1 Bully

"Hey cripple! Go get me a can of coke from the vending machine!" A young man with spiky blue hair yelled out with a smirk.

"I... don't have any money..." The quiet boy with bent shoulders shrunk back as he replied.

The blue haired boy smiled and slapped the quiet boy on his shoulder with his powerful and muscular right arm causing the quiet boy to enter a coughing fit.

"Cripple, when did you learn to retort to our Boss, huh?" One of the lackeys following the blue haired boy mocked. "Boss Cody's ability is very likely to reach the elite grade. Just do as you are asked!"

The quiet boy's eyes turned towards his own feet, as he meekly stood there quietly. Inside he was seething with rage, but also helplessness and an absolute weakness.

This was a world where the strong preyed on the week. A world where people are increasingly born with abilities. Even high school, unfortunately had become a playground for those with abilities to bully those who didn't or those whose abilities were extremely weak.

"I really don't have any money on me." The meek looking boy said in a weak and quivering voice.

"Boss, looks like this cripple is really looking for a beating." One of the three lackeys of the blue haired boy, Cody said flatteringly.

Cody nodded and snorted. He looked at the meek boy in disdain and walked away. Meanwhile, the three lackeys started beating the meek boy. The boy tried to shield his vitals, but the three lackeys were all ability users. All three of them seemed to have similar abilities of body strengthening and every punch of their's, though playful sent a powerful vibration of pain through the defenseless boy's body.

Eventually, the boy's body was filled with black and purple fist marks, and blood began streaking down his lips, which led to the three boys stop their violent offensive. While this kind of bullying was not uncommon and authorities would turn a blind eye to it, ability users couldn't just kill non ability users without reason. The three lackeys snorted and quickly left the scene.

The quiet boy, struggled to get back to his feet while leaning on the wall of the corridor. He coughed a few mouthfuls of blood. His eyes were filled with murderous intent and hatred. At the same time he was absolutely helpless. He adjusted his now disorganized black hair with his shivering hand as he shook his head and limped his way to the nurse's office.

The boy, whose name was Adrian, entered the nurse's office with a knock and limped towards the nearest empty bed. A short woman with aging white hair walked up to his bed, and clicked her tongue.

"Got beaten again, kid? The violence is really getting worse, I don't know what these school authorities are thinking allowing this kind of violence on campus." She shook her head, before she took out some kind of chemistry set.

The nurse took out a blue liquid from the set and used an injection to inject the blue liquid into Adrian's arm. The boy winced, but didn't make any sound. Soon enough, a pale glow began to envelop his body like a cocoon.

Seeing that the chemical had the desired effect, the nurse nodded. "I've given you a dose of Healing Potion. You should quietly rest here until the rest of the day. When you stop feeling any pain, you are fit to leave. I'll write you a letter of absence for the day."

Adrian nodded, and the nurse left the bed to return to her own little office in the infirmary. She had long since steeled her heart to these events. This boy, Adrian seemed to be dealing with bullying even more than usual lately, which worried her.

After some hesitation, she picked up the intercom, and dialed a few digits in. A few seconds later the call connected and the gruff voice of an old man could be heard.

"Nurse Esther, did something happen today?" The person at the other end of the call asked with tired overtones in his voice.

"Principal, the bullying seems to be getting overboard in the past few days. This is the third time in this week that Adrian Miles, the quiet student from the third grade has been beaten to almost death." The nurse reported calmly, but there was a hint of tension in her voice.

The line remained silent for a brief moment, before a sigh came out. "Miss Esther, you know as well as anyone that children awaken their abilities under duress. It is one of the reasons why we don't disallow this kind of activity. Our school is reputed because of the high number of awakened ability users we generate every year. And this lax system is one of the reasons why. It is for Mr. Adrian's own good."

Back in the infirmary bed, Adrian sighed and closed his eyes. He was at a loss to explain why he was bullied to such an extent. He felt hate, and he felt disgust at the world. He was one of the only students in the third grade who hadn't yet awakened any ability in Third High School.

Adrian had seen with his own eyes how abilities had turned friends into foes, changed relationships and caused his own classmates, who had been friendly with him at the beginning of the first year of high school to dehumanize him.

Many students had already taken for granted that Adrian most probably didn't have an ability at all and mocked him for entering a prestigious high school known for churning out ability users. Adrian too wanted an ability to call his own, but unfortunately, he wasn't able to awaken.

The world had divided into two broad social classes. Those with abilities, who lived a privileged life, and those without, who were doomed to suffer under their tyranny.

After several hours, Adrian felt the cocoon disappear along with the pain. The Healing Potion was developed by a legendary Ability user whose power was alchemy. The ability user managed to create one of the world's largest conglomerates, Enigma Corp, which sold all kinds of products including the Healing Potion that Adrian had just been administered.

Adrian got up and walked out of the infirmary. The school day had already ended and the sun was preparing to set. He walked out of the school premises, quietly walking home, making sure he didn't catch the attention of anyone on the way.