Chapter 17 - Why is everyone so ruthless…

…

*Sqeach* *sqeach*

In a training room, sounds of flesh being torn away could be heard.

A woman with long jet black hairs and red eyes could be seen unleashing a fury of attacks on a small boy. He had somewhat long hairs tied behind his back and dark gray eyes.

Every time the women's wooden sword hit the little kid, he would try to defend with his arms. Is sword too heavy for him to parry with it.

Every time it hit, his arms would become mangled, crippled, hanging limply by only its flesh, his bones completely shattered.

But every time it did, his arm would back to place in a few seconds. The women didn't bat an eye the whole time.

"Teacher, could you go eas-" *Clang* Before he could finish, Rave, her teacher, she hit his sword.

"I know I can heal but,this is too m-" *Clang* I already regret this…

..

On my way back, I bumped into my swordsmanship teacher, Rave. She was in her training clothes, probably practicing as to not get rusty.

"'Teacher, can you train with me? If it's not too much asked'"

She looked at me for a few moments before slightly nodding. We then headed toward the general practicing facility, there were a lot more equipment for training.

There were very few students working at this hour of the day, mostly power hungry maniacs.

We headed toward the rooms only allowed to teachers and academy personnel.

Before I could make head's of it, I got hit by a wooden sword she had thrown at me from a rack. Trying to take a hold on it, she attacked me without mercy..

After a few exchanges, I could clearly see that she wasn't even warming up. So I told her not to worry about hurting me.

My teacher gave me an odd look as she tilted her head to the side and started attacking more seriously.

After she hit me violently on my arm, a huge blue appeared, she looked kind of worried but was surprised when it disappeared after a few seconds.

"'I can heal lost limbs too. You can go harder.."' I would come to regret this…

..

"Waaa!" The boy cried as the woman casually pushed the sword he had tried to swing at her. After getting into close quarters range, she rammed me with her shoulder and threw me against the ground.

Before he could try to get up, he found a sword embed into the ground just next to his neck.

"You're dead. Again." She emotionlessly said, as if trying to taunt me..

"Can we go down a degree? I can't follow at all.."

"That's because you have no combat experience, and you're as weak as a goblin."

"Teacher.. you don't look like it but you sure have a sharp tongue"

I tried to stand up and pick up my wooden sword, I saw her mana surge into her limbs. Before I could react, she instantly appeared before me, in a position of throwing a fist…

…

I woke up on the ground, next to me was the red eyed teacher looking at me, more precisely my arm.

"That's a weird skill, your arm, it exploded but before I could give you an elixir, tendrils of flesh grew and reattached the missing arm." She looked interested.

"Teacher, were you testing if I was invincible or something?" I asked her, why does everyone in this academy look and acts so ruthlessly…

First Iris, now her, who should I expect next?

"You also can't feel pain, can you?" She asked.

"Yes, I don't."

"How convenient." Thats all she said before picking up her wooden sword, ready for the next round.

"…"

…

Morning, there was a commotion toward the dorm. Students were looking at a girl painted in red.

When Dante passed by, he recognized Sylph, her originally pure white hairs now a deep shade of red red…

No one dared to approach her, just as everyone was about to make way for her, a boy with long tied black hairs and red eyes made his way toward her.

"Good morning, Sylphie, are you alright? Why are you painted in res?" He smiled at her.

Sylph looked at him, thoughtful, then responded with, "Morning. Hunting."

No one could see it but, she was covered in bruises, cuts and internal wounds. She, however, didn't show any grimaces of pain.

"Nice, so you were farm- ahem, hunting monsters for their cores?" The boy coughed mid-sentence.

"Yes."

"Wow, cool, can I accompany you next time? I am too weak to even defeat a goblin, sadly.." the boy made a sarcastic sad face.

"Tch, what a loser." "How ca. You struggle against a goblin haha!" "He's trying to leach off her"

"Alright."

Everyone sneered in disdain toward him. But they were then shocked at how easily she accepted such a disadvantageous offer.

"Alright, good, I will see you later then" The boy leisurely walked away while waving at her.

On his way back, the boy's smile grew wider and creepier, as he headed toward the library.

…

In a library with countless shelves fully filled with books, a young boy could be seen wandering around. After some time, he headed toward the counter.

"Lady, would you mind telling me where I can find an encyclopedia for commonly seen monsters and creatures?" He asked the old woman behind the counter.

The attendant smiled at his subtle compliment, "Of course."

She then headed toward one of the many bookshelves and after a few seconds, came back with a huge book.

"You can read it as much as you like. People now days only prefer reading magic books, so no one ever read these.." She smiled sadly.

He just smiled sweetly and grabbed the book, "Thank you, kind lady." He of course didn't forget to thank her.

Dante, on his way back, smiled creepily. If before he looked like a sweet child, now he looked like devil's incarnate..

…

In his room, he opened the book in his hand, next to him was a map.

After opening the book, he looked for The Dark Woods. One of the closest forests to the academy after the old wood he and Sylph used to go.

It was now almost empty, the pale white monster having decimated its population.

…

In the Dark Woods forest, a crocodile like creature the size of an elephant was wondering the forest for food.

It was called Dark Woods because the bark of the trees were almost black and their leaves a dark green. It was a very bad idea to wonder its woods at night, as nothing was visible.

While wondering, it smelled the scent of blood. It started heading in the scent's direction.

After a while, it saw a small human corpse on the ground, the body had small cuts on its calves. Its stomach started growling and started putting the food in its mouth.

Crocodiles don't chew their food so,it directly swallowed the food and laid on its belly, slowly digesting.

However, after a few seconds, it felt pain in it stomach. A feeling of nausea instantly but, it was too late. A dagger pierced its entrails, quickly making its way toward what used to be its heart.

After a few seconds of struggle, it slowly went limp, its heart having stopped. A entail opened where his belly used to be as a boy with messy black hairs and red eyes left.

"Haaah. I can finally breathe." He exclaimed, a happy smile on his face.

"It sure is always a gamble, though. Had it decided to taste my tender meat.." His voice sounded anxious but, his smile told the opposite.

While butchering the monster, red runes appeared in front of him:

-

{Congratulations, you have obtained 1 data shard from an Evolved Giant Crocodile.}

{Current data shards in possession of this monster, 4/10}

-

After some butchering, he found a core like Sylph, but this time, instead of putting it in his mouth. He slightly cut an area of his belly and put it in, in it were 4 cores of the same type.

"How magnificent! What a shame you can't regenerate. Well you do have an amazing ability too hahaha!" He laughed…

…