Lancet's three roommates seemed terrified. Anita was confused, Kasto was panicky, Luke seemed angry more than anything.
To them, this was a group of seniors coming to shake them up. But Lancet knew more than that. It was the former Class Group-D, now Class Group-C, here to show their superiority.
These guys had probably marked their room and each of them here as the students they're going to spend the rest of their senior years bullying.
"Well, well," The Demon Binder, Theo, drawled, stepping into the room as if he owned it. "Look at this cozy little nest of rats."
His two lackeys—a Golemancer named Gully and a Beast Tamer named Dace—snickered behind him, cracking their knuckles.
"Orientation is over, fresh meat," Theo announced, kicking Kasto's bag across the floor. "In Awakener Supreme, we have a tradition. The seniors ensure the juniors are... disciplined. We can't have you embarrassing us in the Inter-Class War."
Theo's eyes scanned the room, landing on Lancet. A cruel smile stretched his lips.
"Hey! Just our luck!" The smile upgraded to a grin. "Isn't it you?" he pointed with his grimoire. "The moron who awakened a new Class. Just for it to be ranked Dull."
Luke narrowed his eyes, moving his pupils to Kasto, as if to say 'I told you idiots so.'
"Yeah, it is him," Dace said with a malicious smile.
"Ohhh! Our first senior year is going to be so much fun!" Gully chuckled with excitement.
Lancet tried to remain brave. There were only two ways to make sure that you're not chosen as bully meat for the rest of your school life.
Being subservient was NOT one of them. Acting weak in hopes that they would pity or find you boring was a sure way to turn yourself to a punching bag.
That was like offering yourself as prey to a wolf.
Do you think a hungry wolf would spare the prey because it wasn't a good enough challenge? No! It's pouncing and feasting on that dumb prey.
Seniors in Awakener Supreme were like that—hungry wolves. Or at least, many of them were.
Acting fiddle would never get them to stop. Predators pounced at the sight of weakness.
Fighting back was a better approach.
Showing that you have the drive to push back would put the predator on a moment of regroup, deciding whether the prey was truly worth the trouble.
Lancet knew that not many agreed with him in this subject, but he'd read lots of light novels to know that this truly was the case.
The other approach was to suck up to a student a year higher than the one bullying you.
In this circumstance, Lancet could find a Summoner-B or A student and become of service to them in a way, in exchange for protection from Symmoner-Cs.
But, Lancet was basically a nobody at the moment. He was also a Dull Rank, most seniors wouldn't have much use of him.
Therefore, his best move now was to stand strong. Don't… back… down.
These guys had been Summoner-D only last year. This was their way of revenge; it was them getting their turn after what they suffered.
But Lancet was not about to let himself be bullied by background characters he didn't even know, in a world that had been nothing more than a digital screen only days ago.
He watched as Theo walked up to him, invading his personal space.
"You have no idea how much of a joke you are, do you?" Theo laughed. "The entire Academy is laughing at us because of you. A Summoner with such low Grace? You're going to drag our class average down to the mud."
"We should teach him a lesson," Greg rumbled, stepping forward. "So he knows his place."
"Yeah," Jace added. "Save us the trouble of watching him fail later."
Lancet tried to stand tall. But, he only looked shorter.
Short enough that it was impossible to loom over Theo, and he certainly wasn't broad enough to intimidate Gully.
Still, he had a steadiness in his eyes that didn't belong to a slum rat.
"You're done?" he asked, leveling his voice.
The room went quiet. Theo blinked, his grin faltering for a second. "What?"
Lancet looked bored.
"I said, are you done?" he repeated. "Because this routine is exhausting. I know exactly what you're doing. You're the former Class-D losers who got kicked around last year, and now you're here to 'pass the torch' of trauma."
He stepped forward, trying to look as fearless as possible.
"I don't have the time for these filler novel scenes," Lancet stated flatly. "Me and my roommates are off-limits. So go do your bullying ritual somewhere else."
Theo's face darkened. "You got a death wish, Dull Rank? You think you can tell me what to do? Slum rats like you!"
"Slum rats?" Lancet said, tilting his head. "Why are you acting like you're the kings of the Summoner Class? Look around you."
Lancet gestured around the cramped, peeling room.
"You're a Second Year. And yet... you're standing in the Bronze Dorms. With us."
A vein popped in Theo's forehead. The lackeys, Gully and Dace, had stopped snickering minutes ago.
"Even as a Second Year," Lancet shrugged, "you weren't able to earn enough Points and resources to upgrade to a Silver Dorm. You're basically worse than us."
The insult hit the bullseye. If someone listened enough, they would have heard the sound of Theo's ego shattering.
"Get him," Theo shouted.
Lancet frowned, already regretting everything.
Gully moved first. The Golemancer was slow but heavy. He swung a backhand that caught Lancet in the chest.
Lancet tried to dodge, but his unawakened body was too slow. The blow slammed into him like a bag of wet cement, knocking the wind out of his lungs. He stumbled back, crashing into the metal locker.
Before he could recover, Dace was on him. The Beast Tamer used his boots and caught Lancet's stomach with a stomping kick, sending him crumpling to the linoleum.
"Talk!" Dace screamed, kicking him again. "Talk back now!"
"Hey!" Kasto and Anita tried to get them to stop.
"If you want to get beat up too, then move."
They froze, staring into the burning red eyes of Theo. He was binding himself to a demon, it seemed.
Meanwhile, Lancet was curled up, protecting his head, gritting his teeth against the pain. It was sharp, hot, and humiliating.
Then, he made the stupid mistake of getting up to his feet too soon.
Theo exploded forward, his grimoire on his left hand. A screeching red light spiraled out of the pages. But instead of manifesting fully, Theo inhaled the being.
His veins turned red. His knuckles grew jagged, crimson spikes.
"Eat this, trash."
Theo drove his fist down.
With a CRACK! it connected with Lancet's ribs.
Then came the worst pain he had ever felt.
"AARRRGGHHHH!!!"
~~~~
A/N: Sorry about the late updates. Updates will be daily or at least every other day from now on. Please, if you are enjoying the story even a little, support with stones and even an early review. It helps!