Sparring
Time was running out, and before they knew it, the watch on their wrists rang and vibrated, signifying there was only 15 minutes left before class start.
The two boys' showered to wash away the unpleasant smell from yesterday, and grabbed a pair of new clothes each before they hurriedly rushed out from the dorm room and headed towards the hyperloop.
On the way, Lachlan didn't forget to cover his watch with the sleeve on his shirt. Though this time, he held a hand firmly over it to prevent it from slipping. He didn't want what happened before to happen, so even if someone bumped into him this time, he'd keep the watch number obscured.
Oliver, who was walking to him, had a face that paled and twitched occasionally. If one looked closer, one could see the troubling pain he was in.
Luckily, not many students looked his way, only occasionally giving him glances of curiosity from how he looked and walked. After all, his face was completely drained of color, and beads of sweat ran down his forehead— even though the weather wasn't that humid with the appearance of the thunderous clouds and rain.
His eyes also had bags under them, and his posture was slightly hunched— making him almost trip on his feet as he walked.
There was also no longer any gazes of lust from the girls, nor any looks of envy from the boys. Only curiosity and mocking glares from the surroundings— though that only lasted shortly till they saw his watch, which prompted them to look away in fright.
Oliver didn't mind the looks thrown his way, but a knot of bitterness did form in his heart over time.
Though he simply shrugged it off and kept his head held high.
After arriving at school, Oliver and Lachlan split up.
Oliver headed towards the main building where his class was situated, while Lachlan headed towards the faraway pitch-black edifice that laid at the cloudy horizon.
Lachlan headed there because today was when his class was going to have sparring training!
Even though he was on his way to sparring, he didn't show concern on his face.
His mind was preoccupied with the plan he and Oliver had come up with beforehand.
Oliver had cultural classes in the morning and wasn't able to move around a lot because of his adverse condition, which meant he wasn't gonna be able to actively search for the girl. Luckily, Lachlan came up with an idea, which he was slightly hesitant in sharing at first, but knowing it was the only inkling of an idea he could come up with at the time, he decided to share it.
His plan was to get injured during a spar, and not just injured, but badly wounded— to the point of where he'd bleed unceasingly. If the injury wasn't significant enough, a trip to the infirmary wouldn't be warranted.
Then, after Lachlan had been sent out by the Instructor, he'd hurry to the infirmary where he'd get himself healed and then scurry off to the other buildings in search of the girl.
The plan wasn't foolproof, neither was it calculated, but it was the only thing he could come up with in the short amount of time he had. It was initially met with reluctance from Oliver, but after some persuasion and assurance he wouldn't get too hurt, it was agreed upon.
As Lachlan was thinking about the plan he devised, he suddenly felt a rush of wind coming towards him from the side.
He didn't have time to think about where the wind came from, but in that split-second, as he felt the wind graze his skin, he reacted almost instinctively as he leaned backwards and spun on his heel, narrowly avoiding the gush of wind.
When the gush of wind was no longer a threat, and he looked at what had caused the rush of wind— he saw a sizeable pebble flying in the sky.
The pebble flew till it finally hit the ground, bounced a little, and then came to a stop.
Suddenly, a feminine voice shouted, "What the hell!" from the direction the pebble flew in from.
Lachlan looked towards the direction of the voice and saw a group of three students looking at him weirdly— almost like they were stunned at what they had just seen.
Realizing what had happened, that is was most likely just an attempt at bullying, Lachlan redirected his eyesight forwards as he simply kept walking towards the edifice, not paying them any further attention.
Noticing Lachlan walk off, the girl who was at the front of the trio, who had thrown the pebble, shouted with a tinge of anger, "Just you wait, you fucking cripple, I have plenty of more rocks to throw!" as she leaned forwards and bore her glare into Lachlan's departing back.
Lachlan ignored the angry shouts from the girl and continued walking.
Seeing she was getting ignored, the girl, whose name was Melissa, felt an anger boil within her heart.
She instantly started manifesting a whirlwind in her hand but just as she was getting ready to shoot it.
The boy next to her hurriedly interjected in a shout, "Melissa, wait!"
"We'll get to beat him up as much as we want in the spar; let's not ruin our prey before he's stuck in the cage…" he added as an evil grin formed upon his face.
Hearing the suggestion, Melissa lowered her hand and responded, "Fine, but I better be first; nothing would make me happier than ridding the world of those roaches that do nothing more than feast on what we, the ability wielders, have created and earned through decades of hard work and war!" with a passionate tone.
Lachlan was oblivious to what was being said between the trio behind him, and before long, he was at the fringe of the edifice.
As he entered and made his way into one of the partitioned training rooms in the edifice, he was met with the same lineup from before. The students stood upright like arrows, with beaming eyes, looking ready for war, with only some having hunched backs and dismal expressions on their faces.
It was apparent who housed what expression. The elated faces came from the top ability-wielders, while the forlorn and dejected ones came from the bottom.
"Get in line!" yelled Instructor Gamal from the side.
Hearing Gamal's booming voice, Lachlan hurriedly shuffled into the line.
And as he did, the same trio from before entered the training room, getting in line as well.
Though before they did, they looked at Lachlan with eerie smiles and starry eyes.
In truth, It wasn't only them. The other students in the line were also like magnets whose eyes were attracted to Lachlan. Their eyes bored into him, and Lachlan could almost feel a whiff of killing intent emanating from their stares— if there even existed such a thing.
Luckily, before the stares could continue any longer, Instructor Gamal shouted, "Eyes front," which prompted everyone's gazes to return to the front.
"Today, we'll be conducting sparring…" said Gamal as he walked adjacent to the lineup of students, "Many of you might think sparring is fun," he asserted, as he stroked his white beard.
"But it's not supposed to be," he uttered with a low and serious tone.
"Sparring is meant to train you for tomorrow, for the endless possibilities of what might happen. Who knows, maybe we'll be attacked by a high-leveled magical beast tomorrow— or worse, be besieged by an armada of Vulkors who will reign fire upon this planet till we all lay dead!" he roared, with a glint of viciousness flashing in his eye, like he had gone through something alike it before.
Instantly, the atmosphere between the students, which had been very upbeat, turned solemn in seconds as the Instructor's words lingered in the air.