Leo and Anthony opened the doors to the Medbay, and what greeted them had them frozen, the door closing behind them.

  The sound of the door closing caused the gazes of everyone inside to be directed at Leo and Anthony.

  The room was filled with what looked like officers and other officials all vying for Amanda’s attention, with Amanda herself looking drained, blankly looking up at the ceiling in her bed, her eyes completely lifeless as the people seemed to want to recruit her.

  Noticing the two inside, the nurse inside loudly yelled, “Alright everyone, out! You can talk to her later, but remember she’s a patient under my jurisdiction. Out! Let the poor girl see her friends!”

  Grumbling away, the crowd dispersed as they left the Medbay, completely clearing the room, leaving only Leo, Anthony, Amanda, the Lieutenant, and the nurse standing beside Amanda.

  Rubbing her head, the nurse softly smiled at her. “Let me know if you need anything else, sweetheart. I’ll be right over at my desk.” Checking on her patient one last time, she walked over to the back and sat by her desk facing the door.

  “As promised, you may talk, just treat it like I’m not here.” Making a peace sign, he walked into the corner of the Medbay trying to hide himself.

  Approaching Amanda, Leo and Anthony went to give her a gentle hug, careful of not harming her.

  “Missed you too,” mumbled Amanda.

  Releasing her from the hugs, Leo asked, “How’re you doing? Nothing too serious I hope?”

  Shaking her head, Amanda informed the two of how her wounds had healed from the giant dandelion. Completely healing her as far as the healer here saw.

  Satisfied with her situation, Leo and Anthony sat down on nearby chairs and finally relaxed.

  “So, your Refraction lets you talk to those flowers, huh?” Leo inquired, staring at the flowers.

  With an annoyed expression, she complained, “Those flowers just don’t stop talking…How could flowers even be so loud? I don’t get it! Ahh, how did Chris ever like these flowers?!”

  Her hands curled up into fists.

  “Speaking of flowers, can I get one? Any will do.” Leo asked.

  “Huh? Oh sure, take your pick.”

  Leo picked a hyacinth from the bouquet she had next to her. Thinking it was small enough to keep compared to the others.

  With her well-being solidified, Leo turned to the hiding Lieutenant, saying, “You can come out, Sir, we just have a few questions for you too.”

  Curious, the Lieutenant walked up to the trio with an innocent stare, hands behind his back, wondering what they’d ask him.

  But before they could get a question in, Anthony suddenly threw an unrestrained punch at the Lieutenant.

  Raising an eyebrow, the Lieutenant caught his fist as if it were a baseball. Holding it in place, he asked, “So…should I assume you're taking this personally?”

  “You got that right”, Anthony said, glaring at the Lieutenant.

  Shrugging, the Lieutenant, unbothered, let go of Anthony’s fist, walking to the other side of the bed to make the meeting more comfortable.

  “So, what are the questions? I’ll do my best to answer!”

  From what Leo saw, the Lieutenant was probably the most truthful person they’ve met so far. The actions he did, the words he spoke. His very being was an open book. It was like he just couldn’t lie.

  ‘Please be who I think you are…’

  Prepared to defend himself, Leo asked, “Why’d you vouch for Amanda? What do you want with her?”

  Unable to read the Lieutenant’s face, Leo and Anthony tensed up, ready for an attack. Luckily, the Lieutenant warmly smiled at the two as if it were an obvious answer.

  “Well it’s because her Refraction’s useful, of course.”

  “Useful?” asked Amanda, sitting up.

  “Why yes, ma’am. See, it’s a rarity for a Smogborn to have a healing-based Refraction. But a healing and supporting Refraction? It would be a crime to see you waste here, for your work requires a different expertise than fighting.” He paused a bit and corrected himself. “Now I don’t mean that you didn’t pass basic combat, no that you passed with flying colors. It’s just…”

  His face turned gloomy, tilting his head down. “There aren’t many kind people here anymore, in the North at least. And I’m not sure if you know this, but your Refraction comes from your very being. The downs you experience, the goals you strive for. Those create the core of your Refraction. And it’s been quite some time since I’ve seen someone retain such a selfless heart in these dark times, seeing as how your flowers didn’t even kill the poor girls, let alone hurt them. That alone was enough for me to see your true worth.”

  Amanda’s eyes brightened up, feeling the deep sincerity that accompanied his words. Even the flowers were agreeing with the Lieutenant, telling her that he was being completely honest.

  Leo’s tension subsided as he heard the Lieutenant. This was probably the most relaxed he’d ever been so far, never would he imagine the Lieutenant would act like this. Considering what he’s seen of the city so far.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  Amanda smiled weakly as she thanked the Lieutenant for his kind words.

  Leo and Anthony both realized how important the information they just got was. The key to their Refractions. The question was, could they get any?

  Seeing the two contemplate, the Lieutenant noted, “Now don’t think everybody can get those abilities, you two. In regards to the population, the Smogborn make up an extremely small portion of it. And even fewer become as powerful as the Councillors.”

  “The Councillors?” Leo straightened up, sensing the importance of this information.

  “See, the city is run by three Smogborn we call Councillors. These people are practically the pinnacle of humanity, contesting even the Avatars of Sin. They stay in Central though, the real city of Hellsgrog.”

