"H-hey Hans, was that really Cale?"
a friend of Hans asked him, his voice quaked with fear and his body visibly trembling.
Hans was in turmoil, Cale had pushed him off the stairs, however he somehow had survived by grabbing onto the railing but what was most puzzling was undoubtedly Cale's sudden disappearance.
Cale had turned a corner and was then gone, almost as if he had never been there and they were hallucinating the entire thing.
"I don't know damn it..."
Hans started tapping on the floor, anxious about the unnatural disappearance of Cale.
Hans had told Bringam the Vice principal about what happened, but it ended too crudely.
This was because there was no visible injury on the supposed victim, making it seem like he was kicking up drama for no reason. Not only that, 'he had a rock solid alibi'
Bringam went to Catrina and asked her where Cale had been yesterday to confirm his words.
Catrina had stayed silent, confused about the situation but then she quickly answered Bringam's question and said 'Cale was with me the moment the bell rang' with no hesitation in her voice.
Of course she could have just covered for her friend so they went and asked Cale's classmates and other students about his whereabouts.
All of them said they hadn't seen him and that he had been with Catrina or they hadn't seen him at all.
Hans along with his friend sitting beside a tree started wondering If what they saw was real and whether or not they were of sound mind.
"...?"
Hans caught the sight of someone leaving the basketball court, right now it was recess and Hans group hadn't arrived yet which was why they were sitting at their usual meeting spot. No one usually went to their meeting spot as it was in a corner.
'Cale?'
Hans saw Cale walking towards them
'Why is he coming here?'
step
"Ha Ha"
The closer Cale got, the more ragged his breathing became, his entire body felt heavier, his limps turned slightly numb.
he looked to his right and saw his friend not faring any better than him.
step
soft steps started digging into their ears.
"Hm?"
Cale looked at them and a soft smile appeared on his face.
"what's up with you two? I'm just here to refill my bottle"
he waved the empty bottle in his hand.
Hans may have not felt it before, but now he felt it with certainty
'something's up with him...'
he looked paler in contrast to the scorching sun
Cale then looked at them, almost as if he wanted them to feel the difference from before and now.
Hans stared at Cale's eyes that resembled the abyss.
something was swirling. Something alive, yet dead was swirling In Cale's eyes.
Hans felt fear, he felt as if he garnered the attention of something he shouldn't have and that he was getting second checked to make sure he doesn't fall out of line.
He gulped down his saliva, all of sudden it got harder to breathe as Cale kept staring at him
The strange swirling in his eyes dissipated and returned to normal
"hey~ you look as if you've seen a ghost, relax~"
Hans's body started to tense. Cale filled his bottle with water and started walking away as if he had done what he needed to do.
***
"..."
I was deathly silent.
Carlos stood in front of me as he uttered a fourth rule which he didn't elaborate more on.
'is the fourth rule targeting abilities that require to be activated manually?'
To be more precise, Cale meant abilities that required conscious effort in order to be activated. Unlike his ability which was passive and didn't actually affect anyone physically.
[well, that should answer all of your questions... also, you over there. When will you stop hiding? it's not manners to stalk someone you know?]
[!!!]
The person following me was startled, I finally look back and see the Sludge.
"..."
'Is that?'
a small mushroom protruded from its temple.
It fidgeted quietly, unable to meet my gaze, as if ashamed.
[oh? someone gifted and cursed by nature I see? that is quite rare]
Carlos looked at the Sludge
[Being that timid, It's quite surprising that you didn't become an 'Echo']
Another unfamiliar term suddenly appeared.
'echo? what's that supposed to mean?'
[So you are?]
[F-Fiend...]
Fiend said in a subdued voice.
he then started Inching closer to me
'Is he that guy from yesterday?'
I felt somewhat relieved but I also stayed vigilant as I remembered anything could happen.
[Is he your friend, Cale?]
"..."
'guess he did remember me'
I nodded. I felt a certain unease creep onto me when I claimed that I was his friend.
'Well whatever let's not pay too much attention to it'
[Well, my job here is done. I'll see you both next time, Come to me if you need anything else]
Carlos turned around, he looked outside for a few moments before walking and starting his patrol once again.
