Did Adam want to bring the book and tool home to Madame's or not? Adam had been absentmindedly patting his full belly and had completely forgotten about this. He felt a little nervous about taking them home, but at the same time , he also thought that Madame's would be a safe place to keep them. Not really sure of what he should pick he said: “I don't know. What do you think mom?”

Vivienne gently smiled at Adam. “Do you remember, before we had to leave Fort Erich, your father and I had been talking to you about making your own decisions? In six years you will be an adult. While that may seem like a long time, but it will come faster than you expect. It is time for you to start making your own life decisions. As Cathryn said, this is a decision that can alter the course of your path. What do you want to do Adam?”

Vivienne had decided to follow and support Adam's decision, no matter what it was. If he wanted to put in effort to try and become a spiritualist, she would help him. If he wanted to back out of the whole thing, she would never doubt his decision. This was Adam's future to decide. The responsibilities and the dangers will reside with him. Only he could make this decision.

Adam started to feel the pressure from his mother. He was originally just going to push the decision off to her. But now it seemed he would have to start thinking more about himself and his future. He gave it some internal thought for a few minutes.

As Vivienne watched her son struggle with the decision, she almost started to regret making him form his own choice at this moment in time. She felt that it would be a good opportunity for him to foster more independence. He had already showed a good initiative for asking Hansen about training. But she felt that was just a daily routine. Most likely, it would not effect his future too much. But this could drastically effect him.

After internally debating for a time, Adam came to his decision. He thought about the fact that he could not currently read the book, nor use its spirit formation. Right now he needed to focus on learning the form of that tool that resided in the wooden box. If he became too absorbed in learning about stuff from the book, it could detract from his concentration. The first thing he needed right now was not knowledge, it was forming an image of the tool precise enough in his head to start accumulating spirit essence.

Adam announced his decision: “Let's leave the book here, but take the box with the tool with us!”

Vivienne was a little surprised by her son's answer. She had not really thought about just taking one of them. Her surprise was quickly replaced with pride for this son of hers. He was able to come to his own decision that was perhaps better than any she would have made.

Vivienne then said: “Okay. Why don't we go see one of the receptionists then. I guess they will help us store the book away.”

Vivienne led Adam to the receptionist area on the second floor. There, they found Gerard. He redirected them down to the first floor where they actually store the candidates books. Vivienne continued to lead Adam down to the first floor where there were a few receptionists waiting to help the candidates. Vivienne spotted Alyssa among them and singled her out.

“Hello, Alyssa. Can you help us store Adam's book away?”

Alyssa held a bright smile as they approached. “Sure.” She then asked Adam: “You decided to leave the book after all then?”

Adam nodded his head in Alyssa's direction. “Yep. I am still taking the spiritual tool they gave me, though. I did not want to get distracted by the book.”

Surprise filled Alyssa's face. “They gave a spiritual tool to you?! That's Amazing! You must treat it well so you don't loose or break it.”

Adam replied with a simple “Mhmm” with another nod of his head.

Vivienne was happy to see Adam interacting with Alyssa. Perhaps this place would be good for him in more than one way. The people who worked and studied here were different then those who lived at Madame's. It would be good for Adam to open himself up with different people.

Alyssa then looked apologetically at Vivienne. “I can only take Adam to store his book away. Only the receptionist and the candidate are allowed inside the storage room at one time. This makes it harder for some one to steal one of the books from our storage area.”

Vivienne had a good impression of Alyssa so far, so she allowed her to take Adam and store his book away. A few of the new candidates were still thinking over their own decisions on whether or not to take their book home with them.

Alyssa gently led Adam forward by the hand. She led him through a door way that was just to the left of the stair way leading up to the second floor. This door was actually hidden from view by the curve of the stairs. After going through this first door way, Alyssa turned and took Adam further to the left. Adam could not see anything, but Alyssa explained the lay out to him.

