Chapter 2 It is said that God is above us, for he is divine. Devil is within us, for he is malign. Is it right to appease a God beyond our reach, or amuse a Devil and maketh benign?

The bullies pushed me down in glee, and one of them radiated an aura of fear, forcing me to meekly shiver in place. Holiday’s coming soon, and they’re trying to squeeze whatever sense of superiority they can get before they return home.

“You’re gonna treat your friends to a meal today. What do you say, Aaron?”

“… No.”

A punch came thundering down onto my head, producing a thud that was clearly audible to everyone else in the canteen.

“I didn’t hear you properly just now. Say that again?”

“No!“

Again, judgement fell upon-

Alright, I’ll stop sounding stupid. I had to readjust my body to absorb the impact so that I don’t end up breaking their fingers. Nothing too difficult, as I have plentiful practice so far.

It’s lunch time and there were numerous students mingling about, but nobody interfered. If anything, a few of them had an annoyed look on their faces as our little scene was disturbing their peace.

Everyone here was between the age of 10 to 16; they were all kids. The staff don’t count, as they knew not to mess with my business. All in all, it was expected of them to be self-centred. Does that mean everyone here are terrible people? Not really.

Most of them had aspirations to become hero and heroines. It was, after all, a combat-specific school. The main problem was that most, if not all, focused so much on trying to ‘see the big picture’ and acting mature that they don’t notice the details around them.

They aimed for recognition and attention. Me being bullied here was a daily occurrence, and interfering would only get them odd looks. So, they don’t bother.

Also doesn’t help that, to their knowledge, my Power made me immune to minor physical injuries.

Typical flaw of young Inquisitors – they all believed themselves fated to achieve something big, but ultimately failed to find the footholds to ascend there.

It’s also the first thing I’d have to drill into the sister, Amelia’s head, should I deem her worthy.

The brother, on the other hand, was too self-conscious. His constant worry about other people’s opinions made him doubt himself, creating an endless cycle down low-self-esteem road.

Whack.

I flung myself to the side to entertain these two by exaggerating the force of their punch. I think it worked, but by now, I’m getting bored of this shit. Just as I was about to bolt out of there, one of the only few exceptions to my previous rant, stepped forward as the hero all the others wanted to be.

Funnily enough, the bullies intentionally led me to the area furthest from her, despite being a year senior. It took a while for the scene to travel across the wall of students, but when it did, she came running.

“Stop it! Hey! Why are you always doing that to him?”

“What? We’re friends! We’re just playing around.”

“It’s none of your business, go away, you’re not even in our class.”

“Just stop! Nobody wants to see you two ganging up on him.”

There were two main powers here at play. Firstly, she had the moral high ground. Some of the students who were annoyed showed signs of agreeing with her statement.

Secondly, she was a cute girl currently pouting and upset.

The two snobs, who were laughably weaker than the challenger, buckled beneath the condemning stares of the crowd. Unable to withstand the embarrassment, they backed off with a “tch” and a snort.

She felt indignant, but after noticing me getting up, she prioritised my wellbeing instead of her own discontent. Like many times before, she dragged me to the staffroom to make a complaint.

Honestly, I’m impressed. She genuinely wanted to get me out of the centre of attention, so I’d stop feeling ashamed, and in the process find a solution to the ongoing abuse.

I gave myself 10 weeks to assess the twins, but it was this particular student that interested me the most. Her behaviour remained consistent whether or not she succeeds in her heroic actions, and she helps whomever she could.

“Jeez, don’t let them punch you like that for nothing! Even if you’re not hurt, it’s not good for you.”

“I don’t get injured, but it still hurts, you know…”

“Then fight back if you want to stop being hurt!”

“So, I should hurt them instead?”

Even as she was leading me to the staff room, she turned her head to face me. Black short hair, blue energetic eyes. She had a face that simply can’t hide her emotions, and it was easy to notice her anger rising.

“Don’t use that as an excuse! If you did something, they wouldn’t be this mean to you. Saying that you don’t want to hurt them is just-”

“Pathetic?”

I’ve been goading her for months, but she was as headstrong as a wall. In her eyes, there were no contempt nor frustration. She felt no guilt or pity at my answers. She simply wanted the best for everyone around her.

“Yes, but it shouldn’t be you saying that. Don’t give up on yourself!”

