The straw war ended when all three collapsed in laughter. For a moment, time seemed to rewind, as if Ren had never left the outskirts, as if he were still just one more among the district's children.
But quickly he felt bad again... No, worse.
Here in the outskirts, children grew up with modest expectations. Their basic beasts guaranteed them lives of manual labor, perhaps as miners or farmers if they were lucky. Military service would be their first and only contact with the developed part of the city.
In contrast, his academy classmates, mostly children of nobles and wealthy merchants, were being prepared for positions of power and influence. Even those who began with seemingly mediocre beasts, like Taro, Liu, and Min had been, had prospects these children couldn't imagine.
"Hey," Tao suddenly said, sitting up and pointing directly at Ren's head, pulling him from his thoughts. "You haven't told us what those glowing things in your hair are."
