As the redheaded kid giggled and muttered to himself while looking at the floor, he noticed a pair of brown boots had approached. Looking up, he saw a goggle-wearing boy standing before him with his fists on his hips as if to look tough.

  "Okay, listen up-," Goggle-Kid began to say until the redhead looked directly at him.

  Aside from his shoulder-length, crimson-red hair, this boy had a second trait that stood out far more. His eyes were such a piercing shade of blue that they almost seemed impossible for a Human to have. Under normal circumstances, such a trait would have been seen as desirable or attractive. However, when combined with his sunken-back eyesockets, looking at these eyes was like falling under the gaze of an inhuman monster.

  As Goggle-Kid was tripping over his words, the redhead pouted with boredom, having grown accustomed to such reactions.

  Probing for the prospect of social interactions, redhead spoke up, "Hi there. My name's Keyaxel, buh my friends call me Key. Wha's your name?"

  "Uh... Jareck," the goggle-kid answered, cocking an eyebrow as confusion filled his voice.

  "Cool. You wanna hear a funny story?" Keyaxel questioned as his sunken eyes lit up with excitement.

  Unsure if this was some kind of threat, Jareck responded, "Oh. Uh... Okay? Sure."

  "Cool, cool. So, my big brother told me this story about a really dumb kid…"

  Keyaxel went on to tell a tale of a dim-witted child, unknowingly evading a criminal through buffoonish antics. As Keyaxel talked, he would chuckle at his own jokes, helping Jareck's anxiety slip away. Very soon, Jareck felt comfortable enough to take a seat on the floor, prompting Key to slide out of his chair and join him.

  By the time Keyaxel finished talking, Jareck was laughing even more than the giggling storyteller was.

  Throughout this exchange, Jareck realized that Keyaxel lacked any ability to pronounce Ts at the end of words. Whether this was a result of his age or an actual speech impediment was unclear to Jareck. However, for him, it only served to make the story funnier.

  Before the two boys could converse any further, the sound of chairs getting tossed across the room caused Jareck to snap up from his reverie and remember what he was doing.

  Looking a little frustrated, Keyaxle commented, "Those guys are being jerks, and they're making a buncha noise... Hey, uh, Jareck? Do you wanna play a game? Is called-."

  "No, uh... No. I've gotta, um...," Jareck interrupted.

  "Wha's wrong? Did I... Did I stop you from doing something?" Keyaxel asked with a hint of guilt.

  "I'm s'posed to take your chair... Sorry. I don't want Tros to beat me up, okay?" Jareck replied as he gestured at the chair fort.

  Unphased by these words, Keyaxel leaned over to look around Jareck. He noticed that Tros was preoccupied with playing Underlord with his gang, having seemingly forgotten that he'd even sent Jareck over to him.

  "You mean the guy with the horns up there? I don' think he's even lookin' ah us. You sure you don' wanna play?" Keyaxel questioned calmly.

  Jareck looked back again and saw that Tros indeed seemed preoccupied with all the other kids in his gang returning with their spoils.

  "Oh. Uh, I guess if Tros forgot, then it's fine. But we should be quiet, so he doesn't notice us," Jareck said with a nervous smile.

  Keyaxel furrowed his brow at that remark, serving to make his eyes all the more disturbing.

  Before Jareck could ask what was wrong, Keyaxel stood up and stated, "If he's such a jerk, I'm gonna beath 'em up."

  "What?! No, don't do that! He'll kill you," Jareck shouted as he tried to block Keyaxel's way.

  Suddenly, though, Key jumped a foot back from Jareck. Once there was some distance between them, Keyaxel spun like a top around Jareck and kept walking.

  "What? How did he...? Huh? Was that a Gift?"

  As the brown-haired boy muttered to himself, trying to process the feat of agility he'd witnessed, Keyaxel made his way over to the chair fort.

  A boy with long, clawed fingers who Tros told to intercept anyone who approached went to confront Key as he walked.

  Once this kid got close to Keyaxel, though, the redhead uppercutted his jaw as if by reflex. With that single blow, the clawed boy was out cold, turning the heads of everyone on the fort.

  "The heck are ya doing?! Hey! I'm the Underlord, freak! That's ma Underguard ya punched, ugly eyes!" Tros yelled as his horns subtly sparked with energy.

  "You're the ugly one, baldy, and you're not an Underlord! You're jus'th bein' a jerk! Ge' down here and fi' me!" As Keyaxel yelled this, he stared daggers at Tros with his monster-like eyes.

