Dong! Dong!
The loud sound of the ringing bell signified school closure.
The enthusiastic students picked up their bags and other learning materials as they all hurried home. To students, this bell was one of the most memorable sounds to hear in school since they would finally get to go home.
Especially at this time of the semester, when it was only a few days to the graduation battle, they were all enthusiastic to impress their parents.
In this era where martial arts and mystic abilities was the main proof of power, every parent loved to send their children to the best mystic academies.
Obedin Mystic Academy was one of the schools at the forefront of the mystic world. With a huge heritage and history of having produced students who later graduated to become powerhouses of the era, it was highly renowned.
Every parent wanted to send his child to this mystic academy. Most students were here due to the power and riches of their parents, while a few others consisted of those that were here due to a mixture of luck and talent.
Rex Vector was one of these lucky talented students, an exceptional one at that, being among the few students to finish the 5-year battle course with 1st class excellence in a specific battle domain.
As an orphan, he got the opportunity to school in such a renowned mystic academy only due to a government scholarship.
With a head full of red hair like old wine, a great physique that could turn heads around, dark brown eyes that seemed to hide the secrets of the galaxy, and a well-streamlined baby face, Rex was a handsome but introverted young man.
He loved his looks, nobody hated being good-looking but he hated the attention that it drew towards him especially when this attention was mostly bad.
What he actually loved the most was his sword. Even at this moment, while he walked, a sword scabbard was tied to his back.
At this moment, though it was already just a few days to the graduation battle where most students would be happy and outgoing with their friends, preparing their mind for the last battle, he seemed lonely, like he had no friends.
Actually, he had 2 friends, his only friends but like usual during major days like this where the atmosphere in the school was supposed to be harmonious, he avoided them because he didn't want to drag them into his troubles.
His reason for avoiding his only friends was that during major days like this, others get to be happy but his only fate was to face hate.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
His scrappy-looking pair of sandals made strange scraping-scratching and tapping sounds against the floor as the effects of friction acted on them.
Unlike the other students who came from privileged backgrounds, and like the few students who were the same as him, it was evident that they came from a different background. They were the low-lives of the school.
Their dressing, working etiquette, speaking etiquette, and a lot of other things reflected the painful reality that they were inferior to the privileged ones.
The only aspect where Rex was superior to his fellow students and he was confident about was his swordsmanship. But nobody cared about it much, mystic swordsmanship was at its lowest point in history.
Though Rex lived this painful academy life daily where he had to suppress and ignore the feeling of inferiority complex in him, at this moment, he didn't care about all that because he had better things in mind. He needed to get home.
Unfortunately, the things in his mind did not always reflect reality. He was not wrong; the privileged ones were here; they indeed came for him.
"Hey, scholarship miser, how's your day going?"
A loud-mouthed student raised his voice from afar on seeing Rex. Alongside this blonde-haired student where 3 other students, and from their clothing and bearing, there was no doubt that they were the privileged.
On noticing the blonde-haired student, Rex instinctively ignored him, Collins was not worth his attention. This was what he believed, paying attention to the bully would only push him towards committing a punishable offense.
"Ohh, someone's scared, I didn't think you were too scared to answer me". Collins, the blonde-haired student quickened his steps on noticing that Rex ignored him, clearly not about to give up.
"Hey, what's with the silence, miser scholar?"
"Haha, that's a new one, miser scholar, it fits him so much. 10 achievement points to your ministry, Collins".
"Miser scholar, lol. Psychological damage +20!"
"Hahaha!"
The 3 students behind the tall Collins immediately butted in, bursting into a loud fit of laughter after he spoke.
Despite this, Rex never paid attention to them. Today was of great significance to him, today was his 18th birthday so he was distracted.
Collins kept on trying to nib at his trigger points for a few seconds until he started getting annoyed due to being ignored. For some reason, it was like the kid suddenly became mature and his personality changed.
Originally, by now, Rex would have flipped already.
"Hey, Rex, I'm speaking to you!"
"Get lost!"
"Ohhh…" Collins raised his hands in mocked surrender. "I see what's going on here, someone's upset that Daddy didn't buy him a birthday gift, right?"
"Well, take my gift, happy birthday Rex".
Splash!
"Hahaha!" The 3 students burst into a louder fit of laughter, including Collins this time after he smashed the birthday cake against the miser scholar's head.
This act succeeded in drawing the attention of other students. Once they looked and saw the identity of the student that was being bullied, the students adopted interesting expressions on their faces without any hint of interfering.
At some point while Collins spoke, perhaps a screw was unwound on his head, perhaps a nerve was touched but Rex suddenly stopped walking.
Rex turned slowly, his brown eyes pinning the bulkier and taller youth firmly. "What did you say?"
Collins flinched a bit on receiving the glare. "See…, what's this? You think you're Jack Bauer? Go live your miser life in your dad's miser mansion, haha".
This, touched a nerve.
Bam!
A lightning-fast fist to the nose, and Collins fell with blood seeping from his nose. He rolled in pain for a few seconds before he jumped up, angered.
"Die, b*tch!"
Collins was really angered as he sprinted towards Rex with his 2 hands inclined in a posture like he was gathering air in-between them.
In this posture, fire suddenly sprouted from in-between his 2 hands. Collins may seem like a good-for-nothing bully, but he was one of the few students who awakened and managed to achieve basic mastery over a mystic ability.
