Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Magic Techniques [Rewrite]
The sky was still bright early in the morning.
Without delay, Deluk headed straight for the office.
The office was at the end of the corridor, its door slightly ajar.
Deluk knocked.
"Come in," came the response from inside.
He pushed the door open and entered.
It was lunchtime and the office was mostly empty, except for a mature woman sitting near the window.
She was busy marking assignments with a red pen. Hearing the noise, she looked up, surprised to see Deluk, but quickly smiled.
"Deluk, what brings you here? Is there something you need?"
As his class teacher, Sara Greenwood was aware of Deluk's difficult life.
He had faced many hardships, despite being a good student and never causing her any worries academically.
Unfortunately, misfortune seemed to favor those already suffering. Sara felt sympathy for his situation but had her own life to manage. She could only look after him during school hours.
"Teacher Sara, I'd like to request some leave," Deluk explained his purpose.
Sara paused, setting her pen down and bending over to search through a cabinet.
As she searched, she asked softly, "What happened? Why the sudden need for leave?"
"I want to go for a medical check-up," he said calmly, causing Sara to freeze momentarily.
She realized something and frowning deeply.
She pulled out a leave form and brushed a strand of hair from her face, her expression serious.
"Deluk, are you feeling unwell? If something's wrong, you must tell me immediately. Don't keep it to yourself, okay?"
Her tone softened, mindful of his pride at this sensitive age.
However, her concern was somewhat unnecessary. Even before experiencing his nine lives, Deluk wouldn't have been too disturbed by such matters.
"Teacher, there have been some changes in my health..."
He took the leave form and began filling it out with a pen from the desk.
Speaking of this, Deluk suddenly raised an eyebrow, "But it's for the better, so you needn't worry too much. Maybe after the hospital's diagnosis, I'll be just like everyone else."
"If that's really the case, then that would be great..."
Sara sighed. She held Deluk's hand, looking earnestly at him, "Promise me, no matter what, don't give up easily, okay?"
"I will always be here to support you."
Feeling the warmth of her hand, Deluk smiled and withdrew his hand.
"Teacher, I'll take good care of myself."
With that, he picked up the leave form and walked towards the door.
"Hey!"
The woman called out to him.
Deluk turned back to see her making a small fist, waving it encouragingly at him.
"Good luck!"
...
...
Just as Deluk stepped out of the office, he heard a commotion.
Looking up, he saw a crowd gathered at the entrance of Class 3-1.
Approaching, he found a spontaneous circle of onlookers formed around a boy and a girl. The boy, sporting a trendy middle-part hairstyle, had fair skin and held an envelope in his right hand, sealed with a heart-shaped wax seal.
His face was flushed with embarrassment, fingers clenching the letter, wishing he could disappear into thin air.
For a teenager, being publicly rejected after a confession was a supreme embarrassment.
Listening to the faint murmurs and laughter, Gerald Mored felt his cheeks burning, as if aflame.
He had never been so humiliated in his life!
Awkwardly turning his head, he saw a familiar classmate approaching.
Gerald vaguely remembered him as a classmate, but couldn't recall his name. He remembered the boy always ducked out quickly from physical activities and was generally inconspicuous in class, perfect for being a scapegoat.
Thinking quickly, Gerald's eyes lit up. He squeezed through the crowd, walked up to Deluk, and patted him on the shoulder as if they were old friends.
"You see, I told you. Even if I tried, Lisa wouldn't accept it."
Gerald clicked his tongue and stuffed the envelope into Deluk's hand, then turned and walked away nonchalantly, leaving a crowd of stunned onlookers.
This deflection was skillfully executed, and even the girl who had been confessed to glanced over in surprise.
Her features were delicate, her cheeks radiantly beautiful. Even in the ordinary blue and white school uniform, she couldn't hide her youthful charm.
But Deluk didn't look at her.
He casually tossed the letter into a nearby trash can, not bothering to explain, and walked away.
He was too lazy for that.
Explaining things was always a hassle.
More often than not, even if you spend a lot of time explaining, people hardly listen.
Sometimes, actions speak louder than words.
"High school second grade's Gerald Mored, huh... That's hilarious, so typical of him."
"Was he really just delivering a letter for someone?"
"You believe that? Is your brain not working, or is it mine?"
"Tch, it's hard to say, didn't you see that guy didn't even bother to refute?"
"Idiot, I think he just couldn't be bothered to respond."
Whispers and chuckles spread, this incident likely becoming a topic of gossip for some time.
As for Deluk, he had already walked away.
Descending the stairs, he reached the main gate of the school.
At the gate's security booth, an old guard was lying back in his chair, his shoes off, feet stretched out on the desk, hat covering his face, seemingly enjoying a nap.
Deluk tapped on the glass window.
The old man's toes twitched, but he didn't wake up.
Deluk knocked again.
This time, the old man reacted, lifting his hat slightly to look, then lay back down, motionless.
"Bring the slip here."
Deluk did as told, sliding the leave slip through the small arched window.
The old man squinted at it for a moment, waved his hand dismissively, and opened the gate.
Stepping out into the harsh afternoon sun, Deluk shielded his eyes with his hand.
Standing at the curb, he pondered how to get to the hospital.
The usual choices would be to take a bus or a taxi, considering the hospital was about ten kilometers from the school.
But today, Deluk wanted to try running there.
He had never run at full speed in 'real life'.
So, the boy slowly crouched, mimicking the posture he had seen long-distance runners practice, leaning slightly forward, toes tensed.
The next moment, he powered his legs and sprinted forward.
Wind whistled past his ears.
Deluk thought to himself that running felt quite good, no wonder so many people enjoyed it.
However, the pace was still too slow for his liking.
He frowned slightly, and in his mind, he uttered a single word:
"Divine Speed."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone