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Changing Air
Chapter 14 - Fitting in

Chapter 14 - Fitting in

His loud voice echoed throughout the hall, it made everyone stop talking and face him.

"I want to first congratulate all of you present here on passing the first situation. It must have been very difficult and chaotic, but now you don't have to think about that"

"In the next to two months, this institution will help all of you as much as it can, so that you are prepared to take on the Fallen world"

He momentarily stopped taking and gazed upon everyone in the hall

"Humanity has strongholds in the Fallen world. If you are lucky enough to find yourself near one then do go there. We humans stick together in the Fallen world, so don't hesitate when asking for help"

"It might take you days or weeks or even months to find a gate, but when you do, then all of your hard work would have paid off"

"You will have passed the first trial given by Makutu and be labelled as Survivors"

He sighed

"Prepare yourself for the future, so that you won't feel overwhelmed, when facing the Fallen world. This is just one of many obstacles obstructing your path, so conquer and move forward."

"You will remember this moment as the start of your new life. A life which will be filled with hardship and struggle, a life which might crush your fighting spirit, but it's also a life which will give you new reasons to live."

"So keep on struggling and keep on fighting, one day it will all be worth it"

The man continued to talk for a while, most of it had already been said to Arlo by Axel.

'Axel did a good job at explaining the Fallen world'

As his speech ended, the man told everyone to make their way down a certain narrow hallway

"Everyone please make your way down this hallway. You will be met with professors and other individuals, who will help you pick your courses"

"Thank you for attending this gathering and I wish you the best in your future endeavours"

Everyone slowly made their way down the hallway, the atmosphere had gotten more tense than before.

As Arlo made his way down the hallway, he could tell that groups had already formed. An invisible line had been drawn between Arlo and everyone else.

'Making friends just got harder'

Atleast Arlo had made one friend, so he wasn't that down in the dumps

"It seems a hierarchy has already formed"

Seer said

Arlo took a quick a glance at him then faced ahead

"Yeah, I guess it has. But it's quite unfortunate, I wanted to talk to some of them and get to know them better but it looks like that plan has gone down the drain"

Seer nodded his head sideways

"No Arlo, even without the hierarchy. I'm pretty sure most of them wouldn't talk to you. They only care about people from strong families and tribes"

Arlo tilted his head

"Families? Tribes? What do you mean by that?"

Seer seemed a bit shocked,he looked at Arlo for longer than usual then stared ahead

"When the Makutu and mysterious fog first arrived, many people went through its trials. During that time, strong individuals rose to power and so did their loved ones."

"People used that to establish themselves as strong families, a family consists of people who are related to one another."

"A family is basically the strong hold, it's the main power. Connected to a family are tribes, they are individuals who are devoted to helping their respect family"

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"A family can have multiple tribes, but a tribe can only have one family"

His explanation was a bit puzzling, but it also made some sense.

"I kind of understand what you mean, but that doesn't explain why they wouldn't talk to me?"

Seer seemed to contemplate his next words carefully

"Well kids from families and tribes go through immense training from a very young age. They are taught various martial arts and learn how to wield many different weapons. If they come from an important family or tribe, they might also have a personal technique taught to them."

"Tell me Arl, do you know how to wield a weapon?"

"No"

Arlo replied

"Then do you have some really fascinating power or are you in possession of a incredible tool?"

He contemplated for a moment

"No, I don't think so"

Seer nodded

"Well there's your reason Arlo. You don't know the basics of fighting, don't have a great power and your tools are mediocre"

"Why would a person from a family or tribe want to talk to you. I don't want to sound rude, but the main reason kids from families and tribes come here is to build connections with people they deem interesting or worthy, and you Arlo are neither"

What Seer was saying definitely hurt Arlo's pride but he wasn't exactly wrong.

"But don't worry Arlo, even if they don't become your friends, you'll still have me. I'm your friend"

Seer gave Arlo a thumbs up, then proceeded to giggle a bit

"One way you will be able to talk with them is, if they aren't prejudice against people who don't come from families and tribes, but the best chance at talking with them is during the Fallen world"

"The Fallen world doesn't care about where you're from, or who your parents are, it rips away the hierarchy between everyone. Only in the Fallen world, will kids from families and tribes think of you as a companion. But then again, that's only if they are really desperate."

Arlo simply nodded as Seer continued to talk

"You don't have to set your aims high Arlo. Even if the kids from good backgrounds ignore you, their are plenty of people who don't come from such prestigious backgrounds. You could try to befriend them."

Arlo didn't really care about people's backgrounds, he just wanted to be friends with people he could trust. The kids from families and tribes might not look his way, but that didn't mean he couldn't make friends. Their were plenty of people from normal backgrounds, so Arlo wasn't really worried about not having enough people to talk to.

"You're right Seer"

Hearing his response, made Seer chuckle a bit

"Do you have anyone you want to befriend?"

Arlo scratched the back of his head, trying to think of anyone who had caught his attention.

'That girl outside the building seemed interesting, but…..'

"As of this moment, no. My plan is to wait until our courses start to take place, then make my move on anyone I can"

Seer nodded

"So what your're saying is that your really desperate to make as many friends as you can"

Seer was right but the way he said it made Arlo sound quite pathetic

"It's not a bad idea, the Makutu will throw us randomly throughout the Fallen world. So more friends means it will be easier to survive. I don't dislike your strategy Arlo"

"All the people you see here are from one single gathering, think about the dozen students this institution already has. Lots of students reside here, so you will get many tries to befriend people"

They both talked for a while more, untill they had to pick their course.

Without hesitation Arlo picked Survival, defence and attacking as his courses. After he finished picking his courses, he was handed a key with a number on it

'11...Must be my room number'

Arlo tightly held onto the key, and started to make his way out of the building. With a few turns here and there, Arlo successfully made his way out.

He looked around, trying to understand where he had ended up. As he scouted the place his eyes landed on Seer, who was waving his hand up in the air.

Arlo continued to stare at him for a bit, he was quite perplexed.

'I'm guessing he wants me to come over to him'

He slowly made his way to Seer, who wasn't that far away from him

"Picking courses took a while, so why don't we get lunch and then head to our rooms?"

Arlo hadn't eaten for a good while, so he was up for some food.

"Yeah let's get some lunch"

They made their way to the food hall, which was conveniently placed near the building he had just exited from.

A wide selection of foods were presented to Arlo, his mouth was salivating just from looking at it. Without a care in the world he filled up his plate with various dishes and grabbed a couple deserts.

"I'm guessing you'll be here 24/7 Arlo"

Arlo wanted to reply, but his mouth was full to the brim, so he simply nodded

"Our courses start tomorrow, which means today is a rest day. Don't worry about insignificant things and just relax for now. The institution is going to make our lives miserable for the next two months, so be prepared"

Seer continued to talk and Arlo simply listened because his mouth would always be full of food. After finishing their food, they put the empty trays away and made their way to the residence halls.

Arlo's room number was 11, whilst Seer's was 56, so they both bided each another goodbye.

He placed his key into the lock and carefully twisted it. A click sound came from it, a smile appeared on Arlo's face.

He pushed the door open, then stepped Into the room he would be staying at for the next two months. The room was nothing fancy, it had a comfortable looking bed, a wooden table accompanied by a chair, next to the table was a small toilet with a shower and next to the bed was a cupboard to place his extra clothes even though he didn't have any.

He took a big breath in then slowly exhaled

With a small smile he closed the door behind him, turned the switch on so he could see, then took out the chair and sat on it.

Today was Arlo's rest day, it was time for him to relax and be lazy, but he just couldn't control himself. Now that he was as all alone, he could finally try out his new power.