Bully Beatdown (Part 1)

It was early in the morning at Novis University. Zac was running through the hallways of the business building, seeing Sophia and Victoria in the distance, about to enter their classroom.

"Oh, hey! Have you seen Dante around!?" the redhead asked with urgency.

"Huh? You are talking to us now?" Victoria replied sarcastically, clearly bothered by Zac's attitude the past few days.

'Right. I've been avoiding them for a week…' he thought, lowering his head with repentance.

"He should be in the courtyard…" said Sophia with a gentle tone.

"Thanks. I- I'll see you guys later!" the redhead exclaimed, hastily running away from the pair.

When he left the building, he quickly scanned his surroundings, spotting the warlock reading a book on a bench by himself, prompting him to bolt towards him.

"Dante…!" he said, breathing heavily after running through half the campus.

"What's up, Zac?" the warlock greeted him. "Why do you look so tired?" he asked.

*huff, huff* "I was looking for you all over the place…" Zac replied in between breaths.

"I mean—I'm always around this area…" Dante casually said.

"Right, yeah, of course—Why didn't I think of that…?" the redhead muttered, making the warlock chuckle.

"Look… I'm sorry. I've been ignoring you for the past week. It's just that I-..." Zac stopped himself, feeling embarrassed of the reason for his cold demeanor.

"You wanna play games?" interrupted the warlock, pulling out his BeamDeck from a small backpack.

Zac bit his lips, slightly frustrated, but he knew that Dante was trying to cheer him up. "Yes, anytime!" he replied.

After spending a little over an hour playing games, they met with Sophia and Victoria, who had finished their lessons for the day.

"Miss Sophia, Miss Victoria. I'm sorry for ignoring you the past week!" Zac loudly said to the girls, bowing his head politely.

"Hmph! I don't know… Are you?" Victoria replied, crossing her hands and scoffing.

However, Dante could read the positive energy flowing from the girl, confusing him as to why she was acting like she was angry.

Noticing that Zac took her comment to heart, Victoria quickly spoke up to clarify.

*Ahem* "Well, since you ignored me for a week, then you have to help me with my stats homework for one week—it's only fair!" she exclaimed while slightly blushing.

*Pfft* Dante chuckled, discovering Victoria's motivation for her acting. Still, Zac's eyes sparkled as he wholeheartedly accepted.

Suddenly, the lighthearted and friendly atmosphere was broken for Dante, who felt a harmful surge of umbra directed in his direction.

The warlock looked around, momentarily ignoring his group's conversation, and saw Turner staring his way, surrounded by his lackeys.

'That's not envy… That's harmful intent,' Dante thought, wondering if the bully's aggression was directed at him.

"Alright, I gotta go home and work on my essay. See you tomorrow!" Victoria said, hastily leaving the courtyard.

"I still have one more class. Let's play online later tonight, Dante," commented Zac as he waved goodbye to them.

When the warlock made his way back to the apartments with Sophia, the blonde noticed he was a little too quiet since they left the campus.

"Something on your mind?" Sophia asked, halting her steps.

"Actually… Yes, I forgot something. I gotta go back," Dante replied, quickly turning around and bolting back to the university.

"Wha-...?" the woman muttered to herself, watching the warlock running faster than the cars on the streets next to them.

'I get it now. That harmful umbra wasn't directed at me—that's why I can't feel it this far away from the campus!' thought Dante, skillfully avoiding the other pedestrians on his way.

When he felt the harmful intent, he thought that whoever wanted to hurt him would follow him home. However, once he stopped sensing the umbra, he realized it was not directed towards him.

As soon as he reached the campus, his eyes sharpened while he inspected his surroundings, looking slightly up into the sky and seeing the harmful umbra hundreds of meters away from him.

Noticing that plenty of students were walking around, he knew he couldn't use a spell to reach the area quickly, so Dante kept sprinting along the courtyards of the university until he reached a small alley next to an empty parking lot.

Zac sat on the ground with his back against the wall—blood dripping down from his forehead down to his chin.

His glasses were shattered next to him, and there were splatters of blood spread around the alley, making the warlock understand that he had been struck numerous times.

Still, Dante's rage only got more prominent when he saw Zac's BeamDeck on the ground, with its screen shattered and stained with his blood. 

Turner had one foot on top of Zac's shoulder, smirking proudly, while three of his lackeys laughed behind him.

"Hah, Turner, look who's here!?" said one of the men.

"Aww, did he come to pick up his friend?" another commented, but Dante wasn't listening to any of their comments.

"I told him he would accompany his mother if he ignored me—think of this as a warning," said Turner, gazing at the warlock.

However, when his eyes made contact, Turner suddenly felt an incredible pressure around his body, making him freeze and tremble for a moment.

"Hahaha! I think he is mad," one of the lackeys said.

"What's wrong? Too scared to speak?"

"Let's just show him a lesson!"

The three men rushed towards Dante with their fists raised, but the warlock didn't react to their advances as he slowly walked forward.

Catching the first punch, Dante squeezed the man's hand and shattered his bones all the way to their shoulder before kicking him to the side.

The second man went for a hook, making Dante slightly move his neck back to avoid it, grabbing the man's arm, breaking it with one squeeze, and throwing him to the side like a ragdoll.

The third lackey hesitated, so Dante made the first move for him and kicked him in the face, making him spit out a few teeth before falling unconscious with the last pair.

*Tch!* "Do you even know what you are doing? Huh!?" Turner exclaimed with a mix of fear and anger.

Nevertheless, Dante kept ignoring him as he caught up to his friend, inspecting his wounds closer.

He could see small traces of glass stuck to his forehead, so he deduced that the bullies had cracked his skull open with his own BeamDeck, increasing the menacing pressure emanating from the warlock's body.