There's No Other Option

Chapter 23: There's No Other Option

"Is the dosage enough?"

"We can add more."

"But that would hurt him."

"He's Lucas. He can take it."

Lucas felt a thin and sharp object entering some portion of his skin from his right arm. He could feel the strange sensation of the fluid flowing out of it and sipping into his body. The effect it brought was painful to him. He almost winced as he felt that he was laying down on a bed; he felt like floating.

"I told you, the dosage is too much. I'm worried."

"Lucas can handle that dose."

He finally felt the whole effect of that fluid inside him. It was the most painful thing he knew! More painful than the Null Room incident. It felt like he was banging his head on the wall. He closed his eyes hardly because of the pain.

After which, he started to familiarize himself with the sensation. He started to open his eyes and a vision of a white room greeted him. He looked around, and although his vision was blurry, he saw eyes startled staring at him. They moved soon after a while.

A woman in front of him, wearing a white dress and masks, was holding a syringe in light green color. He know what kind of medicine that was. It was a heightened medicine that can repair a broken bone that was renowned as a priority after the Godly Potential incident.

That fluid can also repair an injured ligament or a damaged joint. It was one of those medicines that have an odd, and sometimes very painful effect when used, since the patient's body will be reproducing certain parts in a quick phase.

He never used that before, even when White Day High insisted on their help. He said that he will be alright and that his right arm has no injury at all. Without bothering him further, the White Day nurses suddenly left him that day.

As he opened his eyes again, that girl that was treating him was so blurry that he didn't recognize who she was. But concluding her attire, she must be a nurse from White Day.

"Lucas you need to rest more. Don't force yourself."

Lucas knew it was Doll who spoke. But where he was at? How did he get here? Was he on a bed? He watched the faces that were staring at him and started to have a vivid vision after some effort. Three people were looking at him: Moon, Doll, and Ghaile.

"What am I doing here?" Lucas asked. He touched his throat that felt dry and can hardly talk. His voice had gotten hoarse.

"You passed out while Moon was helping you get here: the School's Infirmary." Doll answered.

Moon? School's Infirmary? He looked around the familiar room. Almost all the rooms of this school looked the same, except that Null Room was complete hell.

His head was still hurting because of the medicine he received. His brain couldn't seem to make out whatever they were saying. Nothing was sinking in. He suddenly heard a sigh from Doll, instead. He glanced over them, and he saw she bit her lips while gazing at his injuries. Those were now covered with thick bandages that numbed his body.

"Those people are too much! I'm sorry, Mister Pink hair —I mean, Lucas." That was Ghaile's voice. She was worried and he can feel her shame. "You got hurt. And badly. I really feel ashamed for not doing my job as a healer."

He frowned. After that, he heard Moon groaning in the corner; though he didn't speak, he was not sure he had the same words in his mind. He was the second person to witness his condition. Given that chance, he had seen how grievous his injuries were, with blood all over him.

Lucas raised a brow. He didn't think they needed to apologize to him. Perhaps, he deserved this. It was a reality slap. It made him realize the few things that he was gradually neglecting over the time of his stay here inside White Day.

They probably knew that news as well. Why were they even here to help him heal? They should've done the same thing that those men did. They should be angry about him and neglect him completely.

"Why didn't you fight back?"

He turned to Moon who was leaning on the wall and was looking at him. He looked angry until now. His tone remained cold.

"Moon," Doll warned.

"What?" Moon retorted. "He's my cousin! He shouldn't have let them do that to him. If I find out who they are, I will make them realize who they are messing with! We were all selected; we were family already."

'We were all selected.'

Those words made a sinking feeling in the pit of his chest. He watched the three who were with him in the room. He had guessed this was how he forgot how he came here in the first place; it was because of his own doings. He had gotten too attached to this school; with the tournament, he seemed to forget everything.

"Please just rest, Lucas." Doll pleaded. She noticed that he was gripping hard on the cushion on him because of the pain. He can feel his whole body pulsating in sweltering pain. It was pumping him.

"Don't worry; the pain will be gone in a moment. Then, tomorrow, your body will return to the way it was. You could just endure it for now." the nurse explained.

