"!!!" Theo widened his eyes when he saw a shadow appear in front of him right before he used his clone to take the hit.
Boom.
The field filled with smoke as all people wondered what happened to Theo. No one from the upperclassmen knew Theo's real strength. Even someone like Alea could only roughly calculate his strength, so there was no telling if he had the skill to block this attack.
Yet, when the smoke was about to be cleared, there were four shadows inside the smoke, and Theo was obviously one of them as he had retracted his clone before the smoke disappeared.
However, the one in front of him, who took all the attacks, was not the instructor or even Alea. Instead, it was the second year, one of Theo's bullies, Sihan Raskaka.
His left hand was holding a kind of sword's handle that seemed to produce a translucent yellow light, forming a five-foot length and two-fold wide rectangular shield.
To his left was the instructor. He looked at Sihan with amazement as he could react faster than him.
To his right was Alea. Instead of glaring at the one who broke the rule, she was even more interested in Theo.
From what she understood, Theo was far weaker than Laust, yet his trick allowed him to fight him on equal ground. However, this raised another concern in her heart as she couldn't help but say, "You are impressive, but I am afraid that you will have trouble from now on."
Theo nodded politely, not answering her. Alea came from a wealthy family, the same as Laust. If he said his purpose to her, he was afraid that the word would reach Laust's ears or, even worse, his family. It would become even more troublesome than the current situation.
"Well, good luck. It's not like I can help everyone." She let out a long sigh.
Theo then turned to Sihan, wondering the reason Sihan helped him.
'Why? This guy often bullied me. Although, at this point, I know that he and Laust are bullying me due to a certain reason, I still don't understand why he protects me.' Theo frowned but still thanked him. "Senior, thank you for protecting me."
Sihan turned around and looked down at him. "You are simply too weak."
"…" Theo understood that as well, but this was the first time he took one step forward, so he felt a bit offended when someone told him off like that.
Taking a deep breath, he replied. "Yes. I am aware."
After hearing his answer, Sihan raised his shield as the yellow light disappeared, turning it into a palm-sized block.
Laust's expression told him that he realized his mistake and decided to return to his own field.
Meanwhile, the instructor furrowed his eyebrows and said, "Laust Lange. According to the academy rule, you are suspended for three days. Do you want to say something?"
Laust clenched his teeth. He knew that even with connection, it was hard to bail him out in this situation as long as the current country's president had yet to change. He even punished his own son mercilessly, let alone a second-generation like him.
His eyes were everywhere, so the moment he noticed this matter, it would surely blow up. Even if his Lange Family tried to cover the media, it was impossible.
Fighting here would prove to be more detrimental to him, and it would even reach his family's ears. The only escape for him was Theo's change. As much as he hated it, he admitted his mistake while shaking his head. "No, I do not. I accept the punishment."
He politely bowed to the instructor and turned around.
Theo couldn't contain his smile when he saw Laust leaving the gym. 'Not only did I gain so much in this battle, but I could also see that Laust gets suspended. He may have the information about the change of my strength, but he doesn't know that I have a God Blessing. They will become more curious, but at the same time, I can do much more things since they won't interfere like how they used to be.'
[God of Mischief likes how you played with the situation.]
Theo took a deep breath before thanking the instructor. "Thank you for standing up for me, Instructor."
Rektus patted Theo's shoulder while smiling. "As long as you are in the school ground, I doubt they will do anything, but your action is your responsibility. I won't do anything to help you outside the school."
"I understand."
"Go to the medical office and get your treatment before coming to my class."
"Yes. I will do so." When he was about to walk, his shoulder was grabbed by Alea.
The two guys turned to her with a confused expression.
"My friend has a healing ability. I will call her to treat you." She smiled, looked back, and waved her hand to her friend.
It turned out that the friend beside her this whole time was the healer. Her friend could only facepalm before coming to her.
She had pink hair that tied into a pigtail.
"Sit down first. It will only take a minute."
"Thank you very much." Theo politely bowed to her and Alea.
"Don't mind it. I am just doing it because of this good girl." She pointed her finger at Alea before placing her right hand on the injured hand. Her hand radiated a green light. The light wasn't too bright and also wasn't too dim, but more importantly, Theo could feel energy rushing to his injured hand as if a thousand ants were swarming that area.
He endured the feeling without a single groan.
"Still, you are impressive, little guy. To think you can defeat Laust Lange, who is supposed to be one of the strongest in the first year."
"I was lucky. He underestimated me, leaving all those openings for someone like me to exploit." He replied humbly. "Besides, this was just a physical spar. If the skills were involved, I would have lost."
Alea became even more interested in Theo. She wanted to see the strength of the man that recognized all this and even used all kinds of tricks.
"In any case, you have offended the Lange Family. They will surely not like it." Alea warned him again.
"I know. Thank you for your concern."
Alea glanced at her friend, who seemed to have finished treating him, and turned around. "Alright. We are going back."
The pink-haired girl made a weird smile and rose from the floor. "I am going then."
"Yes. Thank you for treating me." Theo thanked her again and watched them until they were on the other field. He then looked at the instructor, wondering what he had to say.
"You have potential, but don't be arrogant. I am your instructor, not your parents, so you will need to deal with whatever comes your way. Since your wound has recovered, you can wait until your friends come."
Theo nodded. "I will be washing my face first."
Rektus only waved his hand, telling him to go.
Theo walked to the bathroom in the gym to wash his face.
After that, he looked at himself in the mirror, feeling a bit exhausted. The adrenaline from earlier had completely gone as his hands began shaking.
'Laust's anger will surely go to the couple first and there is a possibility that those two will come to kill me again. Well, I love technology nowadays. Due to how easy you can take video and upload it on the internet, it's hard for someone to do bad things openly. As for bullying…Haiz, this is why I hate humanity. I will do anything to reach my goal even if I need to use the method I hate.'
Theo narrowed his eyes and fell into deep thought. 'The mystery remains. Why does Lange Family target me? From how Laust reacted, it wasn't his will to bully me. The only possibility was his family… The problem is what they want from me. I have nothing.'
His apartment was cheap and had nothing valuable. His strength was at the bottom of society until recently. And no one had yet to realize his current blessing.
'That leaves…My parents and my brother. However, my parents passed away when I was a kid, and my brother left me for some reason and never came back despite promising me. Wait a minute.'
Theo suddenly remembered one weird thing that his brother gave to him before he disappeared. It was a pocket watch. He told him to take the watch with him to meet someone if he was in a situation with no way out. He would know the way as soon as he opened it.
'Do they want the pocket watch? I am dying to open it, but it's better to believe in Big Brother.' Theo furrowed his eyebrows. 'Another reason will be the grudge between them and my brother, but I don't have a memory of him offending such a family. In other words, I think it's best to assume the reason is the pocket watch. All the more reason why I shouldn't hand it to them.'
Theo scratched the back of his head. "Things are going to be complicated soon. Besides, why was the one bullying me protecting me? Did he want my pocket watch too?"
"Either way, I will need to deal with all those eventually. Let's take one step at a time." Shaking his head one more time to restore his focus to the training, he left the toilet, ready for the training.
There were already around twenty people standing on the field while the others kept coming.
Noticing his gaze, the instructor turned to him and nodded, signaling him to gather around him.
Theo blended in and waited for the others to come.
After two more minutes, the instructor finally began the class.
"Alright. For today, you will…"