  These bold words, the unconscious kid, and Keyaxel's inhuman glare stunned the other members of Tros' playgroup. Unsure of what was about to happen, the green-haired girl from before gave Tros a fearful and inquisitive look as the bull-horned child twitched with anger.

  As the kids at the chair fort grew quiet, the lack of noise grabbed the Watcher's attention away from a pair of twins pulling on each other's hair. Examining the area, he saw Tros and Keyaxel staring each other down and the punched-out kid on the floor next to the monster-eyed boy.

  Realizing he'd need to intervene, the Watcher started flipping through his clipboard for information on the two about to brawl. Once he found the page with their details, the Watcher's gray eyes widened. Placing the clipboard into a wall holster, the only adult in the room started making his way to the fortress of chairs.

  After climbing up to Tros' side, a black-haired bow asked him, "Are you gonna fight him, Tros? This guy might have a really strong Gift if he’s so brave."

  For a moment, Tros had given Keyaxel a look that any matured individual would recognize right away as fear. However, once his subordinate questioned his willingness to fight this horror-eyed boy, that fear vanished. Even if it were a subconscious one, the idea that anyone else on the ship had a more potent Gift than his own was something Tros couldn't tolerate.

  Jumping out of his pseudo-throne while pushing Black-Hair down the side of the fort, Tros tantrumed, "Why should I go down there, stupid!? I'll kill ya up here!"

  Suddenly, the electricity on Tros' horns crackled fiercer than he'd yet shown. A string of light shot out of each horn, colliding above the gruff boy's head and forming into a shining ball that reflected off his scalp's smooth skin.

  All of the children, including Keyaxel, gazed at this display with awe.

  Regardless of his intrigue, Key raised his arms in front of his face to defend himself and widened his stance to be ready to move.

  If Tros hadn't been so young and inexperienced, he might have recognized from his stance that this upstart redhead had actually been trained to fight.

  Jareck was equally ignorant, but the confident way Key stood his ground made him wonder if this monster-eyed kid could actually win.

  However, without any concern for such a threat in his mind, Tros began his attack.

  As if a hole had been punctured in the ball of energy, a ray came bursting from the sphere, aimed directly for Keyaxel's face.

  Keyaxle hadn't known what this horned boy was going to do ahead of time. He thought that perhaps Tros would grab the ball he'd made and throw it at him. But now that this beam had been fired, if Key had reflexes fast enough to see it coming, he might have realized he'd made a mistake in standing up to this bully.

  However, what was moving significantly faster than the energy stream was a black rope that had been flung at Key. The cord swiftly wrapped around its target's torso and pulled him out of the beam's path as it struck the carpeted floor and started a fire.

  Before Tros could realize that he hadn't killed the boy with an abomination's eyes, a second rope had wrapped around his chest and yanked him off of his fort.

  Faster than either of them could process, Keyaxel and Tros found themselves tied up and suspended in the air, barely more than a foot apart from each other. As the boys tried to understand what was happening, all the other children could more clearly see that they'd been apprehended by their Watcher.

  A pair of rope-like tendrils were extended from the man's forearms, which he'd used to wrap up and suspend Tros and Key. The fact that this man stood well over six feet, a little more than half the height of their fort, made it relatively easy for him to keep the kids off the ground.

  Without addressing either of the boys, and before they could ask questions, the Watcher began to walk towards the fire Tros had started.

  Immediately, they thought that this man would use the accidental bonfire to cook them alive.

  Keyaxel began to squirm and struggle to free himself without any success. Simultaneously, Tros was trying to form another beam between his horns. Unfortunately, the way the Watcher strutted caused Tros to swing back and forth. This, combined with all the cake he'd eaten, nearly made the large boy lose his lunch, making it impossible for him to focus enough to form another ball.

  The approach toward the flames felt like an eternity of terror to the two children. Once they'd reached their destination, though, neither of them could help but scream in horror as the Watcher walked right onto the blaze.

  This man was actually going to burn himself alive along with Tros and Keyaxel, the other children assumed.

  However, before the fire could begin to cause anything but mild discomfort for the boys, the Watcher slammed his rear end onto the floor and sat cross-legged atop the blaze, smothering it in an instant. This man didn't even flinch at the heat he'd sat on as smoke floated into the air from underneath him.

  The fact that the Watcher was even capable of something like that left all of the kids watching him silent with shock.

  "I didn't mean to scare you boys like that, but I needed to get to the fire quickly before it could spread too far," the Watcher explained as Tros and Keyaxel found their footing now that they were closer to the ground. However, they were both still tied up in the Watcher's arm ropes and could not stand properly.

