William sighed, helping himself with his papers, and wondered why the hell that asshole touched his stuff. That was rude, but not the end of the world. He was also way too proud of that yellow access card, so William couldn't help but ask: "What is that?"

  "Can't you read?" Stark pushed the card onto William's face, attempting to shock him or clarify something the fuck up. It didn't work.

  An inch from his face, William read. "Premium Walker Pass?"

  "Righ, you little shit cam read, huh? Good. Good! This is a pass for important figures! Walkers have them, but I am not that, right? That's because of me! And you might be one if you are here, but there are many differences between us. You might have your circumstances and ways to gain knowledge like mine, but our position can't be the same. I can access any reports and information that those at our rank shouldn't always view. Something that no one else can!" Stark taunted the unknown.

  William soon realized that Ellie had something similar, if not better. He didn't remember the specifics about her card, though. It went according to Dreadus, Celeste, and a deal with Heidi Kaufman. Again, this thought process rose and fell short because William was running away from the truth.

  "Wow." William opened his mouth, sarcastically saying and acting as though he were surprised. "Such as?" Six grown men looked at him as if he were a chicken ready for slaughter, and it was starting to get ahead of him.

  Stark smirked, laughed, and started to play with his card between his fingers. "Such as Rank 6 Darks, information regarding Rank 0 powers and differences, training methods, and even System Interferences and other great sentiments."

  "Oh, must be good," William said, remembering Mi-Yung recommended such topics to him for the final weeks of his learning period. He could've looked at them a long time ago if he wanted, but his time was limited, and he wanted to use it to his advantage.

  Stark remained confident and sneered as he pulled one more page from the table. "Do you think these little pebbles called Hellgars are so important? What are those scribbles anyway?" he showed the pages to Connolly, who nodded in agreement.

  "They are laughable, young master. There are many better ways to see what is right than scribbling things for nothing. In fact, the true research and artistic directions have entire teams behind us, Walkers."

  "Right?! They are mere cannon fodder that barks and does nothing. They are dogs." He voiced his profound information that no kid Outside would say, for there were no mere fodder Outside. For people, any Dark was worth some fear, and William got a bit upset because of it.

  "Dogs have owners, and fearing strays and wild animals was a thing of the past, no?" William argued and knew it didn't do shit. Stark didn't want to hear lessons. Not from him.

  William felt it was a sign of respect, like seeing the red moon. For the most part, that is. He supervised Jawrans and his personal experiences, which should have been restricted. Due to his rough painting job, Stark probably didn't recognize everything, or didn't bother reading what he had noted either.

  "Sounds impressive, but I think even dogs are plenty powerful. Have you ever seen a person being munched by Hellgars right before your eyes? How about feeling their paws, crawling and wincing tendrils over your shoulder, coming for the neck, or gouging your eyes? Then, what about the sounds of flesh and bones mixing with blood?" William asked, almost frowning, when he described stuff he didn't want to say.

  The answer that Stark chose wasn't what William expected.

  "Why should I care about such insignificant questions? That doesn't bother me at all because my fate is to face Darks and kill them. Dogs can be beaten with sticks. Guns, too; have you heard them or even shot them? No, so shut the fuck up. They are effective but mere sticks for people. I am a WALKER! Dogs are nothing to me," he shouted proudly, hitting his chest with his card.

  "Alright. Alright. That sounds fair when I think about it. Please continue with your words and wisdom. I will finish my research while you can do yours." Before giving Stark a chance to respond, Connolly talked first.

  "This is not a request. Leave. We are here for a young master's lesson, and you are not privileged to hear it."

  Privileged? Him?

  William frowned at him, thinking that if it was so secretive, they should do it somewhere else after borrowing things if they were so privileged. These upper floors allowed it for very limited time and business.

  Still, after dealing with them for a few minutes, William realized he couldn't do it forever because these people weren't wavering. So he agreed. "So persistent. Fine. It's not like these documents about Darks will get lost all of a sudden, and my time is plentiful." William lamented and, with quick motions, swiped his documents to one pile, yanked his pages from Stark's hands, and secured his folders.

  Stark didn't feel like a winner, though it was a great feeling to be right.

  William took out his card and stored the folders back in their rightful place. Letters, Ranks, and so on, there was a neat order in this codex room.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  Beside the table, Stark couldn't be more proud of his little, superior win and nodded in self-entitled approval. It followed a sliver of contempt, pushing his proud heart forward and diminishing his visible veins. Pride was relative, and people had various opinions and ideas about what one could call right and wrong.

  Recognizing inferiority and knowing where to back off was a side of intellect, and some fools were just forever unable to learn. William couldn't argue with idiots forever. It wasn't as if it was impossible, but an idiot might not know whether he was an idiot or what was right or wrong.

  Dann was similar. William learned that from a master and a friend. Stark was here for a lesson, and Connolly was the teacher provided by his questionable father. The best place for this wasn't here. It was the safest, however, and fitting, given this codex room that wouldn't disappear as a whole.

  That was why Stark was here, taking his pride out like that and showing William who was the boss, as if he was doing him a favor.

