Chapter 13
Well, it was more like a one-sided beat down, but it doesn't change the fact that this is the first instance he has ever gravely injured someone before, in both lives. It also gave him clarity on how drastically his strength outweighs that of the average student, despite the education they may have received before. Also, the remarks made by the students around him during the fight helped him realize that the school is not simply meant to facilitate the growth of magical prowess. Given that there seems to be an exam to become a second year student, and that there seems to be a physically-oriented exam, it seems that the school tackles a variety of subjects within its walls. His main objective at the moment is to lay low and wait for Asuna and Erin to show their faces inside of the cafeteria.
Ruto couldn't help but smile as the pale tender face of the blonde cat-girl he aimed to make happy appeared in his mind. Thinking of her in the situation he had gotten himself into only made him affirm his aim as he now vowed to himself to protect and comfort her... along with Erin.
'Ah, there they are!' Ruto began to run up to the familiar faces of Erin and Asuna, of which he spotted at the complete opposite side of the cafeteria.
'Is it just me, or are there a lot of people looking at me,' Ruto thought to himself ominously.
He had hoped to escape the focus of the school by not sticking around in the same location immediately after the incident. If he could simply keep his appearance from circulating too much, he'd be fine, right? Well, even if his ident.i.ty were to spread, he was sure he'd be able to reason with the school given the fact that Ruko had instigated the conflict. Ruto had simply seen it through.
Of course, Ruto realized its was a naive sentiment as his instincts began to alarm him of a dangerous presence approaching him. His body seemed to react to the fear that began to seize him as his body went rigid, but his body's reaction only seemed to scare him more.
'Why can't I move?!' Ruto's mind began enter a state of panic as he realized he had lost the ability to move his body.
Not only had he lost the ability to move his body, his senses similarly began to fade. For some reason, a terror far worse began to seize control of his mind as his ears began to ring as if to protest the foreign existence. Abandoning him once more, his vision began to fade in response to the fear
As if the world had ceased to contain heat, an odd numbness spread from the center of his chest to the rest of his body. However, unlike his initial fear from being unable to move, Ruto felt like he heard someone call out to him as he calmly allowed the strange numb feeling to spread. The numbness followed an almost planned path as it slowly spread towards Ruto's extended right arm, resulting in a sudden chill to permeate throughout his pet.i.te body. However, as the feeling spread towards Ruto's head, his consciousness faded into a dark abyss.
[You have failed to resist the abnormal status effects u003cFearu003e, u003cParalysisu003e, and u003cDrowsinessu003e.]
An ominous stone fortress stood tall on a cliff-side overlooking a Cyrul Family estate within the Kingdom of All, one of the only countries that allow both demi-humans and humans to live together in harmony. Outside of this Kingdom, demi-humans are forcibly enslaved and believed to be lesser or even evil according to human religion. The Cyrul Family was headed by a long-eared elf with the t.i.tle Duke of the Wailing Woods because of his achievements in quelling the sudden chaos caused by monsters emerging from out of a newly emerged dungeon. Not only was he granted control of the Wailing Woods, he was given authority over the ominous stone fortress which is known as the maximum-security prison, 'Siren's Edge.'
"Status," a raspy voice echoed within a silent cell surrounded by four aging stone walls, scarred by ancient stains so vile that it makes one wish not to think about their origins.
Unlike other intelligent creatures, this voice couldn't conjure up this well-known screen, 'Status.' The voice had that ability ripped away from him the moment he was shackled by curse-ridden chains. It was a consequence of his inability to properly perceive the world around him, his failure to acknowledge the differences between the people of the world simply because one was called a commoner and another called a n.o.ble. He foolishly attempted to claim a peaceful life as his own when he didn't even understand the rules of the world he lived in.
Why do people practice their skills in this world? Why do the people of this world need magic to survive? The answer is simple; the world is dangerous. Much more dangerous than the voice had known before it ended up in the cell. The voice had been in this room for ten years before...
Before his human self pa.s.sed away. This voice had been a reincarnated individual, his soul escaping the confines of his original body as well as his original world. However, now that his soul had been moved to a new world, it not longer showed the same l.u.s.ter it had when he first had been chosen as a reincarnated individual. Therefore, his soul did not move to a new world once more, for that would strain his soul too much now. His human self is dead.
His cell was 'cleaned,' which meant his body was simply freed from the cursed chains before he was tossed over the side of the cliff that supported the cell he was previously confined within. What of the secrets he held within his body, but never discovered? What of his origin, his birth in this world? Was it all just a meaningless prologue?
"Such a shame," a woman muttered, her words scattering into the winds of another world as if they had never been said.
Indeed, a shame, but life must go on. Deep within the cavern-type dungeon of the Wailing Woods, a small white bundled wire-like creature bared its single fang at the viscous barrier that confined it within its first home. Despite being fed and protected by this barrier, the small bundle couldn't help but feel as if it had tricked this barrier thing into nursing the small bundle before it inevitably turned on the unsuspecting barrier. Of course, this was only the beginning of the the tricks this bundle would play. It would trick the world into submission.
Soon, the bundle tore a long straight line across the barrier, creating an opening large enough for it to slither its way out. The bundle pushed itself through this opening, dim light rus.h.i.+ng into its ruby-red eyes as it took its first breath of fresh air. Within the dim light of the crystals glittering throughout the cavern, the form of a snow white snake with red-eyes was revealed.
"SsSsssSss~" the snake hissed pleasantly, as if it were purring to itself in pleasure from its successful escape.
Why shouldn't it feel so good about itself? It was obviously the greatest snake around, although it really wasn't quite sure what the criteria for that t.i.tle was. However, as it was thinking something along the lines of that, the snake began to truly take in its surroundings. Beneath the hatchling were many more eggs, or r.e.t.a.r.ded barriers as the snake may have you call them, but it made sense for them to be there since it was probably a bit odd for a snake to have only a few eggs. Wait, where did these eggs come from again?
For some reason, the snake's scales began to quiver as an ominous thought crossed its tiny snake mind. It could 'feel' the dangerous creature looming behind its small body, its yellow eyes eyeing the tiny snake curiously. The tiny snake may have been both blind and deaf, but true snakes are all about trickery. If the snake couldn't see or hear, it would simply trick itself into believing that it could. The curtains are beginning to part as the opening act to a confusing tale about a blind and deaf 'boy' begins.