Disgust
Contempt
Nausea
All these emotions of repulsion flowed through Elior.
Yet—
The emotion which clawed at Elior's heart was—
Hatred.
Not the hate towards Kain, but the hate towards himself.
The writer and author: Liam.
'I would not care for them because they don't exist to me.'
Yet—
'Why does it hurt so much?'
Elior thought to himself as tears streamed down his cheeks.
'Is this emotion because of Liam or Elior?'
Staring at Kain's demonic crest on his hand, the wave of emotions intensified.
'It hurts.'
'It hurts so much.'
Elior tried dismissing this wave, but it just came rushing in, making it hard for Elior to focus.
"Mmmh…"
A strange sound escaped from Kain's lips, startling Elior.
Ignoring all the pain Elior felt in his heart, Elior moved swiftly, focusing on the task at hand.
'Can't leave him here.'
Carrying Kain on his back, Elior moved towards his dorm room.
As Elior carried Kain, his footsteps halted as a guard stopped him.
'Gotta put on a show.'
"Good day, sir."
"Good day."
"What happened to him?"
The guard asked as he pointed at Kain.
"Oh, him?"
"We went for a little spar, and I kinda knocked him out."
Elior said with a smile on his face.
"..."
The silence stretched, lingering for a moment which made Elior nervous.
"You can go. Ain't our first time dealing with such issues."
As Elior walked past the guard, the guard stopped him.
"Can I get your name?"
Elior stared right back at him.
"Elior Vayne. You?"
"Kito Hendrick."
"Good night, sir."
As Elior walked into the darkness, a smirk appeared on Kito's face as he spoke calmly.
"Intriguing."
Elior moved swiftly towards his room.
Entering his room, Elior tied Kain to a chair as he replaced Kain's clothes with his own before taking him to his dorm room.
'Sorry, Kain.'
Elior thought to himself as he laid Kain on his bed.
Returning back to his room, Elior exited the building through the window.
By doing so, Elior left for the training grounds.
As Elior walked the streets of Astralis Academy, Elior's brain rattled.
'I am the reason for this.'
That thought clawed at his chest.
'Can I fix this? Is it even possible?'
Flashes of the demonic crest on Kain's hand churned Elior's stomach, and these did not stop as his day went on.
The constant thought of Kain clawed at Elior's soul. This did not only affect his day but also his night time.
The nightmares kept Elior from sleeping as he spent most nights lying on the roof, staring at the night sky.
By getting no sleep at night, this heavily impacted Elior's daily activities.
His grades slipped, and his overall performance even dropped, prompting teachers to take immediate action.
Dark circles clouded his eyes, revealing his current lifestyle, not that Elior bothered even trying to hide them.
Even people that had noticed him could feel the constant negativity around Elior whenever he associated with them.
"Are you okay, Elior?"
A recurring question asked by Seris and Aria.
'What a drag.'
Putting on a smile, Elior's reply was rather simple.
"I am fine."
Despite not being fine, they did notice.
Staggering to the library, Elior buried his head into books, a prompt decision he made to avoid all forms of interaction.
"Why do you look so tired?"
A simple voice echoed in Elior's ear as he looked up.
It was Seren.
Staring at her with his cold, dead eyes, Elior smiled.
"I am fine, just a little tired."
"Okay."
Silence stretched between both figures.
Dragging a chair, Seren sat calmly beside Elior, giving him quite a scare.
It was something he had not accounted for, that's all.
Raising her hand, Seren calmly touched Elior's head
"What are you doing?"
Elior asked as his face burned up. That was very unexpected.
"Calm down, just checking your temperature."
Elior calmed down after that, letting her do her job.
Staring at her black hair and emerald eyes, comfort soothed Elior's heart.
Removing her hand from his forehead, Seren looked at Elior.
"You are burning up."
"You don't say."
Elior said with a chuckle.
"It is not funny."
"It is, honestly."
Seren sighed at his remark.
"Why don't you get some rest, Elior?"
Turning his gaze to meet hers, Elior answered calmly.
"I do rest, Seren."
"Your face says otherwise."
Seren retorted.
"You cannot blame me."
"......"
Silence stretched between both of them.
"Maybe."
"I don't know exactly what you are going through."
'Tell me something I don't know.'
Elior thought intrusively.
"But you need to rest if you want to achieve your goals."
"Am I right?"
Letting Seren's words sink in, Elior knew she was right.
A proper rest would allow his body to recover.
"You are right."
Resting his head on the table, sleep slowly crept in.
And in a flash, Elior was asleep.
Despite the pressure and responsibility lingering over his head, this was the first time Elior had actually been at peace.
Staring at his sleeping face, Seren felt at ease.
"He looks so peaceful."
Standing up, Seren exited the library, allowing Elior to rest.
"Wake up."
"Let me sleep."
"Sorry, but go to the dorm room for that gentleman."
Hearing the voice, Elior jolted up.
Staring at the empty surroundings, Elior's sight began to settle in.
"Young man."
Shifting his gaze to the right, Elior saw a woman who stood there as she smiled calmly at him.
She was the librarian.
"Am sorry, do you know what the time is?"
Elior asked.
"My dear, it is eight p.m."
Rubbing his temples, Elior groaned before leaving the library.
Walking away, Elior scoffed at his current predicament.
"Can't believe I overslept."
"Guess I was really tired."
