Several hours had come and gone since the class had left the training room.

  Tros had fully recovered without issue thanks to the Patchers and could rejoin the tour group for the rest of their trip without delay.

  Hadai spent the rest of the day showing the kids the sections of the school they were allowed to freely traverse. This included a large garden/courtyard, the mess hall, the study hall, and a few other areas.

  However, Hadai also instructed them on which classes and rooms were intended for only the older students to access. The room they were asked to stay out of above all others was the Underguard training hall.

  "Let me be clear," he said. "If you go in there without permission, that alone will get you kicked out. But if you cause any damage or take anything from this room, the headmaster might decide to just up and kill you right then and there."

  Jareck and a few of the other kids laughed when given that direction. Their chuckles stopped, though, the instant that Hadai shot the group an emotionless glare. The look he gave them hammered in just how serious he, and by extension, the school, were about staying out of this room.

  Reaching into his pocket to pull out his pocket timer, Hadai commented, "Well, that about wraps up all you kids need to know for your first day, and it's starting to get late. I'm gonna take you lot to the dorms to get to bed. Boys and girls have separate dorms to avoid... Eh, you guys are too young for that anyways. Now come on."

  Leaning over to Keyaxel, Jareck softly asked, “What’s he talking about?”

  "I think he means kissing," Key whispered to Jareck.

  "Oh... Ew," Jareck grimaced.

  After marching the kids deeper into the academy's hallways, they eventually stopped in front of a solid fulite double door. After pressing some buttons on the wall next to the doorway, the doors slid open, scraping across the stone floor.

  Once the room was free for them to see, the kids all looked upon a vast room full of hundreds of beds, as well as boys to sleep in them. Fortunately, there was plenty of space between the beds, so walking through the dorm was no issue.

  There were a few windows in the room, but they were too high up for anyone without a flight or climbing Gift to reach. In addition, there were a couple hallways at the back of the dorm with signs indicating that they'd lead to bathrooms.

  As the door opened and hadai stepped in, it was blatant to see that all the boys were scampering to get back to their beds. Some were tripping over each other, while others were trying and failing to end their brawls faster.

  Grimacing, Hadai let out a sigh before shouting, "What do you pukes think you're doing?! It's lights out! You all have ten seconds to get back in bed before I beat every last one of you senseless!"

  Once Hadai made his threat, all the boys still struggling with each other immediately got out of the others' ways and hurried back to their beds.

  Gesturing to the group of new arrivals, Hadai exclaimed, "These are the new students! I expect you all to show them where their beds are and not give them any trouble. If I find out that any of you are giving the new brats a hard time, you can all expect punishment for it!"

  Looking back at the group of kids he'd been leading throughout the day, Hadai told them, "Alright, girls, you're still following me. Boys, this is your new home for the next five years. Get in there and get used to it. You'll all be given your new sets of clothes and hygienics tomorrow. Now go on."

  While most of the kids were hesitant at first, the way both Key and Tros brazenly walked into the room ahead of the rest helped put them at ease.

  Quickly, Tros' gang, minus Yella, rushed up to his side while Jareck jogged up to Keyaxel's. After that, the rest of the boys from the tour group made their way into the dorm.

  Once he was sure that there were no stragglers, Hadai closed the door behind them, sealing the room.

  As the new boys spread out across the dorm, they were being watched by their seniors. Some senior students simply looked curious, while others blatantly gave hostile glares.

  "Do you think we need to fai' these guys?" Key whispered to Jareck.

  Shaking his head frantically, Jareck answered, "No way! Let’s just find our beds and go to sleep."

  "Okay. If you wanna,” Key answered with a shrug.

  Jareck and Keyaxel walked past a few rows of full beds, with the older boys in them giving the two dismissive or hostile glares. After a minute or two of repeating this process, the new friends worried that they wouldn't find any beds. However, this changed when they heard someone call out to them.

  "Hey, goggles and redhead. Come over here."

  Turning to look in the direction of the voice, Key and Jareck saw the blond and silver-haired kids from the history class. The two were sitting in beds right next to each other and staring directly at them.

  While Jareck was a bit hesitant to approach them, Key came over without concern, causing his pal to chase after him yet again.

  "Hey. Wa’s going on?" Key asked them.

  Gesturing to his right with his thumb, the blond boy told them, "There's a couple of empty beds next to Felirick and me. You two can have 'em."

  "That's me, by the way. And my friend's name is Maveric," the silver-haired boy explained.

