Chapter 8: Classes

I was walking down the corridor when a couple of boys cornered me by the wall. All of them towered over me. I was short after all. Malnutrition since I was born really did contribute a lot to my slow growth. They would look intimidating if I was such a normal kid. My grown up mentality only saw them as snobbish brats.

"Hey, isn't it unfair for you to be here?" One of them asked with a smirk. I didn't say anything back because they would surely make fun of my stutters.

"What? Can't you speak?" The next one taunted. Wow, they must felt really good bullying someone weaker than them.

"Don't you hear? He was picked up in the slum by Lord Feene. Lord Feene views him like a stray dog that needed home!" The tallest among them spoke gleefully. Laughter erupted from them. They were lucky Pip wasn't with me. I would make him burn these brats' asses in a second.

"Not only he's a stray dog but thin like a twig too! I bet he will snap in half if I touch his body." They continued to mock me.

"You must feel good, bothering someone who's weaker and smaller than you." A voice interrupted the bullying session. All of us snapped our head toward the source. It was the freaking princess of Astelan. She walked with such elegance, approaching us.

"Y-your highness, I greet bright star of Astelan, Princess Floria Dahlia." They hastily greeted her, backing away from me and lowering their heads to her. Well, I followed them, greeting and lowering my head too.

"They're bothering you, aren't they?" She asked, looking right at me. Her golden eyes were like piercing through my soul. I felt like she could read my mind somehow.

"N-no, y-your hi-highness.. I'm s-sure they-they are j-just j-joking a-around. N-no harm d-done." I tried my best to speak properly but the stuttering just came out naturally.

"Are you sure?" She squinted her eyes at me. I looked away from her gaze and nodded. She sighed and then looked at the other boys. "Is he telling the truth?"

"Yes, your highness. We're just joking around. We apologise if we're being too loud and rowdy." That boy surely knew how to speak. They were trained to speak so eloquently.

"Hm, the morning class is about to start. You all should leave." She said. So, she chose to overlook this.

"Certainly, your highness. We'll be leaving now. Good day to you, your highness." They hurriedly scampered away. I was about to leave when she cleared her throat.

"You stay. I want to have words with you." She said. I was getting more nervous around her. She leaked out such heavy aura around her. Was that her divine power or something?

"Y-yes, y-your hi-highness?" I couldn't meet her in the eyes.

"Why are you covering for them?" She was obviously unsatisfied.

"Y-your hi-highness, t-they will c-come b-back t-to me for r-revenge. I d-don't w-want to m-make it w-worse b-between u-us." I reasoned. I could predict the way those brats' mind work. They won't let me be if I rat them out to the princess. They would hate me more.

"Are you always nervous like this?" She asked suddenly. I was confused. "I mean, you're speaking like that."

"I-it's just t-the w-way I s-peak, y-your hi-highness."

"Oh.. Is it a speech disorder? Or.. Something?" She could be bold sometimes. She panicked slightly. "I don't mean to offend you. I just want to understand."

"Who k-knows?" I shrugged with a small smile.

"I see. Oh, we're late for class now. Come on let's go." She urged me. She walked on ahead, leaving me staring at her back. I was wondering if she remembered me from last year. Hm, she didn't even ask for my name though. The way she talked to me like she knew me already.

I tailed her from behind to go to our class. We had two type of class in this academy. Practical and theory classes. Practical classes would be held outside at the training fields and theory was obviously inside the buildings. Morning session usually reserved for theory classes while afternoon session for practical classes.

The class was a massive lecture hall. I didn't expect that first year students were this many. They occupied almost all of the seats. I searched for a vacant seat somewhere while the princess already had a seat saved for her by a loyal follower. I found one at the far corner, third row. I silently went to sit and looked back at where the princess was sitting down. Next to her was Aeros. I smiled slightly because the story played out like I remembered.

