Chapter 1
_
/Shine…/
/Chirp Chirp/
What a nice day this was! The perfect day to laze around or enjoy the light of the bright sun! Neither overwhelming nor underwhelming just enough for the average person to be satisfied.
The birds sang outside under the warm shine of the sun.
In this bright city by the sea, you could see parents playing with their children by the beach, laughing and enjoying themselves to the echoes of the waves.
Unfortunately…
"And this was our university director, Mr Stefan. Let's proceed to the next subject…"
"…"
'I'm so fucking bored damnit! Should I have just skipped this?' A young man thought as their bright amber eyes darted around for anything even mildly entertaining.
The young man's name was Sekou Oshiro 18, single and extremely irritated at the ongoing situation. Other than that there wasn't much else to talk about.
A rather young fourth year at this damn university he barely got in after of course a lot of work and possibly bribing from his parents. His birthday was a few months away but that didn't matter right now.
As for how he looked, he had medium to short black hair that almost came down to his shoulders, Dark brown eyes which were covered by his special amber coloured lenses and well perhaps the most evident thing dark skin hinting at a possible African heritage.
Appearance-wise wise he'd deem himself a 10/10 because he was handsome! It was only natural! Objectively however he'd be a 7 maybe 8 out of 10 on a good day.
Don't tell him that to his face though or you might end up with a rather irritating "enemy".
As of right now the young man really couldn't be bothered to pay attention to the other people who were around him or the ongoing speech which bored him to no end. He wanted to move or do something else as currently he felt like he'd doze off if he didn't do something.
Then suddenly the solution to his ongoing endeavour struck him! It was so obvious he almost wanted to slap himself!
His Phone! An iPhone 11 he deeply loved and the object that would save him from this possible endless boredom.
Turning it on the first thing his gaze would land on is of course the battery percentage. The last thing he wanted was for it to be at a low amount because that then meant he'd have to pay attention to the speech or go to sleep which if it wasn't evident enough, he! Didn't want to do either.
73%
A smile would come over the young man's face as he saw the percentage on his phone. 'Great! This is more than enough to use until the end of this boring ass lecture! In the first place, why am I even here damnit! It's the last day!' Sekou would think and he was right to do so. This was indeed the last day of uni for him having already gotten his results a while prior.
They had even made it mandatory to come! Why would they do such a thing? Right now he could be back home watching some funny videos or outside doing something stupid and possibly illegal instead-
Instead, he was stuck in here listening to the speech of some old men! Jokes aside, Sekou wondered why they had made it mandatory for people to come in earnest… it seemed kind of.. strange? Or at least he thought so, maybe the young man was simply overthinking things due to his deep dislike of the education system or maybe he was onto something…
It was hard to tell really but as previously said that didn't matter right now. What mattered was the fact that he was here now and that he was looking down at his phone.
The students sitting next to him were either speaking among themselves, distracted or looking at their phones like he was so he wasn't attracting much attention and it wasn't like anyone would stop him if he was.
Some people may ask if the young man wasn't worried about missing anything important or if he didn't want to listen to the possibly valuable information his elders wished to pass on and to that he'd simply say.
Fuck off.
He already knew how most of this was going to go a boring long monologue about the values of the university and what it stood for followed by some words about integrity or how proud they were of this year. Absolute and utter bullshit to his ears.
And unfortunately, he was mostly right.
It was the usual end-of-year conversation where higher-ranking members of the university whom you'd never see suddenly decided to make an appearance and come all together as if they were part of some damn shocking drama, deciding to speak about stuff that will likely never affect or impact you in any sort of meaningful way.
Plugging an earbud in he'd go on his phone and put on some music using a certain premium music streaming app. Followed by that he'd message his parents that he'd be coming home soon.
Truly he couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe that he'd found himself in this university after all the struggles and challenges he'd been through. 'Ew I'm starting to sound so cringy. "Struggle and challenges" I just failed two vital tests for my future and my parents had to use some insane connections to land me in this university. I know damn well I'm not that qualified but I don't care. My success above all else right?'
/Imaginary Creek/
'Wow must be going crazy! Now I'm even making imaginary creeking sounds! Fuck that!' Whilst internally the young man was having quite a few frantic thoughts going through his mind on the outside he simply kept a light smile on his lips and slightly too focused eyes as he looked into his phone.
A rather interesting video about Electronics, he never enjoyed theory so the video was of something more practical. It was about a programmable circuit board and he decided that he may have to buy it later.
As he scrolled through multiple videos on his phone he'd start to get focused. Seeing multiple videos on Mechanics and Electronics would make him smile, perhaps the subjects he was most passionate about.
Kind of ironic. His grades were downright horrendous and he was barely keeping up and passing some teachers had noticed but luckily for him, he'd managed to hold out till the end and pass within the bare minimum requirements.
Lucky.
That was the only word one could use to describe the situation. He wasn't rich but he was well off. His main strength came from his family's multiple connections which they were using to climb up the social ladder. Main point is that they had already used those connections to get him here, they couldn't do anything else if he failed again….
"Tsk now I'm in a bad mood… I shouldn't have started thinking about that…" He'd mutter to himself before turning his screen off.
The music was still playing in the background but fifteen minutes of watching videos in here were enough to once again make him bored. 'That and the fact I highly dislike watching videos when a lot of people are around me… call it social anxiety or whatever I just deeply disliked it.'
The main reason he'd stopped was because he felt highly uncomfortable but there wasn't much he could do about it so back to looking around he goes. Specifically back to looking towards the people here.
' Student-wise wise it's mostly just guys there are like 10 girls… 10 out of 50…' He'd look at the ceiling and sigh before once again looking in front of him towards the podium.
