5 A little revenge

Erik entered the school building, started walking down the corridor, and headed for his class. Thornton High School, where Erik attended, was located in the western district and had been founded by Max Thornton, an important figure in New Alexandria.

Outside the building, countless floating cars were streaming in to leave the kids near the entrance. Thornton high school was famous inside Frant since influential individuals from the blackguards came from it.

The Blackguards was a paramilitary organization mainly focused on keeping the thaid out of Mannard Continent, and the cities in general, and dealt with the various criminal factions worldwide, primarily international terrorism.

The presence of the Brain Crystal Powers made many people turn to crime, many factions were born inside the nations, and it was the Blackguard's duty to stop them.

The school was situated in a giant building with walls made of metal that gave it an industrial look while making it look attractive to the eye.

The place had a huge skylight that let natural light into the room. Students could see what was happening outside without opening doors or windows. This way, the air inside remained fresh all year, with only slight temperature variations between summer and winter.

The building had multiple classes strewn across long corridors, which resulted in a vast maze school. The place also had a Cafeteria/Restaurant whose kitchen was large enough so every student could get their food quickly, even during rush hour.

There was also a bar where drinks like coffee and tea were sold, and snacks such as pastries and sandwiches. The restaurant section served meals from breakfast to dinner. However, there wasn't much variety compared to other New Alexandria restaurants.

Still, the food quality offered here was more than decent, and most people enjoyed eating in this part of the establishment.

The place also sported a vast library, one of the city's biggest, since it contained thousands of books on different topics.

Students who needed help with their studies usually visited it, especially those who couldn't afford tutors or didn't have access to the Internet. It was weird in a time and age when technology was so advanced, but still, poor people existed every century.

Lastly, the gymnasium. It was the most important part of the building since it was there that the kids learned to use their Brain Crystal Power properly.

The facility included a swimming pool, several martial arts and gymnastics training rooms, and two gyms equipped with treadmills and exercise bikes, dumbbells, and the like.

All these facilities allowed the students to work out whenever they felt like doing so, regardless if it was raining or snowing outside. In addition, the school also provided various sports equipment, such as balls and bats, that were free to anyone interested in practicing the sports.

All the kids in the city attended it. Every young man and woman had a Brain crystal power, so the classes had to be changed to teach the young boys and girls how to use them properly.

The school taught young individuals how to make neural links primarily and taught them how to control their powers appropriately to avoid accidental injuries.

When an individual, male or female, went to the military academy, one had to learn how to use such powers to fight, but to some elite members, the school taught martial arts and fighting techniques.

This morning, the young man had a class that taught him how to make neural links. Erik was usually embarrassed whenever he had to follow the brain-crystal-related classes since he couldn't do anything with his.

The young man tried to make links daily, but it was futile as the mana he could control was too low to achieve results. Luckily, he was pretty good in the other classes since he naturally had a good memory.

The high school corridors were filled with students going from classroom to classroom. Most of those who passed by him looked at him weirdly. Some even called out names like 'plant hugger' or other similar things.

Erik just wanted to get through his day without being noticed. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned as Logan Reid turned the corner and went into Erik's same corridor.

"Ah, plant fucker!" yelled the boy loudly, making everyone around laugh.

Erik's face grimaced. The young man usually ran away from the confrontation, but something that day stopped him from doing so. He was too happy for his new power. Clearly, he had to keep it hidden, but he still had it. So he stood up straight and faced Logan, who laughed at him.

"What, you got balls today?" Logan said with a smirk on his face.

Due to his improved mood, though, Erik made a mistake. "You're an idiot," he said to the bully's face. Logan then punched Erik without an ounce of hesitation.

The young man fell on his backside and rolled onto the floor. Blood trickled down his nose, and his cheek was swollen.

A few people gathered near Erik to see what happened. Logan approached him slowly. His friends followed behind him. They were about to pounce on the young man if needed.

Logan pointed at Erik with his finger. "I'll teach you not to talk shit."

The young man then started punching Erik in the stomach over and over again until blood spilled out of the young man's mouth.

"GAH!"

