The enormous cafeteria was bustling with students and in the middle of all this I carefully made my way towards the very edge of the room. There was an empty table and I claimed it.
I placed the tray, opened the drink I bought and dug into the food. I was hungry and that little drama where I was thrown around for no reason made my day worse.
It was clearly my fault that I made my protagonist a cocky bastard who would learn to respect others in future after going through countless hurdles.
He was smart, talented, powerful, charismatic, confident, and whatever the hell characteristic left in this world. Yes, he had everything.
Trust me, I was sick of this nonsense but wrote it anyway. "Readers! Readers!"
They wanted a cocky, self-centered, egoistic, mother ducking bastard and I gave them that.
But now, I had to deal with his cockiness which increased even further when he became the number one student in the 2423 - 2424 educational year.
"You reap what you show Tim." I mumbled with a sigh, taking a sip of soda I bought and it tasted good, really good. I would definitely recommend it but forgot to name it.
Anyway, I now had another major thing to do and that was the Practical as known as The Grand Training. Every day the first half of the class would be theoretical and the latter half would be rigorous training.
I designed the course for the greater good and now I had to go through it. But I was not wailing around. I was genuinely excited to see what was to come.
'Magic!' I grinned inwardly but maintained the poker face on the outside.
Soon I got up, went towards the counter to clean my tray. I wanted to go to the training area as quickly as possible to do some wonders until I failed to reach the counter.
But instead I hit the floor. This time face first and the left-over soup on my head.
So, how did this happen?
Well, a certain cock sucker decided to play a game, where giving pain to others or just laughing over them in general granted him some sort of sense of supremacy or that's what he thought.
"Right, Arthur?" I asked, getting up off the ground as the soup dripped over my head and shirt.
He was still laughing, along with other classmates. His leg was extended to tip someone off.
'Why did I even make you like this?' I really felt bad for him.
I designed him like a senseless moron and for what… For some people I never knew.
I could have made him something else but… 'It is what it is. I must take responsibility for my own actions.'
It was bound to happen. Maybe not me but with someone else.
"What's right?" Arthur asked, still grinning. Beside him sat Anniliese who looked at me for a split second and focused on her mobile.
"Nothing man. It's just I never knew how good it feels when you see someone fall and taste the pain they don't deserve." I snorted and the noise around the room died down. "Like take me for example. I fell, hit my face, soup on my head, I looked like a literal joker and you all enjoyed it. Right guys?"
I raised my voice, turning around for every mob to take a good look at me. And surely, they did but instantly lowered their heads.
"You like seeing people getting hit right? You guys enjoy when innocents bleed right?" I asked again waiting for some kind of validation but not a single voice was heard.
"…"
The entire cafeteria fell dead silent. Maybe they feared Arthur's wrath, maybe no one had the guts to stand before him or maybe everyone just loved him and decided everything was fine as long as he did that.
But I was the goddamn author. The father of this universe.
Tasting the blood on my lips I turned around and faced the legend who was now staring at me with a deadpan look in his eyes. But I couldn't care less.
"Grow up man! All of us feel pain, including you and Me."
Arthur's mouth opened and closed like a fish but nothing came out. It seemed he was empty for words. He tried again but the result was the same.
Anniliese smirked hearing my remarks but I was not inclined to wait for her response, if she wanted to give any that is.
I seriously was tired from all this nonsense. Just wanted to get out of here.
So, I leaned on the floor, collected the shattered plates on the steel tray before giving it to the counter.
"I will pay for this. Please remind me in the evening."
The lady working behind the counter nodded, and with an annoyed look on my face, I left the building.
***
Reaching the room, I threw clothes into the washing machine, sat down for five minutes for the food to settle in and finally took a nice bath to clean the scent of the soup.
Finishing that unnecessary task, I wore another set of clothing lying around the closet and got out of the room. It was 01:50 PM by now and I had to reach the training hall before two which I was able to.
The hall was gigantic, could easily fit five football fields inside and was artificially lighted by high beam LEDs all over the ceiling.
There were cells made of glass everywhere and students were entering their respective ones after checking their IDs on the scanner.
I also did the same after choosing any random box.
As soon as I entered the box a monotonous voice was heard and the door locked itself from behind.
========
Welcome, Tim Walker.
Category: Mage
Element: Earth
Role: Defender
Adjusting Terrain for training simulation.
========
The changes inside the box took place too radically. The floor was covered in soil followed by rocks and sand oozing out from the bottom as the temperature inside rose significantly. The side screens also changed to add a hot desert vibe inside.
I was honestly impressed to see the training dome in full action. And man, it looked awesome.
========
Terrain loaded successfully. Loading Defensive simulation three in Dome 797.
=========
The voice resounded again and I saw the edges of the box getting extended beyond my eyes could perceive. The exit behind me also disappeared.
And suddenly I felt like I was in the middle of a desert with hot wind burning my skin.
=========
Simulation Complete.
Begin scenario One in 3…2…1!
Go!
=========
The air picked up pace as the sand began blowing towards my face. I raised my hands to save my eyes but soon a plethora of loud voices shook the room.
I could not understand anything but knew something was coming and I was ready for it.
I touched the ground and soon a huge dual handed Warhammer materialized before me. It was purely made of soil but the textures felt rock hard when I picked it up.
I expected it to be heavy but shockingly it felt light as a feather. Swinging the hammer, a couple of times I warmed myself up as the computer sounded again.
=========
A wand is recommended for a defender. Going offensive is not advised.
=========
Observing my recent activities, the AI had already calculated my motives which was perfectly fine but when did I even care about advice?
I was going to do this anyway. "So… Fuck it, let's get some shit done."
Soon a hideous looking giant six feet scorpion rose from the sand. It opened and closed its grasping pincers several times before lightly hissing and putting its stinger tail forward.
Was it trying to scare me? If yes then it had failed miserably. If not then it was probably ready to meet its creator which was obviously me.
"Let's do this then." I lunged myself forward as the scorpion did the same.
Digging its six legs onto the ground and forcing his body backwards it jumped ahead, and at the same time I swung my hammer.
Boom!
My hammer broke through the scorpion's left pincer as the shockwave threw it a couple of feet away. But it got up again and hissed loudly.
It charged, so did I.
I swung my hammer again but missed. The creature jumped again, swaying its tail with everything it got.
I tried to duck beneath but got no time. The solid skin hit me in the rib cage and I flew in the air for a moment before hitting a rock with a thud.
"Yes…" I felt pain, my ears rang, eyes blurred, but it didn't matter. I wanted to feel something new, something exhilarating, something refreshing and I swear to God, this was what I needed.
Grinning like a maniac I got up and summoned another hammer, bigger in size and sturdier. Channeled mana into it as the edges simmered bluish.
"Come on you son of a bitch!" I roared, gripping my hammer tightly, running towards the monster.
The scorpion's right pincer came at me and in the same fashion I swung my weapon but with more strength than ever.
It broke the pincer at first impact, but I did not stop there. Rotating the hammer midway, I struck directly at its head.
Crack!
The ground beneath the creature cracked as my weapon shattered its head, killing in an instant.
No blood was spilled, nor any broken bones were seen. Its entire body just turned into dust leaving nothing but the crack mark behind.
"That was fun!" I laughed like someone who has achieved happiness for the first time in his life. And it was mostly true.
I felt thrill, pleasure, fear, anticipation in one go.
And now beaming like some villain, I saw more scorpions rising from the ground.
"This is gonna be fun." I clenched the handle, reinforcing it with more mana.
The same expression remained on my face as I dove headfirst, yet again.