WHAT A...A...UM...YEAH, WHAT HE SAID

The healers were finally able to heal him just enough to take him to the school hospital. I had to literally drag Alex away from the boy to allow the nurses to move him. He tried fighting me, but I eventually calmed him.

"Please stay alive," Alex cried as he watched his friend carried out of the dining.

General Zard showed up later and investigations began as soon as everyone was ordered back to their rooms.

***

"Do you have any idea what happened?" I asked Arnold once we had changed to a more comfortable wear back in our room. It was by now around eight, so nothing much we could do but talk.

"Unfortunately no. Though I did hear he was a boy from one East. But whoever did this had to be somebody who knew him, right?"

"Not necessarily, but I think I may have a lead on that now that you mentioned it," I raised from my bed and moved towards the door.

"You can't. We're all under lock down. Or do you really don't care about a punishment. I've heard rumours about washing all the halls being one. And don't get me started on doing patrols with the principal, you'll never have that much stamina," Arnold shook his head, as if recalling some unpleasant memories.

"So... you in?"

"Just say you're bored. Do I have a say in this?"

"Nope. For reasons I not going to mention, my speed ability is gone. Hurry up, chump. People's a waiting,"

He maybe right, I am bored. But the way Alex cried for his friend... let's just say, I'm going to find the culprit.

"I can't believe you see me as your ride," Arnold grumbled but rose up nonetheless.

We flew through the halls thanks to Arnold's ability, hoping to find Alex near the school medical centre and luckily, he was just outside on a bench. I guess the general allowed him to stay seeing that he was his friend.

I took a good look around to search for anyone around and spotted another first year walking towards Alex. Thankfully, due to Arnold's power, we were out of range for both of them to detect us.

He sat down next to Alex and passed him a note. After reading it, Alex looked even more paler than before but the messenger didn't seem bothered by it and just took the message back and burnt it to ash.

He then left the premises with him too on the lookout for anyone. I stared back at Arnold and we both nodded our heads in agreement. He placed me on an opposite end of the hall and went to track down the messenger.

I carefully approached Alex until I was only a few metres away. He didn't seem to notice me so maybe whatever the contents of the letter were, spooked him to a point of dulling his senses.

As I finally took a sit next to him, he was still clearly out of it, but I took this moment to appraise him.

***

<*Alex Hound LVL(5)*>

<*Title:—* >

<*Race: Half-wizard*>

<*Health:{100 100}*>

<*Ability: Necromancer{Beginner}*>

<*Mana:{200 250}*>

<*Strength: 10*>

<*Agility: 30*>

<*Defense: 10*>

<*Speed: 20*>

<*Mind: 40*>

***

Half-wizard? Never heard of that one before. But that does make sense in a way since not just anyone can use the kind of magic he can.

I slowly poked him in the ribs which automatically made him flinch in pain but otherwise brought him back to the land of the living.

"Ouch! Why dude–" he stopped when he noticed it was me.

"You alright?" I asked.

He turned back to the floor and just stayed silent. Suddenly, droplets of tears began falling to the floor. In these moments, there is only one thing I could do, and that was to offer a shoulder to cry on.

I positioned him into a more comfortable space and allowed him to lean on me. With that gesture alone, it was like a dam had broke. He cried till he had no more tears to spend and just whimpered trying to control himself.

"Hey, bro. I'm sure the healers can save his life. Have some faith in them," I tried comforting him.

"It's not that I'm worried about. Ever since he was little, Jay wanted to be a explorer. He studied hard and trained even harder just to accomplish his goal but now... now he might loose his dream because of me!" Arnold answered as he placed his hands on his face.

Now I understand why he was so devastated. This Jay fellow might possibly be paralyzed from neck downwards due to the injury he suffered, effectively killing his dream of adventure. Arnold must be really beating himself up with this, but I know he's not to blame.

"If I may ask, do you have any idea who could have done this?" I asked Alex when he had finally calmed down again.

"I wish I knew. But as I told the general, I have no idea," he answered dejectedly.

***

<He's lying>

[Well, obviously. Now I have a prime suspect of who did this. What are the chances that it's Alex's master as the skeleton had said?]

<Probably 90%>

[Guessed as much. So he still doesn't trust me enough to tell me what's going on?]

<I'm not so sure about that. Rather than trusting you enough, I think he likes much that doesn't feel the need to trouble with his issues.>

[Well unfortunately for him, I'm already fully invested in this crime. No one makes my friend cry and gets away with it]

***

"Are you one of the patients' friends?" a nurse with the tag 'Mabel' printed on it asked once she walked out of the room.

"Yes. Can we see him?" Alex asked hopefully.

"Actually yes. But the patient insisted he would first of all like to speak to someone called Max. Is that any one of you?"

We both looked surprised but Alex nodded his head in confirmation and allowed me to go first.

I felt really bad for ruining their reunion but I guess we have to follow the patient wishes. When I go in there, I'm going to give this guy a piece of my mind just because.

"Now listen here–" I began my outburst the second I opened the doors and planned the most hurtful insults I could come up with but all the adrenaline died down the second I saw Jay in that state.

That bone must have done a number on him, cause the amount of metal that was attached to him just to hold him in place was just inhumane. He looked like a half-human half-robot with the way they were attached.

I slowly approach the left side of the bed while observing all the machines attached to him. With the way he was looking at me in pain, I could tell the the pain killers were wearing off.

