New Life

Alex was grinning when a young man walked out of the school and approached him.

"Kid, are you lost? What are you doing here?" He asked Alex who stopped grinning and turned to look at him.

"Yes, I'm lost," he replied to the man.

"How about getting enrolled in the school?" The young man asked him.

"What are the requirements?" Alex asked him.

"Actually, we are short of students in the school and as a result of that, we need more students. The requirements aren't necessary as long as you agree to become one of us," the young man replied.

"I think you should agree," Arthur said to Alex who seemed reluctant. Hearing what he said, Alex decided to agree.

"Okay, I'm in," he replied to the young man.

"Then follow me," the young man said and began to head back to the school. Alex followed behind and as soon as they went into the school, he was surprised.

"It's a new school," he commented while looking around.

"Yes, that is why we need more students," the young man replied.

"Oh," Alex mumbled while looking around the school. The school buildings were still new indicating that it was just newly built.

"This is the Dean's office, let's go in," the young man said to him as they approached one of the buildings. He pushed open the door and they walked in, an elderly man was sitting on his chair with a book in his hand.

Seeing the door open, the elderly man stopped what he was doing and looked up.

"Kelvin, who is the kid?" He asked the young man whose name is Kelvin.

"Dean, I saw him lost outside the school and decided to bring him in. He agrees to become our student," Kelvin replied.

"Oh," the Dean mumbled and turned to Alex, staring at him for a while before speaking. "What is your name, kid?" He asked him.

"My name is Alex," Alex replied, wondering why the man stared at him the way he did. "Is there any problem with me?" He turned and asked Kelvin who shook his head.

"No, not at all," he replied with a faint smile.

"Kelvin, take the kid and show him around. Take him to his hostel as well and show him to the other kids," the Dean said and continued reading the book he was reading before they walked into his office.

"Okay, sir," Kelvin said and took Alex out of the office.

Outside the office, Alex turned to look at Kelvin, the young man didn't seem all that happy as well.

"Kelvin, is there a problem?" He asked him.

"There is none," Kelvin replied.

"I know the Dean doesn't like me," Alex said to Kelvin who turned and looked at him in surprise. "Is it because I am not strong yet?" He asked him.

Kelvin wanted to deny it at first but seeing the look on Alex's face, he sighed. "The Dean seems a little bit disappointed after he was not able to sense any aura from you," he replied.

"What do you mean by aura?" Alex asked him, seeming a bit lost.

"Let's get moving and I'll explain that to you," Kelvin replied as they left the Dean's building. On their way, he began. "Aura could be said to be the level of your power. Even though you don't have one, you should at least have a faint aura around you, the Dean is capable of seeing people's aura and so since he didn't see yours, he became disappointed."

"If he is disappointed, why didn't he send me away?" Alex asked him after listening to his explanation.

"He may look like someone who isn't considerate, but trust me, the Dean is a good old man. He allows you to stay because he believes there is room for improvement," Kelvin replied.

"So he believes I can become strong?" Alex asked him and he nodded. "I'll try my best not to disappoint then," he concluded with a determined look on his face.

"I'll be by your side to guide you," Kelvin said to him and after that, he began to show him around school. When he was done taking him to the important places, he finally took him to see other students like him. When they got to the class, he halted at the entrance and turned to Alex. "When we get in, be on your best behavior. Most of the kids don't know how to speak and as such, they hurt others with their words. Do well to ignore them, alright?" He said to him.

"As long as they don't insult or try to hurt me, we are good," Alex replied.

"Very well then," Kelvin said and pushed open the door. There were only a few students in the class with a teacher at the front, the moment Kelvin walked in, they got up in excitement.

"Master Kelvin!" They called in excitement but seeing the kid behind him, most of them frowned immediately while some kept quiet as they gazed at him.

Kelvin walked to the female teacher and handed Alex to her.

"Kelvin, who is the handsome kid?" The female teacher asked Kelvin.

"I saw him outside the school and brought him in," Kelvin replied.

"I see. So... he'll be one of us, right?" She asked him.

"Of course. The Dean asked to show him around and show him to the other kids," Kelvin replied.

"Alright, let him introduce himself to everyone," the female teacher requested and Kelvin signaled to Alex to introduce himself.

"My name is Alex and I'm sixteen," Alex said while facing the class. He looked at all the kids there and noticed that most of them didn't look happy.

"Alex, you are welcome to my class. I'm your homeroom teacher, Rita," the female teacher said to Alex. "Now that you've introduced yourself, you can go and find somewhere to sit down, the class is just getting started," she said to him and he nodded and went over to one of the empty seats at the back and occupied it.

After making sure that Alex was comfortable, Kelvin had no more worries but before he left the class, he went to him and lowered himself.

