Alara knew that her life had been completely altered the moment she finished a quiz and survey that evaluated her academic, hard, soft and physical skills. It was like a diagnostic test and it was extremely rigorous especially for the physical one. Higher-ups in the Agency had timed ordered her to complete a hundred push-ups in a minute seconds and her heart had sunk when she noted the brief shake of their heads when they concluded that she had only done seventy push-ups.

Then came the academic skills. She did well in that area as while she may have been born into a low class, her parents had done their very best in ensuring that she had a semblance of an education as they felt it was necessary for a girl to have both brain and brawn. Besides, with Jonek Jonjej as her godfather, Alara probably had a better teacher than the children from the higher classes as he was someone who had experienced history in his lengthy lifetime.

Needless to say, her heart swelled with joy when the Agency announced that they would focus on getting her trained in the physical areas and expose her to new areas of education. Alara was elated as from this, she discerned that her duties as an Agent would require her to be involved in heroic acts like saving lives- otherwise, why would they need her to be fit as a fiddle?

I am also curious as to what other fields of education I'll be exposed to. To think that all of these is what I would need to work on for the first six months of my first year here. Alara couldn't help but beam as she pictured herself becoming physically fit and becoming a truly learned person.

It's going to be strenuous. It's probably going to be painful.

It will definitely be tiring.

But, while she tied her hair in a tight, high ponytail, it's bound to be really fun.

Playfully swishing her hair, she let out a giggle and headed for the Athlete's Corner.

She'd never been so mistaken in her entire life.

It wasn't tiring.

It wasn't painful either.

It was both exhausting and excruciating.

I want to die. Somebody kill me now. Alara mentally begged while she performed her hundredth squat. If she wasn't so petrified of the prospect of Maren ordering her to do another hundred push-ups, She only whined mentally as she was petrified that Maren would make her do another hundred push-ups for complaining.

"No pain, no gain," roared Maren when he noted that her right arm was starting to slacken. I'll kill you later, you wretched imp. Can't you give me a break? Ugh.

How misfortune struck her so easily was beyond her. Somehow, her partner and trainer was the same guy- the unrelenting Maren Santos! Truly, what's the chances of being tortured by the same person? It's probably one in a million... I've definitely struck the jackpot, haven't I?

"One, two, three... okay, we're done for the day." Obnoxiously, he blew the whistle in her ears and she was certain that its blaring noise had likely ruptured some part of her ear.

"Your professionalism ends only after the torture, huh." She hissed furiously when his rich laughter floated into her ears.

"Yes, that's right. Did you have an enjoyable experience?" Maren Santos gleefully winked at her and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"You dastardly rapscallion!" Amazingly, she somehow still had enough strength in her that enabled her to still chase after him in spite of the arduous anguish she had been in minutes ago.

Her heartless partner sprinted and by the end of the chase, she was stinkier than a skunk and Maren was in pain too- the sweetest kind, which is from laughing too much.

"Today, we'll be dabbling in illicit activities." Tania paused dramatically. After a few awkward and quiet moments, Tania continued.

"."

Poison?

"Poison."

"Ah, okay." What else am I supposed to say? Was I to say "I knew it!" when I didn't? Alara shook her head when she noticed that she'd been mentally arguing with herself. I'm going insane, aren't I?

"Poisons. They are underrated, unappreciated art. Like me," joked Tania, and continued in embarrassment when she spotted Alara's feeble smile. "They do their job perfectly and are often created through ingenious means. Now, Alara, I won't lie to you- I did a background check on you. I discovered that you've managed to make your mother's suspected case of tuberculosis improve?" Her trainer seemed proud when she nodded her head.

"Well, um. Not exactly... I mean, my mother isn't cured, but the poultices I made from scratch after researching did stop it from exacerbating." She coughed and couldn't help but feel daunted that she was having the Agency's renowned 'Lady of Poison' as her mentor.

Tania de Allura was the first child ever to be recruited at the Agency- she was only six when she joined. Word has it that she had murdered her father through an odourless, untraceable poison as her mother was going to be killed by her abusive father. Rumour had it that he had been repeatedly beating her mother.

Her mother, Brites de Allura, had apparently secretly given her to the Agency in the hopes of protecting Tania forever. But this was just mere gossip, and honestly, Alara doubted that she was capable of killing her own father when she was a wee child.

Regardless of the truth, it was a fact that Tania started her journey here at age six.

"Oh, Alara? Any rumors you hear of my story? They're all false." Tania wore a despondent smile, her expression a grim one. "The rumours are a much more embellished version. I brought this to get the white elephant out of the room. From personal experience, I felt it best to address this issue first."

