"Oh, sorry, where are my manners, right? My name is Lyjah." He then reached out to me with his right hand to shake it.
As he approached me, I sensed a strong floral scent coming from his body.
Ugh, the smell—it's a bit too strong.
"Don't worry, I too was… Anyway, my name is Lucifer, but I would prefer it if you could call me Luca." I answered by shaking the hand of that kid.
I didn't expect him to be so formal; he felt so mature for trying to greet me by shaking hands. He was on another level compared to the other kids I had met so far.
The other kid then got up and greeted me in a similar method; his name was Ron.
I noticed their maids were standing in line next to the entrance door, all except for mine. As soon as she noticed me looking her way, she smiled at me.
What the hell are you doing? If the etiquette is for you to stand on the wall, do it. I don't want to look like a peasant that acts like a brute.
"I hope to get along with you in the future." He said to me.
That's… why does he speak like that? What's with the tone… He sounds… old. It's completely different from just a few moments ago.
"What were you talking about?" I asked them.
The face of the Lyja guy suddenly lit up from excitement, while the other boy was too exhausted to share the same feeling. He was barely awake, struggling to keep his eyes open. I envied him a little; I had to spend the rest of yesterday studying and exercising, with no game to play, and went to bed extremely early, exhausted.
"Oh, it's a new action fighting game that's just been released. Ron apparently stayed up all night to practice some combos." Lyjah responded.
"It's a game for G capsules called Split Fighters." Ron added, as he crashed on the table.
Ah, G capsules, well, I guess it was natural for them to use them… What a shame my mother hasn't given me the green light to get the procedure to install the port on my body.
Those were special kinds of consoles that allowed you to play video games during your sleep but needed a special port to install on your body to be able to connect the body to the machine.
The procedure itself was very risky, and if you were using a faulty machine, it could fry your nerves. There are lots of ways that machine could destroy your life, and that's the reason my mother never bought me one.
But how can you be tired if you play in your sleep? Does it not work the way I thought it did? Why is he so tired now?
"Man, it was fun then, but god, I feel like shit now. I feel like my body's melting." Ron complained, his voice slowly fading away.
"That's so cool. I don't have the capsule, unfortunately; my mother is strongly against me ever getting the operation." I tried to change the way I talked; I wanted to sound as casual as possible to look friendly in their eyes.
"Oh, right, that. It's not a big deal here; we've got lots of ways of healing that kind of damage, and isn't your uncle a big shot? I'm sure he has stored a powerful demonic ability somewhere ready to be used." Lyjah nonchalantly responded.
Yeah, that's true, but my mother would rather set herself on fire than have to ask the uncle for help.
I began to look around, checking the rest of the classroom as the two friends kept talking.
"It's a strange fighting game; it aims to blend a mix of real combat with flashy abilities and automated abilities. I don't think it's that bad; honestly, the controls aren't all that hard, the commands are relatively intuitive, and the flashy animation in third person sometimes feels a bit jarring, but you get used to it pretty quickly." The guy with red hair kept rambling about the game like a broken faucet.
Unlike his friend, Ron was happily listening from the side; with the press of a button located on the side of his table, he turned on the computer installed within the large desk.
I was wondering why there was no backpack, and they don't even need a desktop; the display is installed within the desk—how efficient. I guess even the schools in this place are on a whole nother level compared to the ones on the ground.
I doubt I could compare the school I frequented within the dome my mom owned as the gold standard, but even that luxury experience was far lacking when compared to this.
I was completely ignoring Lyjah; I was too immersed in my own bubble. He didn't even notice and kept talking about his game, rummaging through Ron's folders in search of clips to show off their highlights, much to his annoyance.
Poor Ron, I bet he just wants to sleep. I, on the other hand—
"You!" Someone shouted from behind.
As I turned around to check who it was, I saw the fat man I previously encountered in front of the school's gate.
He had brown hair, freckles all over his face, and green eyes. I saw the many rings adorning his fingers flashing before my eyes as the fat man was throwing a punch aimed at my face.
What the—
The punch landed straight on my face, making me tumble backwards against Ron's desk. His body cushioned my fall, not that it was needed, as I couldn't feel any sort of pain.
"What the hell is wrong with you? What was—" I protested immediately after, but the fat man wasn't done; he was already preparing his next fist.
With a flick of my fingers, I summoned my Colorful Madness, and after taking the second punch to the face, I raised it and aimed it at his face, holding it using both hands.
The fat man froze as soon as he saw my weapon; Lyjah was quick to push him away using a kick.
"You filthy mongrel! What do you think you are doing? Are you aware of the consequences of—" The fat man screamed, seething with rage; this time he was talking to Lyjah, who just interrupted the fight.
"Are you okay?" Ron asked me as he helped me stand back up; he seemed more concerned with my well-being than his. "Oh God, you're bleeding!"
I ran my finger under my nose and discovered that I was bleeding from there.
Wow, this is the first time someone was courageous enough to actually punch me… How odd, I thought it would be worse, but right now, I don't feel anything from it.
I thought as I watched the blood staining my right hand slowly drip and stain the ground. The nauseating stench immediately overwhelmed my nose.
I turned over to my maid and saw that she was still standing behind me, and I saw her struggling against two maids present in the classroom. Those maids didn't belong to either Lyjah or Ron, as theirs were still loyally standing by the wall.
"What the fuck are you doing here? This is not even your class!" Lyjah was still arguing with the violent pig.
Am I still bleeding?
I ran my fingers beneath my nose one last time and saw that I was still bleeding from my nose.
Does my gun not scare him?
"I'm just here to teach this bastard a lesson! Someone has to teach this clueless bastard some manners." The bastard shouted to the whole world, gathering the attention of passersby and other kids.
No, it does scare him; he hasn't made a move ever since I pointed the gun at him… He's just too proud to back off now, especially when in front of others.
And with him screaming like a madman, the chances of him backing off were getting slimmer by the second.
Ron put himself in front of me, probably to shield me from that fat guy, while Lyjah was slowly trying to push away the fat bastard by kicking him away. The two of them were cursing at each other so loudly and so rapidly I couldn't tell what they were screaming anymore.
"You think you can mess with me just because you're defending that piece of shit? Do you really think your family can survive without—"
"Are you mentally retarded? What do you think will happen if you bully him? Do you think your family can escape? Or can you hire someone stronger than the Scarlet Devil?" Lyjah yelled in return.
"What about you? Do you really think your family can survive without—!" As the fat man was slowly starting to build up more courage, I fired the first shot, aimed in between his legs to scare him off.
"You two, stop! You, fat fuck! Is this your classroom?" I shouted at the boy waiting in front of our classroom.
The crowd that had formed had already begun to take sides, and some cheered me on for calling him that way.
The boy glared at me; his face had turned red with anger.
"I asked a question!" I repeated myself, raising the gun and aiming it at his head.
"No," he answered.
"Then get the fuck out of our sight! What are you even doing in our—" One of the maids suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled the gun away.
I didn't even notice her; she had slipped off from her scuffle with my bodyguard and managed to close the gap between us, but before she could do anything else, her head came off of her body, sliced cleanly.
Huh?