Chapter 51: Threat
While Alex was being harshly scolded, Sage ran over to Night who was still standing at the edge of the ring, seeing that the fight was officially over.
Jumping into his arms, she chattered happily.
Eek eek ek kkek!
(I won!)
୧@( Ò ᴥ Ó )@୨
Night exited the ring. Seeing that the duel was concluded, the teacher looked at him but didn’t say anything derogatory. On the contrary, he actually seemed pleased despite the intense rage he had shown just seconds ago.
Of course, Night noticed that the old man’s gaze was on Sage and not him; clearly, he was impressed by her performance.
He might not be as bad as I thought, Night mused.
After Night’s brief match, the teacher stood in the center of the ring, looked at the crowd and started calling the students up one by one to duel.
Night got to see many different types of fighting styles. His horizons expanded considerably but as he watched, he quickly noticed one concerning detail:
All of them were way stronger than him. Not just in a "talented" kind of way, but as if they were levels above him.
He suddenly heard Lucy’s voice in his mind. All of them are above Level 20, and some of them are even close to Level 30.
Seeing the shocked look on Night’s face, she clarified. No, leveling up isn’t easier for them. It’s just that these students have access to a ridiculous amount of high-tier resources. Still, it is indeed not normal for human kids to be so high in levels at this age.
These students can probably beat the teacher’s ass if they were willing to team up, she added wryly.
Lucy:
(¬‿¬)
Night couldn’t reply to her since he still didn’t know how to project telepathy like she did.
He noticed that all of his summons were now focused on the outside battles; it looked like their earlier secret meeting inside the Domain had come to an end.
Suspicious.
(ಠ_ಠ)
The fights concluded after every single student had fought once.
The teacher then pulled out a vintage alarm clock from his robes. It looked exactly like a lantern, with a burner at the top of the clock ready to be lit. He held it by the handle like a lamp.
Checking the time, he announced, "It is 1:00 PM right now. You may all go have your lunch. We will meet back here at 2:00 PM."
Then, looking directly at Night, he added, "There is a cafeteria at the end of this floor. If you have not brought your lunch, you can go eat there. Of course, the food is completely free for students; you do not have to spend any credits."
"You can also collect packaged food for dinner and tomorrow’s breakfast if you want."
And with that, he disappeared in a flash without waiting for a response.
Hearing this, Night felt a wave of gratitude.
Carrying Sage, he left the classroom. Looking back, he saw that none of the other students were heading his way toward the cafeteria.
Rich kids, he scoffed internally.
He felt Sage use her tiny hands to tap his chest. Smiling down at her, he skipped his way down the corridor toward the canteen.
Entering it, he saw a very simple setup. In front of him were rows of buffet-style stands featuring different food items and several long benches to sit and eat at.
Reaching the counter, he picked up a metal plate and started stuffing it with food. There wasn’t much of a choice, really.
He took a spoonful of a vegetable-looking dish, a hefty serving of rice, a boiled egg that was green in color, and poured a liquid that looked like juice into a cup.
Reaching the empty sitting area, he sat down as Sage jumped onto the bench beside him looking at the plate with pure curiosity.
Sage sat down, analyzing the food. She didn’t actually feel physical hunger since bonding with him, so she just stared at it; this kind of food was completely new to her.
Night started eating. The food tasted decent, but it was not comparable to the magical stuff Sara had fed him. The juice tasted somewhat similar to orange juice, at least.
In no time, he was done with his plate. Then he went back for seconds. This time, he took even more rice and the vegetable dish, three green eggs and another cup of juice.
Lucy thought to herself from within the Domain, This food doesn’t look appetizing at all.
Lucy:
(乂 ￣ー￣)
It’s not bad considering it’s free, Night countered mentally, hoping she’d hear him.
Finally, after feeling his stomach comfortably full, he got up, washed the plate and glass and put them back in the designated area. He then noticed two large boards on the last two counters with "Dinner" and "Breakfast" written boldly on them.