"Hey, if you aren't comfortable about anything, let me know immediately, okay?" He whispered to Alex.

"Okay," Alex replied, and then Kelvin left the class.

It was as though they were waiting for the right opportunity to strike and the moment the teacher left the class, one of the students who could no longer exercise his patience slammed his fist on the desk in front of him and stood up.

"Hey!" He said, glaring at Alex and drawing the attention of all the other members of the class. "Who do you think you are? Acting all high and mighty, even making Master Kelvin like you especially, just who the fuck do you think you are!" The boy yelled in anger.

Because his hate was pretty much obvious, Alex had to turn to look at him, wondering why the boy didn't like him. He was not much of a talker so after staring at the boy for some seconds, he returned his gaze to the board in front of the class.

No one liked being ignored so the boy got so upset that he left his seat and stormed to Alex's own. Standing in front of Alex, he rolled his sleeves, ready to engage in a fight.

"Stand up and fight me! If you don't, I'll beat you to a pulp!" He said to Alex who still ignored him and tried to look elsewhere since his view was already blocked. "Trying to avoid fighting with me? Doesn't that mean you are weak, idiot!" The boy taunted Alex with a smug look on his face.

Hearing the word weak, Alex turned for the second time to look at the boy but this time around, it was different. Something about him didn't sit right. "I dare you to say that again," he said to the boy. This was the first time he was answering the boy — the look in his eyes, the heaviness of his voice, no one could understand what was happening. He was a whole new person from that moment.

"What are you going to do about it, weak ass!" The boy repeated and in the next second, Alex stood up and raised his hand to hit him.

"Stop!" One of the students yelled and Alex abruptly halted.

He tried hitting the boy again but he couldn't so he brought down his hand, glanced at the boy who shouted stop and then quietly walked out of the class.

"What was that, Raphael?" The boy who insulted Alex asked, glaring at the boy who shouted stop. "You should have allowed us to fight it out!" He grunted, displeased by the sudden interference.

The boy whose name was Raphael took out a piece of paper and pen and wrote down something which he showed the angry boy.

"Win me with just one blow? How is that fucking possible!" He yelled, not able to believe what Raphael wrote down.

Seeing that he wasn't ready to accept the truth, Raphael shrugged his shoulders and walked back to his seat.

"Damn it!" The boy grunted and went back to his seat in anger.

Outside the class, Alex saw an empty bench under a tree and decided to go there. He was having a complicated feeling because of what happened in the class and as such he wanted a quiet place to sit and think. Sitting under the tree, he felt more relaxed and the cool breeze soothed him, he wished the people around him would be like the cool breeze.

"Hey," Kelvin called as he approached him. He walked straight to where he was and sat down next to him. "You look troubled, what is it?" He asked him.

"They don't like me," Alex replied.

"Aww, is that why you are sad?" Kelvin asked him.

"I'm not sad about it. I'm just scared of hurting them in the process of trying to save myself or trying to ignore them," Alex replied. Just like in the class when he tried to attack the boy, he knew that wasn't his doing but the doing of the demon inside of him. The demon is capable of taking control of his body and doing things on his own, this was a big problem on his side because it could cause him unwanted troubles in the future.

"Just like you did in the class? Well... I can't say for sure, kids can be hostile towards each other, things like these are inevitable so just try as much as possible to ignore as much as you can," Kelvin said to him. "Don't worry, I'll be around to help you," he added, seeing the unsettled look on his face.

Alex sighed and gazed at the entrance of his class, he saw one of the students coming out and pointed at him. "Who is he and why does he have both sides of his mouth stitched?" He asked Kelvin who looked towards the entrance and saw Raphael.

"Oh, him? Well... the thing is that he can't talk all the time," he replied.

"But he was the reason —"

"The reason you suddenly halted and didn't attack the other kid, right?"

"Yes."

"That's because he used his ability on you. Let me explain his ability to you... Once he opens his mouth to say something, anyone within the range of his attack is forced to do as he says. For example, if he tells you to die, run, or blow away, you will be forced to either die, run, or be blown away. This is how his power works," Kelvin explained.

"It's powerful," Alex mumbled.

"Sure it is but it comes with a heavy price," Kelvin said.

"Which is?" Alex asked him.

"Because of the graveness of this ability, he can not communicate with other people or he may end up hurting or killing someone unknowingly. As a result of this, he isolates himself and spends more time in the library or some quiet places."

"Okay... So, is he heading to the library now?" Alex him.

"Yes, I think he is," Kelvin replied.

"I also need to go to the library," Alex said and suddenly stood up.

"Huh? What for?" Kelvin asked him, standing up as well.

"I like quiet places," he replied and turned and walked away.

"Be careful—" Kelvin said but stopped along the line.