Akira groaned as his body rocked back and forth, jolted awake by the relentless shaking. His bleary eyes locked onto Leo, who hovered over him, practically vibrating with impatience.

  "Alright, alright, I get it! Just stop it already." He muttered, voice thick with sleep.

  With a sigh, he forced himself upright, rubbing the lingering drowsiness from his face. Next to him, Leo who was basically bouncing on his heels, looking one second away from sprinting out the door.

  "Why not just leave without me? I would have caught up to you later anyway." Akira asked, irritation prickling at him, though he didn’t show it. More than anything, he was annoyed at himself, Leo had managed to get close, too close, while he was asleep. If this had been a Trial and Leo an enemy, he’d be dead by now.

  Leo grinned, unfazed. "Come on, you know I can’t just leave my buddy behind! Now, let’s go!"

  Before Akira could argue, Leo grabbed his wrist and took off, weaving through the crowd at a speed that defied logic. His curly hair straightened under the sheer force of his movement, and Akira, still half-asleep, found himself practically weightless, dragged along like a ragdoll.

  Is this guy even human?

  The thought had plagued Akira for hours, even in his sleep. Leo moved fast enough that it would be difficult to follow his movements with just your sight, hit hard enough to break bones, and had enough energy to run a marathon, twice. Sure, they had gotten a small Heart Core to strengthen their own, but that shouldn’t have made that much of a difference.

  In what felt like the blink of an eye, Akira found himself plopped onto a seat in the dining hall.

  "MEAT!"

  Akira barely had time to glance at Leo before the man had already torn into a strip of dried meat, his enthusiasm as boundless as ever. “Hahaha! Delicious!” Leo exclaimed, stuffing another piece into his mouth with the gusto of a starving man.

  Without breaking stride, Akira gave him a discreet nudge with his elbow.

  Leo coughed mid-bite, nearly choking, before turning to Akira with a puzzled look, cheeks full and a strip of meat still dangling from his lips. “What?” he mumbled through his mouthful.

  Akira kept his gaze forward, his voice low but just loud enough for Lonidas to hear. “Ask Oliver about the Keepsakes, not Nala or any of the others.” He said before eating a dried grape.

  Oliver and the other so-called ‘caretakers’ or ‘trainers’, if one could even call them that, sat at a smaller table tucked into the left corner near the entrance. The table had just enough seats to accommodate them, it was intentionally set apart from the rest in order for them to talk privately and overlook the Hatchlings.

  Leo paused mid-chew, his lively expression dimming just a fraction as he processed Akira’s words. Then, just as quickly, he swallowed down his mouthful with a loud gulp and flashed a grin, one that didn’t quite reach his eyes. "Got it." He said before lifting his hand. “Oliver, Oliver, I have a question!” Leo said, making sure that he was loud enough for the whole dining hall to hear.

  The entire dining hall seemed to pause, a collective eye turning toward Leo, who had launched himself into the most uncomfortably public approach possible.

  Oliver, sitting at the small table with a few other caretakers, didn’t flinch at the sudden attention. Instead, he looked up slowly, his face unreadable but his sharp eyes locking on Leo with a knowing, almost amused expression.

  “Leonidas…” Oliver said, his voice smooth and calm, but there was a subtle warning in his tone. "Do you really need to shout across the room?"

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Akira’s eyes narrowed as he heard Oliver say Leo’s name. He already knows Leo’s name already… I already understood Leo was charismatic and a social butterfly, but everyone seems to already know him.

  Leo's grin didn’t falter. "Well, if I didn’t shout, you’d never hear me over all this noise!"

  Oliver raised an eyebrow but didn't push the point. Instead, he gave Leo a small, almost imperceptible nod, signaling that Leo had his attention. "What is it you want to know?"

  Akira could practically see the gears turning in Leo's head. He leaned forward, lowering his voice, though it was still plenty loud enough for everyone to hear. "I was wondering about Keepsakes. I mean, I know we got these Heart Cores… you mentioned Keepsakes last time, but you never explained what they are."