A smile swept on Elior's face.
"I got to thank her."
"Still helped despite acting otherwise, Seren."
Elior walked back to his dorm.
Reaching his room, Elior felt rejuvenated, so the thought of sleep did not flash into his mind.
Once again, at ten-thirty p.m., Elior scouted the three students.
Noticing Kain going again today stirred Elior's heart, but there was nothing he could do about it.
There was just so much he could save.
All he could do was bear it as his own. Some may call that taking the easy way out, but there was no other viable option to him.
Chim
The system blurred in front of his face.
[TASK: SAVE THE WORLD]
"Yeah."
"I understand."
"I will save this world."
With no urgency, Elior did not follow them, at least not anymore.
The best decision was to infiltrate there as Kain himself.
A risky gamble, and with no one to aid him, the odds were stacked against him, which was quite perfect for him.
First, he needed to understand Kain.
For the next week, Elior just studied Kain.
From his posture to his eating to his walking to his conversational skills.
All behavioral patterns were being documented in Elior's mind.
Elior made sure not to leave a single detail outside.
He did not want to be caught on something, as he had no plan of coming out of there if he was caught.
Elior had no way of masking himself as Kain. He just hoped for the chance of them being asked to remove their hoods.
The only option now was getting money.
Elior knew about the black market, but the item he needed to get was worth one hundred gold coins.
"Why does it have to be that expensive?"
Elior said with disdain.
Having only 20 gold coins, with it being a reward from unmasking Kain from the system.
"I have to deal with the issue of money now."
"The problems just keep piling up."
The option of asking Lyra settled into Elior's thoughts, but he dismissed it as it came.
Knowing Lyra, she was going to barrage him with questions.
Questions he had no chance of answering without putting himself at risk.
Another thought came.
A betting system.
But one thought arrived as well:
Who would be the prey to accept this?
Anyone who did would be as diabolical as him.
As Elior thought, a wide grin came across his face.
"I know the person who would foot the bill."
Elior giggled as he dwelled on it, which even made people feel disgusted around him.
"Who is that weirdo? I don't want to be like him."
The voices echoed, snapping Elior back into consciousness.
All Elior just needed to do was wait for the right time.
'I know who I need to see for the right job.'
Knock.
The sound echoed across the hallway.
Mistress Arwen sat behind her desk; her attention fixed on the battles unfolding within a magic orb before her.
The faint glow of the orb illuminated her features as she watched in silence.
Her unwavering gaze and composed demeanor gave her an almost mesmerizing beauty, one that could captivate even those who merely caught sight of her from afar.
Knock.
Ignored.
Knock.
She kept on with her work.
Knock.
The knock began to tick her off.
Knock.
She became rattled.
Knock.
"Get the hell out of my sight!"
"It's me, Mistress Arwen."
"We scheduled a meeting."
"Who are you?"
"Elior Vayne."
"...."
Silence stretched from both ends.
"Come in."
Elior walked in.
Holding a box of food in his hand, it caught the attention of Mistress Arwen.
"When you asked for a meet, I wasn't expecting this."
"I can only make do with what I have."
Elior said with a shrug.
Sitting right across from Mistress Arwen, Elior placed the dish in front of her.
In front of them was a simple dish. It looked quite good, and the aroma did nothing but give it justice.
"Did you cook this?"
"Yes, I did."
"You just keep on surprising me, Elior Vayne."
"Glad I never disappoint."
Both munched on it, eating calmly as time went by in utter silence before Mistress Arwen spoke up.
"So why did you decide to meet up with me?"
"Let's eat first. I prepared this for you."
Miso soup.
Miso soup is a Japanese soup made from savory dashi broth and fermented miso paste, often served with tofu, seaweed, and green onions.
It also happened to be a favorite delicacy of Mistress Arwen.
Impressed by Elior's cooking skills, Elior reached for his bag.
"?"
Sliding a document towards her, Mistress Arwen's face soured.
"I knew it."
Staring at the document before her, Mistress Arwen studied the contract.
The drive to read it kept her at the edge of her seat.
"Please read."
Mistress Arwen ran through the document, viewing its contents.
Reading through the contract, Mistress Arwen stared blankly at Elior.
"You've got to be kidding me."
"What?"
"Everything is wrong with this deal."
Arwen shouted, her voice raging across the office.
"Why should I agree to this deal?"
Elior replied quite calmly.
"Beneficial for both of us, don't you think?"
"Let me be clear. You wanted me to pair these students to fight against themselves."
"And you get to make bets with other students in order to make some money."
"I know you are intrigued by this."
Elior retorted with a sly smirk.
'Yeah, I am itching to find out.'
"I know you are very intrigued."
"So, why don't you agree to it and let us not drag the meeting on?"
Elior stared at Arwen, but his heart raced, as did his mind.
'Just accept it, dammit.'
Mistress Arwen just stared into the document.
'Intriguing.'
'Risky.'
'That makes it rather interesting.'
"I really hope I don't regret this. I'm a teacher."
"You won't, I assure you."
"If so, I agree."
Quite expected.
Mistress Arwen had an unusual fascination with fights, and that was the reason she got the name—
The Mad Dog.
She was considered weird even among her peers.
Interrupting his thoughts, Arwen spoke up.
"Don't expect it for free. You understand the gravity of the situation."
"I understand, ma."
Elior smiled as they both ate in peace.