The Well

Friday mornings at Helios Academy were dangerous.

Not because of violence.

Violence was predictable.

Fridays were dangerous because rankings were released.

At exactly 8:00 AM, students gathered near the digital board stretching across the centre of the academy hall. Conversations filled the air softly, layered beneath expensive perfume, polished shoes, and carefully hidden desperation.

The exam looked confident.

Students looked terrified.

Lucien walked through the crowd calmly.

Beside him, Kieran looked half asleep.

“You know,” Kieran murmured quietly, “normal schools usually fear drugs or violence.”

Lucien adjusted his gloves slightly.

“Helios fears low grades and poverty.”

“Disturbing.”

The massive screen flickered to life.

Immediately, the crowd fell silent.

Weekly Academic Evaluation Rankings.

Names began appearing one after another.

Students straightened instinctively.

Some already looked ready to cry.

Pathetic.

Lucien scanned the rankings lazily.

Third place.

Second place.

Then—

1. KIERAN VALE — 99.5%

The hall went silent.

Complete silence.

Then whispers exploded instantly.

“What?”

“He beat Lucien?”

“By half a mark?”

“That’s impossible.”

Lucien stared at the screen quietly.

Interesting.

No.

Not that word again.

Annoying.

Very annoying.

Beside him, Kieran blinked slowly at the rankings before sighing.

“I was aiming for second.”

Lucien finally looked at him.

“You missed.”

“Tragic.”

Several students nearby continued staring at them nervously.

Mostly at Lucien.

Waiting.

Because nobody surpassed Lucien Arden.

Nobody.

Not in mathematics.

Not in sciences.

Not in rankings.

Lucien had held first place for almost three years.

One girl near the front whispered:

“Is he angry?”

Another whispered back:

“I can’t tell.”

Neither could Lucien, honestly.

The teacher entered the hall moments later looking unusually tense.

Even she kept glancing between them carefully.

“Congratulations to this week’s top students,” she announced stiffly.

Nobody listened.

The atmosphere had already changed.

For the first time:

Lucien had competition.

Unfortunately, the competition looked pleased with himself.

Kieran leaned slightly closer.

“You’re staring again.”

“You disrupted statistical consistency.”

“That sounded emotional.”

“It was criticism.”

Kieran smiled faintly.

The teacher continued speaking about discipline, academic excellence, and student performance while the rankings remained displayed behind her like public execution results.

Students kept glancing upward obsessively.

Comparing scores.

Judging each other.

Calculating worth through percentages.

Kieran watched them quietly before lowering his voice.

“They look terrified.”

“They are.”

“Over grades?”

Lucien’s gaze remained on the screen.

“Not grades.”

Then he finally looked at Kieran directly.

“Position.”

Silence settled briefly between them.

“The academy understands something most people don’t,” Lucien continued calmly. “Give people a reward, rank them beneath it, then convince them the climb matters more than the purpose.”

Kieran rested his chin against one hand.

“And the students destroy each other willingly.”

“Yes.”

The teacher continued speaking in the background.

Nobody cared.

Lucien’s eyes shifted across the crowd slowly.

“You don’t need chains when ambition works faster.”

Kieran hummed thoughtfully.

“I don’t understand.”

“I will explain.”

A pause.

Then Lucien spoke again.

“Imagine throwing a pig at the bottom of a well in a rat-infested farm. What do you think will happen?”

Kieran glanced toward him with mild interest.

“The rats chase the meat down the well willingly.”

“They survive by chasing the reward,” Lucien said quietly. “Eventually the food disappears after a while. They will try to escape, but the walls of a well are too steep.”

“So, they are stuck down there?’’

“Yeah. To survive they will turn on each other and begin eating each other trying to survive long enough to escape. Eventually one rat will survive after eating its fellow rats.”

“The strongest rat?”

Lucien looked back toward the rankings.

“The farmer lets it out of the well via a rope.”

“Then he kills it?”

“No. He lets it out into the fields. It’s already used to eating its own kind hence instead on eating grain it will eat its own kind.”

Kieran laughed softly under his breath.

“That explains Helios Academy disturbingly well.”

“They create competition intentionally,” Lucien continued. “Top students become obsessed with rankings. Lower students become obsessed with catching up. Everyone stays distracted.”

“From what?”

“The fact that none of them are free. And the dirt the school is wrapped in.”

For a brief moment, Kieran simply stared at him.

Not teasing.

Not amused.

Understanding.

Then—

“Well,” Kieran said lightly, “this is the most depressing school orientation I’ve ever received.”

Lucien ignored him.

Mostly because he was trying not to notice a girl approaching their direction.

Beautiful.

Expensive.

Confident.

The type of person raised to believe the world naturally belonged to her.

“Congratulations,” she said warmly to Kieran.

Her smile was practiced perfectly.

Too perfectly.

Kieran smiled politely.

“Thank you?”

“I’m Yuna Seo.”

Lucien immediately recognized the surname.

Politics pillar.

Unfortunate.

“My father sits on the academy board,” Serena continued casually. “And my older brother graduated top of Helios three years straight.”

Lucien’s thoughts

Explains the personality disorder.

Kieran nodded politely while Yuna continued speaking effortlessly beside him.

Lucien suddenly understood why murder statistics existed.

“You’re adjusting surprisingly well for a transfer student,” Yuna said.

“He adapts quickly,” Lucien replied before Kieran could answer.

Both Yuna and Kieran looked toward him.

Lucien regretted speaking immediately.

Unfortunately, it was too late now.

Yuna smiled slightly.

“Oh? So, you’ve been observing him closely?”

Lucien felt irritation crawl into his nervous system.

Kieran looked like a dying hyena choked on its own suppressed laugher.

Dangerous creature.

Thankfully, the bell rang before Lucien could commit a social crime.

Students immediately began moving toward classrooms.

Kieran picked up his bag calmly.

“We’re still visiting the priest?”

“Yes.”

Yuna blinked once.

“The priest?”

“Religious curiosity,” Kieran answered smoothly.

Lucien almost admired how naturally he lied.

Almost.

As they walked through the crowded hallways together, Serena remained beside Kieran talking casually about academy life while Lucien walked slightly ahead in silence.

Calm.

Composed.

Mildly homicidal.

Kieran eventually leaned closer slightly.

“You look annoyed.”

“I’m considering arson.”

“Over a conversation?”

“She said your smile was charming.”

“And?”

Lucien looked genuinely disturbed.

“That seems medically concerning.”

Kieran laughed quietly.

Unfortunately, Lucien liked the sound more than necessary.

By evening, rain had returned again.

Of course it had.

The church stood quietly beneath the dark sky, glowing softly through stained glass windows as thunder echoed Somewhere distant.

Saint Gabriel Foundation.

Beautiful on the outside.

Like most dangerous things.

Lucien and Kieran stepped inside carefully.

Candles flickered softly near rows of empty seats while silence wrapped around the massive cathedral.

Kieran glanced around slowly.

“You know,” he murmured quietly, “churches always feel like expensive guilt.”

Lucien removed his gloves calmly.

“This one is funded by it.”

Footsteps echoed somewhere deeper inside the cathedral.

Slow.

Measured.

Someone was approaching.

And for the first time since entering Helios Academy—

Lucien suddenly felt something unfamiliar.

Uncertainty.

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