*Riiiiiiiiing*
The alarm clock beside my bed signalled the start of a new day. My eyelids drooped slightly as I got up, not having gotten any sleep.
My body ached with every small movement while dressing up. My clothes kept brushing against the bruises filling my body.
The sounds of birds chirping outside felt suffocating. Whenever I almost fell asleep, the chirps would ring in my ears reminding me of yesterday.
I still didn't know why anything happened. We had just chased a professor, yet we were treated as unforgivable criminals.
Could chasing a professor truly warrant such pain?
I almost sighed, the pain hardly allowed me to open my mouth.
The outside of my dorm was like yesterday. Crowds of students filled the hallway as they chatted with each other.
My ears picked up no voices even though I could see the students talking. All I heard was faint buzzing repeating in my mind.
Whenever I took a careless step, pain assaulted my mind.
I started walking slowly, sometimes bumping into students. They would look at me expecting an apology, but only my glare met them. That mostly shut them up, except one person.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" It was a dude of average height. The dark blue uniform contrasted well with his teal hair.
His uniform indicated he was a second year student.
I just continued walking. I had no time to deal with him.
However, he had different plans as he grabbed my arm, stopping me from walking away.
The students around us quieted down, waiting to see what would result from the altercation.
My head started hurting, this guy was getting on my nerves. All I did was bump into him yet he wanted to turn this into such a big problem.
He screamed at me once more. "Are you going to apologize yet?"
My mouth opened multiple times, no sounds coming out. I wanted to apologize, my broken body just didn't allow me.
Gritting his teeth, he clenched the hand grabbing my arm. He seemed to think I didn't want to apologize. I didn't really want to, but I didn't want to deal with him more.
His face darkened. "So that's how it's going to be."
A punch flew towards me. My body reacted before my thoughts as I moved out of the way.
More so tried to move out of the way. The punch still landed, just not on my face. My chest suffered the injury as I spat out some blood.
A surprised expression grew on his face. He definitely didn't hit me hard enough to make me spit out blood; it was yesterday's injuries that caused it. Who would think that, however?
Everyone here saw it. The dude punched me on my chest, and I spat out blood because of it. How could they know it wasn't his punch that caused it?
A student from the surrounding crowd intervened, standing between me and the second year student who threw the punch.
The second year's surprised expression disappeared quickly as he grew anxious.
Fights were only allowed in the academy through official duels. If any injuries were caused outside a duel, a punishment would be issued.
With so many students around us, this was sure to reach the principal.
I smiled seeing the student who had intervened subduing the second year who was trying to convince the others he didn't punch me hard enough to cause blood.
The whispers from nearby students also calmed down as some started going towards the student committee office, wanting to report this issue.
It was annoying that no one stopped the second year from punching me until it drew blood. Maybe the rules about fighting weren't so strict.
"Are you okay?" A student approached me. It was a third year with beautiful brown hair, her posture full of confidence as her eyes looked at me with pity.
My mouth let out no sound, the third year took that as a sign of me being too injured to speak as she shot a glare towards the second year's direction. She grabbed my hand, dragging me to the infirmary.
Maybe this wasn't so bad. I might get some help from the healers stationed at the academy. Who knows, they might let me sleep.
I tried to focus on the surrounding scenery on our way, but my vision was blurry.
She stopped in front of the infirmary door, opening it for me as she left. It was pretty kind of her to open the door for me.
I trudged in, a worker immediately called out to see why I was here. I couldn't see him, he was hidden behind some curtains.
Hearing no answer, he got up and brushed the curtains away.
His face went pale in confusion when he saw me. It seemed my state was too pathetic.
This made it even worse to think about the students in the hallway. They saw my state yet still chose to not stop the fight until I was hit. What assholes.
The infirmary worker rushed me to a bed, telling me to stay still as he called a priest.
I wanted to ask why, but he had already gone out of my vision. Another long day it is. I shut my eyes, sleep seemed close this time.
"Hey." A voice came from beside me. I ignored it.
"Hey." The voice sounded out again. I ignored it again.
"Hey."
Seriously? Does this person not understand the concept of not wanting to reply? Can't he take a hint?
I still didn't reply, hoping he wouldn't call out once more.
"Y'know, it's quite disrespectful to ignore a person when they're speaking to you."
Yeah no shit, I just didn't want to talk to you. What did he even want from me? I was a student in a pathetic state lying on a bed not bothering anyone.
Fortunately, the person seemed to take the hint and left me alone.
*BANG*
The sound of a crashing object echoed loudly in the infirmary.
I jumped up, startled at what would cause such a sound.
"See? I knew you weren't asleep."
My eyes opened slowly.
A short boy holding a trophy stood in front of me. My vision was still blurry, I couldn't discern any noticeable features.
Anger bubbled in my mind. Even if I was asleep, such a loud sound would wake anyone up.
"So... Who did that to you?" The boy asked expectedly.
No answer left my mouth.
"I mean, you couldn't have become so bruised from nothing." He looked at me with puppy eyes.
What did this kid want from me?
"A fight." I answered his question, my vocal cords having regained their luster. It still hurt to open my mouth, and it felt dry as hell, but it was bearable for now.
"Oh~ a fight? Who won?" The boy's eyes glistened with excitement.
Answering him was definitely the wrong move. Now that I replied, he wouldn't stop talking until he got to the core of the issue.
The kid didn't even seem like a student; his height was well below what you would expect from a sixteen-year-old, his clear face could get him mistaken for a girl.
*Click*
The infirmary door finally opened. The kid left me alone and a priest came to my side.
At first, the priest asked questions. Who did this? Why did the fight escalate so much? Why didn't anyone stop it?
Noticing my silence, the priest cast a spell.
My body suddenly jolted in pain.
'Wasn't this guy supposed to be a priest? Why was he torturing me?'
The pain disappeared in a second, and I felt like I had been reborn anew.
My eyes regained their clarity, I could finally see properly.
The infirmary was fully white, with a few stripes of blue on the walls. My bed was near the middle of the room, on both sides a curtain blocked my view.
The priest was a middle-aged man with a well-shaven beard. The infirmary worker beside him looked twenty.
Movement no longer hurt as much. I could actually move freely now.
The priest asked the same questions again. This time, he added a remark. "This couldn't have been caused by a fight. Your mana is practically broken, and every single corner of your body looks like it had been ravaged by a beast."
That remark made me jump.
I didn't know what I should say. Should I tell him about Dyrus Namil and the 6th-circle mage? Should I tell him about the torturous 'training' we had to endure yesterday?
Thoughts started circling in my mind. I couldn't just tell him about Dyrus Namil. Even if I did, what could this priest do against an 8th-circle mage?
I sighed. The priest took that as me not wanting to answer and left. The infirmary worker handed me a paper assuring professors that I wasn't skipping classes, then went to a desk near the door after telling me to leave in a few minutes.
The minutes quickly passed and I walked out, going towards the lecture hall. By the time I arrived, the lecture had already begun.
I showed the professor the paper the infirmary worker had given me and walked to a random empty seat.
Looking around, I didn't see either Denis or Penelope. They most likely missed the class on purpose.
My body was rejuvenated, but my mental fatigue was still here. I dozed off a couple times, the light ball in the hall shining on me each time.
The light coming from it felt intense on my eyes, I couldn't look for long.
My mana suddenly shifted inside my body. It didn't leave my mana core, but it moved without my intent or interference.
While mana always being in motion was a given, such movement was certainly unnatural. It kept pulsing with heightening frequency, I had to check out what was happening.
My attention went to my mana core. The mana was still heavy from yesterday, but it felt.... Different?
It felt... alive.
The thought sent a chill down my spine.