Hoodlums hunt (3)

The alarm woke up Sebastian.

"Fuck…"

Reluctantly accepting his mother's insistence, Sebastian began his morning ritual.

He dressed in his school uniform, the fabric now feeling all too familiar against his skin.

With a sigh, he made his way to the kitchen, where breakfast awaited him. The meal was a quiet affair, his mind preoccupied with the day ahead, the spoon moving mechanically as he ate.

Once breakfast was concluded, his mother, ever supportive yet firm in her expectations, drove him to school.

The scene that greeted him was unchanged from the countless mornings before. The school grounds buzzed with activity.

Outside, a group of students practiced their swordsmanship, their movements fluid and precise.

These were the progeny of prestigious families, their lineage as sharp and defined as the blades they wielded.

Around them, a different set of onlookers gathered—students from wealthy backgrounds, but without the noble heritage.

Envy was clear in their gaze, a silent yearning for the prestige and honor that came so easily to their peers.

The young man arrived in his classroom soon after. The lessons had to start yet, and most of the people were already there.

It wasn't like Sebastian had friends at school. After all, he was the scion of the ruined Wells family.

The only thing they did was looking at him with contempt. However, after Sebastian beat Derrick Lawson, people stayed away from him even more, but he didn't dislike that.

As the last bell rang, signaling the end of lessons, Sebastian found himself alone in the corridors, broom in hand, a consequence of earlier transgressions.

With a resigned sigh, he began his task, the echo of his movements the only company in the otherwise silent hallway.

"Sweep and clean, a chore so lean, In corridors where students have been. A punishment for deeds unseen. Now I'm the school's cleaning machine. Dust and dirt, away you flee, From broom's swift dance, you cannot flee. Though not the task I'd choose for me, I'll scrub and shine until we're free."

With each verse, Sebastian's movements gained a rhythm, the mundane task momentarily transformed into a performance, his broom a partner in this impromptu act.

However, to those walking through the corridors, he had to look like a completely crazy person, especially due to the grin on his face.

As Sebastian swept the corridor, lost in the rhythm of his makeshift rhyme, the last person he wished to see his current predicament appeared.

Rebecca, walking alone through the corridor, her presence like a sudden beam of sunlight piercing through the gloom of his menial task.

Panic surged through Sebastian, prompting him to adopt a facade of composure.

However, his abrupt change in demeanor didn't escape Rebecca's notice, and she chuckled, a sound that seemed to dance through the air between them.

"Hey Seb!" she said, her voice warm and familiar, as she approached him.

Sebastian and Rebecca shared a history that stretched back to their childhood. Their families had been closely intertwined, with Rebecca's mother serving as one of Argus Wells' loyal vassals and party members.

This connection ensured that Sebastian and Rebecca spent countless hours together as children, their friendship a natural byproduct of their families' alliance.

However, the death of Argus Wells, Sebastian's father, had altered the course of their relationship. Rebecca's mother distanced herself and her family from the Wells.

To Sebastian, this withdrawal was more than just a social slight; he harbored a deep-seated conviction that Miranda, Rebecca's mother, had colluded with the four sacred clans in the plot that led to his father's murder.

Despite the complexities of their families' histories, the sight of Rebecca now, in the corridor, evoked a mixture of emotions in Sebastian.

The woman then arrived in front of the still sweeping Sebastian. "Hey, Rebecca… H—how are you?"

"It can be better," she said. A smile beamed on her face. "Your punishment isn't done yet?"

"As you can s—see, I s—still have to clean the school. For another month, a—actually."

Rebecca kept that smile, and the more she had it, the more Sebastian's nervousness increased. When he was normal, he was pretty smart, when he was excited, he got pretty crazy, but when he was in front of Rebecca, he was just shy.

He didn't forget their childhood, but he didn't especially forget the moments they shared in Somnium.

Of course, most of them were about hunting monsters and killing people. Sebastian was a little bit unsure if it was due to her presence or because of the killings.

One thing, though, he was sure about. He still loved this girl.

"Well, after how you left Derrick, I can't really say you didn't deserve that. Why did you do that? The entire school talked about it."

"He called mom a bitch! What else could have I done?" Rebecca looked at him with a weird look, which Sebastian wasn't sure was of disapproval or something else. However, she then smiled.

"He said that about untie Mary? Then you should have beaten him more!" Of course, Rebecca was joking. In their past life, she was a healer, given her trait. To instigate someone to wound others was not in her nature.

The system had a peculiar way of working. It assigned a profession based on one's aptitudes and peculiarities. Most of the time, it was based on personality traits. In Rebecca's case, she had the Empath trait.

This was often attributed to those who possessed an enhanced ability to sense, understand, and share the feelings of others.

Individuals with the empath trait were highly attuned to the emotions and emotional states around them, sometimes to the extent that they could absorb these emotions as if they were their own.

Empaths were naturally intuitive, making them excellent listeners and counselors.

They had a deep capacity for compassion and an innate understanding of human nature, which enabled them to connect with people on a profound level.

Likely for that reason, empaths were generally assigned the role of healers by the system.

The problem was that this trait was rare. There weren't many people in the world thinking about the others and willing to help.

This, of course, made healers rarer. Besides, since they were often unable to harm others, they ended up joining the Moon Veil clan, one of the four sacred clans led by Elizabeth Ashford and the Ashford family.