There were a series of three small rooms that held the books of the candidates for storage. These rooms were labeled as storage room A, B, and C. Quite simple naming, but it works. Inside each of the rooms were shelves with sectioned lockers, that would be locked with the candidate's badge. Truthfully, there would never be a time where all the lockers would be in use, candidates were actually rather rare. There were around a hundred candidates at a time, at most, and each room held one hundred lockers.

Alyssa told him it would still be fine if he lost his badge, as the locker read the blood imprint of the badge. No matter what badge the candidate presents, as long as it holds their blood and is linked to them, it would unlock their locker.

Adam and Alyssa had to wait a few minutes to be able to put his book away. Only one pair of receptionist and candidate were allowed in one of the rooms at a time. There were enough candidates, that wanted to leave their books, that it caused a small line.

When it was finally their turn, Alyssa led Adam into room A. To enter, she placed a badge of her own in an indent slightly above the door nob and a click was heard. The room they entered was semi circular with the opposite wall from the entrance curving to either side. Alyssa spotted that locker twelve was sitting open and ready for use. After guiding him over, She took Adam's book and placed it inside the locker. She then had Adam hold his badge in his hand while she directed it to an indent in the middle of the locker door. Both the locker and the badge glowed faintly before a click was heard, just like the door.

After this, Alyssa started to lead Adam back to Vivienne. “Your locker number is A-Twelve. You don't have to remember it too hard. If you forget which locker is yours, we can still use your badge to find it!”

Adam nodded his head to Alyssa as he mumbled “A-Twelve” to himself.

After Adam was reunited with Vivienne, it was time to return to Madame's. They took the carriage service that Janette had provided back. On the journey Adam told Vivienne about how they stored his book away. After that, he would gently drum his fingers on the wooden box that held his spiritual tool. He was impatient to get home and find a quiet place to use the tool.

It was getting late, however, and it was a rather exhausting day for a young boy. The ride back was long, and Adam fell asleep before they made it to Madame's. Hansen and Janette were waiting to greet them by Madame's, so Hansen gently lifted Adam up and carried him to his bed. Janette and Hansen were joyous to hear that Adam passed the initial test, but Vivienne was too tired to go into details tonight. She placed Adam's wooden box and badge on a nightstand between the beds as she crawled into her own bed to sleep.

Adam started to wake up early the next morning. He had already gotten used to waking up early for morning training, so he was automatically waking up at this time. He drowsily sat up as he tried to get his bearings for the morning. After rubbing his face, he remembered that he actually fell asleep in the carriage last night!

Adam could still hear his mother sleeping deeply on the other bed. He did not want to disturb her sleep, so he carefully felt out the area around him. He had been put to bed with his previous days clothes on. He was not entirely sure where the box and badge were put, though.

As he pondered on their location, he felt a faint pull on the edge of his consciousness. It felt almost like losing his balance and being pulled in a certain direction, then it went away. Adam tilted his head in a confused manner. “What was that feeling?” He thought to himself.

He thought about the badge and box again and the same feeling came to him. He gently reached out in the direction of the pull and found his hand falling on top of the wooden box. Feelings of surprise and awe filled his body. Was this an effect of binding the box with his blood? He seemed to know the general location of the box just by thinking about it!

Adam then tried thinking specifically of his badge. He felt a pull that was fainter than the one for the box, but easily found his badge that was also sitting on the night stand. A thought came to him and he started thinking of the book. He wanted to see if he could feel it's location too! But he felt nothing. “Is it too far?” He thought.

Adam placed his hand back on top of the box. He felt an intense desire to start studying the tool. He had already fallen asleep last night and missed a night of study time! But, he could only let out a small disappointed sigh as he brought his hand back. Adam and the other boys had all promised Hansen that they would make it for training every morning, unless they were physically incapable of doing so.

Adam could hear the faint murmurs of people moving about in the hall out side the door, so he knew that it was morning already. Adam carefully got out of bed in a way that would not disturb his mother. He was already dressed, so he just grabbed his walking stick that was always placed next to his bed and made for the door. He had spent enough time in this room to navigate it without need of the walking stick. Taking one step at a time, Adam managed to get out the door in a quiet fashion.

