Back in the hut, Nico found the figures of his two roommates sprawled on their beds. Henry was cursing under his breath every time he accidentally moved. Leon, however, had his eyes closed with a deep rumbling sound escaping from his chest.
It seemed as if the half-blood had opted for a quick power nap, the brown-haired boy mused to himself.
'I don't blame him.'
That training session really had been exhausting. He sighed as he staggered to his bed and fell onto the covers.
Nico groaned. The tension was slowly leaving his muscles. Unfortunately, however, the more the tension escaped, the greater the pain became.
Soon, the boy had to grit his teeth not to cry out in pain. He didn't want to wake Leon.
Nico cursed internally, using every expletive he could think of before slowly moving his body until he sat in a cross-legged position on top of his bed.
'Breathe.'
Closing his eyes, the boy began inhaling steadily before exhaling again. He continued to repeat this until he felt a calming sensation blanket his mind.
He was closing in on the meditative state.
Nico's brows furrowed as he concentrated harder.
The dark mass that was sealed at the bottom of his inner self began to seethe and boil, attempting to escape its confinement. Nico gritted his teeth even harder.
If this was going to occur every time he tried to meditate, then it was going to become a real pain.
He didn't want to be reminded of his past failures. He could only experience so much regret before he crumbled under its crushing weight.
A minute later, a sense of relief spread over the boy's entire figure. The pain had retreated to the back of his mind.
With his entrance into the meditative state, Nico began perceiving the muscles of his body. The thumping of his heart against his chest.
The muscles in his legs were tensed because of his sitting position.
The brown-haired boy basked in this state of clarity. Here, he felt utterly at peace. The world continued to tick by as he immersed himself in sensing the different details of his environment.
Small streams of wind entered the room from the point where the window and wall touched. Nico felt the temperature of the room rise slightly, clear from the slight warmth on his skin.
The luminous rays of the sun were probably peeking through the window into the hut.
With his mind full of clarity, Nico pondered on the future. Instructor William's words rang through his head, reminding him he now had two goals to strive towards.
He needed to make sure that he performed well during the assessment and the trial at the end of the Camp. Not to mention that he'd be meeting his new weapons instructor tomorrow.
The brown-haired boy sighed. He had a busy few weeks ahead.
***
After stopping his meditation, Nico found he had spent a couple of hours in that state. Now, it was only an hour or two before dusk.
He checked his body and noticed that the pain had lessened by a considerable degree. Nico could now move his body how he wanted to.
However, to his dismay, he discovered his muscles were still tight.
The brown-haired boy's expression turned sullen, imagining the soreness of his muscles the next day.
With a sigh, he got up out of bed - waited patiently until the numbness in his legs disappeared - before going to make his way to the communal lavatories.
Leon had woken up and was polishing his golden shield diligently.
Henry - who sat on his bed on the opposite side of the hut - had his face buried in a tome.
From what Nico could see, it had something to do with the history of the seven major races.
On the cover, it depicted a raging dragon unleashing a furious breath of flame. Beneath, a stalwart human cleaved their sword toward the blazing mass.
The brown-haired boy shuddered when his gaze landed on the scaly creature's menacing features.
Exiting the hut quietly without being noticed, since his companions were too absorbed with what they were doing, Nico quickly rushed to the bathrooms beside the cafeteria.
Nature was calling. And quickly, at that.
Almost running near the end, the boy finally arrived at his destination. Dashing through the door, multiple floor-to-ceiling stalls greeted Nico.
Scanning them with urgency, he chose the closest unoccupied one, locked the door, and went about his own business.
When he had finished, the boy exited the stall and began washing his hands. The faucet unleashed a torrent of water, along with a loud noise that masked the opening of the main door.
Too absorbed in his own thoughts, Nico didn't notice the new arrivals until he turned his head to dry his hands.
He froze. Face-to-Face with four trainees.
It took a moment for the boy to recognise them. Once he did, however, his expression turned cold.
Standing opposite him, a trainee with spiky red hair smirked in Nico's direction. The three other trainees surrounded him in a protective huddle.
Two of them had bulky physiques and looked as if they could rip a Demon in half just from their physical strength alone.
Nico quietly fumed.
"Well… well, well. Who do we have here?" Lucas cackled loudly with a menacing grin. His lackeys beside him each attempted to back up their master.
The result was Nico wincing because of the onslaught of noise.
"What do you want, Lucas?" He sighed.
The haughty noble scowled. "Who gave you the right to call me by my name?" Exasperated, Nico had a helpless expression on his face.
He didn't know how to deal with someone so unreasonable.
"My apologies, Your Majesty," the brown-haired boy theatrically bowed, "Now, can you tell me what you want? I have things to do if you haven't noticed by now." Nico plastered the most pleasant smile he could muster for someone like the prideful noble.
Which wasn't very amicable.
Lucas snorted in contempt. His nose raised so high in the air that the brown-haired boy thought it could touch the ceiling. "Hmph! You're not going anywhere until I say so. Isn't that right?" the arrogant teen asked his servants, who dutifully issued their assent.
Another round of high-pitched cackling resounded.
Nico felt the sound was akin to chalk being scraped on a blackboard. It sent chills down his spine, all for the wrong reasons.
Once Lucas had his fill of unleashing the grating laughter, his expression soon hardened.
"Scum like you who defy the will of my family need to be taught a harsh lesson." the noble spat.
Motioning for the servants beside him to converge on Nico's position, the fiery-haired teen held his breath in anticipation.
If there was anything that excited him more than crushing a weak fool beneath his feet, it would be to watch someone break and submit to his will.
He loved the feeling of having power over others.
"Hey, now. There's no need for this, right?" Nico began backing up slowly. By now, he had realised that Lucas didn't come here to talk.
Instead, he had arrived to bring him harm.
The brown-haired boy's expression turned grim.
He was in no condition to fight.