Appearance aside, she was similar to my previous apprentice, so much so that I had to suppress my nostalgia to remain objective.

Naturally, I dug into her background too, where I found a few useful stories.

Hazel Frae, a splendid candidate if not for two things.

It didn’t take long for us to reach the staffroom, but it took ages for the ensuing argument to finish. Only the ringing of the bell, which signalled the end of lunch time, could persuade Hazel to leave it be for the day.

I felt sorry for the teacher, who was stuck between a rock and a hard place. We smiled at each other before parting, one of us awkwardly, the other one fearfully.

The next lesson was Practical Combat. Normally, students were set in different groups depending on different parameters, and spar with or against each other. However, this upcoming lesson will be a little special, and I had an idea in mind.

I had 2 weeks left to make my decision, and it was about time I acted up a little.

“As we promised, we’ll be fighting against monsters today. We’ll assign you guys into a group of 6, to fight against a Gritter. Don’t underestimate the monster – it might be the weakest rank, but one wrong move from you will lead to serious injuries.”

For this exciting occasion, our usual combat instructor was assisted by 5 other members of staff, all of whom were defence- or speed-oriented fighters.

“Your group will have a leader assigned by us, and we expect you to act as a team. Yes, Rachel?”

“Mr. Durohan, can we choose our own members?”

“No. It’s dangerous for you to fight a true enemy. If you do it with a group of close friends and mix-match roles, you’d never take it seriously, making it even more dangerous. Plus, in battle, there are times when you have to work with a stranger.

There are 35 of you, so one group will be a member short. With that in mind, go to the teacher you’re assigned with when you hear your name called. Mr. Phen’s group – Peter, Grace, Zarah...

… Lastly, my group. You five, with me. We’ll be going into the fifth room.”

After passing the hall that resembled a golfing range, where each booth had a door that led to a standard sized space of various environments, the six of us – the teacher, myself, Amelia, Kelvin, Hina and Callum – entered the stage where a monster awaited us, chained on all six of its leg to seal its movements.

The monster looked like a spider, but it was the size of a carriage. The grass-covered plain we were in could only fit around 4 basketball courts. Needless to say, with the monster at the middle, there weren’t enough room to feel comfortably safe. Its body had loose, short fur that gleamed like metal, suggesting that they’re neither soft nor welcoming. Three mandibles formed a triangular shape surrounding its mouth. It had eyes like a fly and a scalic tail like a scorpion.

Finally, someone sat on the floor to the right corner, unnoticed by the students other than myself.

“Aaron will be leading the group. You’ll be expected to follow his instructions, and work as a team. You have 5 minutes to work out a plan before I release the monster. If I call your name, it means you’re out because the monster would’ve dealt a fatal attack on you. Your group has three monsters to defeat by the end of this lesson, so work hard. Your time starts now.”

I knew this was coming, but not the others. Obviously, they weren’t content with a few things. Firstly, they were given instructions without any hints – they don’t know anything about the monster they were facing.

Secondly, they were assigned unfavourable time constrictions. At best, we were only vaguely aware of each other’s Powers and skill, so coming up with a plan within 5 minutes was difficult to say the least.

Lastly, it was me.

“Why the hell is Aaron the leader? Mr. Durohan, that’s unfair!”

Callum was the most vocal when it came to protesting against my leader position. He tried to utilise volume against the teacher, but when he realised Durohan was completely ignoring him, he turned his aggression towards me instead. On the side, Hina attempted to hide her nervousness with her sarcasm, mumbling about how ‘great’ everything will be with me in charge.

The twins, Amelia and Kelvin, stayed silent, but the looks in their eyes conveyed their confusion and dissatisfaction clearly.

None of them recognised the fact that time is precious, and they’re wasting it.

They refused to acknowledge the potential danger of the monster they’re facing.

It might’ve been a Gritter, but these children had no experience fighting an actual monster. They still thought it was a classroom learning environment.

Do you have hope in our little team of misfits?

The team lacked communication and unity. The sense of structure wasn’t there and the leadership was missing. It was bound to fail from the start. When I asked them to describe their abilities, all they did was to ignore me. 5 minutes passed by quickly, but our fight lasted even shorter than that.

Durohan released the chains one by one, then leapt away from the scene, signalling the start of the fight. The first to charge in was the most overconfident of us all, and he felt it unnecessary to think before acting.

I shook my head inwardly. It’s time for them to learn.