Another School Day

Klay made himself a small dinner, which only partially relieved his hunger before he prepared for sleep.

Laying in his bed, Klay was thinking about his fight with the young teen from that afternoon. 

I started panicking too fast, I will need to work on keeping calm or at least controlling my emotions when fighting. Especially after how pissed I got from the pain of the stick. It didn't injure me all that much, but it definitely stung and I didn't handle that well. Maybe if I up my flexibility, it will be easier for me to avoid things. Well, flexibility and dexterity, since dexterity is for things that need reflexes and technique like dodging.

Several minutes passed as he thought about the fight as Klay tried to identify some of the issues with the fight. 

Should I not have messaged the group chat? They only seemed to get more angry after I did, which probably means tomorrow will be tougher than the past few days.

Klay sighed and stood up from his bed, closing his eyes as he imagined the fight from before, replaying it in his head a bit. When he opened his eyes, he began to slowly shadowbox some of the movements he had thought about.

His movements continued over and over, as he imagined ways to get closer to his opponent when they had weapons like before. A curved step in before sending a few punches at their imaginary jaw. A crouch to avoid their swing, before sweeping their legs with a kick.

After nearly half an hour of these exercises, Klay felt satisfied enough with the result to rest for the day. He fell asleep quickly after he laid down, exhausted and slightly sore from the fighting and exercises done earlier. 

When he awoke, Klay was greeted with the sight of the system panel listing his stat growth from yesterday.

[Stat increase: +1.6 to Strength, +3 to Dexterity, +1.7 to Flexibility, +0.9 to Stability, +0.1 to Regeneration]

Clearing away the panel, Klay began his routine to get ready for school, ignoring the slight gnawing feeling in his stomach as he did.

Why did I get such a large boost to dexterity alone? I hadn't thought I focused on those exercises that much.

"[Your Dexterity stat gained more than the other stats due to your shadow boxing training from last night. That, combined with the boost from having a higher regeneration, caused the disparity between the stat boosts.]"

Nodding, Klay quickly prepped what he needed for school before leaving his house early for another run like he had the day before. It was much colder than yesterday morning, but Klay decided to grit his teeth and continue as best he could. Instead of spending multiple hours on running, he called it short and had returned back home after an hour to warm up and finish prepping for school.

Once done, he followed his usual schedule and left to walk to Copper High in his uniform. The Copper High School uniforms consisted of rust red bottoms, which depending on a student's preferences was either a skirt or pants, and a white shirt with a red and black striped tie. Everyone was allowed to wear a single accessory or alter the uniform slightly according to their needs, as the school felt student's needed to be allowed to express themselves despite the required uniform.

Klay walked past a few other students and arrived at the school early, heading to his class to drop his bag off before going to the library, where he found an interesting book and began reading in an isolated corner.

Chronicles of a Lion, huh? Seems interesting enough, especially if I'm just passing through the morning.

After reading for a while, Klay's stomach growled and broke him out of his focus. Simon had quietly joined him at the table at some point while he was reading, and was sitting across from him reading a fantasy book with an enthused smile as he looked up at Klay.

Klay jumped in surprise upon seeing Simon at the table suddenly. "Jeez, you startled me!" He sighed while setting the book down.

"Are you hungry? Did you not get to eat breakfast or something?" Simon asked amusedly.

Klay nodded, saying, "I didn't eat that much this morning or last night, so I'm pretty hungry." He sighed heavily at the thought.

Simon's brow rose in confusion slightly. "I didn't think you would have missed out on breakfast considering how early you got here," Simon said in a tone Klay could only assume was joking. "I have some snack bars in my bag though, if you'd like one."

He reached into his backpack on the floor next to him, and after a hefty search of the contents, eventually procured a snack bar that he set in front of Klay.

"Really? Thanks," Klay thanked him and sighed in relief before opening the wrapper on the bar and taking a bite. 

Simon and Klay kept talking for a few minutes before the bell rang, signifying their class starting. They left the library and went to class as normal, and Klay managed to easily follow along with the lesson while Simon read from his book hidden under the desk until the teacher called him out for it.

The rest of their morning went similarly, with Klay going to his class on his own after the first few classes were over as his schedule dictated. Once the hour was over and the bell rang to signify the end of the class, Klay and Simon met back with each other before walking to the cafeteria for lunch. 

The two boys walked through the hallways quietly, figuring disturbing the classes still in progress would not go over well.

They entered the commons soon and were met with the bustling sound of students chatting as they got food and ate at the several tables placed throughout the space. A long line of students led into a small alcove, where the food for students was arranged for them to grab and pay for on their way out. Klay and Simon lined up at the end of the lunch line, and talked about a few things as they eventually got their food and sat down at an empty table, since not all the tables had students due to the courtyard of the school also being used.

"So Klay, did you hear about what happened to the TA*? I think his name was Eli or something?" Simon quickly started up their conversation once more, but the question was almost jarring to Klay.

His brow scrunched together in confusion and mild curiosity before responding. "Elias. And noI haven't, what happened?" Klay was confused at what could've happened from when they fought to that moment, especially when knowing that Elias wasn't too beat up after the fight.

"He missed yesterday and today because of his shoulder getting dislocated, apparently. Some other people were talking about how he might have gotten beat up though."

Did I really hurt him that much? He should've come out of the fight mostly fine, just a bit bruised. I didn't expect it to be to that extent though!

Klay nodded and thought for a moment before responding. "How did you learn about this? Do you actually know what caused his injury or are you just relaying the information?" He questioned Simon, wanting to make sure he knew how trustworthy the information was.

If this is true, then I might get targeted even more. I really hope this isn't true, because I do not want to have to deal with the repercussions of it all. I didn't even deserve to be targeted at first, I just walked into the school and passed Alp and his girlfriend arguing!

Sighing internally, Klay listened to Simon's prompt answer.

"I overheard some other students mention it yesterday, and more today so I figured it was true enough to accept." 

"Gotcha, so do you know who hurt him?" 

Holding his chin in his hand, Simon thought for a moment before taking a guess. "I would assume that he was beaten up by one of the upperclassmen. My guess is either Kristian or Henrik, both of whom are juniors, and have some reputation for openly bullying others." 

Klay nodded and changed the subject of their conversation, but internally was freaking out slightly at knowing more of the bullies of the school are likely to come after him.

I barely managed to beat Elias two days ago! I don't think I'll be able to hold off anyone stronger than him, or heaven forbid multiple bullies at once!

BANG!