There were 10 girls of whom a handful were pretty…
And even fewer had good personalities…
'Yea no, this place truly sucks… extremely so… ridiculously so! This place sucks ass! Why did I have to come here? Stupid mandatory day!' He'd think to himself as his eye slightly twitched in annoyance.
/Chatter chatter…/
Sekou was starting to feel a slight headache perhaps this was caused by his anxiety or constant talking of the people on the podium? Perhaps it was because of the guest students and their slight but constant mutterings? Maybe due to all of those things, a minor headache had taken root.
What's that? You're wondering about the guest students? Oh? Must have not mentioned them!
Every once in a while this place has visiting students from all around the city to show them how "Amazing" university life is. Gaslighting the young! That's no way a university should be acting!
In past visits, they would go to the labs, go around the campus, and possibly talk to professors. Sekou vaguely remembered someone showing off a robot to the students last year. He never particularly cared for such things as if it didn't involve his benefit he most likely wouldn't participate.
'Compared to last year this batch kinda has it more shitty though. Instead of seeing a cool robot they're here listening to one of probably the most boring speeches in their lives.' Truly it almost made someone feel bad for them…almost.
Looking at them Sekou got the vibes that they were trouble makers, a slight suspicion that their teachers probably planned for this and forced them to listen to such a boring speech mildly amused him.
Whilst on the subject of new people his gaze would fix on the teachers' faces he'd never seen before mostly female faces too although he found them a bit too old for his tastes. 'Maybe if they were 3-4 years younger- who am I kidding I can barely talk to the pretty ones in my year what do I look like going after others.'
Maybe it was due to the fact he'd seen a lot of the pretty girls in his year brutally shut down other guys asking them out or maybe it was simply because he wasn't sociable but he'd always keep his conversations with them short and straight to the point. He doubted that they even knew his name.
Due to him thinking about them he'd inadvertently try and see where they were by looking around, he pretty easily found their group for easier identification he'd call them the "Pretty & Mean Girls".
There wasn't much to say about their group, makeup? Check. Questionable clothes? Check. Oddly Attractive? Che- cough. Ahem other than that the fact they were even allowed in school like that was a surprise to him although he didn't have much to say. 'Food for my starving eyes. Who's gonna complain? Not me.'
Since he was already looking around he might as well look at the other groups that he'd identified previously such as the "Gamers" or better known as "Nerds", one of the perhaps most interesting? Groups.
All of them were holding up in a corner of the room like usual, he could see that there was a poster of a robot close to them and other than that there wasn't much to say. Thick glasses? Check. Big teeth? Check. Some fat others skinny? Triple Check.
'Really what's going on with them? It's sad because I have the same interests as most of them too. Anime, games, chess… the only reason I never associated with them is because they're so extreme when representing what a nerd is….' Tapping his foot on the ground lightly he'd release a small sigh. They weren't completely hopeless. They had a single saving grace.
Said saving grace was a pretty girl. Surprise! It was evident that the more time passed the prettier she'd become but other than that she wondered why she was in their group to start with. He'd assume that she'd go with the "Pretty & Mean Girls". He was pleasantly surprised when that did not happen.
As for the remaining groups…
The popular guys and girls were to one side talking to each other and chatting lightly. They were by far the calmest and composed group. Look at this fucking model students! Makes you want to go and mess with them for shits and giggles.
That aside, why were they considered popular? Pretty simple answer for that one! It was because they got along with all other groups in the vicinity which although it may sound simple was no small feat.
Next were the Sad and Depressed people? Why they were always so gloomy was a giant mystery for Sekou. These kinds of people he believed were usually called "Emos"? He could be wrong as he never paid much attention to them.
Muscular guys or "Jocks" if we want to refer to them in modern terms are the strong people. The type of guys you don't want to get on the wrong side of because he was pretty certain they were all stronger than him. 'Then again it's not like I put an effort into training my body. Knowledge over power right? Right?'
The edgy Chunnibyo group. Not to be confused with the Sad and Depressed people! The former will scream to you about some dark power and the "Truth" of this world, the latter simply wants you to leave them alone. Sekou found this group rather amusing.
The "Cute" Gyarus, most likely known as Gal girls, Dyed hair? Check. Blond, Pink or Green? Check. Overall Sekou feels like they are doing a bit too much. He doesn't mind it tho as some of them are indeed lookers although in his eyes they'd be even better if they cut less on all the extra stuff.
The Outcasts! Perhaps the group he was closest to in terms of standing although he wasn't personally close with anyone in this room. Anyway most of them were gloomy and lonely, kind of a recurring theme now that I think about it.
Don't confuse them with the Depressed and Sad people or Geeks tho! The Outcasts are pretty average and have distinct personalities and looks from the rest!
Funny how he considers the "Popular" and "Outcasts" to be the second and third most normal people here, such a juxtaposition.
And the rest… also known as the "Normals" reason why he previously said second and third! The people whom he called "Normals" were well normal. Nothing else to say really.
"!"
Almost missed a group due to his shitty eyesight or maybe just because they were that short. Hidden near the chairs and people they were the "Lolis" yes… sounds odd as fuck but they did exist to his dismay! Luckily unlike the deceiving name he gave them, they were just really short girls. Some were cuter than others although a trait they almost all possessed was that they were feisty.
Overall they were quite a big group.
'A fuck ton of school students now that I think about it. What the hell? Are the Uni students outnumbered?'
'Well, that's a first interesting. Didn't think there'd be so many, truly this looks like a scene straight out of an anime. Funny. In such a situation I wonder who the main character would be.'
'Me of course! Who else would it be? Some random guy whose name starts with P or something? Hell nah!' Oddly specific although he did pick the letter at random.
