Micha
"Ouch!" I lowered myself into my tub to help soak my bruise. What is wrong with that big meanie? I didn't even do anything to him! I laid my head back and enjoyed the warm water on my bruised hip. I healed the veins, but my muscles were still sore from the impact.
I reached over and grabbed a book from the stack that Terra and a few other girls had brought me. They all felt awful when they heard about what happened and were happy to get me the books I wanted to check out during the weekend. I vowed not to leave my dorm except for food. I didn't want to run the risk of running into him. So avoiding him at all costs was my plan.
I did feel a little pathetic, though… like I was hiding from him. I didn't want him to think he won after that. He's the one who retreated. Gah! I let out a sigh and slid further into the bath. This was all too much for me. Can't I just have a quiet academic life?
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The bell tower rang, and I let out a sigh. Fine, I'll go eat in the dining hall. Terra had dropped by and offered to bring me food back, but I declined because I didn't want anyone to think that I was hiding. Luckily, the walk to the dining hall was short, and all the dorms were located relatively close to the common areas, so the chance of running into Ronak was extremely low.
"Micha!" I heard familiar voices and turned to see a group of girls I often hung out with.
"Ah, good afternoon to such a lovely group of girls." I smiled, and all the girls excitedly squealed. Gah, they were loud.
"Why can't all the other guys be polite like you?"
"Yeah, some of them have no manners! They think being an alpha means we're just going to fall for them instantly!"
Many other complaints could be heard from the group, making me chuckle. "We aren't cut from the same cloth, so that isn't a fair comparison." I smiled, which got the girls all excited again. Ronak's comment about me just being a pretty boy came to mind, and my smile faltered. Not that I want them to be attracted to me, but… do they see me as a friend or just a pretty guy they drag around? Gah! Now that meanie had me feeling all sad again!
As we walked to the dining hall, I decided to make small talk to get my mind off his comment. "I see hair accessories are trending now." I was a bit taller than some of the girls, and it was easy to see the fancy bows adorning every head as I walked behind them.
"Thanks for noticing, Micha! They're from a tailor's shop in town that specializes in accessories. You have to pre-order them, they're so popular!"
"I had to wait weeks just to get mine. I was hoping it would be ready for the first day of classes, but it wasn't." Quinn looked disappointedly down at the ground, so I reached over and patted her head.
"But it has arrived now, and they look lovely on all of you." Gah! Why were ladies so loud when excited?! Their squeals felt like they were going to shatter my eardrums and the glass of the dining hall doors. Of course, I had horrible timing, and their squeals drew the attention of basically the entire dining hall. It felt like every student at the long tables turned to stare.
I kept a smile on my face and tried to ignore the attention we were receiving. The dining hall was as big as ever; ten massive tables ran the length of the room. There were magnificent chandeliers dotted overhead with amazing pillars and arches carved with intricate details that showed off the high class of the room. It had to be one of the fanciest places I had ever been. Even all the plates and cutlery were made of the finest metals. Luckily, with my scholarship, eating here was completely free. My parents were by no means wealthy nobles, especially since they were both recessive, so our house wasn't nearly as opulent as the academy was. Actually… comparing the two almost felt rude.
When nobles are born recessive, they tend to only receive low-ranking titles because they will never have the strength to achieve more, nor will they be able to produce heirs who will be stronger than they are. Well, except I am an outlier in that case. Not even my parents know why I was gifted with such abilities.
Some nobles tried to claim that I was adopted or that my parents stole me from a family of higher standing, but that's just ridiculous. I look very similar to both my parents. I have my father's blonde hair and my mother's gold eyes. If they committed such an act, then the fates must have smiled upon them by giving them a baby that looks like them.
I got my plate of food and sat down with the girls that I had walked over here with. I ended up next to Quinn, who kept giving me odd glances. "Is there something on your mind, Quinn?" I asked.
"Maybe it's rude of me to ask, but there have been rumors that you got into a quarrel with Lord Ronak… Is it true?" It wasn't just Quinn who stared at me with curious eyes; her question drew the attention of all the girls at the table who were within hearing distance.
I chuckled and put on my best smile. "Oh, he just had some curt words for me when I denied him use of my notebook. It's no big deal." Terra was the only person who knew that he hurt me, and she promised to keep it a secret. I didn't need the entire school to know that I had been beaten up.
"You're so brave! I would cower in fear if he even said one word to me." I did. He was really scary and clearly had no qualms about hurting others. Being in the same room as him made me incredibly nervous.
"Are you going to be okay, Micha?" Quinn bit her nail and glanced around. "Most students that draw Lord Ronak's attention don't tend to stay at the academy." He probably sent them to the infirmary so many times that they have permanent damage. It was a good thing that I could heal myself. Gah! What am I thinking?! I am not his punching bag!
"Oh, I think I can take what he dishes out. I'm no pushover." Says the guy who has frozen in place three times in his presence. I'm all talk and no action. Had I not put up that shield before he landed that punch, I wouldn't be sitting at this table right now. I let out a laugh, trying to relieve the tension swelling in my chest, but not even the girls looked convinced.
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The weekend passed far too quickly. Even my general education and magic control classes went speeding by, leaving me to drag my feet to combat training. Ugh! I don't want to see that meanie! Why do we have to share so many classes? I tried to change my schedule around over the weekend, but the counselor said I couldn't without a plausible reason. I didn't have the guts to admit to her that Ronak was bothering me either. I just smiled and apologized for wasting her time.
"Get your head on straight, Micha! I asked all students to launch three spells at the training dummy, and we're waiting on you!" The professor yelled at me, making the other students giggle. Ah! I didn't realize we had started. My head had been full of such nonsense as of late that I could hardly focus.
I raised my hand and quickly threw three orbs of light at the target. I still wasn't very focused, so they hit, but didn't do much, and popped into a shower of lights. The professor scoffed at me and gave me a dirty look. What? Did I do something wrong? Was I supposed to decimate the target? I'll leave that to Ronak, thank you.
The professor continued lecturing us about some topics I didn't care about, and I stared off at the clouds. "What has you so distracted?" A voice softer than a mouse made its way to my ear, and I looked down to see Jade. She was quite short for a girl our age, maybe only shoulder height compared to the other girls. That didn't mean she wasn't mighty. She had an excellent ability for water magic and wasn't to be taken lightly.
"Oh, it's nothing. Sorry to make you worry, Jade. I'm just feeling distracted." My eyes wandered over to where Ronak was standing alone. I'm not surprised no one wanted to be around him. I quickly looked away because I didn't want him to notice.
"Mmm, I see. Well, I'll be your partner so the professor doesn't pair you with him again." I couldn't help but smile. She was always so considerate. She nestled next to me like a baby bird, which made me softly chuckle. She wasn't clingy like some of the girls grabbed my arms or held my hand, but she liked to stand close. Maybe uncomfortably close for some. I didn't care, though; it's not like we were attracted to each other or anything. Just her presence made me feel calmer; it was nice.
I managed to make it through combat training without any incidents, thanks to Jade. I discovered that she's quite bubbly once you get her talking. I stuck with her all the way to the dining hall as well. "Do you want to eat with me?" I glanced down at her, and her big emerald green eyes stared back up at me.
"May I?" She asked.
"You're always welcome to eat with me. I can't say others won't join, though." I don't think I've ever had a quiet meal at the academy. Even last year, as a new student, the omegas just naturally flocked to me. I was just so used to being surrounded by them that eating alone sounded like the most bizarre thing.
