That night, he endured the demon's torture, acupuncture, and made his way to school. The second he entered the front gate, he began to hear the blatant gossip of dozens of students.
"He's the one who attacked people."
"Just like an F-rank to lose control."
"He should just go die in a hole somewhere."
Obviously, rumors of what he had 'done' had spread throughout the school's body. But he was used to cruel words long before he attended the school.
Before he could make it to class, he was pulled aside by a group of warriors. They ganged up and beat him to the ground. Once again, sheathed weapons, just short of what it would take to kill a person.
'It's okay, this is also for humanity.' Another lie to protect himself.
He didn't resist; he did not have any money to compensate for anything. The school's staff was already against him; if he fought back, he would just get punished again.
Their attacks didn't cause much pain, compared to being set on fire or having your skin peeled away; it was quite tame.
His mind quickly looked past the beatings and instead thought about swordsmanship. If he thought about it in another way, this was just body tempering.
Once again, at lunch break, before he could even order food, a group pulled him away. This time, a group of mages used him as target practice.
His clothes were ripped, charred, and barely hid his body anymore. Yet he just lay there and took it; if he resisted, somebody could slander him for participating in a fight.
"STOP IT!"
A desperate voice yelled, Cassian continued to stare at the cloudy sky.
'I'm protecting 'these' assholes?'
"Why are you doing this?"
Cassian then recognized the voice and looked up and saw her signature light blue hair.
"What the hell do you want?"
The leader of the mages spat at the ground in front of her.
"You can't assault people like this, with the power of an awakened, you could kill him."
'She is always there to help other people.' Cassian's appreciation only grew.
"It doesn't matter if he dies; he's just an F-rank."
"C-Cassian?"
Alizée realized it was him only at that moment, but when she did, her face tightened up.
Without hesitation, she stepped in between him and the mages, then held her arms up like she was protecting him.
She quickly looked back, "Is this what you have been going through?"
Her sympathy felt tangible and warm.
'If only this was it.'
"All this time, you were suffering like this." She whispered to herself.
"Get out of the way, otherwise we will blast you as well." The leader of the group warned, and all the mages raised their weapons.
Alizée did not falter for a second.
'How can I let the person I want to protect shield me? I'm not weak anyway.'
Cassian stood up and blocked Alizée from the mages.
Instead of the deadpan expression he usually held, his gaze pierced through one's skin and bore a hostile energy.
"I challenge you to a duel."
The crowd was taken aback by those words. A duel was not a simple spar; both sides agreed to bodily injury and the possibility of death.
"And why should I accept a one-on-one match?" The leader walked close enough that Cassian could smell his awful breath.
"So you're telling me you need a team to fight an F-rank?"
The leader clenched his teeth and slapped Cassian across the face. A purposeful provocation, considering the boy seemed to know that Cassian couldn't fight back.
"How dare you speak to me that way?"
'They all team up against me anyway. The teachers, the students, even the staff.' Cassian understood that they had all worked together to frame him that last time and were likely to do it again now. 'What did I do to deserve this?'
"You're too scared of me, an F-rank, to fight in an arena. So you can only round up a dozen people to bully me when I can't fight back."
"Tell me… out of the two of us, who is really worthless?"
Cassian emulated the person he hated most, Cypher. Looking as if he felt pure pleasure from the provocative words, he pushed back his hair handsomely and let out a small giggle.
"Fine, I accept!"
He shouted angrily. To people like him, reputation matters too much.
He suddenly offered his hand.
Cassian grasped his hand; it was supposed to be in agreement. However, the moment they grasped hands, the leader grabbed his wooden sword and kicked it.
'Another of my swords broken, this disgrace.'
A stunned look emanated from Cassian, and his eyes began to look down on everything around him. It didn't matter who it was; they were all worthless.
"In the end, you can only play dirty tricks."
'I don't have to hold back this time.' A subtle excitement came to him
The pair started towards the arena, the designated place for such duels. Meanwhile, the group of mages began to spread the word.
By the end of lunch break, everybody knew that Cassian, the useless F-rank, had challenged Kurt, the B-rank mage.
Eventually, the news even found its way to the teachers.
"I can't believe an F-rank challenged a B-rank, speak about arrogance." The group of teachers was discussing around a table.
"While it is arrogant, it is also an important opportunity." Kurt's homeroom teacher, a short man with red hair, smiled greedily.
"What do you mean by that?" another teacher asked.
"We need the students to gain more practical experience; that was the point of the arena anyway."
"Then how about we sponsor this duel?" Jackson Crumb, Cassian's weapons instructor, suggested.
"That sounds like a good idea, but what do we give as a reward?" Another teacher asked.
"What about a level 1 skill stone?" Crumb suggested.
"Isn't that a bit much? Skill stones are only a bit less valuable than attunement stones, and the school only has seven of them."
"No, that's a good idea," Kurt's teacher interjected, "It will be a good example to other students that fighting in the arena is beneficial."
"Then it's agreed."