Zavian’s team started their first interview session at nine o’clock in the morning with Ms. Lumen, who had done the activity four times before. Sitting beside him was Crossvan, while Ms. Lumen sat across from them at a wooden picnic table, away from the other pairs in the park.
Zavian began with the question, “Ms. Lumen, why do you want to be a Valoure?”
She initially appeared shy, her flushed freckled cheeks contrasting with her fair skin. Her auburn hair was slightly messy, and she had green eyes and full lips. Nervously, she bit her lip and answered with her head down, “I— I want to be a Valoure because it’s my dream to stand up for myself. I was really weak back then and w-would always get bullied, so now, I want to be strong and help weak people.”
Zavian’s jaw clenched as he typed her words. It felt like he was listening to his own story. He glanced at her, and she seemed embarrassed. It was clear that her difficulty in expressing herself came from the heart. Zavian and Crossvan both accepted her response; with Crossvan, having been a bully himself in the past, likely feeling a hint of guilt.
Contemplating his motives, Zavian realized he lacked a noble reason to become a Valoure as it was primarily driven by his desire to be accepted by Olesia, which he couldn’t reveal as his answer.
“Uh, can we take turns asking each other questions?” Ms. Lumen suggested. “I th-think that’s only fair.”
“She has a point, Zav. We can ask each other one question at a time.”
Zavian briefly closed his eyes, thinking about how to respond while subtly shifting the focus to Crossvan. “Fine. How about you? Why do you want to be a Valoure?” He had to think quickly about how to phrase his own response while giving Crossvan the spotlight.
There was a prolonged pause before he finally spoke up. “I want to look cool.”
He kept them waiting, then provided a nonsensical answer, prompting a frustrated huff from Zavian. “Can you be more serious?”
He laughed. “Sorry, I was just buying time.” He gazed at him intently and continued, “I haven’t thought about it yet, honestly.”
Zavian furrowed his brows, feeling like the statement was directed at him. “What do you mean? Haven’t you done this activity last year? You should already know your answer by now. Can’t you remember it?”
Ms. Lumen cleared her throat, drawing their attention. “Uh, e-excuse me. But the questions this y-year are not the same as last year. Every year has different sets of q-questions, I think.”
Zavian nodded. “I see. Thanks for letting me know, Ms. Lumen.” He sighed. “I guess we could come up with answers after giving it some thought. Let’s reconvene here at the same time in a week.”
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Two weeks had passed, and Zavian’s group had completed the activity. Ms. Lumen’s response to the first question remained unchanged. In contrast, Crossvan now expressed his desire to turn over a new leaf, becoming a protector rather than a cause of harm. Zavian, on the other hand, expressed his aspiration to defend people and make every effort to prevent innocent lives from being lost, sparing families from grief.
He keenly felt the pain of loneliness and couldn’t help but reflect on the conjurer who had taken Olesia’s parents. He believed that if he were a Valoure, he would have never allowed such a tragedy to occur. He would have shielded and saved them from harm. However, he acknowledged that he would only do this for Olesia. When it came to strangers, he realized that it would be challenging for him, and he needed to cultivate compassion for others. Thus, the trait he lacked as a Valoure was compassion.
Zavian acknowledged that compassionate individuals possessed kindness, empathy, and the ability to understand others’ perspectives—qualities he found challenging. He stressed the importance of compassion for heroes. Without it, a hero might lack the motivation to help or take risks to protect others. Developing this trait was a formidable task for him, given his self-centered upbringing. Nevertheless, he had a plan to nurture compassion through mindfulness. He intended to work on treating both himself and others with kindness, letting go of grudges and resentments, and being forgiving if others made mistakes or hurt him. In the meantime, Zavian would remain committed to proving his worth as an official Valoure and defeating Chronus Magnum in a duel.
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The course had reached its fourth stage, focusing on physical and combat training with students of the same year level. Before combat training began, they underwent a two-month regimen of physical exercises, including three-foot hurdles, wall climbing, weightlifting, monkey bar races, and shadow kickboxing.
Then the sparring matchups followed a three-ranking structure. Zavian, ranked third, was set to face second-ranked Brockley, with the winner advancing to challenge Cramzyn, the top-ranked contender. Zavian won twenty-six times, while Brockley won twenty-four times, giving Zavian the chance to challenge Cramzyn two more times. However, both had never emerged victorious against her; they consistently faced defeat. Zavian needed to intensify his preparation for the upcoming tournament and train harder to have a chance at defeating her; otherwise, he might not get the opportunity to challenge the Lead Valoure this year.