  "Cool. My name's Keyaxel, buh my friends call me Key. And this is my new bes' friend, Jareck."

  Too frightened to pay much mind to Key's assessment of their relationship, Jareck asked through false bravado, "Why’re you letting us sleep here?"

  "Well, I thought you two seemed nice, whereas Maveric felt bad about harassing you both earlier and wanted to make up for it," Felirick told them.

  This dialect of this silver-haired boy had such monotone calm and refinement to it that it almost suggested his hair color was from wisdom gathered by age as opposed to something he was born with.

  "Shut up, Felirick! I just thought we could... uh... Shut up!" Maveric yelled.

  "I won't. Anyways, do you two want to take these beds or not?" Felirick asked while dismissing Maveric.

  "Sure!"

  While Key had answered eagerly and was about to get into one of the beds, Jareck put his hand on his friend's shoulder.

  "Hold on! What if they wanna hurt us in our sleep or something? Nobody here's been nice to us so far."

  "Hurt you?! Who do you think we are?! Some kind of bullies?! I just laughed before because I thought you were being funny."

  Adding to what Maveric was saying, Felirick told them, "Indeed. I think you'll find that we're two of the more accommodating classmates you'll have during your stay at the Life Academy. Despite the teachers' best attempts to curb such behavior, most others here are quite hostile. I theorize it is simply the nature of most boys in our age range to seek out violence as a means of levity."

  "Um, yeah... Huh?"

  Addressing Key's confusion, Maveric told him, "Felirick just talks like that. You'll get used to it. Now hurry up and get in bed 'fore you get in trouble."

  Looking back at Jareck, Key asked him, "You okay with this?"

  Frowning as he mulled it over, Jareck eventually answered, "Okay, fine... I guess so."

  The two boys then went over to their new beds. While Jareck took a moment to climb onto his mattress, Keyaxel swiftly jumped on his, landing comfortably face-up on his back.

  Once Jareck got into his bed and started pulling the covers onto himself, Felirick addressed the three around him, "So, first off, I believe we should start our introductions with sharing our Gifts and Burdens."

  "Huh? Um... Why?" Key asked while shooting up into a sitting position.

  Taking his glasses off and gesturing with them, Maveric explained, "It's just how people here introduce each other. Get used to it and start sharing. We're gonna do the same."

  "In less blunt terms, sharing the information on one's Gifts and Burdens is somewhat of an unspoken tradition at this school. Not sharing this information when asked is a surefire way to get ostracized. That said... You don't necessarily have to be truthful."

  Once Felirick finished talking, Key and Jareck attempted to understand everything he told them. Their young faces contorted in bewilderment as they worked their minds.

  Eventually, with his eyes lighting up, Jareck stated, "Oh! So you're saying we should lie if we don't want to tell people about that stuff. Hehehe! That’s so sneaky.”

  "Exactly. Although, being caught lying has its own risks, such as earning the ire of those you deceived."

  Only understanding half the words Felirick spoke, Key replied, "Rai'... So, will you guys tell us abou' your Gifs firs?"

  "Sure," Maveric answered with a grin that made it clear he was eager to show off.

  With his right hand, Maveric pinched his left palm with all five fingers. As he did, a red shimmer appeared over his open hand. He then started pulling, causing a small knife to materialize out of his palm.

  Showing the tiny blade to the two younger boys, Maveric explained, "My Gift lets me pull weapons out of my body that I know how to make. So that rocks. The Burden's not so bad either. If I try to pull out too much before going to bed, I'll pull out some blood instead. So, I just gotta be careful, is all."

  Wow. That's kinda like what the city champ in my home could do.

  As Key thought about his city, Felirick laid down and said, "As for me, I can do this."

  Just as Key was about to ask if he meant his Gift was sleeping, Felirick's whole body turned into translucent crystal.

  After a few seconds of the new boys observing this mesmerizing display, Felirick’s form turned back to normal.

  Waving his hand in the air for emphasis, Felirick explained, "So, I can turn my body into a crystalline structure at will. As far as I am aware, I'm indestructible while transformed, but I cannot move any part of my body. As such, I have to be quick about my transformations lest I suffocate. In addition, my Burden causes my skin to age rapidly, regardless of if I use my Gift or not. Because of this, I'll look like I'm sixty by the time I'm in my thirties."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  "Oh, geez… Um, sorry to hear that," Jareck told him.

