Surprisingly, the next morning passed without any incident. I was neither picked on nor provoked, only glared at by the princess and some of her friends. It seemed that word of our altercation had spread throughout the school, and most students were now avoiding me like the plague.
But I didn't mind. I wasn't here to make friends or be popular. I was here to pursue my studies, my research, and maybe learn a thing or two in magic since I'm a mage. The isolation was almost comforting, giving me more time to focus on my work without distractions.
As I walked through the halls, I noticed that some of the other students were staring at me with a mixture of fear and curiosity. They had heard the rumors, but they didn't really know what to make of me. I could sense their unease, but I didn't let it bother me.
Despite being a mage, I had to attend the sword theory class. It wasn't a mandatory course for mages, but it was an obligation for me to attend all theory classes, regardless of the subject. My ranking among the first year students was a dismal 271 out of 300, and my combat stats were the worst among them all. The main reason I had been accepted into the academy was thanks to my exceptional academic scores.
As I walked into the sword theory class, I could feel all eyes on me. Aric was there, but surprisingly, he wasn't glaring at me. Maybe he didn't hold a grudge after all.
I tried to take a seat, but as I sat down, the chair broke and I fell to the ground. Laughter erupted from the group of students sitting nearby, I looked up to see Aric smirking at me, and I knew that this was no coincidence. He must have tampered with my chair.
As I got up from the floor, I tried to ignore the event and act like it didn't bother me. But then, a smile appeared on my face as I started thinking. 'What, is this it?' I thought to myself.
"It's fine, I won't get mad. I paid back for what I did in the cafeteria, even though I didn't do anything wrong. It's okay, I forgive you. God, I'm such a wonderful human being," I thought, feeling a sense of superiority over Aric and his lackeys.
Seeing the smile on my face, everyone in the class including the teacher were looking at me like I was crazy. Aric, on the other hand, got visibly irritated, probably expecting me to get angry or retaliate in some way.
I could feel the stares of everyone in the room, boring into me like hot pokers. But instead of feeling embarrassed, my grin grew even wider. "Ha! You expected me to be angry," I thought to myself, relishing the attention. "Well, guess what? I'm not mad at all. I'm a reformed person now.", In that moment, I felt a surge of confidence and pride in myself.
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As I made my way to the elemental class, I couldn't help but hum to myself, feeling proud of my supposed reformation. 'Reformed, reformed, an honorable person with a positive attitude I am,' I thought to myself, trying to reinforce the idea in my mind. The upcoming session was a practical one, which meant I had to change into my training outfit.
As I entered the dressing room, I couldn't help but notice the well-built bodies of the students from different classes changing. Among them were Aric, Artorious, and Leo, who were also getting ready for the practical class. Aric gave me a strange look as he saw me grinning, but I paid him no mind. "It's fine, I forgave you," I thought to myself. "I am a reformed person, and I refuse to hold grudges."
There was a foul odor permeating the air, but I dismissed it as the typical unpleasant smell of a boy's dressing room. However, as I approached my locker, the stench grew increasingly potent. When I opened it, my smile quickly vanished, replaced with shock and disgust. My locker was filled with excrement or in other words shit, and my expression reflected my revulsion. The sound of snickering and laughter from other students only added to my anger. It was obvious who had committed this vile act; the culprit was none other than Aric and his lackeys who were currently staring at me and laughing uncontrollably.
"Hey, don't worry about it, man," Aric said, cracking a joke. "I heard that holding it in is bad for your health. You should thank me for helping you release all that pent-up stress." His friends laughed, but I just glared at him.
'Do you think this is fucking funny, its just disgusting' I thought to myself
'How did he even carry the shit all the way to my locker?, how do you even consider yourself a human after doing something like this'
As a clean freak and Germaphobe, I was repulsed by the sight and smell of the locker. I couldn't just ignore it and pretend like everything was okay. I asked him in a serious tone, "Didn't you get satisfied with the chair prank?".
"Hey man, I really don't know what you're talking about," Aric replied, feigning innocence. "But hey, don't hold a grudge against me. You know what they say, better out than in. If it bothers you that much, maybe you should've held it in until you reached the toilet," he added with a chuckle.
One of his mobs laughed and said," Haha ,Nice one Aric"
I felt my blood boil at his dismissive response, I gritted my teeth and forced a smile "Is that so, very well." Of course, I didn't believe his initial dismiss, I wasn't braindead.
As he was leaving, he bumped into my shoulder like the primitive ape he is. The contrast between our appearances was stark, Aric was tall, standing at 184cm, and had a bulky, muscular build. In contrast, I was a lot shorter and although I wasn't exactly skinny, I paled in comparison to his physique.
As he towered over me, Aric leaned in and whispered with a smirk, "If you can't handle a little prank, maybe you shouldn't have messed with me in the first place." His tone was filled with arrogance and superiority. "And just so you know, that was just a warm-up," he added before walking away, his friends snickering behind him.
As they were leaving, I couldn't help but feel an uncomfortable gaze coming from Artorious as if he pitied me. On the other hand, Leo had a dumbfounded look expression on his face, clearly clueless about what was going on.
With Aric's warning still echoing in my head, I whispered to myself, "Then, I better warm up as well."
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As I walked into the space where the elemental class was held, everyone gave me an odd look. Their eyes landed on me as if I had just committed a crime. I looked around, trying to find a familiar face, but I couldn't find one. My eyes landed on the princess who was also in the class, and when our eyes met, she shot me a "humph" and averted her gaze.
