Seeing the very same person that caused them unnecessary danger stand there casually talking to Professor Ferial made them feel quite off. The remaining seven students left the room to confront their adviser.
“Professor Ferial, what’s going on?” Alclair went in front of everyone and asked the most pressing question that they had.
“What are you? Ill? It’s what it looks like.” Professor Ferial’s expression turned sour as she mocked him. Alclair didn’t expect their so-called adviser to act so rude to him despite asking a simple question. “Elliot, go tell them. I can’t be bothered. And here you go Arin, you won the bet.” After saying so, Ferial immediately threw Arin a piece of metal coin and left the vicinity, not caring about what happened afterward.
After Arin received this coin he fiddled around with it and immediately flipped it over and pocketed it, “This will come in handy later on.” After saying his piece, Arin immediately left as well, his intentions were unknown.
The others didn’t know what Arin just pocketed but they knew that it was quite valuable.
“Stop!” The muscular man roared out, stopping Arin from moving any further. “You bastard! You left us all for dead!” He left the group and came up face-to-face with Arin.
“Don’t! Stop!” Elliot tried to warn him but it was too late. Alclair noticed that Elliot seemed oddly terrified of the man who went ahead of them. The other remaining students were waiting to see what would happen from the current scene. As for the lithe girl who had the creepy posture, she was eying Arin from the distance.
Arin turned back and sighed, “Who are you?” Arin posed this question to the muscular man who was eying him down. From the size difference, it would seem that the muscular man would win without a doubt.
“Barlot.” As soon as he gave his name, Barlot wound up a punch, using all his force to strike Arin’s chest. He used his entire body’s momentum as he shifted his feet and waist to make his attack flow even smoother.
Arin sidestepped Barlot’s attack and used two of his hands to grab onto Barlot’s outstretched arm. Barlot immediately tried to use his other arm to strike at Arin’s back to no avail. Arin didn’t even move, he just pulled so hard that forced Barlot’s body unable to put any strength into his own attack. Using his strength Arin threw Barlot to the wall with such force that even made the hallway slightly shake.
This exchange was so fast that no other bystander could react to it.
Some of the students were shocked at how Barlot was so easily dispatched despite being a literal hulking monster. Barlot felt his organs shake slightly which made him a little disoriented, however, still able to fight. He found his footing and tried to move forward when Arin stepped down on the foot that Barlot tried to move, breaking it.
“Once I get my hands on you…” Barlot tried to grab a hold of Arin using his two burling arms. He expected Arin to jump back, giving him enough space to maneuver when this madman did the exact opposite of what he thought. Arin, instead of backing off, went in, going after Barlot’s open chest and elbowing his stomach in quick succession, all aiming at one small area. After his quick movements, Arin showed a tainted malicious smile as he made a clawed motion with his hand and grabbed ahold of that one specific area that he had beaten down earlier, making that particular bruised part extremely reddish-blue.
Barlot closed in his arms, trying to punish Arin’s idiotic decision-making of rushing in. As for Arin’s attacks, Barlot could barely hang on to the pain but that was the key point, he hung on. He gritted his teeth and bore everything head-on, seeing whether he or Arin would break first. Arin still kept his maniacal expression as he used his other arm to try and pierce through Barlot’s stomach. Arin didn’t even defend himself from Barlot’s grip as he focused on drilling into one specific spot he wanted to break through.
Barlot finally had Arin within his arms, at this range, he knew that he should’ve won. Although Arin was stronger than he looked, he was much more terrifying. He had to intentionally limit himself or else everything he touched would be turned into paste.
He would be able to crush Arin’s body easily, ending this fight in his favor. He looked down to see Arin with his grasp still keeping that lunatic expression on his face, he didn’t seem to even be scared of what was to come, instead, looking extremely entertained.
Within Barlot’s arms, Arin was still digging into Barlot’s stomach, bit by bit, he was achieving his goal, of opening up Barlot’s stomach and ripping out his organs. A completely overbearing goal when considering the fact that this wasn’t supposed to be a life-or-death fight.
Barlot could feel his stomach in great distress as Arin was still digging into it, causing him great pain. Even so, he didn’t let go, crushing Arin as he slowly gripped tighter, a cracking sound could be heard as he continued on. He had to go at a slower pace unless he wished to kill his new classmate.
When Barlot heard this, he felt that victory was secured, he felt so sure that he even glanced back at his other classmates.
“See that…” Barlot didn’t understand why his voice was weak when it should be invigorated by motivation. He was getting his revenge and showing off who the strongest person was. “What are… you looking at?”
The expected looks of either fear or respect that he wanted to see from them didn’t appear on their faces. Instead, a rather disgusted and wary look appeared on their faces except for the lithe girl and Elliot. Elliot had a guilty expression on his face as if saying that he could’ve stopped this. As for the lithe girl, a wide beaming smile on her face as a tinge of pink appeared on her cheeks.
