The rest of the lesson was primarily spent in silence, with them focusing on their Chi; it felt like they were playing catch up. Occasionally, he would hear one of his classmates say, "Ow." When he opened his eyes, his teacher was still just in front. He got distracted enough to mess up his control over his Chi and felt his head smacked. When he opened his eyes, she was still at the front reading, but he finally got why the others were being hurt...his Chi control was better, and that did at least make him smile.
Eventually, their teacher broke the silence as she put the book down and yawned.
"Alright, you brats. Class time is over, so get out and be somebody. Maybe you can become garbage like our dear trash man over there~."
She said with a smirk; the redhead scowled and left. The golden-haired guy got up and began walking away. He expected him to do something, and to his surprise, he was right. As he left the room, he tried to shoot a lightning bolt at her at the last second. She stuck her hand out and let it hit her before vanishing and appearing behind him.
"My, my. I honestly expected better. Didn't even make my hand feel numb, wanna see?"
He turned around only to get slapped across the face; her smirk vanished as she glared at him.
"Next time you try to do something this stupid, I won't go easy on you."
He glared and walked off, rubbing his cheek, which had a hand mark on full display. As soon as he was gone from view, Charlotte began laughing.
"He isn't going to be happy with you. Aren't you afraid his family might try something?"
"His family sent him here expecting that exact treatment. Don't worry; every student goes through the same thing...I break them, and they become polite little brats or vindictive and harass other students."
She looked over at him and smiled.
"Try not to get pushed around too much; after all, I just decided to let you become my favorite student."
He waved off her concern and got up.
"Yes, Ma'am. If you will excuse me, though, I will go hunt myself a meal and start training with Fang."
He walked to the door and walked past her, waving her goodbye. She gave him a slight wave and returned to the classroom once he left.
The other classrooms remained closed; he could hear students talking, and as he tried to get closer, he heard something slam against the wall and decided to leave quickly.
He ran past his two classmates, heading out towards the forest. He might have heard one of them calling out to him. But he didn't stop, so they wouldn't try to attack him; he would already end up quite injured fighting Fang anyway.
Despite the difficulty of yesterday, today's hunt was simple. He found a stream deeper into the forest, and the fish seemed the easiest to catch. Although they had Chi, it wasn't a huge amount. He also took this chance to wash up before returning to the field to train. He had taken around an hour to finish everything, yet it didn't seem the other students were free; his classmates weren't around either.
He didn't have much to do; his Chi had returned by now, so he sat down to meditate and expand his storage. Yet every time he tried to focus on controlling his Chi, his mind wandered; it was strange.
He lay back on the ground and looked up at the tree and sky, trying to relax and unwind. Perhaps he needed a break or something.
"I wonder how my house is..."
He flinched and sat up...he looked down at his hands and then back at the sky. It felt unnatural to him to feel such a way, although now that he had a moment to relax, he realized how crazy it all was. A month ago, he was making weapons and saving up; now, he could fight a bear barehanded and outrun a wolf with enough effort.
He pinched himself; it didn't hurt, and his skin felt rough. He couldn't help but laugh, though, as he eventually sighed and his smile dropped. As cool as that was, he had also come close to death a few times...and he had killed someone. It wasn't all good, although, with all the excitement, he had pushed it away.
When he was resting in the forest, waiting for the chance to apply to this school to open, he hadn't been able to sleep for a few days. The sensation of his fist hitting the chest of the man and caving it in felt so real. Now, it felt like a memory he got from someone else; he couldn't even recall the face of the man or the feeling of his fist hitting their chest.
He clenched his hand into a fist and struck the ground; his fist caused a few cracks on the ground that quickly healed. He didn't even feel pain from hitting the ground, and the sensation of hitting the ground wasn't present either. Was this another side effect of the soul bond...was he losing his sense of touch?
He tried to open his hand, but it locked up; it took him a lot of effort to open it. Did he accidentally hurt it? He couldn't feel pain well, so that was probably the case. He spread Chi to his hand and rubbed his palm. He could feel the texture of his hand a bit, but it was almost non-existent.
"Guess it's the price I pay for power."
He tried to laugh it off, forcing a smile. He relaxed once more, lying back and looking up at the tree. He stayed this way for quite a bit; the feeling of loneliness was slowly seeping through him, and his eyes became teary.
"God, stop acting so pathetic. What are you a kid...seriously you've dealt with worse, stop feeling sorry for yourself."
He spoke in a quiet but harsh tone. He couldn't let himself be weak or show weakness. This place would eat him alive; he had to be strong. He had to be strong since his father left, and that hasn't changed. As memories of his father flooded his head, he sat up and closed his eyes.
His control over his Chi was unstable due to his complicated emotions, but it didn't matter. Soon enough, as more memories and the eventual departure of his father came, anger became the primary emotion. He let it fuel him and used it to motivate himself; he had to become strong enough that this sadness wouldn't bother him again.