Lion and the hare

"What the fuck..."

Unable to contain myself, I silently voiced my inner thoughts.

'The weather was quite nice today, wasn't it? Although it's still a bit cold, with the sun shining and a clear blue sky. Aah, it seems like perfect conditions to... GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM THESE FREAKS!"

Throwing my gaze around the room, planning my imaginary escape, I saw the other students intensely staring at the screen. With everyone looking as if they were watching the most exciting movie ever made, I couldn't help but feel a little less inferior.

'Guess it's not just me who thinks he is a monster...'

Now, what created this situation, where the whole of class 1-A stood in complete silence, seemingly frozen in time? Well, in front of us all were a giant display and, although impressive with its span of over two meters, the display itself wasn't the source of it. No, it had been caused by what was displayed on the screen.

===Status===

Name: James Luminary

Rank: III

Strength: V

Speed: V

Stamina: V

Intelligence: V

Mana grade: III [Middle]

==========

'Why did the gorilla even bother to call him by his alias when his real name would get shown? No... never mind that... what the fuck am I looking at?!'

Although both Lindsey's and Bayyan's stats had been quite monstrous, keeping in mind they hadn't even started studying at the academy, James was on another level.

Looking like the perfect status panel, seemingly having inherent aptitudes for all different stats, with a rank III [Middle] overall rank, he deserved to carry the title of a future hero. A balanced status with rank V across the board, even Mike had gotten thrown off by the sudden appearance of a student who had the potential to become one of history's greats.

Watching the proud and strong James holding his hand down on the orb, it seemed as if his figure was slowly changing in my eyes. His dirty blonde hair started to get longer, fangs grew out of his mouth and his clear blue eyes got sharper.

'If I am a hare, he is a lion'

Suddenly, our teacher got his act together and talked loudly to defuse the tension.

"Seems like I have gotten a prodigy on my hands. I have nothing bad to say, your stats are perfect. Although some might say that a jack of all trades will never excel, I don't think they have ever seen someone who might be able to attain rank VII in all of their stats in the future."

Looking back at us his eyes softened and he spoke with a more gentle tone than I had ever heard coming out of his mouth.

"Even if one is a prodigy, hard work will always be superior to talent. Talent is useless without effort, but effort is meaningful even without talent."

I could feel my face start to frown at the uselessly profound words.

'What does it matter? I already know he is going to work harder than anyone... There is no way the swordsman of light would be a slacker. The problem with talent is that as long as geniuses work as hard as everyone else, they will always be ahead.'

As I couldn't help but let my dark thoughts emerge, I once again remembered my saving grace. I was still [Boundless]. Even if more talented people would develop faster than me, as long as I had enough time I would surpass them all in time. That being said, I still felt bad thinking about how long it would take to increase my strength stat.

Not surprisingly, the body's inherent attributes had a huge impact on the speed of development, as well as the ceiling which could be attained. Comparing two different individuals:

If one had a rank III level of stamina at the age of 16, there would be a high chance for this person to attain a rank IIII in time, as well as a smaller chance of attaining a rank V. The higher the starting point, the higher chance of attaining a proportional increase.

Looking at another 16 year old, with a starting point of rank II stamina, there was a lower chance of increasing this by one rank than the one with a rank III. Although one could be fairly certain they would at least be able to increase their stamina by at least one rank through years of training, there was an almost nonexistent chance they would be able to increase it to rank IIII.

All of this bottled down to talent, one's inherent attributes which had the biggest impact on how your body would evolve and develop. This meant that, at least in theory, because my starting point was the lowest it could be, I would have to spend years and years torturing my body in order to increase my strength by even one rank.

"Now we only have one student remaining. Miren Porter!"

'Huh? Wait, that's me! He called me by my real name! Does God actually exist then?'

Taking a couple of seconds to think back on my desperate prayers in the cafeteria, my newfound faith was quickly shattered, as Mike seemed to have been of the opinion that I had been too slow to move my feet.

"Why are you just standing there like a deer in headlights, hares are supposed to be fast! Come on now, get those short little legs moving kiddo!"

*Pok*

With a pulsating forehead, I made my way to the orb while I kept glaring at the monkey-man. As I got in front of the orb, I released Mike from my black eyes, instead switching my target to the round, glowing object ahead of me.

*Fuuuuuuuuueeeee*

Breathing out all of the air in my lungs I took in the most amount of air I could muster. Feeling my head turning to mush from stress and anger, I put my hand on the measurement device. I could feel my mana stir inside of me, taking a tour throughout my body as a means for the orb to measure my being. I started hearing some murmurs behind me, ever-increasing my level of stress which was already high.

*How can a mana grade rank II [Lower] be in the A-class?*

*Was there some kind of mistake? No matter how I look at it he doesn't belong here!*

Unable to distinguish who said what, my mind was racing. As my heart started beating as if to escape my chest, cold sweat permeated my back. With my vision getting more and more blurry I was somewhat saved by a voice I recognized.

"There is no way the teachers or the principal would make such a stupid mistake at Kirkegaard. If Miren was placed in the A-class he must have something which makes him belong with us! Just look at his speed stat, can any one of you say you have ever seen anything like it. because I sure as hell haven't!"

The clear voice of the hero seemed to purge some of my internal struggles. My vision started to clear up and my heart didn't beat quite as hard.

*But look at his strength stat! It's rank I! He is pretty much invalid, even more so for a martial student!*

*Yea, although I don't like talking about other students this way, he is hopeless. At most he is a portable liability we have to drag around.*

My brain started to flare up once more. Hundreds of conjectures and ideas were formed and concluded parallel to each other simultaneously. Just like an overheated computer, my body started to feel like it was breaking down. Like the first night I spent on academy grounds, my mind continued to increase its pace, disrupting my ability to form clear thoughts.