  ‘Real city? Avatars?’

  Worried, Amanda asked, “Wait, what do you mean ‘real city’?”

  Raising his hand, the Lieutenant reassured, “Now don’t worry, technically we’re in Hellsgrog now, but here, we’re a colony. See, the original Hellsgrog is an island-city, right now we’re in the Northern colony of the four total colonies. There’s Chang’an to the East, Port Lexum to the South, and New Anglia to the West.”

  “Now you might be wondering, how do the councillors govern us? Well, that’s where others come into play. These individuals are called Gatekeepers, the very last defense of each colony who are equal in strength to the Councillors, maybe even more powerful.Here in the North, though, we call him the Castellan. We’re a bit different from the other colonies but you’ll be briefed on that later if you pass the other four trials.”

  “But right now, all you need to know is that you’re under the protection of the Seventh Castellan. And people in the North aren’t exactly the kindest, always resorting to violence to get what they want. That’s why I’ve vouched for Amanda here, healing abilities are just so scarce nowadays.”

  Widening their eyes, Leo and Anthony cheered for Amanda.

  “You hear that, Amanda? You’re in!” Leo exclaimed. Quickly embracing her in joy.

  Anthony, however, was shocked at the thought of skipping the trials.

  ‘So if I became a Smogborn…’

  ‘Why’d she get it…?’

  Anthony snapped his head up, shocked by his thoughts. Why did he think that? He should be happy for her! How could he think of his friend like that?

  The thought felt off, as if something else had invoked that thought.

  Shaking his head, he quickly embraced Amanda as well, congratulating her.

  After the joyous news, the Lieutenant quickly inquired, “Since we’re all alone now, may I ask you something?”

  Turning her head, Amanda asked, “What do you need?”

  Hesitating, the Lieutenant nervously asked, “I’m aware you might not want to hear this, considering all those recruiters from before, but would you be interested in joining my team under the Internal Security Division? My team is mostly based on investigating disasters or arson, so there won’t be much fighting for you. I’ll ensure you won’t be forced to do anything against your wishes, of course. I believe you’d be of much help for our team, especially saving the wounded in these horrible disasters. What do you say?”

  Amanda went into deep thought. “The benefits?”

  The Lieutenant thought for a bit. “You’ll get a personal drone, children will be watched while you’re gone, pretty good pay, and you won’t see too much serious action unless a disaster occurs. But for the most part you’ll stay in the back healing our people.”

  The benefits were amazing, a bit too amazing. Suspicious, she asked, “Why would I join you rather than the other officers? Why don’t I just work under your Castellan-”

  She quickly shut her mouth as she saw the Lieutenant flinch at the mention of his Castellan. His eyes widened in fear as he looked around to check if anybody had heard her.

  The flowers in the bouquet suddenly turned away upon hearing Amanda’s words, their petals closing as if in hiding.

  “Careful, girl. You shouldn’t say such a thing so lightly. Especially not here. The Castellan's work would not suit you. If anything, you’d be like oil and water. He is neither benevolent nor merciful, he’d probably sicken you. I believe those flowers of yours would attest to that.”

  Confused, Leo asked, “But I thought he protects you guys.”

  With a strained smile, the Lieutenant let out a small chuckle. “I guess you could call it that. It’s much better than the times before him but compared to the other colonies, it’s horrid.”

  The Lieutenant went silent as he heard footsteps walk past the door.

  “This is no matter to speak about here. I’ll stop here on that matter. But I can assure you, Amanda, that you will be treated much better in my team than anywhere else.”

  After thinking for a bit, Amanda finally replied. “I’ll accept under one condition, I will bring these two along.” She pointed at Leo and Anthony.

  The Lieutenant frowned. “It was already pushing it vouching for you, I can’t think of vouching for three whole contestants. I’m sorry.”

  “Ah, no. I was just being greedy, don’t mind it. I’ll keep thinking about this offer.”

  A gentle smile broke in the Lieutenant’s face. “Take your time.”

  ‘Well at least she tried.’

  “So, anymore questions from you two?” the Lieutenant inquired.

  Anthony quickly asked, “Could you tell us what the next test is?”

  Without hesitation, the Lieutenant answered, “Nope.”

  ‘Figures.’

  “Speaking of the trial, off you guys go back to your dorm. The next trial begins tomorrow. I will say though, it’ll be the easiest trial you’ll have.” Pausing, the Lieutenant added, ”Probably.”

  “Uh-huh…” Leo and Anthony said in unison.

  “We’ll see you inside, Amanda, just wait for us.” Leo said, trying to comfort Amanda.

  “I’m worried about you two…Just promise you guys will get past those trials. Please? And bring Diego next time…?”

  ‘Oh.’

  Leo had completely forgotten to find Diego. But based on the fact that Diego hadn’t found him, he was probably in another dorm anyway.

  “If I find him, I’ll drag him if I have to.”

  Amanda smiled and nodded.

  The duo headed for the door before the Lieutenant called.

  “Oh, and one last piece of information from before.”

  His face turned grim, with a hint of fear in his trembling eyes. Walking past them, he checked the door before whispering to them…

  “Beware the mark of the vulture.”