  Even when one was a son of Prime Hunter, being overbearing and correct due to the powerful name was not uncommon. It would not take long for William to learn more about this famous figure among the Walkers, or to discover the intricacies of families and relations within this society.

  Still, it took him a minute to store everything in the right place, and Stark was getting impatient and shouted at him.

  "What takes you so damn long!?"

  "Well, some noisy asshole made the mess out of my things, and composing them is difficult. I have to rearrange them." William argued without looking at him, half saying what he wanted and half focusing on doing it right.

  It was too late or impossible.

  In a few strides, Stark shoved William against the cabinets, grabbed his shirt's collar, and pushed his face to the wood.

  "I don't like you one bit, you little shit. Your tone is wrong."

  William could only laugh, looking at the open cabinets, books, and wood. He wasn't over yet, so why did this stupid kid waste time for nothing and touch his face?

  It was getting on his nerves, and little crimson started to seize and spread its hotness under his sleeve. William was calm, however. Calmer than usual, or how he should be.

  Stark pushed his strength over that thick neck and right arm, pinning him.

  "Young master..." Connolly said, shaking his head behind him. "This is not adequate."

  "I slipped. That is all! We are here alone, aren't we? What's so big deal?" Stark excused himself without any shame.

  "Yeah... Something fell..." William picked up his practice, pretended to jerk, and one of his pages fell down. He pushed his grip, wincing and turning, hitting Stark with his elbow and shoving him aside.

  Stark grunted as he clutched his nose. William was already crouching, picking up his pages, and looking at this arrogant youth, who couldn't help but be surprised by William's shameless and quick acts. He had never met someone like that in the Federation, though, if he had to say it... there were people like this very close. Allways. One had to look and do it right, but this... This wasn't it. Pride was a heavy burden, and his father spoke about it all the time.

  William had no pride. He was just a kid from the Outside, but even dogs had insights, dignity, and reasonable sniffs of what was right rather than swallowed.

  "I suppose I am done, sir, however-you-are-called," William said as he got up, sizing Stark, who laughed and pretended to be fine, but his face wasn't.

  No one made a move. Not even Connolly, who just shook his head, placing a palm over his face.

  "Slip, eh?" Stark remarked.

  "Yes, I am a very clumsy person, as you must know." William nodded and finished rearranging documents, which took just a few more moments. That was a rule of this floor. Take things, but let them go where they belong afterward.

  Stark laughed as if he were happy and pushed a couple of ideas aside. Those cabinets were whatever. This youth had already entered a side of his mind that wouldn't disappear for a while unless it disappeared forever. Perhaps it was fine, too, for he remembered those eyes from almost three weeks ago.

  "I guess you don't understand the situation you are in," he said to William, noticing the calmness that was driving him mad.

  Silver spreading light was emanating from the metallic accents of his uniform, which were beginning to shine from the little corners where his skin was exposed. Whatever was underneath was starting to rumble.

  William barely changed his outlook and felt that a punch often did a lot better than any amount of shit-talking. He was itching for it, too, just for the sake, or his right arm did alone. Nope. That was too much to ask for; he was fine accepting it whole.

  "Stark, let this go." Connolly asserted behind his back and put his arm on his young master's shoulder.

  "Yes, sir, young sir, let this go," William reiterated, driving one more line in Stark's mind to dust.

  "So little shit is a jokester? Joke about this!" Stark shoved Connolly's arm away and stepped forward, shoving his right hand back and swinging it at William's face, whose appearance turned serious in a moment.

  Just as he was about to be hit, William stepped forward, kicking Stark's left ankle, and angled his own body. Slipping away, Stark's swing changed from a frontal direction to a steep decline. His steps wavered, the swing missed, and William could only shake his head and do nothing else.

  Stark's face ended up on the ground, then on the sturdy cabinets, while the pain twisted his face as the hand hit the floor like his face.

  "Arghthhh. You little.."

  "You should be a bit more careful about swinging the hand, or you gonna hit yourself, man. Oh, or you might slip again, right? Don't slip." William said, securing his papers in his pocket and taking his bottle from the table. Before giving a chance to Connolly or those bodyguards or teachers--or whoever they even were--he went to the door, opened it with his card, and glanced behind him.

  William scratched his hair with his card and asserted his own pride before Connolly came closer. Even then, it shouldn't work, but it didn't happen that way either. Stark stooped him.

  "Give me your fucking name, you little shit." Stark flickered his hand upward and stopped his teacher from seizing this brat.

  "William, you noisy asshole. That name is quite nice sounding, considering yours or your strange eyebrows." William said in a clear mockery and pointed it out twice.

  "Stark Taker is my name! I will see you in the Examination, I reckon. Then, you won't laugh." Stark proclaimed this time, without anger or stupidity. He watched as William disappeared behind the door without any other words.

  Only one person in the room noticed the card or what it represented. That person was Connolly, who would act even with Stark's hand, but after seeing that card, he stopped himself.

  It was about a freaking Kaufman. That card could do so many things, like fully encompassing this library's systems and depths and stopping any Rank 7 Walkers from doing anything about it. It was the highest order of this place, and it had no halts. It looked simple, old, and way too light for what it was capable of.

  And that kid had it.