No More Training, Please?

"Aughh I'm exhausted."

Ethan stretched his arms, and yawned, "I'm gonna go home and hit the sack."

James raised an eyebrow at Ethan's statement.

"We have to finish our math assignment. It's due in two days, remember?"

Ethan froze.

"LA LA LA LA I can't hear you!" Ethan covered his ears with his hands.

Lucian shook his head with a sigh.

"You'll probably come to me for help during lunch break or homeroom again."

"By the way, Lucian. Aren't you hungry? You didn't eat anything for lunch today?" James asked.

"Kind off… But I'll eat after I get home."

He pulled his thirst bar.

[THIRST: 33/50 (Gain one point in thirst every 30 minutes. WARNING: DO NOT LET THIRST REACH THE MAXIMUM VALUE)]

Lucian licked his lips while remembering the feast that he partook in yesterday.

It was far tastier than anything he ever had in his life.

A taste that he was already addicted to.

Ethan pulled his hands off of his ears and looked at Lucian with a hungry gaze.

"What're you having? From you're expression it's probably really good! Can I have some?"

"Of course, the only part of the conversation you cut out is the part about doing your work…" James sighed.

An amused smile formed on Lucian's mouth.

"This kind of meal requires a more 'specialized palette'. Trust me, you wouldn't like it much."

"Fine, then keep your food to yourself." Ethan playfully pouted.

*Creak*

Hearing the door open, Lucian turned his head to see Stella walking over to him.

He craned his neck back and flashed Ethan an evil smile.

"Oh Stella, guess who- UMMPHH!"

Lucian's mouth was promptly covered by Ethan, who was visibly perspiring.

Watching the two-act strangely, Stella tilted her head in confusion.

"Is something wrong?"

Ethan frantically shook his head.

"Nothing's wrong, we're just playing around! Hahaha, see we're really good friends."

"Yet, you sold him out without a second thought…" James quietly muttered to himself.

"I-I see…"

While Stella was confused about their behaviour, she decided to just ignore it.

She gestured at Lucian.

"Come on, let's get going. It's time for your daily training."

Lucian pulled himself free of Ethan's clutches and before anyone could react, he bolted through the door.

He knew it was futile, but he still wanted to try.

"I don't want to do training! Alecia, find me a cab quick!"

Using a small speaker he carried on him, he tried to contact the only help he could rely on.

Seeing a portal materialize before him, Lucian quickly backflipped, dodging Stella's grab.

Stepping out of the portal, Stella slowly approached Lucian with an amused smile.

"Did you really think I wouldn't expect that? You've been running away from training for years."

Lucian shrugged his shoulders.

"I still stand by my decision, I'd much rather go home and laze around. Whenever I train with you I just end up all beat up…"

Stella shook her head.

"Lucian, I hate to say this, since I personally hate it when people judge you purely based on your rank, but… Your ability is too weak. You need other ways to protect yourself if you ever wound up in danger when I'm not there. Hand-to-hand combat training might be the deciding factor between life and death in those moments. Also, your ability lets you heal faster, not using your ability to heal your muscles back stronger is a waste."

Lucian nodded his head.

"I understand that, but what kind of sane person would want to be beaten up one-sidedly every day?"

Hearing Lucian's counterargument, Stella watched Lucian, seemingly deep in thought.

"Okay then… Lucian, how do you feel about joining the training facility where I help out at? You could probably find people at your strength level to duke it out with."

"Hmm… What time does this run from?"

"It starts an hour after classes end at 5:30pm, and continues to around 7 pm. Roughly about 90 minutes a day."

Hearing Stella's proposal, Lucian nodded his head immediately.

He would do anything to not get beaten up by this gorilla woman!

"Good, I'll sign you up today, so you can start attending tomorrow."

"W-wait tomorrow?"

A bead of sweat trickled down Lucian's neck.

"Yup, it'll take at least a day for the processing to go through. Normally it takes a week or even months, but with my recommendation, it'll be far faster." Stella replied.

"Hehehe… By the way… I'm not feeling too good today… So I'll go home now. See you tomorrow!" Lucian said with an anxious tone.

Lucian tried to walk past Stella but was held back by the scruff of his shirt.

'Welp… I'm f*cked'

"Oya? Where are you going L-U-C-I-A-N? We only have one day left together, so let's go all out today!"

"NOOOOOOO! HEEEELP! I'M BEING KIDNAPPED!!!!"

Sadly none of the onlookers paid any attention to Lucian's plight.

In fact, they were eyeing him with jealousy if anything.