  Oliver’s sharp eyes shifted for a split second towards Akira, the movement was subtle and quick so nobody except Akira himself noticed this. The navy color haired man knew that Leo was not nearly sharp or witty enough to see something that was overseen by everyone else, or at least most people.

  “Well, it’s not like it's a secret, we were going to explain what they were later on but I guess since you asked I might as well.” Oliver took a slow breath, leaning back in his chair just slightly, as if carefully choosing his next words. “To put it simply, they are objects that you can earn by killing monsters or that you can find inside of the Trials. Unlike normal objects, Keepsakes can be stored inside of your Heart Core, they can self repair inside of it if, if they’re not completely destroyed. Some Keepsakes even have a Trait or multiple.”

  The entire dining hall fell silent, all eyes on Oliver. After all, who would pass up the chance for free knowledge that could improve their odds of survival in the future?

  “I’ll go into more detail tomorrow.” Oliver said, his voice steady and calm. “For now, just eat.”

  Leaning back in his chair, Akira’s mind racing with the new information. Keepsakes… They can be stored inside of the Heart Core, self-repairing, and some even with Traits? It was very interesting to say the least. But there was no use jumping to conclusions or spinning theories now. Oliver would give them the full explanation tomorrow, or at least so he claimed. For now, there was nothing to do but wait.

  Everyone went back to eating, a few of the Hatchlings were making up theories and possibilities about the Keepsakes in hushed tones, but they were all just shots in the dark.

  The boy’s silver eyes shone as he played with a dried grape between his index finger and his thumb before plopping it into his mouth. Drumming his fingers absently on the table, his thoughts still tangled in the new information about Keepsakes. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how little he truly understood about the Trials, or the Heart Cores for that matter.

  Then a thought came into mind.

  His gaze drifted down to his tunic. Keepsakes can be stored inside of your Heart Core, they can self repair inside of it if, if they’re not completely destroyed. “Hmm, I wonder…” He whispered to himself.

  …

  About half an hour later, the wooden platters and bowls were nearly empty, with only a few dried fruits left scattered across the tables.

  Suddenly, Oliver’s group stood up. “Alright, everyone.” He said, his voice cutting through the chatter. “After dinner, it’s time for the baths.” He and the armored men moved to the right corner of the room, while Nala and the armored women headed to the left, opposite the entrance.

  Nala’s voice was firm as she addressed the group. “Some of you may already know the way to the communal bathroom, especially if you’ve had to use it before. But for those who haven’t, listen closely.” She pointed to a door near her. The W letter was carved into the wood. “This is the women’s bathroom.” Then, she gestured to another door near Oliver’s group, marked with an M letter. “And that’s the men’s bathroom. You’ll have free access to them until dark. After that, if you need to use the bathroom, you’ll have to be escorted by one of us.”

  The room was filled with the sound of feet slapping against the wooden floor. The women headed toward the left, and Akira watched as the men went to Oliver, who had already entered the men’s bathroom.

  Akira’s gray eyes flicked toward Leo, who had just finished his food and was already standing up, stretching in that exaggerated way of his. “You gonna sit there all night?” Leo asked with a grin, bouncing slightly on his heels. “Let’s go! I’ve been sparing all day, I can basically feel the dust and sweat on my skin.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Akira muttered, pushing himself to his feet with a sigh.

  Leo and Akira joined the other men in the line towards the bathroom.

  As Akira and Leo joined the line toward the bathroom, Akira's mind was still preoccupied with the thought of Keepsakes. He couldn’t shake the curiosity that gnawed at him.Waiting until tomorrow felt like waiting an eternity.

  “He Akira, loosen up dude, you’re giving yourself wrinkles already." Leo teased, grinning over his shoulder.

  As they both entered the bathroom Akira was hit with a blinding amount of hot steam.