"O-okay!" Jade excitedly followed me to my typical eating spot and sat down next to me with a smug look on her face. "I've only ever eaten with you once before."
"Oh?"
"I didn't sit this close to you, though. It was last year, I was down a couple of seats from you." With as many girls that sat around me… I didn't remember this happening. "You're always so hard to approach with all the girls around you. You would think that you're a dominant alpha at this rate." Dominant alphas were freaking scary, don't lump me in the same group as Ronak.
"Mmm, my popularity does earn me quite the ire from all the other guys…" I glanced a table over where there were always alphas giving me death glares. "But I think it's worth it when I get to spend my time with such lovely ladies." I smiled at Jade and the other girls who had recently joined us. There was a surge of annoyance from the table of alphas next to us, and some of the girls shot them dirty looks, making them calm down. Gesh, no one wants to smell your musk while eating you, morons. This is why they don't like being around you.
"Why do you never release pheromones? Are you recessive? …You have such amazing, magical abilities though…" Many of the girls awkwardly stared at Jade. Heh, another adorable omega who didn't realize the reason she hung out with me so much was because I wasn't an alpha. So cute.
"My parents might be recessive, but I'm not. I don't release pheromones because I don't have a reason to… around you…" She blinked slowly and turned to stare at me. The other girls at the table giggled as what I said dawned on Jade.
"W-w-what?!" She gasped. "I-I didn't know that you're-" I quickly covered her mouth before she shouted for the entire dining hall to hear.
"Shhh, I don't advertise that information." She nodded her head, and I removed my hand. I mostly didn't want the alphas to know. Omegas didn't act strangely around me either way. Most of them kept their mouths shut, which was surprising. They did like to talk.
"Do the others know?" She whispered, glancing at the other girls at the table, and most of them nodded their heads.
There were curious glances at our table, but I doubt they heard, and if anything, it had just sounded like I was rejecting Jade's advances by telling her that I wasn't interested. "Some omegas instinctively know, but quite a few don't. Like I said, I don't advertise that information, so please keep it a secret."
She nodded her head, used her fingers to zip across her lips, and tossed an imaginary key away. I laughed, and the other girls at the table giggled. It was nice knowing that they had my back.
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Dang, I needed someone to have my back right now! The professor kept pairing students together for the dungeon crawl, and it was becoming obvious that Ronak and I were the last two students picked as the group dwindled.
I nervously glanced at him, then at the professor, then back at him. "Alright, you two, while you could handle this alone, I want you to stick together in case something goes wrong." W-why?! The only thing going wrong is that you're pairing him with me?! Whyyyyy?
"Yes, professor." I smiled, but it felt incredibly fake. I was so upset it wasn't funny. I glanced at Ronak, who sneered at me.
"Stay out of my fucking way if you want to make it out alive, jackass." Oh, trust me, I want to stay far, far, far out of your way. I would have to be stupid to want to be near you.
"Alright. Now that you have your teams, listen closely. You are by no means to go to the second level of this dungeon. Not even you two." He pointed towards Ronak and me. "As second years, you will eventually make your way down to the fifth floor, but for today, we are staying here. You are to meet back here at the end of class, and I better not have to send a teaching assistant in to find your sorry asses."
A student raised his hand, "How many floors does this dungeon have, professor?" He asked.
"Excellent question, but unfortunately, there isn't an answer for that. The furthest someone has been down is floor fifty, and the end wasn't in sight. As some of you may know, there are multiple dungeons scattered across the empire, and our academy has the honor of using this one. Don't do anything dumb to get that privilege revoked." He glared at all the students to let us know he was serious. "Now be gone with you. Go get some experience in an actual dungeon." He waved his hands to shoo us away. Most of the students seemed excited, but I wasn't.
I glanced at Ronak, who looked as furious as usual. Did he ever smile? "Stop staring at me, prick, and let's go." He did that gross thing he usually did and melted down into the floor. Eeew!
I watched the red bubbly puddle in horrified curiosity as I followed him. For someone who wielded dark magic, I was surprised his mana wasn't black. It sort of reminded me of the cherry notes of his pheromones. Maybe the reason his gross spell looked visceral instead of like black tar was because of his mana color as well…, but… the flames he used were black… Huh, he's one scary, confusing alpha…
A chill ran down my spine, and I knew there were enemies near us. I glanced down the tunnel and saw eyes glinting in the darkness. I raised my hand and summoned a ball of light that I flicked down the dark tunnel.
My eyes grew wide as a small horde of goblins stared up at the light, now over their heads, while cackling excitedly. They were ugly creatures, about the size of a large toddler, but their skin was green and they had long ears and noses. Their appendages were rather spindly as well… Nope, don't like.
I raised my arms to begin casting magic, but Ronak surged forward. He engulfed their feet, causing the goblins to panic and stab their weapons into the ground. Within seconds, the tunnel was consumed with red spikes. The goblins shrieked one last time, then fell silent. The red spikes receded into the red bubbly puddle, letting the goblin's corpses fall to the ground with wet thuds. I-I guess that's one way of taking care of them…
Ronak continued forward using the same tactic with all the goblins we came across. At this point, all I was doing was being a glorified lantern. Not that I wanted to help him in the slightest. I was happy being ignored in the back. It was far better than getting the snot beaten out of me.
The tunnel we had been wandering down opened up to a large cavern with a grand waterfall on the far wall and a snaking river that seemed to run deeper into the dungeon. These cool cave mushrooms were growing on the walls that were illuminating the space, making everything seem tinted blue. Not even a monster was in sight, allowing me to wander around.
"Wow, this place is beautiful." I walked over to the patch of mushrooms glowing along the wall. I wonder if they have any special properties… There didn't seem to be any monsters… I pulled a knife from my storage and carefully cut a few of them from the wall. Don't mind if I do…
"Are you here to fucking play around?" I let out a sigh as the lovely pile of red goop turned back into Ronak. Can't you just stay goopy?
"I-I'm not… I'm simply staying out of your way." Speaking of which, I'm going to stay far, far away from you over here next to these interesting plants.
I tried to ignore his angry growl as I approached the waterfall. It at least drowned out some of the ranting that was going on in the background as I climbed to the top of some rocks. Woah. This was like the perfect biome for these babies. The plants all seemed to be tropical, and I could see why. If I stay here too long, my clothes are going to get drenched.
I made sure to steer clear of the waterfall while harvesting samples. Its current was not something I wanted to get swept up in. I liked splashing around in my house's backyard pond while growing up, but it wasn't deep enough to swim. I think I could swim, but today's not the day that I want to investigate.
I couldn't stop admiring the plants. There were all sorts of varieties I had never seen before. They must only grow in the dungeon. Ah! This one's bright magenta! So pretty! I was far happier hanging out with the plants and the roar of the waterfall instead of grumpy pants over there. He could leave for all I care. It's not like I needed his help killing a few goblins. I'm pretty sure I could take care of it.
I froze in fear as the rock I was standing on moved. Was that my imagination-? The ground shook again, but this time it was far more violent than the first. My foot almost slipped on the slippery thing, but I managed to catch myself by grabbing a plant. "What the fuck do you think you're doing over there?!" Ronak roared at me. He didn't honestly think that I did that, did he?
"W-what? I'm not doing anything…" I turned to glance at him and noticed other students making their way into the cavern. I was about to wave at them when I noticed them freeze in horror. I know Ronak is scary, but-
There was a loud, high-pitched screech, and the floor rumbled again, almost making me fall off the rock. I grabbed onto a plant and held on for dear life as the wall beside me burst open. The waterfall, which was already strongly flowing, gushed forward, sweeping me up into the flow. I let out a yelp as a giant centipede crashed through the wall with another ear-shattering screech.
