Benjamin walked down the hall toward class.
He walked slowly, trying to drag the process out as much as possible.
He thought about his friends and when he should tell them the real reason he was dropping out.
They would absolutely freak out if I told them, he thought.
He passed through an intersection in the hallway.
To his right was a group of seniors discussing something.
Benjamin threw his hood on and sped up slightly.
However, he did not go unnoticed by the seniors.
They quickly surrounded him.
"What're you doing out of class?" one of the seniors asked.
"Just heading back," Benjamin replied coolly.
"Do you have a pass?" the same senior asked.
He didn't have one.
He should have asked Coach Chrisante to write him one.
"No," Benjamin replied.
"How about your ID," the senior asked.
Benjamin pulled out his student ID and handed it to the senior.
The senior looked over his ID, his eyes pausing on Benjamin's scale rank.
"1.7," the senior read, clicking his tongue.
"What about it?" Benjamin asked.
"Checks out," the senior said, handing it back to Benjamin.
Benjamin looked at the senior's ID that was hanging around his neck.
It read Jaden and his scale rank was 6.5.
Benjamin turned to leave.
"Did I dismiss you, freshman?" Jaden asked.
Benjamin turned around, his patience thinning quickly.
"First off, I'm a sophomore," Benjamin replied, "Second, you're not a teacher."
"Was that disrespect?" Jaden asked.
His group began to laugh.
"Respect is earned, not given," Benjamin replied.
He knew he was practically digging his own grave but he couldn't stop talking.
Jaden chuckled before releasing a massive wave of soul energy at Benjamin.
Benjamin collapsed to the ground, his soul burning like it was on fire.
He couldn't move.
Benjamin watched helplessly as Jaden approached him.
"You need to learn to respect your elders," he said, electricity crackling between his fingertips.
Benjamin tried to crawl backward, finding that his body was extremely heavy and refusing to listen to him.
Jaden stood over Benjamin and raised his hand.
A ball of lightning formed in the palm of his hand.
"Here's a tip," Jaden said, "If you're weak, act like it."
Before Jaden could throw the ball of lightning, however, a voice ordered him to stop.
Benjamin looked down the hall to see Coach Ricahrds casually walking toward him.
"What are you doing?" Coach Richards asked.
"Teaching this sophomore that the weak don't get to be disrespectful," Jaden replied.
His group was nervous now, slowly shuffling away from him.
"Why aren't you in class?" Coach Richards asked.
"This is our free period," Jaden replied.
"Then do something constructive," Coach Richards said, "Go to the library and study, go train, go do anything but harass other students."
"Yes sir," Jaden replied, backing up.
Benjamin noticed the look of genuine terror on Jaden's face.
Jaden and his lackeys walked away quickly while Coach Richards helped Benjamin up. "Ignore them," Coach Richards said, brushing Benjamin off, "Most seniors aren't like that. Some just get drunk on their own power."
"Who wouldn't," Benjamin said.
"People who know what it's like to be weak," Coach Richards replied. "When you've been in the same place as others, you gain a certain level of respect for them."
"I guess I'll never understand the strong then," Benjamin said, dejectedly.
"Don't think like that," Coach Richards said, "You've still got lots of room to grow before you hit your limit. I can see it."
"How do I know what my limit is?" Benjamin asked.
Coach Richards shrugged.
"You'll know when you can feel it in your soul," he responded.
The two of them started walking down the hall.
"You should get back to the gym," Coach Richards said.
"I dropped out of the tournament," Benjamin replied.
Coach Richards looked at Benjamin with surprise.
After a while, he shrugged.
"It's your call," he said.
"Thanks for understanding that," Benjamin replied.
Coach Richards walked Benjamin all the way to his class.
When he entered the room, the teacher, Mrs. Canty, looked up.
"Benjamin?" she asked, surprised.
"It's me, hooray," Benjamin replied.
"What are you doing here?" Mrs. Canty asked.
"I dropped out of the tournament," Benjamin replied.
Mrs. Canty's eyes widened in shock.
"Really? Why?" she asked.
"I just need to work some things out," Benjamin replied.
"You make it sound like something tragic happened," Mrs. Canty said, concern spreading across her face.
"It's nothing like that," Benjamin replied, shaking his head, "In fact, it's something good. Call it an opportunity."
"Well, as long as you made the decision yourself," Mrs. Canty said, "You can just do whatever since none of your classmates are here."
Benjamin sat down at his desk.
He pulled out his phone and was about to start watching videos when a book caught his eye.
He got up and walked over to the shelf.
The title of the book was "Paladin Physiology".
This is what the school uses to teach us, Benjamin thought.
He suddenly thought back to what Coach Richards had told him.
"Can I read this?" Benjamin asked, turning to Mrs. Canty.
"Sure," Mrs. Canty replied, surprised.
Students almost never read books when they had free time.
Benjamin walked back to his desk with the book.
He opened it and scanned the table of contents, looking for anything that mentioned limits.
That's when he found it.
It was one of the last chapters.
Benjamin flipped to the chapter "Limits and Limit Breaking".
Benjamin started to read.
"Soul must be condensed in order to increase its potency. The more one condenses their soul, the more difficult it becomes to condense it further. This difficulty increases at an exponential level. Thus, every paladin has a limit where it would take them several decades to raise their soul potency by even a fraction of a point. However, there exist paladins who possess control over soul energy. This allows them to boost another paladin's soul potency by several points and increase their limit. This means that each paladin possesses a theoretical limit as well. This theoretical limit is not absolute. It can fluctuate, generally increasing, depending on how many times a paladin is boosted."
Benjamin stopped reading.
Jackie had control over soul energy, allowing her to boost others.
Benjamin shook his head.
She's my friend, not some tool, he thought.
Benjamin didn't see anything that directly related to his situation.
However, he couldn't help but wonder.
If he got stronger from absorbing shadows, did that mean he could grow indefinitely?
The bell rang, signaling for Benjamin to go to his next class.
This is even more game-changing than I first thought, he thought as he left the classroom.