He knows what I am.

  It was important for Leox to stay calm in that moment, which was a hard task for a twelve-year-old boy. The sentence was haunting.

  How could he possibly stay calm when the secret that he spent his life hiding had finally been found out by a student willing to risk becoming a murderer?

  Before he could even respond to him, Donn turned and walked away.

  Now that Leox was confirmed to be alive, no one seemed to be worried about his safety. They were more focused on the events of the spar.

  "Someone take Leox to the School Doctor to have him checked up. Afterwards, head to the cafeteria for breakfast." Professor Breaker ordered.

  Leox almost didn't expect anyone to help him until the orange-haired boy stepped over to him, saluting the professor comedically.

  "Yes, sir. Laughter will complete this mission for you."

  ---

  As Leox walked through the school building with the help of the orange-haired boy, he felt relieved that he was the one who stepped up to help him. His constant chatter and comedy helped take Leox's mind off the morning's events so far.

  "Is your name actually Laughter?" Leox asked him.

  "Weird, isn't it?" The boy replied. "My mother said that I was born with a different name, but they officially changed it after the amount of laughter I caused in my early years. I guess I've always been the comedian."

  Laughter. He was an interesting boy.

  Leox appreciated that he avoided the topic of his embarrassment.

  Eventually, they came to a door with a window located on the school's ground floor. Through the window, Leox could see a man wearing a white doctor's gown treating another younger student who had grazed their knee.

  Leox stopped before the door and turned to Laughter. "I don't need to actually go in there. I'm fine."

  Laughter tilted his head and raised his brow at Leox. "You think I don't know that already?"

  He punched Leox gently in the place where he had been stabbed. Leox didn't wince at all.

  How did he know? Was my acting that bad?

  "I don't know how, but your body healed much faster than mine would. I'll say it has something to do with those powers you and Donn have. Man, I wish I had a premature awakening, too. Who wants to wait till they're thirteen?" The boy complained.

  Leox let out a silent sigh of relief. It seemed that Laughter wasn't aware of his immortality.

  "I guess I'm just lucky."

  "Hmm, I guess you are." Laughter shrugged. "Well, let's go get breakfast. You must be starving. Don't worry, I'll eat with you so you're not alone."

  If anything, loneliness was what Leox needed at that moment, to gather his thoughts and next steps. Still, he accepted Laughter's gesture gratefully and let him lead him to the cafeteria.

  He was right after all. Coming back to life definitely made Leox hungry.

  ---

  The cafeteria was a large hall, used by all six years of the school. This meant that over a hundred children were all in one place, and it seemed that Leox had become the centre of attention.

  "It seems dying has made you popular." Laughter said before shoving a spoon of soup into his mouth.

  Leox tried to silently hint to the boy to keep his voice down, which made him raise his hands apologetically.

  "I know, I know. It was only a surface wound, but doesn't the idea of surviving a fatal wound sound so much cooler?"

  Leox didn't like the idea of the boy joking about his ability to escape death, but what could he do? As long as he didn't find out that these jokes were actually the truth, then he could relax.

  "What type of guy is Donn?" Leox asked, changing the subject.

  He saw the tall boy eating with a girl at a table not too far away. His black hair covered his eyes, making him look like a devil.

  Laughter leaned in closely. Leox was able to get a better look at his eye scar.

  How did he get that?

  "His full name is Donn Hawkings. He's a noble, like most of us, though his family's background is a bit... different."

  "Different? How so?"

  Laughter's voice fell to an event quieter whisper.

  "They are the owners of all Cemetery Grounds within the Undying City. They work with the theocracy to send the dead to the afterlife... Supposedly. I never believed in the gods. Do you?"

  Death.

  Suddenly, things started to make sense to Leox. Donn was a man who had been connected to death his entire life. Could it be that because of this, he had earned a class or skill that would allow him to sense what Leox was?

  Leox decided to look at the man and focus on his Overview once again, checking to see if anything had changed.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  ---

  [Donn Hawkings]

  [Awakening Stage: First Stage]

  [Classes:]

  Unknown

  [Class Skills:]

  Unknown

  ...

  That's interesting. So the Overview really does update itself based on the knowledge you have of somebody.

  This was why it now displayed Donn's surname 'Hawkings'

  But if this is the case, then why can't I see his classes?

  Leox knew that Donn had controlled the metal sword whilst it was in his body, and therefore guessed that he was an Earth Mage. Was this not correct?

  ...

  In his head, Leox then tried to guess at all the classes Donn might have.

  Metal Mage.

  Metal Bender.

  Sword Mage.

  Sword Bender.

  After a while, he started to feel stupid. He was just throwing out words that he didn't know the meaning of. When he looked back at Donn's Overview, nothing had changed.

  At that moment, Leox cursed his lack of knowledge. He wished that he had grown up with a proper education.

  Then, Leox decided to try one more thing. He made the connection between death and Donn in his mind. There was a high chance that he had a class related to the concept.

  Leox was prepared to try a few different terms, but in his mind, one stood out to him the most.

  Death Mage... No, Novice Death Mage. If he used a Novice Death Mage skill on me, then my overview should be able to acknowledge it, as long as the name is right.

  Leox checked the boy's status again.

  ---

  [Donn Hawkings]

  [Awakening Stage: First Stage]

  [Classes:]

  Novice Death Mage

  [Class Skills:]

  Unknown

  ...

  Aha!

  Leox's hunch was right. Donn was a Novice Mage of Death. It was how he had managed to discover Leox's immortality.

  Leox had no idea what his skills were, or what other classes he might have, but now he could be certain of one thing. Donn had a novice-level power related to death. Leox had discovered and revealed part of his Overview.

