William wasn't dejected by this. He took the sword and hung the bag over his shoulders. Just before he could take a single step forward, his path was blocked by a group of people coming from the opposite side.
They were five in number, fairly taller than him. He stopped the moment he noticed them, as they were gazing up at him like they were witnessing something funny.
"Wow! Look what we have here," one of them said in a mocking tone. He was almost twenty centimetres taller than William. He stood there with broad shoulders, exposed abdominal muscles that bulged and showed how strong this kid's body was.
His long brown hair that reached the middle of his back was a signature of his family. Alongside his bronzed eyes, faint bronzed tanned-like skin, he was definitely one of the bronzed lizard family.
William recalled what he knew about such a family. Arrogant, dirty schemers, endless hunger for power… All of these negative remarks surfaced in his mind the moment he recognized this youth's family.
They were one of the strongest families in the academy and the kingdom, famous for their abuse and tyranny all over the place.
Even William recalled he got mistreated and harassed on more than one occasion under the hands of this family's kids. Recalling all this looked like an old dream he experienced, but it still made his blood boil.
"Young master, he is a porter, a useless kid among herds of others our academy showed empathy towards," another kid said, with his similar characteristic features like that young master.
When William heard the title that kid just said, he knew he met one of the badass guys in the academy. He was Guanin, considered a prodigy in the entire academy from the age of six.
And he was known to be one of the big bullies all over the academy. He had such prejudice opinion towards anyone coming from weak or poor families and clans like William.
In Guanin's eyes, not everyone was worthy to waste resources upon. In his opinion, people like William should be slaves, not treated equally like himself.
"Scram," Guanin said in his usual arrogant tone, "people like you shall sleep early to wake up fresh and ready to serve people like me."
William clenched the hilt of his sword with a calm heart. Someone like Guanin couldn't even stir up a speck of worry inside his heart. In William's eyes, Guanin was such a loser, a spoiled kid who got everything spoon-fed to him since his birth.
He didn't work hard to get what others craved for, not worthy for even a single thing of what he had right now. However, William didn't lose his head, the difference in strength at this moment was immense.
"I have to go and help someone inside the forest," William calmly said without showing any sign of weakness.
"Are you tired of living?" another kid stepped forward, pointing his long and curved sabre towards William, "if you don't leave now, don't blame me for teaching you some manners."
"Humph," even if there was an obvious gap in strength between the two sides, William didn't plan to retreat. He wasn't out of options at all. He still had his vast battle experience and a lot of tricks up his sleeve to back him up.
Even if he couldn't beat them up, he wouldn't end up wounded no matter how hard they tried.
"If you don't clear my path, I'll scream and call the guards to help," William threatened back, "this is the academy grounds, not your family's." Yet William decided to play by the rules, using the simplest trick ever to extricate himself out of this situation.
"You…" the kid was shocked and taken aback by William's words. Before he could move a muscle in response to such provocation, a sudden shout came from behind William, stopping all of them.
"He is here to help me; do you have any problem with that?"
William turned around to find a graceful looking young girl walking in steady steps towards him. She wore a white and long gown that covered her body and stopped just before her ankles.
Small nose, wide and rounded eyes, buffy lips, small cheeks, and long red hair that made a mess and fell all over her shoulders. The dress she wore showed two slim and elegant looking gaps from her neck towards her arms, exposing the pointy and small angles of her shoulders.
Red hair, red eyes, very beautiful features, and got the courage to stand up to someone like Guanin… William instantly recalled a name from his old memories that matched such angelic face, a name that Guanin said in surprise
"Berry… What are you doing here late at night?!"
"None of your business," Berry moved until she stood by William's side, "and blocking the path of my porter isn't a nice thing to do. Don't you have anything better to do?"
"Humph, says the one stuck at ninety-nine spirit power for years now," Guanin showed a look of disdain over his face, "if not for your father, I won't even have shown you any face!"
"Go back to your mammy then, I heard she gets worried when you aren't by her side," Berry welcomed the mocking tone and expression with another of her own.
Seeing her stand just steps away, with her slightly taller body than William despite being of the same age, made the latter feel awkward.
He knew her. She was once called the pure angel of the Long clan. The Long clan was different from the bronzed lizard family. It was a big clan, with many families serving it.
And Berry happened to be the sole daughter of the current acting patriarch of the clan, the granddaughter of the old patriarch known as the fiery dragon all over the world.
But she was considered a loser in the eyes of many, including Guanin. She was admitted to the academy two years ago and considered a genius with a spirit power of eighty-eight.
Yet even after two years, her spirit power was stagnant at ninety-nine bottleneck with no signs of breaking through. And that wasn't the end of her miserable tale.