Gravel stared at the hard wall in front of him
Cough! Cough!
He coughed up blood, leaning on the wall his breath turning ragged
Detention, that was the place he was in currently, this place was special, In a way that prevents death, no one could willingly take their own life in detention, It was essentially a law, a law that prevented one's escape of punishment
Gravel did not know much about detention and what exact consequences they entail, but now he knew firsthand how painful it was
"I can't believe it...I thought I would just get a slap on the wrist"
It was a reasonable assumption, after all how could someone make detention deadly?
But he was wrong, completely wrong at that
"Ha Ha"
Blood trickled from his mouth
He thought back to the reason he was here
"Accursed filthy monster"
Gravel had been tricked by a monster, a colorless one at that
"It did everything to make me not notice...Cough!"
A mouthful of blood forced its way out of Gravel's mouth
Gravel didn't know much of Gardenia, however he did know that the colorless monsters were the weakest as said by the teachers
Their abilities were also usually mental related and did not affect the physical world, the monster that had tricked Gravel was likely sensory oriented
"He sensed my attacks after all"
The monster was capable of dodging attacks it shouldn't have been able to dodge unless he had eyes on the back of his head
'But what did it just do?'
Gravel turned his attention to the wall where the loud banging sounds were heard not long ago
It had been 5 days since they were both sent to detention
"It obviously got punished as well, but what was that bastard's punishment that made it act like this?"
The monster in the room next to Gravel repeatedly banged on the wall
"No, was it really the wall?"
The banging sounds that were heard were close to the window
"Did it try to break the window?"
Gravel hadn't thought of that, after all, why would you want to break the window? what would you do after breaking the window? there was only an endless void below so what would compel one to break the window?
'It stopped banging on the window... does that mean it gave up on trying to break the glass?'
He didn't know what had conspired on the other side and he didn't feel the need to find out, even if he wanted to find out he wouldn't be able to since there was no way for him to know anyway
"Haaah why do they make me wait for that long just because I was killing a monster? Wasn't I basically doing them a favor by getting rid of those pests?"
Gravel had a strong ability, and that ability was the power of short-range teleportation, he could do long range but it was quite difficult to pull off even for him
Gravel was also strong, so physically strong that he was basically a superhuman, this was also due to the effects of his abilities
It took a long time for him to get accustomed to his abilities but it wasn't much of a problem once he learned his limits and how to accurately use his ability to teleport with pinpoint accuracy
Cough!
Gravel coughed up even more blood than before and fell down to his knees
"Hah...hooo"
He exhaled and then took deep breaths
"Kugh!"
His lungs burned with a profound intensity
This burning sensation Gravel felt extended to every fiber in his body, it was a unique sensation, something no one could artificially replicate
"How..Cough! Annoying...."
It felt painful but as long Gravel didn't move much he wouldn't feel the searing pain that seeped itself into every crevice of his body
"Out of..every punishment I could've gotten...Ha...I got the worst..one"
All of his strength was drained and he was barely staying conscious, the burning sensation he felt now was nothing compared when he first got here
At first he was able to sleep soundly with no problem, but the pain quickly intensified and made sleeping unbearable
The pain was stacking and Gravel could no longer stay awake and bear with this searing pain he felt in every pore of his body
Tok
He laid on the ground and closed his tired eyes, trying his best in the meantime to bear with the pain shooting needles at him, however his efforts ended in vain
With pain becoming even more sharper than before, it also dug deeper into Gravel's mind, making sure he doesn't forget the pain he feels now
***
"Ugh..."
Gravel woke up, he got up and-
"Agh!"
He felt a piercing pain shoot up and surge wildly within him, it was intense, It felt as if hot coal was poured on him
Struggling to get up, he grasped the desk next to him and balanced himself before sitting on the chair
"I-I need a slight break"
Gravel did not know how many days had passed since he fell asleep, his eyes remained unfocused, threatening to fall unconscious once again
The monster on the other side was still quiet, eerily quiet so
"Hua...just what the hell is it doing?"
