"She looks like a butch, but... she's really freaky when..."
Edwin was laughing as he spoke, and yet Rhys could not really hear most of his words as he stared at the horizon with the view of the campus of the Academy. For some reason, the large campus seemed to be growing smaller and smaller the more Edwin talked about Elize.
He kept repeating the same words over again and again — he loves his wife.
The shrinking horizon kept getting smaller, to the point that it seemed to be confining both him and Edwin. He wanted to move away, but it was already too late as try as he might, the only thing he could really move now was his head.
And with it, he turned to look at Edwin and said,
"I bet the two of you will have a beautiful child, Sir," Rhys said as a small smile crawled on his face.
"You bet?" Edwin snorted, "I bet our child will be as ugly as their parents. I mean, Zeus... look at me. I'm kind of feeling bad for the baby already."
And as Edwin burst out in laughter, Rhys could really only retain the smile on his face as he looked down on the ground. Edwin continued to talk to him, completely disregarding the other trainees in the training hall for the duration of the 6-hour practical class. And throughout all of this, Rhys only nodded and smiled.
"You don't need to attend the classes anymore, but let's drink once you pass the Explorer Examination, Sir!" And after Edwin signed his completion form, he quickly stood up straight and saluted Rhys, "I'm sure you'll pass it without any problems."
"...I'm not allowed to drink yet, Sir."
"W—Old enough to lose an arm for this country, but not old enough to enjoy the country?" Edwin could really only groan and scoff, "Zeus...
...what the fuck is wrong with society?"
"...The people," Rhys whispered.
"Well...
...I can't argue with that."
And just like that, Rhys was able to skip the rest of the process — and probably for the best too.
***
"Zey illee jut wet gho?"
"...I can't understand you."
"Fwah... I said, they really just let you go?"
How was someone with this kind of attitude even hired as a receptionist in the first place? — was Rhys's thoughts as he watched as the receptionist in front of her started rolling her eyes at him. But then again, everyone treats Lowborns like this... and she was already like this last week when she told Rhys to take supplementary classes.
There was also the fact that Rhys really wasn't actually paying attention to her, as he was surprised to hear the same exact words Lina told him, albeit extremely clearer because of certain absent... factors.
"As I was saying, Actual Exploration. The paper you're holding already shows you where you need to go, so... go," and once again, the sassy receptionist started waving her hand and gesturing Rhys to leave, "And if you do manage to pass, which I doubt, you come back to me and we'll make your license...
...Do. You. Understand?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"And stop calling me Ma'am, my god..." The receptionist scoffed, "And this is your number. Pin it on your clothes or whatever, I don't care. Go, you're holding up the line."
"..." Rhys looked back... only to see the empty lobby and the large glass windows with the view of the street outside the Explorer Association building. But of course, Rhys could really only shake his head as he took his applicant number and pinned it on his clothes.
"Thank you, Ma'am."
"Ack, I have a name, see!?" The receptionist pointed at the name tag on her small chest, "Hannah, my name is Hannah."
"Ma'am Hannah."
"You—"
And before Hannah could start an argument, Rhys just headed deeper into the lobby, opting to take the stairs down instead to the 4th basement. The Explorer Association in Old York did not really tower over the other buildings near it.
It does, however, go down several basements... with the gravity even shifting sideways as Rhys reached the 3rd basement — and now, the stairs just became a long corridor.
Rhys was already used to this, however, as he just continued to walk until he reached the 4th basement, where a lot of people were lining up in front of a large metal door. And almost immediately as Rhys stood on the back of the line, almost all of the people who were gathered there looked at him.
They weren't saying anything, but the look in their eyes was enough for Rhys to hear their thoughts. Some, however, did not seem to care that he could hear them as they all just started laughing.
Of course, Rhys doesn't mind — if he had any ability even before Awakening, then it was his self-control. Something like this, it was just white noise to him as he just waited for his turn; the line behind him, also getting longer.
Soon, however, he heard something he couldn't just ignore.
"Look, look! It's Sylas West!"
"..." Rhys's eyes quickly widened as he very subtly turned around. He couldn't see it at first because of the long line behind him, but soon, he saw Sylas West walking past the line of people; not even bothering to fall in line as he was surrounded by who seemed to be his bodyguards.
Rhys was about to look away so that he wouldn't be noticed, but then...
...he saw his sister walking beside him.