Barlot didn’t understand what the problem was, if anything, they should be rejoicing on the fact that he managed to avenge their displeasure. He looked down to see Arin beaming the same ever-still maniacal smile on his face, looking even further down, he saw a puddle of red.
I smell… blood?
A sudden surge of weakness forced him to lose all feeling in his lower body. He felt his legs give out and weaken he thought that he would fall to the ground yet the actual situation confused him as he was still at the same height as he was earlier. He felt his arms lose all strength as they draped down, finally letting Barlot understand what happened. He had been too focused on crushing Arin and ignoring the sharp pain in his stomach that it caused him his downfall.
Two arms were digging inside his stomach as he bled an insane amount of blood. Arin had been taking his sweet time feeling his insides. Barlot was being held up by Arin’s two arms, digging into him quite sadistically. Arin threw him down as he removed his arms, showing him holding a part of Barlot’s spine. Arin then saw Elliot running at Barlot who was currently bleeding out from having his organs ripped out.
“See you around.” Arin threw Barlot’s spine fragment at Elliot when Alclair grabbed it before it could hit Elliot’s body. Alclair gave Arin a wary look as he helped Elliot carry Barlot’s body to the nearby clinic. The entire fight happened in front of the clinic which made Arin let loose a little too much. “When he wakes up tell him that he should try harder next time.”
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Elliot grabbed Barlot’s arms and tried to close up his open stomach to the best of his abilities yet it still couldn’t stop the severe bleeding. He could see Barlot’s face turn pale, showing much blood he had lost just now. Despite having monstrous strength, it appears that his body wasn’t as durable as he thought.
Luckily, Alclair was there to pick up the slack and finally managed to help Barlot barely reach the clinic before it was too late.
A lithe little girl patted Barlot’s back and muttered, “Try harder.” She immediately ran off to Arin’s side worryingly excited. Elliot tried to warn her when Alclair suddenly stopped him, “You don’t need to worry about her, she’s a lunatic that might be even worse than Arin so she’ll be fine. So, what do you plan on doing now?”
Elliot leaned his back on the wall and slid down, feeling extremely conflicted, “I… I think we should talk about why you’re on my side.” Elliot was looking at his blood-glazed hands as he said this.
“Alright, I’ll be completely transparent.” Alclair sat down right beside Elliot. “I know you’re Elliot Bandgerette, the fifth child of the family and the most promising child to become a Solver. Connecting the dots, I easily assumed it was you who got the highest score. As for why I helped you out, it’s simple. I want to be friends with you. I’m pretty decent with combat so I can help you out until you can hold on your own.”
“Friends?” Elliot didn’t know how to react. Previously when he hadn’t gotten out to see the world, he hadn’t thought about it too much but now through their adviser’s makeshift trial, he understood just how valuable it was to have quick wits. When Arin intentionally made everything harder for them, he immediately connected the dots and followed along with what Arin did, leaving no time for any nonsense which was what let seven of them escape. “I’d like that.”
Alclair immediately sighed in pure relief, “Hoo… thanks, I might not be as strong as Barlot or as smart as you but I’ll definitely be loyal to my friends so you can count on me!”
The other three students reacted differently, one of them scoffed as he contemplated where the library was. The other was a pair, standing by together the entire time, while the guy seemed extremely disgusted by the entire scene the girl tried to console him. He seemed to be in complete shambles as he worryingly thought of what the future had in store for them. Feeling lost, he looked back into the room where countless students were still struck with nerve poison. He then suggested helping their classmates which made the girl sigh.
“My brother wants you to help us drag those bodies to the clinic.” She didn’t seem like she was being courteous, rather, she seemed completely demanding, ordering both Elliot and Alclair around.
“Liana, you can’t be rude when you’re asking for help…” The boy answered from behind her, trying to correct her behavior.
“Tch, you’re afraid of them when you’re so brave when it comes to me. Grow a backbone already.” Liana looked back at Elliot. “Are you coming or what? Hero-wannabe.”
Elliot recomposed himself and reorganized his thoughts. Regarding his alignment, he still wanted to follow Fiona’s ideals, to have everyone help each other out which means that his position as the Student Body Vice President would let him support her in her pursuit of changing the academy for the better. Although this was an inherently cruel school and the idea of everyone helping each other was almost laughable, he still believed. Why would they need to struggle for resources when everyone could just be developed the same? There was no reason for people to struggle when they could just be developed all the same.
Elliot saw Fiona’s benevolence and will in its entirety when she proclaimed to let everyone who proved themselves grow and develop, giving everyone an equal opportunity to strengthen themselves. This kind of mindset inspired Elliot to follow along with her vision.
Alclair didn’t say anything but just looked at Elliot’s answer. Based on his observations, Elliot would most likely agree. Although this was the first time he had met up with Elliot, he did some digging yesterday and found out that Elliot went out of his way to save someone.
