THE CONSEQUENCES OF BULLYING

Sakura walked down the cobbled lane leading to the workshop. Her brunette hair hung loosely over her shoulders while her mind wandered about on the day's task.

Since she first arrived at the Tower academy in Limerock over a month ago, her views on the place had changed. On the farm, Chu instilled through education and action, that girls possessed the same capabilities as boys.

Her first impression of the Tower had been this place, just like the world she already explored, seemed biased. The fact that girls remained excluded from practicing magic didn't feel right in her little heart.

Interacting with her schoolmates, workmates and officials gradually pacified her thoughts. The book, alchemist and evening classes provided an opportunity for girls to experience and gain skills they would have been denied.

The Tower though little, created an avenue for young ladies to become more than an average human. Because of this limited opportunity, the competition within the workshops and evening classes turned dark.

"Ah Sakura, why are you so early?"

An elderly voice cut her thoughts.

"Greetings Senior Auld, I need to collect the rest of my ink and supplies from the classroom below before heading upstairs. I also wanted to browse the manuscript you left for me."

"Not bad, I am ashamed to say that you read better than most of those new scribes and young apprentices. Instead of learning from books, they keep asking for shortcuts. I'll see you upstairs then, I have a page that needs your skills with the quill."

The elderly man said. Apprentice Auld supervised the upper floor which dealt with proofreading new books looking to be published. Rumors say that he only remained an apprentice and never bothered venturing north to become a mage because of his love of books.

Sakura chatted with him until she parted at the door to her old classroom. She opened the door and slipped between the desk and chairs towards a darker corner at the rear away from the windows.

Sighing, she removed the bar of ink from the shelf under her old desk. The rough surface bore carved markings of graffiti and intentional splashes of ink stains.

At first, her classmates and fellow scribes chatted in an amicable manner but it soon changed when they learned of their social differences. The girls all came from noble households and gradually distanced themselves from this little farm girl.

Sakura also didn't know the meaning of conformation. As such, she did not hold back on her skills, impressing the supervisors with her calligraphy and excellent reading abilities. Her demonstration only served to draw the ire of nobles who couldn't come to terms of being surpassed by a county bookie.

"Riff-raff, commoner and untrained farmey. Hmm, they even scratched my mom is a cow. Well, at least not all the girls treated me like an outcast. I think most of them bowed to the pressure since those girls came from the Capital."

She muttered.

"The girls in my new class are more mature and friendly. Not to mention the Elders treat us with respect because of our skills. Kids like these, need to grow up."

She confided to the empty desks as she exited and shut the door. A tall black-haired girl around Amanda's age greeted her in a friendly manner in the corridor and together they climbed the stairs chatting happily while waving their hands.

***

"I heard those wrinkled coots upstairs have been fawning over the country bumpkin."

"Maybe they're doing more than fawning, hehe. How else can someone who only arrived for a month earn such a quick promotion."

"My fiancé learning alchemy says she has some younger siblings sorting grass. Soon he'll have them toiling while crying their hearts out. I also heard she has some siblings in another class here."

"More family? Nothing less from the low class, those commoners make babies like a pheasant laying eggs. Let's pay a visit later to her family in the other class, and put them in their place."

Bam!

The group of four girls gathered near the back window, cut their chatter as the wooden door slammed open as if wanting to break off its hinges.

Similarly, the little pockets of girls gathered together by the window sills, sitting on desk, chairs, or standing in the aisles, paused in mid-conversation while turning to the door.

The source of the silence entered.

Wavy red hair cascaded down her shoulders as a ten or twelve-year-old girl entered the room filled with the larger fifteen to eighteen-year-old girls. Sharp green eyes on a head held high, scanned the room boring into the mind of the inhabitants while she stepped forward with hands clasped behind her back.

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Ignorant of the stares, the lithe girl proceeded to walk down the nearby aisle towards the back of the classroom, glancing ever so often on the desks. She paused at the last desk situated in the poor light and then ran her fingers across the carved scribbles. Apparently, she found what she was looking for.

"This one asks who ordered this?"

Dyna said with a monotone voice coming from an expressionless face. During the time she stood by the desk, four larger girls standing at the window had circled her. The scene looked like a group of adults surrounding a child, or more precisely a group of thugs circling a schoolgirl.

"Hey, first of all, we don't answer to..."

Pah!

"How dare you..."

Pah!

"Get her...!

Four girls ganged up on a smaller individual lacking in age, height and build.

