On top of the stone stairs was Officer Trant, a man of few words of encouragement, as he promptly led them inside the familiar training hall. Rain himself was quite nervous; he had never been in an environment like this. It was rare enough for him to be in the company of others, let alone train together. Although it all seemed intimidating, his mind found respite in the fact that they would start their sorcery training from the ground up; the same could not be said for the combat training, which was to follow shortly after.

  Since they arrived early in the training hall yesterday, Rain couldn’t quite imagine how the atmosphere would feel with hundreds of other trainees. Upon opening the large front doors, the echoing sounds of sorcery flew in the air. Rain also noticed how easily mana started to flow around him. With so many trainees using their Reflections, the natural environment felt a shift.

  “The changing rooms are on your right, you have five minutes.”

  Rain wondered how many groups had their sessions simultaneously. It would be quite difficult to concentrate if hundreds of other Reflections flew around the training hall. Entering the enormous changing room, he was met with dozens of others already preparing for their sessions. Following along with Lance, the trio found a corner and began changing into their training clothes. Rain took out an opaque plastic bag he had received. Inside, he found a tight black shirt and pants that were quite well-made, better than any clothing he had ever owned. They were flexible enough to stretch to fit any size, while also having a texture similar to hardened leather as a means of protection. He had learned from the others that the training equipment they used was not the best, but if this was bad, then what were the others used to?

  The room was quite loud with conversation, as the numerous groups stuck together rather than exploring new friendships. Something Rain was quite fine with. Right as he finished, a mocking voice echoed from behind him.

  “Well, I’ll be damned…If it isn’t Lance Dyne…What are the odds we would wind up in the same camp?”

  Upon hearing the scornful voice, Lance tensed his body and stared down at the figure in front of him. The young man was a bit shorter than Rain, but his personality shone through his body, as he sneered at Lance while stealing quick glances at Yuol and himself. His longer blonde hair parted to one side, flowing down his face. Rain instinctively knew. This guy was trouble.

  However, his counterpart, Lance, walked calmly and composed toward his adversary, speaking in a fed-up manner.

  “Pretty high, actually…considering we live close and took the same bus.”

  “Aw, were you looking for me? I’m touched, Lance.”

  A bright smile appeared on his face as he teased the clearly jaded Lance, quickly fading, as his eyes were set on Rain.

  “And who are these dead weights? The one on the left might have a shot with that massive body…but you…you’re already dead meat, slumborn.”

  Pointing at Rain, he ran his tongue across his teeth before settling back to Lance.

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  Rain had no desire to stir up a fight here; the words he spewed had long lost meaning to him throughout the years of discrimination.

  “Worry about your own skin first, Ves.”

  Lance quickly interjected before giving Rain a chance to follow up.

  Ves’s eyes glowed in amusement:

  “Oh, you think I won’t make it, Lance? I bet you’re real curious about my Reflection, aren’t you?... Tell me, how’s your sister?”

  The air instantly grew colder at Naomi’s mention. Rain could suddenly see his own breath, as Lance clearly fueled his Reflection while stepping forward.

  “Ves, tell me, you wanna lose your left eye this time?”

  Step by step, he closed the distance between the two of them, with Ves clearly provoked by his words.

  ‘That’s not good.’

  Seeing the situation at hand, both Yuol and Rain jumped into action, putting a hand on either of Lance’s shoulders. Cold to the touch, Lance stopped in his tracks, and slowly, the frost subsided.

  Ves took one step forward and said:

  “We’ll see about that, won’t we?”

  Spitting on the ground, he turned around and walked across the locker room. In this moment, Rain realized the room was in complete silence, as all trainees were staring at them the entire time, hypnotized by the situation at hand.

  Taking a deep breath, Lance turned around and sat down on the bench.

  “Sorry, I lost my cool there. Thanks for the help.”

  “Who was that guy?”

  Rain was curious about the whole situation; they clearly knew each other and, by the way things went, did not have a good relationship. Especially after mentioning Naomi.

  “Ves Brixten…he’s a dick.”

  ‘Well, that I figured out on my own.’

  “We went to school together and were in the same private training group. Always looking down on everyone, thinking he was the best. Until he started losing in combat, then he really became obsessed with showing off.”

  “Losing to you, I imagine?”

  “Yeah. Ever since he learned that he couldn’t win against me in combat, he’s always trying to piss me off somehow. Especially in public places.”

  “And what does Naomi have to do with it? You seemed very angry.”

  Lance stood up and signaled the listening duo to start walking:

  “When he found out I didn’t care about public appearances, he started going for Naomi…Last year, while in training, he went in very hard on her even as the fight had already ended. So the next day…I slashed his eye out.”

  ‘What the hell? This guy is a maniac…’

  “Oh…That’s…But he had both of his eyes right now.”

  “I mean, yeah, we always had healers on hand in case something happened. Still…his pride was hit the most.”

  “Anyway…Story for another time. Let's go in.”

  The trio entered the hall, two being more puzzled at what they just heard than the other.

  “Yuol…Is that a normal thing to happen?”

  Both of them stared at Lance’s back from behind before Yuol answered:

  “No…His family is richer than we thought.”

  Now, even more puzzled, Rain shot his eyes to Yuol:

  “No, I mean the eye thing. He cut a guy’s eye out.”

  “Oh, sorry. That does happen sometimes, yeah.”

  Perplexed, Rain just walked forward towards the main area of the hall, where Officer Trant stood in wait for them.

  ‘These people are insane. Now I understand why Lance thought the clothes were shabby…He’s rich.’