  Shrugging, Felirick replied, "Life is what it is. Now then, what about you two? Gifts, Burdens, go ahead."

  Jerking back a bit, Jareck answered, "Huh...? Oh, yeah. So, uh… I can make my senses super strong, so I can see, hear, taste, touch, and smell a lot better, but I have to turn them all up at once. But my Burden makes it so I can't turn it off whenever I want. I have to wait a few minutes for it all to wear off.

  “That is rather inconvenient. However, at least you have the option to simply not use your Gift to avoid the Burden. You and Maveric are rather blessed in that regard,” Felirick retorted while gazing at the fulite ceiling.

  Scratching his arm anxiously, Jareck replied, “I guess… But I think it’d be better to have a cool or useful Gift like you guys do. I think that’d make the Burden totally worth it.”

  Looking Jareck in his eyes with an unreadable expression, Felirick conceded, “That… That is fair. There are pros and cons to both of our situations, I suppose.”

  Shifting focus to Keyaxel, Maveric asked him in a clear attempt to move things along, "And you? You're next."

  Pulling up on his covers, Keyaxel mulled over what to say before eventually explaining, "Um... My Gif le's me heal fas’ if I eath something firth. So, I can heal a bone in a hour if I have some food."

  "And your Burden?" Felirick pried flatly.

  Pulling even tighter on his covers, Keyaxel took a moment to look around the room in hopes of finding some way to derail the conversation.

  Soon enough, though, Jareck spoke up before Key could come up with something, "You said before you'd tell me your Burden, Key."

  The simultaneous eagerness and anxiety in Jareck’s voice made it clear to even Key’s young mind that this was a test of sorts for their new friendship.

  Letting out a small grumble, Keyaxel sighed and stated, "If you wanna know, you have to come in my bed so I can whisper to you."

  "Uh... Sure?" Jareck replied before jumping from his mattress to Key's.

  "Gross! I'm not getting in another dude's bed!" Maveric snapped.

  Hopping to the floor and waltzing past his friend, Felirick stated, "Then I suppose the secret will be held from you, and you shall remain ignorant. As for me, I value knowledge."

  As Felirick climbed into Keyaxel's bed, Maveric exclaimed, "What? Nu-uh! I like learning things too!"

  Hastily jumping between beds, Maveric had unintentionally launched himself at Felirick as he got onto the mattress. The moment Maveric collided with Felirick, though, the smaller boy activated his Gift without so much as flinching. Although, his statuesque body was still knocked over in the process.

  While this reaction shielded Felirick from harm, it left his friend with a bruise on his head that had a small trickle of blood pouring from it.

  As Felirick unfroze himself and sat up, Maveric was rubbing his injury.

  "Are you okay?" Key asked with genuine concern.

  Stretching the collar of his shirt to use as a makeshift rag for his forehead, Maveric replied, "I've had worse."

  "That is true. Until Maveric understood how to make full use of his Gift, he had a serious problem with older students accosting him."

  Flourishing his knife, Maveric interjected, "Maybe, but now I just stab jerks who step up to me, so everyone leaves me alone."

  "Indeed. As for me, I had to train my reflexes to be able to react as quickly as you saw just now. Once I mastered that, most of the slow-witted brutes grew tired of breaking their knuckles against my body."

  "Man. Now I really wish I had your Gift, Felirick. It woulda helped dealing with some jerks," Jareck lamented.

  Nodding, Felirick replied, "I can understand that. Personally, though, I would prefer your Gift. As I implied, it would grant me a higher chance of retaining my youth and living longer. Putting all that aside, though, I believe we gathered in such intimate proximity to hear of Keyaxel's Burden. So, if you would be so kind?"

  Digging his fingers into his covers, it would have been evident to an insightful adult that Key had hoped this last distraction would have allowed the conversation to finally go adrift.

  However, he quickly accepted the reality of his predicament and leaned forward to whisper to the trio gathered around him.

  "Do you guys promise nah to hath me?" That was how he began.

  "What...? Yeah, sure. Everybody's got a Burden, dude," Maveric answered.

  "Uh… I think so?" Jareck added.

  However, Felirick shook his head and replied, "I cannot promise this. I will likely take no issue with you. But if it turns out that your Burden involves committing inhumane acts, then I will probably dislike you."

  "I... I don' know wa' tha' means, buh... okay?"

  Taking one last deep breath to steel his nerves, Key whispered, "So... When I... When I turn twen’y-four, I'm... I'm gonna die."

