"What?" Stanley looked back up while breathing heavily at the same time. The terror he felt hadn't fully left him but the words he just heard were about to replace it entirely.
Dulls were now to be sent to the farm directly, without a care for whether they were useful to the Defenders or not. That was what the Mayor said before he walked away from the stage.
He was going to give more information to the Defenders directly and thus the trainees were no longer addressed in the assembly.
Stanley stood still, unbelieving of what he had heard just now. He could hear murmurs, even laughter from the people behind him who were more than happy to see him fall.
Desmond, especially couldn't help but laugh out loud. If Stanley were to fall, he was going to be the strongest of the Defenders trainees in the 3rd year after all.
Stanley didn't know what to do at all when he suddenly felt someone grab his arm. He turned around to find his brother looking at him.
"Come, now's the time," he said and started pulling Stanley.
Stanley let him pull, half thinking about having to go back to the farm to work and half wondering if he could stay with his brother once he got his own place in the town.
He walked along with his brother, away from the assembly. He finally had enough thoughts to attention to spare to see where his brother was dragging him to.
He looked up front and saw that his brother was bringing him to talk with the mayor. Only then did he remember what they had planned for after the assembly.
Stanley stopped walking. Bradley felt his brother stop and turned around.
"What are you doing? Let's go," he said and turned back around to pull him again, but Stanley wouldn't move.
"Brother, I- I don't think we should do this," Stanley spoke while looking around to see if there were people that could hear him.
Bradley didn't seem to care at all. "What's wrong? The mayor is going to leave," he said.
"Let him leave," Stanley said with a bit of hesitation in his voice.
Bradley was very confused right now. "What's wrong with you? Didn't we come here to figure out what your powers were? To ask him if he knew something?" he asked.
"And what if he says I don't have one?" Stanley asked. "What if my being strong is the same as Illan, just a small abnormality? What if my healing is from the mayor and is just a residual aspect?"
"If he finds out I don't have any powers, he will definitely send me to the farm, brother," Stanley said. "Please, I don't want to go to the farm."
Bradley felt a little annoyed for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Then what do you want to do? You can't skip the census. That will put you in prison as far as I know," Bradley said.
"I don't plan on skipping," Stanley said as he thought for a bit. "Brother, do you think I can perhaps… lie my way around it?"
"Lie? How?" Bradley asked.
"I will tell them that I do have power for now," Stanley said quietly. "As long as I prove I have one, I should be able to get out of having to go to the farm."
Bradley thought for a bit. "Sure, that can work," he said. "Tell them about your strength, and make sure to come up with a believable activation ritual. That way you won't get caught."
Stanley nodded.
"Trainees, please return to your quarters for now. We will come to you as soon as we are all ready," the Defender trainers said. They were the older Defenders that couldn't fight anymore and were more suited to teaching.
Bradley put an arm around his brother and spoke, "Given everything they want without hiding anything. If you find yourself unable to talk about mother, just tell them that I have the information."
"No, I should be fine," Stanley said.
"Well, good luck. I have to go to the veil now," Bradley said and walked away from the training area.
Stanley waved him goodbye and turned around to see a group of his fellow trainees making their way toward him.
"Hehehe," Desmond's nasty smile and laugh grated Stanley's ears. "I didn't think I would get to laugh so soon. Finally, you will be gone— wait, where are you going?"
Stanley had walked away from them, not giving them any attention at all. Even if by mistake, he didn't want to get baited into hitting one of them again.
Besides, he wasn't going to stand there while they laughed at him.
Stanley went back to his room and lay on his bed, waiting for the teachers to come. He thought about what he needed to do and what he wanted to do. As he did, his tired body fell into a lull and soon enough, he fell asleep.
He woke up to loud bangs on the door and quickly got back up. It took him a second to realize what was happening and quickly ran to the door to open it back up.
A group of older Defenders walked in with a bunch of papers in their hands.
"Were you sleeping?" one of them asked. He was the teacher that was responsible for training the 3rd years, the one that was perhaps the most kind to Stanley.
"I'm sorry, I dozed off while waiting," Stanley said while slightly embarrassed about it.
"Are you fresh enough for us to collect information for the census?" one of them asked.
"Yes, absolutely," Stanley quickly said.
"Alright, let's start with your full name," the senior said. "Spell out your name for us."
"It's STANLEY REED," Stanley quickly said.
"When were you born?" the senior asked.
"Year 544, 22nd day of the 3rd month," he said.
The teacher hesitated a bit as he saw the next question he was supposed to ask. The other seniors looked at the teacher weirdly and looked at the next question.
"Have you awakened your power?" the senior asked.
Stanley took a deep breath and answered, "Yes, I have."