The door was pounded against, together they moved Yu Hua's hastily emptied closed in front of the door to keep it closed.
"Now they can't enter." Yu Hua said while Gale quickly moved his books into it to make it heavier. Nobody could get in through the more severe closet before the door.

"How often has this happened before?" Tang Yin asked the others.

"Once or twice.", Gale answered, "we are failures; hardly anyone cares about us. Without you, people like the Grandmaster or your brother wouldn't know about our existence; nobody would."

Tang Yin let that sink in and stared at the slowly darkening atmosphere outside the window. There was a high wall and a small piece of greenery; the only entrance was through the dorm door they had just closed.

"This is almost like a prison.", she whispered.

"Haven't you paid any attention? We are shoved here because we are to be imprisoned, so we bring no shame to our families that abhor our entire existence." Yu Hua growled and went to the stacked beds at the end of the room. He vanished behind them, and slowly the others started to follow. Wondering what it was about, she followed them and stared at the small open door.

"We who did not entertain a playful day at the market desire dinner too." Yu Hua pointed out and crawled through the hole as Gale took a deep breath and pale as a sheet followed after him. Damian and Ning Feng did the same, so Tang Yin followed them.
"Where are we going?" She asked, and Damian cursed in front of her.

"Yu Hua, Gale fell unconscious again!" he said, and suddenly, things moved a lot slower as they crawled through the hole.

"W-we are g-going t-to an h-hotel. Momma st-stays t-there some-sometimes a-and they k-know us." Ning Feng answered as we crawled out full of dirt, and even Yu Hua, whose appearance usually was impeccable clean, and orderly, had a smudge on his cheek as he helped Gale, who slowly regained his consciousness with a glass of water after he was dragged out of the back entrance. Tang Yin needed to be more confident. Nevertheless, she felt comfortable with calling it otherwise.

"Damn tight spaces.", Gale whispered, still as pale as a sheet, and gulped the water down.

"Claustrophobia and a bad one, too; it's impressive that you even went in." Tang Yin concluded from what she had seen, wondering how she knew. Or rather, how she did not guess beforehand, but lately, more and more stuff tended to vanish somewhere in her brain. She had difficulty remembering things she always knew safely, like her favorite artist had stated to be dreadfully blurry, making her uncomfortable.

--

The mercenary guild Master stoked through his red beard and reflected on today's customers. Two little girls and a boy, both of them wearing the Uniform of Nuoding City Primary, literary department, the legendary department of failures that had only a single teacher and five students, and three of them wanted to go to Star Dou Forest, apparently with someone else.

The taller girl had been a shy one, not speaking a single word hiding behind her Teddy, she was going to be tricky to accommodate, but her hair color reminded him of something, someone; he couldn't put the finger on it; he had seen it before somewhere. The more petite girl was strong; she radiated confidence and an aura that wasn't like a child's but rather that of a woman, a fiery one with a strong will and determination.

If she hadn't been that small and breakable, he wouldn't have thought of a girl but a fine woman. The Boy was the serious one, the leader at first glance, the front, and a bit too clever for his liking.
He couldn't grasp it, the smaller one of the girls; her appearance had been a startling contrast, a ponytail with a single wooden hairpin, cheap but with a good eye for detail and obviously often worn. Her long glove had been a scarce kind of spirit Beast, spider silk. Woven in intricate detail with a beautiful black pattern and flowing silver leaves. If he hadn't seen something similar before, he would have never recognized it. He also was certain all three wore weapons somewhere, even if he didn't know where.

There were no ordinary children in these three, Tang Yin, Damian, and Ning Feng. The older one couldn't be older than ten, the girl maybe eight, and the youngest not a day over six. If they and two others wanted spirit rings, they were talented enough that their Clans should take good care of them, and they were clan kids that were certain from how they behaved and spoke, but the uniform and their actions and request told a different story.

"I see an old man musing in foolish thoughts.", a voice said behind him, and the guild Master turned around and paled at the sight. A tall Man surrounded by spirit rings, the outermost in scarlet red. He left his chair and threw himself on his knees, bowing, "Esteemed Douluo, h-how may I serve you."

"Nothing, just a warning, the children who came today; if anything should happen to them while they are under your people's protection, I will make certain there will be nothing left of the mercenary guild, understood?"

"Understood, understood; I will make sure they get the best protection and skilled people at their side." he bowed again, feeling the coldness of death that surrounded the Man as he left. Then, trembling and sweating, he raised himself on shaky legs as he fell back onto his chair.

"Melinda!" he shouted, and soon the reception woman in red entered the room, her hair no longer artfully groomed but in long waves and disarray falling down her back.

"Is he gone?" she whispered, her face as pale as snow and her full lips trembling; she to felt it.

"Yes, he is; kids today, give them VIP service. If a single hair of theirs and their comrades is harmed, we can kiss our lives goodbye." Melinda nodded and promised to provide only the best for the girls. If they angered this Master, they would soon meet their maker.