'Still, there are a bunch of different classes as well along with teachers. Two teachers per class I believe.'
'Although that does leave a lot of students in a single class? Almost too many.. teaching them must be a nightmare.'
'Let's see here who am I missing? Mentioned the guest students, mentioned the Uni students, mentioned the teachers… Um, the auditorium guard that went for a smoke break? They still exist.'
/Chattering…/
"…"
'Still not done? It's been a good while tho?'
Sekou's eyebrow twitched once more in mild irritation at the ongoing situation. It truly seemed like nothing else would happen and that this lecture would be almost unending. The temptation to take out his phone again was real but he didn't want to doom scroll.
'All three mechanical engineering teachers were here before but two have already left. They probably also got fed up with this bullshit.' It's been two fucking hours after all. Two. Gruelling. And. Boring. Hours.
Sekou didn't know how much longer he could last here. He was starting to get a bit hungry and he hadn't prepared anything when he was coming here. Bag? No, he thought it would be quick. Except for his phone and clothes, he didn't have much else. Shit, he even forgot his wallet. Fuuuucckkkkk. Now he'd need to go all the way home and knock hoping his parents or younger sister were in or else he'd have to wait outside.
'I shouldn't have come here damnit! But I also couldn't risk losing my credits! Due to my low grades, I need as many as possible.'
'This is such a pain… arghaaaaa'
Everything important had already been said in the first half hour and now they were just dragging things. 'The only thing of note you all had to say was the merging of mechanical classes yet you're still going on and on and on about useless things!'
He really couldn't be asked to listen to even a syllable of what they were saying. 'At this point I might as well start naming department heads and executives cuz I ain't got anything better to fucking do!' His amber eyes stared coldly at the podium.
Department of mechanical engineering - Mr shiny head. Dude should be an actual bodyguard instead of this.
Department of Electrical engineering - Mr egg. Dr.Eggman! Is that you?
Department of Social Engineering - Chad. He's just like that I'm not even gonna lie. He's lessons are genuinely entertaining.
The other department heads had already left when they had their speeches. Even they got fucking bored of this… Sekou would make someone suffer because of this! He'd make someone suffer he swore!
Nevertheless, there are still some people left…
The Head of engineering who seemingly could not retire...- Old master Metatron!
Regional campus head, the old man who just kept making their lives harder!- Swordmaster Isshin!
And the one above all!- God Emperor Avis, jokes aside the old man is a living fossil! The fact that he's that old and can still move and talk is insane!
Naturally, these names are fake. Older students named them this and kept on passing them on so it naturally became tradition for students to address them as such. Never directly of course.
Mr Shiny Head is a bald black guy, he is tall and strong which is why Sekou thinks he could or should have been a bodyguard. But overall, he is a nice guy. His head tends to shine brightly in the sun due to the creams he likes to apply to his head, hence the name.
Mr Egg is a dwarf of a man with a big round belly, his pale skin and tendency to wear white clothes, usually make people associate him with an egg. And to Sekou if the guy had a moustache and wore goggles or the glasses that Dr. Eggman wears he'd be a one-to-one copy.
His temper is pretty short but he gets the job done. You ask him something and give him a proper reason, you can be sure he will finish it within a week. Which is far faster than most departments.. funny this is exactly why Sekou thinks this place isn't as good as it's portrayed to be.
Chad is for short, the "nice" guy. Simply put, he is too good with words and the law for his good.
There were even rumours of him having affairs with multiple girls, but that was never confirmed. He is quite reclusive but can liven up a party on his own. He has an unmatched talent with his tongue and is knowledgeable enough to be in his position despite being only 30. Truly a man many should strive to be like.
His appearance is something most of the girls almost go crazy over and Sekou himself has held conversations with the man multiple times. Enough so for them to be considered close acquaintances.
As for the man's problems? Sekou wouldn't care even if they were true after all if it doesn't directly harm him Sekou can ignore a lot of stuff.
Now the living relics
Metatron or better known as Antoine. He was an old man, 92 this year! He had been here for around 50 years and this was another person Sekou was close to. He spoke with the man often about Mechanics and considered him somewhat of a mentor although to an extremely minimal extent.
Swordmaster Isshin! Dude might be a Swordmaster carrying that sword with him wherever he goes. Yes, you heard it right. A fucking sword. How that was allowed or even legal was beyond me but I'm not gonna complain. I didn't speak much with the dude although he does look cool.
He was around 84 and it's said that maybe he'd leave next year? Again Sekou didn't know or care enough about him to pay attention. Nevertheless, his sword looked like a Chinese-style sabre and it was pretty cool.
Lastly, the guy known as God Emperor Avis. He might genuinely be a god. 110. You know what that number is? His fucking age. Yes, his age! And he can still move around and talk perfectly fine; he might be a super soldier or some kind of government experiment!
He founded the university 80 years ago and lived with 4 generations of his family. His great-grandson is working at this very university. The old man's real name is Arthur Vista that's why people called him A-vis he guessed.
His son had already died and his grandson was currently overseeing the uni branch in another part of the city.
Sekou genuinely didn't know how much more time the old man would live but he wouldn't be surprised if he surpassed all expectations and reached 150 years of age.
'Dude might outlive me if this keeps on going. Which is an… interesting thought?' He'd tilt his head slightly before sighing.
There were no more people in this room to analyse. He had already pretty much thought about everyone so he expected the speech to be done by now-
"And I hope we…"
'Fuuuuckkkk they're still going on? What the hell this isn't nearly important enough to last this long.' His irritation was starting to slowly increase more and more. There was genuinely no need for this to keep on dragging.
