6 Thomas

A week later, Thomas woke up to the sound of his alarm clock beeping. He groggily turned it off and checked the time: it was 5:00 am. After stretching, he headed to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. Thomas saw an average-looking 16-year-old boy with black hair shaved on the sides and black eyes. He was just an ordinary-looking kid by the world's beauty standards.

As he washed his face, Thomas reflected on recent events. "I'm glad everyone remembered Anna," he thought. "The school seems to have convinced everyone that I'm possessed by a relative who manifests through my body. At least it stopped the media from hounding me."

After a quick shower, Thomas mentally reminded himself, "I need to get stronger... If it wasn't for that inside of me, I'd be dead right now." He dried off and put on his school uniform, and checked the time: it was 5:36. So, he decided to head to the cafeteria for breakfast.

On the way, Thomas ruminated on his current situation. "I'm class F, rank 700... Annabelle and the others are in rank D, occupying the top positions, with Brian as the top 1..." he mused. Suddenly, someone bumped into him, and Thomas apologized. But the student he bumped into became aggressive, and his four friends appeared from around the corner. The leader spoke in a threatening tone, "Are you fucking blind?"

The group dragged Thomas to a warehouse, where they tied him up and began punching and kicking him. In desperation, Thomas begged them to stop, but the bullies just laughed. When the leader saw the time, he called off the attack, saying, "It's already 9:30, classes start at 10:00... We did a good warm-up today." As he examined Thomas's bruised body, he warned him, "If you say anything about what happened today, we're going to make it a lot worse than that. Understand?"

Thomas waved and said in a desperate tone, "Yes, I understand, thank you very much!" The student smiled and punched Thomas in the stomach one last time before leaving with his friends, laughing. Thomas fell to the ground, groaning in pain. His body was all in pain with some broken bones. Seeing the state of his body, he spoke in a sad tone, "If I were stronger..." With his last strength, he got up with pain and left the warehouse, heading straight to the infirmary. Some students looked at him and whispered, but Thomas simply ignored them and continued towards his destination.

Upon arriving at the infirmary, he opened the door and saw a woman sitting at a table, drinking her coffee. He said in a sad tone, "Hahaha, we meet again, hahaha." The woman replied in a sad tone, "Do I have to work at 10:00?" Thomas heard her answer and replied with humorless laughs, "Hahaha." The woman heard the forced laughter and sighed, telling him, "It's already the fifth time you've come here in a month... You should let some teacher know about your situation."

Thomas replied cheerfully, "Hahaha, don't worry, I'll take it easy on practice next time..." The woman thought, "Exercises?" She sighed again and said to Thomas, "Come here soon, I'll heal you and send you away." Thomas lay down on a stretcher, and she began treatment. Her name was Ally, and she had the innate ability to heal on a national level.

After a while, the treatment seemed to be over, and Thomas no longer felt pain anywhere. His body, which was purple and broken, now looked brand new. Ally looked at the perfect results and spoke in a hurried tone, "Come on, you can go now." Thomas quickly got up and said to Ally before leaving, "Thank you very much, Miss Ally." Ally just sighed at Thomas' answer and said, "I'm only twenty-two... I'm not a lady."

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Thomas was running to his classroom, which was Class A-1 where the main characters of the story were. As he ran, he heard a voice in his head saying, "You are very pathetic..."

Surprised, Thomas responded, "Be mysterious?"

Charles sighed and introduced himself, "You can call me Charles."

Thomas stopped running and asked in a surprised tone, "Is your name, Charles?"

Mocking Thomas, Charles replied, "'No no, I just made it up.'"

Thomas laughed and said, "Hahaha, I thought that was your name."

As Charles remained silent, Thomas spoke optimistically, "I know I'm pathetic, but I'll get better. I know I will!"

Without responding, Charles watched Thomas rush back to the classroom.

Inside the classroom, the teacher was explaining the concept of an "innate ability," an ability that defines the soul and personality of an awakened person. A student asked if there were cases where the awakened one did not have an innate ability. The teacher replied that there were only seven awakened ones in the world without innate abilities, and one of them studied at their school.

Just as the teacher finished speaking, Thomas entered the classroom, out of breath and explaining that he was in the infirmary. The teacher joked that they were just talking about him and welcomed him back to class.

As Thomas sat down, a girl raised her hand and asked if an awakened one could become stronger without an innate ability by using a good manual. The teacher explained that while a good manual and mana control could help against monsters, it wouldn't be enough to beat other awakened ones in a "card battle" of creativity. Innate abilities were the checkmate for anyone, and while some had special elements or particularities, it was impossible to compete without one.

Feeling sad and hopeless, Thomas heard a voice in his head again, Charles offering an S-class manual and proposing to negotiate.