"What did you say, you punk? You think we're scared of you because of your reputation?"
"Hey we're older than you, bitch! Show some respect."
The tenth graders were livid. This kid, whose balls probably haven't even dropped yet really thinks he can walk all over them. If they don't deal with this the right way they'll become laughing stocks throughout the whole school.
Leonidas was indifferent. Let alone the fact that his balls already dropped 2 months ago, these idiots weren't enough for him to start sweating.
Leonidas stood up and faced them. Spectators were expecting a conflict but Leonidas looked apologetic and his body language changed to a submissive one in the next second.
"Aahh... You're right. I'm sorry. Please forgive me..."
But his eyes turned cold and exuded killing intent as he continued "forgive me for not GIVING A FUCK ABOUT THE RESPECT YOU THINK YOU DESERVE!"
*oohhhhh*
Spectators cheered as they expected a fight to start anytime now. The bus was still moving along, and although it was swaying, everything felt like it was in a standstill.
Some spectators wanted to see this arrogant kid get beaten up.
"damn, this guy is so arrogant"
"beat him up."
The two tenth graders fumed and became more confident as people cheered on.
"So you think you're tough huh... Just because you murdered your family doesn't make you any more special. You BITCH!!" said the fat boy as he threw a sneaky punch with his right arm.
But Leonidas was ready. He redirected the arm, pushed it towards the front seat and dragged it down across the hard top.
"Aahh! Fuck!"
The boys fist started bleeding as a large piece of skin and flesh ripped of. But Leonidas wasn't done. He used his free arm's shoulder to send a powerful jab at the fat boy's nose.
*crrck*
The boy staggered backwards until he fell on top of another student in the seats on the other side of the bus. Leonidas didn't stop. He grabbed onto the front seat and his own seat and used them as launchers to launch himself forward on top of the fat boy.
The fatty could only defend his face, thinking that was Leonidas' aim. But Leonidas used a kick and went for his right arm, which was the one the fatty threw a punch with.
*bang*
"hiiick!"
He retracted his leg, then brought it down on top of the arm.
Again.
And again.
And again.
In the bus... Silence.
Even the skinny friend who was laughing previously, remained paralyzed by the side, not knowing whether rescuing his friend is worth getting a broken arm for.
It wasn't until the driver noticed the commotion that he started shouting at the top of his lungs, telling them to stop.
Leonidas stopped and returned to his seat, but not before glaring at the skinny friend, who in turn almost peed his pants while backing off to help his now unconscious fat friend.
Leonidas wiped his hands using a handkerchief he always carries with him and whipped out a book for some early morning "reading".
When he got to school apart from receiving a stern scolding from the driver, Leonidas rieceved the cold but curious treatment from everybody at school.
It seems he was a trending topic.
Leonidas went to the cafeteria at the bottom floor and got himself some hot chocolate before leaving, as he always did. He couldn't help but notice the looks of scorn on some of his classmates' faces. He could only shrug in return.
People who made baseless assumptions about others weren't worth paying attention to anyway.
After a few lessons, people heard about what happened on the bus and what happened after the fatty got taken to the hospital. The fat boy, whose name was Richard, had his arm bones broken in two places.
Richard's parents wanted to file a law suite for assault, but Leonidas wasn't worried. With so many witnesses and, if push came to shove, a little bit of sorcery, everything could be easily solved.
With regards to the rumors, Leonidas wasn't worried. He knew it would get annoying eventually, but as long as he explained the truth to the right people, it would fizzle out.
He just had no idea who would have such a petty enmity with him to the extent where he/she would dig up his past just to tell half truths about it to no names who can only gossip.
Lame.
'This is not even worth my attention. Whoever this is, will obviously now be content with just this. They'll oust themselves soon enough. And when they do...'
Leonidas' devilish smile colored his face while he walked the hallways to his next class.
"Alright everybody, sit down. I have an announcement to make" said the English teacher. Even though it was the first day, he felt drained and wished that he could go back to his vacation.
Reality was cruel though.
"I'm here to tell you that the date for your camp/class outing has been decided."
The class instantly became rowdy. Every year, the 6th,8th, 10th,and 11th grades had a 'camping outing' where the whole grade would spend time together, playing games, going on trips and having fun for 5 days.
"Where are we going?", an indistinct voice rang throughout the class, bringing the class to silence.
"You guys are going to the wildlife safari lodge in limpopo in September"
Wildlife Safari?
*boooooo*
In previous years they had been told that the 8th graders would go to theme parks and lodges. But now they're going to a literal wildlife reserve?? With animals?
The girls in class could not wait to not go. But what the teacher said next eased their worries.
You're not going into the wild. You're going to the lodge in the wild. There are houses and swimming pools and water slides, soccer fields, anything you can imagine.
*ooohhhhh*
The teacher was slightly dissapointed by his student's lack of desire to experience nature but he kept that to himself. Everyday we stray further from the standards of our ancestors. That's just NATURE.
Ironically.
The rest of the day was uneventful as most days would be. Leonidas organized Lucas to take him home from now on so that he didn't have to mingle with the idiots in the bus.
A few days went by and on Thursday Leonidas heard the doorbell ring and he smiled when when the door opened and he saw who was at the door.
Fiona was standing with her shoulders square and her perfect nose held high with pride. She had finally done it.
"Come in you weirdo, why are you standing there like a constipated duckling"
"..."
*pfft*
"Why, you...!!"