'I have places to be and things to do. At this rate, I shouldn't have sent the message that I'd be home soon to my parents… I even promised to play with Elena today…' Was today the day he broke a promise to his little sister?
'I absolutely can't allow that! If the speech doesn't end within the next 35 minutes I might have to find a way to sneak off!' He'd start to slightly tap his foot on the ground. Irritation evident.
This wouldn't be a problem if he had his friends nearby to talk to but sadly most of them were in different courses and he had an acquaintance to close acquaintances level of relationships with everyone in this course. Trying to talk to them this late into the course would just be awkward.
'Maybe I should have made some friends here… being a loner might be bad after all! I'm starting to be more of an outcast than the actual outcasts.' His hand would move to massage his temples, the headache he had gotten before just intensifying. This was genuinely such a pain.
At this point he might as well go on his phone again and start to look at his videos even though the "social anxiety" was still there it was better than dying of boredom or having his mind be overtaken by thoughts of breaking the promise to his sister.
He'd sigh for the fourth time today and once again pull out his phone the percentage had slightly decreased to 72% but it was still more than enough for him.
Turning on his screen this time he'd just go on a novel app on his phone and start to read a novel he was rather interested in. A simple fantasy novel with systems and magic in which the protagonist was a powerful mage. Kind of cliché but he didn't mind.
It's cliché for a reason. And said reason was that it worked. Simple as that.
Sekou quite enjoyed mage stories and mainly any story where the protagonist's main power stemmed and focused on magic in his eyes after all magic would always be above stuff like swords or martial arts. One has no limit and the other is limited by the character's body.
There was a clear superior.
"… Thank you all for listening to Mr. Isshin's speech. We are now going to end our lecture with Mr. Vista's speech!"
/Applause/
The students were excited to leave this damn place, and so was Sekou. Matter of fact he was probably one of the people who wished to leave the most. Clapping lightly he'd stop once he saw that most people were also starting to stop.
"So close… il just read my novel whilst this is going on."
He'd mutter as his gaze would soon land on the lightly shining screen in his hands. 'Now where was I? Oh right, I was talking about how magic is far superior to Swordsmanship or Martial Arts!'
One has endless potential whilst the other is limited to the body, another thing mages have over most weapon-reliant people is the fact that they can defend themselves almost always. Catch them off guard in the toilet? Fireball. Catch them off guard in their bed? Fireball. Catch them off guard when they are having a fun time? Fireball!
He also always found it extremely ridiculous that people called mages squishy as if at a higher level they couldn't just transform their bodies depending on the type of magic they were practising. Heck even if not transforming their bodies defensive magic always existed!
'Really it's ridiculous! Ridiculous! People would rather read about a musclehead swinging around a sword instead of reading about a sophisticated scholar shooting down his enemies with mana blasts or fireballs.' He'd lightly shake his head.
Few people held the level of respect he did for the authors who wrote about mages. Even fewer people held the respect he held for authors who wrote about evil mages. 'But that's another subject as a whole.'
'My tastes are too refined for the world-'
/Creek/
Turning his head slightly Sekou would notice the sound of the double doors opening and as he looked in that direction a bitter smile would cover his face.
He was sitting towards the upper middle of the auditorium near the top it was so he could leave easily when the time came and due to this he was one of the first people to notice this.
/Step step step…/
/Chatter…/
A group of ten people was led inside by the auditorium guard and as he noticed who they were he would immediately realise what they had done.
'Those smart fuckers- they probably bribed the guard so that they didn't need to come in till the very end!'
'Why the hell didn't I think of that! It was such an obvious solution! Heck, I could have gone home and come back with my wallet if I did that!'
He almost wanted to face palm but the thought that such an action would draw too much attention to himself stopped him from doing so.
'Let's see, who are the groups that came in here? Piercings ugly mugs and overall thuggish looks? Fucking delinquents. Yup, they must be the "Delinquents".'
'But not just them.'
'The other group is- snobby looking, walking around with an air of entitlement and having some expensive watches and accessories…. Those are the people my parents told me to get close to. I recognise a couple..'
The "Rich Kids" had arrived to and Sekou's mood would become slightly sour. His parents had indeed given him some "Targets" to get close to… with them being innate brown nosers Sekou was also one to a more minor degree that is and his parents wanted him to use such a talent to get close to some targets.
'Fuck all of that tho. Getting close to the boys is almost impossible because we have nothing in common and most of the time I end up being treated like an errand boy I doubt they even remember my name as for the girls in the group it's the same thing except for the fact that they treat me like a butler instead.'
This was a major reason as to why he couldn't exactly get close to them. To this day they probably still didn't know his name and his pride wouldn't allow him to lower himself to such an extent. 'I say it like this but it wasn't that bad. They did pay me quite a bit when I did what they asked me to. Main problem is that a master-servant relationship isn't what I'm looking for.'
He was looking more for a friendly kind of relationship but it was clear he wouldn't find anything of the sort unless something ridiculous happened or unless he also suddenly got rich. 'With the way my parents are moving, I'll probably join the upper echelon of society within the next 5 to 10 years tho.'
Once again that didn't matter right now. He'd look at the group of ten people moving down the stairs and whilst the group of "Delinquents" moved to sit down on the floor next to the stairs without care the rich kids moved to the top towards the outcasts.
Without saying a single word they threw a sack of notes at them. Hard cash. Giving it to them and when the outcasts received their pay and left towards another place the rich kids took their spots.
Mind you not a single word was exchanged.
With that, everything ended as if they'd always been there. How odd.
Shaking his head Sekou would go back to reading his novel. The speech was still going on yet he didn't care enough to listen. Old man Vista probably had nothing important to say or talk about and he really couldn't be bothered to listen to what was probably another boring ass speech.
