"What's with that smug look?" Kai mumbled to himself as he saw the blue-level boy saunter down the school corridor, a malicious grin on his face. It was the same grin he'd worn countless times before, when he'd pick on the weaker students at the academy. Kai felt his fists clench as he stepped out of the library, the scent of dusty tomes and the faint whisper of pages turning still lingering in the air. He'd been there all afternoon, his nose buried in a book that had done nothing but fuel his anger.
The blue-level boy spotted the black-level boy, a timid looking boy named Eli, hunched over his locker, fumbling with his books. It was an all-too-familiar sight at the academy, where power levels dictated the social hierarchy. Without missing a beat, the blue-level boy strutted over, grabbed an armful of Eli's books, and tossed them onto the floor. "Hurry up, maggot," he sneered. "I've got better things to do than watch you struggle."
