End of first year

After today's class was over, Luke left the classroom and began to make his way to his dorm room. It was only a short time before exams and the end of the school year.

As he turned one of the hallway corners, he could see a makeshift altar of sorts.

In the center was a smiling photograph of Sabrina Spellman, or rather, Sabrina Jones. Many flowers of different colors decorated the picture. There were four red candles lit, and they didn't seem to melt.

'We will miss you...' read Luke, one of the many dedications and phrases written near the altar.

'What a joke,' thought Luke with a slight wry smile. Everyone thought Sabrina had died, but she had not. She was still alive, and she was the one who wanted to kill everyone because she wanted to kill him.

Since the information he told police and school personnel about Sabrina Spellman could not be confirmed, it was maintained that Sabrina Jones died.

"Why are you smiling?" 

Luke turned his head slightly and saw a girl with freckles and a very short stature looking at him with a very unfriendly face.

"Well, I remembered what a great and good person Sabrina Jones was," replied Luke in an overdone tone.

"You weren't close to her," the freckled girl said. She was one of Sabrina's best friends, and she never saw Luke near Sabrina.

"I know. The above was sarcasm," Luke said without changing his expression.

"You think my friend's death is funny?" the girl asked angrily.

'Friend? My goodness. Ignorance serves a purpose. The trauma would be greater if she knew the real Sabrina is still alive and hates her,' thought Luke, shaking his head.

Luke's gesture only made the short, freckled girl angrier. Her friend, who was observing the situation, had a frightened expression as she looked at Luke. 

"Sorry! We're leaving!" said the girl, taking her friend, who seemed to want to attack Luke, as a very bad idea.

"Ana, what are you doing?" asked the freckled girl as she was dragged away from Luke.

"Are you crazy!? Do you want him to kick you in the face like that werewolf boy? Or worse, he could murder you," Ana said, looking back in fear. She sighed in relief when she saw that Luke didn't chase after them.

'I can hear you,' thought Luke, not giving it any more thought and resuming his walk to his bedroom. He noticed several eyes on him. When he looked at them, they all averted their gazes as if he were going to murder them right now.

Luke was aware that his reputation since the incident on Raven Island had taken a turn for the worse. Worsened in the sense that everyone now fears him more than before.

Before, it was due to his horrible, grumpy, and sarcastic personality. Now it was because he murdered a person. 

Even though outcasts had a higher tolerance for death and murder compared to normies, a murder was still a murder. He would get looks of fear in either normie or outcast society. Although in the former, it would be much worse.

'It's better than before,' Luke thought. When he attended Normie School, he always had to face bullies, now no one would go near him.

When he reached his room, he collapsed on his bed. His face sank into his pillow, and he closed his eyes. Luckily, Xavier wasn't around, and he could sleep without needing to engage in conversation.

"Aren't you going to training?" asked Edgar, coming out of the collar and looking towards Luke, who looked like a corpse.

"No, later," Luke replied.

"Are you still suffering for love?" asked Edgar, sighing slightly. 

"It's not that," growled Luke with little patience.

"Oh, come on. It's been over ten days since you broke up with that colorful girl," said Edgar.

Yes. Luke had ended his relationship with Enid. He complied with Esther's request. It was not a pleasant situation at all. He was uncomfortable and felt a pain in his chest as he watched Enid cry and asked why he was doing it.

He couldn't tell her, "Because your grumpy, nagging mother asked me to," or "My crazy enemies will want to use you to blackmail me and then murder you like my mother,"

"Shut up. You've been depressed for months without leaving your house. Besides, I'm just tired," said Luke, putting a pillow over his face.

"That was a very different situation! My wife that I lived with for many years died, you brat!" said Edgar indignantly.

"Oh, I forgot about that part," said Luke, pissing Edgar off even more.

"I understand it's your first love, but you'll grow out of it. They're usually passing love. I was more surprised that you have feelings," said Edgar. In the last sentence, he muttered to himself.

"Anyway, it was a romance that would end sooner rather than later. There are two totally different species. It is difficult for such love to prevail. In your case, you must find a psychic to carry on the Poe lineage. Oh, with your genes, a child with two auras is almost assured," Edgar said, imagining the rebuilding of the Poe family.

'Here we go,' Luke thought. His ghost great-great-grandfather would begin to ramble on about the future prodigy children Luke would procreate with a psychic who didn't yet know of his existence.

According to Edgar, as Luke possesses three auras, his children have a good chance of obtaining two auras with ease. 

