Clearly, we learn something new every day. We had managed to get out of the dungeon despite our defeat against the special forces and the police. All that, even though they were far stronger and more numerous than us. At first, I wasn't too keen on Shin's plan, but I have to admit, we got through it pretty well—even if I would have preferred not to break my leg in the process.
— "Let's go through the infirmary,"I said, out of breath, my head heavy. My leg was in terrible shape, but at least it was still treatable—thankfully. Turning to Haru, who was helping me move toward the infirmary in the east wing of the building, I realized that once we got her transformer back, we would gain someone with strength equivalent to a level 2 awakened. The benefits were significant, especially now that she was on our side.
Entering the infirmary, which looked very basic, she helped me onto a bed as I rolled up the sleeve of my pants. Seeing the pitiful state of my tibia, I nearly wanted to vomit.
— "Get me a 2.4 patch; it's in one of those drawers over there."
Haru didn't hesitate and brought me a syringe filled with a bluish liquid that looked somewhat suspicious, which I took and injected into my leg without hesitation.
— "AH!"
The pain was horrible. To think George Hull invented this kind of crap to accelerate regeneration while reorganizing damaged parts of the body, but only at the cost of excruciating pain.
As the pain seemed to sharpen my clarity of mind, I could see my injured leg slowly returning to its original state. In fifteen minutes, I'd be on my feet… though it meant fifteen minutes of torture.
Trying not to think too much about it, I attempted to empty my mind. Yet the process was too painful to focus on anything else.
— "Hey… why do you follow him?"
Breaking me out of my attempt to ignore the pain, the young woman looked at me with a kind of confusion in her eyes. Ah… maybe she thinks I'm like her? That Shin is forcing me to work with him in some dubious way? She's probably hoping to make me work with her to take down Shin.
— "You're way too predictable. You'll laugh at all this when the truth hits you in the face,"I told her, having finally found a way to ignore the pain.
I remember it as if it were yesterday, how I met the bastard with whom I would get into all sorts of trouble.
To think it was three years ago… it feels like an eternity.
It was summer, or rather, the end of it. Classes had just started again, and I, as usual, was alone in my corner, doing my own thing.
"Humm… I don't understand, this is too complicated."
I was reading an article about peaches, and a detail had caught my attention: the presence of deadly elements in one of my favorite fruits. I'd have to calculate how much a normal human would have to eat to die.
If I had to explain why I do something so strange or useless during recess, it was simply me in all my glory, to put it simply.
A commotion caught my attention for once. It was annoying. After all, I'm hard of hearing, so most of the time I barely hear anything, which helps me concentrate. But once something captivating reaches me, I lose all focus.
"What's going on now?" I asked myself as I got up from my quiet corner, far from the world, to see my classmates gathering in a circle in front of the gym. To think it's the last year of middle school and they're still so immature… Yet my curiosity pushed me to watch.
What I saw impressed me. It was Jack, the school genius, especially known as the millennial genius of the city of Speedwagon. And across from him? Who was that?
I don't think I'd ever seen him before. Turning to someone nearby, I asked reluctantly:
— "You don't know him? He's a transfer student, somewhat famous. After all, he came here to challenge Jack."
— "Huh? Someone dumb enough to challenge Jack?"
Since I was a child, I had always been in the same class as Jack, and he was simply a genius. He had always been the best at everything without working, and it got worse with age: he became unbeatable. His specialty was martial arts. Why would anyone in their right mind challenge him?
— "You didn't know? He's been here a year already."
Haha… He discovered one of my weaknesses. Since I'm socially isolated, I know nothing about my classmates unless they are my neighbors in class… Still, this guy was motivated. A year challenging Jack, you've got to have guts. Especially if he's still standing in front of him, it means he hasn't given up.
Curious, I started observing the fight. At that time, everyone used the same martial art, known as the most primitive of all: the art of the perpetual cycle, before we chose in high school.
Watching the fight, I was impressed. Jack's skill level was divine. His mastery of the perpetual cycle was perfect, and most importantly, he had already accumulated enough ether and was now level 0. Since a minimum of ether is needed to become awakened, Jack had achieved the dream of all middle schoolers—from the very beginning.
However, his opponent didn't stand out for his mastery of the perpetual cycle but rather for his combat skills. He was strong and very imaginative. Where did all these ideas come from?
Yet after two minutes, Jack sent him flying, and he lost. Pretty impressive: normally, Jack's opponents lost in less than ten seconds. Yet the outsider's face was full of rage and determination.
— "Strange…"I thought to myself as I walked away. And that's when a voice I hated hearing rang out—the one who had ruined my life from elementary through middle school.
— "Well, well, if it isn't Manu, still alone, I see."
It was Donavan, a student about 6'0" tall with a muscular build, tanned skin, and braided hair. As always, he was surrounded by his lackeys, trying to make himself look important.
Remembering him gave me chills. After all, Donavan was my tormentor, simply my bully, the one who had ruined my life since I met him.