Just before his fist could get to Devon's face, he quickly raised his hand and caught his fist in the air.
"Huh?" The boy responded as his eyes suddenly widened.
He wasn't expecting Devon to react so quickly, and just before he could do anything else, Devon quickly got up from his seat and sent him flying back with a kick down his abdomen.
The boy staggered back before quickly falling to one knee with his left hand on his stomach.
"You bastard, do you want to get burnt alive?" He growled with a little bit of steam coming out from his head.
"No, I just came out to eat some pizza." Devon responded with a surprisingly calm voice. "Just because you're from that stupid and useless academy doesn't mean you can go around bullying whoever you want, I am not one of those weaklings in the academy that you use as your ragdoll." He asserted.
"Well, you're about to become a burnt ragdoll!" The academy student raged with a voice filled with contempt.
A fire ball was slowly forming in his hand and Devon was obviously the target.
"Oh, dear."
'I wasn't expecting him to use his ability but I guess we're doing this.'
He quickly reached for his bag around his waist and was about to bring something out from there when someone suddenly grabbed his arm.
'What now?' He complained inwardly before quickly turning his gaze to his right to see who it was this time.
He was expecting to see another academy student, but there was no way the person standing over him now could be an academy student.
The person standing over him now was a man who seemed to be a bit taller than him, he was putting on a brown coat with a brown hat and although he seemed to be glaring at Devon now, the youngster seemed to be more interested in his scattered mustache.
"Did I just hear you call the academy stupid and useless?" The man asked with his gaze still fixated on Devon.
"Mr. Izak." The academy student stuttered before the fireball in his hand suddenly disappeared.
"Yeah, and what about it?" Devon replied with an unwavering voice.
'I really hope this doesn't turn into something else.'
"What about it?" The man remarked with a baffled look on his face. "Are you aware the desecration of the academy's name is an offense are the offenders are to be punished on academy grounds?"
"Punishment? What kind of stupid rule is that?" He stuttered a bit with those words and that was because things were starting to cross over to what he would like to avoid at all costs.
"Stupid rule? I'll only say this once, young man, but it would be in your best interest because any more careless words might increase your punishment." The man cautioned.
"And what type of punishment are we talking about?"
"I will decide that when we get to the academy since the head is away taking care of important business."
'Hmm, I never knew the academy had so much power, what kind of punishment does he have in mind?'
He was starting to panic in his mind now but on the side, he had that disguised with a calm look.
"Follow me, Josh, you'll have to give a report of what happened just now before he can be punished."
"Okay, sir," Josh replied with a nod before he began to follow from behind as his teacher dragged Devon along with him to the academy.
'This is really embarrassing.' Devon said subconsciously as he slowly looked around to see that there were only a few people in the area, something he was grateful for but still.
"Hey, you know you can let go of me, I won't run, I promise." He pleaded with a calm voice.
After hearing him say that, Izak stopped before turning his gaze to him.
"Hmm, I see this is a bit embarrassing for you." He said before letting you go. "I can easily catch you even if you attempt to escape despite your promise and that will drastically increase your punishment. That said, I do not understand why you feel shame because what you are going to face when we walk through that gate is going to be way more embarrassing than this."
"Okay," Devon stressed out before turning his gaze to the academy which was up ahead.
'Why does he look so unfazed? The other brats I caught in the past were already shaking the moment I told them that they would be punished, this would have been easier for him if he was just like the rest of them.'
It looked like Devon wasn't the only one who wasn't showing how he truly felt inside.
Just as they got closer to the academy, the images of what happened earlier that day began to pop up in his mind and when he turned his gaze to the left, he could see what could be described as the remnant of the pool of blood from the little girl.
Most of it was already gone but there were still little blood stains on the grass.
"Hmph."
"What's the matter?" Izak asked as soon as heard that sound from him.
"Nothing." He replied before shaking his head.
All Izak needed to do was place both of his hands on both sides of the large brown gate as soon as they got close to it, and with just a push, he opened the gates of the academy.
'Wow.' Devon said subconsciously as he walked into the area alongside him.
The academy was way larger than he thought, there was a very huge space in the middle with lots of training equipment lying around the corner then the buildings where the students stayed were just around the large space which was supposed to be their training space.
He only ever got to see the gate of the academy and the tall walls so seeing the inside for the first time was quite nice, but that wasn't going to change anything on how he felt about the academy.
There didn't seem to be any students in the lower buildings as the doors seemed to be closed but a couple of them were moving around the corridors on the upper part.
"Hey, everyone up there, give me your attention!" Izak yelled with a commanding voice causing everyone in the corridors who wasn't paying attention to what was going on downstairs to turn their gaze there.
Just a few minutes after he called all their attention, murmurs began to build up up there.
"Hmm, did he catch another person saying something bad about the academy?"
"That's probably it."
"Honestly, that stupid rule doesn't make any sense." A red-haired girl commented before crossing her arms.
"Shhhhh."
That was the reaction she got from the students around her.
"Listen up everyone, the young man I have with me here has committed an offense of calling your precious academy stupid and useless, and just as stated in the rules, he will be punished here while all of you watch, I have decided that he will be tied to that board over there and receive twenty strokes of whipping from Josh right here, but before that, I would like Josh to give his report of what happened." He articulated before leaving the stage for Josh.
As soon as Devon heard how he was going to be punished, he quickly turned his gaze to the side to see a sturdy board standing there.
'Tied on that board and getting flogged by him.' At this point, he was using all his willpower just to stay calm.
Josh didn't really want to stand in front of them and say anything but he had to just to make sure that he would whip Devon.
"Umm…I went to the pizza shop to get some pizza when I saw him on a seat and it looked like he was just sitting there without doing anything. I asked him nicely if he could let me make use of the seat since he didn't seem to be doing anything but he replied with violence, he pushed me before calling the academy stupid and useless, and that was before Mr. Izak showed up. I think he has something against the academy." He narrated before pointing at Devon with a cold look on his face.
"Just what the heck are you talking about?" Devon snapped before attempting to make his way to him but Izak stretched his hand out just in time to stop him. "He was the one that tried to punch me, and what do you mean by asked me nicely? You were trying to force me off the seat."
He was literally fuming at this point, he was letting the rage he'd been holding in out now.
"Yeah, the story doesn't add up." The red-haired girl muttered.
"And even if that is true, you still called the academy stupid and useless did you not?" Izak questioned but there was no response from Devon who had his gaze on the floor now.
"Well, looks like he's going to get flogged."
"Yeah, it always ends this way."
"Alright, start heading to the board, I have a special way of tying you up," Izak ordered before pointing to the board.
"Wait," Devon said with a placid voice before he could get his hand to him.
"And what are we waiting for?"
"I have a request to make." He replied.
"And what type of request is that?"
As soon as he asked that question, Devon slowly lifted his gaze before slowly pointing his finger at Josh.
"I challenge him to a duel, if I win, you'll have to let me go without any punishment, and if he wins, you can double my punishment."
Desperate times called for desperate measures and he just went straight to the point with this.
"Is he out of his mind?"
"Challenging someone with an ability to duel?"
"Yeah, he's definitely out of his mind."
Now this was a request that Izak liked, and since there was nothing against it in the rules, he wasn't going to say anything against it.
"What do you say, Josh?"
'I get to burn him up before flogging the hell out of him, why would I ever say no?'
His thoughts were going wild now as he slowly took a step forward.
"I accept." He grinned with his gaze now on Devon.