He thought at first that it might have already gotten out but he quickly dismissed the idea since there was no way to confirm if that was true or not
Gravel looked at the hard wall for a few moments, then he turned his attention towards the lectern
"..."
On that lectern was a piece of paper, it kept track of how long someone stayed in detention
The paper was deeply embedded into the lectern, making it hard to see it unless you specifically go up to it
'However, those who break the 3rd rule can not check the time, after all it is a more severe punishment'
Gravel remembered the words that Carlos had spoken to him
'Hm? the 4th rule? if someone breaks the 4th rule, the least of their worries is detention'
Carlos had given him a lot of useful information, so much so it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say Gravel's brain overloaded with the sheer information drilled into him
"Hooo"
Taking a deep breath, Gravel started counting from 3
'3'
His fingers drummed on the desk, he still felt the pain but it was a habit of his to do this
'2'
Gripping the edges of the desk he got ready to sprint to the lectern to minimize the pain he was about to feel
'1'
He raised his buttocks slightly from the seat, a burning sensation enveloped his entire being, he clenched his jaw tightly, so tightly he started grinding his own teeth together
'Go!'
He shot up from his seat and bolted to the lectern, he couldn't teleport due to abilities being restricted in this space
"Nnn!"
Gravel's eyes widened in pain, he screeched, barely holding his scream in
Gripping the desk closest to him, he started to slowly make his way to the lectern
Step
He took a step forward, his entire body screamed and convulsed erratically at the pain he felt
Drip
Blood..?
From his mouth a drop of blood fell to the floor, it didn't seem significant at first but-
"Urgh!"
Gravel clenched his stomach, it rumbled and churned as if something was eating it from inside, Gravel felt vomit welling up in his mouth
"Ug!"
Gravel leaned forward and started vomiting everything that was inside of him
But it wasn't vomit that came out
"O-Oh that's not goo-Cough!"
He violently coughed up blood, the blood was added to the giant puddle of blood that was vomited out
Gravel felt dizzy, his vision swirled, his breathing turned heavy, but that was only for a few moments
"Hup!"
Knowing he wouldn't die in detention, Gravel stood up and-
Step!
Took a step forward toward the lectern
there wasn't any reason for him to be doing this, but Gravel knew that not knowing how much time remained would keep on gnawing at him and eventually turn him crazy
It was better to check now than later when the pain would only be more unbearable than before
Step!
He was only a few steps from reaching the lectern, his shoes were soaked in his blood
Cough!
He violently started to cough up blood again, Gravel almost fell face down to the wooden floor due to the sudden cough
His head was spinning and his lungs grew heavier and heavier with each passing second that passed
Gravel couldn't drag this anymore, he had to reach the lectern In the next step, however he was currently disoriented, weak and already drained of strength
'Just how long did I fall asleep for, the pain is getting more and more unbearable by the second'
Taking a deep breath that made his lungs burn with even more intensity
"Huap-!"
Gravel took a leap of faith, In a instant his legs had already crossed the lectern, he didn't miss the opportunity and grabbed the lectern firmly with his hands
Cough! Cough!
Coughing up blood again, Gravel steadied his breathing as much as he could and his bloodshot eyes locked at the blood soaked paper that was caused by him
Almost the entire paper was stained with blood, but the most important contents of the deeply embedded paper still remained untouched and readable
[Time Remaining]
Gravel's eyes then widened in astonishment
[00:03]
Three seconds was all that remained
[00:02]
"I fell into a coma for"
[00:01]
"An entire month?"
Even he couldn't believe it, falling unconscious he could understand happening to him, but falling into a coma for a entire month?
Obviously Gravel's punishment was permanent, It would always be engraved into him like a curse
But Gravel already knew that this curse was going to function slightly differently from how it worked in detention
He didn't know how, as anyone who gets sent to detention gets a punishment fitting for their ability
[00:00]
'I guess I'll find out'
Gravel then disappeared, as if he had never even been in the classroom in the first place
The room turned quiet
Tick
The only thing that was heard in the now empty classroom was a soft rhythmic ticking coming from a clock
The clock ticked closer and closer to the inevitable day that was the semester's practical exam