Eren's ears were ringing after receiving a resounding punch and a kick, simultaneously to his face. 'What was I thinking? Shit. Did I underestimate them or overestimated myself? But doesn't that mean the same thing? Why am I even having such thoughts...'

The sound of his cracking ribs interrupted his internal self-berating. By now the two lackeys had already grabbed one arm each and had pinned him against the floor. The Highborn kicked reared up, "boys, its time for the grand finale."

Eren closed his eyes and braced himself for the grand fi... whatever it was. Somehow nothing happened. He felt a cold hand brush against his forehead which made him open his eyes. He remembered how at times like these, protagonists from novels would say something along the lines of, 'am I in heaven?' But how are you supposed to say that when a dude with red-eye and an eyepatch is staring at you from a distance close enough to kiss you. Instead, he said, "your breath stinks."

The eyepatch guy immediately retracted his face and Eren sat up, somehow forgetting the pain in his ribs. His Highborn bully was passed out and was being dragged away by his two lackeys, who now possessed a peculiar gait. Even though they were not limping, their gait was still unnatural.

Eren turned his neck to look at his savior standing behind his back. "What did you do to them?"

"I didn't do anything, it was all you. By the way, my name is Rudra, nice to meet you." Rudra said with a wink and a smile which only resulted in catalyzing Eren's curiosity.

Eren was going to push furthermore, but a smack on the back of his head prevented him from doing this. "My name is Milin Draga and I am not pleased to meet you. I didn't ask for your help and what's more, you even got yourself beaten." Milim said as she sat in front of Eren.

"I did it for myself, not for you and if you aren't pleased then why are you telling me your name?" Eren retorted a little irritated.

Milin's face hardened but she didn't answer the question instead she changed the topic, "what's your name?"

"Eren Penhallow." Milin held his hands with hers after hearing his reply and closed her eyes. Eren looked down at her hands. Her fingers were delicate and dainty, suitable for a surgeon but her palms were rough and callous like that of a surgeon.

A warm orange glow emanated from her palms and Eren felt his pain gradually fade away. Also, he started feeling his face again as the numbness and swelling went away.

"There. You are set." Milin took a look at Eren and clapped, while Rudra reciprocated. Clearly, she was happy with her work.

"Wow, that's impressive. I guess the Dragas are not called Highborns for nothing."

Milin nodded affirmatively.

Rudra sat down cross-legged and joined them. "You are no less impressive, taking this much punishment for so long. What is your Talent? This is the first time I am meeting a Lowborn. I didn't know your kind could be so strong."

'Why are you talking about Lowborns like animals? He must have a sheltered life if I am the first Lowborn he has ever met. Seriously, ninety-five percent of the country's population is made of Lowborns.' Eren made a mental note.

"I don't have a Talent," Eren said as if it was no big deal.

"What?" Milin and Rudra looked at each other incredulously.

Rudra scratched his head, "I knew people like you existed but still I thought it was just a rumor."

"But doesn't that make it more impressive. Entering the Academy without having any Talent. You are not half bad." Milin added.

Eren shook his head in denial, "both of you are Binaries. I am nothing compared to you two."

"How did you..." They exchanged looks again with expressions that were similar to the time when Eren said he was Talentless.

A Binary was someone possessing two Talents. Marriage outside of clans was not common. Even if two individuals with different Talents had a child in most cases only one of the Talents would be passed down, which made Binaries even rarer. In fact, Highborn Binaries were almost always destined to get a good position in the government and they got to decide which clan they can associate themselves with once they became adults. For minors though, the clan which claimed them first got to keep them.

"Your hands," Eren said while pointing at Milin's hands, "they don't belong to someone specialized in support capabilities but someone supposed to be at the frontlines."

Milin, now self-conscious hid her hands behind her back. "I am half Draga and half Raven."

Eren and Rudra's eyebrows arched up as the realization dawned upon them.

"Are you related to Markus Raven?" Rudra asked.

Milin nodded, "I am his granddaughter."

Both fell silent as they didn't know what to say. It caused quite an uproar when Markus Raven; the head of a Highborn clan was discovered to be one of the leaders of the rebel forces. So, it doesn't need to be mentioned but people were unhappy. So if you are a Raven out in the open you are basically asking for your death.