Adam had already mapped out the general area of the dormitory and the first floor of Madame's. For the dormitory, it was rather easy. He would run his walking stick along the floor moldings of the walls. He would count the door sills that he hits along the way. In this fashion he was able to easily guide himself to the cafeteria.

After entering the cafeteria Alfred called out to him: “Hey, Adam! We are over here.”

Adam had been occasionally eating with the other boys who were training with Hansen. Besides Alfred, the names of the others were Franklin, Darren, Bruno, and Clyde. They were all older than Adam as the younger boys had already quit. Though, the younger boys had started regretting their decision as Hansen's training had started to become evident on the older boys. They were starting to develop muscles and grow, so the girls would end up paying more attention to them then the other boys who had quit.

During breakfast, the other boys all inquired about how the testing went. They had heard that Adam was going to get tested for spiritual sense the other day. They were all awed by the tales Adam told them of the institute. Even more, Adam had the chance to become a spiritualist. For a moment they felt that Adam was living in a completely different world from them.

After breakfast was done, they all headed out together to meet Hansen at the training area behind the dormitory. When they were got there, Hansen was happy to see Adam had gotten up to join them. He worried that Adam would be to tired from yesterday and sleep in, or neglect training in favor of studying the tool.

Hansen spoke to the boys: “Before we start the morning training, I have an announcement. In two weeks time, we will start with basic sword training!”

They boys all became excited as they heard this. Hansen interrupted their excitement as he continued to speak: “You may be thinking right now that the sword training will be fun and easy. Let me tell you that it will be harder than the training I have given you so far, and it will be grueling. You will have to fight with blisters on your hands, and give one hundred percent of your effort in each swing. Before we even get to practice fighting between each other, you will have to spend at least a month training the basics!”

All the boys faces paled at this. Even Adam felt that this would be too hard. His father had always been rather easy in his training, this would clearly be harder. Hansen continued to speak further: “It may sound harsh, but I know that you can persevere through this training. I will never push you to the point where you will break your bodies, but you must always give me one hundred percent effort in return! You have all made it to this point with a determination that is greater than those who have quit. Each of you must have your own reason for wanting this training. In these two weeks, I want each of you to discover why you want this training so much. What is your reason for being here and learning this? In two weeks, I will have each of you tell me your answer. You must form a strong desire or reason to cling to, in order to make it through this training.”

Hansen's words still sounded harsh, but the boys had already gotten used to his manner of speech. He was actually encouraging them. He would always watch them and make sure they never break. All they had to do was push ever forward, as hard and as fast as they could. He wanted them to have a reason for doing this, a reason to fight and learn. This was something that could potentially become the core of their lives.

“If any of you feel that you will not be able to keep up with instruction in the sword, you may simply quit that aspect of the training. I will be willing to continue teaching you the strength training, as we will do that every morning regardless.”

After letting his words settle with the boys for a moment, Hansen spoke once more: “Now, let's start training!”

Shortly after Adam had left, Vivienne woke up. When she looked over, she saw Adam had already left for the morning. After she changed her clothes, she went to go find him and make sure he wasn't too tired from yesterday. She easily found Adam training normally with Hansen. After checking up on Adam, she departed to go find Janette.

Vivienne found Janette watching over Madame's first floor. Madame's sold meals for all times of the day. After meeting up with Janette, Vivienne told her of what happened at the institute yesterday, in detail. Janette was quite surprised by the tales herself.

Vivienne then spoke of her future plans with Janette. “It is too much to ask of you to give Adam a carriage service every Zonntock, for free. I wish to work. As long as I don't do any heavy lifting, the splint will take care of my leg just fine.”

Janette's reply started with “Vivi....” Then she started thinking some more. Janette was initially going to deny Vivienne, but she knew that would not work. The carriage service was indeed a tad pricey. Madame's could easily foot the bill, but it was an unneeded expenditure. And it would have to be given once every week now, not once a month.