"If going to training makes you shut up. Let's go," Luke said, getting up from his bed and putting on his collar.

As he was about to leave in the direction of the gym, the door to his room opened. It was Xavier. They both stared at each other in silence. 

"What's up? Where are you going?" asked Xavier after a few seconds.

"To train..." replied Luke.

"Oh, yeah. I should have guessed," muttered Xavier. Where else could his kind and sociable friend go? This last was sarcasm. It had to be the world upside down for Luke to be kind and sociable.

Xavier realized that Luke's personality since the incident on Raven Island is reverting to how it was at the beginning of the school year. That, coupled with his breakup with Enid, makes him growl at you every time he opens his mouth.

"In a few days, the Rave'N, are you going?" commented Xavier before Luke could leave the room.

The Rave'N is an annual dance hosted by Nevermore at the end of the year. The dance is organized around a specific theme. Normies may even be invited, though it's a rare occasion for a show-up.

"I don't want to know about events that have Raven in their name," replied Luke with some derision.

"Well, that's true," Xavier said with a slight smile.

"However, I don't think some hoods would attack since the fringe police came to Nevermore," he added.

"Yeah, I doubt it... Anyway, I'm not going. I don't have a partner," Luke said, shaking his head. The last thing he wants right now is to go to some stupid dance that reminds him of how he kissed Enid for the first time.

"I know you don't like dances, and I doubt you want to meet a girl right now. I'm saying this for Ajax. We should support him right now. You know guys night," Xavier said, and Luke understood what he meant.

Ajax's girlfriend, Sabrina, had died. Calcined. Her body was completely charred. It wasn't Sabrina, though, but only Luke knew that and other people who did not believe him because he did not present evidence.

"Ajax's depressive pit is deeper than yours. Help me out on this one," Xavier added.

"I'm not in a depressive pit," Luke said with a grimace, "Fine, I'll go," he added. At least he would put some effort into keeping the few friends he has.

"Thanks! It's going to be a good night. The theme of the dance is gothic. Try to go dressed like that," said Xavier, patting Luke's shoulder, who nodded.

'Why didn't they cancel that dance?' Luke thought, leaving the room and heading to the gym.

Two hours passed. Forty discs weighing 25kg each were flying around Luke. A total of 1,000 kilograms.

Seeing the time, Luke put all the disks back in place. He was sweatier than he thought. He had trained hard today. 

"Congratulations on your first ton, and welcome to level four," Edgar said with a smile.

"Thanks. Although to get to the top of level four, I need 9 more tons..." commented Luke, thinking the ranking was wrong.

The first level was from 0 to 50kg. Second, from 50 to 200kg. Third, from 200 to 1,000kg. Fourth, from 1,000 to 10,000kg. The differences were getting bigger and bigger.

"Don't be hasty. Cases of guys your age at the fourth level are rare and seldom seen in history," said Edgar, looking at Luke as if he were a freakish monster. Even he, a two-aura genius, had not reached that level at Luke's age.

"Weights at higher levels have more differences because the principle is the same as before. Just on a larger scale or with heavier objects," he added.

"I understand," Luke said with a nod. He didn't let his arrogance increase with Edgar's praise. The patriarch of the Poe family had talent similar to or superior to his. Even Edgar had monstrous talent and reached a very powerful level. Able to destroy a town of 10,000 people in a fight that did not seek that purpose.

'It's time I learned that...' thought Edgar.

...

The days passed. The Rave'N arrived. Luke ordered a gothic costume online, but not a lame one to wear that night. 

The dance was no big deal. When Xavier was saying about Ajax's depressive pit, he wasn't lying. Ajax looked like he could slit his wrists at any moment, and the gothic theme didn't help.

Luke tried to be as empathetic and compassionate as possible with his friend Ajax. Although, he ended up being his friend because he was friends with Xavier. No matter. He doesn't know if it worked at all, but he tried.

The worst thing was seeing Enid dressed in gothic clothes. It was weird to see her in those depressing black clothes, but I respected the theme of the dance, and she looked beautiful. Luke tried to look at her as little as possible so as not to end up in a similar mood as Ajax.

A few days after the Rave'N were the exams. They were not difficult for Luke, as he had a trained photographic memory. It was very easy. 

Finally, the school year at Nevermore was over, and it was time for the students to go home to enjoy their summer. Bad news for Luke, as he was supposed to enjoy his summer at the Umbrio farm. With family members who loathe him, although the feeling is mutual.

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