The following morning, Nyx felt a ringing sensation pierce his skull as he stirred awake. He stared around and discovered that he was lying on one of the bunks closest to the window.
'How did I get here?' Nyx thought with confusion. The last thing he remembered was passing out inside the bathroom after seeing those holographic messages.
"Thank goodness you're awake."
Hearing that familiar voice, Nyx instinctively knew that it was Apollo who brought him to the bed.
The black-haired boy who was beside Nyx stared at the latter with a concerned expression on his face. "Are you okay? Did someone try to bully you?"
Instead of answering, Nyx pushed himself up from the bed because he disliked being pitiful and under the mercy of others.
"I found you lying on the bathroom floor when I came back, so I rushed you to the school clinic, but they said you were fine and just unconscious…"
After listening to Apollo's tone, a complicated look appeared in Nyx's eyes. 'When was the last time someone did all this for me?' He thought in melancholy.
Throughout Nyx's life, the only people who had ever shown him such concern were his sister and father. Receiving such concern from a stranger felt a bit foreign.
As he was lost in thoughts, vague memories of the time his father, Troost Blackthorn, would force him to take his pills whenever he was sick and the time he would sing him and Anna a lullaby to sleep resurfaced in his head.
After losing his wife years back, Troost Blackthorn had taken on the role of a mother and father. Despite the abundant wealth, he always made sure to spend time with his children so that they would never feel the absence of a mother.
And… in a way, Troost's tactic had worked. No, it was more accurate to say it worked until those 'Men' came to their house that night. Nyx expression turned cold in an instant.
Apollo, who was witnessing the changes in Nyx's expression, was a bit taken aback.
'Is he really okay?'
At first, he thought Nyx was emotional because of what he did, but the next moment, his expression turned cold, and the black-haired boy could feel a hint of murderous intent leaking off Nyx's body.
"Hey, are you okay?" In the end, the back haired boy could only give Nyx a slight shake to wake him from his trance-like state.
"I'm okay, and by the way, thank you. Since I don't like being indebted to others, I'll make sure to repay your kindness." Nyx said. Deep down inside him, he knew that if this kid discovered that he was the infamous nightmare, he wouldn't be this kind to him again.
"I didn't do that for anything, so you don't need to repay me, but in case you're having any issues with anyone, especially Yiran, you can always count on me."
Truth be told, after seeing the red-haired boy unconscious like that, Apollo had first thought it was the doing of Yiran. After all, the muscular boy seemed to possess a nasty personality and always liked to antagonize those weaker than him.
Seeing that Apollo was adamant, Nyx decided to let it slide but still vowed to repay the black-haired boy because he didn't like being in debt to someone.
Since today was their first day and it was compulsory for all students to attend classes, Nyx and Apollo freshened up and left for lectures.
On the way, Nyx didn't see Yiran around, so he thought the latter must've gone for class early.
"Look, that's the boy that didn't activate any talent."
Of course, the road to their class wasn't smooth. News of the handsome red-haired boy not being able to activate any talent had quickly spread throughout the school, and the students were whispering among themselves.
"Such a pity, and the worst part is that he is so handsome." One female student said with a bitter look in her eyes.
Nyx and Apollo continued to ignore the whispering of the students, and soon they arrived at their class.
Immediately the duo stepped into the class, all eyes turned to them, including the teacher, Miss Emerald. But they all returned to what they were doing the next moment.
Unbothered, Nyx sat in the chair close to the window; even Apollo sat close to him, something that made Nyx raise his brow a little.
Everyone was avoiding him like a plague, and yet this boy still chose to stick with him?
"Tsk, I can't believe we were made to wait for this stupid dude and black shit." A loud voice sounded across the room, and Nyx wasn't surprised; it belonged to Yiran.
He didn't have any major reaction, but the same couldn't be said for the black-haired boy beside him who was clenching his fist as if he was suppressing something.
Although Nyx didn't show any reaction on his face, this didn't mean he wasn't affected by Yiran's words.
'It seems like I'll start teaching these students respect—' Nyx, who was in thought, suddenly broke off when he sensed someone's presence beside him.
"Huh?"
"What is she doing?"
"Unbelievable, is she seriously sitting near him?"
Students were endlessly shocked when they saw someone they never expected to mingle with no-name students approaching the black sheep of their class.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" Violet asked Apollo, who was too flustered to even say a word. He couldn't believe his eyes that his crush was about to sit beside him.
Regaining his cool, the black-haired boy flashed his Mr. Cool smile and said, "Sure, I mean yes. You can sit with us as long as you like."
After saying that, Apollo turned to Nyx, who was sitting at the end. "Nyx, I hope you're fine with it?"
'You could have asked me that before you let her sit. Ugh, teenagers and their stupidity.' Nyx rolled his eyes inwardly but didn't answer and simply returned his attention to the beautiful-looking Woman who was keenly staring at him.
But Nyx did wonder why this crazy girl was sitting with them?
He couldn't ponder further because at that moment, the teacher started to speak.
"Since everyone is here, I think it's only natural if I introduce myself to you. My name is Emerald Thorn, and I'm the proud holder of a position in the Legacy Hero Ranking. As much as I would like to mention my hero alias, I won't be able to due to security reasons."
"Done with that, let's discuss our first course of action." Miss Emerald paused, staring at all the students intently.
"Our first activity is Ability Activation Test." she spoke, staring at Nyx in particular. 'Let's see that ability you have been hiding all this while.'