He tried to glance at her, but as he heard the door open for a second and closed afterward, he concluded that she had left the room already. He laid his back on the bed inside the room. What had happened to him? It was a stroke of bad luck… that he deserved.

Hmph.

After a while, the door suddenly opened again.

The three of them looked over. Principal Lyns casually entered and Lucas soon noticed, for the first time, that she was not as presentable as always. Was she stressed? Why?

"You okay?" she asked in a drawling voice as if she had just woken up from a nightmare. Her hair wasn't as combed as it always was, and her uniform was somehow folded unintentionally.

"Fine." He managed to say.

She came closer to him and examined his condition, and then she smiled. Lucas' turn, he frowned again.

"Just think of it as if you had an unexpected endurance training," she finally said.

"Miss Lyns, what happened wasn't a joke." Doll pointed out. She lowered her gaze, continuing. "If worse than this had happened, he might have forfeited from the tournament and have no chances of joining again."

Principal Lyns simply nodded. "I know, Doll. More than you do." her voice became serious. "But let Coach Clive handle what had happened. He said that he had a grasp of who the suspects were. Just don't interfere. This is a critical issue that can tarnish White Day High since the Tournament was going near."

"Was Coach Clive still talking to the Blue High's Embassy for an investigation?" Doll asked.

"Anytime now, they'll be done." Principal Lyns sat on one of the chairs. She crossed her legs in a sophisticated way. The elegance that she posed never ceased despite her current appearance.

The conversation had flowed fast that Lucas cannot comprehend. All that sank onto his mind was Coach Clive. He was so insistent on punishing who did this to him that he actually went to that Embassy he was talking about earlier.

"Someone leaked the information about Lucas that we kept hidden. The news already reached the parents of some students. They think it was unfair to select an Aspho first from that Skill Trial to compete in the tournament. We can't blame them. They were just cautious about that sabotage."

Lucas can't help but heave a sigh. Was what happened to him really bad? He felt the pain caused by the medicine for the second time. It made him whine silently.

"The rest of the students here have the privilege to be the first choice in any case. They were paying the school for so long, and they have become the school's stakeholders. But what can the right of preference do if we cannot win the tournament? I was really holding myself back, but I can't stop thinking that they were just some stupid people."

Moon snorted with a cold laugh.

"So since the issue has yet to be settled, no one from the selected participants can move without the permission from the top to avoid additional mess. I also decided to handpick only some of you to continue the selection. Having numerous classes can lead to numerous cases like this. Just concentrate on your training and the things you need to do to be handpicked."

Principal Lyns said some more but Lucas wasn't listening anymore. One thing kept rewinding in his mind.

Who would do this?

As instructed by the Principal, they tried to avoid any issues or any mess in the following days. Apparently, the other students, who often gave Lucas glares, also had the same idea. He wonder if they had been told off.

However, one thing did change. Everyone now knew how he transferred in this place― it was because, no. Nevermind. But then again, they still didn't know the whole story of how he entered this school.

They couldn't do anything so they just focused on their training. The selected participants were currently in the conference hall and a few days had already passed since the incident in the Null Room. Lucas was as fine as before.

They sat on the chairs placed around the room, facing a board, with Principal Lyns explaining things they should know. Today was an important meeting. They were entrusted to be told the tale of the Tournament.

"So here's the deal—"

Principal Lyns pointed on the board to where a graph was shown. If he was not mistaken, it was a graph of the tournament's previous winners.

"This year is going to be the 17ᵗʰ Division Skills Tournament. Eighteen years have passed since it was founded. But aside from the nine schools in the country, only seven were remained to participate this year."

The discussion continued which centered on the past Tournaments that had been for nearly decades. One by one, Principal Lyns stated each school that won the title of the strongest school within the country. Aspho High won the most— 5 times. The second was Lamia High with 4 wins already. Next was White Day High which won 3 titles. Then, Blue High and Siren High, which both had 2 wins. Retriever High which had 1 win. Lastly, Main Drip, with no wins at all.

The other participating school that can no longer join this year had been said to be disqualified since they were not winning for the past ten years already. Main Drip was almost disqualified, but thanks that their school was founded 9 years ago, they were saved.

"You see, we are just third."