  Recognizing that the youths weren't going to say anything, the Watcher continued in a patient but powerful voice, "I hope I didn't hurt either of you, but you were both out of control back there. Now listen, there's been plenty of fighting up until now, but nothing serious until you two got going."

  Pointing to Keyaxel, the Watcher exclaimed, "You! I don't know who taught you how to fight, but they didn't teach you self-control. You uppercutted that other kid in his jaw. Did you know that that can kill a person?! Not only that, but you picked a fight with the guy who has the strongest Gift in the room. That's a sure way to get yourself messed up. With the Gift you've got, I know you probably think you can survive anything, but it wouldn't do much for you if you got a hole in your head."

  Key's unsightly eyes twisted with sorrow as he looked at the ground, clearly ashamed of receiving this scolding.

  Tros was about to smile in glee at his opponent’s disgrace until the Watcher pointed at him and yelled, "And you! You have the most powerful Gift here, so why would you use it on someone else like that?! I get that you were playing Underlord, but you aren't a real one. You can't just kill someone like that! You don't even want to know what I'd have to do to you if I hadn't been fast enough to save Ugly Eyes over here."

  The surrounding kids couldn't help but giggle at the nickname the Watcher gave Keyaxel, and Tros would have joined them if his fear of this man hadn't kept him quiet.

  As the others laughed, Key grew a disturbingly acceptant look on his face for someone so young.

  The only one who seemed annoyed by the Watcher's comment was Jareck, grimacing at everyone else's laughter.

  However, there was one other who wasn't laughing.

  The green-haired girl who had retrieved cake for Tros had just finished climbing off of the chair fort. Once she touched the floor, she ran at the Watcher and his captives as her forearm transformed into a metal spike aimed at the man's head.

  Noticing the girl as she approached in what looked like slow motion to him, the Watcher let out a frustrated sigh from his nostrils.

  As Green Hair yelled, "You don't get to treat our boss like that," the Watcher released the ropes from around Key and Tros and got into a crouching position.

  In a blur of motion, the Watcher sprung forward, closing the gap between himself and Green Hair as he swiped at her arm. Having grabbed her by her elbow, the Watcher lifted Green Hair into the air with ease.

  Looking Green Hair in her eyes with his gray ones, the Watcher spoke loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, "You all need to understand that the warning I gave Ugly Eyes applies to all of you kids. Just because you have a strong Gift, that doesn't mean you're invincible. I'm an adult, and I've been training myself for years now. I'd say I'm almost as strong as an Underlord. Even without my Gift, I could whip all you brats into shape. Now, all of you calm down, go have fun with whatever new friends you're making, and wait until we arrive at the Life Academy. I need to take the kid that Ugly Eyes clocked out to see a Patcher. I was really hoping we could avoid anyone needing a checkup until the mandatory one at arrival, but things are what they are."

  After setting Green Hair down just before she could start to cry with fear, the Watcher went over to the claw boy, picked him up, and cradled him attentively.

  "Alright, I'm gonna be gone for a few minutes, but it won't be too long. If I come back to find out that some of you left this room or that you aren't all still in one piece... I'll be very upset."

  With those words, the Watcher went to the room's exit, and undid the door's locks before carefully opening it and closing it behind himself.

  With the rolling and clunking sounds of the locks going back into place, sealing them all in together, the kids were left to themselves.

  Initially, once the Watcher was gone, all the kids could do was stare at the door in a combination of fear and admiration.

  After a minute of silence had passed, Key and Tros were catching their breaths before they looked at each other. But their stares turned into glaring and clenching fists in mere seconds.

  Just as Key took a step forward and Tros took a step back to ready his Gift, the Watcher's warning raced through their minds. While still furious with one another, neither of the boys wanted to cross their Watcher, causing the will to fight to leave them both.

  However, youthful pride wouldn't allow either of them to come out and admit their feelings, and both children lacked the social graces to comprehend that the other wouldn't want to fight either.

  Tros and Key stayed in their awkward fighting posses for a moment, both ready for the other to make the first move. That is until Jareck came running up to them.

  "Come on, you guys. The Watcher'll get mad if you start fighting again. He already took you both out once."

  Internally, Tros was relieved that the goggle boy was here to break things up, but he could never let that show.

  As such, while Key said, "Yeah. I guess so," Tros had a different tune to his response.

  "Whatever. Ya aren't even worth it, Ugly Eyes. I'll just take ya and the Watcher out once I'm grown up and an Underlord. Come on, Goggles, let's go." When Tros said this, he turned around and gestured for Jareck to follow.

