The next couple of days passed by with nothing out of the ordinary happening. At the end of each day Arlo would climb onto his bed and sleep because of how tired he was.
Arlo would always be so fatigued at the end of day, which meant that he hadn't gotten an opportunity to make friends without looking like a half dead person.
But that didn't mean he would give up. After being in the institution for a week, Arlo was determined to make atleast one more friend before January the first.
'I got this'
The next day Mr Blair told everyone to get into three's. The reason for it was, that one person would attack and the other two would defend. This task was to see how good people were at communication with their partner and to see what people would when they were out numbered in a fight.
Arlo and Seer quickly paired up but they were missing one person, others also joined to make their own trio. As the groups formed, a girl with light blue eyes and black hair stood alone, nobody spoke to her or even glanced at her.
Seer made the first move by waving at the girl, she saw his hand and then stared to walk towards them.
"Do you want to join us?"
Seer said
She smiled
"Yes, if it's okay with you"
Her eyes were full of joy
"My name is Arlo and he is Seer, what's your name?"
She glanced at both of them
"My name is Luna"
After the awkward introductions, the lesson continued on.
Some time later Arlo was sitting on a stool eating his dinner, each spoonful of food was sensational, his taste buds were screaming in joy
Arlo was so focused on his food that he had failed to notice some approaching him and Seer.
"Can I join you guys?"
Arlo didn't reply but Seer did with a smile
"Yes"
He then nudged on Arlo's arm so that he could come back to reality.
Arlo looked at Seer, then infront of him, a smile appeared on his face
"Oh, it's you Luna. How are you doing?"
She glanced at Arlo before diving her spoon into the food on her tray
"Not to bad, how about you guys"
She asked
"Decent"
They both replied
All three of them were seated in the corner of the food hall and ate their food. Nobody talked for a while, the only noise coming from the three of them was when they would bite into their food.
Luna was the first was one amongst the three to clear her tray, so she placed her spoon on the tray and then proceeded to move the tray to the right of her.
"I wasn't able to say this earlier, but I'm really thankful of you guys for inviting me to your team"
Arlo stopped before another spoonful of delicious food went into his mouth
"Oh don't worry about it Luna, we are also thankful, that you joined us"
Seer swallowed his food, glanced at Arlo before looking at Luna
"You dont have to answer if you don't want to Luna, but why did it look like everyone was avoiding you"
Her face was still and cold, she momentarily looked back at the numerous other student's gathered in the food hall
"I'm not from a prestigious Family or Tribe and some people have made some weird rumours about me so mostly everyone is trying to keep some distance from me"
Hearing this made Arlo realise that the hierarchy in the institution was more prevalent than he thought it was
"What makes people who come from Tribes or Family's so special? I think it's all pointless, what will being from a tribe or family going to do in the Fallen world"
Seer nodded
"Being from a family or tribe does have its advantages, but that doesn't mean everyone else is not worthy"
He intently started at Luna
"Luna, do you want to be friends with us?"
She smiled, her light blue eyes also brightened
"Yes "
She paused for a bit
" I hope we stay friends for a long time "
Arlo smiled, he had just gotten another friend.
Before joining the institution he had wanted to get as many friends as possible before he was transported to the Fallen world, but now that he had roughly spent a week here, that ambition seemed rather foolish.
The main reason he wanted to befriend everyone wasn't because of the Fallen world that was just an excuse, it was a facade. His reason for wanting lots of companions was because he wanted to feel worthy. If he had lots of friends, then it would look like he was a important person, someone who was precious to others, someone who was admired by others.
He wanted to be a somebody
Somebody who meant something to others, somebody who people cared about, somebody who people wanted to be with.
However, spending time in the Institution and with Seer, it felt like he didn't care about that anymore. Some of that ambition still dearly held own to him, but he wasn't being controlled by it anymore.
"Do you guys know about the rankings which are going to be released on the first of December?"
Luna asked with a hint of curiosity
"What rankings?"
Arlo replied in confusion
"One month before people go to the Fallen world, the institution releases a rankings of every student based on strength and defence"
"It's bascially an ordered list of people who the institution think have the highest and lowest chance of surviving in the Fallen world"
Arlo scratched the back of his head before nodding
"I kinda get it"
Seer placed his spoon down on the empty tray
"If that's the case, then let's hope we're not at the bottom of the list"
Luna nodded in agreement
" who do you think would be placed first on the list? "
Arlo asked whilst looking straight at Luna
She looked behind her once more, her eyes glared at everyone present
"I have a rough idea of who I think will be placed at the top of the list, but it isn't exactly shocking"
"I'm quite certain that a boy called Mason who comes from a strong family will top the list. He has been trained since he was very little, knows his family's secret technique and is most likely drowning in various tools"
A person like that would definitely top the list, he was the pinnacle of what students thrived to be.
"This has made me wonder about something."
"Is their another way to get powerful without completing a trial or getting powerful tools?"
His question was mainly directed at Luna but it was Seer who replied
"Yes you can and it's quite simple as well"
"You can complete trials to get new powers or obtain strong tools which makes you stronger, but you can also strength your soul to get more powerful"
"The stronger your soul is, the stronger your power gets"
"However their is a limit to it, which is one of the reasons people take on another trial. You don't get a new power every time you complete a trial but your soul improves further every time. Which gives you various advantages"
"So in simpler terms a stronger soul means your body and power also get stronger untill you reach a limit, which can only be broken when you complete another trial and bloom"
This was new knowledge to Arlo so he tried to understand it as best as he could.
After digesting Seer's answer a question popped in his head
"How do you make your soul stronger"
Seer looked at him for a brief moment
"By taking another Soul"
Arlo gave Seer a perplexed looked
"What?"
Arlo said
What did Seer mean by taking another soul, how would Arlo do that?
"When you kill a monster or a human and let it disintegrate into nothingness, all that would be left is a uniquely shaped soul"
"If you pick up that soul and place it Inbetween your chest, it will flow through you and into your own soul.
"Every soul is similar but different, which is why people's soul have different shapes"
Seer looked at Arlo to see if he was understanding him
"But I thought the shape of our soul was a circle, because when we go to the Fallen world all that would be left of us will be a glowing white circle"
His response made Seer lost in thought
"Well we don't really know why that phenomenon happens"
"But don't think about it too much. The soul is very mysterious, complex and we barely know anything about it."
Luna said
Arlo frowned a bit
"So many mysterious and questions but barely any answers"
Arlo replied in a frustrated tone
More and more questions seeped into Arlo's mind but he was unable to answer any of them.
The conversation died down and they were all finished with their food, so they got up to put their trays away, then headed out to their rooms.
The night turned into morning which then turned into night which then turned into morning.
The days turned into weeks, and before Arlo knew it the list of people who had the best and worst chance of survival in the Fallen world became publicly available to everyone in the Institution.