Alex sat quietly amidst the stares of gazes from everyone who did not shy away from sizing him up. He had chosen the middle seat beside the window. He could have sat at the front row, but that would have drawn the attention of every professor and invited more trouble than he already had on his plate.
Lara and Thalia had also taken their seats, settling themselves at the front row beside each other. They did not shy away from sitting at the front, and Lara was stealing glances at him every few seconds while keeping up a lively one-sided conversation with Thalia, who responded only with slow, occasional nods of her head.
Not wanting to meet Lara's eyes that turned toward him every few seconds, Alex shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He had the distinct feeling that the girl had taken it upon herself to babysit him, for reasons he did not know and did not appreciate in the slightest. Feeling the unease settle over him, he turned his head toward the window and began gazing at the familiar blue sky as the sun slowly made its way to the centre. In front of him lay a ground that was empty and bare, with not a single person in sight, and in the far distance, enormous walls enclosed the academy, making it nearly impossible to see what lay beyond them.
Suddenly he heard the sharp licking of boots against the floor, the hard knocking sound growing louder and louder with each passing second as it drew closer.
Alex turned toward the source, and before he could fully count the number of students who had appeared before him, he was jerked away and sent crashing to the floor. The chair beneath him was slid out and lifted back, dropping him down with a heavy thud. Alex groaned in pain as he pushed himself up.
"What are you doing?" he shouted in frustration, turning to glare at the source of the trouble.
Eldric stood there with a group of students gathered behind him, gripping the chair in one hand, his lips curled into a mocking sneer. Beside him, Alex spotted a familiar face. Nack, the same boy who had wrapped his fingers around Alex's throat just moments ago, stood among the group with a face full of beaming, cruel joy.
"Little level one has got a brave voice, hasn't he? Isn't that funny, boys?" Eldric jeered and broke into hysterical laughter, his minions falling in behind him like soldiers dutifully mimicking their commander.
Alex did not reply, knowing well that any response would only serve to hurt their fragile egos. He lifted himself from the floor and reached for the chair, but Nack shoved him back hard. Alex collided with the wall, his head striking sharply against the window frame. Pain coursed through his head making him feel the world roll around him.
"How dare you touch the young master with your filthy hands," Nack hissed, his voice low and venomous.
"Give me my chair," Alex snapped, unable to keep his cool any longer. His blood was boiling. His head was hurting and only now did the world stop rolling.
"Huh? Are you ordering me?" Eldric asked, feigning wide-eyed innocence before turning to his companions with a slow, deliberate grin spreading across his face. "Boys, his face is quite irritating to look at, isn't it. Hand me a marker and I will draw something on it that will make it more pleasing to my eyes."
Immediately one of the minions produced a marker from his pocket, as though it had been placed there in advance, ready and waiting. Whether they had planned it beforehand or whether this was simply the treatment they gave to everyone, Alex did not know. But he knew one thing with absolute certainty. He could not allow them to do as they pleased.
Tap. Tap.
Eldric approached with a slow and unhurried smirk, his black eyes holding nothing of a human in them, only the cold and hungry look of a predator who had found its prey cornered in a trap. Alex took a step back and clenched his fist tightly, readying himself to drive a punch squarely into Eldric's face. Even if the punch did not land cleanly, even if it caused no real harm to him, at the very least Alex would not go down without putting up a proper fight.
"Stop this nonsense, Eldric." Lara's voice cut sharp across the room. She rose from her seat, eyes blazing. "Let go of me, Thalia."
Lara turned a fierce glare on Thalia, who had seized her hand and was gripping it tightly. "Let him handle it himself," Thalia snapped back with equal sharpness. "Are you his guardian now? Is that what you have become?"
"You!" Lara's glare sharpened into something hotter, and for a brief, strange moment, the green of her eyes seemed to shift in color, a flicker of the same transformation Alex had witnessed previously in the battle royal when her irises had bled from green to purple. But then she closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, whatever had been happening retreated, the green returning to its steady, familiar shade.
"Eldric," Lara said, her voice dropping into something grumbling and firm, "you know that targeting the heir of Drakethorne will bring no good to you or to your family."
Eldric seemed to freeze in place. His minions exchanged uncertain glances among themselves, and for the first time since entering the room, real fear crept across their faces. "But Boss, isn't he a bastard child?" Nack reasoned, though his voice faltered and died out toward the end as if he himself was not quite sure of the ground he stood on.
A loud burst of laughter suddenly filled the classroom. The room, which had settled into a dim and loaded silence, now rang with it. Alex turned toward the source and found Lucian bent nearly double, laughing hysterically with tears streaming from his eyes, both hands clutching his stomach as though the laughter itself was causing him physical pain. Then, just as abruptly as it had started, Lucian stopped, the laughter cutting off like a candle snuffed out, his face going completely still in an instant.
"Do you honestly believe," Lucian said, his voice slow and deliberate and soaked in contempt, "that a bastard child is something to be trifled with?" He let the question hang in the air before pointing his finger directly at Alex. "Then try me, because I am, for the gods' sake, a bastard child myself unlike his rumors, mine happen to be true."
Eldric went deathly pale. A primal fear seemed to take root somewhere deep inside him, spreading visibly across his features. Drawing a long breath to steady himself, Eldric bit down hard on his tongue, turned away and said flatly, "We will deal with him later."
Eldric's minions reluctantly trailed after him. Nack, however, did not miss the opportunity to kick Alex's chair on his way out, sending it tumbling across the floor.
Alex stared furiously after Nack. He wanted nothing more than to punch the life out of him, but he shut his eyes and steadied himself. He reminded himself that he could not win against Nack, that he had already learned from the grip of Nack's hand around his neck just how outmatched he was right now.
But that would change. Alex swore it to himself. He would soon level up and grow stronger, even if he had to crawl his way through hell to get there.
***
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