"Hrrnggh...!"
Lying on my bed, it was hard to take control of the reigning thoughts in my head, biting down on my pillow just to try and quench the urge of plunging my fangs into something. This was the result of me controlling myself for an entire day while surrounded by being that my instincts regarded as prey.
It didn't even matter that I had tried to quench my first by drinking a large quantity of blood before deciding to rest, as the compulsion that currently ruled my mind had nothing to do with it.
This wasn't a desire to feed, it was a desire to hunt. To dominate.
And... it was terrifying.
It was scary to know that my mind had changed like this from just a single action, that my consciousness had to struggle to keep my body's desires in check to this extent. And even despite Dona telling me it would get easier in time, I still couldn't help but get scared when thinking about the future.
Despite all of this, I knew it couldn't be helped. I could do nothing except try my best to hold out and hope that Dona was right. Because if she wasn't, I had no doubts that I would break someday.
However, there was no way I would allow that day to be today. No, after all the shit that I had gone through in my life, I wasn't going to give up just like that. Even with my physical vessel screaming in contempt for not being allowed to live the life it was made for, I didn't care.
If I gave up now, I would inevitably lose everything.
==========
"Good morning everyone! Today I will not be doing a review before we start, instead, I want you all to take a couple of minutes and prepare by yourself. Naturally, your preparation will differ depending on what kind of monster you are planning on fighting."
'Let's see how this goes then...'
Now back at the huge, white classroom filled with the capsules in front of us, I was both incredibly excited and, at the same time, very anxious about how this was going to go.
"Hey, Aarick. What are you planning on fighting today?"
With Astor once again not caring about what boundaries meant, he had still posed a good question.
It was finally time when all the students who were attending the course would start going at their own pace, and although this was all in all pretty good, I was still not sure where I should even start.
In the end, I decided that it would be best to start off slow. Not only because I didn't want to create a situation where our dear teacher 'accidentally' put my performance up on the big screen, but also due to the fact that it would serve as a measurement of how much stronger I had gotten.
Even then, I didn't believe it to be any of his business. Therefore, I just walked to a capsule on my own, leaving the disappointed man behind me. It was hard, not wanting to be too close to anyone, both physically, but also in terms of a relationship, while simultaneously making sure I didn't get so closed off that I would be 'exiled'.
After all, I still had to keep my focus up to not bear my fangs in excitement for the prey around me.
Luckily, I had a feeling that this class might be one of the more enjoyable ones now. This; as I was now taking a seat in the capsule, and before I knew it, I was connected to the virtual world.
This time, however, a pre-selected scenario didn't appear in front of me. Instead, a control panel filled with commands emerged, telling me to select whatever scenario I wanted to practice on. And at the same time, I could feel it, the reason why I thought this course might get a lot more pleasant now.
'I was right...!'
It was like I had completely entered another world, a world where neither my body nor mind could feel the presence of the humans outside in the real world. Thanks to this, I had a moment of freedom from having to control myself, meaning I could fully focus on the lesson instead.
Navigating through the menu, it didn't take long until I had managed to pick the right scenario, where I would once again face my old enemies. Surrounded by the thick greenery of the forest, I could smell the artificially created smell of bark around me.
*Gwabba!*
Yes, the monsters that I chose to fight were the three goblins, the ones that I had barely managed to defeat two weeks ago. And now, they were running forward, ready to lunge at the prey in front of them.
'Seems like I truly did get stronger.'
This time, they felt so much slower than last time that it wasn't hard to thoroughly think my actions through, but at the same time, I had a feeling that I didn't even need to. Because right now, my body was surging with more power than ever before.
*Gwabba!*
Looking at the small green creatures, I couldn't help but smile widely, excited to show them their place this time. And with that thought in mind, I also dashed forward, fully aware that carelessness had been one of my downfalls last time.
However, this time, it didn't matter.
'[Pull]'
*Bom, bom, bom!*
*Gwab?!*
As soon as we made contact, and the goblins swung their clubs, I tried out my new ability, wanting to try it out in real combat even though it used up a lot of my mana. And with it, I just dragged myself back a bit, successfully dodging all their attacks, with them surprised to feel their weapons hit the ground.
What happened next was nothing less than a slaughter.
*Gwa...!*
Bringing out my claws, I used the opening that had been created. Without needing to use any more abilities, I took a step forward and swung my arm, ripping the throat out of one of them.
Next, the two remaining goblins once again swung their weapons, ready to bash my skull in. In return, I took yet another quick step forward, positioning myself too close for their weapons to hit me.
What happened instead was that two astonished, green heads went flying through the air, not quite able to understand what had happened to them.
Soon after, a familiar blue screen appeared in front of me, confirming my success.
[Well done, you have defeated: Goblins, rank [F]]
[Duration of instance: 1:32]
[The session will now be closed]
An unbelievable rush of adrenaline came over me as I realized just how much stronger I had actually become compared to the last time I fought the green monsters. After that, I was once again back in the virtual waiting room, with my eyes landing on yet another block of text.
[Do you want to choose another scenario? Y/N]
With a grin on my face, I didn't hesitate at all to press yes. Looking through all the different monsters and scenarios that I could choose from, I got even more excited thinking about fighting all of them.
'Let's just go down the list then!'
****
[Will's Pov]
"A leader must, first of all, know the consequences of their decisions. Even if the group is..."
Listening to the teacher of the leadership course, I was having a hard time concentrating. Things had gotten too complicated. Even if Levi could fool a lot of people with her acting, I had known her for too long not to see through it.
It hadn't just been once or twice when I had seen her acting differently since a certain young man had 'resurrected', and even if she wanted to pretend otherwise, there was no doubt that Levi was thinking about him. A lot.
To be fair, I did as well. Despite the fact that I was trying to lay as low as possible, to make sure a situation where I would have no choice but to get rid of Aarick emerged, it was hard to keep my thoughts rational.
Looking at the blue-haired girl next to me, intently taking notes while listening to Mr. Reilly talking about how to lead groups of hunters, my stomach couldn't stop churning when thinking about her and Aarick.
Previously, I had thought that my biggest sin in life had been the fact that I had instigated the incident that ultimately led to Aarick falling into a coma, but now I was sure it wasn't. My biggest sin was the fact that I now couldn't help but wish that he wouldn't have woken up.
I wasn't sure how, and to some extent even why, but I had to get him away from Levi. In one way or another, I felt like I had to make sure to completely eliminate the already slim chance of them ever finding a way where they believed that they could share a life together.
For Levi's sake, and also for my own.