Mindless psycho

Ender stood near the entrance of the flat, leaning on a wall while looking at the sea. He had his school uniform on and was fidgeting with his fingers as he took deep breaths.

When he got out of the bathtub he couldn't stop thinking about what happened inside his consciousness. That flower's eye was still deeply carved in his mind, appearing when he least expects it.

Ren's look as he stood mere centimeters from him, looking at him with such hidden intentions made him wonder what he was keeping under the covers. And most importantly,

'If he truly used the flower earlier, why did he succumb so quickly to it...'

He thought that because of continuous usage maybe he would build some sort of immunity to that mental attack, but when it took over Ren the instant he summoned it...

'I should stop overthinking, I'm gaining nothing because of it.'

Suddenly, Ender felt some taps on his right shoulder. He looked and saw Loren wearing the Knight's uniform.

While his uniform was a grey sweater with black pants, she was wearing a navy blue shirt with the school logo with a black open jacket. She also wore the same types of pants as he did.

"Fancy uniform you got there. We should start going, better be early."

Ender nodded as he pushed himself from the wall and started walking forward. They started chatting as they went towards the stop and waited.

"Man... I'm so tired, I wanna sleep for longer." Loren said as she yawned.

"I'm used to sleeping too little so it's not a problem for me." Ender sat on the bench and looked toward the city. Loren sat beside him and started messing with her phone.

After some minutes of silence, Loren turned her phone off and said, "You look off... Everything alright?"

Ender looked at her then at the city again and said, "Had a bad nightmare that's all. So much for not being tired in the morning."

"Really? You could get some meds if it doesn't let you sleep properly."

"Don't worry, I'm alright." Ender said as he glanced toward the girl.

Loren sat there looking at him with a worried look before giving him a slow punch on the cheek while saying "Puff." Ender stood there while looking at her with widened eyes.

"You got through some serious shit already, I bet you can easily go through this." She smiled at Ender and then got up as she saw the bus coming. Ender did so as well as he stared at it coming.

'If only you knew...'

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5 days later... Friday, 11:34 PM.

Ender held the cue stick as he carefully positioned it on top of his hand. His fingers made the perfect position for a clean, no-angle error shot.

Ender looked at the white ball, standing near the side rail of the table. The black ball standing right to its side, and the 2 ball was further away from it.

Ender had to hit the 2 ball, but the black ball was sitting on its way. The only option he had was to bounce the cue ball with the side rail and manage to get it inside the pocket.

He turned his stick slightly, took a deep breath, and made a quick, sharp movement which made the white ball quickly move toward the side rail. It bounced, and hit the 2 ball perfectly, making it go inside the pocket.

Not only that, but the cue ball stood in front of the black ball, with a clean direct trajectory to one of the pockets, sealing his victory.

"Yeah, baby!" Ender shouted as he took a sip from his lemonade.

"You gotta be shitting me... how can someone be so lucky." A blazing red-hair guy said as he sat on a couch while holding his head.

"I told you, you can't win against Ender... first time playing yet he manages to get every shot perfectly." Alex said as he looked from the bar along with Jackie.

Ender positioned himself and hit the cue ball, making it bounce against the black ball, introducing it inside the called pocket, and winning the game.

He went toward the boy after putting the cue stick on the table, and opened his palm for a handshake, "Cheer up Falco, not the end of the world."

Falco though, just touched his bracelet with Ender's, transferring 5 Earthies and slapping his hand aside. This made Ender chuckle as he started walking toward the bar.

Because it wasn't past closing hour, Jackie's bar was really crowded.

This showed just how influential this place was in the outskirts, as he saw people coming in that lived inside the city or even further away.

Ender sat beside Alex, who was drinking a beer, and said, "Why did he come here again?"

"After the tournament he wanted to apologize for, well, almost burning all nerves from my legs after losing. We got along just fine but yeah, seems like defeat doesn't suit him well... but overall he is a party boy, really knows how to get things going."

"I see, and the girls?"

Alex finished his beer and said, "Doing girls' things. Don't question it, just let them be... I also don't still know how you managed to move to the same flat as Loren. Seems like fate wants something."

He then winked at him as he fist-bumped Jackie. Ender sighed while saying, "Not you as well..."

"You should have seen Emma and Rachel when I told them that you lived literally next door to Loren." He said as he laughed.