  However, he stopped when he realized the goggle-wearing kid wasn't doing what he said. Turning back around, Tros saw that Jareck was looking at the ground, fists clenched while trembling.

  Just as Tros started taking a step towards Jareck, Key walked between them.

  Glaring with his inhuman eyes at Tros, the Monster stated, "Go away, you ugly, bald jerk. If you hur my friend, I don' care wa' the Watcher does."

  With those cold, albeit slurred, words and those blue abysses staring into his soul, Tros couldn't help but flinch.

  Desperate to maintain his control, Tros yelled at Jareck, "I said, let's go! you're still ma Underguard, right, Goggles!?"

  Steeling his nerves as he made his decision, Jareck walked until he stood next to Keyaxel and shouted, "No! I don't wanna! Key's right, you're a jerk, and you're not any fun to play with. I'm gonna play with him instead."

  Tros' body shook with fury when he heard his now ex-lackey's words. He had to suppress the urge to blast Jareck away when the meek boy said those things. Tros wanted to beat the traitor senseless, but he didn't want to upset the Watcher. On top of the Watcher’s threat, it was evident that the Monster standing between himself and Jareck was willing to put up a more brutal fight than he was.

  Taking a step back, Tros yelled anxiously, "F... Fine! You're on ma' list too! I'm gonna kill both a' ya losers when we're grown-ups!"

  As Tros was about to turn once again to walk away from the two upstarts, something caught his eye. The black-haired boy that Tros had pushed off the fort had gathered a few other kids around the spot on the floor his energy beam had hit. Assuming that he knew what they were up to, Tros went over to brag to the onlookers.

  "Ya guys looking at the hole I made in the floor? Pretty cool, right, Lak?"

  Looking over at Tros with hesitance, the boy apparently named Lak responded, "Hole? Um, there's not a hole here. There's metal under the carpet, Tros."

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  "Wha? But my lasers go through metal, ya liar!" Tros responded as if he were under accusation.

  Pushing the other kids out of his way with his considerable bulk, Tros was shocked and bewildered when he saw only a tiny scorch mark where he thought a hole would be in the floor.

  "Wha?! No! I blasted tons a' holes in ma house's roof, and it's made a' metal," Tros exclaimed as he looked at the other kids, desperation forming on his face.

  As the other children started to mutter doubt, Keyaxel's sense of curiosity brought him over to examine the spot he had been standing in a moment earlier.

  Once he got a look at the metal under the carpet, Key casually told everyone, "Mus' be fuline."

  Everyone looked at Keyaxel when he said this, with Jareck catching up to him and asking, "What? What's fuline, Key? "

  Tilting his head, Key asked back, "You don' know?"

  "No," Jareck and Tros answered at once.

  "Huh... Well, okay, I guess my big bro and sis were jus' real smarth. So, they told me fuline's a super hard metal tha' rich people use. Even cannons don' hurth fuline. Only Underlords and The Four Warlords are strong enough to break this stuff... Guess tha' means you can'th be an Underlord, Tros." That last comment Key made with a condescending smirk, his attitude earning him a chuckle from Jareck, which he turned to acknowledge.

  Too furious not to retaliate and seeing a perfect opportunity with Key's head turned, Tros ran up and punched the redhead in his face.

  Staggered by the sudden strike, Keyaxel stumbled a couple of steps before recomposing himself.

  Ready for Key's retaliation, Tros stuck his fists out in a way only a young child who'd never been in a real fight would. However, instead of the horrific eyes of anger that Tros was expecting from Keyaxel, the shorter boy simply straightened himself out, rubbed his face, and looked at Tros with confusion.

  "Have you ever punched anyone before? Tha' barely hurth," Key inquired without any sign of trying to put on a front. As odd as it was, this question and claim seemed to be completely genuine.

  The other kids were dumbfounded to see yet another display of incredible resilience, but none more so than Tros.

  Throughout his life, while Tros would usually be able to scare off anyone looking for a fight with his Gift, he had been in a handful of fistfights with the other punks in his city. His larger size always gave him the advantage in these altercations, sending his opponents crying home to their parents within a couple of swings.

  To hear someone smaller than him earnestly say his punch hardly hurt was something Tros almost couldn't comprehend.

  "Uh... Uh... How'd ya do that? What kinda Gift ya got, Ugly Eyes?!" Tros yelled with fury and bewilderment.

  At Tros’ inquiry, Key looked as if his nerves had weakened. Instead of answering, the redhead shifted his discomforting eyes downwards.

