I kept silent as the man laughed, and then the man laughed even harder as my baling stomach didn’t keep quiet.

Rumbling loudly, it seemed to want to devour every bit of energy that it could consume, and the man in front of me; as distasteful as he appeared to me, was becoming quite appetizing the more I looked at him.

Stepping back uncomfortably as I stared at him with drool flowing down my mouth, the man coughed and, with a start; I came back to myself.

Shaking my head to clear the image that was lingering of the man turning into a succulent morsel of meat, I bit my tongue again.

Mind briefly gaining clarity again, I waited as the man began walking forward, and soon we were in front of a ramshackle wooden building made with crudely shaped logs.

Motioning me inside, I saw a bed and a desk with a chair. Nothing else was present, apart from two empty armor stands.

Gesturing toward one, he nodded toward the uniform that I was holding in my hands.

Moving with difficulty, I kitted the armor stand out in the uniform, and then longingly looked at the bed.

But, my stomach grumbled once more, and laughing; the man said, “It’s time for you to go to the dining hall. Follow me.”

Brightening up, I immediately mustered all my will and trailed behind the man to a large establishment that I assumed was the dining hall.

Outside the establishment were other people dressed in white uniforms like mine, neatly standing to attention with their eyes hooded off to the side.

I was about to walk through the door when the man held out a hand, blocking me, and shook his head. “You stand there with them, and follow their lead. Seat number 13 is yours.”

Salivating as the smells floated outside from the dining hall, I nodded forcefully and stood beside the last person.

Glancing at him, I saw he was an extremely slim boy with a head of wild black hair that had been combed roughly into place, with what I assumed to be great difficulty.

He glanced at me with lowered eyes once, and on meeting my eyes, looked away quickly.

I was about to introduce myself when I caught sight of Sia standing further ahead of me in the line.

Almost calling out, I bit my tongue as she imperceptibly shook her head at me.

Understanding, I stood silent where I was, at attention like the rest of what I assumed were the students.

An hour passed.

Then another.

By now, I assumed that the time was close to nine in the morning, and my stomach was gurgling away, but the scent of the food that I could smell sustained my willpower as I zealously stood.

Then, a line of people emerged from around the corner, and sedately; they walked toward us.

Squinting, I saw men and women mixed together, all middle-aged or so.

The first person passed by us, and smartly, the first person in our line peeled off and followed after him like a shadow and into the dining hall.

Puzzled, I watched as the second person performed the same actions for the second adult, and so on.

Then it was the turn of the boy standing beside me, and as smartly as the ones before, he moved out, and then it was my turn.

Moving off, I found myself behind a tall woman in a white skirt and tunic with a warlike expression on her face.

She glanced at me expressionlessly as she passed ahead of me, and following her, I saw she was heading to a chair with the number 13 written boldly on a marker in front of it.

Glancing around frantically, I saw the boy that was next to me smoothly pull out a chair for the adult that he was following before pouring water and serving food to him.

Understanding, I mentally swore, and did exactly the same for the woman who sat down gracefully, with not a word of thanks.

Used to serving tables in the Inn, I was quite efficient and in no time; the lady had her plate filled with meats and fruits, with a glass of juice and another glass of milk to the side.

Eyebrows raising a hair’s breadth, she glanced at me before she folded her hands and chanted out a prayer that everybody joined in with.

Looking around, I saw that the rest of the uniformed students were absolutely still as they again stood to attention behind their respective chairs.

Then, I saw that there were two chairs that were empty.

One was a simple chair that was nonetheless very imposing in its size.

The other was a fire red chair that looked as though it had been savaged by a beast, with furrows running down the arms and splinters poking out of the legs.

I didn’t have time to examine the room more as the prayer finished and the gathered people began eating.

As I suppressed the gnawing hunger within me, and tried my best not to drool over the lady’s shoulder; I kept serving the lady as and when she made as much as a twitch in the direction of any food.

Finally, the breakfast was over for the people, and they rose after a quick prayer; again led by the lady in white.

When she rose as I pulled back her chair and she faced me, an imperceptible nod graced me, and then she was gone.