"What did they say?"

Alex coughed twice as he imitated a feminine voice, "Huh?! Does he get to see Loren more often than me?! When I get to see him he better be prepared!"

Ender started laughing as he watched Alex do that impression.

He saw Falco walking toward them only to sit beside Alex, "Jackie, gimme some water. If I get drunk I may end up behind bars." He said as he looked at Ender, who just laughed it off.

He paid his account and said, "I'll be going now, I really need to get some rest."

Alex lifted his beer as he said, "See ya then Ender. I'll be spending this weekend studying so expect no contact from me."

He nodded as he went outside the bar. He took a look at his stats as he was walking back home, which was a quarter an hour from the bar.

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Name: Ender Nephus

Age: 17

Level: 8

Status: ?

Exp: 4550/8800

HP: 130/130

Ability Energy Points: 200/200

{Attributes}

Strength: 55 → 60

Perception: 55 → 60

Agility: 55 → 60

Speed: 55 → 60

Intelligence: 55 → 60

Thinking Speed: 55 → 60

Charisma: 0 [Locked]

{Spare Points: 18}

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'Ender Nephus... I don't know why the System would choose that surname. It doesn't even suit me well but who cares.'

He noticed that after leaving his old house his surname changed from Rialto to Nephus. He tried to find some logic to it and discovered it was an old Greek surname or something like that, but he didn't know what it meant.

He closed the interface as he continued walking. While wondering about his own problems or whatever, he didn't notice that the bus went past him. He glanced at it for a mere instant and swore to see a familiar face.

He quickly paced up to the bus stop and saw Loren getting off. She was wearing a hoodie with some jeans and had some makeup applied, an eyeliner.

Loren quickly saw him coming from behind the bus stop and walked toward him.

"Hey! Didn't expect you to be there, you coming from Jackie's?" She asked while getting a cotton ball and acetone from her bracelet.

"Yeah, I've met with Alex and Falco there." He said as he watched Loren getting rid of the eyeliner.

Now that she was without it, she felt like a different person.

"Hm? With Falco? From the tournament?" She said as she widened her eyes.

"Yeah. He wanted to apologize for something he did to Alex and later became friends. He's nice to spend the day with... but don't play against him in something he will lose."

Loren chuckled, knowing exactly what he meant by that. After all, she saw in the first row how Falco acted whenever he lost. He almost got Alex in a wheelchair for some days.

After some more walking, Ender and Loren got greeted by... a peculiar situation. A man, middle-aged, was standing in midst of the road, blocking one car from going by.

He was wearing a ripped military jacket and torn-off trousers, exposing most of his skin. His white hair was as dirty as it could get as well as his face, hands and, well, everything.

The car honked constantly yet the man wouldn't move from the spot. Ender looked at Loren, who was somewhat confused, and vice-versa, not knowing what was going on.

They decided to continue walking toward their apartments as the person inside the car stepped out.

"Hey! Are you fucking retarded or something?! Get out of the road!"

Ender looked yet again at the man as he started pushing the man off the road, toward a side so that he could go by. Just as he wanted to return, the man grabbed the other one by his jacket and held him in place.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! Let go already!" The man tried punching the other person in the arm but to no avail. He tried pushing his head but the man wouldn't step away.

Just as he wanted to punch him in the guts, the man put a finger under the person's jaw and a flow of wind surged.

*BANG!*

Then, brain matter flew away, everywhere.

Ender stood there with his eyes wide open as he tried to understand the situation. The middle-aged man had his jaw to the top of his head completely destroyed. You could even see his throat trying to receive air only to get drowned in blood.

The man fell, voided of any life. Blood spilling sound filled the night as the man turned around to look at Loren and Ender.

There, he realized.

This man was the same as the kid he found on the outskirts, a mindless psycho. Just as he wanted to move, the man quickly pointed one finger at him, but before he could even say anything.

*Zap!*

Suddenly, a lighting-covered person appeared and smashed the man toward the dead man's car. When all that electricity wore off, he looked to the side to see if Loren was injured by that sudden strike.

But he couldn't find her.

Turning his head back toward the blue lighting, which was quickly wearing off, he started seeing the silhouette of a person. Someone familiar to him.

When it fully wore off, he was left with his mouth slightly open.

"Huh?" Ender muttered.