Chereads / BlackMage / Chapter 15 - Annoying

Chapter 15 - Annoying

"Wait up, please!" The same voice trailed Zain all over the hallways, never giving up in asking him to stop. Zain's anger grew with each passing moment before finally he stopped in his tracks. He needed to put an end to this. As the boy saw signs of Zain finally standing still, he ran in front of him before kneeling over while catching his breath.

"F-Finally…you stopped.." He took more deep breaths before finally standing up straight. His face was bruised and the glasses that rested on his nose were crooked, his emerald green eyes looked towards Zain with a strange form of admiration.

"Thank you very much for saving me back there! I know you didn't do it on purpose, especially since you tried to leave me at first, but still! The fact remains the same that you took down those bullies, and for that I must thank you!" He was earnest in his reply, as his slightly high pitched voice conveyed his feelings of gratitude to Zain.

"Also…I was wondering." The boy's voice turned meek as he started to ask his own question.. "Do you think you could teach me those moves you used back there?!" His eyes shone bright as he looked forward to the answer he would receive.

"Training you would be a waste of time. You're weak, frail, and you don't have the build necessary to fight like that. You have no hope of ever putting up a decent fight the way you are now, so don't get your hopes up."

Zain's incredibly harsh words shattered the boy's optimistic hopes in trying to learn from him in an instant.

'It's harsh, but it's the truth he needed.' Zain thought in silence as he walked on. 'People like him were the first ones sacrificed in the future by the royals. The last thing I need is deadweight following me around.'

Having finally freed himself from the strange boy's attention, Zain found himself in the library, studying on magic theories before hearing a loud crash next to him. Books fell to the ground in a large cluster as someone got pushed deeper into the bookcase.

"Listen here! You're gonna finish this lesson for me, or else I'm gonna remind you what pain feels like!"

Zain's eyes happened to look up from the book he was reading, only to regret having done that as the same boy from earlier was getting bullied yet again. Through his pained expression, the boy looked over and saw Zain before having his face brighten up.

"H-Hey! It's me again! Can you help me please?!"

'Don't ask for my help idiot! I hardly know you!' Zain lamented in his head as the bully turned his attention over to Zain.

"What? You friend of this guy? Great! You can handle my work instead of him!" The bully strutted over to Zain, believing he could just pawn off his work onto him, but was shocked as Zain simply closed his book and walked away from the two.

"Hey! Diptshit, I'm talking to you! Great, now I got to teach another idiot a lesson in respect!" The lesson he was thinking of, ended up being turned on him, as Zain had knocked him out with a punch to the stomach.

"Y-You saved me again.." The same dejected voice went into Zain's ears as he turned around.

"What's your name?"

"Huh? Oh, it's James. James Castiel…"

"Alright then James. The next time you drag me into your shit, you can expect to look like this guy on the floor over here. Take a hint and get lost." Zain had clearly shown his annoyance when dealing with James, yet somehow he kept running into him for the rest of the day. During lunch, during a free period, even when walking to the bathroom. Somehow everywhere Zain went, James was there as well, getting bullied. In every situation Zain ended up getting into another fight, and ended up saving James over and over. Yet another bully ended up falling to the ground by the hands of Zain, leaving the two alone yet again.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Stop following me!" Zain's patience had already grown thin beyond measure as he had, yet again, fought off another bully for James. The boy in question had run from across the room once he found Zain and leapt to him in hopes of finding safety. Though he did find it, he also found himself on the receiving end of Zain's fury.

"I-If you won't teach me, the only way I can learn from you is by sticking close to you!"

Zain stares down at the boy, seeing some form of determination in his eyes.

"...You're that obsessed with getting stronger huh?"

"Yes! It's all I've ever wanted!"

Through his anger, Zain lets out a heavy sigh before looking off into the distance.

"Then you're going at it all wrong."

"Huh..?" Confusion was evident in James's voice as he looked at Zain.

"You won't get strong just by standing by them. In order to get better you have to challenge those better than you. You have to devour the strong to gain their strength."

"D-Devour them…?" James was taken back by the wording Zain had chosen. Devour? He made it seem as if strong opponents were nothing but food for them to eat.

"Exactly. Devour them. You may think they're people, but deep down, every mage is just another animal." Zain's eyes turned into a glare as he saw the sun standing in the middle of the sky. "Without remorse, they'll do whatever it takes to satisfy their own desire. Even if it means taking away the lives of others."

James looked slightly worried as Zain continued to talk, seeing his face filled with so much hate. But just as soon as his fury laid on his face, it vanished as he turned to look down at him.

"Why do you think those idiots keep coming after you? They see you as prey. Something weak they can just push around and use however they see fit."

As strange as it sounded, the words being told to him started to make a bit of sense. Slowly James started to get off the ground, facing Zain completely.

"Instead of running to me for cover, start by growing a spine and fighting back."

"R-Right…"

"Now, for the last time, stop following me. I have one more class for the day, and I'm not gonna waste my time babysitting you." With a huff, Zain started walking down the hallway towards his last class for the day, believing his strange encounter to finally be over.

"I'll see you next time!" Only to be completely wrong as James made a one sided promise to see each other yet again. Zain didn't even have the chance to respond to him as he heard his rushed footsteps on the floor. Silence had been returned to him as he continued on to his last class for the day.