Chapter 10: Punching Bag

A couple of hours passed and a new day was finally here. The sun was slowly rising as the alarms in the rooms of all the students of Aigis Academy began to ring.

These alarms were set by the academy to make sure that all the students got up by at least 6:00 AM and the students didn't have any access to changing the time on it or shutting it down.

After getting up, the students were required to get ready, have their breakfast, and be in class before 8:00 AM. 

There were strict punishments for arriving late for class, especially for the first two years so they all made sure to be in class on time.

Arsha made it a habit to arrive just seven minutes before class, and with the time being 7:53 AM now, he walked into class with his bag hanging over his shoulder.

His classmates seemed to be conversing normally among themselves but as soon as he walked in, some of them just stopped talking and the others lowered their voice as most of them stared at him. 

He could feel their gaze on him, and he was aware that most of them resented him, but he was already used to that kind of stuff to the extent that it no longer bothered him. 

Claudia was busy having a conversation with her roommate Jessica when he walked past her to get to his seat which was the last seat on the last roll where she also had her seat but hers was the fifth in the row. 

"Claudia."

That was the third time she called her, and she had to shake her this time to snap her out of her daze.

"Oh, sorry, Jess, I think I just spaced out for a moment." She responded before putting her hand on her forehead.

"You think?"

She had a question in her mind at that moment, but on second thought he decided to put it on hold for now.

While everyone was getting ready for the day's lessons, Arsha was on his seat gazing out the window with his left hand on his chin. 

The Academy required roommates to also sit together because they were eventually going to become teammates if they got along, and that was the reason why Jayden was just arriving at the seat beside him.

He wanted to say hi to his roommate, but on second thought, he decided against that and just sat down in his seat.

The second years had quite a big population despite losing a considerable number of students in their first year here.

They were just eighty-four at the moment and although that number wasn't really that big, they were considered huge because they were the first set to make it to the second year with that many students, although, the fact that they were the set with the most number of admitted students had a big role to play in that.

They had a staggering number of two hundred and sixty-four students as first years but most of them got wiped out when the school faced a mini beast invasion due to one of the crystal barriers suddenly breaking down.

It was a bloody massacre that day at the academy due to the top second and third-year students being away to take care of something.

The first years took the brunt force of the whole thing because most of them were quite weak, and that was how they were cut down from two hundred and sixty-four to just eighty-four, but still, other than the current first years, they had the highest population in the academy because there were only forty-three third year students.

They had to share one class because they were that small but the second-year students were divided into two classes, classes A and B, and Arsha was one of the students in Class B.

Being the only level five student in the B class, he was the strongest in the class.

Preston had to be put in Class A as the other level five student. The third ranked student was in B and the fourth ranked was in A. 

This was the order of placement for the students in each class and no one had a problem with it, no one except the friends or couple that wanted to be together.

As the strongest student in the class, Arsha was appointed by his homeroom teacher to be the class representative but he turned down the position.

Most of his classmates were glad that he did that because they didn't want him becoming their class representative and so the position was passed onto Claudia, she was only supposed to become the assistant but she got the main role instead.

Morning class came to an end after a couple of hours and with lunch break finally here, the students made their way to the cafeteria to grab their lunch.

While everyone was doing that, Arsha made his way to the vending machine in the hallway and slipped a coin into it.

It didn't take long before something dropped and he didn't hesitate.

"I think at this level I'll be able to take on a fully transformed third-stage Demon."

"Don't get too ahead of yourself buddy, the increase in strength when a Demon transforms is quite huge, I haven't faced any of them before but that's what the data book says."

That was a conversation between two third-year students who walked past him just as he was picking up his drink. 

"Hmm." He muttered before turning to the exit.

He was about to pull the tab and open his drink when he suddenly heard someone call him from behind.

"Hey, Arsha."

He clearly recognized that voice, but he still had to confirm and when he turned around, he found Claudia standing there with her arms crossed, she was in her jacket just as always.

"Oh, hey, you're still alive."

"Don't act like you didn't see me in class today." She snapped. 

He didn't reply to that, and instead pulled the tab on his drink allowing the fizzy sound to fill the hallway.

"Tell me, was it you?" Claudia asked out of nowhere.

"If you're going to ask me a question then be clear about it." He replied before he began to take down the drink.

"The one who sent Jessica that message, the message about where to find me yesterday." She clarified. 

"A message? And just why would I do that? I simply got bored and left after my punching bag unfortunately passed out from shock." He took the last sip from his drink at that moment before squashing the can into a thin piece of metal. "It's too bad that I couldn't enjoy that because you were standing in front of me."

"Punching bag?" That rubbed her the wrong way and it was obvious from the expression on her face that she was furious, but what could she actually do? "Of course, there's no way that could have been you."

"Precisely, but I am grateful to your mysterious savior for keeping my punching bag in good shape." He remarked.

The expression on his face didn't change but looking deeper, Claudia imagined a smug look on his face as he said that and that was pissing her off. 

Sparks of lightning were starting to become visible around her body now, and that was when Arsha decided that it was time to leave.

"If you're serious about a fight then maybe we should pay a visit to the arena." He said casually before turning to leave. "Well, later miss Representative, you can wait until we're at our usual spot before becoming my punching bag, your savior might not show up today. Miss third-ranked." He added that last part with a subtle condescending tone before walking out through the door.

Now that he was gone, Claudia let out a sigh before placing her hand on her right shoulder.

"I haven't even fully recovered."