  "You okay, Key? Are ya hurt?" Jareck asked as he poked his new friend's shoulder.

  Initially flinching at his friend's touch, Key looked at him nervously before recomposing himself somewhat.

  Turning his head back over to face Tros, Key asked him, "Um... Why do you wanna know?"

  "Wha!? Cause ya took ma punch. Ya gotta have some kinda Gift that makes ya tougher. Tell me!"

  Glancing at the ceiling, Keyaxel thought for a moment before explaining, "Uuuuh, well... I can heal kinda fasth."

  A few of the children started murmuring when Keyaxel stated this. Mostly they were puzzled about how this helped him withstand a punch so well. There was a secondary reason for the commotion, though.

  It wasn't uncommon for multiple people to have a Gift with similar abilities. In fact, it was even possible to find entire groups formed from those with nearly the exact same Gift.

  In this regard, a Gift that allowed someone to heal at an accelerated rate was slightly on the standard side. As such, it was highly likely that almost all of the children here had met someone with a self-healing Gift at some point in their lives.

  However, how advanced the healing would be varied from one person to another. Some could grow back entire missing limbs with enough time. However, most were far less extreme, being able to recover from a broken bone after a night's rest but lacking any ability to fully replace missing body parts.

  There had been rumors of people whose healing Gift would allow them to heal faster than they could be injured. But if someone truly ever had such a grand Gift, they would have potentially become one of the four Continental Warlords.

  For this reason, one child with razor-sharp teeth ended up asking, "How fast? Can I bite yer finger off?"

  "Huh?! N-No! I'm noth a Mander! My finger won' come back," Key yelled, waving his hands in a dismissive panic.

  Glaring at Keyaxel, Tros demanded, "A Mander?! The heck's that?"

  "Wha'...? Uh, a Mander's someone tha' can, um... make their parths come back. I'm a Mun-... jus a Healer. I jus' heal fas'."

  Once he explained his Gift’s abilities, Keyaxel began frantically looking around the room before focusing on the goggles Jareck had.

  Smiling desperately, Key asked his new buddy, "Le's ask everyone about their Gifs! Wha abouth you, dude? You have those, uh, eye things. Why? Wha kinda Gif d'ya goth?"

  Jareck was initially confused before smiling at the chance to talk about himself and answered, "Huh...? Oh, okay! The Patchers that my parents took me to see called my Gift a Sensor. I can hear, see, smell, taste, and touch really good. My goggles help my eyes not hurt when I'm using my Gift."

  "Hurth your eyes? Why do your eyes hurth?" Key questioned.

  "Uh, well, that's my Burden. When I use my Gift, I haft to use all of it, and I can't just turn it off. I gotta wait a few minutes for my eyes, ears, and everything to turn back ta normal. My parents gave me dese goggles ta keep me from hurting my eyes with that."

  Suddenly, Keyaxel and Jareck's explanation of their abilities lit a spark of sharing amongst the kids listening to them. All of the children who'd gathered around the spot Tros blasted began trying to speak over each other.

  Amongst all the commotion, Key and Jareck were able to make out a handful of what the other kids said.

  Green-Hair, or Yella, as she introduced herself, stated that her Gift could turn her forearms into metal-like spikes, while her Burden would cause them to fall off when she turned forty years old.

  Lak, the black-haired boy, explained that he could spin on his feet like a top but that his Burden would cause him to become more nauseous the longer he did this, to the point of suffering a seizure if he kept it up for more than three minutes.

  The last kid they understood was a golden-haired boy who said his Gift was the ability to charge up energy in his body before launching himself like a cannonball. The Burden that came with this would cause his bones to continuously grow frailer by the time he reached his late twenties.

  As this mass conversation went on, it seemed that all the kids would manage to get along for the remainder of their journey.

  The fact that his simple suggestion seemed to broker this temporary peace left Keyaxel with a smile. However, this changed when Jareck finished talking with the golden-haired boy and returned to Key's side to ask a question.

  "Hey, can you tell me your Burden, Key? Sorry, I forgot to ask you 'bout it. My dad always told me that was rude."

  Looking at the floor while letting his long bangs cover his eyes, Key responded, "Uh..." He then glanced at the feet of all the other kids before continuing, "Can I tell you layer? My dad told me noth to talk about eh in pub- publi- Um, puublllic. Okay?"

  Tilting his head, Jareck was about to say something in return but stopped when the room's door was opened by the gray-eyed Watcher.

  As the Watcher returned to the room, most of the children stopped their revelries.

