Once all the children had finally been segregated into their appropriate categories, Garron dismissed them for the day before informing everyone that training would begin before sunrise tomorrow morning, and that every single student was expected to report to the barracks before the first rays of sunlight crossed above the forest tree line.
"Anyone who arrives late will regret it..."
Garron warned coldly, before turning to leave, as he picked up his water pouch and started to trail off into the forest.
*Nervous shuffle*
*Low murmur*
For a while, the children simply looked at his disappearing figure in confusion.
Until eventually, the heavy atmosphere hanging across the training grounds loosened, and the children finally began speaking freely among themselves now that they were no longer being directly supervised.
"I told you I’m strong!"
One bragged while flexing his biceps.
"Brad got assigned to the super trash group! Hahaha! I always knew he punches like a sissy..."
Another said, as the children in the Trash group gathered around to make fun of those who were graded below them.
Meanwhile, among the Ultra Trash children, the mood remained significantly quieter.
Most simply began returning toward their homes immediately without lingering around unnecessarily, with Riven being amongst some of the first ones to leave.
’I can’t risk not being allowed to come for training tomorrow, just because I pissed Hagrid off by returning late today....’
Riven thought, as he started to make his way back hastefully.
’If mother were alive she would be perplexed by my choice to return without chatting to other kids....’
Riven thought, as he could not help but let out a self depreciating chuckle.
*Snort*
’Back then, all I ever asked her for was the chance to speak with other children my age and maybe make a few real friends.
And now that I finally have that opportunity in front of me... I’m the one rushing home early instead.’
He thought, as he found the whole situation to be rather amusing.
’Cost and Consequences Riven.... Cost and consequences.
You can’t anger the cripple by returning home late.
Not yet at least.....
It’s the very first day, and he will be insecure when you return....’
Riven calculated, as he knew for a fact that the moment he went back, the cripple was going to interrogate him for what he learnt, before finding new ways to insult him, so that Riven never grew a spine.
Which was why, not wanting to give him an excuse to punish him, Riven decided to head back early.
However, to his surprise, he wasn’t the only one rushing back home in a huff, as behind him, two slave girls also seemed to be in a rush.
"You really think we can become Ascendants someday?"
The younger slave girl asked the older, as Riven quietly overheard their conversation while walking ahead.
"Do you honestly believe we can become something more than slaves, big sister?"
The younger one added, as Riven instinctively slowed his pacing just a tad bit to be able to listen to this response.
"I don’t know yet, Stacy," the older sister replied calmly. "It would certainly be nice if we could, however I think it’s better not to expect too much from life."
Her voice remained soft while carrying a strange maturity that immediately caught Riven’s attention.
"You remember when Lady Christina tore one of her dresses last winter?" the older girl continued. "You became excited because you thought she might hand it down to you once she stopped wearing it."
The younger sister immediately puffed her cheeks afterward.
"But instead she burned it..." the girl muttered bitterly.
"Exactly," the older sister replied. "And afterward you spent nearly three days crying because reality failed to meet the expectations you created inside your own head."
The younger girl lowered her gaze toward the ground silently.
"I thought you learned something important after that....
The world is already cruel enough by itself, Stacy.
And for slaves like us.... It’s even worse.
So expecting kindness from life only creates disappointment."
Her tone remained calm and strangely composed despite how young she sounded.
"The easiest way for slaves like us to survive is to stop expecting anything at all.
.... If you keep your expectations low enough, disappointment stops hurting."
The moment Riven heard those words, he instinctively turned his head toward the speaker.
Because honestly, it was one of the most sensible things he had heard anybody say in a very long time.
Certainly far wiser than most of the adults surrounding him inside Hagrid’s brothel.
And the moment his eyes landed on the older sister properly for the very first time, Riven suddenly found himself momentarily stunned.
Because she was easily the prettiest girl he had ever seen in his life.
Her pale white skin stood out softly beneath the bright afternoon light while dark brown eyes rested calmly beneath neatly braided hair wrapped carefully around her head.
She did not appear much older than twelve or thirteen years old, perhaps only a few years older than Riven himself.
Yet despite her age, the way she carried herself while speaking made her feel far older emotionally.
As though life had already forced her to mature much faster than children her age normally should.
Beside her, the younger sister resembled her slightly in appearance, however unlike the calm elegance carried by the older girl, the younger one appeared restless and emotionally transparent in almost every movement she made...
As even the way she walked lacked rhythm.
"If I really do become powerful someday, the first person I’ll punish is Lady Christina."
Stacy muttered bitterly while puffing her cheeks in frustration.
"She’s so mean to me. I hate her."
She added, as the older sister immediately sighed before reaching over and pinching her cheek sharply.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" the younger girl complained while trying to pull away.
"I don’t want to hear you saying things like that ever again," the older sister warned seriously while lowering her voice carefully. "If the wrong person overhears those words, you could genuinely be beaten or killed for them."
She warned, as Riven continued staring toward the older girl slightly longer than he should have.
*Crunch*
*Crunch*
Suddenly, Riven felt his feet step into something that was not a mud road, as unknowingly, because he had been staring at the older girl, he accidentally stepped off the dirt pathway, and instead walked directly into a patch of frozen bushes.
’Oh crap....’
He thought, as the sudden noise immediately caused both sisters to glance toward him at the same time.
Realizing what he had just done, Riven instantly felt heat rush toward his face while quickly correcting his path back onto the road awkwardly, as the younger sister stared at him strangely afterward while the older one merely gave him a brief unreadable glance before continuing forward once more.
To both girls, he probably looked like some strange little fool who did not even know how to walk properly.
As surprisingly, Riven felt this strange interaction to be a lot more embarrassing than it should have, as all the way back, he could not help but overthink about it again and again.
’I’m a stupid idiot....’
He thought, as his face turned red, until the sight of Hagrid’s brothel drained the color from his face almost instantly.