Janette also knew how stubborn Vivienne could be. Still she also thought it would be a good idea for Vivienne to start working. It would also look better on her reports for an extra hired hand, than an unneeded expenditure. She could start giving Vivienne a pay for working and eventually Vivienne could restart her life somewhere, if she wanted.

“Fine, but where do you want to work?”

Vivienne replied: “I think I would like to either work at the bar, or in the kitchen.”

Truthfully Vivienne would have loved to dance. She was still a beautiful woman in her late twenties and would have been welcomed on the dance platform. But it was impossible with her leg. Still, she had a small passion for cooking, and she remembered some fond memories of working the bar before she left.

While Janette and Vivienne were figuring things out, Adam finished his training. He had decided that he was not going to play the flute today, he wanted to start studying the spiritual tool! He hurried back to his room from the training area. He found that his mother was no longer in the room.

“This is perfect!” Adam thought.

They were told to study in a quiet isolated area, this room should be good for that. There was no one present, and it was a closed off room. He walked over to his bed and sat on it. He pulled the wooden box off the night stand and placed it in his lap. Carefully he pressed the button to open the box. When it opened he felt those waves of spirit energy rushing to the tool hidden inside. Adam started to feel giddy with excitement.

After calming himself down, Adam placed his hand on the tool that was under the black cloth. He felt the cold, itchy metal and tried to figure out it's shape. Adam could only feel a slightly round shape under his palm, but nothing more than that.

After a few minutes of trying to figure anything else out, Adam frowned. “This isn't working. Let's try something else.”

Since he couldn't figure anything else out with his palm, Adam started to run his finger tips over the tool. Doing this, he could now feel distinct lines inside the round tool. Adam continued to experiment with ways to feel out the shape of the formation that the tool took, but he quickly found a problem. His room isn't as secluded and quiet as he thought.

Adam was constantly hearing people in the hall way as they moved about. Not everyone worked at Madame's at once, so there was constant milling of the tenants in the dormitory. With Adam's hearing having become better, since he became blind, these faint noises became sharper for him. Also since it was quiet in the room, it was so much easier to hear these noises. He could also hear music spilling from Madame's and rowdy laughter of some patrons.

After a while Adam heard someone stopping at the door. They put their hand on the door knob to enter the room. Adam quickly closed the box so be on the safe side. Vivienne then opened up the door and walked in. “There you are Adam. I couldn't find you.”

“Hi, mom, I was studying the tool I got.”

“Oh?” Vivienne finally noticed the box in Adam's lap. She was still a bit apprehensive about it, but it seemed safe for now. “How did it go?”

“Not very well. It is hard to figure out the shape and it is too noisy here!” Adam complained.

Adam explained his troubles to his mother. Vivienne could do nothing for helping him figure out the shape of the tool, but maybe she could help find a good spot for study. She would have to ask Janette to help her find a good spot, whether it was in Madame's campus or somewhere close by in the city.

A few days passed in a similar manner as that day. Vivienne started working in the kitchen and at the bar to pay for Adam's carriage fees. She didn't tell Adam that, that was the reason she had started working again, she didn't want him to feel any kind of guilt over it.

During these days, Adam continued playing the flute while trying to find a time where it was quiet to study the tool. He had started trying to trace the lines of the tool in a pattern, like he was drawing it out in one continuous stroke, but the formation was very complicated and hard to follow.

Janette had been continuously asking around for quiet and secluded spots during this time. On this day, it seemed that she finally found a good spot. Vivienne had retrieved Adam, from playing his flute, and brought him along to meet Janette so they could discuss it.

Entering into Janette's office, Vivienne saw a young girl nervously distracting herself with the splendor of the room. After they had walked in and attracted the girl's attention, Janette spoke: “Adam, Vivienne, this is Helen. She said she knows of a quiet spot near by.”

Both Adam and Helen let out a sound at the same time: “Eh?”