"You look even more awesome now that you are up close," he began speaking. Looks like he can still speak normally, though monotonic.

"Eh? Where did that come fro–no wait, more importantly, how did you even know I'd be here?"

"With what Alex told me about you, I could pretty much guess you'd want to find out who did this to me. It does also help that I have impeccable hearing," he answered slyly.

"Wanna explain why you just stood up your friend to talk to someone you barely know?"

"I have my reasons. More importantly, you know as well as I do that our friend is blaming himself because of what happened. And before you ask, no, I am not paralyzed as you might have suspected. But tell Alex I am, that might actually give him the courage to speak to you,"

Now I'm even more curious to know who this guy really is to Alex.

"I bet your wondering who I am to Alex,"

"How did you–"

"I can read people's faces and guess what they want to know. Now shut up and let me explain,"

Cocky little bastard, isn't he? I'll ignore that little comment of his for now.

"Alright, make it quick. I'm sure Alex would love to hear about your fake paralysis,"

"I did say shut up, didn't I? And leave the sarcasm to me, pretty boy. Where was I? Ah, yes. As you clearly have eyes, you'd have already guessed that I'm a bit older that Alex. You could say I'm more like his big brother rather than friend."

"We both grew up in a large town on Planet Brix, near the Elven galaxy. But where I was living a normal life with my middle class parents, I later came to learn that it wasn't the same case with Alex."

"The first time I saw him, he had this gloomy expression that always chased away many people. I obviously got curious and eventually chose to befriend him. At first, he was cold towards me, trying to warn me that sticking with him would only scare away my friends, but I only wanted a genuine friendship."

"We began playing games until I finally convinced him that he could visit my home anytime he was free. As we progressed in our friendship, he looked even more happy than before but I kept noticing something was off about him."

"For starters, the boy would only be able to play with me for around an hour after school but no more than that. And each day he arrived, he had fresh bruises and cuts around his arms and legs that he always tried to cover up but I eventually saw them the day I walked in on him bathing at our house,"

I raised an eyebrow in question. These bruises and cuts, unless someone told me about them, I'd have never guessed they existed. On a more important note, Alex bathed in his house? I think I'm starting to get a good picture of this master of his.

"One day, as we were walking back to my house, he passed out right in front of me. I at first panicked, and carried him home to my mother who was a healer. Turns out he hadn't eaten for nearly three days so his body was lacking in energy."

"From then on, I told him if he was ever hungry, he's always welcomed at our home. Soon, he became part of our family and began looking happier than before until 'that guy' came for him one afternoon," he sounded disgusted.

"Can I know his name?" I asked calmly.

"That's for Alex to tell seeing that he made me swear never to tell anyone. Anyways, that useless b*tch tracked us to my house. It was something akin to jealousy cause I'm pretty sure he didn't like Alex looking happy."

"We were just enjoying a good afternoon, feasting what would probably be the last good meal Alex would ever have, when the dude walked in on us. My parents were out of town on urgent business so no one was there to protect us from his wrath,"

"He released ten undead soilders on us where five held me down and forced me to watch in horror as he beat Alex to a bloody mess. All the while, screaming in anger, saying that he had no right to be happy while serving him and bullc*rap like that. Wanna know the worst part? He had tears of joy while beating the crap out of Alex,"

"When Alex passes out in shock, he was barely eight mind you, he warned me to stay away from his slave or there would be consequences. He used his undead to carry Alex away and the only thing I could do was glare at him in hatred," he inhaled sharply and waited patiently for me to take in all that information.

"From then on, I've only seen Alex in school but never once has he tried coming back to my home, even with my persistence. I guess it was his own way of protecting me from that monster. Now you understand the gravity of the situation, right?"

I kept silent and complied my thoughts and emotions. I felt enraged by what I heard but calmed down knowing it was not the time yet. With the trauma Alex has experienced, it's a miracle he can still smile. No wonder the boy wouldn't speak about this.

"You confronted the bully, threatened him maybe, and let's just say the bone was the least of your problems, wasn't it?"

Jay nodded his head to confirm my suspicions. He looked like a huge weight had just been lifted off his shoulders.

"Talk to your friend, I believe I have something to take care of. And FYI, tell the boy you'll be ok, no need for him to suffer more than he already has," I left him smiling, as if he was guessing what I was going to do.

I passed Alex on the way out and nodded for him to go in. The hall was still empty but I knew Arnold was lurking around. I needed to hear what he found out, and enhance my plan accordingly. One thing that I'm completely certain of, is someone's going to die, and believe me, it's not the robo-kid in the medbay.

"Funny finding you here, Randoff," a voice spoke behind me. Oh no, that voice...

I turned slowly to face Principal Kelly while a cold sweat broke from my back. She was dressed in a well fitting red suit, with a smile that sent shivers down my spine. In her left arm, Arnold was squirming from a headlock which didn't seem to phase her one bit.

I couldn't sense her presence let alone Bradley. Just how powerful is a half-dragon?

"M–miss K-k-kelly, you look quite beautiful this fine evening," I stammered while backing away.

"Why, Thank you! Care to join me on my patrols? I'm sure you'll love them," she asked ever so politely, but I knew that wasn't a question, it was a command.

"Y-yes Ma'am," I answered in defeat while lowering my head in submission.