The end result could only lead to a beatdown.

Dyna swiftly pushed the first girl on the chest while tripping her with a well-placed leg. She broke the encirclement even before the girl thumped to the ground. The other girl who turned towards her received a powered front kick to the stomach causing her to crumple to the stone floor while frothing.

The next girl collected the follow-up punch to the gut which had her kneeling down and emptying her breakfast. The devil stepped and twisted her foot on the stomach of the first girl who fell while making her way to the remaining girl.

The spectators only had time to inhale a deep breath before stifling their escaping shrieks and gasps. Dainty hands covered entrancing mouths as the girls ogled in shock.

The taller black-haired girl clutched the end of the desk behind her while trying to slink into the stone wall. The green eyes once again narrowed like a wolf ready to consume its prey.

"I..."

Pah!

"I'll scream..."

Pah!

"What do you want..."

Pah!

The girl abandoned her pride and teared up on receiving a slap for an answer. The little hand that seized and wrung her robe at the neck choked her in a vice. Her companions on the ground lay incapacitated or not daring to twitch. She finally had a bout of enlightenment.

"I wrote it, me and Gina over there."

She said while pointing on one of the girls licking the stones.

Pah!

"Why? I answered you..."

Pah!

With tears mixing with snot running down her face, she remembered the question. The only question.

"Arie, Arie ordered us to do it. The girl called Sakura stole her limelight and promotion."

The bully shouted while pointing to the back of a blond-haired girl sitting at the front. She burst out sobbing on being released as her legs gave out.

Dyna turned and walked up the aisle. After witnessing the performance, the spectators scattered to open a path. Green eyes locked onto a girl seeking to exit the room, causing the escapee to freeze in her tracks.

For each step, the girl called Arie trembled. Sweat poured down the back of her neck, drenching her robe while she remained with her head hung down not daring to turn.

"This one and you are going to be the best of friends. Go sit in your new seat."

The little devil calmly introduced her now unforgettable face in a voice that caused hearts to tremble across the class. Her head turned slowly as she surveyed the room.

"This one and all of you are going to be best friends."

The girl called Arie felt like she received a pardon from the gallows and scurried with silent tears to the damaged desk. Her family held a high status in the Capital, along with the four beaten girls. The four girls curried favor with her, victimizing any girl who possessed greater skills.

Who knew she would have to face a devil in this academy. The young red-head sitting at the head table overlooking the class carried a terrifying commanding aura. Arie had once felt something similar to this from a girl in the Capital but this devil reeked of bloodlust.

Arie decided she would bide her time until the class monitors arrived with the day's task. She had a very close association with the two young ladies since they also came from high ranking clans in the Capital.

She soon understood the futility of her plan when the two monitors arrived and stood on each side of the terror. One look at their faces and robes and Arie didn't need to guess what had transpired. The red palm print on one of the girl's faces caused everyone to understand their fate.

The occupants in the class shivered as if caught in a freezing wind.

***

"Ah, seems like it's started. Are you sure you don't want my help? I told you I could have taken care of it, you know."

A beauty sitting next to Lucy near their own classroom door pouted. From beyond the closed door of their classroom, the slamming of a door sounded out. The two shared a desk while Amanda who acted as the class monitor delivered the day's work from a table at the front.

The girl had blond wavy hair, grey pupils inside oval eyes, under manicured eyebrows. Her spotless cream skin extended from her face to soft dainty fingers. She shot Lucy a smile and then put on a pitiful face.

If Amanda transferred to another class, then these two blond beauties, plus the black-haired girl chattering at the rear near the window would cause visiting Apprentices to swoon. The accustomary knock on the door sounded.

"Hello, ah I was wondering if..."

The interrupting apprentice paused as his words stuck in his throat as his vision locked on the blond blue-eyed beauty sitting next to the door.

"She's not interested."

Lucy spoke coldly while shedding a frigid aura.

The young man gulped as he glanced at the golden-haired enchantress standing at the head table. Like many before him, his heart led him here.

"Ahh! You're so cold Lucy! You looked at him as if he was an insect."

The grey-eyed deskmate said while pouncing on Lucy and hugging the stiff girl. Lucy had grown accustomed over the month to her classmate's character. Lucy rolled her eyes as her companion hugged her like an overgrown teddy bear. The gray-eyed beauty narrowed her eyes at the intruder still daring to stand at the door.

A majestic aura befitting of a high born noble leaked out.

"You heard her. Scram!"