The students who were entering the cavern were long gone. I wanted to call out for help, but there was no one to save me. The current of the water kept pulling me under, and even if I cast skywalk or shield, neither would help. I was being tossed around too much in the flow of water.
The opening that the river flowed into was quickly approaching, and as I got closer, the roar of another waterfall could be heard. Was it just a sheer drop on the other side? I tried to swim against the current, but it was too strong. The centipede thrashed towards me, making the flow of water speed up.
I reached out my hand one final time as a plea to be saved, but I knew it was useless. There was no one going to help me. All the students had fled. I was alone. The best I could do is make a shield on my way down and hope it can take the impact.
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Ronak
What the actual hell did he think he was doing up there?! This wasn't the time for him to go around picking damn daisies! Now I was stuck having to watch his stupid ass. I hope he falls from the fucking rock-
The ground shook, and as if hearing my desire, the prick almost lost his footing on the slimy rocks. The ground shook again, but I wasn't so sure it was coming from beneath us… It felt like it was coming from in front of me. "What the fuck do you think you're doing over there?!" We don't have time for this shit! I'm so sick of having to be his babysitter. Why the hell was I paired up with him again?!
"W-what? I'm not doing anything…" He turned to glance at me, but something else caught his attention. Grah! Don't ignore me, you jackass!
Right as I opened my mouth to yell at the dipshit again, the ground, or I guess the wall, rumbled again. There was a loud high pitched screeching that echoed around the chamber before the waterfall burst open. The hole where the waterfall was emerging from gushed forward, sending the little moron tumbling down into the water. That fucking idiot!
From the walls remains a giant centipede emerged and started thrashing about. Fuck. I raised my hand, causing spikes to shoot out from under the centipede and gouge its underside. It let out another horrific screeching sound and thrashed about violently.
I should be able to kill this thing- My head instantly jerked over to the water, where the jackass let out a loud cry. Why is that damn scent here?! The centipede let out another screeching roar as my senses went haywire.
There was only one thing that lingered around me, and it was the scent of spiced vanilla. Before I knew it, I had taken a running jump into the raging river. Where the hell did that dick weed go?!
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Micha
My body became weightless as I dropped down the other side. It felt like the fall was lasting forever. I closed my eyes tightly, not wanting to see what awaited me at the bottom, when something grabbed my hand.
"You fucking idiot!" I opened my eyes and almost wished I hadn't. In the darkness, I could see that Ronak had hold of my hand and was intently glaring at me. "Make one of your stupid platforms you're always running away on!"
"I-I can't! We would smash into it and break it! They can't hold much weight, and we're going too fast!" I yelled over to him. Gosh, the mist from the waterfall was making it rather hard to talk.
"Can't light magic wielders fly or something?!" He yelled out in a bit of a panic. Oh, so he does experience different emotions. Not a great time to be finding that out, but whatever.
"I-if I could fly, do you think I would be free falling right now-!?" He tugged on my hand, pulling me towards him. I flinched as his arm wrapped around me, pulling me in to press against him. Close! Too close! Gah! Let me go! "Wh-what are you doing?!" My voice climbed several octaves as I squealed in fear. L-let go of me! I-I don't want to be this close to you!
"Will you shut up and stop moving?! Throw one of your lights below us so we can see where we are going!" His voice was gruff in my ear, making the air catch in my throat.
It took a minute for my brain to process his request. There was just a lot happening, and growling at me wasn't helping! I flung my arm out and launched a sphere down below us with as much force as I could. It raced down, illuminating a large underground lake. "Shit. Move it around and find a shoreline." We were yanked backward, and our descent slowed down drastically. We even drifted slightly away from the water and mist, which I appreciated. I wanted to investigate what he did to slow us down, but finding a shore was my priority. There was no way I wanted to splash down into that! I discovered today that my swimming capabilities were basically zero. Besides, who knew what waited in its depths?
"O-over there!" It seemed to be on the far end of the cavern, but at least there was a bank. I don't even know what we would have done had there not been one. I glanced up to see how he slowed us down and gasped. Two large red bat-like wings were spread wide, slowing our fall. So I didn't imagine it the other day… "Y-you have wings and you were asking me if I could fly?"
"You're such a dumbass. All I can do is glide. I'll use your own words back at you, if I could fly, don't you fucking think I would be going up?!" He glared at me, but his face was far too uncomfortably close. I could feel his breath on my neck, and there was no way I could escape his gaze. My face felt hot from embarrassment. Stop looking at me!
"S-sorry…" I squeaked. He was right. I doubt he would be free-falling with me if he could fly upwards. I glanced down and realized that the lake's surface was approaching far faster than I would have liked. We were still a ways away from the shore, and I wasn't the most confident swimmer. "I-is now an appropriate time to mention I can't swim very well?... D-don't give me that look!" His glare reeked of disgust, like I said, the most offensive thing ever. Isn't having to cling to your body embarrassing enough?! You were way too close and smelled way too good! H-how are you so muscular? He could probably break me in two just with the crook of his elbow. P-put me down! I-I can't handle you touching me!
"Pathetic." He grumbled, but paused as if thinking. "Are we slow enough now you can do your stupid platform thing while I swim?" I wanted to gasp in surprise. That was the nicest sentence I've ever heard from his lips. "Hello? Jackass, are you paying attention over there, or has your brain finally stopped fucking working?" I take it back, he's as rude as ever.
I let out a sad whimper and laid my chin on his shoulder. "I-I can try, and it's called skywalk, not 'stupid platform thing'." Why did he have to be so mean?! He rolled his eyes at me, and I let out a sigh. I hope a fish eats you. I held out a hand and created multiple platforms in our trajectory. I waited until the right moment. "L-let go." He released his grip on me, and I sprang from his arms. The first platform that I landed on shattered from the impact, but I had layered two more underneath to catch me. I let out a relieved sigh. I'm finally free from his grasp! That was far too close for comfort. Just being next to him made me shiver in fear. I would prefer he never touch me again, honestly. I skipped forward along my platforms, catching up to where he had drifted. "Wh-what level do you think we're on now?"
Why the hell does that matter?" He snapped.
"B-because I don't care to die after all that…" My voice was barely a whisper as I responded. Was that too much to ask? How dare I want to live after surviving such a terrifying event?
"You're fucking pathetic." His feet started to touch the top of the water, and I glanced towards the distant shore. We were still a good distance away; too bad we didn't start gliding sooner. "Guess I'll find out what level the monsters are if there are any waiting for me under the surface." He stared down at the suspiciously calm water with a furrowed brow. His wings disappeared in a red puff of mana, and he fell into the water. Unfortunately, he surfaced after a second and shook his head. "I don't see anything. I'll meet you at the damn shore, moron."
He began swimming, and I followed next to him. As much as I wished a lake monster ate him, I didn't particularly want to be alone down here. I made multiple light orbs and spread them out around us in hopes that they would illuminate any threats before they arrived.
Not that I knew much about swimming, but I was impressed at how quickly we arrived at the shore. He had to be faster at swimming than gliding. I glanced around and sent my light orbs in all directions along the shore when we arrived, but didn't see anything. Not a monster in sight. "D-do you think this is one of the rumored safe rooms?" I timidly asked.
Ronak was working on ringing out his academy jacket and paused to give me a scowl. "Could you try not to fucking jinx us? You've done enough already by getting us down here, jackass."
