Chuck getting interrupted by the combat lesson trainer came as a surprise for several reasons.
Chuck had no affiliation whatsoever with the teacher, apart from the little tantrum that went down earlier. Chuck was recognized as one of the weakest mages in the academy, so a high ranking mage had no reason to personally meet him.
Even if it was about the injuries that Chuck suffered, it wasn't quite a plausible reason as to why he would come over to check on Chuck.
"What the hell is this bald shit head doing here?" Chuck thought as he scanned Zhul from head to toe.
"Didn't he do enough by picking me to fight against that… obnoxiously attractive psychotic bitch?"
Chuck hid all his resentment by putting on a surprised face.
"Good sir, what brings you here. If it's about the burns, the healer made sure no scorch marks were left on my skin," Chuck spoke, trying to be as polite as possible, though his blood was boiling at this point.
"Will you shut it?" Zhul dismissed Chuck swiftly.
"Don't for one second, think that the reason as to why I'm here is to check on your well being. Honestly, I don't care if you die. Weaklings like you shouldn't even breathe the same air that we breathe."
This statement made Chuck explode. Gritting his teeth hardly, he tried to stand up from his bed. If only Chuck could land his fist on Zhul's wrinkled face…
Except Chuck never stood up. Before he could attempt to make a move, he felt a heavy weight on his chest, pressing down on him, and making it slightly impossible to breathe properly.
"Know your place, boy. I only came to question you. When I'm done, you can continue doing whatever the hell it is you were doing before I came."
"Now you're going to answer my questions as swiftly as possible. And if you do not, the crushing weight you feel on your being will intensify. Do you understand?" Zhul sharpened his voice.
"Y.. yes. Yes I understand," Chuck struggled to speak. He could almost feel his rib cage giving up on him.
Satisfied with Chuck's reply, Zhul made subtle hand movements and in an instant, a huge sound of relief was heard in the room.
Chuck coughed hard, held his chest tightly, and was gasping for air.
"What the hell do you want?"
Zhul straightened his body upright like a military personnel.
"Firstly, I want to ask, are you aware of the raging energy that resides inside of you? There is a reason as to why I picked you to fight," Zhul asked in an intimidating tone.
"What the hell? How does he know about it. Did he really perceive it?" Chuck's mind raced with worry.
"Well I can't tell him about what happened the me, neither can I tell him about the system. I don't want to be some military experimental tool."
"Uhm… I honestly have no idea what you are talking about. As far as I know, I'm just a weak mage that gets pushed around all the time. Don't tell me that you're now interested in weaklings," Chuck changed his demeanor, putting on a poker face.
Seeing the sudden change in Chuck's attitude popped a vein in Zhul's forehead. One second he was this frightened looking wimp, the next second, he looked like he didn't give two shits about anything in the world.
"Do you have a death wish or something?" Zhul slowly advanced to Chuck's position.
"Tell me, how eager are you to die? Because I can make that happen right now."
Chuck tensed up as he saw Zhul slowly walking towards him.
"He's bluffing right? He needs answers from me. And if he harms me in any way, he wouldn't be able to get what he needs."
Chuck's calm demeanor began to falter, as beeds of sweat were starting to form on his temple.
"You can't do anything to hurt me. It's illegal. My family will find you, and you'll get detained!!!," Chuck shouted in desperation.
Hearing this statement from Chuck immediately made Zhul burst out in laughter.
"Do you really think that the military gives a damn about people like you? And as for your family, I'm sure they would be glad if a parasite like you was finally erased."
"Now tell me about this energy of yours," Zhul continued in a menacing tone.
At this point, Chuck was frightened as he was already starting to break character. But he couldn't tell anybody about the system. He didn't even know much about the system to begin with, only that it could be a potential source of power, someday.
"Sir, I'm serious, okay? I don't know what you're talking about," Chuck said as he moved himself to the edge of his bed. If he moved any further, he was going to fall off.
Zhul stopped moving. He stared at Chuck, trying to read him. But it didn't matter because he couldn't tell if he was lying or not.
"Well in that case, I guess I'll have to do this the hard way huh?" Zhul said in a defeated tone.
Hearing this statement, Chuck started to panic, thinking that he was about to be attacked, or worse. But none of it ever happened.
Zhul turned around and walked towards the door, with both hands behind his back. "I'll be back for you, so don't think I'm done with you, boy."
Chuck's heartbeat began to settle the moment he saw Zhul walk past the door.
"That was close. There should be a way to suppress this energy. I better start finding a way."
Now that Chuck was left alone, he opened his system interface.
His eyes scanned through the screen, looking for anything of importance. Most of the tabs were locked, so he couldn't access them.
Chuck saw something different. Something he didn't see before his grand interruption.
There was a little icon that looked like a gift box.
Intrigued, he clicked on the icon. What he saw made him more excited than he had ever been since the day he was born.
/User, you have received a reward as a result of your first battle experience /
/Skill>> infernal shroud /