift to praise this food, and not care about her words. Jullieta stops it from happening too often to his liking.
“Then why in the world you had to fight us? What's the point of being classmates if you are half a year ahead? That doesn't make sense. That is quite a massive difference between our experiences with Emblem and yours. Having a high advantage over us, 58th bunch, I mean.” William argues, which causes her to smile since she long ago forced answers from some people she knows. Her uncle in particular helped the most.
“It is to form a connection, teamwork, and because that is how it goes. Simple, isn't it?” she answers, which doesn't mean shit to William, who still doesn't get it.
“You mean the teamplay you mentioned before is that important? How every 2 batches are formed into a class, and then into squads for missions or whatnot? You said something else through. I can't remember.” he struggles to think but to no avail.
“Half a year is nothing much. This sort of time will pass before it even means something, since we are all growing, and progression in System and our Emblem or Mindless Eyes is slowing down. You will get it whether you will become a Student or not.”
“Huh... At least for the sake of the Academy, it makes sense. It is similar to how my....” William struggles with how to call Mi-Yung and Ellie. “...teachers, explained to me many things. They taught me Walker's words and world. There is Hunter's Association that is similar to this, isn't it? It seems so to me.”
“Yea. Yea. I agree, but this is much early for us or you, as Association is kind of advanced and doesn't take inexperienced folks that easily. It's a case of elitism, talents, and simply because they don't want any burden. But it isn't so bad as I talk about it. I have no idea about their internal politics since I never interacted with them.”
“So it's your assumption from your research and things you learned about?”
“Yep.”Jullieta nods, diving her spoon into her bowl.
William sights, looking at his almost empty bowl, and thinks that Jullieta seems confident about not even knowing the whole picture. At least it is something, so he doesn't complain.
“You have yet to answer me something,” William remembers something he told her about, but she cleverly dodged that with further questions, broadening the former topic away.
“Eh? You have quite a memory, but I won't talk about the 3rd Trial if you mean what I think. Tiberon isn't one to take things in a normal way, and I bet he will make something crazy with the 3rd Trial as he did with that skyscraper.” she says, not revealing much since she has no idea about Tiberon's plans.
3rd Trial as a whole may not change, but its context, mission, and what they should do, can.
In all senses of purpose, Tiberon is an utter piece of work regarding any kind of normalcy and plan.
Even his 2nd Trial was way too quick and crude. Letting out 8 out of 10 participants to succession is questionable by other hegemons of the Academy. Though, he doesn't care, since he has his own reasonable answers and work ethic that no one will question.
One of his rules, which is clearly beyond others, is steady and childish but it makes one smile at this world. One has to live to the fullest, which is a saying that goes with him throughout his life.
Emptying his bowl, William pats his stomach. He at least feels full, and not much, which is a welcoming change from overeating.
Right opposite him, Jullieta also finishes her meal, which is her favorite, so she had no choice but to take him here.
“Huh... This was delicious, wasn't it?” she says, making William think of other things than whatever he is thinking about. She seems to get to know him better in the past hour than when they fought, and it makes sense. William can be overly serious but not always. She likes that.
“Yea. yeah. Delicious it was, but what now? Aren't you already fed up with me enough? Am I supposed to go to some hotel or something now that I am full?” I can sleep on the grass without a problem by the way.” William says, oblivious to anything he is supposed to be doing according to Jullieta and her purpose.
There is only one thing on his mind at the moment, and that's the 3rd Trial tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, he is yet to know the location of the Trial, since Jullieta isn't talking about it whatsoever.
She didn't answer any of his questions regarding that, meaning she will follow him through this pairing, all the way to the morning.
“Worry not.” She says, smacking the table with her palms, and gestures for him to leave the restaurant. She tosses some coins to the counter, and leaves after paying his and her meal. “I have a nice apartment, so there is a place for you to stay. But the forest or grass doesn't sound that bad, I reckon. Hm? Have you done that often Outside?”
“More than I wished actually”
“Then no worries, I have my place. It's not far from where you are meant to be in the morning, so don't worry about it already.”