“I thought I had to ask you.” Elliot gave a friendly smile as Alclair reached his hand out, pulling him up.
Liana grumbly said, “This is my brother, Liam, I know, original names right?”
“Hello…” Liam weakly waved his hand as he hid behind his sister. As aggressive as Liana seemed, she was still very protective of her brother. This dynamic made Elliot appreciate their relationship, they were as close as him and his siblings.
As they were about to go back into their room, the lithe girl that followed behind Arin reappeared with quite a visual difference. Both of her arms were mangled, and her body was completely bruised with barely any healthy skin on her. Her uniform was also slightly tattered as she went through a bloody trial. As she was dragging away her barely functioning body, she coughed up a mouthful of bright red blood and felt her vision blur, dropping on the floor.
“Should we help her?” Liana looked back at Elliot and Alclair, waiting for their responses. From her perspective, letting a living time bomb like that girl around was asking for it. Even if she died here, it wouldn’t affect them at all. “She’s pretty crazy you know? She killed her family, burned down the orphanage she was staying in, and even managed to critically injure a genuine Solver. Getting involved with a person like her won’t do you any good.”
“That’s…” Elliot thought for a brief moment before finding the resolve he needed. “I think it’s too late for me to back off at this point. I’ll help her out.” He ran over to help her out, preventing Alclair from getting involved. As he dragged along her body, she seemed to have regained her vitality as she whispered in Elliot’s ear, “Arin… I don’t get it…”
“Arin? What are you talking about?” Elliot was curious, Arin might have seemed completely barbaric but from his actions, he knew that he had a greater goal in mind, something that only savagery would get him.
“I tried to help him out but he didn’t like it.” Even as her body cracked unnaturally and blood flowed down her orifices, she seemed even more bummed out at the fact that Arin didn’t approve of her. “What do I do now? He’s only the fun person here…”
Elliot was unprepared for how she would suddenly ask something so odd even in such a critical condition. “Let’s put that aside for now, what did you even do? Did you attack him?”
“No… I attacked a guy that glared at him wrong. He didn’t mind but I did so I took it upon myself to take him out.” She mumbled her words, similar to how a pouty teenage girl would act. “When I was about to break his jaw, Arin stopped me and treated me like this. I don’t get it.” She coughed out even more blood, staining Elliot’s shoulder in a bright red shade. Her coughing ailment kept on getting worse as she struggled to even speak.
He… stopped her? For what?
“We’ll talk after you get better.” Elliot finally reached the clinic’s door and escorted her inside. As per usual, there wasn’t a single person in the clinic, all the students would ever need to do is go inside and they’ll naturally heal their injuries at the cost of being weak for the rest of the day. Elliot laid her down beside Barlot and was above to leave the room when she tugged on his uniform.
I thought she had her arms broken.
Elliot immediately looked behind him and saw her force herself to stop him as she continued on to cough out blood. Her bones were slowly mending themselves and her bruised body was turning back into her unhealthy pale white skin. She was healing particularly faster than anyone he had seen before, unnaturally so.
She coughed one last time as she rubbed off her mouth which was dripping with blood. If she didn’t have her bloody and tattered uniform then Elliot wouldn’t have been able to guess that she was brutally maimed by Arin.
“That hit the spot…” She moved her neck in an unnatural way and leaned in closer to Elliot. “You’re smart, right?” Her smile looked malicious and insidious as she tried to grab onto Elliot’s arm. “I’m Sefi, you like helping others, right? Help me.”
Elliot’s entire body was locked down by her unnatural strength. It was uncomfortable being immobilized like this yet she only used the exact amount of strength to keep him in place while not inflicting him any pain.
“I’m not asking for much.” Sefi’s pleading tone was especially chilly, even though she was the same age as Elliot she had this uncanny feeling to her very being. “Can you do that?”
Elliot analyzed the situation at hand, she had only stopped him more moving and hadn’t done anything too far yet. From her actions, she really was interested in following Arin around, despite how badly she was treated. “I could but… you’ll give me enough time right?”
“You better keep your word.” Sefi immediately lets go of Elliot’s arms, setting him free. “If you do this for me then I won’t break every bone in your body.” She said this in such an eerie tone.
Elliot was taken aback. The girl before him was the kind that would return the favor with a knife in the back. She wasn’t someone he should associate himself with.
“I’ll try at least.” Elliot was immediately interrupted by the door opening. Alclair realized that Elliot hadn’t left after quite some time so he decided to bash in to make sure nothing happened. After seeing that Elliot and Sefi were just talking, he felt slightly embarrassed.
Seeing an awkward atmosphere form, Elliot suddenly asked Sefi, “Can I leave now?”
Sefi thought for a while, taking an eerily long time before asking back, “Do you have to?”
“I do.”
“Just try to keep your head intact...” Sefi stretched her limbs and immediately took a nap on the pure white sheet bed she was already on.