They surrounded the blonde-haired boy like fanged jackals. Five of them, to be exact. All forming a circle around him, ensuring their target would find no escape.
A large crowd of students encircled the wider area like enthusiastic spectators. Every time a duel was held, it meant an opportunity for those teenagers to escape mundane academics and witness a spectacle—even if it lasted for a brief, fleeting moment.
The boy, who had barely a month of life at this academy, tilted his head at them. His face was that of a confused, innocent child who didn't understand the situation.
For weeks, they'd bullied the blonde newcomer. Probably because of where he came from. You see, the boy was native to a humble village in the Karas region. This particular region was what you'd call a backwater area in its fullest essence—simple, peaceful yet rural life cut off from the noise and glamour of the outside world.
Elite or even professional sentinels never came around in regions like these, or so was the mainstream belief. After all, this was the land of peasants, as the entitled would say.
The torment had started small. Then it escalated as the long and exhausting days wore on. What began as tripping in hallways turned into outright stealing personal belongings. What started as juvenile insults escalated to false accusations.
But throughout this ordeal, the boy would simply ignore them in his own endearing way. The boy would sometimes even give them a playful smile, as if he'd misjudged them as companions simply pulling silly pranks on their supposed 'friend.'
This infuriated Gareth, the ringleader of the whole operation. The muscular jock's ego was hanging by a thread. He simply could not break the newcomer. Through every trial and error, his fury reached a crescendo.
Eventually, Gareth proposed a fair duel to be contested on the academy grounds. The blonde boy accepted rather quickly, much to the surprise of Gareth and the other onlooking students who viewed the confrontation in the academy hall with utmost curiosity. They all knew this was a trap—a malicious scheme to humiliate the new student and further massage the wounded ego of the popular senior.
Well, here we are...
Gareth moved forward from his pack. His knuckles cracked with excitement, his face twisted up with arrogance.
"Don't say I didn't warn you, you filthy peasant!" Gareth pointed his finger at the seemingly confused boy who stood in the middle.
"From the very first day, you act like you're some hotshot around here, trying to talk to everyone. 'Oh oh, will you be friends with me?' What an annoying wuss. Know your place here, you filthy bottom-dweller."
The cronies snickered with vile delight at the verbal assault from their "mighty leader."
"Yeah, like the boss says, this new guy's been bugging me ever since he came here."
"Go back to that dump where you came from, you worthless slave."
"Heard he even talks all goody-goody with the teachers. What a pathetic suck-up."
"I saw you trying to hit on my girl. I'll fry your ass, bastard."
One by one, they all chimed in with their own juvenile verbal assaults.
The blonde boy looked toward all of them, his bright red eyes scanning, trying to comprehend the situation.
"Um, I don't know why you guys are so mad. Oh, I know! Do you wanna watch some movies with me in your free time? I have all the classics. Hehe."
Some of the spectators facepalmed. Others rubbed their eyes and ears, second-guessing what they'd actually heard. Laughter echoed from another section of students viewing this "fair duel."
"Shut up! Read the room, you stupid peasant!" Gareth hardly found that reply humorous. His face had turned crimson with rage, as if the seemingly innocent boy had baited the jock on purpose.
"That's it. Playtime's over, bastard. I'll end you!"
Gareth advanced forward with frightening speed, as if he'd become an unstable freight train. His bulky arm contorted, his fist cocked to deliver a devastating punch that could pulverize the shorter and much leaner opponent.
A bright orange aura engulfed Gareth's fist momentarily like a short boost. It was clear as the blue sky that the bully was going to use whatever tricks he had up his sleeve for this encounter—even going as far as using resonance in an unsanctioned duel on academy grounds.
"No way, is he really gonna use freakin' resonance here?"
"Damn, this rich son of a gun is really going too far now."
"The kid from Karas is finished now. Too bad, I kinda liked him."
"Somebody call the teachers!"
The spectators watched with mixed emotions—panic and hysteria. Some even sprinted away to locate a nearby teacher.
The blonde boy looked at the charge and at the glowing fist reaching toward his face. The air seemed to ripple with faint vibrations around the resonance-enhanced fist. Yet the boy's red eyes were utterly unreadable, devoid of any emotion or expression.
He simply extended his right leg upward.
In a split second, Gareth's angry features connected face-first into the devastating yet simple front kick. The sound was like a gunshot. The students who'd been viewing this supposed spectacle in bedlam fell into dead silence. Some pupils covered their mouths with trembling hands, as if they were witnessing horror in real life.
The muscular upperclassman was sent flying a considerable distance. The cronies stood frozen as their leader went crashing to the ground, his face bloodied with teeth scattered around him. The glow from his fist faded out promptly.
Gareth lay unconscious, desperately in need of medical attention.
His buddies looked at each other, then at their "target." The blonde, usually cheerful boy was standing in his designated position as if nothing substantial had happened. His red eyes met theirs with utter neutrality, showing nothing yet telling everything.
Maybe it was the panic and horror creeping into them internally, but the boys were no longer seeing a student. Those red, undecipherable eyes were not the eyes of the same goofy, kind-hearted fellow they'd complicitly bullied throughout the month. No—it was something much darker. Demonic, even.
The blonde boy didn't utter a single word, yet the cronies ran like frightened prey, even leaving their precious "leader" behind. The fear consumed them fully.
The students who'd spectated this incident dispersed one after another, all in dead silence. A teacher bolted to the scene with a nurse as they tended to Gareth, who seemed in rough yet fortunate condition despite the circumstances.
They took the injured boy away, the teacher giving a cold yet furious glance at the blonde boy who stood calm in the same spot where he'd been lured.
Through the sea of students, one girl gazed at the boy. Her eyes were silver like jewelry, her long, black voluptuous hair moving in the wind. Pale, snow-white features completed the look of Pamela, who looked at the blonde student from Karas with visible interest.
It would appear I have found the missing piece of the puzzle. I shan't wait much longer. His power would be greatly needed if we were to even stand a chance at the upcoming tournament.