The entire room fell silent as the presence of Raja seemed to terrify everyone. I didn't know the kind of status he had, but the fact that even Caspian was in fear after realising Raja was behind him said something.
[I can't believe it; Raja from the original fire family is here.]
[Maybe we can talk to him later.]
[Are you crazy? He has to talk to you; if you try to talk to him, he ignores you.]
Overhearing some of the girls whispering to each other, I finally knew what kind of power Raja held. If I learned anything from my class just now, his ancestor must have been a part of the Great Magic War. To also be the first family to obtain one of the most basic elements, there had to be some merit to his strength.
"If you want the easy way, follow me." Raja stood there with his arms crossed, awaiting my response.
'What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?' These words repeated inside my head as I tried to think of any way out of this situation. I knew either way I was fucked, but surely there is some way to get out of this. I could try to run, but he literally got to my class in a matter of seconds, when that shouldn't be possible.
"I'll take it as a yes." A smirk was plastered over his face as he reached out, grabbing my wrist. I ran out of time, and now I would be dragged through the academy hallways. However, he wasn't stupid to put on such a public display when teachers could be walking around.
In the blink of an eye, suddenly we were teleported to the back of the academy, where he found me yesterday. I saw in his hand something crumble to dust, which I assume is what teleported us.
"Alright, peasant, time for my personal lecture." Throwing me hard up against the wall, I choked on my saliva and felt a sharp pain in my back. Falling to the ground, almost on the verge of tears, I managed to get at least one word out.
"W-why." It was something I still hadn't figured out fully. I knew I was a peasant and, to them, a lesser being, but why is someone like Raja going to such lengths? We are at different grade levels, and I haven't even done anything. I'm not even dirty or some kind of peasant that was let in out of pity.
There was no sound or logical reason as to why I was acting with such hatred and disdain. I'm surprised there isn't an uprising because there are so many "peasants" outside the academy.
"Why do you ask? Do I need a reason? You are just the scum of this academy and have no reason to be here. Plus, who is going to care if I beat up a poor little peasant vixen? Yeah, the school might get angry, but at least it's easy to cover up." Raja squatted down, pulling on my hair to force me to look at him.
Tears started to leak down my cheeks as I helplessly stared in shock at his reasoning.
'There really is no real reason. Why did I even think there would be a logical explanation? Raja just wants to get off by beating people weaker than him. I should know this already; I've been through it before.' It was pointless to even ask, as I had already heard something similar from him years ago.
"Such a nice face." Grabbing a hold of my chin, he pulled me closer and licked my tears. My body shivered from disgust and how uncomfortable it felt, but this was probably the point where I started losing all hope.
My body refused to even try to stop him, as he was a noble who had 1000 times more power than I did. I couldn't imagine the outcome where I fought back and didn't have my life ruined. The last thing I wanted was for my mother to get involved and lose her again.
"Look at you already giving up; how pathetic." Raja saw that my eyes were already becoming hollow as any sense of will left me. To him, I was already becoming boring, which was a good sign as it was why he left last time.
"Let's change that." With a click of his finger, fire engulfed his hand, which was only mere inches away from my face. Instinctively, I tried to move away from the flames, and desperation was quick to appear on my face.
"HAHAHA! That's it; this is the reaction I wanted." A sadistic grin appeared on his face and moved my face ever so slightly closer to the flame.
"NO! STOP!" I kicked and screamed, trying to get out of his grip, but my strength was not enough to make him even budge.
"It's just a little fire; there's no need to be so scared." With the flames only centimetres away, it began to burn my face as the heat got too much to bear.
"PLEASE STOP! MAKE IT STOP." Any tears that tried to escape my eyes instantly evaporated, and I could no longer keep them open. Panic was in full swing, as this was a level of suffering I didn't expect to happen.
I could withstand a beating and verbal abuse, but to use fire, one of the most painful things someone can experience was beyond me. Any rational thought I had no longer existed, all I wanted was to get away from the fire.
Raja, watching everything unfold, licked his lips, revelling in my desperation. However, knowing burn marks were obvious proof of his actions, he extinguished the flames. A sudden relief washed over my face as the pain suddenly stopped. There was still a slight ache, but it was much better than an active flame right in your face.
*Huff* *Huff* Trying to catch my breath, Raja wouldn't allow me that luxury and grabbed me by the head. Standing up while lifting me off the ground, I felt my head get crushed by his grip.
"Arghh!" I squirmed in pain as I felt the rest of my body being pulled down, making it feel like my neck was going to be torn apart.
"Good, now let's get to the real pain." With his other hand, he placed it underneath my shirt, and my first thought was some sort of sexual harassment, but then his hand started to become warm.
My eyes widened as I once again tried to use my legs and hands to break myself free from whatever he was about to do.
"Ha, don't think I will be violating you; I wouldn't want to touch dirty goods." Raja knew what I was thinking, but what I felt right after was almost worse. The warm feeling I felt turned into a scorching feeling as if a hot iron had been placed directly on my stomach.
"AHHHHHHHH!!!!" I screamed my lungs out as Raja practically burned me alive with his hand. Every part of my body was now hurting, and any strength I had had disappeared. My consciousness was slipping, and it wouldn't be long until I passed out from the pain.
"Just kill me." My voice was weak, and words barely escaped my mouth.
"Then who would I play with?" Raja, of course, wouldn't grant me that kind of mercy, so now I was just hoping my body would shut down for me.
However, despite the terrible state of my mind, I unconsciously began to flow mana through my body. Before I could even register what I was doing, I finally fell unconscious, not knowing what would happen to me.
*
'Oh, I haven't had so much fun in so long.' Finally seeing the peasant lose consciousness from the pain, it was about time to move on.
Dropping Saki to the ground, her body fell limp, completely defenceless and unaware of anything.
'Maybe a taste wouldn't be a bad idea.' Having a closer look, despite being a peasant, Saki looked quite beautiful; it was just a shame that they were someone of lesser status.
Positioning her in a more comfortable position, as I was about to have my way, there was a sudden burst of mana. Getting launched back into the bushes, I thought I had been caught, but upon looking up, it was the peasant.
A golden flame engulfed her body and slowly lifted her up from the ground. The third-degree burn I had put on her stomach vanished as if the flames healed her.
"What the fuck?" I had no idea what was going on, but it pissed me off. I figured she was playing dead and decided now to fight back.
"You bitch, now you are going to get it." Getting myself out of the bushes, I charged at Saki with my fists engulfed in flames. If she was going to fight back, then I wouldn't hold back from putting her down.
"Enough!" A voice reverberated through the air, almost bursting my eardrums.
'Shit the headmaster.' Knowing the voice, stopped in my tracks and pulled out a stone from my pocket. Crushing it, I teleported myself away from the back of the school, hoping that I wasn't caught.