It wasn’t long before the evening of the ascension test began.

I along with the rest of the children were instructed to head down to the test hall where the test was about to take place. We formed a big queue as one of the rail guards led us to the hall room.

Before heading to the test, we were ordered to wear a white full bodysuit along with a pair of white socks that were given to us by the maids.

Now all of the kids were wearing these white bodysuits which made our group look like big flocks of sheep. My parents had no idea that we would be instructed to wear such clothes. There must be recent changes in the method the ceremony organizers take for the examinations.

The white full bodysuit we were given was made of all-white fabric. I noticed the dress fabric had elasticity and was quite flexible when I tried stretching it. This bodysuit can fit any child of any size and height with ease. The organizers didn’t have to go to such lengths to measure each child's body measurement to make uniforms. Just make one type of bodysuit that can fit everyone.

But this clothing material seems to be of superior quality. Clothes are luxury goods and commoners like us could only afford clothes of poor fabric. Buying even a brand new pair of clothes would be like a yearly event in my family.

Meanwhile, clothes with such elasticity and durability can hardly be affordable to us common folks. The ceremony organizers must have spent a lot of money on making so many uniforms.

I can’t wrap my head around these organizer’s mindsets. On one hand, they don’t mind spending so much money for commoners like us, and on the other hand, every rail guard I come across just wanna spit and stomp on us.

We were made to walk down the stairs leading everyone to the ground level.

There was quite a tense atmosphere as most of the kids seemed quite nervous. The girls were especially a bit shy wearing these full bodysuits as they tried covering their precious areas with their hands. After all, we were instructed to not wear anything underneath our bodysuits.

I don’t know why, maybe the examiner has their own fetishes or something. Gross.

But of course, there were some boisterous kids who didn’t mind at all the current situation as they talked out loud with their friends. They didn’t even have a bit of care in this world. They were brimming with confidence and hanging out with their newly made friends like this was some trip in the garden. Some of them were also girls who didn’t feel shy like the rest of the girls.

I myself didn’t mind wearing this full-body suit. I was quite comfortable wearing this, that it almost felt like I was naked. Thankfully the dressmakers had some sense to reinforce the fabric near the important delicate areas for boys and the girls. Otherwise, everyone would have their genitals outlined out on display for everyone to see.

I straightened my eyes and followed along with the queue. The line of kids started to grow denser and denser as we reached down the hallway.

As we entered the hallway, the queue started losing its shape. The hallway was packed with kids left and right by shoulder to shoulder. We were packed like sardines, as our limbs even lost a little mobility we had. The queue came to a stop in this hallway as the test hall-door was still not opened. The rail guard leading us told us to wait and he went inside the hall before closing back the door.

Although the line wasn’t moving, more kids were coming down the hallway and trafficking the narrow hallway.

It wasn’t long when chaos broke when the girls started screaming. There was some incident where the girls were inappropriately touched by some of the mischievous boys in the crowd. This triggered panic among both the girl’s groups.

The girls soon banded together and attacked the boys who got too close for comfort accusing them of groping them inappropriately. The group quickly segregated into two groups in a manner of a few minutes.

The group of girls was under the leadership of this blonde girl who was the first one to take the charge. She had curly long blonde hair that reached till her back. Meanwhile, her eyes were like Turquoise gemstones with angular arrow brows as she sternly stared at us boys fiercely. She had a strong and upright demeanor which made her the girl group’s leader in an instant.

The blonde girl had just recently met these girls and she already managed to unite all the girls under her leadership. She seriously had godly social skills, she was a social monster who could one day become a prominent figure in the near future.

I shrugged my shoulders and squeezed my body from the crowd to get at the edge of the boy’s group so I could see the good drama unfold in the front seat.

“Hey! What the hell was that kick for?” asked one of the boys who just got a black-eyed by the blonde girl.

The blonde girl stared at the boy,

“That’s what you get for groping a girl. A kick to the face was still me being quite lenient”

“Huh! I-I didn’t do that, my hand just grazed slightly.”

“Brushing your arm is a different term from what you just did. What you did was caress an innocent girl’s butt and I even clearly caught you red-handed. If that’s not enough I can bring out the confession while beating the lights out of you. If that’s what you want.” threatened the blonde girl as she showed open animosity towards the guy.

The boy quickly fled to a distance in a hurry.

The blonde girl then turned towards us,

“From now on boys are to maintain two feet distance from the girls or else bear the full brunt of our wrath.”

