It happened one week after Horas began to hand out with Reed.
He was busy minding his own business but not everyone was going to let their budding friendship stand. Especially the jealous losers who decided to make Horas their target.
“So shrimp, I heard some amusing news. You and the bloodhound hooked up? Aren’t you a little too young for her?”
The leader of the small group questioned Horas as he cornered the younger body. Horas looked up at the teen with a bored expression on his face.
He ignored the man in front of him and kept on reading his book. He had somehow managed to get his hand on Mark’s physical copy of the coding and it was an enjoyable read.
“Hey kid, I am talking to you. Did hanging out with the bloodhound make you think you are too good for us or something? You are just asking for a beating at this point.”
The bully snatched the book out of Horas's hand and held it high up. He was getting more and more annoying by the second. It would not be long before he challenged Horas’s temper and ended up in the hospital.
“What is it that you want with me? I will report you to the authorities if you did not leave me alone.”
Horas threatened the teen back which caused the bully to become angrier than before.
“Y-You little bug. How dare you hide behind all the teachers and -”
The door opened and Reed walked in. She had promised to help Horas out today with his training and she was right on time.
Her presence caused the bully to falter and flinch. They had not expected to run into her today and she terrified the kids. Her skill with blood was enough to give her a bad reputation.
“What is going on here? Horas, do you need help?”
“N-No, it’s nothing. We were just leaving right now.”
Reed’s eyes were harsh and unwelcoming which caused the bully to run away. But Horas could read the confusion and tiredness in Reed’s eyes. The girl had not meant to frighten anyone.
The more time Horas had spent with Reed, the more he had understood her nature. She appeared scary on the outside but she was not a scary person. She was caring and a good judge of character.
But no one believed in her due to her skills involving blood. Even if she used artificial blood, people were still afraid of her.
And every time it happened, Reed looked more and more tired of life. It was easy to know why she had decided to become a villain.
Unlike the people in the adventure sector, the villains were not afraid of her and they often faced her head-on. And suddenly, Horas would not mind if Reed chose the villains again.
“What are you looking at, shrimp? You should fight back if these people are bothering you. Don’t sit back ideally.”
Reed looked offended on Horas’s behalf but her speech sounded empty to Horas. Especially since he knew how passive Reed was about herself and the comments against her
Heck, she allowed it all to collect and overwhelm her.
But the worst thing was - Horas was not sure he wanted to help Reed out. She was miserable in the academy and as an adventurer. It was killing her to be on this side.
But her going on the other side was just as bad for a lot of people and the world.
‘Let’s leave it on the fate for now. I should not interfere with the story any more than I already have. I will lose any chance to return home if I do.’
In the end, Horas was a selfish creature and he decided to go for personal profit.
……………………….
Half a year passed in a flash for Horas. He was not able to improve his physical stats much but he was getting better mentally and emotionally.
His superior knowledge as the creator of this world as well as the adult mind allowed him to grasp concepts he should not have at his age. And Horas did not care much for hiding his knowledge as well.
He was good at what he did and the people knew that as well. Many students had accepted it at this point and no longer gave Horas flank about his young age. Mostly because he was able to beat them in quizzes and had Reed Whinstone on his side.
Reed Whinstone was a ‘friend in progress’ for Horas but she did stick around and talked with Horas when she had time. She also helped him train and it helped his progress.
And that was how the half-yearly's arrived for his batch. And with them came their first dungeon exploration as a combined unit.
“Alright class, calm down. I know you are all excited but you need to calm down and listen to your instructors. You will be heading into an F-class dungeon for the first time so we will form teams with the graduation class for this visit.”
Horas was looking forward to this. The graduation class had Reed in it and she was the only friend Horas had.
“You all can check your system to know who your teammates would be. And before you ask - no, you won’t be able to change your teams in the future.”
Instructor Harris clarified before anyone could ask this question. He had been asked this too many times until now so he was prepared to answer it.
A lot of people looked sheepish and lowered their hands. Horas also looked down on his system, expecting to see a familiar name in his team.
[[[Team E: Alicia Friedler (Graduation class)
Joni Burban (Graduation class)
Tyson Bumbrey (First year)
Sylvia Fasola (First year)
Horas Spencer (First year)]]]
There was no familiar name on the list and Horas was shocked not to see Reed on his team. He looked up toward Reed and she looked surprised as well.
“Now, I know that ‘some’ of you expected to see familiar names in your groups but that will not be possible. You all might be needed to work with new people in the future so think of this as practice for such a situation.”
The graduation class’s instructor explained while she discreetly gave Horas and Reed looks.
Instructor Harris looked uncomfortable but he seemed to agree with the elder instructor. He has told Horas the same thing more than once and he finally seemed to have taken action.
Horas was not as disappointed as he was uncomfortable. He instinctively knew that something must have happened to Reed during this time to push her into becoming a villainess, but he had no idea what it could be.
“You all are to stick with your group and discord points by killing monsters. It will help you in scoring your final positioning for this half-yearly. So good luck to everyone.”
Everyone was suddenly excited to go out and hunt. Everyone had a good grasp of the other’s strengths. Horas was not surprised to see his team being disappointed with having him on it.
“Fuck, a kid? I heard the rumors but it was true? Do the teachers want us to place last?”
Alicia moaned as she examined Horas. The kid looked nothing special and will become a liability. They will have to protect the kid instead since any one person dropping out meant the group was out for the count.
“Calm down Alicia. We cannot do anything about our teams now so we will just have to adapt. I will become the kid’s caretaker while you all go out and rack points. We will just have to hope we don’t come out as last.”
Joni Burban assured as he tried to find the silver lining in the situation.
“Kid, what kind of weapon do you use? Can you conduct your mana?”
Alicia tried to calm down her temper as she looked toward the kid. Horas silently pulled up his trusted gun and Alicia’s expression dropped.
“This is doomed. Cursed. Why me? Why is it happening to me?”
Alicia groaned as she watched Horas take out a gun. The kid was not only a liability in terms of ability but a weapon as well. He had chosen the only weapon that was impossible to conduct mana through.
Maybe the teachers were taking out their grudges on her? Just what did she do wrong?
Even the other members of their team were beginning to feel sorry for themselves. It would be a miracle not to end up as last.
“Anyway, what is done is done so let’s not blame anyone today. Horas, you stay with me so that I can protect you alright?”
Joni felt sympathy for Horas. This kid was the same age as his younger sister which made Joni feel soft for him. He would protect the kid when no one else wanted to do so.
Horas watched it all happen. His teammates were having a mental breakdown over his age and his weapon choice. They were judging him without even knowing his abilities and just for that he would not help them.
Except for Joni. Joni was cool in his books, even if the man considered Horas a child.
////The test will start in one minute. All teams get ready and take your spot.///