Talking 3 times over not worrying about something isn't the right thing to tell a worried person. That is easily said than done, and William feels he has no choice by to comply.
Going through the night outside wouldn't hurt him, but since she offers him a place to stay in, he won't complain, even though he is still questioning this time. The whole situation.
For god's sake, we were fighting as if we would destroy each other and she is so friendly right now? How in the flying moon am I supposed to think? Are things in the Academy this were? Are they fighting one another all day long? It doesn't make me one bit comfortable with myself. He laments inside his mind, thinking of many questions, as they walk below the night sky.
Even here on the Academy grounds, he could see the starry sky, which appears to be more beautiful than usual. It eases his mind for some reason, and even the strain in his right hand is noticeably weaker.
“What are you wondering there in your head for? I am also tired, so let's go.” Julieta says, stopping William from his momentary reverie. He kind of likes this version of the sky, which is different from his memory, but not so much for him to question his mind.
Walking with her further, they soon reach the intersection of the biggest islands. This one goes from west to east.
Jullieta leads him to a series of residential parts, which looks quite luxurious to normal standards. William even wonders why they are like this, considering the state of humanity is so poor. The functionality is much more prominent than some luxury or whatnot.
It seems that humanity or at least some part of it still likes to go by this past, even though it doesn't seems logical. Jullieta enters not a skyscraper, as William assumes since it is close and towering over this land.
Instead of that, she enters a wide, and tall, castle-looking building. There are some sections that resemble an old caste, and it's made of 4 wings, and 4 huge towers--like the 4 parts of the Academy Isles if that is making sense.
There are 4 towers, with further floors, and it is as large as any kind of apartment complex.
“Come in. This is an apartment complex for the more prominent members of the Academy, so I am sure you won't mind it,” she tells, stepping through the front door, which is a gate in itself.
Why this looks so damn fancy... I don't get this. William thinks but still chose to follow.
Similar to the outside, which is made of very smooth stone bricks, the inside is similar in style but looks much cleaner, and minimalistic. The walls are still made of stone, but there are many rugs around the wooden floor. It makes the room rather cozy, while electric lamps and lighting throughout the ceiling make it rather bright, and cozy. There are many windows, with visible light from the streets, or the night sky.
It definitely doesn't look overly fancy, much to William's surprise.
Though it is soon shattered, as he discovers that the quarter of the whole ass tower is hers.
Sections of the 4 towers, with their respective wings, have various accommodations and act as apartment complexes. That means that each tower is a separate place for living spaces. Each has 4 sectors for the respective residence while the wings have others too. There is a simple staircase at the entrance that leads to their respective floors.
She let him straight to her floors.
Everything is rather simple, for what it is, but William doesn't get it.
It is too big!
Inside her apartment, William finds it somewhat similar in style to what Mi-Yung and Luke have. The only difference is the size of the rooms and how much space she has. Only so much can go there, and he sees a lot of empty spaces.
There is a simple sofa, which faces a huge window that overlooks the academy from the 8th floor. The kitchen goes right alongside it, and there aren't many walls, which makes this apartment very open. Though, it doesn't mean there aren't any. It's the same with Mi-Yung and her apartment, and the place has the bathrooms and a few guest rooms in separate rooms.
Here, it's the same, and Jullieta shows him 4 whole guest rooms the size of the one that used to be his room before.
Seeing that, William turns his head towards Jullieta, who appears quite smug about something.
“Is it to your liking?” She asks, expecting some form of big thank you in return.
“You live here alone?” William asks quite bluntly, and without hidden or ulterior intentions behind it. He is honestly curious.
“W-why do you ask? Doesn't it make sense that a girl can live alone?” she mumbles.
“I mean... It's so large... So damn large waste of space.” William is speechless and reveals his stupefied wonder out loud.
“Oh, that? I am actually hoping to have some roommates, but I am waiting for your batch to see who would be available. No one wanted to come here from mine. They argued it was too big, or it was an excuse since they found me annoying. I wonder about that to this day.” Julieta says with a smile.
Her face wonders about something, so she steps forward and looks at William up close. “Do you think I am annoying, hm? I wonder.”