"I-I didn't choose to come down here, I s-slipped off the rocks when the wall burst open. You didn't have to try and save me." Tears were welling in the corners of my eyes again as I plopped down onto the ground in a sad, wet puddle.
"Had I not grabbed you, you would have drowned at the bottom of the waterfall, fuckwit. Maybe show a bit of damn gratitude." I flinched as he called out the flaws of my plan. He wasn't wrong. I was just closing my eyes and accepting my fate when he caught me.
I fidgeted for a moment, trying to bring myself to apologize. "S-sorry, okay?! Thanks for grabbing me." I glanced up at him as the first tear fell from my eyes. It was like my heart skipped a beat, and my tears instantly faltered. W-woah…
He had pulled off his uniform vest and button-up shirt to wring the water out of them, but in the process revealed his chiseled chest. H-holy cow, how does one even get that many muscles?! Is that a six-pack?! Ah! M-my one true weakness in life! How is that fair?! It's even better than I imagined! H-he even has sculpted obliques that curve perfectly downward like a tantalizing path. It's not fair! How can someone that awful look that good?! He had a bunch of scars, but that hardly detracted from the muscle show I was getting.
My face instantly turned pink, and I awkwardly scooted away from him, leaving a trail of water from my clothes, as my heart began to race. "What's your problem?" He glanced around and then glared back at me. "Are you seeing something I'm not?" He raised an eyebrow at me as I scooted even further back. Oh, I'm seeing something alright…
I felt like I was going to get a nosebleed from staring at him. Th-this was not the time to be getting all excited! He's nothing but a big meanie, you stupid body! I am not attracted to him, no, I refuse to be attracted to him. It was like I was having a mental breakdown; I didn't even register Ronak's additional questions, nor did I notice him approach me. My dumb eyes were too busy being glued to his body.
He placed a hand on my shoulder, and I jumped away like a startled rabbit. "The hell is your problem?! And why do you always reek? Even wet, you smell like all the fucking omegas you constantly hang out with." He took a step back from me, giving me a bit of space as he wrinkled his nose up.
"D-do you hate omegas?" My voice was quiet as my gaze fell to the ground in an attempt to calm down. My cheeks felt like they were on fire as I asked my stupid question.
"No, I just think the vast majority of them are annoying and arrogant. What the hell does that have to do with anything? You better not accuse me of being goddamn jealous again; otherwise, I'll see how much it takes to break through one of your shields." He growled, making me flinch.
I wrapped an arm around my legs and swirled a finger around in the dirt as my stomach churned. "Then why... do you always say… that I reek?" My voice was barely audible as I admitted the truth. The name-calling didn't bother me that much, but for some reason, when he said I smelled bad, my chest hurt. He might as well have run me through with a blade.
"Don't you find it fucking embarrassing to let omegas mark you like that? It's like they're claiming you as theirs. You're flaunting to everyone how popular you are with them. It's disgusting." You say you're not, but it sure sounds like you're jealous…
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Ronak
What the hell?! Why was this loser crying? Did he have no shame? I didn't even say anything that was particularly rude to him. This is why he gets on my damn nerves all the time! "Why the fuck are you crying?!" I snapped. He looked up at me with wide eyes and scooted a bit further away from me.
"Why are you so mean?" He whimpered pathetically. "I-I don't stink…" He blubbered a bit, and even more tears started to fall his face as he hid his head in his arms.
Was he upset that I told him he stunk? What sort of crybaby loser was he? "You constantly reek of omegas, you dipshit." He let out another whimper and mumbled something into his arms. "The fuck was that?" I snarled.
"O-of course I smell like an omega, you big meanie." I was losing my patience with him and his pathetic act. I walked over to him and grabbed a fistful of his hair, hauling his face up to look at me. He let out a cry of pain, but I didn't care. I should just remove him from existence, and then I wouldn't have to tolerate- Spiced vanilla tickled my nose, and I froze. These weren't pheromones just lingering about from earlier. They were freshly produced and had a strong tinge of fear mixed in.
I released the little prick and quickly took a few steps back. N-no… impossible… You're telling me that he's the omega I've been looking for. That boot-licker is an omega?! "Y-you're an… you're the…" I took a few more steps back from him as his pheromones spread out around him.
He looked up at me with his red tear tear-stained eyes, but he looked a little puzzled. "What now, meanie?" He blubbered.
"You're telling me… that you're… you're an omega?" I pointed over to him, feeling extremely confused. Is that why he was constantly swarmed with omegas… He wasn't successfully attracting them all… he was one of them… My face scrunched up as I reeled in shock.
"A-are you happy now? Y-you know my s-secret…" Why was he even bothering to keep such a thing a secret? It wasn't doing him any favors. If anything, it was only pissing off the entirety of the alpha community at the academy. I had heard his name tossed around quite a few times by alphas who wanted to beat the shit out of him.
Gerard's obnoxious words echoed through my mind. Maybe when you do find the girl, don't talk to her. You'll probably scare her away. Shit. I thought long and hard about finding the omega that smelled of spice vanilla, but I never thought about what would happen once I found them. I still couldn't believe it was this bastard after all this time, but I guess it sort of made sense. The only times I ever smelled him were when he was terrified- Fuck.
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Micha
"D-don't come over here!" I squealed as Ronak took a step towards me. Upon my request, he instantly took two steps back. H-huh? I peeked up at him, and he had a strange blank expression on his face. That's odd, I've never seen him do anything but scowl. I-I can't believe I'm stuck down here with the likes of him. What are we going to do? No, what am I going to do? I'm going to be lucky if he doesn't kill me while I'm down here.
Ronak sat down near the edge of the water while staring at me with that odd blank expression. I-I couldn't take it any longer. Stop looking at me! I felt like if I moved, he would chase after me like a deranged killer, but it was worth the risk. I was freezing in these wet clothes. "Where are you going?" He snapped as I scurried off.
My head hurt, my chest hurt, and my anxiety was through the roof. "I-I've gotta… I've gotta go pee!" I lied as I took off. I brought my light orb with me, leaving Ronak to be engulfed in the darkness. I didn't see anything dangerous, so I ducked into a little cove and stopped providing my light orb with mana. It fizzled away, leaving me in complete darkness. The only thing I could hear was the sound of my heart beating away in my eardrums as tears rushed down my face. You've gotta be kidding me. Stupid out of out-of-control emotions. He would have never found out had I not started freaking out. Why did he have to be so scary? I-I don't want to be down here with him… Someone help me…
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Ronak
Shit… is that… guilt I'm feeling? Why the hell was I feeling guilty?! We were in this fucking mess because of him and his stupidity! Did he think he was clever? It's obvious that he was just trying to get away from me. I could hear him loud and clear, sniffling in the darkness. I couldn't hardly look away from the direction he was in, despite it now being dark
So when we were sparring, in the staircase well, out hunting those damn snakes, and during alchemy class… that was always him I was smelling? I was still having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that it was him, but this lingering scent trail he left behind was no joke. I wanted to follow it to him, but I knew I shouldn't…
Why? Why does his scent fascinate me? Was it simply because I was fond of the spiced vanilla hard candies I ate so often? Every other omega I've ever met has disgusted me, but he leaves me feeling fucking frazzled. What the fuck was wrong with me? Never in my life have I let such paltry emotions distract me. I've had to take platoons to the border to patrol against fierce monsters and have had to live under the tyranny of my father. Yet this is what's giving me a struggle? Forget keeping hundreds of nobles and thousands of civilians in my dukedom safe; this strange feeling inside me caused far more dread.
