Chapter 170: Ask Him Yourself

"You just asked him?!"

The chorus of disbelief from the group of trainees made Sophia flinch slightly. The expression on their faces was somewhere between awe and complete horror, as if she’d told them she walked straight into a Skylur’s den and came out with its teeth as souvenirs.

Sophia blinked at them, unimpressed. "Yes. I just asked."

Dren, who was still gawking like his brain was trying to process the information, ran a hand through his hair. "No, no, no... that can’t be it. How exactly did you ask him?"

Sophia frowned. "What do you mean how? I just asked. Like any other question."

"No, no, no," Dren repeated, wagging a finger at her. "Did you... maybe, you know..." he hesitated, then leaned closer, lowering his voice dramatically, "...go on your knees or something?"

Sophia stared at him like he’d grown two heads. "Go on my knees and do what? Why would I even do that?"

Dren shrugged. "Because he’s training you. I heard some people have been begging him for months. Holly has been begging him since she started training to be a guard." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"And she’s not the only one. Some others gave up because he refused to teach them. Did you ask him while lying down?" a girl asked her.

Sophia blinked again, utterly dumbfounded. "Lying down?" she repeated, her tone flat.

"I’m just saying. You must have done something to make him want to teach you," the girl said.

Sophia pinched the bridge of her nose. "I swear, you all have an absolutely wild imagination, you know that? I didn’t kneel, neither was I lying down. I just asked him, the same way you ask people questions. There was nothing involved."

The trainees exchanged disbelieving looks. One of them whispered under his breath, "She must have some kind of spell..."

"Do you think she’s a priestess like Madam Tyler?" someone asked.

"Madam Tyler isn’t a witch," another replied dryly.

"I am not a witch," Sophia said flatly. "I just want to know though, you guys spoke about people asking him. Which of you actually asked him, and he refused?" she asked them.

They all looked at each other. None of them spoke. No one raised a hand.

Sophia nodded. "I see how it is."

Dren spoke up. "If he isn’t answering the older trainees, then who are we to ask him? We’re still new. He wouldn’t answer us."

"Really?" Sophia asked him with a raised eyebrow. "From what I’ve seen, the Alpha does not look like someone who would ignore you guys. What if there was a reason he refused to teach the others?"

"We... we actually don’t know if there was a reason," Dren confessed. "We just know that..."

"...he isn’t willing to teach people," Sophia concluded for him.

There was a pause as the trainees all looked at each other. The older trainees were already making their way into the training grounds too, and most had the same expression on their faces as the younger ones.

"Umm..." someone spoke up.

"What is it?" Sophia asked him.

"Do... do you think you can ask him for us, seeing as he agreed to train you just from you asking?" he asked her.

Sophia blinked again. "For you?"

"Yeah." He nodded eagerly. "I mean, not to train us full-time or anything. It doesn’t even have to be a full day. We know how busy he is. It can just be a few hours — or even just a demonstration."

A dark-haired boy beside him nodded fervently. "It could be just one move too. It doesn’t have to be anything special."

Sophia sighed. It seemed they did not understand that all they had to do was ask Orion. She was certain there was a reason why he had rejected those who asked him. Yes, there were numerous people who wanted his teachings, but there must be a reason why he refused.

Besides, she was sure one of the reasons he agreed to even train her was because she was annoying — although, like Orion said, they both annoyed each other. And there was also the fact that she didn’t give up. She wasn’t going to let Orion make fun of her, which was why she tried so hard to unsheathe that sword during his test, even though she had been extremely exhausted.

Perhaps even her stubbornness added to the reason why Orion was willing to train her. And... she knew also that it was because she was a bit special to him, but these people didn’t know that. They only knew that they spoke and bantered with each other. They didn’t know that their relationship was more than that right now.

She leveled the trainees with a stare. "You want me to ask Orion to train all of you?"

"Yes!" they said in unison.

"Like just only you guys or all the trainees gathered here, including the older ones?" she asked them.

"All of us," they answered together.

She blinked. "And why exactly do you think I’d do that?"

Dren frowned at the question. "That’s because you were able to get him to teach you. You can do the same for us, right?"

That made her laugh, an incredulous, slightly disbelieving laugh. "You’re joking, right?" she asked them.

Dren shook his head, and the others followed. "No."

"I..."

"Come on, Sophia, help an ally out, please. We’ve got the placement test coming up at the end of the month," Dren told her.

Sophia tilted her head. "What’s the placement test?"

"It’s exactly as the name implies. It’s a test that determines where we fall in. After the test, if we pass, then we can become either hunters or warriors/guards. It’s a..."

"...test that determines your position," Sophia completed for him. "But what happens if you fail? You remain trainees?"

He nodded. "Yes."

"Some of us have been stuck as trainees for two years," the black-haired girl muttered.

"Some longer," Dren added. "One of the older trainees has been a trainee for over five years now."

"Five years?" Sophia said in horror. "That’s... why doesn’t he just try to get a job in another department?"

"Most of us have dreamed of being guards or warriors. So... it’s like a dream for us. And most of us aren’t good at other departments. There’s also the fact that the guards, warriors, and hunters have the highest pay," Dren informed her.