The buildings of Arcseraph Academy stretched across the streets like towering walls, enclosing the area in a fortress of stones and bricks. This was a school built for teenagers who had awakened, or were yet to awaken, their systems and were prepared to fight alongside humanity against the great darkness.
A young man could be seen walking out of the building with his hands in his pockets and looking around the school campus.
The boy seemed angry, as tears flowed from his eyes, and why wouldn't he?
He was told he had a week to stay in the academy before he was asked to leave, as he was among the few who hadn't awakened their system.
His mind drifted to his parents who had spent all they had trying to ensure he went to this academy. He knew his parents would be heartbroken if they learned that he was rejected from the school, but a part of him was also glad as he would be spared from all the bullying.
Unlike the rest, he never awakened his system and was powerless to do anything about it. It even got worse when his fellow classmates who awakened theirs started seeing him as an easy target to pick on and bullied him. Each time he was bloodied and beaten by his fellow students who were supposed to be the heroes of humanity— "how ironic isn't it," he always thought.
But all ends today, as he planned to leave the academy today and return to his parents as their failure of a son.
Just as he was about to leave campus, a bunch of students surrounded him, and he knew every single one of them—after all, they were his tormentors. He was sure he wouldn't ever forget any of their faces, but as much as he hated them, he was powerless to do anything to them because the difference between a system holder and an ordinary human was like a mountain and a stone—a huge gap to begin with. Even though he had dreamt of the day he could fight back and pay them all back for what they had done to him, he couldn't; he was helpless to do anything but watch and endure it all. What made him feel worse was that the academy saw all this and kept quiet; they believed that the weak didn't have a say in the world and were just stepping stones for the strong.
"Hey freak, where are you going, leaving so soon?" said one of the boys whose name was Ethan. The others laughed at his joke, but I decided to keep walking back to my dorm and leave this hellhole forever.
But looks like you can't get everything you wanted, could you? Because no matter how much you want to be left alone and not want to be seen by the world, a bunch of hungry wolves would set their eyes on you, always wanting to tear you apart.
"Hey loser, where do you think you're going when I'm talking to you?" he said while pushing me to the floor.
I landed on the floor and was able to get up by myself. I dusted off the dirt and continued walking forward, as I kept telling myself that it was going to be over very soon; all I had to do was reach my dorm room, pick up my belongings, and leave the academy.
That's until Ethan said a word that broke me and touched a limit I didn't know I myself had.
"I bet your parents must be really ashamed of giving birth to a freak like you, but anyway, they must also be losers too; after all, losers give birth to nothing but losers," Ethan said with a smile, and the others laughed harder as if they had heard the funniest thing ever.
Just hearing that word made something in me snap, and I told myself just once I could fight back and let them know I wasn't a so-called loser and that my parents were not someone they could laugh about. And then it happened; I mustered all the strength I had and punched Ethan as hard as I could. But instead of me seeing his nose break or him showing any signs of pain, I could hear my wrist break immediately after my punch landed on his face.
I took a step back and held my broken wrist as I was in a lot of pain, but I could clearly see Ethan's face twitching and the others' mouths wide open from what I did. They couldn't believe it—a student they had bullied for almost a year had the nerve to fight back and even went so far as to punch Ethan, even though I was sure he didn't feel a thing when my fist connected to his face.
"How dare you, piece of shit, how dare you punch me... How dare you, lowlife thing! You could raise your hand and hit me?" Ethan said while clenching his fist so hard it turned white.
I didn't let him finish talking before I made a run for it, and they chased after me. I ran as fast as I could because I knew if they caught up I would be killed, or maybe even worse, so I headed into an alley and hid myself. They got to where I was, but I was hiding so they couldn't see me, so they continued running forward.
I decided to hide there for some time in case any of them came back for me.
That's until I heard one of them calling the others.
"Hey, I found him!" shouted one of Ethan's followers.
Looks like he had a tracking class in his system. Immediately they all found where I was hiding and surrounded me, making sure I didn't have anywhere to escape.
"You think you could punch me and get away with it?" said Ethan as a punch landed straight on my stomach, making me cough out blood. I didn't know what it felt like being hit by a truck before, but I knew it had to be close to that, right?
I fell on my knees, and then my whole body fell on the ground after that hit, showing the difference between an awakened and a non-awakened person. I could hear Ethan calling out to the others to join him and beat me up.
Each of them joined in and started hitting me; each blow was like being crushed by a mountain. They kept going on until my body felt so numb that I couldn't feel any part of my body, but that didn't stop them. Even though I was lying down in a pool of my own blood and sweat, they kept on hitting me until I started blacking out.
I heard one of them telling the others it was enough and that he thought I was dead as it looked like I stopped breathing and was not moving anymore. Each of them made a run for it, leaving me there to die.
And as the light faded out and all I saw was darkness, "Is this how I'm going to die, lying in my own blood?" I said.
That was until I heard a ding sound, and a screen manifested in front of my eyes.
Ding-ding.
[Congratulations, you have reached the requirements to awaken the Divine System]
[The Divine System has awakened]
[Awakening begins...]
[Awakening successful]
[Class: Shadow Monarch]
[Affinity: Divine Shadow & Lightning]
[Innate Talent: Lineage of the Shadow God]
That's the last thing I saw before losing my consciousness.