Back to School

Jimmy gave Alex a ride to school as soon as he was ready, which he was thankful for. He could have walked, but he felt like taking it easy after spending the morning running and having such a large meal. It would also allow him to sort through some of the thoughts that still remained in his head, as well as explore his system.

The nightmares had caused him to consider the consequences of what happened the night of his terramorphosis. He knew about his parents and the people he had killed directly, but he was now dwelling on the people that he had hurt indirectly.

He thought that if he were to fight anyone in his beast form, there would be casualties and wondered what a war would look like between the three factions. Just because he didn't intend on hurting someone didn't mean they wouldn't get hurt in the aftermath. That was difficult for him to accept.

'How is the city supposed to survive an all-out war?' Not seeing any option, he chose to ask for a different viewpoint.

[Sometimes, people need to die for the greater good.]

'That doesn't sound like the greater good,' he thought, not satisfied with the answer.

[You'll understand when you're older.]

Alexander sighed. Would it be as simple as everyone was making it seem?

He decided to try to put the thoughts at the back of his mind and check his status. He wanted to see if his workout impacted his stats so far. He didn't think it would, but he wanted to start keeping track of the progress so he could know what is effective.

He opened his main menu and prepared to investigate his status.

[Status]

[Quests]

[Herd]

[Log] - Locked

[Knowledge Center] - Locked

'What the… why didn't you tell me I unlocked the [Herd] function?'

[I did, you were sleeping.]

'You didn't think you should tell me in the morning?' He thought back to all of the time that had passed since he woke up. There were plenty of opportunities for this discussion.

[You had daily quests, they took priority.]

'God damn it, how did I unlock it? Who is in my herd?' Frustration started overtaking his self-control.

[You can explore the herd option if you want.]

[All relevant information can be found there.]

'That will have to wait until I'm done with school!'

'Seriously, I'm almost there! Next time let me know important stuff like this sooner!'

A long sigh escaped from him as he stared at the floor of the vehicle.

[Noted.]

Approaching the old three-story brick building, Alex started feeling a faint churning in the pit of his stomach. He wasn't nervous until he started seeing other students. Suddenly, he wasn't sure if he was ready for this.

It hadn't been long since his parents had died, for God's sake!

The car pulled into the school's drop-off zone, and a flood of students overwhelmed his senses. They were everywhere, just... walking.

The sound of students gossiping as they roamed about like ants on a mission broke the silence of the vehicle. Everything was becoming more real, and at the same time, everything felt more distant. He wasn't sure if he could relate to his peers any longer.

"Have a great day, Alex!" Jimmy was doing his best to make things normal, which made everything feel more strange.

Responding with a nod, he stepped out of the car and stared at the intimidating walls that surrounded the school's grounds.

Everything seemed exactly how he left it the last time his parents picked him up; it also looked unfamiliar. The grass along the sidewalk seemed to have lost a shade of green, and the gate lost its metallic luster. Even the windows looked murkier and less inviting than they had in the past.

"Hey, Alex! What's up! Thank God you're okay!" a chubby black-haired boy with glasses came trotting along.

Overwhelmed by his senses, Alex didn't hear anyone calling for him.

"Hey, man, did that gas explosion somehow turn you into a cool kid? What happened? How'd you get so ripped?" Trent immediately noticed the change in his friend's appearance as he hit him on the shoulder.

Alex glanced defensively at the person that hit him on the shoulder, not sure how he would respond. Recognizing his close friend, he nearly broke down.

"Trent, my parents didn't make it." He hung his head low.

Trent had been there since they started their journey in the school system, and the two had grown close. He knew his friend would be one of his pillars during this difficult time.

"Stupid gas leaks, I'll kick their ass!" Trent immediately switched to best-friend mode.

"Man, you don't even get how stupid that sounds, do you?" He couldn't help but chuckle at the comment that was made.

"Yeah, but I got you to laugh, right?" Trent smiled, "I win!"

"You're right; I really needed that. I appreciate it." The young were-rex reached out to his old friend, nearly afraid of hurting him, and tapped him on the shoulder gently.

"You know, you may look tough now, but you don't have to treat me like a wimp!" The chubby child was almost offended by the gentle gesture. It was uncharacteristic of his close buddy, and he couldn't help but worry.

"Sorry, I've just got a lot on my mind… Let's get inside. I don't want to be out here dealing with people this morning." The young were-rex only partly lied as he distanced himself from the crowd and moved towards the school's entrance.

They passed through the gate and began walking up the steps when Alex started feeling the hair on his body stand on edge…

"Hey, who's the new douchebag?" A boy wearing a leather jacket and blue jeans walked towards them.

"Oh damn, looks like Alex got a nice little payout from mommy and daddy dying!" The boy somehow knew that his parents passed, which pissed Alex off. "I figured you'd buy yourself more of those nasty black hoodies"

"Killian, come on, man, leave him alone." Trent tried to stand up for Alex, but the chubby preteen had minimal social standing.

"..." Alex simply stared silently at Killian, his hands clenched into fists as he attempted to focus on his breathing. He knew he needed to calm down, or things could get out of control.

"What, you think you're too cool to talk to me now? Huh, Alex? Come on; I just want to have a little bit of fun with my old friend!" Killian didn't seem to notice the signs, or he just didn't care. He continued pestering the duo as Alex's rage slowly built inside.

"Killian, everyone knows you're a bully. We're not looking for a fight! You know his parent's just passed away; let us go." Trent pleaded one more time. There was little hope of it working, but as his friend, he refused to back down!

[Emergency quest initiated: Stand up for yourself!]