Ivy leaned on a wall, infuriated. She bit her thumb. "That damn first year... he needs to be taught a lesson. Xavier failed. Tony, can't you just help me out?"
A timid-looking boy stood parallel to her. He had circle-rimmed glasses with green eyes underneath, and brown hair. "You have to deal with your own problems, Ivy. I'm tired of having to do everything for you."
"You're so mean! A senior is supposed to help their juniors!" Ivy whined.
"Can't you ask Anthony or something? My brother would be a lot better for the job."
"I-it's something that only you can do, alright? So help me out!" she continued to whine, waving her fist into the air. Tony sighed, standing up.
"He'll be dealt with."
. . . . .
. . . .
. . .
. .
.
Julian and Ian walked through the hallway, side by side. "Julian, the craziest thing happened a few days ago."
"Really? Let me guess... you finally got a girlfriend?" Ian asked.
"Don't joke about that! I'm serious, alright? I got... attacked! By some musclehead named Xavier."
"Really? Wow, how'd you survive?"
"I fought him off, obviously."
As the two were walking, they bumped into someone. The person they bumped into quickly turned around, adjusting his circle-rimmed glasses.
"Hey! Can't you see that I'm right here?"
Julian and Ian looked at each other, covering their gigglings with their mouth. They quickly regained a serious expression.
— This is Ivy's problem? I can't sense even a hint of mana in him.
"Sorry... kid?" Julian said with a half-questioning tone, not knowing if the person in front of them was younger than them or not.
"I'm a third-year. Goodness. They really don't teach respect anymore?" Tony sighed, adjusting his glasses again. The hallway was pretty crowded.
"Okay. Sorry about that, senior!" Julian and Ian bowed. They held their laughs in as they faced the ground. Tony leaned down to Julian's level.
He got close to his ear and whispered. "If you know what's good for you, then come outside during your free time."
Tony walked off, scoffing. Julian shrugged.
. . . . .
. . . .
. . .
. .
.
"Happy birthday, Julian!" Ian and Cera exclaimed happily, as Julian blew the candle. There was no cake, only candles.
"You guys are such cheapskates. Not even banana bread? I thought you guys knew that was my favorite!" Julian whined. Ian and Cera giggled.
"Well, you're now the oldest out of all of us! Cera and I are both turning 14 this August."
"Knock knock."
The door busted open. Julian and Cera flinched. Tony and a few others stepped over the broken door. "Sorry about that!"
"Huh? Who is this... person?" Ian asked.
"Remember, Julian? I told you to come outside during your free time. But instead, you dodge me? What do you take me for, huh?" Tony whined, seething. His jaw was clenched and his fist was balled.
Julian yawned, stretching. "I didn't feel like it. I just wanted to relax, y'know?"
Tony leaped at Julian.
[Cast: Earth Shard]
"The teachers already said that the use of mana without permission is banned, didn't they?" Ian said.
He dashed in front of Julian, kicking the shard out of the way. Tony gritted his teeth.
"Get out of the way, Ian. Why are you protecting these weaklings anyways?"
Cera cowered behind a chair, while Julian stood there, still a bit startled by the sudden entrance.
"These 'weaklings' are my friend. So I'll protect them."
— That's still... quite an insult.
Julian turned his head to see Cera, cowering behind the chair. She was so good at fighting before, so what happened?
— It makes sense. Probably just trauma.
Tony sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "You guys get the girl and Julian. I'll deal with Ian here."
"I won't even need to use any of my cast-"
Tony threw his fist at Ian. Ian quickly countered, striking Tony's fist.
"You're faster than I thought, Ian. You might seriously become a problem. I won't use mana either, then-"
"Don't be distracted, idiot."
In an instant, Ian appeared in front of Tony. His arm was stretched out, winding up for a punch. Instinctively, Tony dodged.
"Got you."
A swift kick to the chin left Tony dazed. He lifted his guard up again, trying to anticipate the next attack.
"Behind you, idiot!"
Tony quickly turned around. Nothing was there? Then, he felt Ian's arm tightly wrapped around his waist. Before he knew it, he was in the air.
Tony's head slammed into the ground, knocking him clean out.
"Nice one, Ian!" Julian exclaimed.
"That's not important! Focus on those guys!" Ian said, panting. Julian nodded. There were three enemies in front of him.
"This is just like..."
— A game. Isn't it? Three enemies, and one ally to protect. Like any strategy game that I've played. Minus the armies.
Julian looked back at Cera. She was still cowering behind a chair. He turned back to look forward. Three enemies. Behind those three enemies, Ian rested.
"Okay. I'll take care of you guys with ease. So come at me, then!" Julian taunted, smirking. They all started to get angry.
— If I rile them up, that'll make them fight a lot worse.
The three of them ran at him. Julian took a gamble. If he used his demon strength, he would be vulnerable for a bit of time.
Julian threw a glass onto the ground.
— Cleaning that will be a pain, but it's worth it!
In Julian's former life, he had never been involved in sports, or anything like that. But, there was something that his siblings enjoyed doing, quite a bit. A volley kick.
He had tried to do it before, failing brutally, but at this moment, it was definitely possible. All he had to do was imagine the enemy's head as a soccer ball.
Julian planted his left leg and kicked with his right. A clean hit, knocking the enemy out with the help of demon strength. As soon as the hit connected, he dropped to his knee.
"Come on, get him while he's down!"