After Novis had finished his run, he quickly got changed into his school uniform and started heading to school. Hoping that he wouldn't bump into Dan again. Dan wasn't in the same classes as him anyway and didn't hang around with the same crowd as Novis. They hardly ever saw each other around school much so it was unlikely that the two would meet.
As he walked through the school gates though, he felt like many eyes were watching him, more than usual. As soon as Novis would look in the direction of someone, they would quickly turn away and start to whisper.
Novis went to look at his phone to see the reflection of himself. He wondered if his hair was sticking up or he had toothpaste across his mouth but there was nothing.
"What is with everyone today?"
Information spread fast in this day and age. With the use of the internet, mobile phones and online community's news could spread in a matter of hours and in this case it did. Almost everyone had heard of the news that Novis had taken down Mac and his goons, who was the head honcho at the school. The reason why the news spread even faster though was because no one could believe it. Novis was nearly half the size of Mac and younger.
Novis had finally reached his classroom and thought to himself, "finally some people who will treat him normally."
Novis could hear the lively chatter of his classmates through the door. Novis smiled and slid the door open but as soon as he did, the room fell silent.
Everyone looked at Novis then tried to avoid eye contact while keeping quiet.
Novis was on the verge of exploding, everything that happened to him today had been so strange, first with Dan, now this.
"What is going on here!" Novis shouted.
A girl at the front flinched at Novis shouting and started to scream
"please don't hurt me, I'm sorry please." She cried.
Just then Scarlett walked through the door and could see Novis and the girl crying.
"What did you do Novis?" Scarlett said as she walked over. "How could you make a girl cry." Then she slapped him on the head.
Everyone in the room heart started to pound a little faster. They just saw someone slap the new honcho of the school. They were frightened of how he would react. Rumours head spread that Novis was a psychopath that took down 30 men and broke their bones.
"What was that for, I didn't do anything. Everyone has been treating me so weird lately."
Then it suddenly hit Scarlett. She too had heard of the rumours about Novis, even more so than others. Many of Scarlett's friends had messaged her telling her to stay way clear of Novis. Scarlett then quickly pulled Novis out of the room.
She told him the most likely reason why everyone was acting like this, Suddenly to Novis it all made sense. The gazing eyes, the whispering, the fear. Novis couldn't help but blame Arthur for the situation he had put him in.
"I wouldn't worry about it too much, the club members saw what you did and I'm sure this whole thing will blow over quickly. Oh, I forgot to ask, after school Alex said he wanted to meet you in the VSW room."
Novis wondered why Alex would want to meet him. Novis didn't think badly of Alex but the first time they met Alex seemed disinterested in him.
"I think he just wants to thank you for yesterday," Scarlett explained.
Novis agreed and decided to head back into the classroom. After seeing Novis and Scarlett act normally with each other the other students soon realised that Novis was the same old person he always had been.
They started to think of themselves as stupid for believing the rumours. How could someone take on 30 people at once? The class quickly went back to its normal self.
The bell rang and it was time for Novis to move to his next class. As he was walking down the hallway, he heard someone calling out to him.
"Hey you, runner boy, wait up!"
As Novis looked up he could see a blonde-haired pretty boy running over towards him. Novis instinctively ran away.
The boy next to Dan stopped him from running after Novis.
"You know that kid?" He asked.
"You mean runner boy, not yet but we share the same love together," Dan said.
Dan's friend Tom always knew Dan said things in the strangest ways. If he didn't know him so well then perhaps he would have thought of Dan differently as others did.
"Well, that kid is bad news."
Tom then proceeded to tell Dan the details of the event that had occurred in the VSW club room yesterday. Dan wasn't stupid and thought the tails had to be exaggerated but It made him think of Novis even more Highley. Clearly, he was someone who was a sportsman.
"So, he's in the VSW club huh?" Dan said with a smile.
As classes finished Scarlett and Novis decided to head to the club room together. As they opened the doors, they could see Alex talking to another student. The student held a piece of paper in his hand and was handing it to Alex.
"I'm sorry!" The student said as he ran out of the room leaving the piece of paper behind.
"What was that all about?"
Scarlett asked.
Alex sighed before answering
"Another club member resigning."
"Is it that bad?"
Alex didn't say anything but simply nodded.
Alex then came over to Novis and bowed down to him.
"Thank you for everything you did yesterday. Thanks to you I was able to stay as the club leader. I'll cut to the chase though. I didn't call you here today to just thank you. If possible, I want you to Join the VSW club."
"ME!" Novice said pointing to himself
Alex nodded.
"More importantly, I want you to join our team and participate in the local tournament."
Novis thought about it for a while. Even though he would have loved to play the game with others in a tournament, it was far too serious for him. He remembered the events of the last tournament.
Everyone there was trying so hard to become a pro. Novis played the game because he enjoyed learning sword skills. The satisfaction and feeling of growing stronger were what drove him. It was as if he had become addicted to improving himself.
He didn't think it was fair to the other students who had the dream of becoming a pro.
"Thank you for the offer, but I have to decline it wouldn't be fair on the other club members," Novis said.
Scarlett and Alex then looked at each other.
Scarlett then said, "The problem is Novis, were the only members the VSW club have."