The Pleiades had arranged a special hall for Orion. The guests began arriving early in the morning. Naturally, Astrid and the Hernandez representatives were among them.

Javier started a conversation. "Hol. Silver, I heard today Hol. Thornfield will announce his apprentice. I'm curious who it'll be."

He had some guesses and wanted to see Astrid's reaction. Over the past month, only Eric and Sylvia had been seen going in and out of Orion's place, so who else could it be?

Astrid glanced at him and chuckled. "Does it matter who it is? I just hope Orion doesn't forget what he owes me."

He added, "Those two everyone talks about have barely been with Orion for a month. It makes me wonder if he has lost his mind with old age. Why pick an apprentice whom he has known for just a couple of months? I doubt they are anything special. They might not even match up to my own apprentices in skill."

He had gathered info and knew that Orion's apprentice was probably Eric or Sylvia. But he didn't rea