Aron's eyelids twitched for a few minutes before he can open them. "Mhh..mm??" He can feel a weight on his chest. Looking up he found a familiar face resting on him, deep in sleep. "How are you feeling, kid?" A voice made him look to the other side of his bed, finding a redhead staring at him with a small remanence of a smile on her face.
"Ehh.. not too bad. Just a wave of weakness." Aron noticed another woman sitting right next to Darlene, with her head slumped over her shoulder. He didn't recognize this new face. The masked lady gently shifted the head on her shoulder away, putting aside the book in her hand.
"For a mere slave.. you got a heck lot of people worrying for you." Aron just chuckled at the complaint. "I am a lucky boy hehe.." "That you are..!" Darlene had come over to check his pulse rate. Finding his bodily functions normal, she sighed visibly.
"How long did I pass out?" Looking at the unfamiliar surroundings, it might have been some time since his episode with that relic. "Not much. It's only been a full day. You passed out yesterday evening and right now it's around two past midnight." Aron only nodded in understanding, his hands caressing the head on his chest.
"How badly did I hurt myself, to have all of you guys come here? And who is she?" Darlene felt relieved to find the boy full of energy once again. Due to her last intimacy with the kid, she had chosen to avoid any further contact with him. But that clearly had the opposite effect.
Without any care for the boy's questions, she bent down and kissed his forehead. At first, the boy turned red, not used to such care and affection from others. But soon he was back with a retort that gained him a pinched cheek. "You can kiss here as well." He pressed his lips together making Darlene fluster and almost slap his face away.
"Don't try that debacle again. You are not ready for that spear." The previous blast that threw him like a rag doll was enough reminder for him not to touch that spear anytime soon. "I understand. Then again.. was I hurt too badly?"
Darlene folded her arms together, glaring at the boy underneath her. "Yes. Dark energy wrecked through your body. Ms. Rin was not far too good. It was only because of principal Madelyn's efforts that you are safe."
"Hm.. is dark energy that dangerous? Isn't it the same as the Elemental mana or Death energy that necromancers manipulate?" He was genuinely bemused by this new discipline that had emerged out of nowhere.
"Well.. fundamentally they are all the same, finding their origins in nature. Yet, some aspects of dark energy make it very chaotic and extremely volatile. Added to that, there are only a handful of naturally born manipulators of this discipline, all this makes it way more dangerous than other forms of mana."
"Ohh.." Aron was still lost in thought when he heard rustling from behind Darlene. "Ooooaaahh!!" The sleeping lady from earlier was now awake after an extended yawn. "Mmhh.. is the boy awake?" She got to her feet and walked over, taking the time to stretch her enchanting figure.
"Put your tongue out..!" Aron had no idea who this new lady was, but her commanding tone left no room for negotiation. "Agghhh!!" Darlene chuckled when Wendy took hold of the boy's tongue and roughly tugged it out, studying it closely while the kid winced in pain.
"Hmm.. looks fine to me." Next, she glared into his eyes before nodding her head to herself. "I will take my leave, Darlene. Please tell him about the matters related to the relic.. ammmmhhh.." Tired of her constant work, Wendy gave her body another stretch before finding her way out of the room.
"Haha.. that was Ms. Wendy. She is principal Madelyn's personal assistant." Darlene laughed at the grimacing face of the boy. Aron hurriedly put his grievances away, learning of the lady's stature. "Anyhow, it's time for me to leave as well. I already told you not to wander around the relic from now on, also you are to keep this matter related to the spear, a secret."
"You are leaving?" Aron held onto her hand as she turned around. "Ahem.. don't act coy with me brat.. huff!!" With her swaying buttocks, Darlene strolled out of the room with a scoff.
The boy only smiled and returned his glance to the girl on his chest. Carefully he raised himself and easily picked up the girl in his arms, placing her beside him in his bed. After being bitten by that vampire woman, he had gained an inhuman level of strength.
"Mhhh.." Julia opened her eyes to find Aron tugging her in the blanket. He looked back at her with a complacent smile. "Sorry to wake you up." She kept staring at him for some time, lacking words to describe her fluctuating emotions.
Darlene didn't mention it, nevertheless, he can tell that this girl probably had been here since he was injured. Warmth seeped into his heart as he fell back in the bed, hugging the girl and slowly pressing his lips onto hers. They didn't say anything, just hugged each other to sleep.
***
Two weeks passed in a breeze and it was time for Aron to appear for the admission exams. "You will pass. There will be no issue." Hestia gave her judgment, sitting beside the boy on the couch. Meanwhile, Kyla came into the room bringing coffee with her.
Serving everyone, Kyla coyly walked over to sit in the boy's lap, who was already sandwiched by Hestia and Hera from both sides. Aron's skin crawled by the discomforting glances thrown at him but the girl on his thighs remained unconcerned, cutely laying over his chest.
The incident with the bullies finally exposed how much Aron cared for her, even if he didn't respond to her budding love. Well, there was not much progress on that track even now, yet she had renewed hope.
