Fierce Competition
"I said RUN! GOD DAMN IT, SPEED UP!"
No matter what he said, my legs were still filled with lactic acid, burning like hell with my lungs in the fiery pits right next to them. I just couldn't do it. Couldn't run any faster. I wanted to see myself as something greater than I was, like a hero I had seen on TV; I had awakened; why was I different from them? Could I really do nothing just because of the rank that I had gotten by luck?
It seemed so. That this was my limit, that I wouldn't go any faster.
"ALRIGHT, SHITHEADS! Since some of y'all care not to run all that fast, it seems that running might not be the best way to get you losers to work hard! Everyone, 100 pushups! NOW! And remember, I will be happy to help anyone go down the proper amount by shoving my boot in their ass and pushing them down, so GO ALL THE WAY DOWN! I DON'T WANT SISSY PUSHUPS!"
"Come on, can't an E-Rank do a least a little better than that? That whole hour was your goddamn fault, shithead!"
Fighting amongst students outside class was standard at Shoshone as many students were older than 21 and considered adults, so teachers felt it was wrong to intervene. Even in conflicts of differing rank.
"Lucas, I can't do anything about being an E-Ranker; just leave me alone! Just because you're a higher rank than me doesn't mean you can just do whatever you want."
"That is the specific reason I can do whatever I want. What the hell are you talking about?"
"You always do this! You can't assault people just because they're weaker than you!"
"Oh, my bad! I hadn't realized! My mistake. But just to be sure, why don't we test that theory?"
He rushed at me, and I tried to dodge him while remaining close to him so I could use my ability, but I still ended up with a hardened fist in my stomach.
Although Sirus fell onto my back, once he landed, he sent out a counterattack of wire, trying to use it to tie Lucas' forearm in a bent position against his bicep.
"How many times are you going to try that? Your wire is too weak for a higher rank body strengthening skill, so why try?"
Despite putting all his mana into keeping the wire tied, Lucas pulled it off with free hand.
Sirus collapsed into the ground behind him, no longer resisting, knowing what was about to happen.
". . . ,"
"You fought back more than usual today; you might have gotten me if I wasn't better than you."
Lucas kneeled over Sirus, putting his knees on either side of his stomach.
He then grabbed Sirus' shirt and used the leverage to slap him repeatedly.
Sirus reached out with his string, grabbing his ankles, pulling Lucas' kneeling legs from under him, and kicking him to push him farther away. With a bit more distance between us, Sirus managed to get up and run away.
Only for the ground to shift, leading me to fall once again.
A friend of Lucas', a member of his friend group. Ethan Brand. A fellow E-rank, and his ability was Earth Control.
His ability lacked strength, focusing more on versatility, which in terms of abilities, usually had an inverse relationship.
"How many fingers are you gonna break this time?"
"At least half."
"Half? Bit more than usual, ain't it?
"He kicked me right in the face, you know? He should know his place by now; his dumbass skill is only useful for puppet shows. I mean, even the name, string manipulation, is so lame. What will you say when you kill a monster or save someone? "Never fear! String guy is here!" Like what a loser ability."
". . ." I knew my ability sucked, and it's not like saying something now would do anything.
They always did the same things for the same reasons. Being an E-rank, Sirus was the least physically fit in the close combat class and was always much slower than the rest of the group. That would've been fine, but the instructor punished the students as a group, and it was clear to the other students who was usually at fault for their punishment.
So Sirus just let it happen, getting attacked. Regardless of the reason, he was the slowest.
The past few months were a bittersweet experience between getting stronger and social isolation. But getting stronger didn't matter much when everyone else got much stronger, much faster.
Lucas grabbed one of my fingers in his fist, then used his other hand to hold my palm in place, slowly using the leverage to snap my finger back. Bantering as he did it.
"That's one! Let's see if you can do better than last time; if you don't scream when I break the 6th finger, I won't break a seventh!"
"How charitable!"
"I know, right? I'm sure he's grateful for our generosity but is too shy to speak about it."
". . ."
Sirus had decided a month into his time at the school that the best course was to grin and bear it. He had tried to be more sociable with the other students in his class, but it never worked. There was a complete in-group out-group caste set, and he couldn't escape it. He had a close combat-type ability that functioned like support. It didn't compare well to a more direct ability like body hardening.
"Well damn. I guess he didn't scream. He can manage six, then. If he can manage it, what kind of lesson is he learning? Let's break the rest, then ensure the previous six were broken."
The color drained from Sirus' eyes as Lucas said that. He had learned by then that screaming wouldn't help, so he would stifle the screams. But this was the first time he had completely stopped himself from screaming. He finally succeeded in his own sad goal, but it was blown apart.
Although the grades weren't directly important to passing, they were still important in how students were ranked and treated within the school. The margins in which Sirus passed physical education and sparring were razor thin. He was at the top of his class in monster knowledge, miasma knowledge, and theory, but all those are secondary in a fight. In those classes he was treated better, but still poorly. Like a gamer with terrible skills and pay-to-win weapons.
As such, he couldn't afford to miss classes because he needed time to heal. Awakeners could focus mana into their bodies to rapidly increase the healing rate, making a broken arm last a few days. For Sirus, that was still too much time. He couldn't fight with the injuries he received from Lucas or any other fellow students.
Therefore, he always ended up at the healer's office. Awakeners with rear support classes often had healing-related abilities and were often hired at places like Shoshone. Hospitals also hired them, but this was rare as if someone with no ability or experience was healed with mana, they may be injured further. Awakener hospitals existed for heroes and the very wealthy. People without abilities could be healed with mana, which often worked better than traditional medicine. However, it was a slow and arduous process and, therefore, costly.
But in the cases of awakeners, healers were extremely useful and well-liked. Unfortunately for Sirus, his situation was different than most other awakeners. The healer at Shoshone was not a direct part of the education. As such, being healed was an added expense each time it happened; for Sirus, that was extraordinarily often.
After being tormented by the duo, Sirus fell unconscious and was brought to the infirmary.
"Are you finally awake? You were asleep longer than usual."
"...Yeah. Nothing worse than usual."
"Do I have your consent to heal you?"
She was required to ask as she would charge Sirus for the healing, and it wouldn't be right to heal someone without them asking and then charge them unless it was life-threatening. As soon as Sirus nodded, a green light sparkled around his hands, his fingers gradually snapping back into place. Despite the constant cost, Sirus enjoyed being healed. The energy coursing through him was similar to what it felt like when he got stronger, and it always made him happy.
"Thank you so much, Mrs. Bouvier."
"I know its not my job as a healer to get into students' business, but you come in here more than anyone, and it's concerning. Usually, when this sort of thing happened in the past, it was intentional action by another student. Are you sure you're alright?"
"I'm fine. Thank you for asking, but the school year is almost over, so it doesn't matter much anyways."
"You do know why that's a bad answer!"
She slapped Sirus upside the back of the head.
"You need to look out for yourself more often. Now scram. If you're not going to talk, you might as well go out and learn how not to get your ass kicked so often."
Sirus smiled at the commentary of the healer. She was one of the few people he felt was a genuinely good person who didn't care about his rank. It was random, but he felt like her awakening a healing skill was meant to happen. But without too many more words exchanged, Sirus left, wanting to make the final preparations for his final exam.