Jack left the principal's office, clutching a fourth book Meinhard had given him. This one delved into the history and secrets of the Nightblade faction. Though he wasn't entirely sure of the professor's motives, Jack sensed that the influence of the Corvus family extended far beyond the Harper clan.
"Hey, wimpy," a condescending voice interrupted his thoughts.
Jack turned to see his ever-resentful former classmate, Patrick Hensley. Patrick towered over him, his body strong and muscular in a way that seemed unnatural for a boy his age. His face, however, retained its childish roundness, his cheeks glowing pink in the afternoon heat.
The Hensleys and the Harpers had been archenemies since Oxdale's founding. In recent years, the Harpers had found themselves on the back foot due to a lack of heirs and high-profit contracts. For the dominant Corvus family, these Harper troubles were trivialities. To earn the Corvus's backing, one had to prove their worth.
Unlike Jack's smooth, well-maintained robe, Patrick's companion was slim and poor-looking, his clothes ragged and sandals nearly broken. The boy's eyes darted nervously, unsure of who his master wanted him to confront. Servitude existed even among ten-year-olds.
Jack rolled his eyes at Patrick, considering a retort but deciding against it. Responding would only escalate the situation.
He walked away, leaving Patrick to fume. The Hensley boy's task, handed down by his parents, was to ruin Jack's reputation at school, diverting attention from the Harper family's declining status and creating rumors to undermine Abraham Harper's influence.
As Jack neared the door, Patrick picked up a cobblestone, swung his arm back for several seconds, and threw it with a burst of mana. The stone flew with a sharp whoosh, striking Jack's shoulder. The pointed edge pierced through his robe and undershirt, drawing blood before dropping to the ground. Jack stumbled forward, nearly losing his balance from the shock.
Fighting the pain, Jack's face hardened, eyes widening with fury. He bent down, found a similar cobble, and turned to face Patrick. Seeing the intensity in Jack's eyes, Patrick instinctively stepped back. Jack, however, needed only a second to channel his mana and launch the stone.
It flew straight toward Patrick's head with such speed that he couldn't react. He closed his eyes, bracing for impact. Instead, the stone struck the boy next to him, leaving a bleeding mark on his cheek.
Patrick opened his eyes, about to berate his servant, before noticing the two blurry marks on the wall and the two halves of the stone rolling on the ground.
Patrick's legs trembled as he looked back at Jack, who was smiling.
"Know your place, Pat!"
With that, Jack continued on his way, unaware of the two small figures trailing him at a distance.
Jack noticed he had been rubbing his temples a lot lately. Using mana had been exhausting. Despite this, he made his way to the training field, stopping several times along the road.
He threw himself onto the grass, closing his eyes to rest and organize his thoughts. The Nightblade progression bar had reached 5%, mostly due to the history book Meinhard had given him. Unlike the Artificer book, which detailed the faction's functions, this one focused on its past. Nevertheless, Jack had gleaned enough to consider his future options.
So far, Jack had a basic understanding of five factions: Warrior, Nightblade, Arcanist, Maester, and Artificer. He decided he should complete his study of the Maester faction before delving deeper into Nightblade. The Maester faction held the most relevant information on the Spirit and Mind aspects, essential for studying soul deficiency.
Jack opened his eyes at the sound of labored breathing approaching. The noise grew louder, turning into a moan. He looked around and saw the fat kid from Julia's class. Beside him was a boy who looked completely opposite, slim and tidy, with bright eyes and a cheerful demeanor.
Jack stretched and stood up as the two boys approached. The fat one was still panting heavily, while the slim one wiped away sweat before flashing a bright smile.
"Hello, Jack Corvus. I'm Thomas, Thomas Horvarth."
Thomas patted the other boy's shoulder, signaling him to introduce himself. The fat boy, however, was too out of breath to speak.
"This is Agostino Zorzi," Thomas said. "You can call him Agos, or Fatino. Following you from school took a lot out of him."
Agos raised a hand in greeting, though it seemed to take all his energy. The heavy breathing continued.
Jack eyed Agos curiously. Thomas might not have noticed, but each time Agos exhaled, a tiny flow of mana escaped, only to be reabsorbed with each inhale.
Jack smiled, intrigued by Agos's stamina despite his overweight frame. He then turned his attention to Thomas, who was equally fascinating. Despite following Jack and running all the way from the school, Thomas was barely sweating, his energy seemingly boundless.
Jack sat on one of the stakes and started the conversation.
"Let me guess, you guys saw me deal with Patrick?"
Thomas nodded, and Agos had been nodding the whole time.
"And you," Jack pointed at Thomas, "want to be my subordinate?"
Thomas raised an eyebrow.
"Wow, you sure know everything, huh? I've been talking to my dad, and he told me to befriend you. Adults talk about dependence and stuff, but me and this guy don't give a crap."
Jack leaned forward.
"I thought matters like that were drilled into your mind from birth."
Thomas shrugged.
"Agos was too busy eating while I was too busy running around."
Jack laughed at Thomas's innocent answer, sensing the truth in his words.
"Then why didn't you talk to me at school? Why follow me all the way here?"
Agos raised his hand to speak, but Thomas ignored him.
"I've been seeing you running since yesterday. I figured you were practicing something, so I followed you to avoid interrupting. Today, I couldn't find you at school when I wanted to talk. Sorry about that!"
Thomas bowed his head sincerely. Jack waved his hands, letting it go.
As Thomas raised his head, he pointed at the stakes.
"What are these?"
"Training field," Jack said.
Thomas enthusiastically climbed onto one of the stakes, balancing precariously on the narrow surface. Jack watched closely, impressed by Thomas's agility.
What are these two kids?
Agos finally spoke, his voice higher and more childish than Thomas's.
"Hey Jack, it's been a while since we last talked."
He puffed out his breath, then placed a hand on his stomach.
"So hungry," Agos whined.
Jack vaguely remembered seeing Agos in the junior class, a quiet and shy kid like his former self, though for different reasons.
Thomas hopped down and patted Agos on the back again.
"Why don't you worry about losing some weight instead of eating?"
Agos's face fell, but he didn't argue.
"Why lose weight?" Jack asked.
Thomas looked surprised, while Agos's eyes lit up.
"Yeah, why lose weight? Eating is fun!" Agos exclaimed, nodding vigorously.
"No," Jack said, "because you, fat one, can benefit a lot from eating."
"Because what?" Both Thomas and Agos asked in unison.
Jack didn't reveal his reasoning yet. Instead, he decided to have some fun, something he'd always wanted to do with Xerath.
"Call me Big Boss, and I'll tell you."
"Big Boss!" the boys chorused.
"Why do you call him that too, Thomas?" Agos asked.
Thomas pointed at the stakes.
"Big Boss Jack is definitely practicing with the stakes, and I was going to ask about them anyway. I need to practice more to carry your fat face on our next field trip."
Agos scratched his head, smiling sheepishly.
"Field trip?" Jack asked.
"Ah yes, Big Boss hasn't gone on any field trip yet, right?"
Jack smiled at how quickly Thomas had adopted the "Big Boss" title.
"Two weeks from now, we're going to Lavia Garden for some monster sparring. Miss Julia mentioned it today, but you weren't in class. Last time, Fatino and I got beaten up pretty badly by a Hedge Mole."
Agos shivered, patting his belly like a drum.
Since his reincarnation into this world, Jack hadn't encountered any monsters. He eagerly looked forward to gaining some first-hand experience.