As I had naturally not been allowed to go with my teacher to the academy, as she didn't want people to know about our special relationship, I was currently walking through the large gates on my own.
This was the true start of my academy life, a start that had begun with my whole body sore from practicing with Ms. Zito all night. And the only thing that I practiced all night was [Inherent Gravity].
Strangely enough, even though I had only practiced activating and controlling my ability, it felt as if I had gone through a four-hour marathon strength training session. Despite the fact that I had asked it if was supposed to be this way, Ms. Zito had only responded with "Don't worry about it."
So now, after only getting to sleep for barely three hours, I walked through the horde of students on shaky legs, set on not repeating the same mistake as yesterday and bumping into someone. No, now was the start of a life devoid of mistakes and unnecessary challenges!
Or so I thought...
"Hey, what is a kid like you doing here?"
Taking a step out into the hallway, I was suddenly stopped by a brown-haired man whose entire demeanor reminded me of my classmates in the class. People who stepped on others just for their own self-satisfaction.
"Hey, why aren't you answering me, punk?!"
As his saliva flew through the air, I wasn't quite sure about how to go about this. So, putting my hand to my chin, I took a moment to ponder.
On the one hand, it was probably for the best if I just wagged my tail like a happy puppy, and hope that he would leave me alone. On the other hand, this could create a repeating cycle where I could become the target of more bullies.
"What the fuck?!"
'Hmm... What should I do?'
'-Aarick, you're doing the thing again.'
'Oh, shit!'
Though I had practiced controlling my ability a lot yesterday, it was still not enough for me to have full control over it. This fact led to this unfortunate situation where I was unconsciously floating cross-legged in the air above the bully.
"A wind elementalist, huh? Do you think you are something just because you have some decent control of your blessing?! I'll bring you down to earth myself!"
Though I could see how he might have believed me to have decent control if my blessing was of the wind element, as one would presumably need quite a bit of control to be able to soar like I was doing, I wasn't quite sure why he go so angry.
Just as his hand was bout to latch onto my leg and, most likely, slam me down into the floor, another voice rang out in the hallway.
"Hey, Hugo, what are you doing?"
A purple-haired man was walking towards us, wearing a very gentle smile while asking what was going on. For some reason, the face of the bully paled in an instant, and the confidence that he had a second ago had been completely washed away.
"I-I-I didn't do anything! This kid! This kid was taunting me, but I was really trying to hold myself back! I promise!"
With all of the other students creating a sort of ring around us, it had now become quite the exaggerated situation with me, the bully named Hugo, and this unknown purple-haired student.
Luckily for me, they seemed to be busy enough conversing between themselves.
"So you say...? Didn't we come to an agreement yesterday, when we checked out the combat halls?"
Still wearing a smile that wasn't actually a smile, the brown-haired Hugo could only bow down, obviously extremely scared of the intruder. At the same time, I felt like I couldn't miss this opportunity, and as the ceiling was quite tall, I took my first step away from them.
It was quite handy, my little ability, as I could even reverse gravity for myself, which now made me able to walk on the ceiling, away from the trouble that was brewing underneath me.
"Where do you think you are going? And why are you walking on the ceiling?"
Sadly, the purple-haired man wouldn't let me go that easily, somehow acting like some kind of bigshot that wanted to make sure to take care of business inside of his empire. To think that there was an unwritten hierarchy in the academy wasn't really surprising, but that still didn't mean I didn't find it to be annoying.
Reversing gravity yet again, I landed on the floor, now facing the man who had called my escape out.
"Ah, I need to get to class? I wouldn't want to be late for my first lesson, after all."
Ignoring the trembling Hugo on his side, the entirety of his focus had now shifted to me as he walked forward.
"I see. But that still doesn't mean that you can just go without explaining yourself."
Inspecting the handsome man for a bit longer, it wasn't hard for me to deduce what kind of character he was. Something along the lines of the same personality that Will carried, someone who believed themselves to be superior to everyone else.
'-Beat him up, Aarick! Cut him open with your claws!'
Ignoring the stupid advice I got from Lucifer, I wasn't quite sure how to deal with this situation either. Unlike the bully Hugo, who appeared to be someone who was strong against the weak and weak against the strong, this man was most likely just plainly strong.
Something that became even more as he placed his right hand on my shoulder, and although he was acting as if he wasn't doing anything, he still put enough strength into his arm to make my legs tremble a bit.
"Aren't you going to say anything?"
From the outside, this probably didn't look like oppression. No, it would probably appear to be someone along the lines of someone trying to make sure everything was in order. A situation where this man was the one on the side of justice, having already stopped the fight that was about to happen and was now intent on making me explain my part in it.
"Matthew. Let him go."
Out of nowhere, a blue-haired girl had appeared beside us, now grabbing his arm while for some reason telling him off. A blue-haired girl that was now quite a lot taller than me, and for some reason, a lot more manly, even though she was a beauty.
'She truly isn't the same crybaby anymore, is she?'
Taking a step back, Matthew put his hands up in the air as if to say that he was innocent.
"I didn't do anything, Levi. In fact, if anything, you should probably ask this student what he was doing before this. From what I've heard, he was the one to stir trouble by taunting Hugo in my class. So of course I wanted to know what he was up to."
Turning her head toward me, I thought for a second that I could see a slight hint of hesitation in Levi's eyes. Yet, it didn't stop her from acting like she was expected to, opening her mouth to ask me directly about the incident.
"Is that true, A-Aarick?"
A minuscule stutter had appeared when she was saying my name, a stutter that no one else but me seemed to have caught. A stutter that instantly made my heart grew fifty degrees colder. Because I knew that the small, insignificant stutter was actually very significant.
The reason why it was significant was that it showed that she hadn't yet completely let go of the past, as she shouldn't otherwise have displayed hesitation when just saying my name.
Taking another look at the beautiful, tall Levi in front of me, I felt my stomach drop as I made the most optimal decision that I could make right now. Or at least it was the best action I could think of right now.
I pretended to be a real punk in front of her.
"It's true. He was annoying, just standing there in the middle of the hallway for no reason, so I told him to fuck off."
"Aarick...?"
Somehow, not only was Levi surprised to hear the words coming out of my mouth, but the bully in the distance also looked incredibly perplexed, unable to understand why I was lying my guts out in a way that would no doubt bring me a lot of trouble.
"Hmm? What are you going to say? That this isn't like me? You don't even fucking know me, and I sure as hell don't know you. Now, please fuck off and let me through so I can get to class."
Acting tough, I bumped my shoulder into hers as I passed her. Or so it should have been...
Instead, I could only feel a very warm and extremely soft sensation on my shoulder as I passed her, a very unfortunate incident that was created by our current differences in height.