32. A Lifes Journey - Chapter 32

It was the next morning before I knew it, the soup and my already shaky mental state mixed into a strong sleeping pill I guess.

When I woke up my body was just feeling as if 5 little Zukas were clinging to me… I wonder what that cute little goblin is doing now.

My fingers and toes were hurting for no reason at all, my arms were heavy, my head was aching and worst of all my eyelids refused to stay open.

How do I even get out of bed like this?

I heard 3 knocks on the door so I flipped to the other side and put a pillow on my head, unfortunately, I forgot to lock the door before going to sleep and so mister charisma walked in and said we have to go to school today. Apparently they agreed to let us have a day off yesterday because of the prince being… well, the prince and a top student.

"Lifes I made you some food, no tomatoes, don't worry. 

Eat it quickly and let us head out, we need to make haste so we don't miss the first period." He said.

"Gif me like 5 more minutes…" I could barely finish the sentence as everything slowly turned black again before my warm shelter was pulled away from me.

The prince threw my blanket on the chair next to the bed and said we need to hurry in a more serious tone this time.

I pulled myself out of bed, it was an incredibly difficult experience, I've never felt so bad, ironically enough, getting out of bed. My movements were sluggish and clumsy, red hair had already left the room so I could just crawl back to bed and fix this tiredness maybe.

I shook my head and pulled myself to the bathroom to wash my face.

Today will be a difficult one.

Luckily for me, the brainless crystal ball had left earlier so I didn't need to hear how much of a terrible person I was first thing in the morning. At least not from him.

I looked at the prince as he opened the door to leave after we finished eating, a mixture of feelings filled me. I can't quite understand any of it, all I know is that it felt bad, it sucked.

***

The first class was finally over, if I had to listen to another lecture about different stones and their usage in medicine, lighting and everyday activities. Don't get me started on plants in general, I might just lose my already lost mind.

I was just walking behind the prince before he stopped and turned to me. "Lifes, you don't have to follow me around, you can just act as any other student, your slave status is only in name.

Of course you're free to do so if you wish, but don't force yourself." He concluded while grabbing his shoulder and looking away from me.

This guy is a mystery to me… "Well, if that's the case, bye." I said and turned on my heels. It was obvious that I need to keep my distance from this person, he's no good for me. He's dangerous.

I walked around the school hallways, looking here and there. People kept staring at me and whispering, I guess that's what you'd expect… I did kill a student in this school after all. Everyone kept their distance.

"Ha! Look what the wind brought into our school" More like the flame… "It's a piece of trash!" A familiar voice said from behind me. Honestly, not a bad joke.

I was about to turn around but my senses warned me and I ducked just in time to dodge a slap, I was about to counter with a swipe to the guy's legs but before my foot hit him, an incredibly painful pang pulsed in my chest and I stumbled forward instead, holding my chest with one hand while preventing my face from meeting the floor with the other.

"Pfft, this fucking loser, he tried to attack a student on school grounds again, look at this pathetic dog everyone! He's under a slavery Seal, he can't harm anyone! Don't be afraid of this Greenen in human skin. Instead..." The student squatted down and grabbed my hair and said loudly in my ear "Just treat him like the doormat that he is now!"

I caught a glimpse of the guy's face before he pushed me to the ground and put his foot on my back. 

I can't put the finger on where, but I've seen this kid before.

I don't care much for the humiliation or the pain, the thing that I hate about this fucking situation is the lack of options that I have… I can't fight back, I can't even defend… Wait, can I defend myself without hurting him? 

Putting this idea to the test I used my Seal with the help of the student's shadow to get away and as I jumped out of the black door that led to one of the classrooms, I looked towards the confused student that almost fell down as he lost his footing before the pain in my chest and the nausea from using my Seal made me lose focus for a second.

The guy yelled something I couldn't understand and ran towards me, he tried for a punch but I dodged to the right, getting away from the wall behind me.

"You fucking worm, stop moving, get what you earned, you killed my brother and you dare show your face here again!" The now identifiable student inefficiently used Sy to make his point. He tried for a kick, just a straight push kick with his right foot.

I remember something Kiyoko used to do sometimes. I hated the feeling but it was incredibly effective.

She would direct all of her murderous intent to 1 point and send an invisible arrow towards us. That's how she taught us to avoid lethal hits.

I've never intentionally tried it but I think that the principle is the same as thinking of you're about to attack and taking it to the extreme.

I dodged the kick by tilting my body and put my theory to the test by acting as if I would shatter the guy's left knee. I really intended to do it and made sure this fucking loser knows it. 

The Villfer kid fell to the ground and held his knee before gasping and looking at me.

Everything around us went quiet for a few moments, my idea really worked.

After staring blankly into the floor for a short while, the guy screamed at me "What did you do? How did you attack m- Wait, did you even attack me? What the fuck is this, you freak I'll kill!" He jumped back up and was about to attack me again but I just turned around and ran away.

This method isn't very useful… But it is a step in the right direction, I can figure out a way to defend myself without fighting.

Either way I'm sure the students are going to be too confused and scared to approach me now.

It wasn't difficult to get away as my opponent was seemingly still limping for some reason.

The next class was about to start. It was 'practical combat'.

The teacher was of course knight Stern-Face and his co-teacher Mr Brown, both of which I had lost to, quite unfairly, during the rank assignment test.

Since I couldn't really fight, I just sat in the stadium seating area and observed. It was my first time actually getting to see the prince fighting.

It's obvious how strong this guy is just by looking at him, this much can't be achieved through natural talent either, he has got to be skilled on top of this level of power.

The students picked up their weapon of choice and got assigned a sparring partner, red-hair got paired with a brown haired lady that picked up a dagger and a gauntlet. Not a combination I've seen before.

Prince charisma picked up a standard sword, how boring… 

Now that I think about it, those guys are all supposed to be much stronger than my previous class, they're all 3rd years after all.

The students all went to take a seat on the floor outside of the main arena and the first pair was called up, I guess they're being tested? Or are the teachers just incredibly inefficient in managing practice?

Either way, this whole thing is going to take a while, hopefully it's not too boring to watch…

The first guy was a lean man with a surprisingly big frame, his purple earrings swaying back and forth as he climbed the stairs to the arena. 

Opposing him was a… Fat, long-haired, muscular man. Quite the combination of distinct features.

Contrary to his looks and to his opponent's noticeable presence, the fat guy gave off a very bland, unimpressive feeling. He was equipped with a 2 handed axe. 

The opponent was using a metal chain wrapped around his arm and a short spear.

"Isn't this too heavily favored towards earrings boy?" I mumbled to myself as I waited for the both of them to begin.

Stern-Face lifted his hand over his head before shouting "Begin".