Principal Lyns pointed out the 'White Day High' written on the board.

"Aspho and Lamia are the leading schools. Did you know that… there was a time that Aspho won three consecutive tournaments? How do you think they did that?"

Moon snorted with distaste. "They cheated!"

Principal Lyns stared at him pointedly. Well, it was the truth… They were just totally unaware. She stared at Moon as if ordering him to retract his words. Moon stayed in his seat and wasn't moved at all.

"Teamwork?" faked Doll. After all, she already knew what Aspho High's real color was. There was no need for them to fake things for formality's sake.

Principal Lyns nodded. "It is one of the most vital elements in the tournament. But Aspho has another thing—"

"They were eager to win."

Everyone looked in Lucas' direction when he answered. He had barely seen Principal Lyns that was shaken with his statement. He glanced at the students gathering inside as if worried.

"What?" Lucas asked. "What's wrong with what I said?"

Principal Lyns hushed that off. She just cleared her throat and decided to continue.

"They are the first winner of the Division Skills Tournament. They became the leading group for many years. They were scared that their title would be seized so they did everything to win. Death is not the only implication of their defeat but also disgrace and humiliation."

Principal Lyns started to walk and wandered the whole room to have a glance with all of the participants. They doted at everyone and inspected if they were listening. Her glance focused on Lucas, and unlike with every one of her speeches, it was now focused and intacted.

"Okay," she said in a hesitant voice. "You have a point, Lucas. But the proper word for that is the desire to win. The mindset that there's no other option but to win."

Lucas flicked the pen he was holding absent-mindedly on the wooden table. He has to say something in rebut to Principal Lyns. He raised a hand and the Principal doted on him.

"Yes, Lucas?" she asked, ordering him to stand.

"Principal Lyns. I think you didn't have to correct me," he said unhesitatingly. "The desire to win? No, Miss Lyns. The desire to win is not the same as having no other option. I might suggest you retract your words and replaced them with competitiveness. If your words were the accepted mindset, then it is no wonder that the world is getting worse."

There's no other option for Lucas as well but winning. But his mindset doesn't seem to fit with the Principal. If he doesn't win, he won't be able to see his worth in this world anymore. He promised that to himself. He will do everything to win this game.

Lucas sat back and noticed the sudden change in the ambiance. The eyes that were staring at him started to feel intimate. Principal Lyns had an obvious disappointment.

"I want you to have Lucas' mindset, but only better and more righteous. I want you to have a deeper and greater reason for wanting to win."

She had escaped that swiftly. She had a knack for mending things out.

"If the prizes and status are not enough motivation, I don't know what is," Nath had suddenly commented with a roll of her eyes. Lucas glanced over her and can't help but to laugh about her comment.

Money and the prizes were her focus? Then die while the tournament was exhausting all of your will to live! This girl has a lot more to learn before actually joining the tournament, or else, she will just die and return inside a coffin.

Principal Lyns smiled patiently before all of them as if she had expected that Nath will have that kind of irrational response. She had nothing to do but let her be that way for now. But once she had partaken the selection, she will realize her fault.

"There are other reasons more important than the fame that it'll bring to our school and tons of money as prizes. Believe me, when you are in the tournament, you will realize the things that you wanted here are just all nonsense. In the matter of life and death, those material things are nothing but words. If you have no other reason besides those kinds of stuff, you will definitely lose. And worse, die instantly off of the tournament."

Lucas had seen Moon and Doll nod as if each word that Principal Lyns shared was very important. He raised his brow, on the other hand; the way she said those words— as if, she had already experienced them. She seemed to had gone from that game.

Does Principal Lyns had partaken in the tournament? Was that how she became the school's principal? Her way of saying; it was as if she hadn't just partaken the tournament but won at some time.

Was one of the White Day High's wins had been earned by her? He heaved a sigh and look at the back to sneak at the clock. It was ten in the morning.

"Now let's rephrase something. There's no other option but—"

Principal Lyns intentionally didn't continue what she was saying. She just smiled seeing the group's silence. From the expression in their eyes, Lucas knew each of them had their own additional words after what Principal Lyns had said.

Lucas looked back to the front and uttered in a whisper.

There's no other option but to defeat Aspho High!