On seeing the actions of his opponent, a flip switched in Rex's head.
The privileged students may be better than him in luxury, but when it came to combat, he already vowed long ago to never bow his head to them though he never succeeded in awakening a mystic ability.
He believed that with his sword, he could defeat all these self-entitled rich kids who believed that they could trample over him because he was poor.
Rex also erupted with speed, sprinting towards Collins as his sword was already unsheathed from its scabbard. It was a basic metal alloy sword with no mystic engravements.
It took only a few seconds before both kids closed the distance. Collins threw both his hands forward, while Rex slashed down with all his power.
Before Rex's sword came into contact, Rex briefly felt like something just left him which was weird and almost caused him to lose concentration but to his shock, his sword briefly glowed white before coming into contact with the raging fireball.
Boom!
Rex only saw white, mixed with a bit of red as he felt his sword sinking deep into flesh but a powerful hand stopped his sword's motion the next moment.
Thud! Thud!
Both students were tossed to the ground as Collins rolled in agony as blood poured out of his shoulder. From this, it was evident that Rex's sword managed to cut through his fireball and also injured his shoulders.
Seeing this, every spectating student was shocked, there was no way that a basic alloy sword wielded by a non-mystic swordsman could cut through a fireball.
They were all shocked but their eyes all turned to the brown-haired middle-aged man who tossed the 2 students down.
His white and black outfit revealed that he was a martial master in the academy. The students briefly cupped their fists as a sign of respect and greeting.
The middle-aged man finally spoke.
"Rex Vector, Collins Mane, see me in the principal's office".
…
Plop!
Rex fell hopelessly on his wooden bed inside his father's house, looking lost.
Once again, his aggressive and competitive personality did him in, he and Collins were punished severely for their actions today at school.
His was especially painful to him since it was the only area where he felt superior, even if it was for a moment.
When he was already happy, thinking that he graduated with an excellent result, which guaranteed that he could at least get a martial job after graduation, his hopes were ruthlessly destroyed due to a moment of impulse.
The principal gave him 2 options. He was given the option between choosing to forfeit the graduation battle which was supposed to be the highlighting point of his academy life, and choosing to lower his grades to a 2nd class upper.
Rex had no choice. Choosing to forfeit the battle would ruthlessly cut all his hopes off, no mercenary or government organization would hire him.
As for the 2nd option, its effects were less drastic but as life hated him so much to not put him among the privileged ones, the effects were more or less the same. Without connections, he was going nowhere.
As he thought of all these, Rex felt hopeless. He was a man, men didn't cry, he always told himself this but tears flowed down his eyes at this moment.
"Dad, mom, why do you have to leave me in this cruel world?"
"Why does life hate me so much?"
His parents died when he was just 5 in a beast tide accident.
Though he lost them at a small age, he still remembered their teachings. He kept to the family way, loving his sword, practicing with his sword, and making the sword integral to who he was despite the declining ways of mystic swordsmanship.
He practiced every day, holding tight to his father's last lecture that success would come once he became one with his sword.
Despite his diligence, despite his hard work, the world simply hated him. His only bit of luck was his 13th birthday, when his achievements with his sword on a teenager's battle tournament won him a scholarship to his academy.
From then on, the world seemed to suddenly resent him as he only experienced bad luck situations. Failing to awaken mystic energy on his 15th birthday was the crystallization of his bad luck encounters.
After the heartbreaking 15th birthday, he stopped celebrating nor anticipating his birthdays, they always brought one heartbreak after the other.
The only one he looked forward to was his 18th birthday, his father's words were still fresh in his ears like it was just yesterday.
"Rex, the young dragon becomes an upgraded dragon on the 18th birthday".
"When you're 18, go down the ancestral basement and become an upgrade".
Rex always kept true to these words though he never fully understood what they meant, reciting them every day like they were holy words but after this recent heartbreak, he lost hope.
None of the things said to him by his parents were true. After their death, he had always suffered and suffered with nothing to write home for it.
His pursuit for the perfect swordsmanship killed his career. Even his school principal said this, and compared to the Principal of the Obedin Mystic Academy, he had to admit that his father was inferior despite how high he held him in esteem.
"Dad, mom, you were wrong, swordsmanship has no place in this world anymore. Mystic swordsmanship is now a myth".
"I can't live alone in this cruel world anymore".
Once Rex made this declaration, he concluded it in his mind.
With a clear metallic ringing sound, he unsheathed his sword again and placed it at a slicing motion towards his neck. He was fed up, he wanted to end the suffering here and now.
Unfortunately, he hesitated, he couldn't do it so decisively. "Before going, at least, I should visit the basement as father said. It has never opened to me before, but today is my 18th birthday, perhaps dying there would be better".
As he said this, Rex also remembered the strange situation where his sword briefly glowed white before cutting through Collins' mystic fireball.
This had never happened to him before, he was confused. Adding this to the equation, Rex got the excuse that he needed to delay his death.
Once he rationalized this, Rex stood up and walked down to the corridor where the basement was located. Once he got there, he felt something different.
Originally, the door to the basement always seemed as thick as a rock to his perception, but at this moment, it mysteriously seemed as light as a feather.
Rex put his hand on the door and pushed.
Clang!
"It…, opened?"
Before Rex could finish his question, he was drowned in what seemed like a flood of white water. Before he lost consciousness, he heard something.
"Congratulations! Welcome back Upg…"
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