XXI | THE CLOAKED ENIGMA
"So, what did I miss?" Kael plopped down next to Wynt, letting his bag drop to the ground.
Wynt shrugged, biting a pencil in boredom. "Nothing much, really. Caster Novaro has just been going over some basic Bijouan history. How Saphir Island became the training ground for casters, stuff like that. Though I'm sure you're already familiar with that."
"Oh." Kael rested his cheek on his palm and watched Kita Novaro read out from a historical book.
"There were six founders of the Saphir Casters Academy," she said, putting the book down. "Normally, the history of an academy aren't important enough to teach in world history, but the founders changed the course of the world's system by setting up an academy for people of all countries. Of course, the building of the academy was delayed during the Jornac Invasion which eventually turned out into a near-global war. It is important to understand the history behind the academy to know the true purpose of the casters you all aspire to be."
Kael drowned out her voice, already bored with the history of the world. He had failed the class in his school back in Paraiba, and he wasn't interested in trying to keep up with it here.
Instead, he let his gaze wander. He watched the girl at the front play with her hair, the boy with bright blond hair dutifully taking down notes, Garun in his usual position with his head buried in his arms. Rita had her legs on the table, yawning. Tyra seemed to be one of the only ones paying attention, her golden hair falling down her straight back. Fadhia nodded off, jerking awake and slapping her cheeks before repeating the process.
Still bored, Kael watched the window looking through the hall. He had zoned out when something snagged his attention. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, wondering if the light reflecting on the window had caused the sudden movement behind it.
With more focused vision, Kael bore his eyes into the hallway. There it was again. It was quick, but Kael spotted a brief movement at the corner of the window. For some reason, he thought of the figure he's seen in the woods when he'd gone outside during the Silver Wolf welcome party.
Was someone following him and his classmates? He continued to stare, but no more movement caught his eye.
Shrugging, he relaxed his tense muscles and settled down on the chair. Eventually, Kita switched gears and produced a large world map. She used a stick to point out the different countries and explaining the importance of studying a country's terrain before jumping in to find a phantom.
Soon enough, the class finished, and Kael was more than ready to leave. He hadn't even bothered to take anything out of his bag, so he swung it over his shoulder and waited for his friends to pack theirs.
As he stood waiting, Kael felt an impact on the back of his head. A spurt of annoyance fired his gut as he spun around to see who had hit him. One of Roder's friend — a tall Arridian boy with black curls and a broken nose — had his arms crossed, glaring down at Kael from the higher step.
"Well, look who I have class with," he said with a sneer. "I've heard plenty of things about you, lowlife. I can't believe I have to sit in the same room as you." He glanced behind Kael. "You and the rest of these lowlives."
Kael didn't back down. Instead, he returned a glare more fierce than the boy's. "I don't care what Roder said about me, and I don't care what you think of me, but I won't let you insult my friends. Bugger off before I lose my temper."
"Ooh, scary." The boy rolled his eyes. "What do you think you can do to me, huh? The moment you touch a hair on my head, my father can —"
"I don't care who your father is or what he can do," Kael cut in. "I had to deal with Roder since I was five, so I know how to deal with folks like you. Now, don't let me repeat it again. Bugger off." He muttered under his breath, "Spoiled papa's boy."
"What did you say?" Now he was seething. Kael ignored him and smiled when Wynt joined him with a confused expression.
"What's going on?" Wynt asked.
"Nothing," Kael replied, stealing a glance at Roder's friend — who's name he hadn't even bothered to know. "Just some stranger picking a fight for no reason. Let's just go before he throws a tantrum."
"You're messing with the wrong person!" the boy said, pointing a finger at Kael. "Who do you think you are? You think you'll be safe in this school? Don't be ridiculous. You lowlives don't have a place here, and you'll all eventually be kicked out. Do you hear me?"
But Kael had already reached the door to the classroom, laughing with Wynt, Rita, and Fadhia. He didn't spare a glance at Roder's friend as he walked to his next class in a good mood, refusing to let a common bully dampen his spirits.
Kael emerged from the changing room, wearing shorts and a loose gray shirt perfect for activity. He noted the array of colours representing every dormitory as he walked through the students who also had fitness-combat with him.
The changing room wasn't far from the arena, so Kael took a leisurely walk down the dirt road and enjoyed the scorching sun above. He didn't worry about leaving his friends behind. With so many students at the academy, it would be more trouble to look for them rather than meeting them at the arena.
As he reached about halfway, he halted. In front of him, Roder and his friends blocked the way, a familiar sight Kael hadn't had to see since he left Paraiba. Kael silently cursed, knowing that Roder had somehow known he had gone off on his own to the arena. He bet the Arridian boy had told the bully after keeping an eye on Kael. The petty bastard had brought reinforcements, too.
"What do you want, Roder?" Kael asked, not the least bit intimidated.
"I heard you were being quite disrespectful to my friend, Nihir," Roder replied. At his name, the boy who had annoyed Kael in class stepped forward. Kael noted his purple combat uniform. Noble Monarchs.