/Scroll scroll/
Scrolling through his phone he'd reach the end of the chapter. He hadn't been able to pay much attention to what was going on in said chapter due to everything that was happening around him and his social anxiety…
'I'll have to reread this when I get home I really couldn't concentrate much and I probably missed some important details.
For some strange reason, he felt like old man Vista was emphasising certain important words in his speech but due to a mix of boredom, his headache and his general disinterest in what was going on around him, he'd once again ignore this.
"Haaaa"
A slight exhale would happen. This was it! So close to the end. He'd finally be able to leave this place and wouldn't have to see the ugly mugs of the people around him for a long while.
Looking up he'd notice old man Vista had indeed come towards the end of his speech.
/Inhale… Exhale…/
Old man Vista stopped to take a deep breath and look at his wrist watch, saying:
"Look at the time! We are almost done here. Please just wait a little bit more…"
"!!"
'HELL YEA! Ahem I mean yes we are almost done. I'll be going home soon.' A bad feeling had started to build up but Sekou would ignore it. 'Probably just due to my headache.'
'Heard Ancient Scrolls 6 might be releasing soon. I might play it with Elena later or maybe I'll just take her to an amusement park.' Stroking his chin a lot of possibilities had opened.
As he thought about that old man Vista had done it. He had finished his speech! He almost wanted to cheer for the man but once again his social anxiety would flare up if he did that.
"And this is all! Thank you for today, everyone."
/APPLAUSE!/
With a few nods, greetings, and smiles, Vista made his way towards a back door with his guards, marking the end of this unbearable lecture.
Looking around Sekou saw people getting up and trying to leave in a rather chaotic manner and although he wouldn't mind trying to remove himself from the room as soon as possible he was far too physically weak to deal with any of this.
Sitting down once more he'd look at the ceiling and release a massive sigh of utter disappointment and annoyance. To think that he'd have to prolong his time here even more. Being towards the middle top he'd soon enough also be able to leave but it still irritates him that he had to wait.
By now it was rather obvious that Sekou didn't have the best type of personality but what could you do about it? With an upbringing like his, it was only natural or at least that's what he thought.
He'd spend the remaining time putting his phone in low power mode even though it was currently at 71% and he'd start to lie his back against his chair trying to relax more.
"… Everyone, thank you for participating. Please be calm and proceed to the exit in an orderly manner…" Mr Chad said as he took the mic.
"…"
This was going to take more time than he originally thought, wasn't it? Such a pity but there wasn't much he could do about this. Just as he was about to put his second earbud in and wait till most of the students had left something he'd never imagined would suddenly happen.
/BANG BANG BANG/
"HEY, THE DOOR IS FUCKING LOCKED! DID THAT FUCKER OF A GUARD LOCK US INSIDE?!" One of the delinquents said as they slammed their fists on the entrance gates leading to the hall.
"Not cool, man… It must be a problem with the doors; they are old, after all." One of the Popular guys said as he tried to deescalate the situation.
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY TO YOU LITTLE BITCH?!…"
Sekou's eyes started to twitch as he looked at the ongoing situation. It would seem that there were more than just a couple irritated people in here. But something was odd.
'That aside this is strange. He remembered that a while back a dumbass locked himself inside the auditorium. According to what he heard the door could only be opened from the inside however?' Sekuto would tilt his head as he got up from his seat. All he had on him was his earbud, the earbud container and his phone. Other than that he didn't have anything else that could help in such a situation.
"Eh why am I even worrying if we are locked inside someone can call the police or fire department. If this is some fucking prank I already know whoever did it is going to get a black eye." He'd say whilst looking at the delinquents who all seemed to be equally angry or at least he assumed they were.
'Worst comes to worst, Swordmaster Isshin awakens his Dantian and breaks through the door.' Sekou would jokingly think before starting to walk towards the crowd of people. Blending in almost perfectly.
/Tremble…/
/Quake…/
/GASPS!/
The hall shook a little, causing many to immediately start to panic.
Sekou's headache only got worse as this happened. 'Okay, this isn't a normal situation anymore. An earthquake? How strong is it gonna be? Can the auditorium hold up? Fuckkkk this couldn't be any worse.'
Sekou would see as people started to clamour to the doors and just shake his head he'd stay nearby but not too close. In case something happened he needed to be ready to react. Although due to his shitty body, he probably wouldn't be able to do anything even if he wanted to.
/Glister…/
Strange green runes began to appear on the surface of the walls. They were everywhere.
But they were faint, making it hard to spot them because of the string lights on the ceiling. Strangely enough, only two people seemed to notice.
One was a pretty girl on one side of the auditorium, and the other was a young man with black hair and blue eyes. Standing near a bin?
Weren't there a lot of bins previously? They seemed to all disappear except that very one the boy stood next to? Odd.
Unfortunately, however, Sekou and everyone else wouldn't notice anything amiss and instead were trying to figure out what could be the cause of the previous hall shaking.
'Strange… I didn't hear anything about this on the news and how could it happen with no warnings whatsoever?' Sekou wasn't knowledgeable in the slightest about earthquakes. He'd just guess that they could happen this randomly.
/BAM!/
Whilst he was trying to figure out what was happening the others continued their fearful "rampage".
/BAM!/
/SLAM!/
The delinquents were pissed off at the situation as they started to kick and punch the doors.
Meanwhile, the geeks or nerds and a few others were smarter attempting to leave through the back door but ultimately failing.
All the ongoing escape attempts seemingly only led to failure and as they stood there waiting and trying to understand what was going on Sekou would start to remember bits and pieces of the speech old man Avis was giving.
