Ellie followed. "Again? Why are you spending so much time in those places alone? You think I can't come with you? Is that intentional, or are you running away from something?" Ellie argued, feeling even more helpless as his speed wasn't normal.

  She knew that her own words betrayed her, and he wasn't fleeing from her, but what if he really did? It sounded unfair to her, or... across everything? Was she too bothersome? Wasn't there a point in his learning, thus, her advances were excessive?

  Her frustration returned, but no tears. She left them to pass Celeste.

  Alas, there was something new in her mind that came in clutch. Ellie knew that today was his birthday. Although William said nothing about it, M-Yung did!

  Ellie felt that this rare day had better not be forgotten. They were still people. Humans. They inhabited this world and societies, living for it. Not many people cared about their own passing lives. It was either a lack of interest or, in a way, the lack of need for it.

  Ellie liked these days for many reasons. One was obvious. Her parents cared for her on the day she was born, so they celebrated with her until it became rather silly. It was a good, albeit not perfect, day for young Ellie.

  Likewise, older Ellie wanted to take care of other people's birthdays, so at least one day would feel more special than the rest. Making small gifts or simple messages was often good enough. For some people, it would make a slight difference and turn it into an unexpected bargain.

  Ellie wanted to make other people happy, and William's case had been her project since her time reflecting on him. William wasn't aware of what that meant, which left her frustrated, but, hey, they hadn't talked much in recent memory, so... did things change?

  Did he not care, or was such a testing time Ellie's problem? Nope. She felt the same way as before and knew this day was special and she felt the same as before.

  Mi-Yung couldn't help with everything. Ellie had no idea what William would like, so her flustered attempts came off as hopeless, but not today. There was no running away.

  She decided that if he won't make a move, she will. That would wait for the night when her work would end, and she would find him no matter the cost. She had already paid off people to take care of it, and they would inform her in time. In her mind, a whole plan came to be, and somewhere on the upper floors, or lazily sitting on a sofa, she would find this silly, fleeing idiot.

  "I am not running, Ellie. I think we have been busy for weeks, and I worry that Mi-Yung's words came off as strong. She assigned me a bunch of tasks to do, and I have only twelve days left. I have to use this time as best as I can." William excused himself and stepped away from Ellie, who managed to obstruct his path.

  It wasn't about him or her. William didn't want to make things weird because dozens of people were on the entrance level. He felt Ellie was a busy person like him, so he was in a hurry to leave. It was true that her accompaniment left her mark on him, and her smile or words weren't the lightest.

  Unfortunately, his steps and mind were focused on a lot of things at the moment, with few hidding under piles of worries, and then... fuckery.

  Ellie wished to cease those worries, but that was impossible. She ought to move them aside. Thinking about it, Ellie stopped, and her mood sank.

  William glanced at her brief pout. "Is something wrong?"

  "No." She said.

  William stopped and remembered her comments and lectures. Those first weeks could never disappear. However, those talks lost their meaning when Mi-Yung arrived, and his self-indulgent investigation followed.

  William had completed the basics of the lower floors. At most, he would visit them every three days to recoup his memory. The upper floors were where the cool stuff was.

  Ellie gazed at his pardonable face and knew there was no issue at the moment. It will wait. She had to figure everything out tonight and had plenty of time for it.

  Seeing her pondering in silence was another gap William used and left.

  Ellie watched him leave and remained alone until Dreadus came over with Celeste, before leaving quickly without any words.

  Ellie looked at Celeste and wondered why she was late.

  "Food." It was the only word Celeste had to say for everything else to make sense.

  Ellie shook her head and figured this day was bound to be very long.

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

  Gesturing for her to follow, Celeste held her Hound and gripped the corner of her dress. "What about William? He was here, wasn't he? Did... bad stuff happen? That stuff. That thing..."

  "What about him?" Ellie asked, looking at her hesitant face.

  "Are you... not worried?"

  "No."

  Celeste let go of that nice dress, frowned, and felt there was a point in words and feelings alike. Seeing emotions was hard, and people weren't simple when it came to showing or just doing clean stuff. They had layers, excuses, and complications related to other humans. In short, it was all about reading faces, and if there was one thing Celeste was OK with, that would be it.

  She followed Ellie's steps, knowing that today would be windy.

  ***

  On the upper floors, William embarked on a deep lore-hunt about Darks. Around ten large room-mazes depicted research on Families, and he was in one peculiar room designed for one of them.

  William wasn't alone here. There were more visitors, each curious about Darks, and many youngsters came over as well since their time was approaching. Wishing to broaden their minds and focus sounded like a good idea.

