When the meal, or what could be called a meal, was finally over, we sat there still like statues. Apart from Sia and me, whose stomachs were heaving.

But outwardly, our expressions were calm, betrayed only by the occasional twitches of our lips as the contents of our stomach roiled inside.

Then, the man clapped his hands and with a disciplined motion, the rest of the students got up and took off their gloves before rolling up their sleeves.

Confused, I followed their actions, and then in a line, we were marched toward the door from which the lady chef and the black uniformed servers had come through.

We walked through winding corridors until we reached a long area filled with…. Sinks and tubs of water.

With a mountain of dishes piled high in each one of them.

Suddenly wondering if Yamal Academy was, in fact, an attendant academy, I nonetheless chose a sink and a tub before working away with gusto.

After all, this was familiar work.

Half of the calluses on my hand were from weapons. The other half were from soap from my time at the inn.

So I washed, and I lost myself in thought, almost forgetting about the meal that we just had.

So lost was I, that I didn’t see the trace of surprise that flashed across the man’s face. Nor did I see the clenched teeth of the rest of the students who were standing beside me and washing the dishes.

It was only after all my dishes were done that I snapped out of the daze that I was in and began looking around.

Only to pause incredulously as I saw how slow the rest of the students were.

Their mountain of dishes had only reduced one fourth at best and they were grimacing as though in great pain.

Suddenly having a bad feeling, I looked at Sia as her hands came out of the soapy liquid to wipe away the sweat on her brow.

Her hands were red and blistered, with blood running down.

Biting my lips until they turned white as anger filled me, I turned my head around slowly to look at the man as my bloodlust spiked.

Grinning at me, the man shifted ever so slightly, but I felt a strong sense of danger. But my aura was out of my control and I was shivering with anger.

Until Sia softly whispered, “no.”

And I came back to myself.

Still shaking, I asked the man, “Is there any rule that prevents me from taking on another student’s workload?”

The man smiled a smile that didn’t reach his eyes as he said, “No, but not talking is a rule you just broke, and for that you will have to be punished.”

Then, faster than I could react, my shirt was split apart and a bloody gash appeared on my chest.

But I didn’t even flinch.

Blood dripping down, I walked over to Sia and gently taking her hands away from the liquid, I took her place and began scrubbing the dishes.

As she bit her lip and stood to the side, I said, “From now on, I do this. Every day. Understand.”

She nodded and then clutched her mouth as another bloody gash opened up on my back.

“Second infringement student Faustus. Please make sure there isn’t a third.”

I stayed silent and kept scrubbing until the dishes were all done.

Then rising, the white uniform now stained red, I stood at attention with the rest of the students before we were led deeper inside to the inner kitchen.

There, the lady chef waited with her hands on her hips and a harsh expression on her face as she said, “You know the drill. Your ingredients are at your stations. Do not waste any of them, or else you will regret it. Do. You. Understand.”

I immediately liked the lady.

Though she was trying to be as harsh as possible, her words betrayed her nature. Because she was the first one to indirectly warn us of what was going to happen if we broke a rule. A rule that we didn’t even know existed.

Taking my place at a platform, I looked at the ingredients and sucked in a deep breath.

Then I diced, sliced, cubed, skinned, and generally prepared the ingredients as the lady chef shouted out commands.

Then, pots and pans were placed in front of us… and we! We cooked.

We cooked till our backs were aching and most of the students were hunched over.

But for me, it was business as usual except for the inconvenience of having to continuously wipe away the blood before it could drip into the food, as the gash refused to close… even with my healing abilities.

Puzzled, I looked at it occasionally, finding the wound to be a clean slice with no evidence of a weapon being used.

Looking behind me, I saw the man flash a bright smile at me before he bared his teeth and I felt a chill again.

Hastily turning back to the cooking, I lost myself in my world after a quick check to make sure Sia was okay.

Two hours later, my pile of ingredients was all used up, and I stood idly.

Sniffing, the lady chef walked over and taking a ladle; She took a sip of the soup. Then she speared the meats and vegetables and tasted them. Then, looking appraisingly at me, she walked over to the man and whispered a few words, to which the man nodded as he looked increasingly unhappy.

Ignoring all of that, I stood still as I willed my warforce to move to my wounds and with a soft sizzle, the wounds finally began closing as the pain of ten thousand ants ran through my body, sending shivers running through me.

As others finished their work slowly, we were again marshalled into a line before we followed the man outside to a field made of red stones.

The field was around a hundred meters long, and two men sat on either side in the middle of the field on stones that looked like lotuses.

Puzzled, I looked on as the first person stepped forward and walked one step forward as his brows furrowed.

Then it was the second step, and the third, and the fourth. All the time, the sweat that was falling down from his brows increased until he was drenched and his body was trembling.

My own brows furrowing, I tried understanding what was going on, but failed.

I failed just like the student failed once he reached the 36th step as he collapsed in a heap and fainted.

Narrowing my eyes to slits, I took in every detail of the field and then I glimpsed a golden trace of aura moving from the man on the left of the field as he sat on the lotus seat.

Suddenly alert, I mentally swore as I realized that it was probable that the two men were gold rank knights.

Understanding what the test was, I waited impatiently as all the students stepped forth before collapsing in a heap by the 37th step with a few making it as high as the 43rd step.

Proudly, I saw Sia was one of the people to reach the 43rd step.

Then it was my turn, and I took the first step, and paused as my feet seemed to be glued to the ground with a weight pressing down on my shoulders like a mountain.

Lifting my feet up slowly, I placed it down again.

Only for the pressure to grow even further.

Looking up, I saw the man walk around the field to the other side, where he examined me interestedly.

Baring my teeth, I grinned as I advanced yet further.

36th step.

The pressure felt like the sky was falling.

43rd step, the sky was falling, and the earth was sinking.

50th step.

And the gold ranks burst forth with their aura as bloodthirst filled the surrounding winds.

Gasping out, I almost kneeled right then and there, but bloodthirst? I’d been through battles where my life was not the only thing that was at stake.

And. This. Was. Not. Enough. To. Make. A. Drayke. Bow. Down.

Rising up ponderously, I walked forth another step.

Then another.

All the way until the surrounding air was suddenly sliced apart by invisible blades as the aura multiplied and the bloodthirst thickened until it was a tangible wall that was blocking me.

Raising my fist, inch by inch, I drew it back, and then I punched forward as I stepped forth.

Once.

Twice.

And the third time before I fell, as my vision darkened, and my clothes shattered apart.