In a darkened room with no windows to allow the daylight inside, a man stood in the centre of a pentagram made with blood. By his feet was a candle, which he lit using the power of flames.

  A woman in robes watched from the sidelines, casually.

  "What did you think of the boy?" She eventually asked.

  VOOSH!

  The pentagram glowed red, and the ground beneath their feet started to rumble.

  The man chuckled.

  "Awakened, but nothing special. I don't know why Donn wasted his time on him. His death was well deserved."

  Eventually, multiple figures started to rise from the ground. Their forms were first merely skeletons, but eventually, due to the help of magic, they were given more detailed appearances. Clothes adorned their bodies, as well as human flesh.

  "If my son wanted a puppet to play with, I would have chosen that girl. Now she, is someone that interests me."

  ---

  The days flew by in the Great Church. Most were spent with Leox eating, and speaking to Ivy. Most of the other Holy Ladies avoided him, except for a woman named Mother Venus. The rest were frightened of him. News had spread of a boy who went missing in the sewers, though the exact reasoning was not known...

  Leox's muscles had started to fill out. As he was a growing boy, it didn't take him long to develop physically. Spending time with Ivy was what helped his mental state, which was constantly suggested for him to work on by Professor Gabriel, who often paid him visits out of guilt.

  But deep down, Leox didn't find it necessary. He was grateful for his friend Ivy, and would spend every moment of the day with her if he could. Besides, he felt that his mind had already reached a point of no return.

  In his mind, he felt a surging calm. Yes, he had died hundreds of times, but in the tunnels, he understood that it was simply the way life worked. It could be taken from you as easily as it was given. Of course, no one but Ivy knew that he had faced death. As many times as they asked what had happened in the sewers, Leox would always tell them the same answer.

  The physical abuse that he faced was starvation, thirst, and sometimes beatings that healed over time. He made up excuses, saying that Donn had mentioned 'plans' that he hoped to someday fill out, involving his death, but a demon arrived and distracted the boy, giving Leox time to break free and fight.

  Some didn't believe him, and he didn't care. What mattered to him most was that his immortality remained hidden. Whatever other rumours they decided to think up was up to them.

  ...

  One evening, a knock came at his door. After letting the visitor in, Leox was met with surprise. A boy with orange hair and a scar over his eye stood in the doorway. He was dressed in a black suit and wore clown makeup on his face that depicted an exaggerated smile.

  "Laughter?" Leox said with confusion.

  What's wrong with his face?

  Before responding, Laughter reached into the pocket of his suit and pulled free a card.

  It was the Jester.

  "The Allfather is a funny man, Leox. He saves your life, and curses me with the strangest class of them all." Laughter spoke in a theatrical tone.

  Leox raised a brow. "Class?"

  Could it be?

  He focused on Laughter's Overview.

  ---

  [Laughter]

  [Awakening Stage: First Stage]

  [Classes:]

  Jester

  [Class Skills:]

  Unknown

  ---

  Laughter had finally reached the age where he could awaken, just as many other thirteen-year-olds around the world would. It was the most talked-about topic in town. People made guesses as to which new students would stand out the most. Apparently, many prodigies had already awakened interesting classes.

  "The Jester. It suits you." Leox said with a slight laugh.

  Laughter returned the card to his pocket before making his way over to his friend and pulling him into a brotherly hug. They had not been friends for long, but Laughter had truly cared for Leox. He was one of the only people who suspected that he was facing something evil at the hands of Donn.

  This was the first time he had visited after finding out that this, unfortunately, was the case.

  "It's good to have you back with us. Not everyone could return from a situation like that. You're seriously badass."

  Leox shrugged his shoulders and smirked. "You're right, maybe the Allfather does favour me."

  Enough to give me a class that prevents me from dying.

  Is that favour, or a curse?

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  "Hmm, maybe he does." Laughter said whilst rubbing his chin. "Anyways, I can't stay for long, I just wanted to visit you before we enrol into the academy— wait a minute... You are still enrolling, right?"

  Laughter tilted his head and stared at Leox hopefully.

  "Don't worry, I'm still enrolling."

  I have to.

  "Good, because I'm telling you, this year is going to be interesting."

  "Huh? Why's that?"

  "Because the transfer students, haven't you heard? Since the apocalypse is near, the five countries have seen the largest amount of enrollments they've ever received. The Pentagon Academy has become overcrowded, so some of its students have transferred to the other academies, as we still have space. Some real prodigies have turned up man."

  The Pentagon was the centre of the Fourth World. The home to Emperor Alom the 200th, and many other important figures who helped shape the modern world. They were known for producing the most powerful awakened, so Leox immediately understood that having students from the Pentagon in their year group was a big deal.

  I still know so little about the academy. Will I be able to survive with so much competition around me?

  ...

  I guess I don't have a choice.

  "Sounds like it will be fun. If I'm being honest, I look forward to it. Even if the end of the world is coming..." Leox's voice trailed off.

  Laughter's hand landed on his shoulder. He was smiling even beneath the clown paint. "Hey, hey, the world won't end. It's our job to stop it, remember?"

  The, boy was right. But did he even understand what it would take to achieve this? Leox didn't even understand this himself. Yet still, he flashed the boy a smile of his own and nodded his head in agreement.

  "That's more like it." Laughter said before looking Leox up and down. His eyes lingered on the boy's white hair. "Oh, and by the way, I hope your hair stays that colour. It suits you."