After a while, he felt someone grabbing his arm. He saw two figures approaching him, one tall and the other short. One wore black clothes and the other red; they were Logan's friends, Conal and Orson.

"You better stop now, Logan..."

"Yeah, look at him. If you do more, the teachers will start asking questions."

"Grab him!" Logan ordered, and the two, with hesitant faces, did so.

They pulled Erik up by his arms and dragged him toward the wall. The young man coughed violently after being thrown against it. As he was pinned to the wall, Erik looked at the ground and saw a phone.

[DEVICE FOUND: LOGAN REID'S SMARTPHONE. DO YOU WANT TO CONNECT TO IT?]

Erik stared at the notification; he couldn't believe his eyes, even though he could have predicted a similar situation. That was Logan's phone. Countless thoughts started forming inside his mind; that was his opportunity.

<YES!> the young man thought.

[CONNECTION TO THE DEVICE: LOGAN REID'S SMARTPHONE, COMPLETE.]

Logan's phone's main screen appeared in the corner of Erik's vision. The young man smiled.

"What the hell are you smiling at, Freak?" Logan said while giving one last punch to his stomach.

"ACK!" Erik winced in pain. People looked at the scene as if they were watching a comedy show. They laughed and pointed at Erik, showing scorn and disdain toward the young man.

"Let's go, Logan!" Orson said, and the trio then left the corridor. Erik barely managed to get up, but once he did, he ran inside the bathroom, locking himself inside one of its stalls.

Once in, his body shook uncontrollably, partially losing the ability to breathe. He began coughing violently, spitting out blood and mucus. That was not all; Erik was dealing with a flood of emotions at the moment: anger, anxiety, and embarrassment. He hated Logan and decided to make him pay.

Once Erik finally calmed enough, he stood up and washed off the blood; the truth was that the Biological supercomputer was helping the young man regain his composure by injecting calming substances by synthesizing them from his blood.

Only after he cleaned his face and hands he realized how much damage Logan had done. He had a swollen face, and bruises formed on both sides of his cheeks. His abdomen was in pain, and he knew he couldn't sit properly anytime soon.

He sighed; this wasn't the first time something like that had happened to him, not every day, but it was still frequent.

This time, though, there was something different. He was connected to Logan's phone and was bound to find something. The young man smirked, thinking about what he could do.

Erik left the bathroom and walked up the stairs until he reached the third floor. When he opened the classroom door, he saw it was still empty.

Sitting on the chair near the door, he heard someone coming inside. A few seconds later, Mr. O'Leary came into the room carrying a cup of coffee.

The old man placed it on the desk next to the blackboard. He then observed Erik and noticed how he was full of injuries.

"What happened to you, young man?" O'Leary asked.

"I tripped..."

The teacher didn't reply, he knew that the young man was getting bullied, but he didn't care. Erik wasn't valuable enough to try and stop the situation.

The student didn't care because he would make Logan pay anyway. Erik wanted to check if he was still connected to the bully's phone and willed the biological supercomputer to show him the main screen. Luckily, the connection was still on.

<Looks like the connection is on> The young man wondered how far the connection would last, but it wasn't essential for him since he was going to use the power right then.

The young man searched through Logan's phone. Initially, he didn't find anything useful, just some stupid text he sent to his friends and conversations about girls, in particular about one called Amber, but it was then that he finally found something.

In Logan's gallery, there was a video of a fire. It wasn't a simple fire, but it was placed inside a school bathroom. The fire clearly made the bathroom unusable, and there were damages for several new dollars. The school knew a student had started the fire but didn't know who to blame.

Erik went to properties, then to share, and lastly to all. He controlled Logan's phone through his interface; apparently, the young man couldn't see anything. Erik was still alone inside his classroom but would have heard several phones ringing if he had been elsewhere. They all received the video, teachers included.

Logan then received a text message:

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Orson: Bro, what the hell are you doing?

Logan: What do you mean?

Orson: Bro, you just shared the video we did in the bathroom.

Logan: No way, man.

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Logan went to check, and his phone did actually send the video to multiple people. Dread filled the young man; this would indeed create problems at home.

"What the fuck?!"