"… And remember, the most important thing is to SURVIVE…"
It did seem odd to Sekou. The old man was speaking with such vigour. He thought it was nonsense-
"Observe your surroundings, conquer your fear, FIGHT forward. Society won't wait for you to grow, you must TAKE what you want, STRIVE!"
".. That is the only way to reach the top and not become a TOOL."
What if the old man was warning us? What if the old man was trying to tell us something important? Yet no one is in here. Not a single student or faculty member listened?
" Although being careful is important, being overly paranoid is not the way. As I grew, I realised that having a plan B could've saved me so much trouble…"
Sekou would grab his forehead as he used a chair to lean on. 'What's going on? Why am I remembering bits and pieces only now? I should have paid more attention to that damn lecture instead of only going on my phone and reading my novel.'
"… The ones at the top are always the most SUSPICIOUS. After all, they got in there somehow…"
'Fuck Fuck Fuck I should have paid more damn attention to what's going on.'
/Inhale… Exhale…/
He'd take a deep breath and release, calming down somewhat and seeing if there was anything else he could remember. Anything else at all? At this stage, any information could prove to be useful to him.
"… You are not ALONE! Remember to trust your friends and company, one cannot succeed ALONE. Behind me is the blood and sweat of many compatriots! Every brick that made me is clad in their sweat and…"
That was it. Other than that he couldn't remember anything else. 'Okay let's summarise the info I was provided with.' He'd think to himself.
'First of all, Survive. That's something he emphasised.'
'Second of all, don't be afraid and fight forward. Taking what I want to strive for. That is the only way I won't be a tool?'
'Third of all, always have a plan B but don't be overly paranoid.'
'Fourth of all, the ones at the top are always the most suspicious. For me, that just means do not trust those at the top.'
'Fifth. I'm not alone? Trust my friends(which I don't have.) and companions who would be these idiots next to me.'
"Haaa I don't know why the old man said all of this but- if the situation becomes as crazy as I think it will il follow those five things like a creed." He'd mutter to himself. 'Except the fifth one. I don't know about trusting them… maybe if I find useful ones.'
As Sekou finished remembering the speech the principal provided and started to look around he saw the mess that was the ongoing situation.
Some cried, others took their phones, a few exclaimed for help, some cuddled in fear, others even laughed, while others tried to figure out solutions for their troubles…
They each did their things, a rather diverse group of people.
Sekou would shake his head. These were the people he was meant to "Trust"? Might as well be a creed of 4 instead of 5 because there was no way in hell he'd ever trust them. Yet as he shakes his head he'd notice something.
Walking closer towards one of the auditorium walls he'd finally see the runes. Looking around to see if anyone else had noticed he saw that one of the girls from the "Popular" group had also noticed.
"Hm. Am I being too slow to notice what's going on around me? Well, at least this confirms it."
Magic bullshit was happening and having read a lot of novels, manga and watched anime about this it didn't leave him with much to guess about.
Just as he was about to try and memorise the rune patterns-
/BUZZZ… CRACK!/
All of the light bulbs in the ceiling suddenly broke at the same time, adding even more chaos to the already absurd situation.
/KYAAAAAA!/
An extremely loud and pitched scream went through the hall.
'My fucking ears! Urggg shit!'
One good thing about this however was that because of the screams and sudden darkness, everyone stopped what they were originally doing, noticing the green or currently multi-coloured runes on the hall.
Red, purple, blue, yellow,… Not only green.
The ones close to the girl were red whilst the ones close to Sekou were Yellow. A very Dark Yellow at that.
Maybe this meant something?
"It's just like playing one of those VR games…" One of the University students would say whilst touching the wall.
It was almost funny how before most people were afraid and yelling, kicking and pushing but now they were curious instead. Human nature is something else.
'Something is going on. I don't know what is going on. I don't know why this is going on but all I know is that I need to be careful.' He lacked information and that irked him to no end. Truly being clueless could drive someone insane sometimes.
/Quake… Stop…/
The trembling had stopped and now everyone was in a rather gorgeous room filled with those odd runes.
Mystical and pretty and in all honesty Sekou would be lying if he said that he wasn't excited but he needed to be cautious. Extremely cautious as he didn't know what was going on.
"?"
/Shake!/
He'd look and see two people shrugging at each other and tilt his head in confusion. They at least seemed calm. This was good.
/Shiiiii/
As if sand was falling to the ground the light of the runes started to "gather" in one point of the room, creating a multi-coloured prismatic ball.
"…"
'The more time passes the more I'm convinced this is magic. It just feels too real but I'm gonna be super embarrassed if it turns out to just be one giant prank.' Although his inner thoughts were like this his outwardly facial expression was calm and collected. Almost as if nothing here was bothering him.
/SWELL!/
The ball started to expand, slowly engulfing the room.
"S-SAVE ME!…"
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
/BAM!/
/PUSH!/
/Chaos…/
And once again when faced with the unknown humans did what they do best. They started to erratically panic and cause chaos. Because of course humans could never be calm and collected beings. Of course…. Immediately assuming that the ball was dangerous.
Sekou himself backed off and even though it wasn't evident on the outside he might have started to hyperventilate a bit. Could you blame him? Shining ball expanding in a room he was trapped inside?
It was a miracle he wasn't acting like the rest, probably his social anxiety saving him from such an embarrassing mess.
Taking a few deep breaths again he'd shake his head and look at the others.
This situation was worse than anything he had envisioned purely because of the other students and even some teachers who were constantly panicking which retroactively made even more people panic which made him panic.
"If only people were better than this. This is way too chaotic damnit!" Looking at the light he'd further back up making sure he kept a certain level of distance between himself and any other people.
