It was before class, and a crowd had gathered around Thomas. He held a lump of carbon in his hand. Sigismund looked over the boy’s shoulder as Gustava entered the room. She maneuvered so she wasn’t close to Sigismund.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“I’m going to show everyone a trick I can do,” Thomas smiled his vacant smile. “Watch this.”
Thomas clenched his fist really hard on the lump of carbon. When he opened his fist again, there was a diamond in his hand. Everyone in the room except Gustava and Sigismund turned pale with fear.
“Does he have any idea how much force it takes to do that?” a student shivered.
“I knew he was strong, but I didn’t think he was this strong,” another pupil slowly backed away.
“Dammit all. There’s no way I can get even close to that strength,” John muttered.
Thomas pretended not to notice the whispers around him.
“It’s pretty cool, isn’t it?” he said.
“It sure is. You won’t ever need money with a skill like that,” Sigismund smiled.
“Thanks,” Thomas kept his smile. “I still hate you, though.”
“That’s fine with me.”
A boy and girl none of the students recognized stomped into the room. They grabbed the door, closed it shut, and left the room. Then, the two kicked the door open before storming inside.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” John shouted.
“I am Justinian Apion,” the boy said.
“I am Irene Apion,” the girl said.
“And together, we’re the Apion siblings, leaders of the Apion Faction of Ares Academy!” they spoke at the same time.
“Ares Academy…” John glared.
“What are you scum doing here?” Maria asked.
“We’re here to issue a challenge,” Justinian answered.
“Tomorrow is a day off, so we’ll meet then,” Irene smirked. “The Apion Faction will face off against your class in the forest outside your school at high noon. If you don’t show up, you’ll mark yourselves as cowards!”
“And when you do, we’ll humiliate and crush you," Justinian said.
“Go ahead and try!” John said. “We’ll show you what Athena Academy is made of!”
“We know what you're made of. Soft clay,” Justinian smiled and left the room with Maria following him.
“Those bastards think they can take us, huh?” John said.
He made the angriest face he could.
“This is great! I finally have rivals! I didn’t even need to do anything to get them either! They just showed up!” he thought.
“Excuse me,” Thomas spoke up. “But what was that about?”
"You don't know?" Johan asked.
"I'm from across the ocean. I don't know much about the politics here."
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“They’re from Ares Academy, Athena Academy’s biggest rival. The students of both academies are bitter enemies,” Maria explained.
“We have enemies? That’s really cool,” he said.
“Why are we enemies with them anyway?” Sigismund questioned.
“Athena Academy's a better school than Ares Academy. They're jealous,” John stated.
Sigismund shot a quick look at Gustava. She nodded back. Maria noticed.
“Oh, yeah, you two are like that,” she said.
“No, we actually have a reason to hate each other,” Gustava scoffed.
“Yes. Eternal enemies like us can’t fight for no reason,” Sigismund agreed.
Maria wrote down what they said.
“Putting aside their hatred for love. This'll be great for my poetry,” she whispered to herself.
“After classes end, I’ll put us all through some battle practice,” John stated. “We’ll crush Ares Academy!”
After physical education, the various students gathered in the woods outside of the school. They had training weapons in their hands. Gambesons and helmets adorned their bodies. John counted their numbers.
“Sigismund and Gustava aren’t here,” he said.
“They’re probably kissing each other,” Nathaniel pondered.
“I don’t blame them for bouncing. They have to pretend they’re enemies in public, after all,” a student stated. "They need as much alone time as they can get."
“If they're not here, we’ll train without them,” John looked around.
A dark realization came to him.
“Why the fuck isn’t Thomas here? He's our best fighter!”
"Don't you hate him?" Nathaniel asked.
"Beating the shit out of Ares Academy is more important than any personal grudges I have," John answered.
"He's probably doing something weird," Maria stated.
"I hope it isn't too reckless," her fiance said.
In Ares Academy’s Phobos dorm, students from the Apion, Kazakov, and Dragos factions had gathered. There were dark grimaces on their faces as they glared at each other. Each and every one of them had a party hat. The room was covered in decorations of the highest quality. A big cake was in the center of the dorm. There was a short woman with white hair and golden eyes sitting in front of the cake.
“Thank you, everyone, for coming to my 15th birthday party,” she said. “Even if most of you are here because you’re terrified of me and want to stay on my faction’s good side.”
“You don’t need to worry about that. We’re here because we want to be,” Irene spoke through gritted teeth.
“Yes, we are, Zaleska Dragos,” Justinian’s fists were clenched so hard they were white.
"You're the strongest student here, and we're glad to celebrate your birthday," another student forced a smile.
“I’m happy to be here,” Thomas said.
All eyes turned to him. Thomas had his empty smile. He held a wrapped present in his hands.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Irene glared.
“You know this boy?” Zaleska asked.
“This little shit is from Athena Academy!”
Dark grimaces formed on the students, all except Zaleska and the Apion faction. With the latter, it was because they already knew where Thomas was from.
“What is a fuckhead from shitty Athena Academy doing here?” a student shouted.
“Those are some good insults, 5/5,” Thomas said.
He still had that empty smile.
“You shitty fuck fuck bastard!” another student grabbed him.
He tried to pull Thomas. The boy didn't budge.
“What the…”
“You’re not strong enough to move me,” Thomas stated.
“I’ll take care of this shit-eating bastard!” Irene shouted.
“Not without me,” Justinian said.
They pulled back their fists.
“That’s enough!” Zaleska’s words halted them in their tracks.
All eyes turned to the girl. She had a very creepy smile.
“If anyone ruins my birthday party by punching visitors for no reason, they’ll have to deal with me,” Zaleska said.
"We have a reason. He's from Athena Academy," Justinian argued.
"He's at my birthday. I want to know why. If it's a bad reason, you can take him outside and punch him," she stated.
The student released Thomas.
“Now, what are you doing here?” Zaleska asked.
“You guys are my enemies,” Thomas answered. “So, I wanted to honor you.”
He walked over and handed her the present.
“Happy birthday!”
Zaleska took it. She gazed at the present in stunned silence. The faction head was unable to react due to her shock.
"That's so creepy," a student shivered.
"Yeah, giving his enemy a present like that," Justinian said.
"Let's throw him out!" Irene declared.
The students grabbed Thomas. They picked him up with great effort and took him to the door. Then, they threw Thomas outside.
"And that nuisance is gone," Irene smirked.
Zaleska stood up. She opened the present and found a beautiful amber necklace inside. Her smile could make dragons run in fear.
"You threw someone who gave me a present out," she said.
"That isn't a good reason to be here," a student argued.
"It is a very good reason," Zaleska cracked her knuckles. "Maybe he'd have given me a fight as a birthday present after? He might have even been stronger than me."
The students gulped. They knew they were in for a massive beatdown. Zaleska's greatest desire was to find someone stronger than her so she could have a friend she could relate to, and they might have taken that from her.