It finally made sense to Killian.

Why all the newbies of this region were deemed not talented enough to be their own Regional Leader.

Almost all of the newbies had a derived element. Most common being the Sound Element and first runner-up, the Mist Element.

There were few Wardens who primarily fought with those elements so it would be hard to find a teacher who knew the element enough to teach a newbie.

Hence they had to rely on trial and error. Even the WLog didn’t have enough skills to assign based on their accomplishments so their growth would be really slow compared to others.

Just like him and his Void, except it was sentient.

Also, in a societal level, this region didn’t take being a Warden seriously unlike the other regions.

Hence, tradition dictated it was given to mostly the women, who were perceived as more flexible, and not expected to head a home. Killian found the logic backward, but he wasn’t here to judge their culture.

"All done." Killian clicked his pen, his eyes still scanning the file to be sure he didn’t make a mistake.

The line in front of him had already scattered. Shania stood beside him.

"Oh, is it because our surnames are similar?"

"Hmm?" Killian flipped the first and second page, noticing it was. "Diazan and Diaze. Is there a reason why?"

"The people of this region are descendants of seven brothers," Shania said excitedly. "We have also kept the family name for a long time. That way we can identify each other anywhere." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Killian nodded, genuinely impressed. He didn’t know how long his family had the surname Dominic for, but it would be a good idea to change it as it had racked a horrible reputation.

He paused, looking back at Shania still staring at him. "What?"

"You seemed genuinely interested to know about our region, Amega. Should I go on?"

’What is she? A representative of her people?’ Killian waved the file in front of her. "Academy. The selection. You are my assistant so please, don’t get too distracted."

Shania’s posture straightened. "Seq!"

She returned to her friends, leaving Killian curious about what she just said.

He looked back at the file, then left the room to find the lady he should submit it to.

"This is tiring." He raised his headphones to his head. "Becoming a Region Leader when I planned to stay low-key, and updated my playlist is—"

"You get to make new friends with energetic young girls." The Void jumped in.

"And some have the Sound Element you can learn a thing or two from. Your playlist can wait."

Killian’s lips curled up. "I didn’t know you had this side," he said with a judgmental tone. "It is really interesting to see."

"I am only encouraging my vessel."

"Right."

Killian knocked on the first room he found. He heard the lady’s kitten heels move to the door, so he stepped back. The door flung open.

"Killian!"

"Evelyn—" his body stiffened when her arms wrapped around his neck.. He literally stopped breathing. "G-George brought you here..." He was just saying anything.

’Obviously George brought her here.’

"Yeah! Guess what!" Evelyn pulled away. "Good news is, because the trials need six from each region, I was asked to step up and be the sixth member. The bad news is, I’m paired with Kirara."

While she laughed, Killian waited for his heartbeat to normalize before speaking. "At least you get to travel to the capital. Good for you."

"Right?" Evelyn patted her own head. "Oh, and Juda is here too." She opened the door wider, revealing Juda seated with stretched legs.

He glanced tiredly at Killian. "Hey."

"Really, ’hey’? That’s all you say after your friend survived a deadly adventure?" Evelyn said dryly, folding her arms.

"I mean, I’m still recovering from my last deadly adventure. That’s why that doctor transferred me here." Juda said quietly.

"Also, Killian should be used to it by now." A faint smile came up to Juda’s lips. "I heard you cleared a B-tier realm before you left. You live for the thrill and danger, don’t you?"

Killian looked away when Evelyn snapped her head to him.

He said nothing. If only they knew he only used the limited cards he had to train with his Void. He remembered the file in his hands.

"So, where’s George? And the lady?"

The mood shifted as he asked.

Juda’s lips tugged slightly. "Apparently, they are friends. They left to reserve the bus we needed to go to the academy."

"Both of them?" Killian asked, still clueless.

Evelyn’s eyes widened like she had the scoop of the century. "They also needed to catch-up... privately."

The way the words rolled out of her tongue made Killian lose his curiosity. He nodded, satisfied with his own conclusion.

"I... see."

He would rather not see.

.

.

The first selection for Region Amega started when the uniformed lady and George returned. The hall was filled with spectators chattering in a foreign language and the newbies in the middle.

Only six out of the twenty-plus newbies will be selected hence the anxiety from the room was thick. Killian had also learnt that Shania wasn’t participating and only came to cheer her friends.

She had also trained them herself so Killian doubted a newbie trained by another newbie would stand a chance in the academy.

The selection officially commenced.

Evelyn and Juda stood at the top of the elevated seats, while Shania and Killian stood at the base, cross-checking the matchups again. Killian handed a paper to Shania, and she rushed forward.

"First match!"

All the chattering died. Killian found a place to lean on, his lips curved slightly.

He had set up an interesting matchup for the first one so he would see first-hand how other elements worked.

A Sound user and a Mist user. Elements are allowed.

It should be the worst matchup, however...

"Jane DiaDan and Kia Diazan." Shania turned to the girls. Her eyes lingered on the second girl, her friend, as she stepped forward.

The girls faced each other. Jane being slightly taller with thick brown curls of hair, and a fuller body.

Kia, half her face covered with her dark blue hair, stood with one leg behind the other. Her noticeable features were her bright red sneakers against her dark skin. There was a shared eye contact between the girls.

"Match Start!"