Forward [11]

The sounds of chirping filled my ears as the early birds had already begun to catch the worms.

"Huff...huff..."

After having more than a full day of resting, apart from that small situation yesterday, my body had already recovered enough for it to feel good to run again. 

I had ignored the screaming voices inside of my head for too long already, the voices telling me that if I didn't go back to training, I would forever be useless. And finally, I could quench that desperate desire again, appeasing the agitated voices. 

'It feels good...'

The cool morning air caressed my face as I ran, filling my lungs with more than enough energy to keep my body moving. 

As it was now Sunday, I had more or less spent an entire week in this world, in Wurden, a very short period of time in contrast to how many things I had experienced and... I wasn't unhappy about it. Even if the voices inside my head still attempted to call me a failure, as I had somehow ended up in the infirmary, the sublime pleasure that I had gifted them yesterday was more than enough to make up for it.

Even now, I could still remember the sensation of my fists pushing against flesh, hearing the sounds of ribs giving way, and seeing the faces of defeat on my enemies.

There was something inherently great about feeling powerful, and even if I was aware that this was not a good thought to have, I wanted more of it.

That being said, I wasn't all too inclined to go and look for fights in the street to satisfy that craving. Because there had also been something missing; A sense of urgency as well as a risk of defeat.

Also, there was the fact that I was gonna have to talk to the principal about what I did in a couple of hours who would decide if I should get punished or not.

I had only seen the man once during the welcoming ceremony when he had exuded some kind of magical aura that led to a lot of people dropping out. So, it couldn't be helped that I was a bit nervous.

'Hopefully he is a bit less intense in person...'

-------

"So you are the young man who made it so I had to work on a Sunday, huh?"

"I'm very sorry, Sir."

Sitting behind a very large desk, the old man didn't look particularly happy about having to talk with me. His large, bushy beard and bald head were both symbols of his old age, but somehow his eyes didn't seem to share the same sentiment, as they were still crystal clear. 

His body as well, although mostly covered by his gray suit, showed sights of still being active, as his arms were by no means frail and weak-looking. 

"Sorry, you say? You don't look all that sorry to me, kid. Those sharp eyes of yours aren't those of someone who regrets their actions. So, please do tell me why I shouldn't expel you right here and now for using violence against civilians."

The principal spared no time in getting to the core of the subject, and although his words were harsh, I somehow didn't find myself getting riled up or stressed. No, for some reason, I could already tell that he had no intention of expelling me unless I said something that he absolutely couldn't agree with. 

As I was still standing, I made sure to keep my back straight while I spoke. 

"Because I didn't do anything wrong. It was self-defense."

Clasping his hands together on the desk, the principal leaned forward a bit. 

"Self-defense, you say? I know from the report that they were the ones who jumped you, something about wanting to rob you. However, I do have one question that I need to ask of you."

"Yes?"

"Did they deserve it?"

It was a very straightforward question and a question that I hadn't quite expected to come up. Despite that, I didn't waste a second to answer him as my opinion of the matter was as clear as day.

"Absolutely."

Suddenly, the principal stood up, taking hold of the cane which was leaning against the desk with his right hand. 

"Then we are done here. You may leave."

"...excuse me?"

"I said that we are done! Bah! Youngsters these days seem to have worse hearing than even an old man like me! Didn't you say that those thugs deserved it? Then we are done here! If you have time to stand here doing nothing, you should use that to grow stronger instead!"

"...yes, sir."

*BAM!*

Out of nowhere, the door to the principal's office swung open, making all of the paintings on the wall shake in response to the impact. 

"Principal! We talked about this! You can't let him off that easy just because you feel like it!"

A man wearing a black suit and glasses stormed the room while speaking loudly, clearly exasperated as he must've heard the whole conversation from the other side of the room. With his water-combed hair, expensive watch, and in many ways flawless getup, he looked exactly like one would expect a professional to look. 

"What do you mean just because I feel like it?! Didn't you listen to what he said?! Those thugs deserved it! Why should I punish someone who did something good for the city and taught those mobs a well-deserved lesson!"

"Principal, that's beside the point! We can't have our students run around and participate in random street fights! Think about our image!"

"Bah! Who cares about image?! When I was young there was no such thing as caring about one's image! Everyone was too busy getting stronger so we could fight even stronger monsters! Also, why should I talk to him when Jared already said that he didn't want us to expel him?! It's a waste of time, a waste of time, I tell you!"

"Principal, we weren't supposed to tell Mr. Flowers that..."

Fed up with the vice-principal, the old man finally turned back to me with deathly serious eyes which quickly reminded me of the power that he had wielded during the ceremony, which was more than enough to send shivers down my spine. 

"Bah! This is my academy and I say what I want! Young man, you are free to leave! Just don't get into more unnecessary fights or else we will do a lot more than talking next time. You understand, right?"

"Yes, Sir!"

And with that, I was off, after a meeting that couldn't have been longer than ten minutes at most, but their voices still echoed out even after I left the room, somewhat reminding me of an old, married couple. 

"Principal!"

"Get off my back, Patrick! I spoke to him like you wanted me to! Anyway, I have to go. I found someone who might know where that despicable man is!"

"He has been dead for decades! You know this!"

"Shut your mouth! We don't know that!"

"Principal..."

--------

'That was... strange.'

Walking out of the administration house, one of the most central buildings on the campus where not only the principal's office was located, but all kinds of office workers who were responsible for more administrative lines of work, I wasn't quite sure what had happened. For some reason, I had been let off the hook without any sort of punishment, not even a sermon. 

There was one thing, however, that had been pretty interesting to hear. 

'-Jared already said that he didn't want us to expel him.'

Jared, or Mr. Folm as we most often called him, had by the looks of it wanted to make sure that I didn't get expelled from the academy. Although I had no idea of his reasoning, it still felt pretty good to hear. 

'Seems like I might not be that hated after all...'

In the span of a weekend, I had already had interactions with Celine, Cerus, and Mr. Folm that showed that even if we weren't friendly with each other, they didn't regard me as some kind of mortal enemy at least. 

Stretching my arms to the sky, I couldn't stop myself from letting on a bit of a smile. Just a few days ago, I felt like the world was ending just because I failed to complete my training, and now I suddenly had a pretty good amount of hope for the future yet again. 

'It's a good day to begin practicing "that".'

With light steps, I began making my way back to my room, as I wanted to practice something that I had no intention of showing anyone until it was ready. Something that I suspected would serve me almost as well as my Flicker Step. 

It was an idea that I hadn't been able to think of until yesterday when I fought the street thugs. Because even if my punches had been effective against them, I was also aware that it wasn't because my punches in themselves had been strong or fast, I had won simply because of my Temporal Synapses which made me able to plan efficient ways to fight them. And that was a problem. 

Because even if I managed to hit Cerus thanks to my sped-up brain, I doubted I would be able to do any real damage. In reality, it would probably be similar to when our teacher blocked my punch, feeling as if I hit a brick wall. So now, I was about to begin to fix that.