ARY! WAIT!"
"No."
"IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE! I SWEAR!"
"I know, you must abide by the rules of the family, don't worry…"
What the fuck was going on this early in the morning?
Drama.
But is it really like this girl put it up to be?
I mean, sure blood is basically your resume for in-laws, but being in this school means we're at most 16… isn't a little too early to think about this stuff?
My guess is she caught the man cheating and is either deluding herself or giving the bastard some face.
"You, commoner. Stop looking."
OHHHH THE STREAK CONTINUES!!!
I pointed at my mask and faked a cough.
"Sorry sir. COFF COFF… I'm feeling unwell, not looking at you, just spacing out…"
Yeah, sure. Who would believe such bullshit?
"Fine, just leave."
It seemed my sickly play was the real deal! Well, I sure as hell didn't want to mingle with this guy. Calling him sir might have literally saved my ass inflating his ego, and clearly the girl didn't by my bullshit.
Fair enough.
However when I started walking with my power-saving pace, she too seemed a little more convinced.
Feeling satisfied with my act, I continued my way to class and mentally prepared for whatever theoretical mental gymnastics I would face off today.
I'm probably the only student in this entire establishment that didn't have a singular physical course.
Not because I didn't like them, I just couldn't afford the aftermath of swordsmanship 101, physical conditioning and whatever else was out there.
Either way, I was not going to fight shit, and if I was, they'd better prepare a comfy casket for these shabby bones.
What where my treacherous subjects?
Nothing much, just:
•advanced runic studies
•analysis of relics
•law
•mana studies
And my absolute favourite: •botany
Why botany? But of course! To work on my own government issues and managed farm!
Oh the bliss of not starving…
Either way, the lessons went on without a hiccup. Or so I would like to say.
"Mr. Crow witch and how many runes are necessary to create the spell [chain lightning]?"
Is this a stupid question?
"Which path did the user chose?"
…
What? This is a normal issue! Only those from the path of Storm can use lighting magic, but even that path has 3 sub-paths! And each path has a different need for runes!
The teacher however seemed deep into thought.
"The main, path of Storm."
"Oh, then just 3 runes: rebound, delay, diffuse."
"And why is that so?"
Is this guy for real? Why the fuck is everyone else looking at me like I'm some kind of prophet?
"Well… their mana is… inherently…"
I was getting tired.
I was not used to talk this much, and even if I longed for human interaction, it seemed my heart was weak, very weak.
"Electric…"
"Hahahahahaha!!! Well said mister Crow! As all of you, should have already known, each of the 12 main paths has inherent mana, a huge boon in spell crafting and martial techniques!"
I was beginning to get distressed, sure everyone should know these things, but I only knew because I basically studied the entire library, not because these teachers said shit to us.
The rest of the classes went similarly: teachers asking me questions out of the blue, questions that I should not be able to answer based only on their teachings, yet I could.
At the end of the day, my throat felt so sore, the water tank in the library was asking me to have mercy.
Even the free service of cup noodles from the cafeteria couldn't help sooth my ache.
But at least the day was over.
What a strange day…
It felt like suddenly, a veil that had covered me from the day I left the orphanage was lifted and people begin to notice my existence. To the point I even started doubting if they really just had ignored me before or simply couldn't see me.
"Hey, commoner."
What the fuck is going on today? I can't catch a break!
I turned around with the measly amount of energy I had left from this stupidly hard day. I hadn't noticed until now how being ignored really saved me important energies.
Right in front of me, lo and behold, the cheating or righteous young master was there watching me with a strange look.
"Sir?"
"Name."
Are you taking my order you brat? Are we at a coffee shop?
"Crow… sir…"
"What a fucking stupid name."
The hell?!?! Is that so?
Well then, let this humble servant of the world government guilt you into desperation.
"Haha… I know sir… it was given to me by the priest at St. Rocknarg orphanage, the priest said there were 3 crows picking at me when I was abandoned on their front door with nothing on myself."
There. And I ain't even lying this time! Okay, just a little bit…
It's true that there were 3 crows on me when I was abandoned at the orphanage, but the were dead. In my hands. And their blood smeared in my mouth.
So the name is a reminder of my first challenge.
However the young master, with all his horrified look and visibly paler complexion didn't need to know.
"Follow me Crow… I'll buy you dinner."
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTT?!?!?!?!
Ohhh such piety, such benevolence!!! Truly a noble in the real sense of the word.
Tears were starting to well in my eyes and I immediately bowed down.
"Thank you young master! You just made this the best birthday eve of my life!!!"
We went to a restaurant, a real restaurant and I was ready to swear loyalty to the young god to be in front of me.
Of course, even if we were in a restaurant, I couldn't exactly chow down steak and the likes, but I was able to eat delicious meaty soup and fresh bread!
FRESH! IN THE EVENING!!
"How tall are you?"
Uh?
"6'7", young master…"
"I thought you were a giant… that's a little too much for someone turning 16 isn't it? Will you choose the path of war?"
"I'm… you are right young master, but I will be turning 17."
"Eh?!"
That got a strange reaction…
"What time is it? 9.30 p.m.? Fine we have time."
"Young master?"
"Aaron, call me Aaron, and Crow?"
"Yes?"
"I was not cheating on that girl, she was the one my family chose for me."
"Wha… I never…"
"Don't worry, it's bound to happen if you know my family."
He then proceeded to take out a box from his pocket and put it right in front of me.
"Mine, is the family of Disorder. But I'm leaving them to look for my brother. That girl just wanted these treasures for her link to the system."
He opened the box and I immediately recognised those treasures.
"Happy Birthday Crow."