There is literally no space as more kids were rushing down this hallway. And on top of that these girls demand to keep a minimum of two feet distance between boys and girls. To do that we might have to just send a few kids back and then only might we be able to do that.

To make matters worse, the girls occupied more space than us boys. The girls even had a bit of breathing space. On the other hand, we boys were so close to each other that I could feel the boy breathing next to me. I am sandwiched by all sides with the boys that I can’t even feel in my arms.

The girls had occupied almost 70% of the entire hallway. Even though there were more boys than girls participants for this test. This was totally unfair, but I certainly don’t wanna get involved in this drama. I just hope the examiners open the hallway door before this thing escalates or else.

“And what if we don’t maintain the distance?” suddenly a burly kid asked loudly as he stepped forward. He pushed the rest of the boys sideways as he stepped in front of the blonde girl standing like a towering mountain.

The burly kid was so tall that he reached almost double my height. He had messy uptied hair with dark tan skin. While he did look big giant many of it was just fat. He had a mean look as he glared at her with a wry smile. He would not even believe he was a 12 yr old kid if he wasn’t wearing that white full-bodysuit like us.

“Bairos! Show that girl what it means to mess with us.” cheered one of his friends.

“That’s right! Trying to hog all the space for themselves. Like we will ever let them do that.”

“Let those girls also feel how it’s like to be squished in one place like us boys in place.”

“I would rather be cramped up in this hallway beside girls rather than these sweaty guys.”

“Show that blonde chick a lesson, Bairos!”

“Bairos! Bairos! Bairos!...”

And many more such cheers were tossed for Bairos standing up against those blonde girls’ demands. Meanwhile, Bairos loved the limelight and his ego was getting more and more bloated as the cheers became louder and louder.

The blonde girl was unfazed as she stood in front of the giant kid Bairos. Behind her were the scared girls who were quite nervous and scared by Bairos and the cheering from the boys.

I was just standing in the second row to watch the drama with enthusiasm. I didn’t wanna get involved in this matter but this will be a good way to see how the rail guards handle such matters.

Will the kids be punished? How severely will they be punished? Will they be thrown out of the train or maybe even executed?

More such unanswered questions were in my mind. Thankfully some idiots would help me procure these answers. But sadly there were no rail guards in the vicinity.

This long corridor had no other passages or rooms. There was only one hallway that led to the big double door of the test hall which was closed at the moment. We were instructed to wait at the entrance until the hall-door was opened.

I was already getting bored but some idiot kid is about to make a ruckus. Finally, something to entertain me after so long being cooped up in my room doing nothing. It would be more enjoyable if I could take a seat but I just have to manage with this rowdy crowd.

The giant boy, Bairos standing proudly like a mountain thanks to all the cheers he got from the boys. At this moment, he directly was like the leader of the boy’s group as most of the boys supported him for standing up against this blonde girl.

Bairos then glared at the blonde,

“I will warn you this once, move all the girls so that boys can also have an equal amount of space,” he demanded.

The boys cheered on with nods and praises for Bairos while they threatened the girls.

Although the blonde girl was still unfazed,

“Now you listen to me. Some of your boys have already touched some of the girls inappropriately. They are right now in a state of shock and trauma. I even caught one of the pervs in action, red-handed. So I can’t just sit back and let those defenseless girls be taken advantage of by vile boys. Just tolerate this situation for a few more minutes until the door opens.”

Suddenly some voice echoed in,

“Hey! In that manner then I was also groped~” shouted a short-statured boy with spiky hair and headband glaring at the blonde girl, “Scratch that I still feel someone groping my ass right now.”

To this, the kid behind shorty boy was alarmed,

“Hey Taker! I am not groping, it’s just my knee that might have touched your butt. It wasn’t groping, I just-”

The shorty boy let out a sigh,

“Relax Flachet, I know that. I am just trying to make a sound argument that not everything happening here is groping. It’s just a little too overcrowded. This is the ceremony organizer’s fault for mismanaging this event. So instead of throwing a hissy fit, the girls should blame the ceremony organizers and not us.”

“Yeah, he’s got a point.”

“I was also groped and traumatized so lemme join the girl’s group.”

“If he was groped, so was I. Give me more space to stand as well.”

“I am also tired of groping only the boys.”

“Wait who said that?”

Such a more frivolous statement was uttered by the boys backing the shorty boy named Taker.

Hearing the stupid arguments of the boys, the blonde girl’s eyebrows twitched. Meanwhile, the girls were even more terrified.

