The first test was a surprise. Ms. Perri handed out the papers, and the room went quiet. I looked at the questions. They were about social history, things I had not studied. But I didn't need to. Aura, a calm voice in my head, was already scanning the test paper.
"Scanning questions. Accessing public domain knowledge. Answers ready."
My pen moved fast. I didn't think. I just wrote. Aura gave me the answers. It was like I was a robot. The other students were still trying to read the first question when I was on the last one. I looked up. Damon and his friends were at their desks. They were struggling. Damon looked at me, a confused look on his face. I was supposed to be the stupid one. The useless one.
I finished the test in ten minutes and put my pen down. Ms. Perri looked at me, her eyes wide. She took my paper, looked at the answers, and her mouth dropped open. It was a perfect score. I had to smile. This was the first taste of payback.
Later, in the P.E. class, we had to run around the field. It was my favorite part. The other students ran in a neat group. I ran alone. My legs felt strong. Every step was from my time in the wilderness with Elen. I ran fast, my body a blur. I passed everyone. Damon and his friends were left behind, their faces red and tired. It was a simple race, but it felt like a war. I was not the last one anymore. I was the first.
But the real test came in the martial arts class. The room was full of students, punching and kicking the air. I saw Damon and his friends. Damon saw me. His eyes were angry. He walked up to me, a cruel smile on his face.
"Hey, Bhosty," he said, his voice low. "You think you're fast? Let's see how you fight."
He wanted to spar. He wanted to hurt me in front of everyone. He thought he was the strongest here. I just looked at him.
"Sure," I said. "Let's go."
Aura's voice came into my head. "He is using the standard Eden style. His right hook is weak. Counter with a left jab. His leg is open. A quick kick..."
I listened for a second. Then I felt something shift inside me. This wasn't a computer program. This was my body. This was my fight.
"Aura," I said in my mind. "Stay out of this. I will handle this myself."
The system went silent. I looked at Damon. He came at me, his moves fast and clean, just like the textbook. But my moves... my moves were not in a textbook. They were from the wild.
I moved like a river. My body was fluid. I dodged his punches. My feet danced around him. He was using hard, strong hits, but I was using fast, wild moves. My body was a mix of Elen's lessons and the raw hunger of the forest. I was unpredictable. I was an animal. I ducked a high kick and went for his legs. He fell, hard. He tried to get up.
I stood over Damon. My hand was on his chest. My eyes were on his. He was still breathing hard, trying to understand what just happened. The room was silent. Everyone was watching.
Damon's face was red with anger. He looked at me, a confused look in his eyes.
"Who are you?" he said, his voice low and angry. "You… you're just Bhosty."
The name hit me, but it didn't hurt. It was just an old word, a memory. I looked down at him. "Bhosty?" I asked, my voice quiet, but everyone in the room could hear me. "Tell me, who is that?"
Damon stared up at me, his anger turning to confusion. He didn't answer. He just looked at me like I was a puzzle he couldn't solve.
"Bhosty was a scared kid," I said. "He was a kid who was not strong enough to fight. He was a kid who ran away from a name. He ran away to the wilderness to die. He was a kid who cried himself to sleep."
My eyes went back to Damon. He was trying to get up, but he was still weak. I looked down at him.
"You're right," I said. "He was Bhosty. But he's not here. The wild place where I went… it killed Bhosty. But a man, a warrior, showed me how to fight. He taught me how to be strong. He gave me the will to live."
The room was still. The other students were just staring. They were trying to understand.
"So who am I?" I asked. "I am Balen. The one who came back. And I am here to finish what Bhosty started."
Damon finally got up, his face pale. He said nothing. He just looked at me. There was no anger in his eyes anymore. There was only fear.
I walked to the gym door. I did not look back. I had come to this school to be a ghost. But now, I was ready to show them all who I really was.