The Stench of Envy

"Alright, everyone, we have a guest attending our class today, so let's not embarrass ourselves in front of him," said the macroeconomics professor, who was a woman in her mid 30's

"Thanks for having me. My name is Dante, and I'll make sure to spectate quietly," the warlock politely introduced himself to the class.

"Is he an actor or something?"

"Where did that hot guy come from?"

"I heard he was accompanying Sophia…" 

The whispers of the students filled the room, making the teacher slam her desk to shut them up. Still, the professor herself couldn't help but think that Dante was indeed handsome.

The warlock sat in the back, with Sophia on one side and Victoria on the other—and while he tried his best to understand the lecture, he believed he was missing context, not knowing many of the terms they used.

Dante ended up spending the lesson reading through Sophia's giant textbook, starting from the very first page of the tome and making Victoria somewhat confused.

She didn't know anyone who would read the entire textbook for a class, as she was used to opening it on whatever page was necessary for her homework. Still, she found it charming in a strange way.

When the lecture was finished, Sophia had to walk to the culinary arts building, where her next lesson took place, saying their farewells to Victoria for the time being.

Luckily for Dante, the culinary class was a practical one where the students had to cook different recipes, and they welcomed any guests to attend the end of their lessons to try out the food made by the students—taking place in the middle of the afternoon, it was the perfect place to have lunch for free.

Still, the warlock was allowed to attend the entire lesson, where he couldn't get his eyes off Sophia, who seemed highly focused on her cooking. 

Meanwhile, some of the other female students had trouble concentrating as they couldn't stop gazing at Dante in the back of the room.

The pair attended two more business lessons right after, during which Dante tried his best to assimilate what was being taught. Nevertheless, he could tell that there was a lot of information he was missing, making him not understand the topic entirely.

After the last class was over, Sophia guided Dante to the library and asked him to wait for her while she quickly returned a textbook she had rented.

Not letting the warlock have a moment to himself, he was approached by Turner, who was coincidentally walking by the building.

"Out of the way, new-face loser," said Turner with an arrogant tone.

"Ah, my apologies," Dante replied, indifferently taking one step to the side without even gazing at the man.

"What? You think you are hot shit!?" Turner continued, stepping in front of Dante to have him acknowledge his presence.

Nonetheless, the warlock didn't flinch at his threatening approach. Instead, he raised an eyebrow with slight disgust on his face.

"Man, you reek of envy. Please step away from me," said Dante with a strangely severe and polite tone.

While his comment sounded insulting, the envious umbra that flowed from Turner produced a literal stench that only Dante could perceive, so he wasn't lying when he said he reeked.

"What the fuck did you just say to me!? I'm affiliated with the mafia, bitch—I could make you disappear if I wanted!" Turner exclaimed, catching the attention of other students walking by.

However, just as he finished his sentence, the bully felt a heavy weight on his shoulders as shivers ran down his spine, gazing at the warlock, who was staring at him with a condescending glare.

"All done—oh, what's going on here?" Sophia interjected, erasing in an instant the pressure that was making Turner sweat from fear.

"Nothing much. This guy here wanted to ask me something…" Dante replied with a lighthearted tone.

"So, are we done here?" he asked, looking back at Turner sharply.

The bully nodded slightly, still sweating from the horrific sensation, prompting the warlock to give him a gentle pat on the shoulder before joining Sophia in their walk back to their apartment.

"What did Turner ask you?" Sophia inquired while they waited for the pedestrian light to turn green.

"Hmm, I don't know. I don't think he likes me," replied Dante as he attentively observed the traffic light.

"Well, he doesn't like anyone. Only the girls in his class," Sophia said.

"Really? But I didn't see him in any of the lectures."

"We don't have all of our classes together. I only share one lesson with him on Mondays…" Sophia clarified.

When they finally reached the apartment building, Sophia told Dante that she would bring him dinner later and walked to her new apartment on the third floor while the warlock made his way to the fourth.

____________________

"I'm home!" exclaimed Sophia as she entered her home, where Megan was lying on the couch, watching TV.

"How did it go?" Megan asked, turning her whole body to gaze at her friend.

"Great! It was kind of funny seeing Dante learning about college," Sophia replied, letting out a chuckle.

"Is that right?" Megan asked, this time with a sarcastic tone.

The blonde pondered out loud if Megan disliked Dante, but the brunette didn't know how to express her feelings towards the man.

"It's not that I dislike him. He is honest and polite, which is nice and all. But…" Megan explained, remembering the scene where Dante erased a group of gang members along with a piece of the street in the blink of an eye.

Even when the warlock ended up helping her at the time, it was hard not to fear his powers. Moreover, he said he could summon demons, and Megan's only experience with one made her even more wary of Dante.

Sophia had heard the whole story from her friend, but the fact that she hadn't seen it in person made it easier for her to trust the warlock.

"I understand what you mean. But I hung out with him all day, and I really don't think he is a bad person…" said Sophia with a somewhat dejected expression.

"Honestly, there were times I felt like he was sad," the blonde continued.

Megan couldn't understand how someone that powerful would feel sad, but then she remembered the state in which the warlock arrived, riddled with bruises and cuts, making her believe that he must have been going through a difficult situation.

The brunette sighed in defeat. "I guess I'll have to get to know him more…" she said, prompting Sophia to smile brightly.

"You are in luck. We are doing a movie marathon this Saturday!" the blonde exclaimed.

While Megan didn't share a sliver of her excitement, she felt glad any time that Sophia was happy, agreeing to accompany them in their plans.

Later that night, Sophia was preparing chicken curry with rice for dinner, and Megan noticed that she had a portion on the side inside a plastic container.

"Is that for Dante?" the brunette asked indifferently.

"Yup. I told him I would bring him dinner, so…" Sophia replied while stirring the curry pot.

"Wanna come with me?" the blonde asked.

Megan was hesitant, but she didn't want to leave Sophia alone, so she agreed to go with her up to their old apartment, where Dante had been staying.

When they arrived, Megan raised her hand to knock on the door, but Dante told them to come in before she could touch the wooden surface.

Inside, they saw the warlock surrounded by open books and pieces of paper with mathematical equations scattered around the apartment.

"Apologies for the mess. I was reading this math textbook and wanted to put it to practice…" said the warlock with his usual politeness.

"No worries. I brought dinner!" the blonde replied with a smile, making her way to the kitchen counter.

Megan detailed some of the equations written on the papers on the floor, and she could tell that it was college-level math—the type an engineer would have to study.

"Have you just been studying math?" the brunette asked.

"No, no. I was just finished with the history books, so I thought I should familiarize myself with other topics," he replied.

At that moment, Sophia opened the plastic container, and the smell of curry enveloped the apartment, making the warlock salivate at the enchanting aroma.

"Still, this is impressive. You are a scarily quick learner…" continued the brunette, picking up one of the paper sheets and examining it closer.

"Really?" the warlock asked, his voice muffled by his mouthful of curry and rice.

*Gulp* He swallowed, leaving a tiny grain of rice stuck to his cheek. "There is still more I need to learn. Hopefully, I keep it up," he continued, slightly smiling at Megan.

While the brunette didn't showcase many emotions, the sight of Dante smiling with food plastered on his cheek amused her a little.

'Maybe Sophia was right…' Megan thought.