First Defense

"Reformation Division? What's that?" Someone murmured in class.

"It's supposed to be subdivision of the education department. They handle delinquent and violent students, like Cody." Another student replied in class.

"Reformation Division huh." Adrian murmured as he shook his head. Memories from a few months ago flowed into his mind. "They are a really unreliable bunch." He thought to himself.

---

The time to the challenge for the foritification potions was nearing its end in a few days. The rush to battles against each other had increased feverishly, but none were as violent as those involving Cody.

Near the end of the school day, Cody had returned to class as if everything was normal. People looked at the scene in confusion, but Adrian understood what had happened.

"Reformation Division is really the brainwashing division." He thought to himself internally. Adrian had no good feelings for this group of people and for the government in general, but with no ability of his own he had little possibility of protesting.

When people thought that class for the day was about to end, Cody walked towards another of the third grade classes towards a strength type ability user.

"I want to challenge you to a battle." Cody said calmly amd coldly, a behavior that was quite alien to his behavior in the past few days.

The person who was challenged was momentarily stunned, but before he could reply a Hand stopped him. It was Cran, the member of the student council.

"What are you doing here?" Cran asked Cody with serious eyes.

"As you can see, I'm challenging this guy here." Cody replied, almost mechanically. His eyes emotionless.

Cran frowned. After the Reformation Division took over, the student council amd school administrators had been asked to leave. He only learned that the matter had been handled, but he didn't expect that this blue haired brat had been allowed back in like normal. He was confused, but at the same time, he couldn't go against the government's and school's decision.

After hearing Cody's reply, Cran backed his hand away and shrugged. The guy who was challenged had no choice but to accept the battle.

The match was a foregone conclusion. Cody won easily. Cran, who went to observe the match was frowning even more. "Cody's ability grade seems to have improved dramatically. With two concurrent abilities, his talent is extremely valuable and it seems the school went easy on him. However, his crazy unsettling behavior seems to have calmed down." He analyzed carefully.

At the same time, the forums of the school were abuzz.

"Student Council President Lear and Vice President Janice opt out of competition for Fortification Potions."

"Lear - Janice and I can procure the potions directly. We do not wish to halt the possibility for others to improve their ability grades."

Another post in the forums listed the current front runners for the fortification potions.

1. Cran

2. Trix

3. Wheeler

4. Cody

5. Miyo

"Cody and Miyo actually have a chance to fight for the fortification potions!"

"Say, who do you think will win between Cran and Cody? I saw them have a face off earlier."

---

As Adrian was leaving class after his cleaning duty for the day, he found three people waiting for him in the empty corridor. Adrian sighed helplessly, it was Cody's three lackeys.

"Hey brat, seems like you thought we forgot about you, huh?" One of the lackeys mocked.

Adrian didn't reply. He just quietly waited for the three to begin their routine.

"Oh, look at this guy! He seems to think replying to us is beneath him, huh?"

"A few punches should bring him back to his whimpering self, hahaha."

Soon, the three pounced on Adrian, punches and kicks smashing towards him in a hurry. However, Adrian's eyes glinted. He saw that the punches were strong, much stronger than his sparring partner's in the training center, but the technique was full of flaws and amateurish even for Adrian who had recently begun practicing.

Intuitively, Adrian adjusted his body to enter a defensive posture and dodged the punches, using his elbow to slam into the faces of the the three lackeys, throwing short but quick jabs into their faces. The sudden retaliation stunned the three lackeys who jumped back and looked at Adrian with surprise. Two of them had a bloody lip and one received a generous punch in his eye.

Adrian himself, was clenching and unclenching his fist. Even if he was superior in technique, their fortified bodies were hard to punch and his fists hurt. The three lackeys fumed in anger and used their ability to slam into Adrian with a lariat, causing him to fall down onto the floor. Then they began kicking him repeatedly, while Adrian kept squirming to avoid most of the damage to his vitals.

The three lackeys tired after the beating, spat at Adrian and ran away fuming. Adrian wiped the spit from his face and got up. A victorious smile on his face. His stronger body, he realized allowed him to tank most of the hits and even allowed him to retaliate against the three ability users.

Struggling to get up, Adrian felt the heavy pain coursing through his body, but the smile on his face did not disappear. He limped his way towards the infirmary.

The nurse, who was about to leave, saw Adrian walking towards the infirmary with surprise. "Did that blue haired brat target you again?" She asked with seriousness.

Adrian shook his head. "No. His lackeys."

The nurse led him to a bed, and administered a healing potion to him. "Your injuries seem less severe than before. They went easy on you, huh?"

"No, they didn't. This time, I retaliated." Adrian replied smugly.

The nurse shook her head. "Boy, don't forget that you are still without an ability. An unawakened 'cripple'. Fighting back in this manner will only incite their wrath and cause them to use their abilities uncontrollably."

Adrian shook his head. "Ability or not, I can't let them run over me everytime. If they target me, I want them to know that they will not escape trying to bully me unscathed. As for being beaten, is there any difference? They targetted me even more when I didn't fight back."

"Just be careful of that blue haired boy. I observed him in the conference room today." The nurse said with a strangely gloomy look. "There's something wrong with his head."

"I heard the Reformation Division came to deal with him? They must have brainwashed him right?" Adrian asked quizzically.

"Well..." The nurse shrugged. "I wouldn't call in brainwashing..."

"Mind alteration then." Adrian shrugged in his sleeping position.

"Yes. That they did. But you should still be wary of that kid. His eyes had a craziness in them I have only seen in criminals." The nurse warned.