"So you brought your possy to bully me? That's low, even for you." Kael knew he shouldn't provoke Roder, but he wasn't scared. He had handled Roder's bullying for most of his life. He counted four other boys with Nihir and Roder. "I guess it takes five of them to even come close to Lint."
Roder bristled at Lint's name. Aisa's affection for Lint probably meant Roder left Paraiba on bitter terms.
"All right, that's it," Roder growled and stomped forward. His shoulders tensed from clenched fists and his face turned red with anger. He paused. "Are you guys coming or not? We need to teach this scum that he belongs at the bottom."
At his prompt, the rest of the boys scrambled to catch up with Roder. This was bad. Kael felt sweat from the scorching heat trickle down his temple.
His foot shifted back on the dirt. A mistake that did nothing but boost Roder's confidence.
Roder's lips turned into a hateful sneer. "Are you scared, Smaradine?"
"I'll never be scared of you, Roder," Kael shot back.
The five boys drew closer to Kael. He contemplated on whether he should run or stay grounded. If he did run, which way would he go? Back to the changing rooms? Around the crowd and to the arena?
Observe your surroundings. Kael's eyes flickered left and right. Running wouldn't do any good. People like Roder were encouraged by fear. They only grew bolder and more aggressive if their victim ran with his tail between his legs. No. The only way to stop this early was to stand his ground on a one on six fight. But that would get him nowhere. As much as Kael practiced casting, he was still a novice when it came to combat. Especially when it came to Roder, who had more training in that field from his schooling in the capital of Bijou.
"What are you going to do, Kael?" Roder spat. "Are you going to run like your papa did? Or are you going to let us beat you to your place?"
Roder paused as a group of chattering students passed. When they were out of earshot, he resumed his advance towards Kael.
"Like I said," Kael swallowed, "You don't scare me. Leave me alone, Roder. I never wanted to pick a fight."
Roder shrugged. "That's not what it seemed to me when you decided to trample over Nihir like you deserved to be at the top."
A breeze swept Roder's blond hair from his stormy gray eyes. The boy was close enough to Kael to do some physical damage.
Roder swung his arm back. Too big of a swing to be quick enough. Kael ducked just as Roder's arm swished down. The lack of contact sent the boy stumbling forward. He whirled around with red boiling his cheeks.
"You little rat!" he growled.
Kael wouldn't be able to take Roder on if they were in a one on one fight, but he excelled in dodging, and tiring Roder out before taking off would usually do the trick. However, as the boy who grabbed Kael's arms demonstrated, Kael was helpless when six of them attacked at once.
The first fist went to his gut. The pang of pain made his stomach turn, and Kael couldn't hold in a grunt.
Roder grinned sadistically as he drew his arm back once more. This time, Kael couldn't dodge the swinging fist heading straight for his face. He braced himself and felt like his neck would snap when the powerful punch made contact with his cheek.
The boy holding Kael threw him to the ground, and the six proceeded to kick Kael. Kael groaned in pain as the rain of blows pounded on all sides of his body. He clutched his head in his arms in an attempt to protect his most important limb.
He was sure he'd broken a rib by this point. He was just about to beg Roder to stop when the six perpetrators were suddenly thrown away from Kael.
Kael hissed at the pain, but he managed to sit up. A cloaked figure knocked out one of the boys. The others, at first shocked, furrowed their brows in anger. The cowl of the cloak hid the person's face, making it impossible to tell whether it was a boy or a girl.
"Who the hell are you?" Roder asked, his anger making his voice crack. "You should learn to stay out of business that's not yours."
The cloaked figure didn't reply.
"If you leave now, I'll forgive you for knocking out one of my friends. They are from important families, so consider yourself lucky that we are preoccupied."
The figure lunged forward and knocked out another one of Roder's friend, Griver. He fell to the ground in a heap.
"All right, that's it. I won't let you keep hurting my friends! I bet you're just another lowlife. Let's get him, boys."
The remaining Noble Monarchs ran towards their attacker, trying to use the same technique they had on Kael: overwhelming their target with more numbers.
However, the figure held his ground. He twisted and jumped with surprising agility, avoiding any pitiful hits the boys sent towards him. On his last jump, he sent a kick towards Nihir, sending the boy crashing to the ground with a groan.
He cartwheeled away just in time to send two boys ramming into each other. They also fell while clutching their faces.
Roder paused. Being the only one standing, he'd be easily beaten by the figure. He cursed and glared at Kael.
"We'll finish this next time, Smaradine! And you!" He pointed at Kael's saviour. "I'll deal with you later."
Roder walked away seething, leaving his injured friends behind. Kael managed to stand, but the sharp pain on his ribs forced him to stoop.
"Th-thanks," he gasped. "If it weren't for you, I'd probably be a goner. I'm Kael. Sorry we had meet this way. What's your name?"
The figure drew his cowl further, making sure his face couldn't be seen. He merely shook his head before taking off. Once again the image of a cloaked figure in the woods entered Kael's mind. His eyes widened.
"Wait!" he called.
But the figure had already disappeared.
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A/N
Lol. Too lazy to write a proper author's note.
But, I do hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Bye!
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