Fuck, I can't take it anymore. I slowly stood to my feet, hauling my wet clothes with me as I went to investigate the little shit. It didn't sound like he was crying anymore... "Hey, you can't keep wearing those wet clothes-" When I spoke, the little brat made one of the light orbs obnoxiously close to my face. "The fuck-!" I smacked the light orb out of surprise, and it popped before slowly reforming. I shook my head angrily and peered down at the fucker cowering in the corner of the wall recess. Huh? "Where the fucking hell did you get different clothes?"
"M-my storage…" His eyes were still a bit red along with his nose, but he looked obnoxiously comfortable all bundled up in a blanket. Were those pajamas? This little shit was over here making himself comfortable while I sat over there in the cold?!
I let out an annoyed sigh and let my back rub against the rocky wall as I sat down. "We should probably stay here for the evening and investigate where we are in the morning." He didn't reek as much as he did before, but the smell of spiced vanilla still slightly enveloped him. Shit, he made my head feel dizzy.
"L-like camping?" Huh?
"Guess so." I snapped. I don't know why he was comparing this to camping, but I was surprised to see him stand from his blanket and carefully skirt around me. "The fuck are you going now?" He flinched in fear, but didn't answer my question. I'm fucking talking to you, you little jackass-!
His golden mana swirled around for a moment before making an intricate pattern a few inches off the ground. Was that… a damn unlit campfire? Before I could even say anything, he moved and started pulling even more shit from his storage… "I thought you told the professor you couldn't fit much in your storage."
He nervously peeked over to me and quickly looked away. "I-I lied." Well, holy shit. I didn't think this bootlicker could lie about anything. He was such a kiss ass that I didn't think he had the guts to lie to a higher-ranking noble. The even more shocking thing was that within moments, he had fully erected a campground furnished with a tent, an unlit campfire, logs, small chairs next to the fire, and even a damn table and chair set. Quite the fucking lie if you ask me.
"Do you have anything for me to hang my wet clothes on?" I asked as he knelt and worked on starting the fire. Guess the little lord from the middle of fucking nowhere was slightly useful because he got the fire going rather easily.
"I-I have this." He pulled an odd metal contraption from his storage, but I didn't have a fucking clue what it was. He took a step towards me, but I moved to stand, and he lurched away like I was going to attack him.
"Calm your ass down." I had been a little rough with him, but nothing to warrant how jumpy he was being. Was he a big chicken?
"I-I'll hang up your clothes…" He held out his hand and slowly scooted a little closer to me.
"I'll do it myself." I snapped. I sorta just flung my clothes over the metal rack and sat down on one of the chairs next to the fire.
"Th-they'll dry faster if we put them like this…" He scooted over and rearranged my clothes in a tidy way, leaving plenty of space for his clothes that he pulled from his storage.
I simply stretched, and the moron almost jumped out of his skin. "What the hell is your problem?" How was I supposed to relax and think things through when he's acting like that?
"S-sorry! J-just don't hurt me again…" Again?
"Are you crying your eyes out because I tugged on your hair?" I've had literal tufts pulled out before when I was a small child. I didn't pull on his hair that hard. Talk about being a baby.
He reached up and gently pressed on where I grabbed him, but I noticed his other hand trailed to his side. "Th-that did hurt, but I don't want you breaking any more bones or giving me more bruises, please."
"When the fuck did I break one of your bones?" What sort of shit was he spouting now?
"Wh-when you pushed me down in the classroom… You broke my wrist and twisted my ankle. If I didn't have healing magic, my wrist would still be in a cast." So the prick really did have healing magic. I had heard rumors, but didn't think it was true. I figured he was trying to make himself sound more important than he was.
"What are you, made of fucking porcelain-" The words got caught in my throat as he lifted his pajama top slightly, revealing a rather nasty bruise that arced up from his hip along his side. It was all sorts of colors, green, blue, and purple, to name a few.
"N-no… I'm an omega… We're not exactly built to take punches…" I… did that?
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Micha
Why in the world did I show him my bruise? I should have just kept it hidden…, but I didn't like him acting like he didn't do anything. He had a nasty habit of becoming violent when he didn't get his way…
I stood by the clothes drying rack that I got from some maids who were going to throw it out, and slowly turned to the table and chair set. "D-do you want some food?" He glanced over at me before returning his attention to the fire and nodding his head. "Is there anything you don't like? I don't have a ton of food in my storage, but I have some."
Ronak grumbled something, but I wasn't able to make it out. I stared at him for a moment, and he must have noticed my confused stare. "I don't particularly enjoy… broccoli." He mumbled again, but this time loud enough for me to hear. Wh-what? H-heh. He let out a growl at my snickering, and I flinched.
"S-sorry… that's just rather unexpected…" I ran my finger along the grain of the table and selected a few dishes to pull out of my storage. First, I brought out a venison roast, then a pot of boiled potatoes smothered in butter, a basket of rolls, and some steamed pea pods to round out the food options. The food's smell almost instantly filled the campsite, and steam drifted off all the dishes.
"Does your storage freeze time for things-" I almost tipped over the table as I yelped in fear and scurried underneath it. I thought I was going to faint, I was so scared. "Knock it off. I won't lay a hand on you, get out from under the table." He snapped. H-he won't? How do I know I can trust him? He doesn't exactly have a record of being nice to me or anyone, for that matter.
"Y-you can't just appear out of nowhere like that…" I slowly moved out from under the table, but tears were already forming in my eyes. I managed to keep them from falling, but I was rather hesitant to sit at a table with him. "Yes… It does freeze time… No, I can't put living things inside of it."
"I didn't ask." Ack! He was still as mean as ever.
The food tasted fine, but my dinner guest was anything but great. He might have a decent body, but that's the only thing going for him. I'd rather eat with chattering omegas every night than have a silent meal with him again. It almost made the tasty food feel disappointing. When we got done, I put the leftovers back into my storage along with the dirty dishes and table set. Ronak didn't even offer to help with anything as he got up and plopped back down in front of the fire.
I-I can't take it anymore. It's too much! I walked over to Ronak and held out my hand. He gave me a strange look, but a blanket fell onto his head from my storage before he could question my motive. I took his confusion as an opportunity to scurry to the opposite side of the fire out of his arm's reach. He looked pissed, but at least he wrapped himself up in it. Now I don't have to stare at your chest anymore. It's a shame, but it had to be done.
I sat there admiring the mushrooms along the cavern walls and started noticing them becoming increasingly darker with each passing minute. I didn't know that you'd be able to tell the difference between night and day here. I just thought it would be lightly lit the entire time. It was getting rather dark too… If an adventurer didn't set up camp before nightfall, you would be plunged into darkness rather quickly. Another concern was that it was becoming shockingly cold, even with the fire between us. How peculiar.
"I can't believe how cold it's getting…" I pulled my blanket closer against me and glanced over at the tent. Maybe I should go to bed soon.
"You're being a baby. It's not that bad." His scathing glare had definitely become softer… I also noticed that he stopped calling me names… Well, vulgar names at least. Was this his attempt at being nice? It wasn't great if it was…
"Omegas easily lose body heat. Our internal temperature runs hotter than alphas, and we don't particularly enjoy being cold. Well, at least I don't…" I even ran warmer than my own mother. The moment the temperature dropped, I could easily tell, I hate being cold. It was clear that Ronak wasn't going to respond to me, so I let out a little sigh. "I'm going to head to sleep… Do you want to stay up?"
