"Hey, boy... Could you come down so we can start the lesson? You are the only one who chose this course, so it would be a shame for you not to use my guidance to the fullest."
"Just give me two more minutes..."
Sitting upside down on the ceiling in the classroom (Which honestly was just a training room as evidenced by the several fighting rings spread around the room), I just needed a moment to process what I had just done.
I didn't necessarily think that antagonizing Levi was wrong, as it was a surefire way to hopefully make her hesitant to interact with me, but it still felt like absolute shit remembering her face.
It had been merely an instance, but I hadn't missed the pain that Levi momentarily displayed, pain from seeing her old infatuation acting like a complete scumbag. Even worse was realizing that we were still part of the same class, meaning I would have to see her just as soon as this lesson was over.
Having finally collected myself enough, I slowly started altering my personal gravity, making it so I gently landed on the rubber-coated floor in front of my teacher.
Scratching the back of his head, he at first didn't seem to know how he was going to go about this kind of peculiar scenario, but after not too long he decided to just ignore it and start the class off as normal.
"So, welcome to the unarmed combat practice course! Or UCPC for short! Aarick Laupier, I presume? As you were the only one who signed up for my class, I would be worried if you were someone else! Hahaha! Oh, right, my name is George, George Faer.
"Yeah, that's me..."
Taking another look at the one who was now my teacher, whose head was adorned with a short buzzcut of his dark hair, it was hard not to be impressed by his stature.
Even though he was dressed in a white t-shirt and a pair of black training pants, his impressive physique shone through to the point where it was impossible not to tell just how jacked out of his mind he was.
"Then, before we begin, you need to change your clothes. There's a dressing room over there in the back, but please do make sure that you change prior to our lessons in the future."
"Ah, sure."
As I had gotten all of the essentials provided to me already by Ms. Zito, it didn't take long until I had changed out of my black uniform to a black t-shirt and a pair of gray sweatpants, returning to the same position as before.
However, for some reason, my teacher had already entered a ring, appearing to be waiting impatiently for me to join him.
"What are you waiting for? Come on, move those legs!"
Climbing up to the ring using the small stairs on its side, I wasn't exactly sure what was about to happen, but that didn't mean it made me any less nervous about the whole thing. Now standing on the other side of the ring from my teacher, I was awkwardly waiting for him to start introducing the course.
Unfortunately, that never happened.
"Hey, Aarick! Come on! What are you waiting for? Attack me!"
"Huh?"
"You heard me! Come at me!"
'-Yeah, Aarick! Beat him up!'
As both my new teacher and Lucifer were egging me on to start fighting, I felt like I had no choice but to dash forward. And somehow, as I did, I felt my body surging with energy. As if every single blood vessel in my body was pumping pure power through my veins.
'This... this is the feeling of being awakened!'
It was liberating, this rush of power inside my small body, feeling the wind against my skin as I dashed with resolve toward my teacher, eager to show him exactly what I was capable of. To show the whole world that I had awakened!
"Hupp!"
Swinging my fist, it didn't take long until it made contact with George's chest, and I could feel the impact throughout my whole body.
In fact, I felt it was a bit too much.
In fact, it hurt like hell!
"Gah! Fuck, it hurts!"
It had been like punching a steel wall, a wall that just stood still with a confused expression on his face as he watched me writhe in pain.
"Was... was that it?"
'I'm fucking sorry for being weak! Man, I just woke up from a coma, damnit!'
Yet, I held myself back from voicing my thoughts, as it served no purpose just complaining. Instead, I raised my body again, trying my best to ignore the pain in my small, pulsating hand. An act that brought a smile to my teacher's face, happy that I forced myself to keep going.
"That's the spirit! I did speak with Ms. Zito beforehand and got to know a bit about your circumstances, so I have to say that even though your punch was weak as hell, your determination is at least impressive!"
'Oh, so he already knew? Thank god, that means I will probably not have to endure too much pa...'
"Ms. Zito did also tell me that no matter how much you complained, I should just keep going until you couldn't stand anymore. But judging by your determined face, it seems like it won't be a problem. So, let's start by fixing that pathetic punch of yours!"
'... or not.'
Putting up his hands with a huge grin on his face, I could only comply with his instructions. So, I started punching forward into his palms, trying my best as always. Sadly, my best didn't seem to be even close to good enough right now.
*Pom, pom, pom*
"Weak! Use your legs! A punch isn't just swinging your arm aimlessly, use your whole body to create momentum!"
*Pom, pom, pom!*
"No! Rotate your hips!"
And like this, I spent the rest of the lesson just punching his palms for a duration of three hours, which ended with me lying on the floor in a pool of my own sweat and my arms feeling like jelly. Still, even though my body was hurting and I had trouble acquiring enough oxygen to not pass out, there was also a feeling of accomplishment inside me.
Because even though it had been utter torture, I had pushed through and continued to throw punches long after my arms had grown numb, and finished my first lesson successfully. So, no matter how much it hurt, I had taken my first step forward in Augustus.
"Umm... Aarick? You should probably get going, shouldn't you? Don't you have another lesson after this before lunch?"
'Right...'
Just like Mr. Faer said, I did, indeed, have another class that I had to get to, and as all theoretical lessons were held by the homeroom teachers, I wasn't all too keen on making Ms. Zito upset again.
==========
"... and that's the reason why hunters are forced to register any monsters they kill. After lunch, we will be continuing by talking about the legislative structure behind guilds. Dismissed,"
Having just finished the lesson with Ms. Zito, I was honestly starting to think about just running away and starting a new life on some random mountain. There were two reasons why this was the case.
The first reason was obvious. From my small interaction with Levi before the first lesson, word had already gotten around that I was some kind of unappreciative scumbag that deserved to die a horrible death.
Or at least that was what I imagined the word to be, judging from the fact that I could feel my entire class staring daggers into my back.
The second reason was the fact that even after listening to Ms. Zito's presentation about hunters and hunting monsters, I realized that I didn't know shit. After missing four years of my life, there was a clear absence of knowledge that everyone else seemed to be taking for granted.
In other words, I didn't understand anything at all.
So, while I was deciding on what mountain would be the best to run away to, it also served the purpose of letting all my classmates exit the classroom ahead of me, as I didn't feel like going together with them to the cafeteria.
Despite that, it was impossible to miss the very obvious stare from Will and the small glances from Levi as they walked past me. Then, as the bald student Bruno was the last to exit the classroom, I also stood up and got ready to head out for lunch.
'Come to think of it, this will be the first time since I woke up that I will be eating anything.'
It was pretty weird, how even though I hadn't consumed a single calorie in three days, I still didn't feel hungry at all.
"Oh, right, Aarick."
"Hmm?"
Diverting my attention from food, my teacher suddenly called out to me. As she was collecting her notes from the lesson, she suddenly told me something that not only explained the strange situation I was experiencing but also made my stomach hurt.
"I'm not sure if Lucifer told you, but make sure that you don't eat anything. Liquids are generally fine, but eating normal food will kill you. So, be careful."
'Say what now?!'