“I saw the new kid you’re bringing in. Is he part of the program?”

“Yep. If everything goes according to plan, he’ll be the new Hellborn we’ve been planning on for so long.”

“What? His dead family’s not even from a proper guild! You expect a nobody to take up such a big role?”

“Relax. The Council must have a reason for choosing him. Anyways, we need to keep him away from the other kids. Stop him from joining one of those stupid ‘gangs’, as the teachers call it.”

“I don’t think we’ll have a problem there. By the looks of it, he’s pretty edgy already. All we need to work on is his motivation.”

“I’ve got it covered. By the time the month’s over, he’ll be hating demons more than anything else he could ever encounter. Well, apart from his classmates.”

“You know, sometimes I think we’re demons ourselves.”

“Ha. There are no humans, machines or angels. Only different kinds of demons.”

----------------------------------------

Nox left the infirmary. They had treated him, after his 'accident' on the train. While they were at it, they looked at the scars from the raid, as well. Somehow, either due to miasma-powered medical technology or from being asleep for so long, the worst of his wounds were healed. All that was left was the scars from the burns.

The doctors said the scars would stay for a while.

They refused to elaborate further.

Mort guided him to the main hall of the academy. Their walk was ghost-quiet, save the thumps of boots on concrete floors and the distant chatter of people.

They had him dressed in a single-piece uniform - it felt strange, the clothes being baggy around him. Most of his life the clothes were too small. Perhaps the people from the guilds were fatter.

There were 99 other people at the main hall. They talked and laughed and bragged about how they ‘were the chosen ones’ and they were going to hunt powerful demons. The only thing Nox could laugh about was their reactions when they finally got to the Frontlines after graduation. That was, if they did graduate.

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After walking around for a while, Nox noticed they had subconsciously separated into groups.

The first group was where 50% of everyone was gathered. He decided to classify them as the “Average” group. They were mostly from the guilds, or from well off-families.

The second group was where around 25% of people were. He decided to call them “Outcasts”. Most likely he would be joining them. They were the kids who were forced to go to the academy.

The last group he named “Alphas”. They were the ones who were previously trained before going to the academy. Each one of them was surrounded by kids from the other two groups. He decided to stay away from them.

The last group was weird. It looked like almost all of them either had an emblem or amulet of some kind on their suits.

In fact, one of them was looking at him.

He quickly looked away, but it was too late.

[Damn. Establishing the pecking order already? I wanted some peace and quiet. To be fair, I am the classic ‘kid in the corner’ guy.]

The group approached him, their eyes darting between each other and then back to him. One of the bigger boys spoke first. “Looks like a nobody made it here.”

“And you're a somebody?”

The group surrounding him snickered. “Oh, sorry!” He exclaimed in a semi-mocking tone. “Guess you’re new here.” The boy pulled out a strange-looking badge from his pocket. “My name is Ariel, from the clan Steelrite. One of the biggest in the region.” The boy looked him up and down. “What’s your name?”

“Noxus. But everyone calls me Nox.”

“Well, Nox. What clan are you from?”

“None.”

The group edged closer to him. “Really? What’s your family name?”

At this point, the only thing Nox wanted was to get them away from him. He was familiar with these types of people. They were actors. They got you into their circle before turning you into their little helper. Before you knew it, you were so deep in they basically owned you. Nox knew the fastest way out. [Not pretty, but wait any longer and they might pick a fight.]

“My family’s dead.”

Ariel cocked his head. “Dead, huh?”

Nox pulled up his sleeve. The twisted mark left by the fire was waiting underneath. “Yup. They died not too long ago…” Nox thought for a moment before getting back on track. “Funny, the doctors never told me how long I was out. There was a sudden demon attack near the area where I lived, and they all died in one big explosion. But y’know. That’s war for you.”

The topic of family members dying was normally enough to stop people from picking on you. As Nox saw it, there were two outcomes: If Ariel continued to mess with him, then he would risk losing most of his supporters. On the other hand…

The kids surrounding him just stood there for a second. Ariel was the first to recover. “Oh… Well, I’m sorry for your loss. I’ve had a few relatives die too.” He began to walk away. “If you ever want to join me, then just let me know.” The people surrounding Nox seemed to disperse.

[Hmph. Seriously, punching people isn’t the best way out. Why does everyone seem to think that?]