"No, tomorrow will be a long day." Ronak glanced over to the waterfall in the distance with a sour expression. "Do you have a bucket to get some water?"
"For the fire? No…" Ronak's brow furrowed, but I waved my hand over the fire, and the golden rune of my storage spell slowly engulfed it. "It gets put out in there…" I stepped forward where the campfire had been burning and let the warm ground heat my slippers. Mmm, nice and toasty. I held out my hand and let my mana condense down into a small diamond. It almost looked like a mini version of my golden shield.
"What are you doing now?" Ronak asked with an exhausted voice.
"Th-this? Oh um… It's like a defensive barrier that runs on the condensed mana, so I don't have to keep supplying it through the night. It also makes a loud ding sound when attacked, so it wakes me up…" Ugh oh… he was scowling again. Did I talk too much? He stood up and started laying the blanket on the ground. "D-don't do that! You're going to get the blanket dirty!" Ronak turned to glare at me. "Th-there's a second bedroll in the tent," I muttered as I took a step back from him. Eep! He's back to looking scary… Abort! I ducked into the tent and laid down on my bedroll in time to see Ronak lean in and grab the end of his. "Wh-where are you going?"
He paused about halfway out of the tent with his bedroll. "I'll sleep out here."
"B-but it'll be cold… a-and I don't particularly want you getting the bedroll covered in dirt…" The tent had a lined bottom and plenty of space for two. I wasn't a fan of him sleeping in here either, but it made more sense than him sleeping out there. If anything, he could attract beasts over to us. I bundled up in my bedroll and scooted all the way over to my side of the tent, leaving him plenty of room.
His brow was furrowed, but ever so slowly, he entered the tent and slid his shoes off. It was like watching a nervous cat try to find somewhere comfortable to lie down. He cautiously returned his bedroll beside mine and squished as close as he could to the edge of the tent before covering himself with a blanket. The gap between us was a bit silly, but now that he was in here, I was feeling a bit nervous. M-maybe he should have just slept outside…
I extinguished my light orb and let the tent become engulfed by darkness. A few moments passed, and I realized that there was no chance of me falling asleep in this state… I was nervous about sharing such a small space with Ronak, and being able to hear his light breathing was stressing me out. M-maybe if I count sheep? That helped when I was a kid…
Eventually, my eyelids started having a hard time staying open when I got to the seventy-third sheep. The sound of the distant waterfall helped too… I guess sharing a tent wasn't too bad…
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For sleeping in a dungeon, that was some of the best sleep I've had in a while. I blinked my eyes open and my whole body tensed up. W-w-what?!
I was pressed up against Ronak's chest, and his arms were wrapped around me tightly. Even his legs were laced through mine! I was as snug as a bug in his arms. H-how did this happen?! He was even underneath my blanket with me! The smell of his pheromones gently wafted off his skin. It was like lying in a field of cherry trees. I wanted to snuggle my head against him and mix my pheromones with his, but the fear coursing through my brain stopped me.
He did a little stretch and pulled his arms tighter around me. Then I felt his muscles tense up as if realizing what was happening. "C-can you let go of me?" I timidly whispered, not sure if he was awake. Ronak let out a low grumbling grunt and nestled his head down into the top of my head. He inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, making the top of my scalp tickle. I wanted to push away from him and be released from his grasp, but his arms were like interlocked iron. Mmm, his arm made a good pillow, though.
There wasn't anything I could do… I'm scared to wake him up… I let my urges take control and nuzzled against his chest, allowing myself to enjoy the smell of his pheromones. I guess he's not that bad when he's asleep…
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I was awoken by having the air violently extracted from my chest as Ronak shoved me away. I desperately gasped for air and shook my head, trying to get my bearings on what just happened. Wh-what is wrong with him?!
"What in the fucking hell do you think you're doing?" His eyes were wide and panicked, with the tops of his cheeks pink. Was his goal to break my sternum or something? Oooowwwie!
"I-I didn't do anything… I tried waking you up, but you weren't letting go…" Tears formed in my eyes as my chest stung with pain. He didn't even wake up when I tried squirming like crazy. How was this my fault?
"Were you fucking trying to sneak into my bed?!" My eyes drifted down to where he was sitting before I looked back up at him.
"Y-you're in my bed…" I whimpered.
Ronak was only becoming more panicked as he tried to blame me for what happened. "You're the one wafting your pheromones around like a dog in heat." Wh-what? I was not! I take suppressants all the time for my pheromones…
"Y-you're the one that smells." I frowned and pulled the blanket a bit closer to me. "Y-you made my bedroll smell like you."
"If you speak a word of this to anyone, I'll make your life a living hell at the academy." He snapped.
"You already do," I grumbled. Ever since having to spar with him, he's gone out of his way to make my life hard. Big tears dripped down my face and onto the bedding. Gosh, now it hurts to breathe. Don't tell me he broke a rib… I held my hand up to my chest and used my magic to investigate the situation. Ow, I'm going to have another bruise.
"Did I-?" Ronak leaned over to me with that blank expression, but I quickly flinched away. Not going to lay his hands on me again, huh? What a lie. I'm going to be a sad, pulverized blob by the time we get out of here.
Ronak darted out of the tent, leaving me to change. I didn't even want to leave the tent. Hiding in here sounded like a good plan, but I knew that wasn't an option. We needed out of here, so I never had to see him again. I felt like I was starting to understand why people left the academy. He was awful.
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I put the camp away and walked over to Ronak to offer him a meat skewer I pulled out of my storage. I didn't want to offer him anything, but I figured if I was eating, he should too. I had manners unlike someone else. He glanced at me, then elsewhere. "Your options are this or the wall mushrooms…" I honestly would prefer to see him eat a wall mushroom. It would be the fastest way to find out what sort of interesting effects they might have when brewed into potions. Maybe it would make him glow blue, and then he could be the glorified lantern…
Ronak snatched the second meat skewer from me and let out a grunt. Was that supposed to be a thank you? Ya know, for a duke's son, he's really awful. You'd think he'd have excellent manners and etiquette skills. How did he turn into such a meanie? He turned towards me, and I took a quick step back. "Did you want this skewer back?" He asked while showing me the empty skewer… Alphas sure ate a lot and fast…
"N-not really…" It was just made of wood. If we had a campfire, I would have thrown it into it. "A-are you still hungry?"
"No." He tossed the skewer to the ground and resumed facing forward. "Can't you heal those bruises?" He mumbled.
"Bruises have to heal on their own. There's nothing that healing magic can do to help… I can close the blood vein so they stop getting bigger, but I can't put the blood back into the veins…" Ah! I looked down and saw that my shirt wasn't fully buttoned, and you could see the new bruise on my chest turning purple. I quickly buttoned up my collar and followed after him.
"Just shut up and stay out of my way." He snapped. Ugh, he really was a turtle. A snapping turtle. I hate snapping turtles.
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Ronak ended up melting down into his weird, goopy puddle as we walked. I guess he preferred it that way. At least I didn't feel like I had to talk to him. Actually… can he even talk when he's like that? He doesn't have a mouth… I guess the real question is, where is his body? Is it the goop or- A shiver ran down my spine, and I quickly jumped out of the way as a massive white lizard darted down the tunnel at us. I had never learned about such a lizard before, but its eyes shone a bright orange. It would have been rather pretty if it weren't actively trying to kill us… or I guess it was targeting Ronak… That's weird. Why's it ignoring me?
