"Hehe, little orphan, even that boy wishes you'd burnt yourself instead of your mother in the womb." Fenrir bullied him relentlessly the instant he felt that Julius had passed.
The comment was intended to brutalise Nagiri, and it worked.
Her pink eyes, like two ruby fires, began to wobble, her hands trembling where they gripped her skirt.
The words were meant for Nagiri; they had nothing to do with anyone else.
And yet they captured a dark spot residing within Julius's heart, as he turned over his shoulder.
Two memories circulated, like sparks flickering, in his mind.
The first one he immediately discarded; he did not want to remember.
The second one flashed just as quickly as it came: Where Nagiri stood; Julius briefly imagined a tanned boy with a bald head, dressed in rags.
He imagined a bright smile from a year ago; he imagined enthusiasm, and then he imagined nothing.
He was facing Fenrir now; his body turned to him, and his expression this time felt particularly empty.
From the depths of her peripheral vision, Nagiri could just about notice two pairs of sleek black shoes aiming at her.
Then they finally took a step.
BANG!
Fenrir felt a sudden force strike his jaw, so unexpected, so sudden, he had no time to resist this impressive power forcing him to the floor.
He hit the linoleum floor and skittered across before turning over to face his aggressor.
He saw a boy dressed in the same cream uniform as himself, with a black tie wrapped around his knuckles, which extended all the way in front of him.
Nagiri's eyes zoomed up, two pink gems widening in disbelief; she couldn't comprehend what had happened or why.
Inwardly, as she understood the moment, she felt guilt.
"J-Julius?" Fenrir questioned with visible hesitation; he had not expected this at all! Why was Julius picking a fight with him?
"I've been meaning to find you; I heard all those lies you spread about me in the headmaster's office!" Julius spoke confidently with an attacking tone, as if offended by lies- things that were not true.
This made Fenrir even more confused, because he and Julius both knew-
He was telling the truth!
Julius continued, not even batting an eye at Nagiri, "An eye made of stars? That's so ridiculous; only a child would believe your silly stories."
He ridiculed Fenrir incessantly, with no intention to back down.
Soon the commotion attracted more bystanders, with more students looking over to watch the drama.
Fenrir was too confused; first, he was attacked so suddenly, not many people start conflict so casually.
Why was that? Humans have a natural instinct to avoid danger; if an individual isn't accustomed to conflict, their natural reaction is aversion.
Examples of this can be seen with domesticated animals and wild animals; domesticated animals are often sheltered and have no reason to fight, thus becoming passive.
Wild animals are forced to rely on their fighting ability to hunt and defend due to circumstances.
Fenrir was such a case of a passive individual, only used to picking on those weaker than him; the only experience he ever had of fighting ability was against those weaker than him, and even then, he would most often rely on words instead of physical fighting.
Julius was already someone he had subconsciously admitted was "stronger" than him; Fenrir being struck so suddenly caused a delay in his fight-or-flight instincts to activate.
If Julius had verbally assaulted Fenrir, instead of striking him, Fenrir would have sensed Julius' hostile intention and subconsciously been more prepared for any form of altercation.
Though at the moment, Fenrir was in no position to resist, sitting on the floor as he looked up at the aggressor.
A wild animal.
Secondly, Julius went to invalidate Fenrir's previous claims to deny and destroy Fenrir's credibility.
But this made Fenrir even more confused; Julius seemed so steamed about this, but the truth was-
Julius was the one lying! There really was a cosmic eye in the headmaster's office that day; Julius was there! In fact, the entire reason the eye was even there in the first place was because of Julius!
"Fenrir, you shameless runt! How could you spread lies about me! Go on, apologise now!" Julius continued goading Fenrir with an expression like a parent venting their steaming anger.
Fenrir was lost for words, because according to Julius's words, Julius hadn't even initiated this because of Fenrir's bullying of Nagiri!
But the reason why he did this also made no sense!
"Pfft... look at Fenrir, he looks like a child kekeke!"
"This is worse than when Thurid berates him; I feel bad for him..."
"Didn't Julius beat up Adrian? I wouldn't want to be lectured by him..."
The students watching in the hall all watched with a mix of reactions; some were pitying, some were laughing, but most of all, they were all feeling second-hand embarrassment.
Fenrir looked past Julius, around him, and he felt his heart sink.
They were all laughing at him!
The boy who laughed at others, being laughed at!
He felt a sudden heat rising in his gut, the kind that made his fists clench; if he were a dragon, he would be huffing fumes right now!
The frustration was like a fire burning underneath him; it was enough to make his blood boil, but most of all-
He was ridiculed beyond belief, all because of this boy, Julius Sparrow; because of this boy he was angry enough to overcome his subconscious fears!
Fenrir planted his palms, the fire underneath him giving way to an energy that prepared him to launch onto his feet and teach this boy a lesson-
BANG!
