"And… how is that my problem?" I responded with a smirk, and the boy went to hit me with an overhand hook.
BAM
But it was way too slow, so I just slipped my foot underneath into his stomach and kicked him away, sending him tumbling into the crowd behind him.
Oops… I thought he was a bit stronger.
"I'm gonna take a shit, so if you have any questions, then wait like the good children you are and stay waiting for your mommy to come back," I said before walking down the hall.
Bursts of tears came from the room, but I didn't really care; that wasn't my problem, but the woman who takes care of this place.
…
"Oomf… *cough* *cough* *cough* *cough*... Fuck, why couldn't I keep any of the food down? That was such delicious food, and I don't think I was allergic to anything… shit…." I muttered, and as I thought back to what I did wrong, I couldn't come up with anything.
Eventually, the caretaker for this place finally came back, only to be greeted by tons of kids crying and whining over me, but I was still puking every last drop of melted food in my stomach.
My throat was suddenly dry, and a familiar insatiable thirst for water overcame me, so I drank from the sink after flushing the toilet.
The woman soon came to probably yell at me as I kicked one of the kids, but my mind was completely focused on drinking this water.
But, even as I drank and drank seemingly gallons, my throat only got dryer, and the sensation of thirst clawed its way up my throat and into my mouth.
My mouth watered at the sensation of this tap water, but I didn't question any of it right now because it felt like I would die if I stopped drinking.
[Food has been expelled]
A single panel appeared in front of me, confirming the one thing I had hypothesized… and that was the fact that I could only consume water.
My parched throat finally began to moisten with the water, and as soon as the woman blasted through the door that had no lock, she saw my miserable state.
"Oh, my lord! What happened here!?" She shouted as water was everywhere, and I was completely soaked in it.
"I… I can't keep my consciousness," I muttered before fainting once again.
…
When I reawoke, I took my time getting up because I felt somebody slowly stroking my hair, making me feel so relaxed that I could barely twitch a muscle.
"Are you okay now?" A woman with brown hair asked, and her warm smile made a few images flash through my mind… and they weren't very pleasant.
"Yes, so please stop touching my hair," I muttered, and just as I managed to brush off her hand, she took my hand and dragged me out of bed.
I knew what she was going to make me do now, and it's not like I have any problem with it… but there is still that last bit of lingering pride as an amazing water mage that held me back by gritting my teeth to the max.
Once we arrived in the dining room, all the kids had been gathered, including the two girls who didn't seem to care about the situation.
They were more prioritized for survival rather than caring for some other woman.
"Go ahead and apologize to the kids. Especially Jake because you kicked him in the stomach. He was very hurt by that," She said, and the kid smirked arrogantly.
"I'm sorry for what I did,"
I bowed my head to these children here, and all the arrogance that used to reside within me slowly faded away.
Survival is the most important thing right now…
It seems the kids weren't having it, though, and nobody forgave me, but I felt like apologizing was enough, so I just walked away, back to the same bedroom.
…
"What are you doing?" A childish voice asked me as I sat on the bed, legs crossed and meditating, trying to grow my mana core.
As I slowly opened my eyes, a boy a bit younger than me but not much smaller than me hid half his body behind the door frame.
He had fluffy black hair and pale gray eyes and was kind of pretty, to be honest, though that might just be because he's a child.
He also poked half his body and his little head through, trying to see what I was doing.
"Nothing. Go play with your friends… Enjoy your childhood," I muttered, shooing him away, but despite being super timid, he entered the room slowly.
"You won't kick me, right?"
I audibly laughed at his rude question, but I was also pretty amused by it, so I let it go and jumped off the bed, making the boy trip on his feet as he tried to back away from me.
"What's your name?" I asked while helping him up.
"Aster… J-Just Aster… I-I don't know what my last name is," He replied.
"That's a cool name. My name is Cyrus. Nice to meet you… Is there any reason why you came here?" I asked while scrolling through my status.
"Y-Yes… I came here for a very specific question, and please don't hit me if you don't like it," He said, and my face kind of shifted upon hearing his words.
I see… so not all of these kids were abandoned at birth.
"Go ahead, I won't hit you even if you insult me… well, we'll see. It depends on the severity of your question," I chuckled, and it made the boy warm up a bit more as he gained some more confidence.
"Does hitting somebody feel good…?"
His pale gray eyes felt like they were staring into my soul, and with each tick of the clock beside us, I could feel some sort of aura emanating from the boy.
I've encountered… a monster.