It was the evening of the day after the interview.
Days were slowly getting less hot as Fall approached the continent.
Pevon and Raven were taking a stroll back to the facility.
Their pace was slow, but there was a certain excitement to them.
The results were out, and they were tense.
If it were just the normal test, they would have been sure of their selection.
But the interview.
It was the make-or-break.
Raven was nervous, since he was curious if his overacting actually paid off or completely backfired on him.
Many candidates rushed past them, but Raven and Pevon were nowhere near as nervous as they were.
Huff!
He inhaled a deep breath, as they inched closer to the Holy knight holding a long piece of paper.
This was the list of selected candidates.
Raven looked around, seeing all kinds of faces.
Some were elated, their expressions bright, as they celebrated their selection.
And the others, sad.
Looking up to the sky in a daze.
The losers.
The losers had a different line, where an old man stood, a book in his hand.
As the losers walked up to him, he whispered something in their ears, and their eyes lost their shine.
They walked out of the chapel in a daze, like mindless zombies.
"Is he erasing their memories?" Raven asked, silently.
"Seems like so." Pevon wasn't sure either.
But that was most likely the case.
'Was putting us under an oath wasn't enough?' He wondered.
The Church really did like to go an extra mile in everything, didn't they?
Crazy!
The duo finally reached the Holy Knight, took out their identification documents, and handed them to him.
Raven's heart was racing.
"Raven Marlowe," The knight announced in a bored tone, "Pass. Your placement rank is 3rd overall."
Raven was surprised.
And so was Pevon.
There was no mention of a ranking system anywhere.
And 3rd overall?
The Holy Knight handed him a small booklet and said, "You can leave."
Pat!
Pevon patted his back suddenly and said in a thrilled tone, "Congratulations, Raven. Third place is huge."
Raven chuckled involuntarily, "Thanks, I did not expect it at all."
Not wasting any more of the Holy Knight's time, he stepped aside to let Pevon know the results as well.
Pevon exhaled.
He was even more nervous than Raven.
Because, unlike him, he had no safety net left if he failed this.
His interview wasn't the prettiest of the bunch.
He was confident as always, but he basically pulled those answers from God knows where
"Here goes nothing."
He said, handing the Holy Knight his identification.
The Holy Knight took a second before he announced,
"Pevon Fusco," His voice jolted him, "Pass. Your placement rank is 1st overall."
Damn!
Both of them were shocked.
Especially Pevon.
Raven was only practicing his combat for a little over a month seriously.
Before that, the original Raven really didn't care much at all.
It was his natural talent that even kept him relatively relevant.
So, he assumed his rank was all thanks to his unfair knowledge advantage.
The impossible spell-casting speed.
And the insane accuracy to top it off.
But Pevon was different.
He was naturally charming and confident, which left a really good impression on others.
Only people who knew him personally knew about his laziness, and so on.
His appearance to outsiders was that of a charming, cool-headed, hard-working young lad.
And to top it off, he had manifested his aura.
At such a young age.
So, it wasn't a surprise for him to rank so high.
But Pevon wasn't expecting this at all.
"A treat on you, Pevon." Raven shook both his shoulders to wake him up from the daze. "Congratulations."
Pevon nodded, in a daze.
"Holy Shit!" He finally spoke.
He quickly took the booklet and dapped up Raven with an uncharacteristically huge grin.
"Tream?" His voice was a bit higher, "Tonight's entire dinner on me! Including alcohol."
"I don't do alcohol, but hell yeah!"
Raven's words attracted a side eye from Pevon.
"I can't believe I am hearing these words from you, Raven!" He threw a shade at him.
And Raven couldn't deny that either.
The original Raven was an alcohol-addicted maniac.
It was to such an extent that his fragmented memories alone made him crave alcohol on quite some occasions.
Heh!
"I am a changed man now."
Pevon's eyes narrowed a bit as he fell into a thought.
"You truly are changed, man, after that incident."
Suddenly, the mood took a turn for the worse.
The 'incident' became a bit of a taboo to people around him.
Since the scale of the incident really was that serious.
Raven also had to pretend as if it affected him as well.
Even though he wasn't affected much.
But that didn't last long, as a third voice chimed in on the conversation.
"Can I join you guys tonight, as well?"
The sweet voice with no concept of personal space and boundaries?
It was Janet.
'Nice timing,' Raven celebrated inside.
"Nice idea," He exclaimed happily, "You still have the promise of showing me around the city."
"Oh yeah!" An imaginary bulb glowed over her empty head. "I do remember that."
Pevon reflected on his actions.
But as he noticed Raven trying to move away from the topic, he boarded the ship immediately.
It was better for the overall mood as well.
"By the way, Janet," Pevon asked, his tone doing a 180, "What about your result?"
Janet gave him the brightest of smiles, adorning her beautiful face and shining amethyst eyes, and said, "Pass. I ranked 18th."
Pevon froze at the sight.
His breath stopped, and he immediately turned his head away.
"What happened?" Janet asked, worrying if she said or did something wrong.
But Raven whistled quietly at this scene.
'Wow!'
"Oh, he is fine!" Raven chuckled, patting Pevon's shoulder, "He is the most fine he ever was."
Haha!
She giggled. "Is that even a word?"
Raven shrugged.
"Let's go already," He said, dragging Pevon forward, "I am dying of hunger."
"Nice idea."
"Treat's on the valedictorian." Raven cheered.
And Janet joined in the fun, "Treat's on the Knight."