The water continued to travel from his head down to his ankles as he pondered. The hot water started to evaporate creating a thin grey fog.

Eventually he sighed and turned the tap off. Arlo could think over and over again about his self worth, but that would mean nothing. The only person who could decide his own self worth was himself, so he had to go out there and find out.

Arlo walked towards the bag and pulled out the clothes he was going to wear. A white t-shirt, light green jumper, black trousers and black socks.

He put his new clothes on, picked ups his old clothes and stuffed it in the bag. After the gathering he was going to come back and get the bag…..well, he might.

With a sigh, he exited the stall and hurriedly made his way out of the washroom

His eyes landed on the ominous building, from where he was, Arlo could see a couple of people entering the building

'They must be here for the gathering'

With a bit of hesitation, Arlo started to leisurely walk towards the building. It wasn't that far away from the washroom, so it didn't take him too long before he managed to reach the entrance. Before he stepped into the building, Arlo saw a girl with long brown hair and green eyes filled with determination staring at the expansive blue sky.

'What is she looking at?'

He glanced at her once more before entering the building.

Using the signs which were placed throughout building, he very carefully maneuvered his way through the narrow hallways, turning right and left a couple times, before finally reaching a vast hall.

Many people were scattered throughout the hall, chatting amongst themself. The windows were open, which let light and cool air to pass into the hall. At the very far back of the hall, a microphone stood on top of a stage about 1 meter tall.

Arlo intensely stared at everything. It seemed he had arrived quite late because the groups had already been formed. It would seem weird and be awkward for Arlo to just interrupt a group of people and try to make small talk with them.

He scratched the back of his head, then let out a sigh

He was in no mode to make a fool out of himself, so he walked to a corner of the hall and started to intensely stare at the ceiling.

After a while he got bored of simply staring at the ceiling, it just wasn't interesting enough to make his attention be grasped for a long time. Not trying to look weird, he slowed lowered his eyes to the people gathered in the hall. It looked more livelier and louder than before, it was certain that more people had arrived, but not even one had greeted Arlo. It made him feel a bit hurt.

'This is not going to be easy'

The clock placed on the side of the hall showed it was 9:47

'I'm guessing it'll start at 10 o clock. So…another 13 minutes left of just staring'

Making a friend during the gathering would have been great, but Arlo knew it would be quiet difficult. So his main plan was to wait till their courses started and take action from there. It would be the perfect opportunity to make friends.

Sparing with each another, learning about the Fallen world and improving the chances of Survival was a good way to make friends. Having a common interest between each another was ideal to becoming good friends. He had though of this plan during the ride here, and to him it seemed bullet proof.

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The voices grew louder by the second, more people were entering and newer groups were being formed right infront of Arlo. Most of them seemed joyful and full of life, the uncertain future didn't stop them from being happy.

His gaze bounced around the hall until it landed on a person who was walking towards him. His movements were precise and sharp, a smile lingered on his face as he calmly made his way towards Arlo.

'Wait what.. why is he coming towards me? Have I been staring too much?'

The person wore simple clothes, nothing eye catching or unusual. A plain black jumper and grey trousers with white shoes. He continued to walk until he was face to face with Arlo

"It's nice to meet you"

He calmly said, his eyes were fixed on Arlo, then he stretched his arm out

"My name is Seer, what's your name?"

Arlo grabbed his hand and slowly shook it.

He wanted to make a good impression on him, so he put on a big smile and softly said

"It's nice to meet you as well, my name is Arlo"

Up close Arlo could make out some of Seer's features. He had light green eyes, black hair and clear skin with chiselled facial features. The most noticeable part about him was his beautiful eyes, they seemed quite….unique.

"I don't want to sound rude or anything, but was their a reason for why you approached me?"

His smile grew a bit more wider

"I had a gut feeling telling me to approach you and introduce myself"

Arlo was perplexed

"Aa…..a gut feeling?"

Without a moment of hesitation he replied

"Yes, a gut feeling"

He lingered for a moment before saying

"So Arlo, do you wanna be friends?"

Arlo was taken back a bit, he didn't think it would be this easy and quick to makes friends but he wasn't going to complain.

"Ah yes, let's be friends Seer"

This whole situation seemed really sketchy to Arlo, but it wasn't that bad. Matter of fact he was quite pleased with how things had turned out. He had successfully made a friend during the gathering, it had seemed impossible, but he guessed it was his lucky day.

Arlo didn't want the conversation to die down, so he tried to make small talk with him

"When did you arrive here Seer?"

For a brief moment Seer looked back at the stage, then back at him

"I arrived here about an hour ago. I got a well deserved rest during the ride here, it was peaceful and relaxing. What about you Arlo?"

He thought to himself for a moment

"Oh, not too long ago. I'm guessing it's been 30 minutes since I arrived here."

Seer glanced at him then turned his back to look at everybody else

"Everyone here is quite energetic, so why is it that you look so down? Do you not like large gatherings?"

Had it seemed like he didn't enjoy being here? Was that the reason nobody had approached him for so long.

"No it's not that"

"It's my first time being in such a setting, so I'm quite nervous"

He then awkwardly laughed a bit. Seer's eyes continued to gaze upon the hall and everything inside it

"Their's no need to be nervous, we're all in the same boat."

"Yeah, I guess your right"

Arlo replied

Seer looked back at him

"In about two months, everyone here will be forcefully sent to the Fallen world."

"You might not know any of them, nor do you care about any of them. But one things for sure, they all want to survive as much as you want to. They might look carefree and relaxed, but deep down they know the alarm clock is ticking down. They are just as nervous as you are"

"We all fear going to the Fallen world, but fear is what keeps us alive."

"It prevents us from making stupid and illogical decisions. Some day in the future Arlo, fear might just save your life"

Hearing Seer talk about fear, made him think back to his trial. When he first heard the true reason for them travelling to 'paradise', it made Arlo feel a sense of panick and fear.

Also when the protector of 'paradise' killed the first protector of the sacrificial offerings, a sense of fear made every hair on his body to stand. How could something so powerful and scary exist, it was simply too mind blowing for Arlo.

"You are right Seer, fear does keep us alive"

Seer nodded

"Let's put that aside for now"

"Arlo tell me, what courses will you do for the next two months"

With the advice Axel had given him during the ride, Arlo already knew the courses he would pick

"I was thinking of picking the attacking, defending and Survival courses. These three will help me greatly during my time in the Fallen world"

Seer looked quite pleased with Arlo's answer

"Those are good options,. I was also thinking of picking courses like attacking, defending and Survival. I definitely need them to survive in the fallen world"

Arlo raised an eyebrow

"Do you have a reason for picking those three courses?"

Seer faintly smiled

"Just a gut feeling"

"Uh…okay"

Arlo replied

Before Seer could ask why Arlo had picked those 3 specific courses. Loud footsteps came from the very back of the hall

A tall man with broad shoulders, slowly walked on the stage, each step could be heard from any inch of the big hall.

He gently placed his right hand on the microphone, before he spoke, he cleared his throat by coughing a couple times

"I welcome everyone to the institution"