Sera gave up immediately because she was not ready for another round talk with Lyren for he was able to act like he was not involved in the first place. The fact that he had behaved the same way as back in the hotel reminded her that she had to be direct in her accusations or else he was going to feign ignorance.
"Anyway, as the newest member of our Azure Faction, I wanted to introduce you to them but you were late," Sera started afresh. "As you might have noticed, there are no males in this faction as it is a girl only Faction. You are going to be the firs male to join our faction ever since it was created. Do you have any problem with that?"
Lyren was on the verge of collapse because the bad feeling he had was now coming to light. His mind spiraled as he recalled the expressions that had ben thrown at him when everyone heard that he was joining the Azure Faction. They were mostly amused and he was oblivious to it but now, it was making complete sense.
Kaelen's defeated gesture said it all. It was not only the number one faction in the academy. It was what many would refer to as a matriarchy. He could feel his world crumbling as all the future he had envisioned for himself was turned to dust.
He had thought that he was going to have a good time but it appeared that he had joined a turbulent ride he was not ready for. He recalled the fact that Sera had intentionally made him pronounce himself a gentleman and a man of his word and now, he was on a test to prove the authenticity of his words. He had shot himself in the foot and now he had a pride to keep.
"I am a man of my word and I will certainly be joining the Azure Faction!" Lyren declared and a hidden smile appeared on Sera. Now that was more like it.
Of course, Lyren had problems with joining the faction. He was a man. A boy. How was he supposed to survive? Also, he had been deceived! He had not even bothered to inquire what the Azure Faction was after Claire joked about it. And his pride, it could not let him go against his word.
"Well then, you are going to be introduced to the members of our faction tomorrow. Make sure that you come early. You have a long way ahead of you," Sea said and her voice came as a cold threat to Lyren that made him shiver. What had she put in store for him? Why was she being mysterious?
"Am I dismissed?" Lyren asked and he could feel gazes land on his back. Who dared ask if they were dismissed? The audacity was on another level!
"You are," Sera said after a sigh and Lyren turned to leave. He was followed by maya who ran after him.
"Do you have enough reason to your actions?" A voice spoke behind Sera and she did not bother to look at who it was as she could recognize the voice.
"In such moments, it calls for drastic measures," Sera replied with a clenched fist.
"But od you think that bringing a guy to our faction will help?"
"I know the risk but I also know the reward of having him in our faction. He is definitely not what he seems like," Sera said and the girl behind her wearing a veil too replied.
"He is a pervert, right?"
"That is exactly what he is not. But don't you think that he is mysterious? Could you tell what his level is?" Sera asked and the girl was caught off guard. She could not read Lyren's level.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"I also don't know but he is somewhat special. Have you ever heard of SSS grade before?" Sera asked and the girl behind was even more pulled into deeper thought.
"Did you take him in because he was SSS grade?"
"No, I had agreed to make him join my faction a long time ago before I could even know what level he was at. I knew he was the one that our faction needed," Sera said as she recalled how she had been beaten in a battle of words by someone who obviously had no common knowledge about the academy.
She was even surprised that he had been lost and he had missed two meals. He was not the kind to do so and she could clearly tell that he had brute forced his way through the first test. Had he followed the other first years, he would have not gotten lost because it was not supposed to be a test to find the dorm but a hidden exploration of the academy. It was obvious he had cheated.
***
"Uhm… uh.. m… Lyren…"
Lyren stopped and looked behind him and saw who it was. He could recall her name as she was the only one Sera had personally recruited after him. She was Maya. She ran through the entrance and past the two female guards and caught up with him. He could see the determination in her eyes which compelled him to want to know what she wanted to ask of him.
"Can I be of help to you?" Lyren asked after she stopped before him, trying not to sound dismissive.
"It's about the how you missed the food today. I saw you run to the dining hall and the doors were locked. I wanted you to know that I could talk to my grandfather and have them give you food," she spoke fast and Lyren could have dismissed her to having ulterior motives but she was not the kind. From her tone, she was being nice.
"Thank you for your good intention but they opened the doors for us and gave us food," Lyren replied and he could see the disbelief in her eyes.
"Impossible! They don't open the doors once locked. Many students who cheated in the first test usually don't get fed," Maya and Lyren was once again caught off guard. What was it with everyone saying that he had cheated the first test? He had already found the dorms.
"I did not cheat. What is it with everyone saying I cheated?" Lyren asked and Maya seemed to understand something.
"So even after getting lost the whole of yesterday and today, you still don't get the purpose of the test? I don't take you to be the slow type," Maya said and Lyren felt like he been insulted but as he thought about it, he realized that he was actually acting slow.
It was obvious that only he and Julian had missed the two meals and they had not even realized where the faction quarters were. He had found Maya in the headquarters of the Azure Faction which meant she was not late for the first meeting. And then it dawned to him.
The only way to not get lost was by getting lost. They had been lost for the entire time after lunch but they had found their way and he could tell where the library was now and even the classes. That explained why there were no labels at all. Everyone knew exactly where they were going and first years were given a test to find where everything was.
It was not about finding the dorms at all. It was about knowing the general structure of the academy and they had been given an extra free day not for rest but for them to actually internalize the structure. They had been utterly lost to the extent that they had ended up giving up on finding anything at all the previous night.
They then found the dorms and they had missed meals because they did not know the structure and they had been lucky they been given lunch.
"Thank you for that. I did not lie about having lunch though, see you around," Lyren said and waved before dashing away. Maya was left there with stretched out hand. She had not even gotten to ask what she wanted to ask.