Bairos also had a hearty laugh,

“Did you hear that? Even us boys here are having their share of trouble. So stop being so self-centered and try sympathizing with us boys too.”

She just looked at us boys with contempt,

“How could a bunch of uncouth and ill-mannered boys relate to the problems of us, girls. I will say this again, maintain the two feet distance or you would force us to use excessive force.” replied blondie in a threatening manner.

As soon as this statement, the girl’s group shuffled, and those with strong demeanor girls stepped forward glaring at the boys in a threatening manner. These girls were not your regular shy girls and would dare to go toe to toe with the boys if push came to shove.

Bairos just glared at the blondie,

“Oh, I am so scared! Why don’t you try demonstrating this excessive force of yours-”

“Stop it.” suddenly one of the boys interrupted.

The boy had smooth combed hair and was wearing glasses. He stood at the corner with his arms folded as he relaxed his back against the walls. He was more likely pinned against the wall by the crowd of the boys that shoved him behind. He was trying to act smart but looked kinda lame.

The smartass boy fixed his glasses,

“She’s Trisha Valencia, one of the knight apprentices of Vladja noble household guards. It’s better to not mess with her and her fellow colleagues. That is if you don’t want to embarrass yourself.”

“Knight apprentice?” even Bairos was a bit shocked.

Even the rest of the kids were taken aback.

The Knights are the people who have pledged their loyalty to certain noble houses or to the holy church. Knight apprentices are the next in line knights who are trained since their childhood in the way of the sword to protect their master.

In that sense, this girl Trisha Valencia had a strong backing. Not to mention she was an apprentice so she must also be trained to fight in close combat. No wonder she didn’t even flinch when Bairos threatened him.

But I still don’t get what she was doing in this carriage?

Shouldn’t she be in one of those high-class carriages?

The blonde girl named Trisha didn’t accept or deny what the smartass kid just stated.

“It’s better if you boys don't make me take any drastic action. Just bear this situation for a few more minutes, I am sure the ceremony organizers will open the door anytime soon. And everything that happened here would be a distant memory.” she said.

She lowered her brows and took a deep breath and the hostility towards Bairos and the boys quickly disappeared.

The boys also went silent when they came to know Trisha’s background.

Although Bairos was annoyed and didn’t put her in his eyes,

“What is a knight apprentice doing in the commoner’s carriage in the first place? Trying to use lies to threaten us. I will show you what happens to liars-”

Saying so, Bairos stretched his arm and tried grabbing Trisha’s shoulder. But before he could even touch it, Trisha grabbed Bairos by his fingers and then bent it with all her might. His face twisted in agony as he fell on his knees as Trisha folded his fingers as if they were just mere branches of twigs on the verge to be broken.

Bairos tried punching her with his free arm but Trisha quickly twisted one of his fingers and a snap sound echoed throughout the corridor.

“Aaargh!” Bairos wailed like an injured animal.

Meanwhile, Trisha contemptuously glared at Bairos who was kneeling under her feet,

“That was just your little finger that I just broke. You can continue your little struggle if you don’t wanna lose all the rest of your other fingers.”

“It hurts~ It really hurts I-I-I am sorry! Please let go of me!” wailed Bairos like a crying kid.

A tall mountainous giant kid now was a miserable injured puppy under Trisha’s feet. All the haughty air was nowhere like his former self.

“What a pathetic display. Get out of my sight,” said Trisha with disdain and a cold voice.

Everyone in the audience was enthralled by the sight they just witnessed. A blonde girl made a boy who was almost double her size cower under her feet.

Bairos, who was not long ago the embodiment of manliness representing the boys, turned into such a sorry state in an instant. Even I was disappointed as I expected a big commotion that would attract the rail guards. That giant brat is just full of hot air and disappointment.

Meanwhile, the girl’s group broke into an uproar praising Trisha for her bravery and heroic display of her strength. Trisha was still calm like ice as if it wasn’t a big deal as she stood back in her place guarding the girl’s group like a guard dog.

I can’t help but whistle in a manner to applaud the girl’s technique for making that boy submit. Even some of the boys were awestruck by her style and some even fell in love at first sight. Typical teen boys, meh.

Meanwhile, Bairos went to a corner to look to dig a hole so that he can bury himself for good as the world forgets his existence.

It wasn’t soon the hallway door opened and a figure walked out of the room.

A man dressed in a full formal black suit and a peculiar red flower in his front chest pocket.

On his left eye, he wore a monocle lens,

“What’s with all this racket? What is going on here?”