Alex quickly took a bath and refreshed himself completely. He quickly changed into his academy uniform: a white shirt beneath a white coat, white trousers, and a white tie.
He smoothed his uniform and looked at his reflection in the mirror. His long black hair, tinged blue at the ends, was pulled into a single ponytail at the back of his head. His face glowed with energy and was unblemished by any marks despite how badly he had been beaten up by goblins yesterday inside the gate, and no sign of it remained on his face. He winced, remembering the events, and quickly shoved the thoughts away. He continued to trace his eyes across his reflection in the mirror, and a small smile formed on his lips as he flexed his shoulders left and right.
He was ready. Ready for whatever the world was going to throw at him. He would rise above everything, and he would become strong like the two men he had seen on that battlefield inside whatever space that he had been in. He would not stop until he reached their heights. He would become brave and strong like them until his last breath. An image of a man lying dead on the ground with a smile on his face appeared in his mind, and Alex wanted nothing more than to die with a smile and strength, fighting until the bitter end like the first man he had seen who he had thought was throwing a spear at him.
And now that he had the power to level up like others, he would not let anyone belittle him, and he would not be shaken by anyone's words. He would make sure that people thought twice before they dared to taunt him. He would show them by proving himself and winning the duel against Eldric, which would happen in a month's time. He was not confident in winning it.
A loud slap sounded across the room. Alex had slapped both his cheeks hard.
I am going to win. No point in thinking negatively, he told himself. Even if he was not completely confident, he would give his best and win the duel. That should be his motto from now on, and he would not allow any negative thinking to take over him.
With a clenched fist, Alex looked at his azure eyes in the mirror. "I am no longer the old me," he muttered, and nodded his head to affirm himself.
He glanced at the clock; it was 9:44 in the morning. He had quickly finished bathing and changing into his uniform. Since he was ready to go to the academy, there was no need to linger any longer in his dorm room.
He quickly turned on his heel, made his way toward the door, slipped on his socks and shoes, and exited the room with a clack of the door closing behind him.
***
Alex ran fast along the path of the academy, increasing his pace with each passing second. He would have been more careful at any other time, but since he was going to be late for the morning prayer and wanted to reach before it started, he kept pushing himself faster.
Another reason he was running this fast was that the path was almost completely empty, save for a few students who were also running mad toward the main academy building. But there were so few of them that he didn't have to worry about bumping into anyone, and seeing them running only made him run faster too. They were mostly first years, with a few from the senior years mixed in, but he didn't linger long enough on their uniforms to figure out which years they belonged to.
He was busy focusing on himself. The coat he had buttoned up flapped wildly in the wind, and his hair, which had been pulled into a single ponytail, had already come completely loose, whipping left and right in the air. He would have liked to stop and tie his hair back into a tight, single ponytail again, but he didn't, since that would lead him to being late.
His hair continued to move left and right, mostly flying back behind him. He bit his lip, trying to stop himself from worrying too much about it. He kept thinking about how he had just washed his hair, and how it was already getting messy, and how he would end up entering the hall looking unkempt and would only draw attention to himself.
While he was busy thinking about all these things, someone appeared beside him in a blur of shadow and fell into step with him. He only caught the sound of someone appearing and was about to turn his head to see who it was, but he stopped himself, since he no longer needed to.
"Kid, you're getting late on such an important day," Principal Toren said cheekily, his voice full of amusement. Alex could imagine the smile on the principal's face without even having to turn his head toward Toren.
Alex didn't stop at the sound of Toren's voice. He was considering asking for a lift to the academy, since Toren could magically disappear and appear anywhere, and had already transported Alex from the washroom to outside the dormitory building after dealing with Eldric.
So it was only natural that it wouldn't take much effort for him to do it again, and seeing how powerful Toren was, Alex knew the man could transport him straight to the assembly hall. But he stopped himself before he could ask for the transport, because he wasn't sure of the principal's nature even though the man acted mostly nonchalant.
Also, if he were to appear alongside the principal in the assembly hall, things would only become even worse. Alex could already imagine the reaction of the students if they saw him appear inside the hall along with the principal, their eyes would turn wide and jaws would drop to the floor, questioning the partiality and making things worse.
Though, it was only Alex's imagination, since whether the principal would even agree to transport him to the assembly hall in the first place was an entirely different matter. He was being too wishful and optimistic for no reason.
"Ouch!" Alex screamed as his ears were suddenly pulled from the side. The culprit was none other than Principal Toren.
Alex turned his head toward Toren and glared at him, and only then did Toren let go of his ears. As Toren released his hold, the pain immediately disappeared, as if he had healed it before letting go. Alex was sure he was right about that assumption, since his ear no longer hurt at all.
"Boy, don't be late to the assembly hall today if you don't want to miss out on the fun," Toren said, and with a wink, disappeared from his spot.
"Wai-" Alex's words died on his lips as the principal disappeared too quickly, without waiting for a response from Alex.
What is the principal thinking of doing? Alex thought, and instead of lingering on his thoughts any longer, he focused on reaching the assembly hall even faster. Whatever the principal was planning, it was something he had to make sure he did not miss out on, especially since the principal himself had told him so.
***
Sorry for posting after such a long time. I am currently on hiatus due to Dashain festival (Similar to Christmas festival). Dashain is our main festival in Nepal. Forgot to tell you all before about hiatus hoping that you would see my hiatus notice on my patreon page cause there I made a post and haven't touched my laptop much at all other than checking for patreon and few rare comments. I am sorry for not being able to inform you all.
Also, I am still on hiatus. Barely manage to squish in new chapter today.
Happy dashain to everyone. Good wishes to you all from Nepal.