After class ended, Jelo looked around, trying to spot Atlas and Ken, when a hand clamped over his shoulder.
"Nice fight today, dude," Ken said, smiling down at him. "Your plan was quite ingenious, if I may add."
"Yeah, I'd hate to get in a fight with you," Atlas chipped in, suddenly joining them.
Jelo never really knew how to take compliments, so he just rubbed his hair awkwardly and tried to smile.
They headed to the café. As Jelo gave the server his meal ticket and picked from the menu, he remembered the bully he fought earlier. To think, technically it all started over a meal ticket.
Jelo shook his head. Human beings were so mundane, put them in any sort of social group and they would still find a way to invent new resources and fight each other over them.
They sat at a table and Ken began to wolf down the food.
"Woah, calm down, it's not rushing anywhere," Jelo said.
Ken looked up and grinned. "Hey, these muscles don't maintain themselves. I need fuel, dude."
Jelo smiled, still wondering in his head why Ken was being friends with him. Suddenly, the café grew silent and Jelo looked up, wondering what the source of the silence was.
It turned out to be three boys who had just walked in through the door. Jelo didn't need to be told that they were Class 2 students. Their uniforms had double stripes on the shoulders.
The boys moved in a triangle formation, with a short blonde boy in front and two taller boys at the back. Jelo found the arrangement amusing, that was until he suddenly realized they were walking toward him.
Jelo sat stiffly as the three boys stopped in front of his table.
"So this is the troublemaker, huh?" the short blonde said.
Jelo kept quiet. He knew escalating wasn't the best thing in this scenario.
The boy moved closer and began talking in a low voice only the people at the table could hear. "So you're the one going around beating Class 2 students?"
"No, I only beat one," Jelo protested quickly in alarm. It took a second for him to realize he had just entered a trap.
"Ah ah, so you admit it. You beat up Cryle," the boy spat.
Jelo couldn't deny it. "He came at me first. I was only protecting myself," he lied.
"Who gave you the right to protect yourself?" the boy replied. "Class 2 students pick on Class 1 students. That's how it is, hierarchy."
A wise person in Jelo's shoes would have simply agreed and apologized. In fact, Jelo normally would have done the same, but at that moment, he suddenly felt a great annoyance flash through him and he couldn't help but blurt out, "That's not the hierarchy. The hierarchy is the strong pick on the weak, and seeing as I got the best of him, I think he was the weak."
Those were the wrong words. Immediately he said so, the boy's face turned into a dark grin. "Is that so? I think it's time we teach you some manners."
But at that moment, Ken suddenly stood up. "Please guys, can we settle this without any fights?"
"Shut up, man," the boy hissed. "You're part of the problem, you know? You're a rank D sitting with two rank Fs. You should be bullying them, not breaking the hierarchy by sitting with them.
Then he turned back to one of the taller guys and said, "Let's take him."
Immediately, at a speed faster than anyone around could process, the boy had run to him and the three of them had left the café almost as if they disappeared.
In the blink of an eye, Jelo had left the café and now appeared in an empty classroom. "I've been teleported," he realized in amazement, but that amazement soon faded as the first fist descended into his gut.
"Argh," Jelo cried out, but the next punch was on him.
He tried to swing out of the way, but he was being held in place by the two taller guys and the fist hit him squarely on the nose.
As he felt blood drip down his face, the boy swung another fist at his gut and it sent flashes of pain throughout Jelo's body. "That'll teach you to mess with Class 2 students," he yelled. "We're your seniors!" he shouted again and sent another punch to Jelo's face.
At first, Jelo had kept thrashing, trying to be free. If only he could find a way to distance himself from the boys, he was sure he had enough dragon claws for all of them. But soon he realized he was never getting out of the grips of the two boys who held him, and as such, resisting only prolonged his suffering. He stopped and went limp.
The boy finally stopped punching and they let go of Jelo. He dropped to the ground, dizzy and aching all over. He was sure he had at least a broken rib, a broken nose, and a concussion.
"I hope you've learnt your lesson," the boy said as they turned to leave.
"Wait," Jelo managed to croak. "What's your name?"
The boy grinned wickedly as he replied, "Xino."
And then Jelo was all alone in a bloody heap.
But while his body was docile, his mind wasn't. A deep, obsessive hatred of Xino was growing in his mind until he felt as though if he didn't get his revenge on Xino, his body would implode and he would die.
"What's going on with me?" Jelo asked, trying to focus through the haze of obsessive rage. Sure, he was someone who liked revenge, but this feeling wasn't like him. He didn't feel as if he needed revenge as crucially as he needed air.
Jelo suddenly had a weird thought. "Could it be the system?" he asked. After all, it was the only change he had undergone recently.
As he had this thought, the system popped up.
"Ah…" Jelo said.