A dark circle had taken root under his eyes, adding even more darkness to his already gloom expression.

He walked into the organisation, taking notice of the Light Sigil Emblem at the top. He stopped and stared at it. Soon, that Emblem would be in every building at the Academy.

A constant reminder that the whole district belonged to them, and that they were always watching.

"Killian!"

His shoulders relaxed slightly as he turned to her, "Hey, Evelyn." He looked away from the emblem and towards his teammates who waved at him. "Are you feeling better, Juda?"

Juda shrugged, arranging his hair behind his ears. "The Doctor said I can continue my rest after my transfer. Apparently, I’m being sent to another hospital."

Killian noticed his hair had grown longer than he usually styled it, likely due to how much time he had stayed in a coma. He raised the gift bag he held. "When I come back from the academy, let’s go out and eat."

Evelyn, who had been shaking from excitement at the gifts, grabbed him immediately and opened it.

Killian sat back, watching them happily tear the gift box open.

He tried to distract himself from the pending message in his WLog that he had no control over since he had been assured that if there was any news, he would be in the know.

Juda took out the metallic casing, with dropped jaws. "This?!"

Killian snapped back to their present. "Yes, what?"

Evelyn grabbed the casing, and shook it. Her eyes widened when she heard the metals clanging together. "A real Tiger-Claw Tipped Mech Glove!" She checked the casing and yelled again. "And the latest edition?!"

Their reaction confused Killian who wasn’t really paying attention. He wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t like the gift since he was horrible at picking gifts.

But the gifts he picked were useful, at the very least.

"Juda, you know how you had to exert a lot to kill a Direwolf last time. This will help you deal more damage." He pitched the usefulness.

He took out the green cased package meant for Evelyn and tapped it lightly. "These drones sync with your mechanical gear and give you more range. They work well with your element too."

The teammates stared at him with disbelief. Evelyn looked at the present and calmly took it from him, staring at the package. Juda spoke first.

"Killian, we know very well what they can do. It’s just that... They are a little too... expensive. That is our major concern." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Killian’s back straightened. "Oh."

He stared at the price tag on Juda’s casing. His eyes lost their vision for a split second. It was a whopping W10,000, but his face didn’t break a sweat.

He had only told his sister’s servant what to buy and given her the card’s limit as a budget. When he got the gifts, he was pleased with it and never asked for a receipt.

’Did Quara ask me to return that card? I hope not.’

He leaned on his seat, running his hands through his hair to calm himself after looking at Juda’s gift and realizing it was even more expensive than Evelyn’s.

"As long as you two like it." he said softly.

"That’s so boujee, Killian." Evelyn laughed. "But no take backsies. Good thing I got a limited edition for you too." She pulled out her present from a box.

Juda hesitated, then threw his head back. "You rich kids are making me feel bad now. This was supposed to be a simple gift exchange, not a weaponry stash."

.

.

The registration hall was empty as he walked in. It was completely different from the time he registered as a Warden.

’Well, there are only six people who need to register at the academy this time.’ He knocked once at the door.

He got a reply, and walked in. An old man with square rimmed glasses sat at the counter. Three others were there.

Killian calmly took down the headphones on his head, and returned it to his side, pinning it on a garter. He exhaled before strolling in. Two pairs of eyes followed him.

He recognised the girl, Kirara, watching him intently. That was odd because they had never spoken before. When he looked back at her, her eyes darkened and she looked away.

"What’s that supposed to mean?" He whispered under his breath. He continued to the desk and dropped his badge. As he guessed, Theodore joined him a second later.

"Hey, I heard about what happened yesterday from my older brother."

Killian didn’t know how to reply to that. There was still no good follow-up reply 20 hours later. "Yeah..."

"Cool headphones, by the way." Theodore added.

A small crease flashed on Killian’s forehead. The boy always jumped from one conversation to another. He couldn’t understand what he wanted from him now.

He signed on the paper given to him by the old man.

"Thank you."

Theodore was given a sheet of paper too. Killian looked into it, and wondered why he hadn’t registered before he came. Someone else walked into the room at that point.

"So, you would be paired up with me during the trials, right?"

Killian’s hands stopped mid-air. There was something about how Theodore asked that made him overthink his intentions again. He had suddenly raised his voice too.

He glanced at his side. Keith was the one that just walked in, and was seated, waiting for the ones at the counter to be done.

’So this is what is going on. I have to choose somebody to be my partner and I already have difficult options.’

He knew he could never truly feel relaxed around Theodore. It was like having a second George around him. Unpredictable and stronger than they give off.

Also, always trying to be friends with him. "Do you have no one else to pair with? I can’t believe I’m your only option."

"Actually yeah. You are." Theodore said quickly. His hand hovered around the last box to fill. "So?"

Killian swallowed hard. His vision narrowed at the last box he had to fill on his paper. The partner he would decide for his duel. ’Trapped between the devil and the deep blue sea, huh?’

Either decision would be one he would badly regret.

"Yeah, I’d pick the deep blue sea."