If someone approached him he'd notice rather quickly because he had sort of isolated himself from the others. Not that it mattered much however.
/KICK!/
"N-NOO! AHHHH"
When there was almost little space left, someone was pushed into the ball.
"?!"
'Motherfuckers are already betraying each other. If that ball is harmful that could count as murder. What the actual fuck.'
Sekou's eyes would become even colder as he gazed at the people around him. "Trust"? Fuck no. Whatever happened Sekou was certain of a single thing. He'd be sure to move either alone or with entities he had full control over.
His wariness would just increase as the room to move became even smaller, refusing to end up like the guy who got pushed in.
The Geeks, the edgy Chunnibyo group and the outcasts were the only groups where people were "calm" as calm as you could be in such a situation.
Wait a second the Geeks and Chunnibyo's were fucking excited?? 'Bro there reaches a point. That could either be a death orb or a portal to some fantasy world-'
As he thought about this Sekou would turn his head towards the ball. 'Portal to a fantasy world? That would be fucking cool! What the hell? Why didn't I think of this before?! This could be '
Times like this you realise that the only reason Sekou doesn't associate with the Geeks is because of social anxiety and wanting to keep a public image. Other than that their interests align almost perfectly.
The young man would barely be able to calm himself down, slightly embarrassed by the way he had started acting the second the possibility of things being a portal had come through.
Nevertheless
While people began pushing each other the Outcasts locked their backs with one another protecting each other's backs not allowing anyone to push or kick them. Or at least that was their goal. 'Smart fuckers. If 90% of the people here I didn't see as incompetent I'd have already tried forming a group. Alas, all I can rely on is myself.'
Other than that Sekou noticed that several individuals were calm like him. Like the girl who had seen the runes or the guy who was previously near the bin.
"NOO!"
F in the chat for this poor sod.
'Making jokes like this is kinda messed up but when you realise that-'
Sekou's thought process stopped there as he turned around and elbowed someone in the stomach.
"Who the fuck are you trying to push?"
A dude shorter than Sekou about 5'6 in height would quickly scurry off without even saying a word as his attempt to push him would fail.
'Well then I'm lucky the guy left! I'd have been hoed if he prolonged this!'
As previously stated Sekou's body isn't exactly the best, he has poor stamina and slightly better strength. By no means was he a physical worker.
'People are on edge huh? Didn't even know the guy. I guess I need to pay more attention to my surroundings from now on.'
Not like it would matter.
/Proumm!/
"?!"
The ball stopped moving, making a strange sound.
'Well fuck. It seems something I probably won't like is about to happen.'
Fate liked to play funny tricks on people.
The ball flashed with light and…
Darkness.
…
/Echo Echo/
/Open…/
"A-Argh…"
A moment later, Sekou's eyes would open. Confused and maybe just a bit frightened at the ongoing situation. He'd blink a lot as his vision came back.
He'd start to look around and- amazement would overtake him.
A High ceiling decorated with beautiful mythical paintings.
High marble pillars filled with beautiful carvings depicting ancient creatures and beings.
The ground was so shiny that he could see the reflection of the ceiling perfectly. It shone more than the mirrors back home.
He was still disoriented and felt like he was sick and it would seem that everyone around him also felt the same way he did. Such a headache.
'I. Hate this.'
/Whispers…/
/Shua…/
A minute passed before he heard strange whispers and mutterings. Right after that a soothing feeling spread across his body and his headache and nausea were almost magically gone. Strange?
It didn't seem to be only him as everyone else seemed to also experience this.
/Thud…/
Everyone slowly started to get up. Pretty much having recovered or still recovering as they took a look around.
Sekou was one of the tallest people in the room being around 6'0 feet tall and slightly lanky (only a bit!) he wouldn't have much difficulty looking around as opposed to the shorter people here.
I almost feel bad for the Lolis here. Almost.
That aside it was time for him to pay attention to what was going on around him.
/Chatter…/
As Sekou looked around his gaze fell at the end of the Hall.
"*!@#&!@#)$@"
There was an old mage? No? Priest? The clothing didn't look like something a mage would wear but then again that was only by his standards.
Nevertheless, the old man looked like a twig and he was currently supporting himself with a strange metal cane with a massive gem in the middle of said cane.
The old man seemed to be chanting something in front of an altar.
/Puc puc puc/
With his chanting Sekou's ears seemed to pop for some reason outside of his knowledge.
Once the popping stopped the world became clearer.
"Cough Cough!…"
He turned around to see a man sitting on a magnificent throne.
"... I am getting too old for this, your majesty." The old priest said after a light cough.
His voice was seemingly raspy and weak just like his body, but no matter how much he trembled, he kept standing.
"Thank you once again for your help, High Priest Gulio. We will take it from here."
The man on the throne had a strong and masculine voice. He was tall and muscular, with deep red hair going all the way to his shoulders.
He had a set of beautiful pauldrons on his shoulders with a deep purple cape. No crown in sight tho.
"…"
'Majesty? So that guy the king I guess? Was that who old man Avis was warning us not to trust?' Sekou's thoughts were many yet his expression didn't reveal much.
"I am not a high priest anymore, old friend… Cough…"
"There seems to be quite a large amount of seedlings this time, so make sure to take good care of them. To think I would love to see this again. I don't need to say anything else, right?"
"…"
'I need to gather information. Every single grain of information I have can be vital.'
"HAHAHA! No need to tell me! The guards will escort you out. Be sure to stay for dinner though!"
"Ba! I can't eat this fancy… Cough!… Anymore… Rebifos…. I am far too old already."
"I will be home if you need me… Until we meet again."
