"I WILL KILL HIM! I SWEAR I WILL KILL HIM!" Nathaniel shouted while the guards brought him outside of the fighting room. His face was red with anger, and his fists were clenched tightly. The guards tried to calm him down, but Nathaniel kept struggling and screaming. It was clear that he had lost control of his emotions and needed to be restrained for everyone's safety.
Martin, the healer, sighed; he had never seen something like this happen inside the Red Palace. Nathaniel had just been healed, and his arms reattached to him with no problem; however, his psychological state was a mess and needed medical attention as soon as possible.
"AAAAAAH, BRING HIM TO ME! BRING HIM TO MEEEE!" Nathaniel kept shouting.
"Bring this kid to the infirmary, and make sure to chain him properly. We do not want him to do worse than he is currently doing; also, tell the healer there to give him a sedative," Martin said, and the guards did as instructed. Martin's quick thinking helped prevent any further harm from being done.
As Nathaniel got dragged out of the room, the healer returned to the small operating room, where he watched the fights and took the phone. After a couple of moments, someone answered.
"Hello, this is Martin Middleton, the healer assigned to the eighth floor. I need to urgently report about the psychological state of one of our students..."
The healer informed the person on the phone that Nathaniel was in stable condition but needed a sedative to calm down.
***
Once Nathaniel arrived at the infirmary, he was quickly bridled and sedated. It took him a couple of minutes to calm down enough so that they could put him on an IV drip to keep him under control until the psychologist came.
The healer at the infirmary had been told soon after they brought the young man there that he was highly unstable and that they needed to evaluate his psychological state as he tried to kill a fellow student.
Nathaniel was still furious but much calmer than before. However, he kept muttering how he wanted to kill Erik and how he was going to make him pay.
Soon after, the psychologist came to check on him under the supervision of two guards and started asking him some questions.
"What is your name?" the psychologist asked. She knew that, but she needed to understand whether Nathaniel's mental state would allow her to get anything useful from him.
Starting with a simple question was the best way to understand if what Nathaniel was or wasn't going to say could be helpful or not. However, once Nathaniel heard that question, and despite the sedative, he had been injected with, he said, "SHUT UP, YOU BITCH!"
The woman started scribbling down notes on her tablet and then resumed asking Nathaniel questions. Clearly, the young man showed hostility toward the woman and the guards. He was out of his mind, probably because of his defeat. The guards had to intervene and restrain Nathaniel, who was still struggling and shouting. It was clear that he required additional medical attention, which did not bode well for his psychological evaluation.
The psychologist stayed many hours with Nathaniel and performed five comprehensive tests to determine whether the young man had ASPD, including the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5), and some others.
In the end, the psychologist's evaluation showed that Nathaniel had ASPD. This made him a possible threat to others, so it was decided that he couldn't stay in the Red Palace.
When the woman was done, the guards actually brought Nathaniel to the Red Palace's principal, Tom Van Dyke. He had been seated in front of him, still bridled, with the guards right behind him.
"Do you know why you have been brought here?" the principal asked.
At that point, Nathaniel was calm enough to reply to the man without going fully psycho.
"No..." he said.
The principal looked at him with a severe look and then said. "You are here because, from what I've seen and what has been reported, you tried to kill one of your fellow students during an inner-ranking match. Now, it is useless to lie since there is plenty of footage, and the mana dosimeters show high and concentrated levels of mana inside the room where you two fought." The principal kept looking at Nathaniel seriously and continued speaking. "This behavior is unacceptable..." the principal said somberly.
"Sir... I..." Nathaniel spoke with a lump in his throat. However, he was cut off by the principal. Nathaniel had been diagnosed with ASPD, so he was keen on trying to deceive and manipulate others. The principal didn't want to give the young man the opportunity.
"Enough; there is nothing you can say that will change what happened..." The man said. "Now, you have recently been the subject of several tests, and unfortunately, these results came up positive."
"What kind of tests? What was the result?" Nathaniel asked. He was in disarray at that moment.
"You tested positive for ASPD," the principal said. Nathaniel knew what this meant and was aware of the fact that it was a problem.
"Now," the principal added, "This wouldn't usually pose a problem itself, as we had a couple of people with this disorder stay in the Red Palace; however, due to the recent incident, a clear violent episode far outside the boundaries admitted by this institution, me, the doctors, and the board of directors have decided that we can no longer allow you to train in this institution."
A bomb suddenly dropped on Nathaniel; he would be kicked out of the Red Palace.
"Wait, Sir! This was a mistake. It won't happen, ag-"
"Enough!" The principal said. "I'm sorry, young man, but you are dangerous. You showed it by trying to kill the student Erik Romano, but you further solidified this decision by verbally abusing the psychologist. Hell, with your behavior, I don't even know if the military school will take you in!"
Nathaniel thought about it and said, "Sir, with all due respect, if I really have ASPD, then this means I have a disability. Isn't this discrimination?"
Principal Van Dyke then said, "You don't understand. The problem is not that you have this disorder but that you tried to kill a fellow student. The diagnosis only further worsened your situation, but it is not the main reason you will be expelled. This would have happened to any student, not just you!" the principal said, while Nathaniel looked at him with disbelief. Nathaniel couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had always diligently trained and done as he was instructed, but one mistake would ruin his entire academic career.
"To be honest, I should have reported this to the police, and you should have spent some time in jail, but since you are still a kid, I decided to give you one more opportunity.
However, when you are done here, the guards will escort you back to your room to pick up your personal effects, and then you will be escorted out of the building. Is everything clear?"
"SIR, PLEASE! DON'T DO THIS TO ME!"
"Gentlemen," the principal said while looking at the guards, "Please escort him out."
"Yes, sir." With that, Nathaniel left the room and went to pick up his stuff.
"What a pity, the kid had a great future before him."
If Erik had been there to watch the scene, he would have been disgusted for many reasons. One of them was that attempting to kill people was something out of line, and that was true. However, he wouldn't be able to understand how bullying people and frequently making them end up in the hospital was accepted.
After a few minutes, Nathaniel left the building, completely confused and frustrated. Before escorting him out, he had his personal effects in a plastic box that the Red Palace had given him.
If the young man initially felt sad and frustrated, that emotion suddenly turned into anger and hatred, and he began to walk toward the city center. Alone, in the middle of the night. Nathaniel's mind was racing with thoughts of revenge. As he walked, his determination grew stronger with each step.
"Erik Romano... This is all his fault..." the young man said as he walked down the street. His mind was filled with thoughts like 'how dare they?' and 'they're all assholes!' As a result, Nathaniel's body moved faster than usual, and he started running through the streets, even using his power to go faster.
Soon enough, he reached an old abandoned warehouse, where he stopped after entering it. After sitting on its floor, he leaned against the wall, closed his eyes, and took deep breaths until the feeling of calmness overcame him.
He remained silent for a long period of time. Finally, when he opened his eyes again, he put his hand inside his pocket and grabbed his smartphone. He dialed a number, and the other person answered after a couple of moments.
"Hello?"
"Achim, I need your help with something..."
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