Following behind Administrator Reed, Kaitlyn Perez only had one thought on her mind and she rolled her eyes in annoyance.

‘Of course.’

Dragged along beside Aiden, they left the east wing and entered the building where the Administrator’s office was located. This building, akin to a castle keep, was in the middle of the academy and connected to the rest of the complex by a covered walkway. The most secure building in the entire academy, even if the area was overrun by an invading force, the entire population of the village would be able to hold out for weeks if rations were maintained. Likewise, the main office was the largest room in the academy by a wide margin.

Waving sympathetically to Warrior Sparks, the lucky member of the Order assigned to be the academy’s quartermaster but who, instead, was being treated as an assistant by the Administrator, Kaitlyn sat down beside Aiden in one of the overly familiar chairs outside the office door.

Administrator Reed looked down at the two and said in a tone that practically dared them to respond, “Sit here quietly until I call for you. Warrior Sparks will inform me if either of you so much as move from these chairs in the meantime.”

Warrior Sparks, with his shiny bald head and thick beard, looked at the two and nodded slightly to affirm the Administrator’s words.

Opening the door to her office, the Administrator shook her head and scoffed, muttering to herself loud enough to be heard, “. . .a broom closet.”

Shaking her head dazedly, she disappeared into her office, not even bothering to shut the door as she went. The door remained open, and, a moment later, Kaitlyn heard the Administrator’s voice command in a casual tone, “Close the door.”

Strangely, before either of them could react, the door had already begun to close on its own. Aiden, who was closest to the door, looked over at Kaitlyn in confusion.

"Is there someone already in there?" he asked Warrior Sparks.

Warrior Sparks glanced up at the door briefly before returning to the task of sharpening the rack of axes that were set up near his desk, "She had something come up regarding the Selection," he grunted grumpily, "it shouldn't take too long, so just sit tight."

Hearing this, neither Kaitlyn nor Aiden bothered to pry any further.

The Selection was an annual public spectacle that took place towards the end of each summer and was the time when the senior prospects would learn if they had been chosen to undergo the Screening Exam in the capital. It was a major event at every academy no matter where it was located, but, for a small village along the largest trade route on the eastern border, it was even more so.

Those that were selected would be given the chance to ascend the limits of humanity, leaving the village behind to travel to the capital and broaden their horizons; while those that failed to show promise would be summarily dismissed to return to their previous lives. This meant, for all that weren't chosen, returning to a life of farming or some other 'menial job' that would allow them to contribute to the prosperity of the region. While there were some at the academy that would prefer that, they were in the minority.

For the overwhelming majority, the Selection was their day of destiny. Regnad village would not be the place their epitaphs were written, where they lived the life of an anonymous stepstone for the growth of others. Their lives were meant for something greater.

They couldn't afford to fail.

Thinking like that, Kaitlyn just couldn’t understand it. It was funny, really.

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She was part of the minority, one of the ones that wanted to stay home and enjoy life with her family, but here she was, still at the Selection Academy despite doing everything she could to get dismissed. She'd even convinced Aiden to help her.

While everyone around her was busy working themselves to the bone to prove to the Order that they had what it takes to succeed in the Screening, she couldn't care less. Life felt like it was moving forward without her consent. Taking her along on a ride that she didn't even want to be on.

‘Who would want to risk their lives for something as stupid as glory? You say you want to help others? Try staying and helping the people in the village when the crops come in. Or join the Guard and help protect your loved ones from wild animals or bandits. There’s so much you can do here at home, but you don’t care. You just want to be seen and praised,’ she thought bitterly to herself as she watched Warrior Sparks slowly going to town on one of his axes with a whetstone, "These guys are so full of themselves, they don’t even realize that they’re all being manipulated by the capital."

Kaitlyn leaned back with her arms crossed, staring absently at the stone ceiling. She'd long become accustomed to keeping her emotions hidden from others.

‘If it weren’t for the fact that everyone who turns twenty is required to have their potential reviewed, I’d have never set foot near this place. Of course mine was good enough to become a prospect, why wouldn't it have been? It's not like I'm not great at everything I do,’ her stream of consciousness continued along like this for some time before she realized how narcistic she sounded to herself and decided to stop.

Getting the feeling that someone was looking at her, Kaitlyn followed the feeling to her right and caught Aiden glancing at her out of the corner of his eye while he was pretending to be interested in Warrior Spark’s weapons maintenance. His eyes climbed up to meet hers and then widened in surprise. Seeing that he had been caught, Aiden's head snapped forward and he started looking randomly around the room as if he had been sizing it up for escape routes. Snorting internally, she was just about to open her mouth to say something about his 'observation skills' when the door to the Administrator's office suddenly swung inward and a hooded warrior stepped out into the hall. He was wearing a standard issue Order cloak, though the man seemed to have gotten it dyed black at some point.

‘Why does this guy have his hood up indoors?’ Kaitlyn thought, raising an eyebrow, ‘What’s there to hide from?’

The hooded Warrior walked over to Sparks and hooked his head back towards Aiden and Kaitlyn behind him, not saying a word. Warrior Sparks snorted and waved his whetstone laden hand at the two sitting by the office, gesturing for them to go in.

Aiden stood up first, moving over by the door and waited for Kaitlyn who, after getting to her feet, started to make her way behind the hooded Warrior that was standing between her and the door. Facing Warrior Sparks, the hooded man had yet to move, but, while Kaitlyn was preparing to ask him, politely, what the hold up was, the man turned to the side and began heading towards the exit; brushing past Kaitlyn as he did so.

Kaitlyn froze. She had caught a glimpse of the Warrior’s face as he turned towards her, and what she saw in that brief glimpse caused her brain to grind to a complete stop and her heart rate to skyrocket.

Aiden stood by the door and watched as Kaitlyn and the hooded Warrior passed by each other. Once the man had passed and Kaitlyn had become visible again, he saw that she hadn’t moved from the spot she had been standing. Her face was deathly pale and her chest had begun to rise and fall sharply as her breathing became more and more labored.

“Kaitlyn? Kaitlyn, what’s going on? You don’t look so good,” Aiden took a few steps forward and reached out a hand to help steady her.

Warrior Sparks paused what he was doing and looked at the two in front of him, “Hey, kid. You ok?” he said uncomfortably, “if you’re gonna hurl, do it away from me. Unless you want me to hurl with you.” Aiden shot the Warrior an astonished glare.

“What? Don’t look at me like that, brat. I’ve got a sympathetic stomach,” Warrior Sparks spat at Aiden and pointed his axe at the open door, “You two better get your asses in there before the Administrator loses her patience.”

Aiden shook his head and turned back to Kaitlyn, “Hey, you going to be ok?”

Though her face was still pale and her breathing had calmed down, the voice that hollowly answered him sounded anything other than ‘ok’, “Yeah, sure. Let’s go in.”

“You sure? You looked like you just watched someone kill your family,” Aiden asked with concern. Kaitlyn nodded and took a few steps toward the Administrators office, “I’m fine, Aiden. Let’s just go in.”

Aiden watched her shuffling slowly into the office and, although he wanted to say more, stopped himself.

“If you say so.”

He followed Kaitlyn into the office and found Administrator Reed pointing at a pair of expensive looking chairs with fingers that were tipped with flickering flames.

“Take a seat. We three have much to discuss.”