The evening autumn breeze scurried softly throughout the trees whose leaves gently swayed along with their branches. A number of couples relished in the warmth of young love as they held hands and walked about with smiles on their faces. The ones who had no Romeos and Juliets, either remained in solitude, quietly clinging to the solace of their beds, hung out with their peers or did anything to kill the time.
A young man was indeed, killing the time. He had no interest in young love, peer solace or whatsoever others were busying themselves with. Lucas had just one goal, to earn enough student credits in order to find a decent accommodation in the academy, and he was going about the deed honorably, quite honorably.
In an alleyway on campus shrouded by the silhouettes of the adjacent buildings, a figure with a fit physique harboring robust arms which looked as though they were made of steel grimacingly clutched his abdomen as though a volcano of flames had seeped throughout the depths of his intestines...
Before the pain seething victim stood a tall and scrawny young man with dark hair, boasting a shameless grin as he uttered ''Oh how the mighty has fallen, Vermit Caso, hand over your student credits''
The grimacing giant spoke in a raspy manner as he launched an unpleasant act on Lucas, He actually spat on the assailant's clothes '' I'd rather give up the ghost, than to hand over my credits''
Lucas did not even flinch from the fact that the guy who owed him a debt spat on him, rather his smiled widened, showing almost all his teeth ,and with a mocking chuckle, he spoke ''I was only here to collect what you owed me, but it seems you now owe me further humiliation...Even after seeing that I am no longer the helpless pushover that you used to bully, you still want to act prideful err''. Lucas lifted the bully by the neck with a playful grin on face, smashing the bully into the tiled ground.
Smashhhhh!!! The victim lay on the ground with his face battered and bruised, as blood seeped along the right part of his mouth. ''How... are ... you... so...strong?'' Vermit uttered , fear and surprise evident in his voice .
Lucas clicked his tongue, his earlier shameless grin replaced with a nonchalant , aloof expression. He squatted, his cold and dark eyes glaring endlessly into that of Vermit's. ''You still have the confidence to utter vulgarities err... It looks like you have not been taught to respect your elders... Should we kick it up a notch?''
Lucas' words sent a chill down Vermit's spine. The bone piercing pain he felt for having his head and face kiss the hard coal tilled floor was already nothing to scoff at... ''kicking it up a notch?... no, I should just humbly hand over my student credits to him. I am only wasting my time and my pride might get me into serious issues here. Not to mention that this douche is an E rank hunter whereas I am a lightning affinity user who is so talentless that I cannot even learn a single skill . There is no way I stand a chance against him. Big brother is on a mission outside the academy right now. When he returns, I will tell this guy off to him, and he will teach this guy a lesson on my behalf!''
Making up his mind through an inward musing of a lengthy monologue, Vermit's words caused Lucas to halt his next attempt at attacking Vermit ''Wait, please wait... do not hurt me... I will not bother you ever again. I will leave you alone from now on... I am sorry for bullying you in the past... I will hand over all my student credits to you...just let me go okay...''
Lucas without muttering a word, sent his student credit account number to Vermit, who struggled with his hand as he lay on the ground, to send the credits to Lucas' account. After confirming that a whooping 3,500 student credits had been transferred to his student credit account, Lucas' earlier shameless grin revealed itself on his face again, as he reassumed a standing posture from the previously squatting one.
''Will you let me go now?'' Vermit struggled and assumed a kneeling position, and with rugged breathing ,asked with curiosity and apprehension evident in his voice.
Lucas shook his head dramatically with a click of his tongue then pointed towards the spit stained in his white t-shirt as Vermit stared at him .''Do you remember this?... certainly you wouldn't want me to leave without compensating you for not letting you stain my t-shirt very well right?... I am a good Samaritan you see...But before that, let me test something''
+++
Two minutes later..
''This guy practically is useless... He has a lightning affinity yet he cannot even use a single skill?... Also, after various trials, it looks like it is enough to conclude that only by touching people with my right hand for five minutes, can I manage to copy their affinities and learned skills... I now feel a strong connection to lightning in my body. However because this guy managed to not learn any skill on how to even cause lightning to manifest in the first place, I will have to learn some lightning skills on my own'' Lucas came to a conclusion concerning how his permanent mirroring affinity operated by using Vermit as a test subject.
Lucas glanced at Vermit who glared back at him in horror... The former not only beat him up and stole his credits, but also managed to experiment on him muttering various strange words and musings to himself as if he was a deranged scientist in a sci-fi movie .. '' I know what you are thinking, and I frankly do not care... anyway, for spitting on me... erm let's see...''
+++++
A few minutes later.. A figure in trousers and a robust upper body with bruises on his face was tied to a tree in a park on campus that was mostly frequented by lovestruck couples on campus dates. His blue jeans remained on his lower body, but his black shirt was nowhere to be found... On his chest was a carving that seemed to have been inscribed in blood red ink... The carving read ''Santa payed what he owed"