'I already knew this would happen, why am I reacting like it's a surprise?! I know it, I know, I know, I know, I KNOW! I KNOW I AM WEAK! I AM WEAK! I AM WEAKEST!'

My vision had already been lost somewhere along the way, with darkness replacing the modern space I was in. I could feel my synapses putting in yet another gear, completely destroying any sense of coherent thinking that might have been left.

*'IDONTWANTTHIS!IDONTWANTTHIS!IDONTWANTTHIS!INEEDTORUN!NEEDTORUN!NEEDTORUN!NEEDTORUN!NEEDTORUN!RUN!RUN!RUN!ESCAPE! ESCAPE!ESCAPE!ESCAPE!ESCAPE!ESCAPEEEE!'*

Mike's voice rang out.

"Hmm, you might be right. Seems like the little hare isn't fit to be a student here after all."

*CRACKLE*

With purple streaks of lightning covering my entire body, my mind instantly froze and my final thought was incredibly clear.

'I am weak'

****

[Mike's POV]

'Finally, this day is gonna end. Taking care of all these young prodigies will be hard after all.'

As I was thinking back to looking at all my lovely little students' statuses, I couldn't help but feel a slight tinge of guilt. As James was walking back I prepared myself to say the name I had tormented the whole day. Why did I continually try to cause him distress? The answer to that is simple, principal's orders.

When I had been talking to the principal a week ago, trying to figure out some way to lessen the burden of Miren, I had been met with yet another cryptic response.

'-The hare will bite even a tiger if cornered enough.'

Although I could figure out what he meant, I am not that stupid, my face still crumpled a bit when he told me to keep mentally assaulting Miren until I got to see the hare rise. Even if I hadn't spent a lot of time with the kid I still held a sweet spot for him. He was a good kid, trying his hardest to survive in a world where only the strong survive, as the weakest one.

Nonetheless, I believed in the principal's words. As he had a clairvoyance-type disposition, it would be stupid to disregard his thoughts. Although I felt like I had gotten close to seeing the innate power of the hare when he had a sudden outburst in the classroom, it hadn't been enough. As I was thinking about this, I decided to call him by his real name, as a small showing of empathy.

"Now we only have one student remaining. Miren Porter!"

I could see him flinch at the words I uttered, freezing for a little bit.

'Huh, seems like he took quite the mental hit from my earlier acting, he is suddenly wearing a look of extreme hope... Wait, did I just destroy the work I put in during homeroom?'

Thinking it would have been a horrible mistake to torment the small boy, without him getting to at least reap some benefits, I resolved myself once again.

'I can't let it be that he had to withstand that humiliation in front of his classmates just to go soft on him now...'

"Why are you just standing there like a deer in headlights, hares are supposed to be fast! Come on now, get those short little legs moving kiddo!"

As I yelled at him I could see his small face darken, but he still made his way to the orb. As he put his hand on it his status quickly showed up for everyone to see.

===Status===

Name: Miren Porter

Rank: II

Strength: I

Speed: VII

Stamina: III

Intelligence: III

Mana grade: II [Lower]

==========

Looking at the poor boy's status I couldn't help but feel my heart breaking a little. Such a small thing, weaker than anyone, had to stand among people who would go on with their lives to accomplish greatness. If he had attended another academy, or even if he had been placed in the B-class, his rank III intelligence would have been more than enough to live an ordinary life. Alas, here he was.

My lovely little students had gotten a bit rowdy, bluntly discussing his status. As for me, I had my hands full with spectating the shaking young man standing at the mana orb.

'So this is where I get to see what the principal was talking about.'

As my students continued to discuss the status in front of us, I could physically see Miren getting more and more cornered. His face was even whiter than usual, with sweat forming on the top of his forehead and dim eyes. Just as it looked like he would finally break, the golden boy of the class started to talk.

"There is no way the teachers or the principal would make such a stupid mistake at Kirkegaard. If Miren was placed in the A-class he must have something which makes him belong with us! Just look at his speed stat, can any one of you say you have ever seen anything like it. because I sure as hell haven't!"

Turning my head towards the furious young man I was filled with pride.

'Caring about a person he has barely met to this extent? You will become a good hero in the future, kid. Alas, this won't be enough to qualm the frustrations of elites having to get involved with such a faulty presence.'

And just as I surmised the other students started rudely talking about Miren's flaws once more. Taking control of my bleeding heart, I once more put my eyes on the little hare. He seemed even worse off now, with eyes blacker than I had ever seen. Nonetheless, it didn't appear that I would get to see the principal's prediction come true today.

Unable to withhold my thoughts, I unconsciously muttered some empty words.

"Hmm, you might be right. Seems like the little hare isn't fit to be a student here after all."

*CRACKLE*

That's when it happened. Feeling as if the air was sucked out of my lungs, I was attacked by a feeling I had only felt in the presence of the principal before. Immense pressure was being projected from the small figure, with his hand still holding on to the mana orb. While being submerged in the excruciating sea of mana I looked at the other students. All of them were white as ghosts, with Arthur and Sarah crumbling down to their knees. Only Arthur seemed to hold his own against the waterfall on his shoulders.

I shifted my vision back towards the little hare. His body was surrounded by roaring thunder. Immense streaks of lightning were coiling around his body, acting like they would incinerate anyone getting too close.

As my eyes focused on the small, little face I felt my spine get cold. A devilish smile was covering his face and above it was the two spheres of pure black. Soul devouring, void-like eyes that were absorbing all.

'Little hare...'