CHAPTER (11): Weird.

[Yeah, someday, you would make it there], Lera replied, sounding a little doubtful.

Verlice sensed the doubt in her tone, but he simply ignored her and continued to follow the students leading him to Creston Academy.

Not less than ten minutes after his conversation with Lera, a boy suddenly appeared beside him and tapped him on his left shoulder.

Verlice, who was uninterested in everything that was going on around him, was startled when he suddenly felt someone's hand on his shoulder.

He turned slightly to the side and spotted a gray-haired boy almost as tall as he was, if not slightly shorter, looking at him with a sheepish grin on his face. The boy had dim brown eyes, a sharp jawline, a small pointed nose, and a slender body type. He was in a short-collar blue shirt and plain black shorts.

The boy scratched the back of his head as he struggled to maintain eye contact with Verlice. He didn't say a word even after Verlice turned to him.

All the while, the two walked, following the students who took the lead, claiming to know the way.

Verlice was a little puzzled looking at the boy, who had just tapped him on the shoulder, standing there, speechless, and timid.

'Is there something wrong with this guy, or do people like this exist naturally in this world?' Verlice thought, now completely confused. 'A weirdo.'

[Maybe he's dumb or too shy to talk], Lera remarked, followed by a giggle.

After waiting quite a while for the boy to say something and he didn't, Verlice ultimately decided to say something himself.

As he opened his mouth to speak, he was abruptly interrupted by the boy, saying.

"Sorry for disturbing you like that earlier, mate. You passed my test. You're a pretty calm fellow, to be honest. Others would have endeavored to cut my head off if I tried something like that on them. Sorry if my quietude made you uncomfortable."

The boy smiled brightly at Verlice as he made this confession.

For a moment, Verlice was taken aback by the sudden boldness of the guy in front of him, who just a few seconds ago seemed dimwitted and shy.

''What the hell is wrong with this guy, is he alright?" Verlice muttered, dumbfounded.

Looking at the guy in front of him, Verlice could tell he wasn't fibbing. What he had exhibited a while ago was definitely not his personality, judging by how he was acting now. His behavior a while ago was something entirely contrasting with how he was acting now. There was no way anyone could fake something like that. Besides, what would be the point?

"I'm absolutely fine, man. There's nothing wrong with me. I just felt like talking to someone, and when I saw you were walking alone, I decided to approach you. Almost everyone else here has a chat partner and no one seems interested in talking to me. I hope you don't mind chatting with me?" Said the gray-haired boy with a smile.

Verlice hesitated for a while before finally relenting, "It's just a normal chat, so I don't mind."

"Great!" The gray-haired boy almost shouted with excitement but managed to control himself a little bit. "Excuse my manners, my name is Grey Tuffin. And nice to meet you."

Grey held out his hand to shake Verlice as he introduced himself.

Verlice decided to accept the handshake, as it would be rude to refuse.

Accepting Grey's handshake, he said with a forced smile, "I'm Ri...No, I'm Verlice Blaze."

Verlice cursed inwardly as he almost spilled out his former name.

[You should be more careful when you say your name so people don't look at you funny], Lera said, giggling.

Grey looked at Verlice a little weirdly when he almost made a mistake saying his name, but he just chose to ignore it and continued.

"Verlice, that's a nice name," Grey remarked with a bright smile.

'What the hell is wrong with the people here? What's nice about this name 'Verlice', anyway? That's like the second time someone has told me that. First, the aged man from the elevator, and now this weird yet seemingly cool guy. Just what the hell is wrong with them?' Verlice said subconsciously, apparently uneasy.

At least Mike was acting like a normal person. This guy next to him was giving off a pretty weird vibe, and he wasn't comfortable with it.

Quite frankly, he didn't want to prolong the conversation with Grey. He doesn't feel comfortable around at all.

"Thanks," Verlice said without looking at Grey. He then quickened his pace a bit, but Grey quickly adjusted to the change.

Verlice wanted to see if the guy would at least notice how uncomfortable he was around him and give him some space, but the guy didn't seem to be giving in to his motion language.

"I really regret coming here," Grey suddenly spilled out.

"And why is that?" Verlice couldn't help but ask because if he remained silent, he'd seem rude and unenthusiastic.

As much as he wanted to get quite far away from Grey because he felt uncomfortable around him, he also wanted to do so in the most polite way possible.

At this point in his life, he wouldn't yet bear to offend anyone. At least not until he'd become very strong, so strong that he could protect himself from trouble.

"I'd rather have gone to a more interesting and lively place to be. This school is already giving me a queasy feeling, even though I haven't even enrolled yet. This might be my only chance to ever be free again," Grey said, a little serious now. He was no longer smiling. His whole demeanor had taken a turn around after he said that. Along with the seriousness on Grey's face, there was also a certain sadness in his tone.

Verlice was confused as to what the boy was implying. In any case, it was right to be confused, since he knew nothing about the boy except his name.

"I don't quite understand what you're implying, but I've just one word for you. Don't regret being here. If you're looking for companionship and friends, you can easily get them after you enroll in the academy," Verlice said casually.

He wasn't very articulate, so he just said what he thought was right.

"I think I'm starting to like you already, mate. Can we be friends?" Grey blurted out ever so straightforwardly.

*****

P.S read the author's note below.