'So she's also in this class, huh?' I thought to myself. She probably hated my guts but I highly doubted that she took a part in that disgusting incident earlier, royalties wouldn't fall that low.
I couldn't help but feel out of place in my regular academy uniform. I looked around and noticed that everyone else was wearing their training outfit, but there was no way I was going to wear something that had been in that filthy locker.
The professor, whose name I vaguely remembered as Connor, gave me a cold stare as I entered. I couldn't blame him, considering how I had left his class the last time. Honestly the surprise would be to find someone in this academy who doesn't hate or who doesn't avoid me, but I couldn't care less.
"Mr. Damian, why are you late?" he asked, his eyes darting to my uniform. "And why aren't you wearing your training outfit like the rest of the class?".
'Should I tell him that the shitty outfit was covered with shit thus why I didn't wear it.' I thought to myself but I quickly dismissed the idea. This teacher already wasn't fond of me and an answer like that even through it's the truth will sound provocative, the last thing I want is to add the professor to my haters club.
"I lost my outfit so I was looking for it but in the end I didn't find it." In the end, I ended up giving a vague excuse but that was the best I could think of.
" That's quite irresponsible, I will turn a blind eye today but still I can't have you participate in the practice wearing the academy uniform. You can sit besides and observe the lesson." Professor Connor said with a mocking tone.
"Thank you sir." I replied politely, holding back my irritation.
I was being scolded for something that wasn't even my fault but I had to keep my anger inside.
Honestly, this served me well. I didn't like this class which was obligatory to me, I found it boring that's why I left last time which backfired at me in many ways.
I kept watching the class as they proceeded with their training, I saw the students harness different elements most of them were fire and earth users. Then my eyes once again landed on the princess. Last time before the incident between us happened, I recalled her using the fire element to demonstrate her edge, but as I was observed her, I was momentarily speechless. I saw a ball of yellow light forming on her hand which definitely wasn't created with the fire element.
" So, she is a light element user as well." I muttered to myself, touching my forehead as if I had a headache.
'She has two elements including the light element, an extremely rare one. On top of that she has an edge that restores her mana, yet she insists on becoming a swordswomen'.
I felt that I'm the only sane person on this world for pointing out that she should be a mage.
'You know something, fuck it. It's none of my business'. I shook my head trying to ignore the nagging thought in the back of my mind and I locked my eyes into the smart watch attached to my wrist.
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An hour passed, the aura control class finished. Aric was about to leave the class he heard Artorious calling him.
"Wait, Aric" Artorious said stopping him with his hand on his shoulder.
"What is it?" Aric asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"Did you have to go that far in the dressing room earlier?" Artorious asked, a concerned look on his face.
Aric scowled. "You are talking about that bastard. Ah, don't worry I didn't touch that junk myself, I paid others to do it" Aric reassured him.
" That's not what I meant" Artorious said.
Aric's frown deepened. "Wait, are you actually worried about that punk?"
"It's not that I'm worried about him," Artorious said, "It's just that I don't see anyone gaining anything out of this."
"Listen," Aric said, his voice rising slightly, "That piece of shit deserves everything coming to him. Did you forget that he spoke about Julian in front of Anastasia? Plus she knows exactly what I'm up to, but she didn't even try to stop me because we all know he needs to be taught a lesson."
He added, "And let's not forget the way he acted in the cafeteria. It's not just about her. He thinks he can act however he likes and get away with it."
Artorious couldn't argue with that. He knew all too well that Aric had a very low degree of tolerance , and Damian kept pushing his buttons.
As they walked toward the courtyard where they usually met with their friends, Aric noticed Artorious' troubled expression and let out a sigh.
"Hey, stop being grumpy. I'll stop when I get bored or if he comes down on his knees to apologize."
Artorious sighted a defeated smile at Aric's words and shook his head slightly. "You never change, do you?"
Aric grinned. "Why should I? Being consistent is a sign of strength."
Then as they got closer to the courtyard, they noticed a commotion among the students gathered there. The sound of music could be heard from afar, and Aric assumed that there was some club event going on. That space wasn't usually empty since it was where students gathered during breaks between classes, but today seemed especially crowded.
"What's going on here?" Aric exclaimed as he made his way between the crowd. He then spotted Katherine, Leo, and Anastasia, who were standing next to each other with their mouths and eyes wide open, all looking up at something.
Aric followed their gaze and he also had his eyes wide open in shock. No, he was more like horrified at what he saw.
"Why is it so crowded he.." Artorious stopped talking as he was met with the same sight as the others, a massive hologramic image was hovering in the air. The image was so large and vivid that it was impossible to miss, and in it was Aric dancing erotically. He was wearing a red bandana on his head and a thong with a majestic blue dragon in the center which made the Aranthus' empire flag, barely covering his private parts. The flag was fluttering around him as he moved like a butterfly.
He used his entire body to move to the beat of the music and frequently interacts with the camera, often looking directly into it with a seductive gaze.
Aric's head felt empty, his mind racing with a million thoughts. He tried to deny the reality but the hologramic image was so vivid, so real. He felt like he was going to be sick. He had no idea how this could have happened, but he knew that he needed to find out who dares to do such an act, but his question was quickly answered.
As he stood there frozen, he heard the sound of clapping echoing near him. As Aric turned to face source of the clapping, he was met with Damian, he could see the smug expression on his face. "You know, Aric, I always knew you had some killer moves, but I didn't know you were into exotic dancing," Damian quipped, chuckling at his own joke.