  They ranged from children less than ten to someone like William. Then, there were rarer adults who wanted to refresh their memories or look for specific folders.

  None bothered him, so that was great! He enjoyed this time a lot, unlike the noisy asshole called Stark or how was his name again. It wasn't that long ago, though he couldn't get over that day in the slightest. That was quite rare for him. William always believed he was good at ignoring bothersome people.

  William noted that it must be because of those strangely shaped brows or the way Stark talked to him as if he were the biggest boss in the universe. He couldn't help but laugh at these thoughts, deducing that many kids made no sense at all.

  Hours passed, and many Darks came under William's eyes. He read them, noting words in his notebook, or painted beasts, or simple sketches of monsters.

  It was happening for a while, and his later pages were getting better and better.

  "What if that guy saw them now? Would he joke and laugh?" William wondered as he looked at his sketch. There was a crazy humanoid figure with a large head, a thin torso, and tendrils for arms and legs. It was on all four, crawling and spreading Poison Fog from a head resembling a flower.

  Octopois of Rank 5 was small, but extremely potent Dark that could wipe out people from a long distance. Their defense was weak, but their speed was excellent, and their poison and tendrils were even better.

  In addition, William was taking notes on the most distinct features or weaknesses of these monsters. He already knew a lot of them, but he figured hundreds, if not thousands, of others that his Outside couldn't know about would be helpful for the future.

  His attempt to not forget them worked, and this notebook had plenty of pages left. It will last him for a long time.

  His sketches hadn't touched anything higher than Rank 6. And even then, he only looked at a few of them due to his personal experiences or ideas.

  He hadn't looked for those he had never seen, known, or met. That included pretty much any Rank 7 Dark and above, because he would be dead otherwise. William didn't mind that fear, or the idea, since he had plenty to go through thanks to broad lower ranks.

  However, he indeed broke the rules; he shouldn't even have touched Rank 5, let alone Rank 6 Darks. He discovered this throughout the time, noticing how some people looked at him oddly when they saw a kid looking at advanced material.

  They never bothered him, so he tossed this issue from his mind a long time ago.

  William assumed there must be surveillance about it, or were the cards pretty much the best item for it? Since he had all-out access, he never found any limits or rules, unlike the others.

  His left hand rested on his chin, while the right hand drew a new sketch, shading a new monster.

  "Hm... This one is hard. Maybe I should've noted better styles from that Rob Boss's textbook." Sighting, he felt like his hands were getting out of hand. He never felt burned out, though he felt he was reaching an intangible limit, wall, or that his mind was devastating his body.

  Was it a sudden realization? Pain? What if the incoming nervousness about Ellie or the Examination overcame his mind and body? Shaking his head, William felt the expectations of Walkers, while Darks were almost infinite. A single girl became a third party in a mess of his mind, creating a massive wound that not even Mi-Yung anticipated.

  As he was finishing his preparations for the Examination, his mind began to wither. William couldn't wrap his head around it. He even had trouble sleeping and focusing on tougher topics. He relied on concentrating exercises that Ellie taught him, but they weren't working.

  Dropping the pencil to the page of much better-looking Jawran, William felt he didn't want to continue. Shading was off, and doing justice to its enormous head was too much for him.

  He let this Dark aside, knowing that it shouldn't be his current concern. He looked at his left wrist, and the watch showed no distant time. It wasn't even time for lunch. It didn't matter to him, since he had been skipping lunches for a long time already. He usually ate his fill in the morning while having a second meal at night.

  His reasoning was easy. He described that one was sharper and more focused on an empty stomach. Memories and information would flow to his head much more easily. There was no proof that it worked, but if Ellie heard it, she would laugh at him for sure.

  "What next?" He asked out loud to an empty. It seemed everyone had left before he even knew it.

  Leaning on the chair, he placed both of his hands behind his head and gazed at the ceiling, which had a round light that illuminated each table on its own. He wondered about nothing but everything at the same time.

  His worries about the future, himself, and others seemed endless. Nothing about them was solvable, or lessening his moody beats and throbbing right arm.

  He tilted in this position for a couple of minutes, unsure of what to do.

  "Ehm. Ehm." A coughing echoed in the room, coming way too close to William. He jolted his head and looked in front of him.

  A cloaked man stood before him. "Excuse me..." the man said, putting a chair on the other side of William's table and sitting down. William looked at him with questions and wonder since he had never heard anyone enter this room, or... well, maybe he was long out of his freaking mind and human senses.

  William recognized him.

  Wasn't this that asshole whom Mi-Yung kicked when Kaufman wrecked them in the public? Richards, was it?