Emma's admission into the institute went rather easily. The staff that were gathered there, including the principal who was an old white-haired woman, gave friendly smiles to both Ning and Emma.
They were practically begging them to not change her mind.
It still cost her to enter though, as there were no such scholarship programs at the institute. But ending up first did give her benefits that she hadn't known were there otherwise.
The 10 students with the highest points were all given single bedrooms. Most others had to share it with another student, or in some rare cases, even three.
"This will change in a year when we take another, more serious test. It will be different from the entrance exam, and you will have to give away your room to someone else if you fail to get in the first 10 ranks there too."
Emma didn't concern herself with something that was such a long time away. She had plenty of time to get strong, and plenty of time to get Lyra strong. Still, she nodded, letting the old woman know that she appreciated her words.
"I'm happy that our institute has received such an excellent student," the old woman said. "And to think your family is not a nobility."
One of the staff members handed Emma a small booklet to take with her, which explained everything she was required to bring or would need to provide for herself.
Items like bedsheets, pillow covers, hygiene products, books, copies, etc were listed in the book. It also listed that the students would have to provide their beasts with food by themselves or pay the institute some fee so the students didn't have to worry about food.
Emma decided to go that route.
Lyra was an omnivore, so Emma wouldn't have to worry about what she ate. She could survive on nearly anything. Later on, when she was stronger, she wouldn't even need that.
"You!" a shrill voice took Emma out of her thoughts, forcing her to turn in that direction. Ning did so too.
Betty pointed at her with rather large eyes, surprise filling them to quite a degree. Next to her was a gentleman with a fine suit, wearing a top hat. His fine mustache curled at the end, and he looked toward the two that Betty pointed toward.
"Bethanie dear, it's not polite to point at people," the man said softly.
Betty quickly lowered her hand swiftly, but her eyes remained on Emma. "Hey, Betty," Emma spoke toward her with the slightest smile. "Going to get registered?"
"Yes," Betty said softly. "You passed?"
Emma nearly chortled at the question. "Did you not see my name out there?" she asked. "It's at the front, so you couldn't have missed it."
The girl paused. "Emma…" she said softly, to herself. "That was you? You're the Emma that got first place?"
"I am," Emma answered.
"But how?" Betty couldn't help but ask out loud. "A week ago, you couldn't tell the difference between a Yellowscaled python and a Brightlord snake. How did you suddenly get the first place?"
Emma's eyes narrowed. "Surely you're not accusing me of cheating, right?" she asked.
"Huh? No, I was just asking," the girl quickly said. "I wasn't accusing you of anything."
The man chuckled a bit. "I haven't seen Bethanie this flustered in a few years," the older man next to Betty said with a surprise. "Are you Bethanie's friend?"
"We've talked a couple of times, but not enough to be friends yet," Emma said.
"I hope you will be. Little Beth doesn't have many friends," the man said with a warm smile. His eyes suddenly looked toward Ning with a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.
He quickly returned his gaze to one of friendliness and spoke quickly. "My apologies, I haven't introduced myself," he spoke. "I am Bethanie's father, Truven Briggs."
The man reached out with his white-gloved hands.
Ning reached out and grabbed it. "I am Emma's father, Ning," he answered.
"Ning, it's nice to meet you," the man said.
"The pleasure's all mine."
The man kept his grip on Ning for a bit longer than usual, and Ning understood what was going on. He hid his incoming grin and did something that made the man's eyes go wide.
Then he let go of the arm and put an arm onto Emma, dragging her away. "We're in a hurry, so we'll be leaving," Ning said. "It was a pleasure meeting you both."
And then he dragged Emma away.
Truven Briggs stood where he was for a good 5 seconds before he pulled back his arm. He turned to see Ning walk away but did nothing to stop them. He could only stare at him.
Betty looked at them walking away and then at her face, which was when she saw his shocked face.
"Daddy?" she called out to him, tugging on his suit's cuffs. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"
The older man took a few seconds to take a deep breath before opening his mouth to speak. "That man… do you know who that is? How close are you with his daughter?" he asked.
"Not really," Betty said. "As she said, we only talked twice now. Why?"
"Do you know her background by any chance?" the father asked.
"No? What is this about Daddy?" she asked.
"Her father," the man said slowly, thinking back to what he had sensed. He had sensed Emma's weaker Essence rank and then had done the same with Ning's. When he did so, he had sensed his weak Essence rank as well.
However, along with it, he sensed an Essence aura that wasn't normal at all. It had taken him a moment, but he had managed to figure out that it was Lightning Essence aura.
If that was all, he would have only been surprised, not shocked. But in the end, Ning had suddenly switched his Essence core from Lightning to something the man had never sensed before.
That had sent his mind reeling.
"He can't be a regular person at all," the man said softly. "I'll have to find out more about him. You'll have to help me for it."