"Who is the new clan head?" Eren asked in a low voice, still unsure if it was the right question.

"None. They are still fighting for the Guardian's attention but it has not decided yet."

The Guardians were immortal beings who chose a person of their liking from a clan, normally the strongest warrior, and granted him or her its powers. These would become the clan heads. In turn, the clan leader would spread the powers to its fellow clan members thus strengthening their Talents. This was the case only for Highborns which was why they were a notch above the rest. Now that the Guardian hadn't chosen anyone, Ravens were equal; to Lowborns. But this also meant that she was caught in a domestic war for power where all the likely candidates would be eliminated until the Guardian chose the next head and since she was a direct descendant of Markus, her chances of getting assassination were quite high. No one knew what to say.

"What about me?" Rudra asked with an expectant look on his face, to break the sad silence.

Eren laughed, "it was a bluff."

"You piece of shit." Rudra cursed, but he was not angry.

"When you touched my forehead, I felt a little iffy. As you might already know we can't use magic here so you definitely used your Talent on those troublemakers..." Milin's stern gaze made him pause, "ahm...I mean assholes. Plus your eyepatch is really out of the place, as a Highborn you could have easily got a Healer or healing potion to heal any injury. But the oddest thing was when you introduced yourself to me you didn't say your full name. So I decided to gamble and..." Eren ended with a shrug as if to say the result was already present.

"First of all, my eyepatch is beautiful and I can perfectly see with both eyes. Second, I am half Curtis and half Alariel..."

"Did you just say you are an Alariel?" Milin was not trying to hide her anger.

"You..you have a problem with that." Rudra tried to put on a brave front but was unsuccessful.

"Fucking pigeons, why can't you mind your own business. Eren lets get away from this creep."

"Hey, not all of us are creeps, don't stereotype us that's discrimination."

"Discrimination my ass! I know what you pigeons did to the Raven women who came to your territory to bathe in the hot springs."

"It was just a prank and anyway it was their fault. They burnt all of our pegasi in the name of target practice."

Eren tried to calm both of them down but little did he know that the incident they were talking about was three centuries old and since then both the clans have been at each other's throats.

Finally, both of them ended with a 'Hmph' and settled with their backs facing each other.

Eren massaged his head and after a minute got an idea. He pulled out a loaf of bread wrapped in paper from his bag.

"Would you like a bite?" Eren asked.

Rudra's face brightened immediately and started salivating. Both of them looked at Milin as if expecting her to ask.

"I am not hungry." Unfortunately, her stomach growled causing her embarrassment

"I guess one bite can do." She said as she blushed.

All three of them looked at each other and gave out a hearty laugh.

****************************************************************************************************************************************

In a dark room, a man groveled at the feet of another one. The only light present was cast by a multitude of screens projecting images and live feed of the room where Eren and his friends were present.

"Please Boss, he was getting beaten up by those Highborn brats, I couldn't just watch. Please, don't tell him."

The man standing replied. "You know the rules and you knowingly broke one. Have you forgotten the purpose of the White Room? The Director entrusted it to us. I have no choice but to tell him."

"Boss, why does it matter so much? I only reduced his pain," the man replying was on the verge of crying.

"Leto. Let go of my leg now. For every second you don't I would deduct a month's salary."

Even after the threat, Leto remained adamant. Boss sighed, "One..."

Leto immediately stood up and saluted. "Leto at your service."

Boss slapped his forehead, as he was clearly tired by his subordinate's antics. Leto had potential but still acted like a child.

"What is the name of the kid you helped?"

"Eren Penhallow."

"Eren Penhallow, huh," Boss rolled the words in his mouth. They weren't foreign to him, but he didn't know why.

Leto was startled as the sounds of knuckles cracking shattered the silence. He knew that this meant Boss was onto something.

"Do you remember the Fiend breakout in Quaint?" Boss asked Leto.

"Yes, if I remember correctly you were deployed for the cleanup. Why does it matter now?"

"That Penhallow kid, I think he was the sole survivor."