  With the way he walked and stared down everyone in his line of sight, it was clear to all the kids that the Watcher wanted their attention.

  "Alright, kids, we're going to be-," before the Watcher could finish, the squealing laughter of a pair of young girls ignoring him cut him off.

  More annoyed than angered, the Watcher sighed while running his hand through his fiery hair. However, he then brought his fingers up to his mouth and instantly whistled loud enough to drown out all other noise in the room.

  Once all the kids finished grabbing at their ears, Jareck in particular, the Watcher spoke up once again, "Alright. Everyone listening? Good! So, claw-boy is back up. He's a bit woozy, but he'll be joining us once we land. Speaking of which, we'll be landing at the Life Academy in a few minutes. Why don't ya all take a look-see?" He then pulled out a small remote from his pocket, pointed it at the ceiling, and pushed one of two buttons on it.

  Suddenly, the ceiling above the tables opened up, allowing a dual-side crystal screen to slide out and hang from it. The screen came to life with a flash, revealing a sight that these children had only heard of from fables.

  It was a castle floating above the ground. The mass of land it rested on would seem in the eyes of an adult to hold enough space for ten thousand at most to reside within. The structure had a multitude of spires built into its large stone and metal walls, giving a sense that no one could enter or leave this place who wasn't meant to. These walls obscured the sight of all but the roofs of the tallest buildings behind them. One that stood out especially was the pointed tower, which had many windows lining it. Just outside the castle's walls were four different landing platforms, clearly designed for airships to land on, just like the one the children were riding in.

  Keeping the mountain in the air that the castle rested on were four colossal, green glowing rings of descending size running down the earth and stone. At the ground beneath the floating mountain was a gargantuan hole that appeared to be where this rock formation once rested. It was as if these rings had been used to rip out the very ground the castle had been originally built on.

  After a few moments of letting the kids take in this sight, the Watcher spoke up once again, "Okay, everybody. Once we land, a few Patchers and I will be escorting you to the medical halls. I'll give them the notes your parents gave me about your Gifts and Burdens, then they'll ask you questions to see if the information matches. After that, you'll all get an exam for your general health and to see if your Burden or Gifts need any special accommodations. Just a reminder. I'll be there, so don't give the Patchers any problems, or I'll have to step in to set you straight. Any questions?"

  Almost immediately, Keyaxel blurted out, "Are we gonna be alone with the Patchers when they're askin' us bout our Burdens?!"

  Floored by the sudden yelling, the Watcher had to take a moment to recompose himself before answering, "Um... Maybe. It depends on how many Patchers got brought in for you lot. Also, didn't you get taught to raise your hand at your last school, Ugly Eyes?"

  Shaking his head, Keyaxel answered, "This is my firs' school. I never wenth to one before."

  "Really now...? That's odd. We don't usually pick up kids from settlements that don't have schools."

  Shaking his red locks around once more, Key explained, "No. My home had schools. My mommy and daddy jus' didn' make me go. Me and my big brother and my big sister jus' goth to have fun all day. And sometimes we'd even go to The Pit to win money."

  As Keyaxel explained his home life, Jareck noticed how, when Key said the word pit, he had no trouble pronouncing it correctly.

  When he heard about Key’s home life, for a mear instant, the Watcher's face had a hint of remorse on it.

  He quickly shook it off, though, and continued in a slightly softer tone, "Oh. Well... Just so you know, in school, unless you're an adult, you gotta raise your hand before you ask a question."

  Tilting his head, Key pointed out, "But you told us to ask questions. Why we gottha raise our hands for something you told us to do?"

  A few of the other children, even Tros, giggled at Keyaxel's ignorant but not inaccurate retort.

  Even the Watcher cracked a smirk for a moment before replying, "I guess I did do that... Alright then. The rule about raising your hand applies from now on. Got it? Good."

  "Buh, I did noth answer."

  As Key pouted over the Watcher’s apparent lack of perception, Jareck whispered, "I don't think he wanted you to."

  After this, Tros was next to raise his hand, soon getting called on, "What if we don't wanna tell 'em our Burden?"

  Giving Tros a stern but understanding look, the Watcher lifted up his clipboard and answered, "Well, that'd be difficult for you to hide since… Uh… It looks like your parents neglected to write down your Burden like we asked them to. Ugh. I gotta have a talk with Yelsor. She was supposed to be in charge of that."

  As the Watcher groaned with frustration, Tros folded his arms and gave off a smug smile.

