Hate
Master Arval bowed slightly, then left through the door at the very bottom of the amphitheater.
At the same time, all the students stood up and began discussing the class they had just attended.
"I can't get over it!"
"I feel like I didn't attend a class but watched a movie the whole time!"
"Master Arval is so good at talking!"
"I didn't let my attention wander for a second."
"Can't wait a month from now, this class was just too awesome."
...
Adam and Erwan also left the room while talking.
"So what did you think?" asked Erwan of Adam.
"It was definitely too good, what about you?"
"Mmmh it was pretty good."
Adam laughed aloud.
"Haha stop being such a guy, admit it you enjoyed it."
"Yeah, I admit it, I enjoyed it."
The two continued talking and laughing as they left the school.
"Don't forget to practice when you get home! You don't want to pick up bad habits right from the start!" advised Erwan with a smile.
"Don't worry, I'm going to train well!"
"Adam exclaimed, looking Erwan straight in the eye with a touch of provocation.
Erwan laughed out loud.
"Who knows? Maybe the dunce could become the best student in our class, that would be an honor then."
Adam shook his head with a smile, he still had some self-awareness.
If he could manage not to finish last in the class, that would be good enough.
"Come on, see you tomorrow Adam!"
"See you tomorrow, Erwan!"
As he waved goodbye to Erwan and headed home Adam was deep in thought.
"On Earth, most exercises focused on strengthening particular areas of the body to maximize the effectiveness of each workout and to target specific muscles."
"But here, they've managed to create a method to exercise absolutely the whole body and even make it evolve."
"It's really incredible."
As Adam walked home, he crossed a small adjacent alley, a shortcut advised by his gps on his phone.
The alley was narrow, lined with stone walls and dimly lit by hanging lamps.
There were garbage bags left and right in the narrow alley, as well as other passages connecting to them.
It was like a labyrinth far from any technology.
Silence reigned, interspersed with Adam's footsteps echoing on the floor.
Suddenly, a voice came from the shadows of the alley beside him.
"So, here's our dagger genius!"
Adam turned around quickly. Three students from his class were standing there, mocking smiles on their faces.
Alexis, the mocking pair from the morning's training, was in the lead. Beside him were two other boys, slightly taller and far more intimidating.
"What do you want?" asked Adam, his voice calm but his gaze watchful.
Alexis took a step forward, crossing his arms.
"Nothing special. We just wanted to see up close how strong our comrade is. After all, you're part of our class, so we need to make sure you don't embarrass us."
The other two snickered. Adam realized at once that they hadn't followed him by chance.
But Alexis didn't give him time to react.
He threw himself at Adam with surprising force, pushing him against the wall.
Adam grunted under the impact, but quickly pulled himself together, dodging a punch from Alexis by shifting to the side.
"Not bad, the dunce knows how to move," one of the acolytes chuckled.
Adam knew he couldn't afford to be passive. Even if he was outnumbered, he had to react.
He returned to guard, bending his knees slightly as he'd learned from watching reports in his previous world.
Alexis attacked again, but this time Adam grabbed his arm and swung him against the wall behind him and without waiting he kneed him in Alexis's stomach.
"Urgh!"
Alexis felt like throwing up after taking that knee blow.
"The second boy frowned as he threw himself at Adam.
The latter charged at Adam, arriving very quickly.
Adam tried to block, but the brute force of the attack knocked him back several steps.
Before he could stabilize himself, Alexis, who was filled with rage, took advantage of the opening to strike him in the stomach in revenge for the knee strike.
Adam half collapsed, breathless.
"You're dead," announced Alexis, full of rage.
But Adam, despite the pain, wasn't about to let it happen. He struggled to his feet and threw a punch at Alexis's face. The shock surprised the boy, who stepped back, holding his nose.
"You...!" growled Alexis, furious.
The other two wasted no time. They grabbed Adam by the arms and slammed him against the wall. Alexis approached again, a cruel smile on his face.
"You know what, Adam? I hate weaklings who think they're clever. You should have stayed in your place."
Adam thought back to this morning's scene, and as far as he was concerned, he'd only executed the teacher's requests well.
At what point could he have guessed that this would offend another student?
"No matter what the world, there are always some huge assholes."
He raised his fist and slammed it into Adam's abdomen. Once, twice. Three times. Adam gritted his teeth, refusing to scream.
With each blow, his body convulsed.
Tears began to well up in his eyes from the pain as he kept his head down.
After ten or so blows, Alexis grabbed Adam by the hair and looked him straight in the eye.
"What a wretched appearance," Alexis commented in disgust.
Their two faces were separated by only a few centimeters.
"Kneel down."
But Adam continued to stare angrily at his opponent, without obeying.
Blood was starting to flow into his eyes, but with determination and rage, he didn't close them once as he stared at Alexis.
It made him look like a madman straight out of an asylum.
"I said...kneel."
At the same time, the two men helping Alexis swept Adam off his feet, causing him to fall immediately to the ground.
Alexis leaned toward Adam with a vicious grin.
"Next time you won't be so smart."
The 3 men landed countless more blows on Adam before running off the stage.
Throughout, Adam hadn't screamed once.
He lay on the ground for a few seconds before struggling to his feet.
His whole body was screaming in pain, but Adam was smiling.
"Tch, you amateurs if you think you're going to scare me with that."
"Cancer hurt a lot more and was a lot scarier."
A gleam of hatred shone in his eyes.
However, it disappeared very quickly.
"Come on, let's go home quickly or my parents will worry."
Thinking about the fact that he had a family in this life, his hatred at the time could only diminish, so immense was his happiness at having this chance.
And feeling hatred wasn't going to get him out of this situation.
"Ah, maybe they'll worry even more when they see me like this."
At that moment, Adam felt a headache coming on.