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"Are you not going to help?" Ronak stood over the ghastly looking giant lizard corpse and wiped its blood from his face. It was taking all of his effort just to kill one of them because of how agile they were. He had left his goop form and had both of his arms transformed into claws, trying to fight them because they kept evading his spikes. At one point, he tried using his swords, but he kept hitting the cave walls, so instead he resorted to other methods.
"Y-you told me to shut up and stay out of your way… That's what I'm doing…" Also, the lizards really wanted nothing to do with me… it was odd.
Another lizard zipped past me and slammed into Ronak, causing him to smash into the wall. He angrily grabbed its head and slammed it against the ground. The lizard let out a little yelp, but quickly scurried up onto the ceiling out of Ronak's grasp. Ronak started flinging fists full of black flames at the lizard, but as quick as the lizard was, it easily dodged all of his attacks. I could see him grinding his teeth as he looked at me, then back at the lizard. The hilarious part was that the lizard's attacks only focused on Ronak.
A second lizard joined the fray, slamming Ronak into another wall. Oooh, that looks like it would hurt. One of the lizards reared its head back and spat viscous yellow goo at Ronak. He tried to avoid the spray, but it only put him at a disadvantage. The second lizard took it as an opportunity to wrap its tail around his ankle and slam him into the ground. As he stood, it was clear that he wasn't going to be able to hold on for much longer.
I think the lizards were dark attributed… That was the only reason why they would be avoiding me, and it would explain why Ronak was getting the snot beaten out of him. Though… I felt oddly vindicated. I was never one for violence, but getting to watch Ronak beaten to a pulp was rather satisfying. "I'll help if you apologize." I declared.
"What the fuck did you just say?!" He snapped as he tried to stab a lizard with his spikes.
"I'll help if you apologize." I wasn't asking for too much. All I wanted was an apology for him hurting me repeatedly… and for all the rude things he says… oh, and for- actually let's just start small, shall we? If I list off all the offenses Ronak has committed, he might actually die. I watched as one of the lizards bit onto his leg and dragged him across the ground.
"F-fine!" He pulled his leg out of the lizard's mouth and kicked it in the eye. "I admit that," He managed to grab the other lizard's tail and engulf its body in those eerie black flames. "I've been," The lizard screeched and whipped around to snap at him, but he rammed his elbow into its back. "A bit rough to someone who's clearly made of porcelain." Did you have to add that jab in there? He lunged forward and jammed his clawed hand through the lizard's eye, making it squeal in pain. The lizard flopped to the ground, leaving just one more skittering around on the ground.
"And?"
He pulled his attention away from the lizard to glare at me, which was a mistake. The lizard saw the opportunity and dropped from the ceiling to attack. Ronak must have predicted this, though, because he whipped around and used both hands to claw at the lizard's soft underside. The lizard yelped and quickly scurried away, leaving a trail of yellow blood behind. "And what?!" He growled. I wasn't sure if he was mad because of me or the lizard that kept avoiding getting close to him.
"I want a proper apology."
"You just got a damn apology!" He kept lunging after the lizard, but it speedily avoided him.
"That's not how you properly apologize… You need to look at the person you want to apologize to, then you say 'I'm sorry' in a nice voice, and explain why you're sorry. If you're really good at apologizing, you follow it up with how you will strive to be better in the future."
"What kind of fucking bullshit is that?!" Another lizard appeared, making Ronak growl like a vicious beast.
"You have quite the potty mouth. My parents would wash your mouth out with soap if they heard you." I pulled my ponytail into my hands and started looking for split ends. If he was going to be a big meanie, then he would have to suffer the consequences. I wasn't just going to keep sitting back and tolerating him.
"Argh! Fine! FINE! I'll apologize if you get rid of these god forsaken lizards that just keep appearing!" He looked like he was on the verge of going into a frenzy. I guess I'd better help.
"Are you really?" Was his promise about as good as his promise not to hurt me?
"Just kill the fucking lizards! So I don't have to bring the cave down!" He jumped over a tail that was trying to swing at his ankles, but ended up getting hit in the gut by a second one. He keeled over for a split second, allowing one of the lizards to slam him into another wall.
"I don't know if I can trust you… You said you wouldn't hurt me and yet you bruised my chest…" I clenched my fist over the bruise on my chest and watched as Ronak spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground.
"I give up! I'll apologize!" Ronak… giving up? It sounded too good to be true, if I was being honest. I guess I'll have to give him a little bit of faith…
I dropped my hands to my sides and let my mana swirl around me until it created two golden disks. These should be the best for these quick-moving lizards. I spun to give the disks more momentum and sent them rocketing off. The golden disks whizzed through the air, causing the two lizards to yelp in fear. They tried to run, but my spells already had the striking coordinates of their necks. With two wet plops, the lizard's heads fell clean off. They really were dark attribute monsters… That felt far too easy…
Ronak wandered over to me, and he wasn't looking too great. He had lacerations all along his body, teeth marks dug into his arms and legs, and the way he was holding his ribcage might indicate a broken rib or two. I wasn't going to take pity, though. I wanted my apology. It was the least he could do. I stared up at him with wide eyes, and he glared down at me.
"You're not going to heal me first?"
"I-I don't trust you…" I took a slight step back and waited patiently.
You would have thought that apologizing was more painful than the lizards beating the snot out of Ronak, the way he was struggling. He glared down at the ground while slightly opening and closing his mouth for a moment. He glanced at me for only a split second before spitting out a rushed, "I'm sorry." He quickly returned his gaze to the ground and fidgeted with his hands.
What? Did I really need to prompt him? "A-and?"
"I'm sorry that I hurt you." His voice was barely a mumble. I was starting to think that this really was his first time apologizing. There was no way he was actually this bad at it, right?
"And?"
"I'll try being more careful around you." His face turned a flush red, which would have been cute if I wasn't feeling so annoyed.
It was like something inside of me finally snapped. "You didn't consider apologizing for the rude names you call me, how you always tell me to shut up, or stay out of your way? You're constantly curt with me for no reason, you pushed me down in the classroom, broke my wrist, sprained my ankle, repeatedly bruised me, and accused me of sneaking into your bed despite you being on my side of the tent. Oh, and you call me stinky all the time! You sure didn't think I was stinky when you were sniffing my head this morning!" His poor excuse of an apology broke me. I don't know what I was expecting when I asked him to apologize, but I couldn't believe how brazen he was! It was like I was reprimanding a child! All my irritation with him finally rose to the surface, and I spoke my mind. "I don't even know what I did to make you target me!" I snapped.
"Target you?" Ronak had that obnoxious blank expression on his face as he stared at me with wide eyes.
"What else would you call it? If you're looking for a plaything this year, find someone else! I don't want to be your punching bag! I just want to graduate and become an imperial doctor!" My voice's volume rose the more I spoke, and at this point, I was yelling at him. Forget irritation, I was mad. Really mad. Bubbling out of me mad. I grabbed Ronak's face and forced him to look at me, just like he made me look at him yesterday. "The least you could do is look at me! Don't treat me like crap and then try to play innocent!" His red eyes darted around uncomfortably as he refused to make eye contact.
"I… think there has been a misunderstanding…" He mumbled. My eye twitched. Did he just say I was misunderstanding something?