But all of us still stood stock still; me following the other’s example.

Soon, the sound of footsteps came in unified cadence, and through the door came other uniformed students.

Unwittingly gasping out, I saw Ares, Celine, and Damon amongst them.

Because of the cap shading our features, they didn’t notice me or Sia, but then Ares was in front of me and looking at me expectantly before his face changed as he noticed who I was.

Blinking at him, I grinned, and pulled out the chair and gestured to him to sit.

With a panicked look, Ares was about to shake his head, but I firmly gestured again.

Reluctantly, he sat, and I expertly served him his food that he pecked at weakly.

I wanted to hiss out, “Don’t worry about it,” but something told me that it would be a bad idea. A very bad idea.

So, the awkward meal continued, until with the ding of a bell, all the students who were eating stood up in unison, almost catching me unaware as I scrambled to pull Ares’s chair back.

As our eyes met, mine was cheerful and excited at seeing him; his eyes were worried and apprehensive. I grinned again reassuringly, and as he passed by me, I clapped him on the shoulders lightly and he stiffened up before he stood taller.

Then, they were gone, and the initial students, including me, stood rigidly as time passed by.

Coughing to alert us of his presence, the man from before strolled in and spoke softly, “You may sit down.”

Relieved, I pulled out the chair and seated myself in it, before I almost reached out to the food before realizing the man had only said we could sit down.

Freezing, I waited as black uniformed people came from another door that I had not noticed and smoothly took away all the dishes.

Then, a woman came out with a chef’s hat on, and the man gestured toward me, Sia, and three others, including the other boy who was standing beside me.

Smiling, the woman nodded her head before she headed back inside. Not before she shot a look of schadenfreude at us.

My heart sinking, I watched as the black uniformed people brought in covered plates, which they placed in front of us.

Then the man grinned sardonically, and said, “You may begin.”

Opening my plate, my stomach roiled as I saw bugs and insects slithering, twisting, and crawling all over the plate.

Clenching my teeth, and shutting the plate again, I looked around and saw that Sia also had the same horror-struck expression, while the other boy was already eating with his head bowed.

Glancing around, I saw that the other two who had been marked out were also painstakingly eating as the sounds of crunching sounded out.

The rest, however, had bread and eggs in front of them in large quantities, which they devoured lustily.

Narrowing my eyes, I opened the plate again, and stared at the writhing mass inside.

“So that’s how it was,” I thought.

Starve us, and then give us this. Eat and you live. Don’t and you die. For I was sure that more tests awaited us as the gleam in the man’s eyes spoke volumes to me.

Taking a fork in my hand, I stabbed it forward ruthlessly… piercing a bug through and raising it to my mouth; I bit down brutally.

The crunch of the shell of the bug cracking, the taste of vile liquid as it sprayed out, the struggles of the still living bug inside my mouth. All of that made me want to retch out the bug onto the ground.

But I chewed on in silence grimly.

Raising my fork, I stabbed toward another bug and as the man stared at me; I stared at him back with half of an insect dangling out of my mouth as I chewed and sucked it inside.

For a brief moment, I saw approval flash across the man’s eyes, before he smirked as he clapped.

The black uniformed servers were back, and they stood as the man pointed toward me.

Then a plate was placed in front of me, and lowering my fork in relief, I opened the plate.

And glared at the man with venom in my eyes.

For the plate was full of bloodied, uncooked, absolutely raw meat which was mixed with filthy blackish substances.

Smirking wider, the man stared at me intensely.

Refusing to give in, I raised my fork and viciously speared a piece of meat that dripped on my white uniform and raised it to my mouth.

And I bit down.

And I screamed as the black substance burned my lips, my mouth, my throat, and my stomach as it went down.

Beside me, the other students ate unconcerned, but the ones who had been singled out paled as they heard my screams while Sia almost stood up, but she sat down again as I shook my head fiercely and bit my tongue, cutting off the screams.

Raising my head with tears streaming down, I smiled brutally, and I raised the fork again.

Softly, the man spoke again, but I could hear him perfectly despite the distance as he said,

“Welcome to Yamal Academy,”