"She is not making up words," Larissa said between laughs, wiping at the corners of her eyes. "Those are literally the official terms used in certification documents."
"This is a nightmare," Ren muttered, slumping further into his seat until his head nearly rested against the carriage's padded back. "Give me a thousand corrupted beasts over this any day."
"Oh, don't worry," Liora said with a mischievous smile that promised nothing good. "The award ceremony will be the least of it."
Ren clung to that like a lifeline, straightening slightly with renewed hope. "Today's ceremony will be easy?"
"Relatively," Larissa responded, though her tone suggested 'easy' was a generous interpretation. "The awards will be announced publicly as always, but actually receiving them after this year's end will depend on you maintaining a clean academic record."
"Wait," Ren frowned, confusion all over his face. "They give me the awards but then they can take them away?"