Julius's leg shot out like an expert, like a cannon already lit and waiting to explode, his foot finding Fenrir's throat and stabbing forward to shove him down onto the hard floor.
The kick itself didn't hold the power of a god; instead, it found a vital spot at the boy's neck with the precision of an expert, not only finding the perfect angle to make Fenrir's resistance awkward, like lifting a log with his forehead, but also disrupting his airflow.
"Were you going to hit me? You shameless brat!" Julius reprimanded firmly.
However, he wasn't finished there; he lifted his heel.
BANG!BANG!BANG!
Julius gave him several rounds of firm stomps placed between the chest, neck and shoulder.
Fenrir was a demigod, so Julius wasn't afraid of accidentally killing him; he was confident of the effect of his attacks; otherwise, why would he risk the possibility of murder?
If anything, Julius thought he was being lenient! From seeing Fenrir's strength firsthand resist his attacks, Julius could tell Fenrir was at the lower tier of strength as a demigod, yet even then, if this was the other way around, Julius might have already died!
Nagiri saw the harsh treatment; being the one closest to the scene, she hesitated before pleading to Julius.
"Y-You're hurting him!" Nagiri said as she reached for Julius's arm, pulling him away down the hall.
Julius's expression, previously like flaming steel, suddenly turned into mist, like a veil blocking everything out.
Fenrir was left sprawled on the ground, coughing harshly as he fought to recover his breath.
He looked around, watching all the students watch his pathetic state whilst gossiping.
"I would hate to be him..."
"The girl he bullies had to help him..."
"Punk finally got what was coming to him."
All the words, like shadows coiling around him, made tears want to spill.
Especially as he looked ahead, across the hall, from where he half-sat up on the floor.
Julius was trailed by Nagiri, taking him away, while Julius walked backwards, watching Fenrir with a gaze like shadows.
This expression, so indifferent to his suffering- where was the earlier anger from before?
All these things added to Fenrir's humiliation.
Imagine if Fenrir knew the truth: that Julius was actually a mortal!
Even without that knowledge, these golden-brown eyes, like two ancient meteors, faced him without a care.
Fenrir couldn't hold his anger back anymore.
He willed, and within a pocket of space inside his body, like a black veil, mist surged outward.
It moved slowly, though vibrationally spazzed at high speeds, while taking the form of a beast at the atomic level.
Rank 5 shapeshifter magic core move: werewolf
Immediately, Fenrir began to feel agonising pain as his skin darkened and his limbs extended.
The hints of white between his lips grew longer, sharper, while his nails grew into small daggers.
His body, once a teenager with black hair in a knit hat, was now a 7ft grey werewolf, with limbs as skinny as twigs; it seemed his core move was still lacking somewhat.
Thus, what was supposed to be a frightening image looked more ridiculous.
"Pfft! hahaha"
"Kekeke, Fenrir actually used it"
"I swear it gets funnier every time"
All the students continued to ridicule; actually, this round of humiliation far surpassed anything Julius had said.
The way they all joked about it, like something iconic, an inside joke between all the students but Fenrir, was harsher than any calculated kick Julius gave him.
This only frustrated Fenrir more, as the knithat on his head fell and floated down toward the floor like a feather.
By the time the knit hat hit the ground, Fenrir was roaring in a pathetic growl before going on all fours and scampering toward Julius.
Julius's eyes at this moment tensed, not with worry, but with focus.
He reached behind him and shoved Nagiri away far behind him, his other arm braced in front of him as Fenrir's grey snout clamped shut over his arm, only making Julius's eye twitch.
Blood spat out immediately from the arm, Fenrir's fang tearing the now dark pink sleeves.
Nagiri cried out as Julius pushed into her back, away from the danger; her eyes widened with realisation the moment she turned back.
Julius's other arm, the one extended toward Nagiri, withdrew to find his blazer pockets, about to clutch a star-shaped token when Fenrir was suddenly ripped away by someone-
"Get off him now, you overgrown rat!" An angry voice boomed as Fenrir was suddenly lifted into the air like a toy, revealing a burly red-haired woman with torn sleeves, before being slammed onto the ground.
"Argh", Fenrir growled, trying to resist Thurid's hold, but nothing he did gave him any more.
"Oi! Down, bad dog, bad!" Thurid reprimanded him, holding him like a barrel by his torso.
When he eventually calmed down, he reverted to his human form, his uniform full of holes, and his knit hat left down the hall.
The students went into a collective silence; most of the students had chosen this dark moment to take their leave.
Julius stood with an expression like blank paper, indifferent to the scene in front of him, his arm dangling by his side, blood leaking from where the sleeves were torn.
Thurid turned over her shoulder, checking Julius and Nagiri to confirm they were okay.
Thurid eventually escorted Fenrir away; even though they were at odds, somehow Thurid didn't lose her kindness.
Then only Nagiri and Julius were left in the hall.
End of chapter 42