Still gritting his teeth, he relocated his shoulder. It was useless to go to the nurse, his arm would be good as new in under an hour. It would also be useless to go to any adult so the other kid could face punishment. He'd heard of him before. Rylen Dwyl, a rich kid who got away with anything he did at the school.
Daron wished he could have all the wonders that Rylen could, if so, would he have to deal with people like him? He wanted to make it so Rylen lived like him. Strip him of the power his money, or rather, his parents' money, gave him. But he stopped himself from going too far down this thought process. Spite would get him nowhere if he didn't have the power to carry it out. It would also go against what his parents had taught him to be like.
Though, maybe it was Director Aaron as well. He seemed to be the kindest man you would ever meet. It would make sense if that rubbed off on his parents given how long they've all known each other. Daron didn't wish to become a spiteful person, or at the very least, allow the spite to consume him. But he wouldn't suppress it if it came along.
He doubted he would be able to look any three of them in the eye if he gave in to spite. The disappointment and guilt he would feel would be immeasurable.
Sitting down at a table in the cafeteria, he closed his eyes and focused his energy into his shoulder. Though it would be fine if he didn't, it was better to use the technique when an actual injury was present. It would improve the physique faster, though with how far Daron's physique had already come, it might take a few near death scenarios to be able to improve it again. Even then, it wasn't a guarantee.
The rest of the day passed uneventfully and Daron headed home. Opening the door, Daron went to his room and grabbed the quartzite tablet. Taking it to the living room, he sat down on the couch, and Nubby jumped up to lie next to him. Daron pet his head as he looked at the tablet, Nubby purring into Daron's hand.
"Now, how am I going to unlock this tablet? You have any idea Nubby?" Daron looked at him.
"Meow!" Nubby said as he jumped onto the tablet. As soon as all his feet landed on the tablet, Nubby looked down at it. He seemed to be in a trance.
"Nubby? Are you okay?" Daron pet Nubby's head.
Nubby purred as Daron pet him, but he didn't look up from the tablet. After a few minutes, Nubby finally snapped out of the trance he was in and jumped off the tablet. He looked at Daron, and Daron could swear it looked as though he was sad, but he couldn't be sure.
"Well, that was weird," Daron said.
He looked at Nubby and back at the tablet, but then sighed. There wasn't any other reaction from the tablet or Nubby. The trance-like state of Nubby was the closest thing to anything yet though, but Daron also didn't know what it meant.
Searching online, Daron looked for animals reacting to artifacts, but all that came up was artifacts that allowed one to control animals, or summon a type of familiar. Nothing about animals interacting strangely with artifacts before their powers had been released.
Setting the tablet on the coffee table, he decided to leave it for later again. He set out some food for Nubby and went to take a shower.
As he went to bed, the last thought on his mind was, "I wish that tablet would just unlock already."
A horrible meowing had woken up Daron in the early morning. He turned on his bedside lamp, yawning, and looked down to the floor. He could see Nubby lying on the floor, meowing. But it was not a good meow. It sounded like he was in pain.
Daron quickly threw off his cover and got down on the floor beside him. "Hey buddy, what's wrong?" Daron asked, eyes full of concern.
The look Nubby gave him broke his heart as he let out another pained meow.
"No, no, no, no, no. This can't be happening," Daron picked up Nubby and went into the kitchen. He noticed the food he had set out for Nubby had not been touched. He set down Nubby in front of the bowl. "Come on, buddy. Eat your food, please." Daron's voice broke.
Nubby gave another pained meow and nudged his head into Daron's leg, refusing to eat.
"Nubby..." Daron curled around him. He knew how cats act before they died. He didn't think it would be Nubby's time so soon. Though he was old, he seemed healthy. "It's okay, Nubby. You're gonna be okay, buddy." Daron said as he felt his eyes turn wet.
Daron sat with Nubby for an hour as he meowed in pain, his breath eventually slowing, and then stopping entirely. A sob had finally escaped Daron's mouth as he felt Nubby's breathing and pulse stop.
Picking him up, he went to the living room couch and sat down. He looked at Nubby, but his vision was blurry as his tears flowed out.
"What am I gonna do without you, buddy?" Daron cried.
With his parents gone most of the time, Nubby was the only presence that made him feel less alone. Now that he was gone, he was worried how it would affect his mental state.
He laid Nubby's body next to him on the couch, and leaned forward towards the coffee table as his tears continued to flow. With his eyes closed as he cried, he failed to realize his face was above the quartzite tablet on the table. That was, until the tears had fallen off his face onto the tablet.
Daron heard a sound under him and opened his eyes. He saw the words on the tablet begin to light up as his tears fell onto it.
"What?" He said, but didn't care too much about it. His thoughts were consumed with grief of his lost companion. As more tears fell onto the tablet, the more words would light up and soon the entire strange language on the tablet was lit up.
The quartzite tablet soon started to disintegrate and merge into the glowing words as they flew through the air, spinning in a circle formation around Daron. He looked around him and tried to focus on it through his tears, but his grief would not allow any emotion of amazement to present itself to him.
Soon the glowing words of the strange language started circling closer and closer towards Daron, and then started entering into his head at one point. As soon as the first letter hit his head, the entire glowing structure rushed into the one point in an instant, all of it entering into his head, the tablet's power being completely integrated into Daron.