Getting beat up
August closed his smartwatch and disembarked from the bus with Lily, who urgently called out, "We're running late! Hurry up!"
The two of them entered the school and went their separate ways. August arrived at his class on time and took his seat just as the teacher entered the room.
"Good morning, everyone."
"Tomorrow is an important day, the day all of you are going to form your soul space. Some of you may be able to create a high ranking beast space or some of you might not be lucky enough to form your beast space. But don't be disappointed even without a beast space you can get into a higher ranking academy"
After sometime
"This is it for today there will be no extra classes and best of luck for tomorrow" wishing good luck to the class the teacher ended the class.
After the teacher left everyone in the class started discussing what they are going to do tomorrow. Some of them even started to leave the classroom.
"Hey August, wanna grab something to eat with me? I am starving," a boy twice the size of August asked him.
August stared and slightly smiled at the boy who is his best friend, Blake, or in simple terms, his only friend.
August is the only one in the class who can't sense mana. In a world where mana users and beast masters roam he is normal a human without the ability to sense mana.
"Your hunger is getting out of control day by day. Someday you're going to eat a dinosaur in a single meal" August said jokingly.
"If you're gonna pay for it I might eat a dinosaur, hehe'' two of them joking with each other started to leave the classroom.
As they were leaving they were stopped by two tough looking students. August could see one more Boy in the back of those two.
"Well well where are the two losers of the class are going? kekeke" a boy with glasses and two front teeth sticking out of his mouth emerged from the middle of those two.
'shit today is really a bad day' August cursed in his mind after seeing Leopold.
'He is the sunrise city's richest person's second son, unlike his brother who is a genius, Leopold has mediocre talent in cultivation. Because of his shity personality he was admitted to our school' August thought quietly.
"Not replying huh?" Leopold got angry because of the lack of response.
"Grab them and let's go to the training hall, I learned a new move to test on those two" Leopold ordered his lackeys, indicating them to follow him to the training hall.
The lackeys grab the Shoulder of August and Blake and 'politely' escorted them to the training hall. Even if they wanted to do something they couldn't fight back the lackeys cause they have middle first rank cultivation but Blake has initial first rank and August is a normal human.
August and Blake got dragged to the training hall of the school. Some students were training there, giving no mind to them Leopold chose the unoccupied sparring stage.
"Now get them on the stage" Leopold ordered his lackeys.
"We can go there ourselves" Blake said angrily.
Two of them go into position to fight Leopold who is a peak 1st stage. Even if he didn't have higher talent for cultivation he pushed to 1st stage peak with help his parents wealth.
"What should we do?" Blake asked August
"We can only fight him and try to not get beat up badly," August said, forming a plan to defend against Leopold's attacks.
"How do we do that?" Blake getting confused by August's words.
"I will distract him, be ready to strike him, got it?" August instructing Blake to strike when he get the chance.
"What are you talking about? How are you going to stand against his attacks?" dumbfounded, Blake asked.
"I've got this, you don't need to worry," August said.
"What are the two of you talking about, come now or I will get there?" Leopold shouted seeing no one was coming to fight him.
August slowly approached Leopold, who grew increasingly impatient due to his slow pace.
Leopold lunged at August, aiming a punch with ferocity, but August narrowly dodged it. Despite being a mere mortal, August diligently trained his body daily in hope of awakening his mana sense.
Leopold unleashed another punch, but once again, it was evaded by August. He madly punched August, but every blow was effortlessly evaded by him.
As their fight intensified, Blake silently shifted behind Leopold and struck him in the face.
"You fucker I will kill you" Leopold unleashed his mana argumenting his body with mana.
"Earth shattering fist" he shouted, his mana started circling in his hand. Then his hand striked Blake's stomach , getting tossed outside of the sparring stage by the impact. Then he started to beat up August.
Limping Blake extended his hand to August, offering assistance as he was struggling to stand up.
"I swear to god I will someday beat him senseless" Blake swearing limped towards the school infirmary.
"Yeah fuck that mf, if I form soul space tomorrow, I will beat him in the yearly tournament" August clenched his fist swearing to get revenge.
"Oh crap, I completely forgot about the tournament. I need to score high to get into a better academy." Blake exclaimed, realizing that.
"Yeah I heard this time some of the reputed academy and guild recruiter will come" August said hoping he can form his soul space and get in a ranking academy.
Several moments later, August and Blake stood near the gate, completely healed.
"Then see you tomorrow" Blake started walking, leaving behind August.
August stood near the school gate waiting for his sister at the front gate of the school. When she finally arrived, they began their journey back home.
Along the way, his sister broke the silence, her voice filled with concern. "Did he beat you up again?" August remained silent, unwilling to share the details.
"I'm going to teach him a lesson when I grow up and become really strong, that rat-faced monkey!" Lily declared with determination, her tiny fist clenched tightly.
August smiled warmly and playfully patted her head. "Yeah, yeah, you'll become really strong," he said, stretching the word 'really'.
"Don't treat me like a little kid," Lily pouted, turning her head away and pretending to ignore him.
As the brother and sister duo headed home, they playfully teased each other and engaged in banter, finding joy and comfort in each other's company.
That night, while everyone was sleeping, August sat on his bed in his room in a lotus position, trying hard to sense mana. His forehead was drenched in sweat. He trained his basic circulation technique daily, even though he couldn't sense mana. He always tried his very best, but he was not gifted with talent.
"Sigh… Today as well, I can't sense mana. Until when can I sense mana?"
'Am I really without talent? Should I just give up?' August contemplated whether he should give up on awakening, even if he didn't have the talent for it.
'Not now, I have promised my mother that I will awaken and search for my father's whereabouts.' Remembering his mother's face when he promised to find his father, he decided not to give up on awakening.
Some time later….. Exhausted from his training, he crawled into bed with a mind burdened by heavy thoughts. Fatigue swiftly overtook him, and he drifted into a deep sleep.