With that said the priest left with two guards in purple armour escorting him.
"…"
Seeing this the king mumbled something with a small smile before getting up.
"WELCOME!"
/BOOM/
His voice boomed through the entirety of the hall so ridiculously loud that it almost pushed them all back. This was an almost inhuman display of power.
/Ring…/
'Motherfucker- my ears! Again my fucking ears! This damn-' If it wasn't for Sekou knowing better he'd have almost sworn at the king. Luckily he knew better.
Everyone in here knew better after all they all were transported to some unknown location. Although the Sekou, the Geeks and Chuunibyou were already inclined as to what exactly was happening.
"Hm… Do they understand me Lupio?" The man would ask as he turned and looked towards another man wearing an old-style purple tuxedo.
'Do they understand me Lupio? YES YES WE DO MOTHERFU- Ahem all I'm tryna say here is that there's no need to blast our ears. I'm gonna sue you if I retain permanent damage you know?' Sekou's thoughts were rather unfiltered yet he kept a perfect poker face as if nothing could bother him.
Anyways back to the man the king was speaking to.
His hair was deep blue and he had a long moustache. He had a very refined aura, looking like an absolute gentleman.
'To me, he just looks like a cuck- anyway. Why do they all have such brightly coloured hair? And purple armour for the knights? Really? They all tryna do a bit too much.' Sekou would think.
'That aside I'm pretty sure we got Isekaid? Isekai? What's the plural? Eh, who the hell cares? I think we all just went through that process in which case. Ahem. THEY JUST FUCKING KIDNAPPED US.' Whilst his thoughts kept on going in such a direction he'd look around making sure to memorise the faces he saw today. Especially the priest that isekaid them was his name Gulio?'
"I am sure they are, but I imagine they must be shocked by the travel." The man named Lupio said.
'Ya don't think? Hmm, I wonder why we are shocked? Oh maybe because you- ahem KIDNAPPED US?! JUST A SLIGHT SUSPICION YOU KNOW.' Sekou thought.
"Let's give them some time. It has been recorded many times that this period is where they're most… "volatile". Being taken away from home is quite the thing after all."
'So you know that you kidnapped us. You realise it's bad and you know it will get some of us extremely mad.' Sekou would think calmly.
'YET YOU STILL DO IT?!' Sekou would scream in his mind. His opinion of the king and Lupio-guy was only dropping the more time passed.
Lupio's voice resembled that of a well-trained butler. If that is anything to go by.
"… I understand. Let's skip formalities then."
/CLAP!/
Several beautiful maids carrying multiple things entered the throne room.
"The best way to make them comfortable is through food, right?"
"That's an excellent option, your majesty."
As that was said the maid went in their direction with a lot of trays of food, sweets and plain water.
'Giving us food before an explanation? Heh. You underestimate how erratic the 21st-century human can be.' Sekou would think.
And almost immediately his thoughts would be proven right.
/BANG!/
While most of the people here faltered in their presence one of the delinquents pushed the plate the maid was carrying to the ground, making her drop all of the stuff she was carrying.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS ALL OF THIS?! YOU BETTER EXPLAIN THIS SHITHOLE ELSE…"
'You must have forgotten… they have weapons, armour.. and we don't.'
/Fwoosh…/
A knight clad in red armour with a large spear appeared behind the poor guy. He was over two meters tall and wore red armour.
None of the students nor faculty members could track his movement…
This looked almost like teleportation.
"Else what?…" The knight asked.
'Rage baiting? Really? Damn. Guess the guards shouldn't be fucked with.'
The knight looked towards the delinquent.
The guy became scared but recomposed himself before throwing a punch in the knight's face.
'Damn! You either have courage or are a complete idiot, my guy. Fuck you think punching full metal armour is gonna do??'
/CLANG!… CRACK!/
"AHHHH!"
'Yeah, I don't know what you thought would happen.'
The knight didn't even move whilst the guy broke his fingers.
"I approve of your courage, young one, but I disapprove of your recklessness."
'That's kinda tough. Not gonna lie. Doesn't change the fact you're still one of our kidnappers tho.'
"Stay there and rethink your actions through the pain. The king's authority cannot be challenged. Normally you would be sentenced to death…"
He never even looked at the boy. So beneath he was of his attention.
"Stop. He is just a confused kid." The red-haired man that we now know as his majesty the King spoke as he raised his right hand to the knight.
/Clang!/
The knight immediately got on his knees saying:
"Understood!"
'Oh? Is this the carrot and the stick method? Or are they trying to manipulate our perception of the king so early on?'
'First make the knight humiliate one of us and then the king "kindly" stops him to show us he's benevolent or something?' Sekou might have some low-level paranoia. He might be overthinking this or maybe he was right.
'The core of the matter is that I will always question every move our kidnappers make. Whether good or bad.' In his mind he had made it clear that he didn't trust them nor would he for a long time if ever.
"Hm"
The king looked at them and said:
"It seems most of you have regained your clarity. I am immensely sorry for what just happened, I want to clear all of your worries but we need to take this slow."
"…"
'I won't be fooled. Regardless of what you say or how you say it. You are my kidnapper. This simple fact won't change and because of you for the first time in my life. I broke a promise to my sister.'
Perhaps that was what made Sekou truly mad. Even though his face showed none of this.
'Old man Vista gave a warning of not trusting those at the top and you are clearly at the very top of this kingdom.'
An invisible fury was born inside the young man's mind. Something that his body still didn't show. Almost as if it had a mind of its own or nearly as if it instinctively knew not to.
He'd look around at all of the confused faces of the people here and realise.
All of this.
The real struggles.
Their struggles had just begun.
________
End of Chapter 1