The exam given to them was cruel but straightforward: Only four of them may exit the room. To that end, someone had to guess a Restriction of another. In other words, someone had to risk their life, their existence, on something as volatile as conjecture.
Of course, there was that other option…
"You may refer to me as The Prince!"
Talon's unexpected scream instantly garnered the attention of the taciturn students before him.
He had a plan. If they just mulled around, they'd be stuck in this room forever. Talon needed a way to find the others' Restrictions, and this was the first step toward that goal. Henceforth, he was going to force each one of them into action. From there, he'd observe every minute detail and press them one by one while remaining under the disguise of imbecility.
After all, he basically had no Restriction at the moment, so he was free to act however he pleased. The only risk he carried was doing an action he's restricted from in the future. Of course… he'd also place fake restrictions on himself.
Talon stared at the petite girl with auburn hair and demanded:
"You there, orange, name?"
The girl looked horrified. She stepped back into the middle of the room and then looked to her right. Something she saw terrified her. Talon couldn't tell if it was nerves or she'd just seen something relating to her Restriction.
The girl jumped forward, surveying the four strangers surrounding her.
Talon leaned forward, resting his hands on the lectern, and pestered:
"Well?"
With all eyes on her, the girl tapped her fingers together and said:
"The- um. My name is uh Ne... No, I guess, Vitreo- no, just call me Vitty!"
Talon sent a glance at the left side of the room. The only things in the room were the two evenly spaced desks, the refrigerator in the corner, the wide-open door to the bathroom, and the wall itself.
Talon looked at her in a false confusion and said:
"Vitty? I've never heard of that word! If I, The Prince, don't know it, then you must be a liar! You dare lie to The Prince! Be honest! What was the name given to you?"
The handsome Black man interjected:
"Hey, douche, lay off. We should work together to try a proper solution. Do you truly believe that Book guy, this weird academy, seriously expects us to kill each other?"
Talon glared at the man, folding his eyes into knives that aimed at the poor man's soul.
"You dare speak to me without naming yourself?"
The Black man stared at Talon intently.
"...Remi. Call me Remi, you asshole."
It was a fake name, or at least a shortened version of the name he was given, but if Talon called him out on it, Remi might get suspicious of Talon's true intentions. Remi seemed quite intelligent.
Talon chirped back:
"Asshole? My name is The Prince! The Prince! Whatever! I have no time to concern myself with the pleas of a peasant!"
"Prince of Assholes…"
Talon ignored Remi and instead huffed and took another bite of the juicy apple, making sure not to show just how good this one small fruit tasted to him. He wasn't used to such fresh food. However, a prince would be. Those bastards indulged in luxuries like that daily while the poor and enslaved ate the grime from their boots.
After he swallowed, he looked over the four who stared back at him. Remi had a stone-cold look on his face. Vitty was still nervously glancing left and right.
'Is it really nerves? Or is she looking out for something?'
Talon looked at the busty woman who had been with a cold sweat ever since they read their soul.
Talon said:
"You, girl, speak. What's your name?"
The black haired woman's face paled. With pleading eyes, she looked at Talon. An awkward twenty-second passed.
"You dare stay your tongue when The Prince orders you to speak?"
Talon set the green apple down on the lectern and approached her.
"Speak when spoken to… unless… You can't?"
Talon smiled, then grabbed a sheet of paper and the pencil off the lectern and slammed it down on the nearest desk.
Talon ordered the poor girl:
"Write it then!"
Remi rested a hand on Talon's shoulder and said:
"Hey, douche, lay off. We should work together…"
"Again with that?"
Talon looked back at Remi, who held a weird look on his handsome face.
'Well… what's going on here?'
"The Prince deserves to know what he wants to know. But don't think I care for your names! I'm just satiating my curiosity!"
Talon looked back toward the trepidatious, busty girl and ushered her to write. Slowly, the woman began to move her hands and pick up the pencil. After a short while, the girl wrote four letters: 'C', 'R', 'O ', 'W'.
Talon internally thanked the servant girl who once taught him to read as he successfully read the name in his head.
'Crow…'
That name violated one of the self-imposed restrictions Talon had set for himself at the moment. It was the name of an animal. He created this false restriction out of spite, as the person he's bound to is named Raven, but to think it would be the first of his fake restrictions set in motion. Well, the first one that would be obviously shown.
As for the girl… Talon wasn't dumb. He knew very well this woman could be faking her inability to speak. Even more… Crow. A bird awfully familiar to Ravens.
'Surely the person I'm bound with wouldn't use a pseudonym only for it to be barely different than their actual name.'
"I hate those vile beings. I'll call you Row instead. What about you, fat boy?"
At nearly the same exact second his words escaped his throat, the boy with brown hair responded:
"Don't call me fat… But my name is uhhh... Temp."
Remi muttered quietly to himself:
"Row?"
Talon thought in his head:
'Temp? As in Temperature?'
Talon took a step back and looked at the small group in front of him. Now they all had names: The Prince, Vitty, Remi, Crow, and Temp…