*Schack!*
The sound of flesh being pierced could be heard coming from the back of the outer wall of the Training Center, the product of nothing more than the red-haired young man receiving the attacks of the others, especially the blond.
It was clear that the situation was absolutely disadvantageous for him, and the expression on his face along with the beads of sweat on his body indicated that the young man was aware of this fact.
While he had managed to avoid being severely injured by the pillars of light hurled at him, he did not know how long he would be able to resist.
'...In the end, there is no other way out but to use my ability...?' Thought the red-haired young man.
Even though he was being hit again and again, he was still reluctant, it was as if he would rather keep getting hit than use his ability.
Although it was rare to come across cases like this, supers who didn't want to use their abilities, for one reason or another, did exist.
Also in this case, the red-haired young man, Vedran, had only one reason, and it was completely justified.
From the moment his ability manifested, the only thing his ability had brought him was misfortune.
He had been born in Gliedal, a country which stood out for certain aspects.
Firstly, it was one of the two countries that still remained a monarchy, and secondly but not least, it was the place where the founder of the mages, Aphra, opened the portal through which the mana reached this world.
As a result of this second fact, in a society that was deeply connected to the history of mana and mages, it was inevitable that everything developed with these two as the center.
In Gliedal, mages were the epitome of what a citizen could become, admired by the common people, an aspect that the rulers supported and promoted to increase the sense of nationalism that the citizens had.
While this was something that brought benefits to mages, the same could not be said for the other supers classes.
Especially... if you were an esper with an unusual ability that was considered "grotesque" by others, as was the case with Vedran.
At the age of 6, when his ability manifested itself, everything changed for him.
Not only did he begin to be seen as a freak by his classmates when he was in elementary school, causing him to receive a great deal of bullying and harassment, but he also had problems in his family.
His father, grandparents and uncles, all being mages, from the moment Vedran manifested his abilities, changed their attitude completely and began to treat him as if he was a mistake and a stain on the family's honor, often ignoring or insulting him until the boy would burst into tears.
Through it all, there was only one person who served as his pillar of support, a ray of light in the darkness he was going through, and that was his mother, who did not care what others thought and loved him unconditionally.
As to why she let the rest of the family behave that way with him, it was because she didn't really know what was going on, since they did it when she was away at work.
However, one day she came home early, finding the scene of her husband beating up her son.
Vedran would never forget that day, for while he knew his mother loved him, he was unaware of how far she was willing to go to protect him.
"IF YOU EVER COME NEAR MY SON AGAIN, NEXT TIME YOU WON'T LOSE JUST YOUR HAND, DID YOU HEAR ME?!" That was what his mother shouted to his father, who lay on the floor in tears and on top of a small pool of blood, coming from nothing but his right hand, the same one he had used to hit his son, now severed.
Then, without another word, his mother took all her and Vedran's belongings, and they moved to a remote location.
Unfortunately, the damage had already been done, and Vedran had already developed a complex in which he preferred to hide his ability, though of course he did not show this side of himself to his mother because he was worried that it might cause her more trouble.
In that way, Vedran grew up, slowly forgetting that he was an esper and wanting nothing more than to live a normal life with his mother, studying until he graduated and could get a job with which to support his mother in the same way she supported him.
However, two years ago, when he was still in his last years of high school, his mother developed a strange mana-related illness, although at first they were able to pay for medication for it, that situation did not last forever.
In desperation, Vedran got multiple jobs, all in order to pay for his mother's medicines, but as her condition worsened, the medicines became more and more expensive, until it got to the point where even after dropping out of school to get more jobs. he couldn't pay for them.
As for the treatment to be able to cure her once and for all, even if he sold everything he owned and worked for several years, he would not be able to pay for it.
Finally, this disease left his mother bedridden in a hospital, leaving him unable to do anything but watch his mother's life wither away.
However, at that moment, when all his options had been exhausted, he received a visit from an unknown person, his grandmother on his mother's side, who learned of her daughter's illness from some acquaintances at the hospital.
It was the first time Vedran had seen her, but because he was desperate for help, he ended up telling her the whole story, to which he received a response.
"Why the hell are you trying to solve this by thinking like a normal person? You have a gift, take advantage of it!"
After saying that, her grandmother then proceeded to pay for her mother's medications, but on three conditions.
First, that Vedran resume her studies.
Second, that he began to live as an esper.
Third, that he enter the Eitsirc Academy.
So, thanks to these conditions, but mostly driven by his desire to save his mother, Vedran gave his all, his efforts culminating in him entering the academy.
He thought he would be out of trouble once he got in thanks to the fame the academy had as a paradise for supers, but to his misfortune, he had caught the attention of the wrong people.
