69 67: Wise Words and Troublesome Tests
Flo's fluid dispersed as he crashed to the ground, air knocked out of his chest. He didn't stand up after that and just stayed on the ground, trying to recover from the brutal hit to his stomach.
•~•~•~•~•~•~•
"That's enough! Caspian Loden wins!" Lia called out before rushing Flo. The spectators clapped, though most of them expected that Caspian would win.
Lia's eyes narrowed as she glared at Kaspian. "A punch like that could easily cause internal damage," she scolded before turning her attention to Flo. "Are you okay?"
Flo groaned in response, still struggling to catch his breath. "Yeah... I'll be fine," he wheezed out.
"What?!- As if that punch did any damage! That was nothing!" Kaspian argued before he closed his mouth, his aura becoming gentler.
'𝗕𝗮𝗵, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗷𝗼𝘆.'
'Kaspian' frowned, cleaning up the dust that managed to stay on his uniform.
He then approached them, his earlier aggression now replaced with a more composed demeanor. "I apologize," he said sincerely to both Lia and Flo. "I didn't mean to cause any serious harm."
Flo managed a small smile as he groaned, "It's alright. But, this'll for sure leave a mark."
In the stands, Shinji stood up, voicing out, "Yep, as expected."
...
As Caspian's fight came to an end, Shinji immediately left his seat, walking out of the arena. The once-deafening cheers and applause of the students gradually transformed into a chorus of intrigued murmurs, as whispers of Shinji's return echoed throughout the stadium.
'I wonder where that idiot is right now?' the student in topic pondered.
But, one particular statement caught everybody's attention and later stirred up a debate.
"I wonder how Vide Nichts would go against Caspian Loden..."
'Vide Nichts?' Shinji thought for a second before shrugging since he
Stepping out of the exit, Shinji was greeted by a slit-eyed student.
"You're really back!"
"Asher! How've you been?" Shinji said with a smile.
[A/N: Asher is also called Arthur in other scanlations/translations...]
As they continued walking, the student brushed his purple-and-cyan-streaked hair and replied with crocodile tears, "It's been so lonely without you here, Shin."
"Of course, it would. I mean, who wouldn't miss me?" Shinji replied, going along with his shenanigans. "It must have been hard without this bright light of hope in this dark fancy prison, huh?"
"There's that narcissism I missed, good to hear it again," Asher commented blankly, stopping his act at the blatant narcissistic remark he just heard.
The proud teen showed him a wide smirk.
His friend could only sigh, saying, "That idiot Thorne being too proud of himself actually makes sense. He's been around you for too long." He added, "I'm just glad Caspian hasn't been corrupted by the both of you."
"Oh! Speaking of Cassy, who the hell is Vide Nichts?" Shinji asked, interested because of other students pitting the two of them against each other.
Asher raised an eyebrow at that and said, "Vide Nichts is like a celebrity among the students. He's a rookie who just transferred this year, and he's pretty good."
He continued with a peeved face, "To be honest, it's getting annoying. He's not even close to being a part of the Top 10, but the other students are treating him as if he can go toe-to-toe against us. Not to be like someone I know..." he said, his half-closed eyes looking at Shinji, "but I can take him on with only my left hand."
Shinji snickered at that.
"Bah, who cares what those plebs think? They're just sheep who form their thoughts based on the most popular opinion they can hear."
"Let me harness my inner wise old sage-ness and give you some advice, Ash. It's best if you don't listen to weak little idiots. It poisons your mind." Shinji said, stroking his non-existent beard. "The only voice you need to listen to is mine and that haughty one inside your head."
"The haughty voice I hear is right beside me." Asher snorted. "And, I'm pretty sure only you have that kind of voice inside your head, Shin."
The raven-haired teen only smirked and wrapped his arm around Asher's neck, saying, "Anyway, tell me more of what I've missed, 'kay?"
...
Meanwhile...
Deep within the prestigious halls of the school lay the esteemed Student's Council. The exuded an air of elegance and authority, its lavish furnishings a testament to the importance of the council's role in governing the student body.
The chamber boasted tall arched windows that cast intricate patterns across the polished marble floor. Luxurious tapestries adorned the walls while bookshelves were lined with leather-bound volumes.
At the heart of the room was a large mahogany table. Seated at the table, students donning the distinguished white uniform of the Student Council were each focusing on pages of paper. But, one particular student looked riled.
Contrasting the elegant room and his look, the words that came out of his mouth were best left unspoken.
A cacophony of curses erupted from the student's mouth as he gripped his brown locks tightly. Coincidentally, the door swung open, revealing a captivating young woman.
"Thorne Grimland, I heard that!" she commented, her bluish-white hair flowing as she walked towards the table.
"Lia-! Er, President! How was the match?" Thorne asked, trying to steer the topic away from his outburst. His efforts were met with snickers from some of his councilmates.
Lia frowned, ignoring his attempt to change the subject, "Those words are something that shouldn't come from a Student Council Member. How many times have I told you that we should always act responsibly and amicably?"
Thorne groaned, not daring to face her frown, "There aren't any other students that heard that, surely. Besides, I couldn't help it. This advanced test you got us is just... ugh. I mean, do we really have to take this?"
"Yes." she said blankly.
"What- Is that it? You gotta give me a reason!"
The Student Council President sighed as she answered his question, "By doing this advanced test, we won't fall behind the others and as a result, we can carry out our responsibilities efficiently. Moreover, our peers regard us very highly, thus we must act accordingly."
Thorne just clicked his tongue at that. 'Act accordingly' she said. He reckoned that she just liked to see them suffer. She's definitely a closeted sadist, he was confident about that.
'What a load of bs.'
"Bah, fine. I can't ever win against you anyway, 'Esteemed President'." he surrendered and went back to doing the test.
"To answer your earlier question, Caspian Loden won the match. Almost one-sidedly, actually." Lia voiced out.
"But that's nothing really unexpected, Pres." a girl with pinkish-red hair commented. Up to this day, other students would be confused about whether the blue features on her head were ears or merely accessories.
Lia, along with other Council members, shrugged in agreement.
Thorne looked at the girl for a second, recalling a painful memory that happens in every man's life.
Quickly looking away, he managed to hide the expression on his face and sighed.
'I'll just stop existing if Shin knows what happened, that damn asshole. It's good that he isn't here right now.' he thought, not prepared for the next words spoken by the Student Council President.
...
"So, it seems like Shinji Lee is back..."
A certain red-haired girl's ear perked up, while Thorne...
Thorne would have vomited blood if he could.
*****
So... how about those stones?
Forgot to post this yesterday, my bad
Anywho
Checking in some of the old characters, meaning it's just the characters talking, sorry about that btw
I'm trying to conserve my brain juices for the upcoming tournament arc...
Writing back-to-back action-filled chapters will drain the life out of me
