"Don’t forget to do your homework on page 37!" the teacher warned after the school bell rang, announcing the end of class.
"Okay! Bye, teacher!"
The siren at the end of the day was a source of joy for most of the children, as it signaled the end of school...
While most of them said goodbye and left together after a long day of classes, a skinny boy ran quickly among the other children without even saying goodbye to his friends...
The reason Lucien was in such a hurry was that tonight his father promised to take him to an amusement park. And he wanted to get home as quickly as possible... As Lucien ran, he somehow felt strange...
"Does it feel like I’m lighter?" He thought as he was about to leave the streets surrounding the school.
However, it seemed that a certain group of four boys wouldn’t let Lucien go home so quickly today...
"Lucien, our good friend..." said the largest of the four boys, who wore the same school uniform as Lucien and had unnaturally blue hair, as he walked toward him with a cynical smile.
Unlike Lucien, who was still only nine years old, everyone here was already around eleven or twelve.
"Kurt!" Lucien exclaimed in surprise, the name of the scowling, blue-haired boy leading this group.
"Come on, Lucien, aren’t you forgetting something?"
"But... But I already gave you all my money this morning..."
Before he knew it, Kurt approached, smiling, and punched him in the stomach. Two boys rushed forward and immediately held Lucien still by the arms while a third rummaged through his backpack...
"Damn it, Lucien, don’t lie, Jeff saw you eating a meal in the private area of the school cafeteria at lunchtime..."
"I swear, Kurt, I don’t have any more money... A friend paid for it—"
Kurt’s punches continued to land hard on Lucien’s abdomen... Until a chubby boy with glasses, wearing the same uniform as them, came to Lucien’s rescue...
"Lucien!!! Hey! What are you guys doing? I’m calling the police!"
The other boy in Kurt’s group, who had just searched Lucien’s backpack, turned at the scream and saw a chubby boy wearing their school uniform. He immediately lunged at him and kicked him hard in the stomach.
With just that kick to the stomach, the chubby boy who had threatened to call the police fell to the ground groaning. Soon, several more kicks rained down on him, making him groan in pain as he desperately tried to protect himself with his arms.
Kurt stopped hitting Lucien and walked over to the chubby boy, who was now motionless on the ground, and began rummaging through his backpack until he found some money.
"This one had a lot of money... As expected of Lucien’s friends, they all have a lot of money..."
"Well done, brother Kurt!"
"Come on, big brother!"
"Buy us something nice at the internet cafe!"
"Don’t think this is over, Lucien... You better make it up to me tomorrow with double the amount, or things will be worse..."
After Kurt’s final threat, all the boys soon left, and Lucien, who was still standing even after being beaten, walked over to the chubby boy lying on the ground.
"Damn it, William, I told you to stay away from me..."
Lucien bit his lip, growing angry at Kurt and feeling sorry for his friend, who could barely stand after the beating.
"Are you okay? Now that you’re involved in this, you’re going to become their target, too."
"You said you were going to the amusement park tonight with your dad. I just wanted to help you escape a beating... I didn’t think they would be afraid, even of the threat of the police..."
"They’re kids who don’t have much to lose, it’s best not to provoke them..." Lucien said thoughtfully, remembering where Kurt and his friends lived...
"Are you okay? It looks like you weren’t hurt by them?" William asked, standing up with Lucien’s help and noticing that his friend seemed fine.
"I’m a little sore, but it seems they went easy on me today... Or maybe my body has become more resilient to these beatings after so many? Hehe..."
"Hi Lucien, hi Will, what happened? Are you okay?"
A girl about the same age and height as Lucien and William approached. She wore a similar school uniform to theirs, her skin was pale, and her long black hair was tied in a braid that reached the end of her back.
"Hi Nina, yes, we are... William just tripped and fell to the ground, and I was helping him up..."
The girl raised a doubtful eyebrow and said:
"Wasn’t it those kids bullying you again? I told you, we have to talk to the school teachers about this... Otherwise, it’ll only get worse over time..."
"We’re fine, Nina, don’t worry..." William said, knowing his friend didn’t want to get his father in trouble because of fights at school...
"I’ll help William until he gets home. Will you come with us?"
"I’m sorry, I made plans with my mom for dinner at Grandma’s today. See you tomorrow!"
"See you tomorrow, Nina!"
After Nina said goodbye to Lucien and Will with a smile, she turned her back on them, and her face became much more serious. She clenched both fists in anger, as she felt very frustrated knowing about their problems, and not being able to do anything to help them...
After saying goodbye to his friend, Lucien helped William, who was still in pain and moaning, to his home, which was in one of the best luxury houses in the city of Kaelor, about a 20-minute run from the buildings where Lucien lived.
"Are you going to be okay? If you’re not better, go to the doctor and skip school tomorrow. I’ll cover for you..."
"Uh, I should be better tomorrow... Don’t worry about me, and take care of yourself, Lucien..."
Lucien watched his friend groan as he entered his house, before rushing home, eager for the outing he was going to have with his father.
After running back home for almost 15 minutes at a good pace, Lucien noticed something strange again. The same feeling from earlier was there; his body felt lighter, and he was breathing very easily. It was quite different from before, when he’d run for less than 5 minutes and would have been out of breath. But this time, even after 15 minutes of running, he hadn’t even broken a sweat.
"What was going on?" Lucien thought as he also lifted his shirt and checked the spot where Kurt had punched him. Aside from a few red spots, there were no bruises this time.
Arriving on a street lined with tall, luxurious buildings, Lucien entered one of the tallest and most elegant, and then took the elevator to the top floor of the enormous, luxurious building.
As he rode the elevator, he remembered that it was because Kurt saw where he lived that his bullying had started... Since these buildings and William’s residence were considered the most luxurious in the city of Kaelor.
When the elevator reached the top floor, there was a single apartment in the hallway with the number 1301 on the door.
Not finding his father at home, Lucien went to the home phone to see if he had left a message informing him of his delay...
"Lucien, it’s Dad. I’m stuck in an important meeting and won’t be able to get home early today... You can use my card to order dinner delivery. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Don’t stay up late watching TV and playing video games!"
"Did he forget?" Lucien muttered dejectedly, checking to see if his mother, who was also on a business trip, had left a message. But there was nothing else...
Sadly, Lucien lowered his head dejectedly when he saw someone looking at him.
The meow perked Lucien up again, as he picked up a black cat with green eyes.
"Looks like it’s just the two of us today, Mr. Mustache..."
What do you want for dinner, Mr. Mustache? Pizza or a burger?
Yes, both things sound good together, and it’s not every day Mom lets us order that kind of food, so let’s enjoy it! And for dessert?
Ice cream again? It’s okay...
After a long night of watching TV and playing video games, Lucien woke up early the next day to a different alarm clock sound.
Lucien slapped his alarm clock twice and turned it off, but the strange beeping continued. It wasn’t until he sat up in bed that he realized the sounds weren’t coming from his alarm clock, but rather from inside his head.
Lucien rubbed his eyes, thinking he was still dreaming and seeing things... On his screen, silver letters glowed with a strange name.
Jyera Apocalypse System