I released his head and pulled my shirt up to expose my torso. "Explain to me what I'm misunderstanding. This?" I grabbed his jaw and forced his face to look at my fresh bruise from this morning, which was a deep, splotchy red with patches of purple. "Or is it this?" I pointed towards the second bruise that arced up my side, covered my entire right hip, and even went down my thigh. This one was far uglier; it had a couple of days to turn different shades of green, blue, and purple. It was like a disgusting constellation across my side. "Do I need to show you my shoulder as well? It's bruised from you throwing me to the ground in the forest!" I yelled. Gah! His blank expression was only making me more upset! Show some guilt, feel bad, or something! How can you look at what you've done to me and feel nothing?! "You've made it blatantly clear with your actions how you feel about me! How disgusting you find me! Not that you would admit it, but you reek of jealousy! You like saying I'm fake, but what about you?! Does being feared by others make you better? I'm the son of a lowly lord, of course, I have to jump when people ask me or play nice when I don't want to. I don't have social standing or power! I have to put a smile on my face to combat the crappy hand I've been dealt, but you wouldn't understand any of that because you're at the top! You're a freaking duke's son that likes to point fingers like you're perfect!" It was like a faucet had been turned on inside of me and wouldn't turn off. The more I looked at his blank expression, the more I wanted to yell at him.
I let out an annoyed huff and stormed past him. Forget healing you! You're nothing but a jerk!
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Ronak
I had been yelled at, beaten, and reprimanded plenty in my life, but this felt different… I didn't know that such a quiet, timid person could yell so angrily… The more he yelled at me, the more a knot formed in my stomach. When he showed me the bruises on his body, my stomach really clenched. I… fucked up…
He stormed past me in his little fit of rage and stomped down the tunnel. Note to self… don't piss him off… If anything remotely moved, he shot light arrows at it with zero mercy. He's not half bad at combat when he's actually trying… Granted, everything down here had a dark attribute, so his spells did double the damage.
After a while, we found a staircase leading up, and he didn't even hesitate to storm up them. He stays angry for a long time… Was he able to read my thoughts or something? He turned around with a big frown and eyed me for a moment before continuing on his warpath.
Why did his anger… fascinate me? It was a similar curiosity that I had with his pheromones… strange…
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We managed to go up another floor before he came to a halt. He kept giving me dirty looks, but they weren't very intimidating. They reminded me of the time I came across a feral kitten. All attitude and no threat.
He didn't even say anything as he plopped down at his table and chair set and started eating. "Are you going to join or just stand there?" He snapped at me for not having manners, yet I wasn't the one gnashing away on a piece of meat with my mouth open. Fucking disgusting. I slowly sat down, but his eyes narrowed as if evaluating me. To my surprise, he stood up and marched over to where I sat. "Your sorry state is making it hard to eat." His attempts at being rude were… underwhelming to say the least.
He was a bit hesitant, but he reached over and pressed his hand against a gash on my arm. His mana swirled around for a moment before centering on his hand. Weird… the pain almost instantly went away. I thought for sure I'd be able to feel my skin knitting together. That's how it was with the other imperial doctors… Wait.. he didn't even leave a scar… My eyes darted up to his face, but he wasn't even paying attention to me. He was fully focused on the task before him as he moved from wound to wound, repairing my tattered body.
By the time he finished, all that was left were a few bloody handprints that felt a little too intentional and some bruises… "Don't think that this means I'm not mad." He grumbled as he cleaned his hands with some soap and water from his storage. It was pretty clear from the way he plopped down and started stabbing the food on his plate that he was still damn angry with me. "Don't just sit there. Eat. I doubt that we'll run out of food, and if by some chance you feel guilty afterwards, you can get me some more food for my inventory." Guilt?... That's probably the fucking obnoxious feeling constricting my gut… I don't think I've ever felt guilt before, and I've done far nastier things to people… Why is he making me feel this way?
"Thank you for healing me and for the food," I mumbled while picking up my silverware.
He let out a long sigh and pulled two familiar-looking vials from his inventory. "Y-you're welcome. Drink this… It's a mana potion." He said as he slid it across the table.
"I should be fine without it." I tried pushing it back over to him, but a big frown formed on his face.
"It's not poison. I wouldn't heal you just to turn around and poison you." Did he think I was dumb? I obviously knew it wasn't poison. It would be rather ridiculous if I, out of all people, couldn't identify a potion.
"I didn't think that it would make me sick. I just happen to know the market value of them…" I picked up the vial and swirled the deep blue liquid around. This was a rather well-brewed one as well. I'm surprised he was able to afford one like this, but I don't recognize the bottle…
"You don't need to worry about that." I glanced over to him as he poked around at the food on his plate. "I gathered all the herbs and brewed them myself. The only thing I invested was my time." What? He's fucking joking, right?
"You brewed this yourself?" I had never seen someone else make such a high-quality potion before. It even sparkled slightly when shaken. I rarely sold potions of this quality to the public.
"Do you think I'm lying?" Mmm, no… There's no way the son of a lord would be able to afford something like this, and I've never seen anything of the sort on the market before.
"No, I don't. I'm just surprised, that's all." I uncorked the bottle since he was permitting me to drink it and took a sniff. "Are you not using aloettle as a base?" Aloettle was a strange plant. It was spiky with long leaves, but if you cut it the wrong way, all the juice would pour out onto the ground. They had to be harvested by people who knew what they were doing. It was the base of almost every potion since it was such a good binding agent.
He almost instantly perked up. Seems my question caught his interest. "Oh, there is aloettle in it. I've just added other binding agents to boost its effects and help with the flavor." The flavor? I couldn't help but notice him scrunching his nose up. So he doesn't like the taste of aloettle, huh? I guess it is a required taste.
I admit, I was rather curious as I put the bottle to my lips. As the liquid touched my palate, I was almost instantly overwhelmed by the sweetness. Holy fucking shit, was he trying to kill someone with the amount of sugar in there?! I almost recoiled from the damn thing. Its effectiveness was a completely different story. Low-quality mana potions took a generous amount of time to replenish your mana, but this… I almost instantly felt revitalized. How he managed to brew such a thing instantly made me curious. "You should forget about becoming an imperial doctor and sell the recipe to this. You'd make a fortune."
"Money is nice, but I'm not that interested in it. Sure, I want to live comfortably, but I don't want to get sidetracked from my goals." His goals? I guess being ambitious was good. "I want to get out of here." He mumbled.
"Is that not what we've been fucking doing?" I gnashed my teeth and let out a quick exhale as he flinched. "We couldn't have fallen that far. The closer we get to the surface, the easier it will be to get out."
"D-do you think we'll run into people looking for us?"
"No."
"B-but you're the son of a duke… Don't you think your father is concerned-?" I glared up at him with all the venom I could muster and the words died in his throat.
"That damn bastard is probably celebrating the news of our accident. He would rather send assassins in to finish the job than a search team. If that's what you're hoping for then you should just waste your time praying to the gods. They'll be about as helpful as he would be." Just thinking about that bastard pissed me off. I wanted nothing more than to lodge my sword into his throat and twist it around to watch him squirm.
He visibly gulped and looked down at the table for a moment. "A-aren't you his only son? Wh-why would he send a-assassins?"
I let out a loud scoff. This shit didn't know anything. "That bastard doesn't care. He can always have another child with a mistress."
"Your parents didn't mark each other?" He glanced up at me, but quickly looked away. Did he live under a damn rock?
"Very few nobles mark each other these days. You must be living in the past to think such a thing. It's hardly common practice anymore." I had to look away and scratch my neck. How did our conversation end up here?
"M-my parents marked each other… I want my partner to mark me, is that old fashioned?" Yes. Yes it was. I shifted slightly in my chair and opened my mouth before quickly closing it. No, I better not say anything else…