Chapter 34: Grade 2 Initiate Test The next day. On the Seneschal Ossuarist School field... "....and you cannot pass unless you each purge at least fifty soul masses!" Damn. Isis was right to the letter. Finn, standing in a corner of the field, thought to himself. A collective groan resounded across the field as students like him, numbering about fifty to sixty at most, reacted to the words of the man giving an address at the front of the crowd. He looked to be a teacher here, as the students acted very familiar with him. It only went further to make Finn feel like an outsider. When he’d arrived at the field earlier this morning, his presence had drawn the attention of those who remembered him from his and Micah’s arrival, and from Micah’s subsequent announcement. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶 Others who weren’t there that day, but were told also observed him with interest. But thankfully, much to Finn’s surprise, no one had walked up to him to start a conversation, even till the present moment. The teacher at the front continued to brief the students who were about to take the same test as he was, but Finn’s attention was only half on him. The other half was trying to remember tips and specifics that Isis had drilled into him the previous day. For starters, instead of a Grade 1 Initiate test like Finn thought he’d take, Isis made him understand that he wasn’t going to be taking the beginner test, but rather, the Grade 2 Initiate rank test. Basically, she’d explained that the D-Grade soul masses he’d purged for weeks qualified as a test for the Grade 1 Initiate rank. By skill alone, he was solidly within this range, perhaps even overqualified. So with the headmaster’s go-ahead, he was allowed to take the Grade 2 test along with the others this year. A loud cheer brought Finn’s attention back to the present, and he quickly noticed the cause. Althea, the headmaster’s daughter had been called up to the front, on the make-shift stage for all to see. Oh. That was fast. They’re calling them out already? Finn raised a brow in surprise. Well, at least they didn’t seem to like time-wasting here. He was all for that. Isis had told him the previous day that there were going to be supervisors — watchers, or more aptly, score-graders — in the form of established Grade 2 Initiates, who were taking their own year-long test to get promoted to the Grade 3 rank. As a part of their year-long test, they were required to supervise the test of their juniors. Althea was one of the well established Grade 2 Initiates who were looking to get promoted. So she was the first to be called up. And from the loud cheers echoing across the field, she seemed to be very popular among the juniors. Right after her, others were also called up: A guy with blond hair and a sleazy, fuck-you smile on his face. He was good-looking, and for no reason at all, Finn already disliked him. The guy garnered a loud cheer. In fact, almost as loud as Althea’s had been. Mostly because the cheers were dominated by the high pitched shrieks of fan-girl juniors. The rest that followed received more tame receptions. They were cheered, but not to the same extent as the first two. Of the ten that were called up, only four drew Finn’s attention. The first two were obviously Althea and the blond haired guy — Luther. While the others were a short girl with a pink bobcut, and a calm, sure smile on her face. She had an air about her that made Finn’s danger senses tingle. While the last was also another girl, silent and totally unreadable. She had a weak presence that Finn was sure would make her blend into any crowd at all and remain unseen. That fact made Finn pay even more attention to her. The remaining six, while still unique in their own way, didn’t give Finn any particular feeling besides that, so he didn’t pay them any mind. After announcing, the teacher then stepped forward, clearing his throat with a smile. Here comes the good part. Finn’s attention was fully on the teacher now, undivided. The teacher started, "Now I will assign each of you to these ten! If you hear your name, you fall under Keeva here!" He motioned to the short, pink haired girl, who waved lightly with a smile. Names started to be called out, and the Grade 1 initiates that fell under Keeva walked out one by one. From the stiff smiles and ghastly looks on their faces, one would think they had been life sentences with their assignment. But Finn couldn’t blame them. While he didn’t know the reputation of this ’Keeva’ girl, she was still the one giving him the most dangerous feeling of the lot, not at all lesser than what he usually felt from Althea. Or maybe perhaps he’d simply gotten used to Althea’s presence... The fact still remained, though, that the girl was dangerous. Thankfully, Finn didn’t fall under her supervision. He breathed out a sigh of relief in conjunction with the other students who weren’t selected to be under her supervision. The rest of the assignment continued smoothly, and soon, only two seniors remained on the stage, with a total of ten juniors, including him, remaining. The two were unsurprisingly, Althea and Luther — the blonde guy with the fuck-you face. Finn became hyper aware of the looks being given to him now that they were so few left. The teacher continued, starting with those who fell under Luther, taking his sweet time after each call to create suspense... Finn closed his eyes when the last name was to be called. For the life of him, he didn’t know why his heart was beating so wildly against his chest. The logical part of him knew with surety that because it had come this far, the headmaster had surely had a hand in it. He was going to be selected by Althea, probably to keep an eye on him... But while his logic told him that, he still couldn’t help but cross his fingers. He truly didn’t want to be assigned to Luther — a guy he already disliked without even making contact. The way the teacher also dragged out the last call didn’t help at all. Finn opened his eyes and clenched his jaws in silent waiting. The teacher paused for more than necessary, frowning slightly, before casting a quick glance up at where Finn stood. "And the last person is—"