  Cocking an eyebrow in judgment, the Watcher explained, "Look. I understand that Burdens aren't always fun to talk about. They can be embarrassing. But look at the people in this room with you right now. You're gonna be living with them for the next twelve years. Everyone who cares is gonna find out sooner or later, so everyone is better off being honest about that kinda stuff. So, Tros, when the Patchers ask you about your Burden, I expect you to tell them the truth."

  Tros ground his teeth in frustration as the Watcher laid out the reality of the situation and sparked his horns. Tros’ upset attitude prompted some flinches from the kids around him. Simultaneously, as Tros made his discomfort visible, Keyaxel once more hid his face behind his long bangs.

  Before this conversation could continue, or any other questions could be asked, a loud but pleasant chime played from the star-shaped lights in the room.

  "Alright, that means it's time to land. Everyone, get in a double-file line behind me and follow along."

  As soon as the Watcher gave this instruction, all of the kids began running to get behind him. Most of those who'd been in front of Tros slowed down or moved out of his way as he rushed to be the front of the line. However, Keyaxel had no inclination to parrot this behavior and started racing Tros for the front spot.

  Despite Tros having longer legs, Key's moved far quicker. Because of this, the two boys were neck and neck with each other as they raced.

  A couple seconds after Keyaxel and Tros started dashing, Jareck felt inspired to run after them. Despite having no chance of catching up at this point, Jareck had intense determination on his face as he sprinted.

  As if to copy their boss' attitude, Yella and Lak started racing Jareck, neither of them wanting the traitor to show them up.

  Just as Key was about to get ahead of Tros, the larger boy extended his arm, grabbed Keyaxel, and pulled him back while pulling himself forward. Enraged, Key began grappling with his tormentor, practically wrestling with him as they both continued to sprint ahead.

  At the same time, Jareck was beginning to gain a lead over Tros' minions.

  However, Yella was quick to emulate Tros' tactics once more. She grabbed at the band of Jareck's goggles, pulling them down to his neck and revealing his squinted eyes.

  In a move of desperation, Jareck threw his hand out and violently pushed at Green-Hair's face. Unfortunately, Lak quickly caught up as well, kicking at Jareck's feet and tripping him, allowing himself and Yella to get ahead.

  Key was just about to get Tros in a headlock when he noticed Jareck’s predicament, yelling, "Hey! Stop-!"

  Before he could finish, Tros used his larger size to grab Key by his legs and throw him to the ground. The bull boy then ran ahead and finally reached the Watcher's back.

  Yella and Lak were the next to reach the Watcher, with Yella standing next to Tros and Lak standing behind them. The golden-haired boy from before got to the line next, nervously standing next to Lak.

  Instead of trying to secure a spot for himself, once Keyaxel stood up, he doubled back to check on Jareck. As he did this, all the other kids jogged past them, a few of them giggling as they went.

  As soon as Key reached Jareck, he offered him a hand up, with his new friend taking the offer with his own shaky palm. Once Jareck was up, Keyaxel could see a red mark on his neck from where his goggles' band had snapped back after Yella grabbed it.

  With mist in his eyes, Jareck sniffed and told Key, "Th- Those guys are j- jerks. They cheated."

  Clenching his fists, Keyaxel angrily told his buddy, "We'll kick their buths later. Okay?"

  "Ye- yeah. I'll kick Lak's legs and see how he likes it!"

  While Keyaxel and Jareck were consoling each other and planning their payback, Tros and his gang began audibly laughing at them. As soon as he overheard them, though, Keyaxel snapped around and gave their hecklers a death glare. In fact, it was the same expression of death he'd given Tros after the Watcher had left the room.

  Once again, Tros, along with his gang, felt as if a monster that wanted to devour them had taken Keyaxel's place. Even the Watcher raised his eyebrows at the sudden change in demeanor from the ugly-eyed boy, getting the same air of menace from him as the kids.

  Suddenly, the Monster began skulking towards the group at the front of the line, his violent intentions evident from his bared teeth and clenched fists.

  "I'll kick your faces in! You don' geth to hurth my friends!"

  However, just as the Monster roared his intentions, the Watcher slithered a rope from his wrist and lashed at the ground in front of this beast.

  "Enough of that! You slackers, get to the back of the line, now!" The Watcher yelled in frustration.

  "Wha'? But they-!"

  Before Jareck could finish, the Watcher cut him off with another yell, "No buts! I said, move it, milksops!"

  With their Watcher's authoritative words taking hold of their psyches, Keyaxel and Jareck flinched before following instructions. As the two walked to the back of the line, their frustrations grew as they heard more of the other children laughing at them.