  ---

  Four days later, and the largest event of the year was about to take place all over the Fourth World. Mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters were all outside of their houses, filling the city streets to clap on their fellow family members who were about to enroll into the various academies.

  This made the streets more packed than they had ever been before. Some students entered chariots that would carry them to the academy, whilst others rode horses. All students wore the most lavish of clothes they could afford, until they were given the chance to change into the academy uniform.

  Some students, however, had no choice but to walk there. Leox was one of these students, but that didn't mean that he didn't have people to watch him leave.

  As he stood outside of the Great Church, dressed in black pants and a long-sleeved white buttoned shirt, Ivy stood in front of him, looking him up at down.

  "You look great Leox. Now remember, you have to come and visit me whenever you are able to. I want to hear all about the academy!" She said playfully wagging her, finger at him.

  Leox chuffed, before promising that he would. Then after a tight hug, he said his goodbyes to Ivy and the church, offering them his thanks for their services.

  Without further ado, he made his way through the packed streets, heading towards the direction of the Varadna Academy.

  ---

  The entrance of the academy was just as busy as the city streets. Hundreds of thirteen-year-old boys and girls were stood in the beautiful garden that surrounded the giant walls of the academy. When Leox arrived, he noticed that they seemed to be waiting for something. There were two butlers in black suits stood outside, not yet letting anybody inside the gates.

  Leox looked around. It was easy to be overwhelmed in such a place.

  Most of the students knew someone else that was enrolling into the academy, so they stood in pairs or bunches, chattering in excitement about what was to follow. Leox on the other hand, knew nobody. He found an empty bench located by a small pond in the garden, where he sat and looked around.

  Most of these children seem average. Are they really all awakened?

  He rested his hands in his pockets to mask what he was doing. Then, his eyes scanned around the garden as he started examining overviews.

  "..."

  As he thought, they were all awakened, but only at the First Stage. Since he knew nothing about any of these students, he couldn't see any other information about their Overviews. However, as he looked around he noticed something. There were a few students that did stand out to him. At first they were hard to notice, as they masked themselves well in the group of hundreds, but for those who were observant like Leox, it became clear.

  Some students stood away from the crowd, and also seemed to be looking around. It was obvious that they were examining students Overview's as well. Leox noted down their appearances in his mind.

  "Leox, I thought I'd never find you!"

  A voice came from the side of the garden, which caused many students heads to turn and look at the boy. This wasn't because of his loud voice, or vibrant white suit, but rather the clown paint he wore on his face.

  "Laughter." Leox said with a smile as the boy came and sat beside him on the bench. It felt good not to be alone.

  Laughter leaned back on the bench with his arms and legs spread comfortably. At this point, the students had all turned back to their conversations, which gave Laughter and Leox a chance to examine them all, whilst discussing what they thought of their fellow students.

  Eventually, a voice sounded through the gardens that brought everyone to silence.

  A man stepped through the gate. He was dressed like the butlers, but was much more flamboyant than the others.

  "Students of Varadna, we would like to welcome you to the academy. Inside these gates, your journeys will truly begin. Your lives will change inevitably. Whether that is for the worse, or for the better, that is entirely up to you. However we, and all the professors of the academy will do our best to lead you down the right paths."

  After hearing the man speak, Laughter leaned over and whispered into Leox's ear. "Do you think there are maids too, or only male butlers?

  "..."

  "Now then," the flamboyant butlers voice came again. "Please step inside, and meet your professor's!"

  The giant gates to the academy opened, and it felt as though a wave of pressure had crashed into all of the students.

  Leox struggled to keep his breathe. Uncontrollable nerves spread throughout everyone's bodies, but it was the powerful students who entered the gates first. Leox and Laughter were right behind them, keeping their heads as high as possible.

  The three hundred students were filtered into a giant marble field, located right outside of the ginormous building that was the academy. The building seemed large enough to fit the entire population of the city inside, and the field that they stood in was equally as large.

  At the head of the field, standing on the large staircase that lead to the academy building were ten figures. One figure stood on each of the giant steps, making ten of them in total.

  The students gawked at the figures and whispered, it seemed that many of them were recognised, and rightfully so. They were all of Stage Three and above, some of those on the higher steps were even rank four.

  But Leox's attention was on the man on the top step. This man's Overview marked him as Stage Five; the highest stage Leox had seen so far.

  Leox listened to the noise around them. They all whispered about one man's name in particular as they noticed his presence.

  "The Judge."

  "The Judge."

  "The Judge."

  The man on the top stair cleared his throat, immediately drawing the students to complete silence. Despite his high rank, he looked completely unremarkable. He was dressed in a cheap black suit with a white wrinkled button shirt underneath. His hair was black and messy, and his chin had a stubbly beard on it.

  Suddenly, an item appeared in the man's hand, followed by another item that floated in the air in front of him magically. The item in his hand was a feather dabbed in ink, whilst the item floating was a piece of paper. Everyone watched the man in anxious silence as he wrote something down on the paper. All that could be heard was the sounds of feather against the sheet.

  Just as Leox was about to whisper something to Laughter, asking him what was going on, the man cleared his throat again. Leox looked up to find that the feather had dissapeared, and all that remained was the paper.

  "Prepare to be judged." Was all he said.

  Before anyone could react, every student was drawn into the Judge's Realm, where reality no longer existed, and the skies turned black.