Naturally, the public display of affection was taboo for Julia. "Ahem.. don't distract him, Kyla. He needs to appear for the test tomorrow." Kyla smirked and deliberately pulled the boy's hands from over her waist to her bulging chest. "Hehe.. I am just providing him more incentive to work harder."
Aron gulped, not disliking the feeling of the soft chest, even at the expense of Julia's glare. Being one of Aron's very few close friends, Kyla had long figured out his weakness for mature-bodied females and hence took every opportunity to rub her superiority in that field at everyone's faces.
"Huh.." Hestia can only hug her chest in response. The reason for her frustration was the limited amount of time she had been able to get with Aron. Naturally, they can not get as intimate as she would have liked.
"Just in case, I will go over the physical tests once again." Aron listened as Ava went over the physical requirements for the test. Yet, both Aron and Julia remained unconcerned about that. He now possessed greatly enhanced strength and response than a normal human.
Not only that, all his sense had been sharpened greatly. His vision and sense of smell too had been boosted greatly. With how he was right now, it would be a breeze to pass through the tests. Added to that, he had made good progress in his cultivation that even impressed Mrs. Yana. He was pretty certain to ace the exams.
The group chatted for another half an hour before it was time for dinner. "Let's go. This is probably the last time you can enjoy the food here." Aron understood where Julia was coming from. The mess didn't allow male students to enter, it meant he was only allowed there in his capacity as a slave.
The group laughed and left the room, navigating their way to the dining hall. Sure enough, his presence brought up the chatter of the girls around them. Nonetheless, their whispers were rather hushed, possibly because of the severe reaction from Hera from last time.
"You are back, little pet?" Suddenly, a shoulder slammed to his right, causing the contents of his plate to be tossed up in air. Purely out of instinct his body moved, catching almost everything back, not allowing not a single drop to spill out.
"Phew!!" Aron wiped the non-existent sweat off his brows only to find himself under the intense gaze of the girls around him. "The fuck was that? Do you work in a circus, little pet?" Gloria and her friends were staring at the boy like he was a piece of art. Simply speaking, the boy was too fast, almost non-human.
Julia stepped in front, leading her group away leaving the shocked ladies standing with astonished faces. "That guy.. he is not so simple." The girl beside Gloria passed her judgment, her eyes still trained on the boy being dragged away.
"Huh.. he is an agile slave.. but that's all there is to him. Let's not waste our time here." All except the previous girl from the group walked away. She was the only sensory mage among their band, allowing her to observe the boy's extreme reaction time. She remained unconvinced of Gloria's observation.
"That jerk.. I want to smash that smirk off her face." "It's okay. She is just a brat." Hera consoled Julia. "Hahaha.. that was so cool, Aron. Woosh.. woosh.. woosh.. haha.. awesome..!!" Hestia had her arm around the boy's neck, re-enacting the earlier scene with extraordinary passion.
Aron can only scratch his head. His reaction had been totally driven by instincts. From what he had been told, everything about him needs to be kept under tight wraps. 'I need to be careful from now on..!' Suddenly, his eyes fell on a girl who was happened to be staring in his direction.
"Hmph..!!" Gloria jerked her head away, not wanting to look at that stupid face any longer than necessary. "You guys got any information on what Julia and her group are planning for the year-end project?"
They sat some distance away from their rival group, thus giving them the required privacy. "Nothing." "They are keeping it a secret this time around." "Huh.. they have to if they don't want to be embarrassed." "Yeah.. after the last tragedy they suffered, it's highly unlikely they can come up with something great."
Year-end projects always offered great grade points, thus it was absolutely necessary to ace it if someone wants to come on top of the first-year graduation. The pink-haired girl was the quietest out of all, slowly sipping her soup calmly.
"What about you, Tracey?" The girl finally picked her head up, taking one glance at Julia's group before shaking her head. "I don't know. Hera is a variable. In the last few months, we have seen how much of a wild card she is in fighting matches. We can only hope that dueling mages are her only talent."
Gloria too followed her gaze to look at the peach-haired girl, who had a rare smile on her face. "You are right. Who knows where Mrs. Madelyn picked her from... She doesn't even seem to be from our nation."
She found Tracey still staring in a single direction, suddenly finding her eyes glowing red she jumped into action. "Hey.. are you mad? We are not supposed to use are magic in the dining hall.. did you forget? They will throw us out!!"
Even the other girls panicked, trying to talk the girl out of it. "No. Just give me a minute. Please." Tracey pleaded with Gloria who can't make any sense of this sudden request from her friend. "Heck Tracey.. Do it. We will keep a look around. But only a minute.. not more than that."
Her stern blue eyes made the girl nod heavily. With that her pupils dilated, her eyes glowing bright red as she directed her to gaze a the only boy in the hall. The world around her came to a standstill. Nothing seems to be moving and Tracey seems to have stopped time itself.
< Kudos!!>>