  Once Key and Jareck got into their designated spots, they slouched and grimaced at the ground.

  "Alright! Let's go, everyone!" Obeying the Watcher's commands, all the kids began following him.

  At the back of the line, both Jareck and Key were shaking. While Jareck was sniffling over his humiliation and physical pain, Key’s focus was on grinding his teeth and seething.

  Once all the kids exited the room, they found themselves walking through somewhat cramped hallways. The limited space made it immediately clear why the Watcher wanted them in lines like these.

  Still upset and not paying especially close attention to where he was going, Key bumped into the kids in front of them.

  "Hey. Watched it," one of the children growled.

  However, this angered attitude shifted to silenced fear as Key glared at the one to critique him. The redhead's fierce inhuman eyes were enough to silence both of these kids, with the will to complain snuffed out.

  Fortunately, Key and Jareck’s disgruntled attitude shifted slightly in a positive direction when Tros felt the need to try and assert his dominance again.

  Once the group reached a part of the airship halls with windows showing what was directly outside, the would-be Underlord attempted to get one over on the Watcher.

  With the Watcher's back turned to him, Tros began sparking up his golden horns once more. Tros’ hope was to blast the orange-haired man to see if he could survive the attack.

  However, not even a second into this plan, the Watcher spoke out with a deadpan voice, "Don't even try it, Cow-Head. Otherwise, I'll tan your backside so fierce you won't be able to sit for a year."

  His jaw dropping at the Watcher's seeming precognition, Tros felt as if he could do nothing other than allow the energy in his horns to dissipate. Following this reaction, Tros went silent as he began trying to comprehend how the Watcher could have seen him coming without actually seeing him.

  This silence was broken, though, when he overheard the laughter of Key and Jareck. And it was obvious that neither of them were even attempting to keep their chuckling quiet.

  "Those two are dead, guys," Tros told his entourage.

  "Yeah, let's show 'em," Yella responded.

  Adding to that, Lak exclaimed, "Uh-huh. Those guys are super annoying."

  Nervously, the golden-haired boy chimed in, "Um... Ri-Right! Let's get 'em!"

  Not remembering that this third voice hadn't been a part of his gang until now, Tros grunted in agreement with them all.

  The type of immature rage on Tros’ face was recognizable from an adult's perspective as the kind that only someone who was used to getting whatever they wanted would make.

  "No killing each other, kids. If you break this rule, the school will throw you out and leave you to fend for yourself," the Watcher suddenly stated, this time making sure his voice was loud enough for everyone following him to hear.

  The prospect of what this fire-haired man just told them left all of the kids frightened enough to stay silent for the remainder of their walk. Everyone, that is, except for Keyaxel.

  "You think he was serious abouth tha'?" Key whispered to Jareck.

  Responding in an even softer whisper, Jareck answered, "Ye- yeah. I think so."

  It was clear to Keyaxel that everyone around him was frightened, but this fact left him baffled. For this boy, the threat of being left to survive on his own only caused him to grow a ponderous expression, almost as if he were weighing his options.

  Without any other incidents, the double-file line of over one hundred children made their way to a massive enclosure resembling a cargo hold.

  Numerous adults dressed in light brown military uniforms with ocean blue trims were stationed throughout this room. Some of them were operating devices with unknown purposes, while others kept a close eye on the kids.

  Keyaxel and Jareck recognized these men's uniforms, those being the same ones of the Life School's recruiters.

  Jareck was visibly nervous as these men watched him and the other children with an examining eye. However, Key looked strangely happy to see the recruiters, even waving to a couple as they walked by.

  The redhead's innocent and jovial attitude toward the recruiters initially surprised and baffled them before getting a few to smile and chuckle. This was despite Key's sunken back, unnatural eyes unsettling a handful of the recruiters.

  All at once, the line came to a stop before a wall. A few of the kids thought the Watcher might have been joking with them after leading them to this dead-end, but once he gave one of the recruiters an instructive nod, it was evident that this wasn't the case.

  The recruiter that the Watcher had exchanged glances with worked a few nobs and levers on the airship’s wall before stopping. A second or two after he’d finished, the metal wall that the Watcher stopped in front of started sliding in on itself in long, rectangular strips. Suddenly, the speed at which the wall folded itself increased, momentarily blinding all the children with a mysterious flash of light coming from the other side.

  However, as soon as they were out of the airship, the kids could see the source of the blinding glare.

  Once all of the children regained their vision, the Watcher marched them out onto an open-air, finely carved stone walkway that lead to the green, glowing, colossal, metal gates of their new home, the Life Academy.