"Hahahahahaha"
A few minutes later they were in leonidas' room again. This time, Leonidas taught her another script for energy centre awakening.
Every script Leonidas handed Fiona was self created off of an amalgamation from research from his past life, his inherited memories from Gaia, and his current profound understanding of spiritual energy rules.
The scripts themselves were chants and sigil like runes that a practitioner would chant and/or keep in their awareness during practice with the purpose of creating resonance and awakening.
The most famous script in the world, is the buddhist and hindu "Om" script. The true rime associated with "Om" has the miraculous effect of bringing peace and calm into even the most troubled of hearts.
Leonidas would try to be in the same room with Fiona as she practiced from now on.
He wanted to observe Fiona for this part so that he can learn how awakening happens as an outside observer. He also wanted to regulate the process in case any errors happen. If he could learn anything to shorten the process or make it more efficient, he would implement it in his next round of experiments.
Fiona did not dally any further as she could already taste her success. She had worked hard and finally managed to attain the state of forgetting oneself to the point where she could enter it at will.
Now she was just one step away from awakening. She would not stop even if someone paid her to do it.
She was immediately brought to that empty space again. The first time she experienced this she lost her composure. But now she felt a connection to this place. Everytime she came back she would never want to leave.
She started reciting the script and even when nothing happened she didn't stop. Hours went by, when suddenly, she felt the presence of some energy. She got excited, and made the mistake of stopping the recitation, which ended the resonance.
She opened her eyes unwillingly with regret coloring her face. Leonidas noticed this, and after probing, he found out what happened.
'Oh I see... Yeah. That was definitely spiritual energy.'
Fiona was ecstatic. She was so close.
Leonidas continued 'Next time, no matter what you see, hear, or feel, just continue. Those distractions are nothing more than that. Distractions.'
Fiona nodded, then furrowed her brows in thought. 'how do I know when I've awakened the spiritual energy centre then?'
'When it happens you'll know. And of course I'll know too.', Leonidas said matter-of-factly.
'Why are you trying to be mysterious. Such a weirdo... ' Fiona said, but Leonidas seemed like he didn't hear her as he continued.
'Oh yeah. Remember... I want you by my side when you're attempting awakening. It's a very difficult process and I have to protect you as best I can. If I hear something happened to you and I wasn't there to do anything about it, I'll be very mad.'
'You want me by your side...', Fiona flushed visibly, basically not paying attention to the rest of what Leonidas said.
'Yes. It's for your own goo-... Hey are you listening?', Leonidas asked noticing her absent mindedness.
'Y-Y-Yes I... I am' Fiona said shyly.
'Good. I'll take you home for today. Great work today.' Leonidas said while standing up. They packed up their stuff and Leonidas walked her home. The whole way was spent in silence with Leonidas thinking about the awakening method and Fiona thinking about who knows what.
Leonidas lived like that for the next few weeks, until two weeks later, Fiona was sat in front of Leonidas and her body started to send out a ring.
Then suddenly...
*boom*
Resplendent lights colored the heaven and the earth in Leonidas' spiritual vision. These were the Awakening Lights.
Fiona managed to awaken her spiritual energy centre.
In only 3 and a half weeks of practice. That's better than most awakeners during the invasion Era.
Leonidas felt the energy contained in the lights and realized it had the power to spread across almost a hundred thousand kilometers. That's the area of almost 3 big cities.
With these awakening lights, Leonidas realized one thing. The quality of the script a practitioner uses in the act of awakening determines the quality of the energy soul that is formed as a consequence.
In his first life although he had high talent, his knowledge base was low and as such he could only get an average awakening. But now, with his help, this girl was able to awaken an energy soul with a quality that was a ten times better than his.
He acted quickly
He supressed the awakening lights to the area of his room and waited for her to come back to awareness.
After Fiona came back, a smile was visible on her face as she withheld the urge to cry tears of joy.
'Congratulations. You are now a cultivator.' transmitted Leonidas.
Tears of joy streamed down Fiona's face as she lost the battle at the end of the day.
"pfft hahahahaha"
"hehe"
Fiona pounced on Leonidas and hugged him fiercely while crying.
"Thank you.", she said gratefully. She disliked Leonidas for the longest time. But now she couldn't imagine her life in the last month without him.
"heyy... This was all you. You worked hard for this. You definitely deserve it.", Leonidas consoled truthfully. She really did work hard for this. Most people may have given up at the forgettfullness stage, but she persevered and ended up changing her life.
"..."
"..."
"So... How long are you gonna keep hugging me?"
"Oh shut up... Idiot." she said with a reluctant smile on her face. That was the first time she hugged a boy like that. It felt... Good.
"pfft hahaha" Leonidas laughed as Fiona kept punching him playfully on his chest telling him to stop laughing at her.
"Okay, okay, ouch that actually hurts." Leonidas teased. He stood up to stretch his body. Realise g that the still had some time to "study" he asked Fiona what she wanted.
"Do you want anything to eat or drink?"
Fiona shook her head and pointed her hand at her brain which signaled to Leonidas to activate the telepathic connection.
Leonidas did just that and Fiona spoke.
'I want to know what comes next.'
'What comes next is Cultivation'
'Then after that?'
'Then after that comes rules, runes and arrays'
Fiona fumed. Is all this idiot thinks about cultivation?
'I want a reward for awakening.'
'A reward?'
'Take me out. I want to go watch a movie. Together.'
'Wait, wait... what?'