  The question was, so far, what had Donn discovered about Leox?

  ---

  After breakfast at the cafeteria, it was time for Leox's first lesson at the school. Being inside a classroom was weird. He wasn't used to sitting down at a desk for so long without moving his body.

  It was a history lesson.

  Professor Breaker delivered the lesson, and Leox couldn't help but notice that he was going over the basics.

  The other sixth-year students seemed bored out of their minds, which suggested they had all heard this many times before. Was Professor Breaker going over it again for Leox? After all, a lot of it was new knowledge to him.

  They learned about the Forever Empire, which had survived ever since the creation of the First World, over five thousand years ago.

  The 200th Emperor, Alom The Unfortunate, current ruling emperor, was determined to see the end of the apocalypse despite his bad luck. He had earned his title 'The Unfortunate', due to being named emperor during the year of the Fourth Apocalypse.

  Leox took this information in, as well as everything else, but in truth, he was more focused on Donn. As long as he was not an ally and knew about his immortality, he couldn't feel at ease.

  What made it worse was that ever since their duel, the boy wore a sly smile on his face, yet didn't pay any attention to Leox or his fake bandaged wounds. It was as if he were trying to say that he had won.

  Leox used his history lesson to plan in his head. He thought of many different options to take, but none seemed to sit right with him. By the end of the long lesson, they were dismissed for a break. During this time, they could do what they wanted as long as they stayed within the school grounds.

  Afterwards, they'd have another lesson, then dinner, then training again, then the day would end.

  ...

  Two training sessions and two classroom lessons. The school was perfectly balanced to prepare students for the academy, which would surely be much more intense.

  "Hey Leox, wanna spend lunch with us?"

  Leox turned his head to see Laughter waving at him from the other side of the class. Most students had already started to leave, but he lingered behind with two other students.

  One was the black-haired girl whom Leox had spotted playing chess the day before. The other was a nerdy, glasses-wearing boy, who seemed too shy to look at Leox.

  Leox would have accepted their offer. Unfortunately, he had other plans.

  "Sorry, not today. Maybe tomorrow?"

  Laughter puckered his lips, pretending to be sad. "Okay, just know you've broken my heart."

  Leox laughed at his comedy before exiting the room and heading outside, slowly making his way through the Academy.

  Eventually, he arrived at the school doctor's office, where he peered through the window to make sure it wasn't busy.

  There was only one man beside. He was old and had gray messy hair that made it seem as though he had been electrocuted. At the moment, he was sitting by his desk, writing on paper.

  Leox took in a deep breath before knocking. He had one hour before his next lesson. One hour to see if he could figure anything out about Doctor Frost. His theory was that if anyone knew about a travelling doctor, it would be his fellow doctor.

  After knocking on the door, the old man waved his hands for him to enter. Inside smelled like strong medicinal herbs and alcohol...

  The doctor turned on his chair and turned to face Leox, peaking over the top of his glasses to examine him.

  "Mhmm, yes. The Awakened one. I have heard many things about you." The doctor said in a squeaky voice.

  He was a weird man. Leox could tell straight away.

  Out of curiosity, he tried to focus on the man's Overview, to see if he was awakened.

  He was.

  ---

  [Unknown]

  [Awakening Stage: Second Stage]

  [Classes:]

  Unknown

  [Class Skills:]

  Unknown

  ---

  Immediately, he felt on edge.

  Although the overview revealed nothing to him but his stage, Leox suddenly realised something. As a doctor, wasn't it highly likely that this man had a class related to the concept of 'life'?

  If so, there was a chance that he had some sort of skill that could reveal to him who Leox is.

  "..."

  Perhaps it was just Leox's paranoia. He brushed the thought aside for now, as the man only seemed to be interested in his premature awakening.

  "Are they good things that you've heard about me... sir?" Leox wasn't sure what title to use for him.

  "Ah, call me Biomancer Nikolai. And yes, very good things. I believe one of the collectors has taken a liking to you. I would love to perform some tests on your body someday."

  After telling Leox his name, his Overview updated. Leox now knew that one of his classes was [Biomancer], but he didn't know exactly what that meant.

  "Would the tests be dangerous?" Leox asked.

  "Yes, very, but isn't that the beautiful thing about Biomancy? It is so beautifully dangerous!" Nikolai's fists were thrust into the air, and his glasses flew from his face with the excitement.

  Leox decided then that he would never let him experiment on him. Ever. Instead, he swiftly moved on to the reason he had originally come here.

  "Biomancer Nikolai, have you ever heard of a man named Doctor Frost?"

  The excitement was immediately wiped off the Biomancer's face. It was as if he had been stripped of all joy in life. The man turned back to his desk and spoke to Leox over his shoulder.

  "I have never heard of that name in my life." He said coldly.

  Leox might have been twelve years old, but he wasn't a fool. Nikolai knew something about Doctor Frost. Something dark enough to strip the joy from his emotions.

  He wondered whether he should push him for an answer. The chances that it would work were low, and it would only make him look more suspicious.

  Instead, he shrugged his shoulders.

  "That's a shame. I've always wanted to learn more about the healing arts, and he's one of the names I've heard of before."

  His lie seemed to work. Nikolai looked back at him, with what seemed to be a glint of passion in his eyes.

  "You want to learn about healing?"

  "Of course."

  "Yes, well, you've only come to the most knowledgeable healer in the entirety of Varadna. Come, sit, sit. What do you want to know?"

  It did work, but it was at a cost.

  He had to spend the next hour listening to Nikolai telling him all about his passions.

  This better get me in your good books, Mister Biomancer...