'...There's no other way, I'll have to use it.' Vedran thought, the energy inside his body beginning to build up in his hands.
The young blond, noticing the change in energy fluctuation, also began to insert more mana into his magic circle before smiling and saying satisfied, "It's about time!"
*BAM!*
"Argh!"
"!"
At that moment, just as the confrontation was about to reach its climax, suddenly, a figure which no one knew how to detect in time appeared.
Immediately, the figure lunged towards one of the students attacking Vedran before throwing a strong punch, causing him to shoot a few meters in another direction.
But as if that wasn't enough, the figure didn't stop there, but seizing its moment, leapt towards another of the students, clinging tightly to his neck.
Seeing this, the other students quickly moved to help, but also taking advantage of this opportunity, Vedran managed to connect several strong blows, leaving another student out of combat and two more in a vulnerable state.
The blond student's expression then changed to one of anger, turning his gaze towards the figure that had suddenly appeared, "Stay out of this, this is a personal matter!"
Hearing this, the figure, or rather, Jay, responded with another question, loosening his grip on his victim slightly, "Oh, is that so?"
He had simply lashed out at what appeared to be the bad guys, but if it was that perhaps he had gotten himself into a problem where the redhead had done something wrong and the others were punishing him, then he had already made a mistake by interrupting.
Since Jay was willing to dialogue, the blond student then didn't hesitate to set the record straight, starting by using his famous back-up, "Of course we are, we're teaching him a lesson for turning down the Baron's invitation! So, if you don't want to become his enemy either-"
"G-Grahh-h!"
"So you really were the bad guys!"
Before the blond could finish speaking, Jay had already resumed his task of knocking the student unconscious in his arms, which he accomplished in short order, dropping him to the ground.
"...Well, so be it then!" Said the blond student as a frustrated expression appeared on his face.
As he finished saying that, the pillars of light stopped aiming at Vedran and changed their target to Jay.
Unwilling to take a direct hit from those light bodies, Jay quickly picked up the body of the student he had knocked unconscious again, using him as a shield.
"Come on, give me everything you've got, let's see if you dare!" Shouted Jay, holding the body of the unknown student in front of him.
Although Jay's words indicated that he was not afraid, his actions gave him away.
As for the other students who had been focused on Jay, they could only think one thing.
'How low...'
But of course, they wouldn't dare say this out loud, as what they were doing wasn't very dignified either.
At that moment, to everyone's surprise, the pillars of light suddenly shot towards Jay.
However, Jay moved, along with his shield, to the side, barely managing to avoid the pillars of light.
"Woah, that sure is a good leader you guys have huh." Jay said with a smirk on his face.
Not wanting to wait any longer, Jay then dropped his shield and lunged towards the blond student.
"Young master!"
Immediately, the surrounding students became concerned, but before they could do anything, Vedran took the opportunity to knock out another pair.
On the other hand, Jay moved even closer, being only a couple of meters away from the blond pupil, and with no one around to help him, the impact was imminent.
"Pfft." Letting out a scoffing sound, the blond then flicked his wand again, causing the magic circle beneath his feet to condense into a certain shape, that of an oversized needle made of golden energy, "See if you feel like interfering in other people's business after this!"
Without another word, the blond then propelled the needle in the direction of Jay, at a speed no less than that of the aforementioned esper.
Due to the sheer speed at which Jay was moving and mostly because of the short distance, it would be difficult for him to be able to stop in his tracks... or at least that would be the case if he kept moving on the ground.
The next moment, just before the needle touched him, a small swirl of wind formed in front of Jay, at the height of his knees.
Then, Jay suddenly stepped into that small wind whirlpool and leapt upwards towards the blond student, completely dodging the needle while increasing his speed.
This took everyone by surprise, including Vedran, who had originally thought Jay was a pugilist thanks to his great agility and speed.
"You'd better grit your teeth!"
With those words, Jay, who was still in mid-air, suddenly turned his body before another wind whirlpool formed under his feet, again using it to propel himself, this time straight down, which was where the blond student was.
*BAM!*
"ACK!"
The blond couldn't help but let out a groan of pain from the hard kick he had received, which even sent him rolling for several feet on the ground.
"Young master!!!" The surrounding students shouted again, this time running without a second thought in the direction of the blond student.
*BAM!
"Ouch!"
"Damn!"
However, Vedran immediately stopped them, using his great physical strength to throw them backwards, forcing them to stay.
As for Jay, following his style of not wanting to waste any opportunity, he approached the blond before lifting him up by his shirt and starting to hit him over and over again.
That way, in just a few minutes, the situation had completely changed.
Before, it was clear that Vedran was in trouble, but if anyone were to see this scene, they would definitely think that Jay and Vedran were the bullies.