Personal experience? Have people been invading her right to privacy? "Well, that elephant is surely gone now and has disappeared into the deep, dense jungles." Alara joked in a piteous attempt to lighten the mood.

She was relieved when Tania laughed jocularly. "I can see what Rielle meant now. You remind me of Maren too."

"Seriously? What great offense have I unintentionally caused you to get such an absurd impression of me?" groaned Alara.

Her response only caused her mentor to explode in a fit of giggles.

"What is the appearance of Nerium oleander-"

"It is a creamy white blossom and has vivid azure petals."

"Excellent. Is it indeed an innocuous plant?"

"No, it is not. It is like you, my friend, Lady of Poisons and Stupid Puns," Alara stuck her tongue out when Tania rolled her eyes, "The Nerium oleander is one of the deadliest flowers. The moment one ingests its leaves, the flower's toxins would immediately shut down the cardiovascular and nervous system, causing arrhythmia or even death within 36 hours."

"You've been practicing, haven't you? I'm pleased." Tania flashed her a thumbs-up.

"Pleased? Just that? I want to impress you with my knowledge." Alara folded her arms. "I bet I can do it."

"Really?" Tania put her hand to her chin, genuinely considering. "Let's see. If you get the last two questions correct, I'll reward you by letting you experiment on all poisons."

"Just five days?" Alara bargained boldly, for she was sure that this was something she can excel in.

"Let's throw in three days to experiment with herbs too."

"Deal." Alara clasped her hands in anticipation.

"First question: what is Aconitum? Does it have any adverse effects on the human body?"

"Aconitum has devastating effects on humans when consumed via the mouth and it is one of the deadliest plants. The roots are the most poisonous part of the flower but the leaves also do considerable damage too. Both roots and leaves contain a neurotoxin that can be easily accessed through the skin. Its lethality comes from toxic potent compounds known as alkaloids. They are present in Aconitum and the main one is aconites."

"Elaborate more on how its toxicity works and the symptoms of it. Tell me the symptoms of aconite poisoning- consider this a sub-question." Tania declared, her eyes glinting with the promise of a challenge.

Alara grinned. "I knew this was coming- you adore sub-questions. You can never part with them."

"Yes, indeed," chuckled Tania, and she motioned for Alara to continue.

"Alkaloids are classified as neurotoxins and cardiotoxins. They affect the cardiovascular and the central nervous systems. They can interfere with essential communication between cells, causing serious health problems. The typical symptoms of aconite poisoning include stomach pains, nausea. In more severe cases, difficulty breathing and burning sensation in the mouth and tongue and even an irregular heartbeat may sometimes happen."

"Good! Love the fact that you're very specific. Here's the second question. Since we've lost the technology to treat it, how would you do it?"

Oh my. This must be why she is suddenly so generous with the days I can spend on herbs and poisons... I mean, how does one treat an incurable condition?

Alara swallowed nervously. "Well, my treatment may not cure the person but it can prevent it from worsening rapidly. I will look for herbs that can relieve some of the symptoms like crepe ginger. When used appropriately, it may be able to rid of breathing problems and fever that may be another symptom too."

"Well done!" Tania exclaimed merrily. "I'm proud of you- you've grown so much in just three months. Now, go to Gabriel's class- he's already chided for me hogging you too long."

"Maybe that's why I'm not a handy person," joked Alara. "See you later, Tan!"

"No, Alara, you do not poke the lens with a screw..." Gabriel grabbed another flask of something that Alara highly suspected was beer. "You love technology, but you have the handy skills of a leaf. Look at how well Keyla is progressing! And she just joined us a month ago!"

He watched as Alara pouted childishly and examined Keyla's artful work. The prodigy had just finished constructing a bombproof window as part of a new project and was beginning to work on fireproofing.

Keyla Stones was a meek, introverted girl. She is not like Maren or Alara, who are animated social butterflies. She's nothing like darling Rielle either, who's an expert at gauging the mood and an expert at tact.

Oddly enough, Keyla reminded him of Valesque. Someone who he could depend on at certain times, but not enough for him to fully place his trust in.

Perhaps that was the cause of his headache. When he first heard of Alara Berrera joining the Agency and was someone who was passionate about technology, he naively thought that his prayers were heard.

It seemed that God had played him for a fool. Alara was an arrant disaster while Keyla was gifted in technology. Yet, there was something about her that made him not trust her. All his life, he had depended on his gut feeling to survive and thrive, and when it came to Keyla and Valesque, he always harboured the thought that they had sinister ulterior motives but always failed to pinpoint what it could be.

"Don't worry, Gabriel, I'll practice more often and ask Keyla for help!" volunteered the naive Alara.

That's that, Gabriel. Let's just accept our fate.