  Wincing as he shut his eyes tight resulted in Key failing to see any of the boys' reactions.

  Jareck shifted between confusion, to alarm, before settling on mournful sympathy.

  Maveric, however, was aghast. His jaw dropped as his grip on his knife failed him, and he dropped it into Key's covers.

  Putting his hand to his chin, Felirick was the only one to remain calm as he postulated aloud, "So, an even shorter lifespan than myself... With how so many place value on long lives and Gifts that are useful for combat, I can understand why you would have faced prejudice from others harassing you."

  Opening his eyes slightly as they grew misty, Key whimpered, "I still don' know wa' you're saying, buh... I geh tha' you don' like me. You all don' like me now."

  Speaking up before Maveric or Jareck, Felirick replied, "I didn't say that, Key. Actually, I emphasize with you somewhat. At least from me, you don't have to fear being disliked for your Burden."

  "Huh?" This was all Key could get out after hearing what the silver-haired boy had to say.

  Slamming his clenched fists into his lap, Jareck replied, "No way! You're my friend now, remember? And twenty-four's a long way away. We've got plenty of time to play!"

  Sitting up straight, Maveric added, "I followed a bit of what Felirick said, and... He's right. What kinda jerks would treat you bad for that?"

  "The kind of jerks who attend the Life Academy," Felirick interjected.

  Gritting his teeth, Maveric snapped, "Ah, shaddup! You know what I meant."

  "I won't. You need to learn to speak more intellectually."

  "No! You need to stop talking like you do!"

  As Maveric and Felerick gave each other grief, Jareck had kept his focus on Key. Because of this, he saw as tears rolled down his friend's face, with him wiping them away just as quickly as they appeared.

  "Thanks, you guys," Key declared while putting a smile back on.

  While putting Felirick into a headlock, Maveric replied, "Huh...? Oh, yeah. No problem."

  "Indeed. It costs nothing to speak kindly to others," Felirick added despite the odd position he was in.

  Smiling somewhat, Jareck responded, "Yeah... You're welcome."

  After letting out a yawn, Maveric released Felirick and stated, "Well, if that's everything, I'm getting back in my bed and going to sleep. See you guys tomorrow."

  Sitting up straight again, Felirick remarked, "Indeed. It would behoove us to get some rest."

  "Wa' abouth hooves?" Key asked.

  Pausing to collect his thoughts, Felirick eventually answered, "I am too tired to explain. I will tell you in the morning if I bother to remember. Speaking of the morning, try to stay by myself and Maverick tomorrow. The first day of actual classes is the hardest for most students here."

  "Oh... Uh, okay. Thanks, Felirick."

  Scratching his head, Jareck commented, "I guess I'll hop back in my bed too. Night, Key."

  "Yeah! Have a good sleep, bros," Key replied with a huge smile that warmed the hearts of his three new friends as they climbed back into their respective mattresses.

  Pulling his covers over himself, Key snuggled into his pillow and thought, Mommy and Daddy were right. I already found some new friends. This place is gonna be awesome.

  While Keyaxel and his latest companions made themselves comfortable, Tros, Lak, and Nalgo were strutting proudly through the dorm.

  Tros' stature was enough to rival even some of the oldest boys in the room. On top of the way he was sizing up the room with his flunkies, his attitude prompted one of the older boys to jump off his bed and confront him.

  This older boy had just the slightest level of muscle tone that one would expect from a physically fit tween. Seemingly to show off his physique, this boy didn't bother to wear a shirt.

  While obstructing Tros' path, this older boy grew small, rock-like protrusions along his arms and clenched his fists.

  Folding his arm while allowing his horns to spark, Tros asked, "Whattaya want, ya ugly loser?"

  Audible chuckling rang out from the onlookers when Tros threw out his insult. But all stone-arm did in response was give a scowl.

  “You gonna take that, Ril?” A boy called out.

  Gnashing his teeth, Ril stated, "You're gonna help me with the tradition for newcomers around here. There's always a pompous prick like you whenever the new brats show up. It's the job of guys like me to make an example of losers like you, so the other kids understand who's in charge around here."

  With somewhat shaken breath, Lak cut in, "Ha- Hadai said if you hurt any of us, we can tell him about it!"

  Recognizing the fear radiating from Lak, Ril leaned down toward him and explained, “Ooo. You think that makes you shrimps safe? Yeah, that might be what the old fart says. But so long as I don’t kill any of you, I won’t get in trouble. Understand, shrimpy?”