However, there was a huge time skip in the novel. The 5 years the hero party spent in the academy wasn't specifically written in the novel. The readers only able to know through some little flashbacks or talk about the past among the characters. No one knew what exactly happened during their study. I had to live through that hidden stories in this academy. This was complicated. I couldn't predict or know what would happen in this place.

~~~

A practical spell casting class or so they said. It was more like a real battlefield. Or at least it was to me. I leaped just in time before the spell hit me. I already suffered some burn wounds from their stupid excuse of a practicing low grade fire spell. I could endure the injuries but they still hurt as hell.

"Oh? You dare to dodge that stray dog?" The ugly boy taunted evily. "I told you to stay still, how am I supposed to practice my spell?!"

"Y-young l-lord.. It w-will B-be m-more f-fun w-with m-moving t-target." I reasoned. The boy with his goons thought about it and their face brightened up.

"That's true! Let's continue then. Do your best, stray dog." He agreed so easily. What a simpleton.

He chanted the spell again and I made a run for it. I coughed from the smoke and dust. None of the other students dare to stop this. They just mind their own business. The teacher was away for a moment and how irresponsible of him to leave his class unsupervised. And, the ugly boy that was making his target practice was the son of a Duke. The highest ranking noble and one of the most powerful family in Astelan. Duke Lane was in charge of military and defense in this kingdom. He was like the highest general and a strong man. His influence even rival the royal family. So, his son, Ricky, the ugly boy was taking advantage of his father's reputation and bullied me openly. I knew Owens in the novel was bullied during his academy years, I didn't know that it was to this extent.

'Shit.' I stumbled on a peeble and I fell to the ground. During that moment that ugly Ricky's spell hit my abdomen. That impact knocked the wind out of me. I refused to scream because I didn't want to satisfy him with my pain. I coughed violently, heaving like I was out of oxygen. This world was harsh.

"Get up, stray dog. You're suppose to be a moving target." He ordered.

I tried pushing myself up but another spell hit my side, sending me flying, scrapping my arm. This was so ridiculous. If I could I would spank their asses so hard that their eyes came out but I didn't want to beat up a bunch of snobbish kids. They laughed at my pathetic state.

"Get up!! Or else, you're going to get hit with this!" Another boy shouted, readying his spell.

I tried to get up as fast as I could but before I could get away, the spell hit my chest, throwing me back on the ground on my back. I almost couldn't breath because of the pain and something was blocking my throat. I coughed it out and crimson liquid poured out from my mouth.

'Isn't this a crime already?' I thought angrily. I continued coughing blood and those brats laughed even harder. What was wrong with them?!

"Hey! What are you doing?" Someone exclaimed. The brats stopped laughing and turned to look at the newcomer.

"Stay out of this, we're just training together." Ricky said.

"Is this how you're training together? By seriously injuring him?" That voice was familiar. I tried to look at the person. It was Ollie. What she was doing here?

"Mind your own business. You're a senior student right? What are you doing here? We're in the middle of class." Ricky sassed her.

"Move aside, let me take him to medical bay." She told him coldly. She looked scary when she was that serious.

"Hm? Do you know who you're speaking to?" Ricky's underling questioned arrogantly.

"I don't care. I already warned you. What happen next is your fault." Ollie stated. With a flick of her wrist, without even a chant, she sent those boys up in the air and threw them aside. I blinked in astonishment. Ollie was really talented.

She came to my side, she frowned when she saw my state. Without saying anything, she helped me to stand. My legs felt like a jelly so I had to leaned my weight on her to stand up. Straightening up my body was impossible. I probably broke my ribs. I could increase my stats but I wasn't immune to injuries and pain.

"Let's go. Carefully." She murmured. We moved in synch to go to the medical bay.

The healer was shock when she saw us. Especially me. My robe was covered with some blood and I wasn't really in a good state. I felt terrible. Together with Ollie, they laid me down the bed slowly. I gasped when I accidentally breathe too hard.

"I can put you to sleep while I heal you." The healer offered kindly. I just nodded slowly, too tired to speak. "Okay."

When I woke up again, the pain was gone and most my injury was healed. I sighed in relief but I knew this won't be the last time. Maybe I needed to increase some of my stats to deal with the bullying. Still, that only meant exposing what my power could do though. Some of the students and teachers in this school could see stats like me. So, I would get exposed soon enough.

"How are you feeling?" Ollie asked. She was still there.

"I'm g-good. T-thanks f-for help-helping me." I smiled.

"It's nothing." She muttered. "What they did is over the line. I'll report it to the teachers."

"Y-you d-don't h-have to do t-that." I was sure that I would get more attention if this was reported. What I wanted was staying under the radar. But, of course, I already caught a lot of attention because of my 2 digits stats in the first place.

"I'm not asking for your permission, Owens. I'm just telling you so that you know. This matter can't be overlooked. They almost killed you." She was serious.

"I.. I can h-handle it." I wasn't even sure if I was convincing enough.

"No, you can't." She concluded sharply. Then her eyes squinted at me as if looking at something above my head. Was there something there? Could she read minds?

"You have a Diminution status on you." She announced. My eyes widened.

'Oh no..' I tried not to panic. I couldn't lost my composure in front of her. It would only make it worse.

"I do?" I echoed, feigning clueless. She looked like she didn't buy it for a second.

"You're an Enhancer right?" She asked instead. I nodded. "Are you purposely using Diminution on yourself?"

"N-no.. I-I don't k-know wh-what you're t-talking a-about." My stuttering wasn't helping at all! I couldn't convince her at this rate.

"Hm, fine. I'm sure you have your reason. I won't pry." She dismissed it. She smiled slightly. "Just don't get yourself hurt again, Owens. As your senior, I can't just let it go. Have a good rest. See you later."

She got up from the chair and walked toward the door. She was leaving. There was something just so cool around her. I activated my analysing skill to see her stats. What I saw was unbelievable. I didn't know anyone could do that.

**Stats Hidden**

That only made her more mysterious. I ended up staring at the ceiling. So, I would have a Diminution or Enhancement status on me if I used them. I didn't know that. I would have to be more careful. Wait, I needed to make up a very believable excuse if something like this happened again. What could it be? Ollie wouldn't go around telling people about the status though. I knew she wasn't someone like that. But, if there were other people that could see it too, I needed to be ready.

'Ugh.. What a mess.'