Januar could feel tears welling up in his eyes.

They were right. They were all right.

He swallowed his sob, but it remained in his throat like a lump, making it difficult for him to breathe. His heart was hurting as he tried in vain to hide his card.

"And Jan? What is it? Let me see your card. We are all so excited to see how new and special the next Stolz Card will be!" With these words, Leopold, a good friend of Frederic, grabbed Januar's card from his hand.

Januar felt a cold shiver running down his back when the card was snatched from him. He felt hot and cold intermittently and had to swallow hard before hesitantly turning to his classmates.

"What? The Frog Prince? Pfff, what are you? A princess? Or the frog?" Leopold cackled with laughter and could not calm down, the other students joined in.

"Does that mean that when he kisses someone, he becomes pretty? Ewww, that's disgusting!" Sophie and her gang continued to pick on him, giggling.

Januar could no longer suppress his blush of shame, his cheeks began to burn again, his gaze dropped to his black sneakers while he tried to hide his face with his hands.

"Whoa, look! There are also intestines and severed legs on the back! What a psycho you are, Jan, hahaha!"

This comment caused another disturbance in the class. One after the other they made fun of him or called him names. He was really a frog, he was so fat, even if he found a princess in need, he would never be able to get the golden ball up, was that what he thought about in his dark little room? About organs and severed legs? He was just a pervert.

Januar felt a sour sensation in his nose, he was about to burst into tears. He looked to Professor Sotra for help, but the latter deliberately ignored him. Januar felt his heart tighten.

Slowly, one cool tear after another dripped down his burning cheeks until it fell on his belly, leaving a wet stain on his shirt.

"Now he is crying, haha. Is he really the princess? But I doubt that such a princess will find someone to kiss, even if it is only a frog. More loud laughter from his classmates.

Suddenly a bright light shone in the classroom and everything fell silent.

"What was that?"

"A 'Realm'!"

"Fred got sucked into the 'Realm' of his card!"

"Silence!" Professor Sotra put a quick end to the loud shouts of his students. He inspected the place where Frederic had been standing a short time ago: "Mr. Raster, please move all chairs and tables aside. Miss Greta, would you mind telling us what Frederic's card looks like? But don't forget to follow the proper safety instructions."

Leopold and Sophie stepped out of the circle formed by the students and quickly carried out what their professor had assigned them to do.

Leopold had a broad grin on his face, his best friend was sucked into the 'Realm' of his card almost at the same moment of his transcription! That was really unbelievable, not even the Stolz had managed to do so! He quickly put everything aside, after all, he didn't want his friend to get hurt when he returned.

Sophie was equally excited. Frederic and she had been eyeing each other for a long time, how great would it be if they both got together? The exceptional genius, Frederic Eifer, and she, Sophie Greta, the most beautiful girl in her year, truly a dream couple. It also so happened that Sophie herself didn't have such bad grades, if she was lucky she could also rise to the Elite!

With evident joy in her voice, she exclaimed: "Lupus Nocte! On the front is the profile of a wolf, the background is almost completely dark blue, only a narrow streak of a silver full moon can be made out in the horizon, unfortunately, I can't see the card's back.".

Many classmates drew a sharp breath before they began to speculate about how long it would take Frederic to join 'Purge'.

This had to do with the accumulated knowledge about Soul-Realm Cards. If the names of Soul-Realm Cards were derived from an ancient language, it meant that they were 'Growth' cards. These cards were extremely rare and practically only the best 'card players' owned one.

Furthermore, 'Lupus Nocte' was a beast card, they did not have much use in everyday life, but they were one of the strongest types of Soul-Realm Cards in battle. Also, the Beast in this card was a wolf, and considering the varying meanings this animal possessed in different pre-apocalyptic cultures, it was actually only slightly worse than a Lion Beast card!

Professor Sotra gave a satisfied nod, Frederic had not disappointed his expectations. And Januar... when he thought of him he wanted to sigh again. He clapped his hands to attract the attention of the rest of his students.

"That would be the end of our lesson today. Next, you have Physical Education, where your teacher will give you fighting techniques and training plans suited for your Soul-Realm Cards," the professor turned to his briefcase, packed it up, already about to leave, he quickly added, "Don't you dare touch Frederic's card, or you will be expelled from school."

After the students politely bade their professor farewell, they all grabbed their sports gear while they engaged in animated conversation about Frederics and their own card.

Sophie and Leopold were especially often addressed, smiling benevolently, they answered the various questions of their fellow students, in addition to mentioning their own cards, which led to further excited questions.

Little by little the classroom emptied, the agitated conversations were soon quiet, only one person was left behind.

A quiet sobbing echoed through the classroom. Januar's tears ran down his cheeks, soaking his shirt as they dripped from his chin.

It felt as if every tear would cause his breath to become more difficult as if they were drops of lead that robbed the space in his lungs and heart.

Slowly, Januar lowered himself onto his chair and pressed his soft palms against his eyes.

His hands became wet, he could feel a cool liquid running down his arm and finally, under the sleeves of his black school uniform, down his forearms.

Suppressed, shaky breaths disturbed the silence in the classroom.

After a while, when he had calmed his breath a little, Januar began to knead his aching forehead.

His eyes were hot and swollen from crying, for a long time he just stared at the gray floor.

"I am truly the shame of the family..." he could feel that particular feeling in his nose again as he murmured that one sentence.

He knew, how everyone thought of him. He had been born into such a prestigious family, but all he could do was waste their resources.

He could see their glances, even those that were kind to him, they all pitied his family for having such a useless child. He also knew that Professor Sotra would never stand up for him, because he only took care of the gifted students, like his siblings for example. Nevertheless, it hurt when a person who was liked by all the other members of the family had such a harsh attitude towards only you.

He sniffled quietly one last time before he looked at his ComWatch.

The gym class would go on for another hour or so, he wanted to groan when he thought of the expression on his gym teacher's face, would he see what his Soul-Realm Card was, and the laughter of his classmates that followed, until he was finally selected for a training match, then, he would be like a punching bag.

He glanced in the direction of the card that was lying on the ground for a short moment.

Januar reached for his gym bag, step by step he left the classroom.

The hallway was silent. That was to be expected, after all, it was in the middle of the lesson.

The longer he walked, the more blurred his vision became.

His headache worsened, he paused.

What was wrong with him? Had he cried too much? Should he go to the infirmary? But he couldn't afford that...

The world began to spin. Januar lost its balance. He could see the tip of his nose closing in on the hard ground, while he was unable to prevent himself from falling further.

He tightly squeezed his swollen eyes shut.

Darkness enveloped him.