New Life, New Task: I'll Be A Mom Then!!!

The hall was filled with exciting discussions as they all saw the two painters' work. It was a new experience for every spectator in the hall.

What excited them more was that these students would soon represent the institute and the empire!

They couldn't be more excited about the grand tournament knowing that their representatives were not someone who would give up the fight easily!

Grandmaster Reuben, Deputy Chairman Bramwell, and the three Deans all had relieved and satisfied looks on their faces, in their hearts they were so glad that they supported Eli in coming up with this idea to convince them.

Now, all they have to do is to pray that the mentoring session that will come later on would also be successful and helpful to the children.

But it was still too early for them to become relaxed as there were still two remaining demonstrations prior to announcing what was next for the eight students.

And so Bramwell called Max who was still drenched in sweat and was slightly pale when he presented himself to the audience.

"This young one, I am quite worried for him…" Arielle commented about Max who was walking toward the center of the platform.

"Why so, Princess Consort?" Grandmaster Reuben asked curiously.

"Well, earlier, didn't he choose to work on bronze for the sculpture? But I glanced at him from time to time… at one point I saw him getting the limestone… then after some time, he took the wood… maybe he was not able to do it within the time frame and so he tried to change his mediums until it worked on his side…" Arielle narrated her observation.

"Hmm… but looking at him, he seemed to be not anxious enough to present something substandard… Let's see... Maybe he was able to pull through…" Queen Lucia and the others all became worried at Arielle's remarks.

It was only Randel and Eli who maintained their calmness over the situation.

They both noticed that among the eight, it was Max who had a fiery expression on his face. It would be safe to say that among the eight, he was the one who wanted to turn around his life the most.

They believe that Max will pull through and that he will deliver exemplary results. It was only a matter of time for them to witness his talents.

"Now we will be evaluating the work done by our student sculptor, Max!" Bramwell gestured for the people to settle down.

"A pleasant afternoon to everyone, this is my work that speaks about resilience - Lone Tree!" He then pulled the sculpture which was half as tall as him, but because of the base platform, its height became a little over his head.

When everyone saw his sculpture, their eyes couldn't help but blink again to check twice. It turns out that Max was able to incorporate three materials in his work in the most unexpected way.

The sculpture was quite moving as it depicted a tree that was standing strong and unmoving with its roots deeply planted at the side of the cliff.

The limestone which Arielle saw before was actually made into the portion of the cliff. Max did a good job in shaping the block of limestone into something that is akin to the texture and formations of the cliff on the seaside.

As for the tree, this is where Max was able to catch everyone's attention. The moment everyone saw him use the bronze, they thought that he would make something that is solid and full of details through casting.

But who would have known that it was just an embellishment?

The trunk of the tree was actually intricately sculpted with wood. But from the roots to the big and fine branches as well as the leaves, the brass elements came into the place where Max actually used the bronze as twisted wires.

It gave an effect that the roots were the ones that nourished the tree on the dry surface of the cliff of rocks. The branches and the bronze leaves were all pointing in a certain direction, thus suggesting to the observers that there was a harsh strong wind that was making the tree look that way.

In the end, it really is a visualization of resilience.

"Amazing! I never thought that you could bring together these three materials so beautifully!" Queen Tehila couldn't help but praise Max for his effort and creativity.

Randel and Eli looked at him with approval, clearly satisfied with his hard work. Only then did Max decide to breathe a sigh of relief and pull out a polite smile on his face.

Once again another uproar ensued in the hall, but it was only for a short amount of time as the last demonstration was about to happen.

"Alright, for the last demonstration, student Lainie, along with students, Marie, Haley, Raya, and Desmond will now perform the arrangement made for the Empire's march! Let us welcome them back on stage!"

At his signal, the five music students entered the hall and immediately prepared their own instruments.

Although it was not a proper orchestra, Lainie still assumed the conductor position to guide her colleagues throughout the performance.

It was just a performance of under two minutes, however, for Lainie, this will be the turning point of her career and so she prayed that what she had written would turn out pleasing to other people's ears.

For what is the use of music that no one appreciates?

Can it be even called music?

With that, she cast a grateful look towards the four musicians who in turn answered her with an assuring nod, 'We are with you…'

Lainie took a deep breath and finally raised the baton signaling the start of the piece.

The four breathed in preparation as they waited for Lainie's baton to move.

Dun dan dan!

A heavy yet glorious set of notes came from the four musicians simultaneously. It was a challenge because the march form was actually quite challenging to execute in a piano quartet especially when the piece was meant to have percussion and brass instruments to it.

With just the piano and strings, Lainie had to make sure that the four instruments would fill in the missing elements that were not around in their full form.

Desmond's dextrous execution in the piano was supported by Haley's cello, mimicking the sound of the percussion, blending along with the baseline.

Raya and Marie on the other hand compensated for the middle and first voices with their high and mid-tone ranges. Their notes were also arranged in a way that a portion of the brass parts would be covered in the piece.

All in all the four worked together to make the Empire's March sound fuller and uplifting at the same time with only four instruments. Needless to say, it was Lainie who taught hard in order to arrange the notes in a way that the four could execute it very well even when they were only practically sight reading.

During the last measure, there was an intense build-up at the end of the piece which made everyone's heart pound and boils with patriotism before it ended like a fleeting whirlwind.

"Ah… it's done?" The watchers all felt like the performance was extremely short and craved more.

If not for Eli standing gracefully to initiate a clap in a standing ovation, everyone would still be in a daze as they were still caught in the intense music that they just heard.

"Marvelous arrangement! Wonderful performance!" She exclaimed as she looked at them with an approving glance.

Seeing the great inventor standing as soon as they finished and generously giving them compliments, the five of them could not help but feel their eyes turn hot as tears were about to follow their eyes.

Especially, when Randel who was sitting beside her also followed the Great Inventor's gesture, then the queens and princesses, then the grandmaster… in a blink of an eye, everyone inside the hall all stood up and gave them a warm standing ovation.

This was their first taste of glory, which they would never even dare to think of. Yet they still lived to see for themselves.

It took a long while before everyone managed to calm down, only then did Bramwell summon the eight to finally hear the verdict of the judges.

"To end this selection, each of the judges holds a badge that represents their approval for you to become representatives of the school for the fine arts and music categories.

The judges will decide if you receive the badge or not, so without further adieu, I would like to request for our distinguished guests to reveal your decisions."  Bramwell then announced how the results would be revealed.

"Remember, this badge will be the symbol of you becoming not only the representative of the institute but our beloved Empire, and so understand the burden and responsibility that comes with this prestige." He warned lastly.

At the center of the hall, the eight students tried to stay as calm as they could as they responded to Bramwell with a nod.