  Just as Ril was certain he was about to get Lak to pee his pants, he heard a crackling noise and noticed a shimmer from the corner of his eye. Before he could contemplate what this could be, a horrible searing pain coursed out from his right shoulder as one of Tros’ lasers burned a hole in it.

  In the next instant, Ril was convulsing and screaming on the floor from this crippling agony. This twelve-year-old’s pain was so great that he couldn’t even weave together a coherent thought as Tros smirked while leaning over him.

  “Didn’t kill ya. Thanks for the info, loser.”

  With Ril swiftly handled, Tros addressed the room, “A’right! Listen up, y’all! The name’s Tros, and I’m gonna become an Underlord when I grow up! If ya don’t wanna end up like this loser, stay outta ma way!”

  Keeping the energy crackling in his horns, Tros opened his arms as if inviting anyone else brave or foolish enough to try their hand at facing him.

  In that moment of ego from Tros, another of the older boys sprung up. Instead of charging to confront Tros, his hand shot forward as his arms extended and wriggled like a sentient rubber hose.

  The speed at which the boy threw out his stretching punch was such that a normal adult would have had a hard time following it. And while Lak and Nalgo lacked the reflexes to see the attack, Tros’ eyes were shifting to meet it.

  For a brief instance, Tros was afraid. This boy was fast. Faster than himself. If he didn’t react in the next split second, he’d be clocked across the jaw by knuckles with the bruised and rounded appearance that only came with usage.

  Just as this boy’s fist was a foot from reaching Tros’ face, another laser fired from the golden bull horns into his knuckles.

  Due to the odd shape the appendage had stretched into, the beam traveled through the hand, up the forearm, and exited the elbow. Then, as Tros’ heated attack left behind the foul scent of sizzling flesh and bone, the laser only stopped when it collided with the fulite walls of the dorm.

  The end result of this encounter was that, once again, Tros left an older kid spasming in pain until shock kicked in.

  Laughing boisterously as he worked to stuff his anxiety inward, Tros proclaimed, “Y’all see that?! That’s wha’ happens when ya mess with me or my gang! These losers’ll never be the same after that!”

  As the onlooker muttered and gazed at Tros with awe and horror, the large eight-year-old tried to process his experience.

  If I’d didn’t get ma’ horns ready to go so quick, I’d never have been able to pull that off… He’d of pummeled me senseless.

  Shoving his fears down with his anxieties, Tros sighed before going over to the bed that Ril had jumped out of.

  Throwing any personal belongings off the cupboard next to the bed, Tros declared, “I’m taking rock-arm’s bed! If ma’ boys can’t get beds ah their own, I expect somebody to hand their beds over too!”

  With Tros' display of power shielding them, Lak and Nalgo were able to lay claim to a pair of empty beds near Nalgo without any gripes from the other boys. Said boys were instead preoccupied picking up their maimed friends and carrying them to the dormitory’s entrance.

  While the panicking group of kids started frantically pressing something akin to a doorbell beside the door, Key watched the events unfold from beneath his blanket.

  Gripping the rim of his covers as he listened to Jareck’s teeth chattering, Keyaxel pondered the situation.

  They… They started that, so I guess that was okay… So long as he doesn’t hurt my friends, I won’t beat Tros up.

  After making up his mind, Key saw the dorm door open wide. He had expected Hadai’s return, but instead, a blue-haired woman came rushing into the room.

  When she saw the injured boys, the woman questioned, “What happened? Where are the new students you messed with?” The calm attitude she used to address the situation wasn’t just unnerving but also suggested a familiarity with this sort of scenario.

  “The-the kid with horns did this. Ril and Lut tried to put him in his place, and he did this. His Gift is… is… It’s really strong!”

  As the boys panicked, the woman effortlessly lifted Ril and Lut while stating in a monotone, “Oh. That’s promising. We might have a new Underlord in our mitts. Well, I’ll get these two to the Patchers. The rest of you, get back to bed.”

  Despite how some of the gathered crowd began to protest, the woman left as fast as she came, slamming the dorm’s door behind her. And without any other actions they could take, the friends of Ril and Lut eventually dispersed and returned to their beds.

  Keeping his mouth shut as he observed the callous attitude of the blue-haired woman, Keyaxel pondered, But Hadai told us not to hurt anyone. But that lady says it’s fine… Does this place works like The Pit or not?