I look back and see Fiend somewhat keeping his distance and what looked to be his head lowered.
[I-I only found and followed you this hour]
he voice stuttered to get the words out of his mouth, his legs trembled occasionally, only slightly though.
"..."
[Ah, yeah you can't talk]
A faint rustling was heard as Fiend started rummaging through his pockets
"..?"
'A pen? and a paper?'
Fiend held it out to me anticipatingly waiting for me to take it.
'he's more thoughtful than I thought?'
I took the pen and paper from his hands....'wait, was this why I never saw him again after yesterday?'
I stared at Fiend for a few moments.
Trrrr~
Trrrr~
a familiar bell rang out
[It's already that time]
His lips lowered along with his head which drooped.
"..."
I went to the wall and started writing quickly on it before the gentle darkness started consuming my surroundings.
[what are you...?']
I ignored his question and just focused on writing on the paper.
'done'
I turned around and showed him what I wrote. The paper hit the gentle breeze as it revealed the contents of what was written.
[Meet me again next time]
Fiend's eyes were filled with life and vigorously nodded his head.
Cale closed his eyes, waiting to come back. He opened them again to see himself In a familiar classroom, he was sitting at the middle far end this time.
'I know what to do now'
I needed practice, training and reflexes. There was clearly no way I could survive like this with my current physical abilities, even more so when I can't activate my abilities and can only use its passive ability of detecting danger.
Of course It didn't mean that I should get all buff thinking It would help me greatly. It would be the opposite since I would not be focused on fighting, only running away.
'I already experienced their damn strength and speed firsthand, I don't want to get toyed with again'
I needed to learn techniques centered on running away. Agility and dexterity were going to be Important for that.
'But the most important thing that I will have to focus on has to be...'
Flexibility. Agility and dexterity were the prerequisites for learning this type of technique, but without flexibility I would not be capable to do it smoothly and fast enough to escape.
great reflexes would help with this, but there wasn't any good way to make them better.
'I'll just have to make do'
Flexibility however also had its problems. It took too much time to get results, there were only four months left till the first practical exam
"It should be fine If I do it every day..."
I muttered under my breath, no one hearing me and only paying attention to the physics teacher.
***
"..."
[...]
Both me and Fiend stared at each other as we sat next to each other on a bench In the Cafeteria.
I kept my distance slightly and I observed Fiend.
'I'm not trusting him that easily'
He might be my friend now but, I feared he might not stay that way for a long time.
It was a reasonable fear, just meeting him was dangerous enough for me.
[So...why did you want to meet me?] Fiend said avoiding my gaze.
I took out the paper and pen he had given me, then I checked Into one of my pockets to see if the Dwon was still there.
'It's still here?'
I had changed clothes from yesterday but the Dwon was still there, albeit In a different pocket than before. I didn't dwell much on it and just thought it was a nice, surprising fact.
Bringing the paper to my thighs I started writing while organizing the information I had gotten from my slight dive into the internet after searching through my phone.
before I came back to Gardenia, I had asked the physics teacher if I can go to the restroom, he had said it's ok. But I didn't want to go to the restroom so I can do my business, I had done it so I can search the meaning of the unfamiliar terms Carlos had spouted.
[Echo]
[-a repetition or imitation of sound-]
the rest of the paragraph didn't have anything important so I skimmed through it.
I scrolled trying to see If I can find a different meaning, but nothing caught my eye as they were all the same.
'what could it possible mean?'
I couldn't wrap my head around it no matter how hard I had tried to make sense of it.
'I should've just asked....'
I hesitated for no reason whatsoever, I kept on calling myself stupid before finally going onto the next unfamiliar term which was so generously Dumped on me by my teacher.
but the results had been devastatingly disappointing, Which weren't even worth mentioning.
[What did you write?]
I showed him what I wrote on the paper, he stayed silent. Slowly, his eyes widened
[Y-You need my help?]
Fiend stared at Cale as If he had said a word he had never heard In his life coming from someone's voice