POV: Everett Laventh
"I knew you were weak, Everett, but watching you struggle to bench less than your own body weight is depressing." Arthur remarked bluntly, spotting me with a pitiful expression as I used every fiber of my being in order to prevent the bar from dropping onto my neck until I felt my strength fade away, prompting Arthur to aid in lifting the bar for me as he racked it while I took a minute to recuperate, panting heavily as if I had just ran a marathon.
"If I… was as strong as you… I'm sure I wouldn't have a problem with benching this weight, but unfortunately… I'm not, so cut me some slack." I replied wearily, unbothered by his rude statement as I knew Arthur meant well.
"Yeah, I guess that's true, but why are you training so hard in the first place?" Arthur asked curiously.
"A few days ago, I asked Rai to train me and after begging him, he accepted my request and said that he'll train me once a week as long as I can improve myself within that time frame, so now, I'm trying to get into a habit of training everyday as if I keep this up, I'm bound to improve, even if my growth is minimal at most." I replied as I gathered my breath and signaled Arthur to hand me the bar once more, but instead, he remained silent, deep in thought until he let out a sigh.
"This won't do." Arthur said as his reluctance left me confused.
"What?" I asked.
"At the rate you're going, training your body through such intense physical exercise will be detrimental to your health as not only will you soon burn yourself out, but you look like you barely eat as your small frame won't be able to sustain the rigorous training you're putting yourself through."
"If I'm not mistaken, all first-years are given at least one thousand and five hundred a month to live off of, not to mention, the academy offers free food from the cafeteria—although mediocre at best, it's still free nonetheless, so why are you not eating properly? Is it a medical condition?" Arthur questioned as my lips tightened into a frown from remembering the harsh bullying I suffered from Jordan and his friends.
You wouldn't understand since you're Arthur Kojiro, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell him.
"I'm sure you're already aware, but before Rai enrolled into the academy, I was bullied by Jordan and his friends everyday as he would extort me for most of my money on the day that we would receive our monthly allowance, leaving me with a little over a hundred dollars at most, but with textbooks, my injured body and my mind on the verge of collapsing due to fear, I wasn't able to eat properly as some nights, I even starved myself as my stomach refused anything that I tried to consume."
"For nearly two months, that was my life at this academy. Of course Aria tried her best to help me, although because she's the Student Council President, she can't always be there for me, but ever since Rai had defeated Jordan and his friends, they stopped approaching me, so going forward, I should be fine as I'll be receiving my monthly allowance soon." I explained, abashed by my powerlessness as Arthur remained indifferent and pulled out his phone.
"I'll send you some money so you can start eating proper meals, so give me your contact information." Arthur offered as I quickly leaned up and declined his generous offer.
"It's fine, Arthur. It's my fault that I'm in this situation in the first place, so-"
"I'm well aware that your own weakness is what caused you to spiral to this point, but how do you expect to become stronger when you can't even afford to eat a proper meal?" Arthur asked as I struggled to find a rebuttal to his argument.
"You're suffering from malnutrition, meaning that your body is bound to be fragile. You can train all you want, but as long as you avoid eating proper meals, training will only be detrimental as your body won't be able to handle the consequences from neglecting your health." Arthur added as I remained silent, frustrated with myself as I clenched my fist.
"Then what do you expect me to do, Arthur? I may be the weakest, but even I have some pride. Accepting money from you would just make me feel worse than I already do." I voiced with irritation laced in my tone as my response seemed to have roused a grin from Arthur.
"Who said that I was giving you this money for free?" Arthur asked rhetorically as with his free hand, he pulled out an apple from his pocket and bit into it, leaving me perplexed as considering the size of his joggers, despite them being somewhat baggy, I was unable to understand why there was an apple within his pocket.
Why was there an-
"What day did Rai say he'll train you on?" Arthur asked amidst taking another bite into his apple.
"Saturday." I replied.
"I usually train on the weekdays and use the weekends as my rest days, so starting tomorrow, I'll train with you for several hours around this time until you're strong enough to defeat Jordan. When that time comes, I expect you to take back the money he's extorted from you and return what you owe me. Under these conditions, I'm sure you can accept my money as I'm not giving you money, but instead, I'm lending it to you." Arthur proposed as I took a moment to think about his offer.
Defeating Jordan?
Me of all people?
A few weeks ago, that's something that would have been unfathomable to even imagine and yet, why do I feel as if with enough training, it's something that I might be able to accomplish?
With Sunday being my only rest day, I'm sure that I have a strenuous schedule ahead of me, but even if I choose to accept his offer, there's still a problem at hand.
"Arthur, what about our exam? Unless I'm able to learn Aura Manipulation, then training me would be pointless as I would be expelled for failing and I'm sure that you also need to focus on learning-"
"Ah, there's no need to worry about that." Arthur said, interrupting me as he activated his Aspect and released his Aspectual Force, startling several of the students who were training within the gym as Arthur then began manipulating his aura with relative ease around his body until he condensed his aura into a single point on the tip of his index finger.
With my jaw slackened, I stared at Arthur in bewilderment as the feat he performed was nothing less than astounding until I recalled his fight against the Cardinal Sins.
Wait, that's right.
In his fight against three of the sins, he was able to manipulate his own aura around the blade of his swords.
"I forgot that you already learned Aura Manipulation prior to this course." I remarked as Arthur's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Actually, I learned it during our teacher's demonstration. Before today, I didn't have insight into Aura Manipulation as using it was more instinctual than anything." Arthur replied casually as I was only able to give his unbelievable statement a sheepish laugh.
He really is a genius.
"If that's the case, then I don't mind accepting your offer, but there's nothing in it for you, so why would you waste your time on training somebody like myself?" I asked, slightly concerned as I was unable to think of a good reason for Arthur to train me.
"Think of it as an investment." Arthur replied with a grin as his ambiguous response left me puzzled until I eventually let it go with a sigh and exchanged my contact information with him while he deactivated his Aspect.
That reminds me…
"Who was your original sparring partner before me? I won't be getting in the way, right?" I asked curiously as Arthur sent me two thousand dollars, causing me to double check my phone with my eyes as I stared at my phone incredulously.
I know that he's from the Kojiro family, but how much money does he have in his account for him to casually lend me two thousand dollars?!
"Ah, no there shouldn't be a problem as you'll just be my sparring partner until our exams. Originally, it was going to be Rai since we both have already gained tremendous insight into Aura Manipulation, meaning that we could take our sparring sessions more seriously, but he said that somebody else had chosen him already and that if this person backs out, then he'll let me know." Arthur replied, grabbing my attention as he tossed the remains of his apple away into a nearby trash can.
Someone wanted to be Rai's partner?
I'm not surprised since only those who aren't ignorant know" that Rai is actually strong, but for it to be someone from our class is interesting as the only ones that I can see asking would be either Sarah or Aria.
I wonder who it is.