Chapter 8: Sorry, Please Be My Shields!
One boy walked up, he had short blonde hair that was styled into a combover. He looked like your typical stuck up rich kid.
"You're the new kid in S-Class, my name is Ryan Kriege of the Kriege Corp., what family are you from?" the boy named Ryan said. His tone annoyed me, so I wanted to end the conversation quickly. I also noticed the emotions of four of the kids were Anxious and Angry.
Another four shared the Bored and Annoyed emotions, and the last four were all unique. Michelle and Annabelle had Curious and Anxious. This led me to understand the group dynamic. The kids who were angry with me were all a part of this Ryan kid's faction, the annoyed kids must be the faction opposite of Ryan's who just didn't like him, and the last four were all independent or dichotomies consisting of groups of two.
"My name is Alistair, I'm an orphan." I simply replied, and went back to looking at the others, ignoring the boy. I made eye contact with one kid who seemed to be the leader of the second faction.
[Mary Frank]
[Talent: Winter's Bite]
[Emotional State: Annoyed, Excited, and Curious]
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This Mary girl seemed like the leader since she stood half a step in-front of the other three kids who had similar emotions as her. People will really take on the emotions of those around them just because of shared interest. It's like a collective mind these cliques share, and honestly I thought at this moment it was a little pathetic. Independent thought and emotion should be what people strive for, especially children. Wanting to 'fit in' so badly you renounce free thought? These people disappointed me. After checking Ryan's information, I thought it was a little funny that his talent was [Burning Fists], a direct opposite of Mary's.
While I started to stare off into the distance, Ryan seemingly thought I stopped seeing him entirely, and was looking through him as if he were not there. His veins bulged, and he snarled his teeth as he said, "You dirty orphan, you've besmirched my honor by ignoring me, I challenge you to a spar."
However, what he was met with was my total ignorance. I didn't even look him in the eye, as I walked towards Michelle and Annabelle, I greeted them. "It's nice seeing you two again, thank you for the card, it helped me pay for my entrance fees today." I said, with a smile. Greeting them like old friends, to which Ryan became even more scrunched, as he tried to reel back his killing intent. I noticed a new emotion on him, Jealousy.
'The poor boy loves one of these women, and it can't be this cold stoic Annabelle, so this must be the boy Michelle had a falling out with.' I looked at Michelle, and said out loud, "I can see why you were having trouble deciding what to do, to be fair he definitely is good looking but that personality is just horrible."
Ryan exploded, and he dashed at me, but didn't make it within five feet of me. Annabelle appeared from his side, faster than he could react, and held a sheath up to his neck which still held her sword.
"If this were my blade you would have killed yourself on my edge in a fit of rage. You need to learn to better control your emotions, if you want to become a real hero one day." She held it there for a moment, before lowering her sheath, when she noticed that he had calmed down a little bit. "This guy here is my benefactor, so I won't allow you to attack him. You can challenge him to a spar, but if you attack him outside of the ring, I will deal with you myself."
I smirked at Ryan, who had his head down like a sad puppy. Poor kid, didn't realize how I knew Annabelle, nor how I managed to make a connection where she would be willing to protect me. I didn't care about his embarrassment, I just moved on. I looked at Mary and bowed my head slightly, as a sign of respect and a greeting. She just smiled real big then said, "Hahaha, Ryan, I don't think we can haze him. We are better just moving on, our dear tyrant Annabelle won't allow it, so let's just get him to his room. It was nice to meet you, Alistair. Goodnight everyone." She said, before walking away with her entourage. They split up going left and right at the top of the stairs, which made me understand boys slept in one wing, girls in the other.
I walked with Annabelle and Michelle, leaving Ryan and his cohorts to simmer at the bottom of stairs like losers. The two girls showed me to an empty room in the boy's wing, and showed me around my new room. It was very large, with a huge king sized bed, with a large wooden frame with the curtains that hung from the sides. There were two huge windows on either side of the bed, there was a bathroom at the left end of the room, with a walk in closet inside along with a washer/dryer combo in my room. This was truly too luxurious for me, who had lived in poverty for two lives.
"I didn't think you would get into the same class as me, to be honest, I figured you just had a simple talent that let you observe people's thoughts." Michelle said, as she sat on the edge of my bed, swinging her feet and looking at me.
"It's not that I am able to read minds. I am able to read emotions, with a little deduction I am able to piece it together." I didn't bother to tell them that my ability was actually [Emotional Manipulation], not just the ability to read. There was a small seed of fear that people would be more wary around me, if they knew I would eventually be able to influence the emotions of others, they might see me as some sort of devil. I shook my head to clear these thoughts.
"That's still cool, you would do really well in like politics, or maybe being a lawyer. How did you get into S-Class though? It's only available to people that score really well in the entrance exam, or have really unique and powerful talents." Annabelle asked. They were both looking at me for an answer, probably imagining something incredible. To their disappointment, I just told them I fought some old guy and lost. He took pity on me and recommended me to S-Class.
"Oh, he was also the Guild master of Daydream. I don't know if maybe that had something to do with it." I added nonchalantly.
"WHAT!" they both shouted at the same time. The looks on their faces were indeed worth the wait.
Laughing, I told them what happened in detail, and after they listened they were still amazed.
"You fought the Guild master of Daydream, someone who once was a sword saint, and managed to impress him to the point of not only being invited to his guild later but also getting a recommendation into S-Class? That's too much, and your talent isn't even combat oriented! Imagine if you had my talent." Annabelle said, with a little sadness in the end of her sentence.
"I really never would be able to do what you do, Annabelle. Your talent is only that, a talent. Your results are a product of effort. I appreciate your help tonight, to be honest I probably wouldn't have been able to handle Ryan in a fight. Do you guys think it would be too much to ask if you wouldn't mind to show me around again tomorrow?" I asked, looking at them both.
I really hoped they would say yes, partially because I hoped there would be some sort of transport set up for us and I could piggyback off of these two fat sheep- I mean nice wealthy girls. "Yeah we can show you around, you gotta wake up and be ready by 8:30 AM though, since it's Sunday tomorrow, we can show you around and then we can train." Michelle said, seemingly excited to have a third member now.
After that, they left, and I lay down on my new bed. It was so soft, and felt like I was sinking into a marshmallow. 'I could get used to this', I thought and with that, I drifted away into sleep peacefully.
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