As the two walked towards the school, he gave a rough but much nicer explanation of how things worked and where they stood in the whole thing. The entire time she was silently listening, he knew she was listening only when she nodded; it felt like he was talking to the wind.
"You don't seem surprised or even nervous about the whole thing. Was there any point in waking me up?"
He felt less tired after walking around but was still slightly exhausted. Surprisingly, getting tossed around for a few straight hours tires you out. He kept stretching and wincing a bit. His joints had started to become less limber, especially now. He was paying this price for that soul bond. At least by now, it should be done. If the chest plate were destroyed, he wouldn't have to worry; at this point, it was most likely permanent.
"There was, were you planning to be late? You probably didn't hear it, but a bell went off, and I assume it alerted us to head there."
He must have been exhausted to have not heard it; there were a few other students ahead of them walking towards the school, so she was probably right.
"So, have you decided who you will try and fight when the month is nearing its end? You must have seen someone who you can take on?"
"Not really, they don't show off their powers...they all look pretty good at fighting; right now, I'm more worried about getting into stage two."
She raised her eyebrow and looked at him a bit more intently. He couldn't help but feel nervous as he looked away into the distance, trying to ignore it. Looking out into the distance, he could see the trees shaking slightly; what followed afterward was something akin to an arrow made of the wind coming from the tree and going into the forest.
He looked up at the everchanging tree, hoping to see who had shot it, but seeing anything or anyone there was impossible. He was squinting as hard as he could to catch even a glimpse of the one responsible.
"What are you doing..."
He looked at her and pointed upwards at the branches of the tree.
"Someone just shot something from up there; I was trying to see who it was."
"Are you sure that's a good idea? What if they decide to shoot at you for being snoopy?"
She stepped away from him to avoid being caught in the crossfire, and he scoffs.
"As if...I doubt they would do something so crazy for something as simple as that."
As he finished saying that, he felt something brush against his cheek. It felt pretty sharp, but it didn't manage to cut him as he covered his cheek. He looked up at the tree and moved left to right to avoid being hit again.
The sounds of laughter ahead of him caught his attention as the students ahead of him were laughing, with one of them pointing his finger at him.
He didn't take long to understand what happened as he stuck his tongue out at them.
"Seems you are quite popular, or maybe they just decided to make you the punching bag."
She spoke in a slightly annoyed tone before walking ahead of him. She seemed to think he was becoming a punching bag to them.
"Well, I am a pretty tough punching bag, but unlike normal ones, I hit back."
The student, with his finger raised, aimed towards her. She glared at him as flames gathered on her fingers. At first, he seemed to smile as the wind twisted around his finger. He opened his hand, and the intensity and speed of the wind grew as it surrounded his hand akin to a hurricane. He turned and sent a slash of air in Charlotte's direction. He raised his hands and blocked as the attack struck him in the forearms, sending him flying a bit as he hit the ground.
"Pretty impressive, but you should have followed his example and kept your power hidden. Now, you won't be going far."
He spoke in a harsh tone, a grin still plastered on his face; the students beside him laughed as they walked back towards the school. He didn't seem worried as he turned his back on her.
Charlotte, meanwhile, stayed on the ground a bit longer, inspecting his forearms for damage. He was somewhat surprised to find that his arms were fine; the only thing that suffered damage was his clothes, which had been sliced on the sleeves. The attack packed a lot of force to push him off his feet, so it wasn't weak.
"You alright?"
He sat up and looked at her. He showed her his forearms to try and signal he was fine. Which made her scowl a bit as she looked back at the crowd.
"Maybe I should have let him hit me; it doesn't look like he is strong anyway.."
"I don't think that would've been a good idea; I'm fine 'cause I'm just that tough; you probably would have been hurt severely."
She seemed a bit angry at his comment as she rolled her eyes and walked away; he jumped to his feet and followed behind her. He didn't understand what made her so upset about what he said. He figured she must not like being called weak, which he did insinuate, which must have pissed her off.
"Sorry...I know you aren't weak but aren't as durable as me."
She didn't say anything as the two walked in silence. He felt terrible about it but tried to tough it out and ignore his conscience for a bit. He had at least acquired a target now; he was going to beat the hell out of that guy at the end of the month. He wasn't upset about getting hit twice by him, mainly by the fact he had sliced his clothes. Knowing how the school treated him currently, he wouldn't be getting new pairs of clothing.
The other reason was that his power didn't seem very effective on him, which meant he made the perfect example. He couldn't let people walk all over him, and he would use that guy as a lesson...He felt pretty evil plotting all this as he couldn't help but rub his palms and let out a small laugh.
Unbeknownst to him, she had been paying attention to what he was doing and trying not to laugh. He looked so stupid, rubbing his palms and laughing to himself; she shook her head and avoided looking back at him.