He saw neat little boxes stacked on top of each other. All of them looked like they contained the exact same quantity of food.
He thought for a moment and then started picking up the boxes, counting out loud, "One for Death, one for Lucy, two for Eve and Lilith, one for Sage, one for Blade, one for Sara just in case she visits... and lastly, one for me."
He put the 16 boxes - 8 for dinner and 8 for breakfast - directly into his spatial ring, thinking, It’s free anyway. If there is food left over, I can always finish it later. And in case I can’t finish it, I can always feed it to Lucy.
Didn’t she say she always felt hungry?
Night:
(¬‿¬)
Chuckling to himself, he left the canteen carrying Sage and headed back to the classroom. Seeing the other kids having already rearranged the desks, he went over and pushed the only remaining desk into place and sat down.
The kids gave him a few weird looks but mostly kept to themselves. Except for one kid.
As the boy started walking toward him, Night easily recalled his details:
Tony. A Warrior Class with the Nightmare Aspect and a ’Black Lightning’ variant. He was one of the strongest in the class. He had won his duel against a kid who looked like he had almost pissed himself the moment his opponent’s name was announced.
That fight had been over in a single blow, with a controlled but nasty punch to the chest that sent the boy flying out of the ring like a ragdoll.
Tony stood beside Night’s desk with a dark look and said in a low, threatening voice, "When we fight, I’ll make sure I break all your bones."
As Tony looked behind Night, he winced slightly. Following his gaze, Night saw a girl with pink hair and a doll-like face staring at Sage with literal stars in her eyes.
Her gaze shifted to Night’s face from time to time with a strange intensity. She looked away the very moment he caught her looking, playing dumb by staring blankly at the surroundings.
Tony also saw this, and his voice lowered with a lethal threat. "Pretty boy, keep your slum hands away from Pancy, or else..."
Black lightning flashed dangerously in his eyes. He didn’t even care to finish the sentence, seeing that he had clearly managed to send his message across.
Sage sitting in Night’s arms, growled fiercely. Grreek. Meanwhile, his friends in the Domain looked like they were ready to burst out and fight the kid on his behalf.
Tony looked at Sage, clicked his tongue in annoyance, and left. Even he had to begrudgingly admit the damn summon was incredibly cute. And it really didn’t help his case that the summoner looked like a pretty boy, either.
Heh... I should let him know exactly who he is messing with, Tony thought as he walked away. And if he doesn’t get the hint, then I’m very good at getting rid of the competition.
Looking at Tony’s retreating back, Night realized exactly why he was in this stupid situation.
Hiding his face in his palms, he thought, Seriously? I mean, I know I look decent, but the way that girl was looking at me was just weird.
It hasn’t even been a full day.
Thinking about it deeply, he guessed it must not be as simple as innocent puppy love. Her look seemed like that on the surface, but her true intentions might not be as good as her cute looks suggested.
She had managed to trigger his danger sense and none of the other kids, not even the aggressive teacher or Tony had managed to do that.
What is with these kids? They look inexperienced and clumsy, but they are wierd. The way they act is so fundamentally different from regular children.
Is this what living through an apocalypse does to the world?
And these kids weren’t even the ones to face the troubled times directly.
The people who had faced the apocalypse head-on and actually survived to tell the tale, he wondered what kind of twisted mindset they must have.
Dr. Isaac and the others who had experimented on him in the facility were all twisted beyond belief, possessing warped morals.
Sara seemed okay; but was she really okay? Maybe he just hadn’t seen that darker side of her yet. Blade was not a human, so there was no point judging her by human standards.
The teacher was an absolute nutcase, so he didn’t count either.
Jeff and Rogan, whom he had met briefly, both looked like good people with decent vibes.
I need to interact with more people to know more.
Reaching this grim conclusion, he decided:
If the world is truly how I think it is, then I have to be very cautious and make myself stronger, fast.
(⇀_⇀)
