NOVEL WEB Chapter 19: Leveled up
Chapter 19: Leveled up
Noah's Point of View:
James sprawled on the unforgiving concrete floor, his face pressed against the cold surface.
Dominating the scene, a boy with a smirk and a ponytail towered above him, his leg stretched above James's defeated form.
Meanwhile, the other fellow, the one on the ground, appeared utterly bewildered.
And as for what he was doing?
I honestly have no clue.
Comfortably seated on the ground, he observed the unfolding mayhem.
-"Please, Heik! Spare me! Don't beat my meat!" the fatso begged desperately, his voice tinged with fear.
But the bully, paid no mind to his pleas, his face contorted with a mixture of annoyance and disgust.
-"Heik! Heik! Heeik?" the fatso jeered in fear.
I was irritated.
"Enough of the noise, you irritating brat!" —with a swift and forceful, the bully's foot connected solidly with fatso's face.
The bully had Asian features.
He delivered another kick eliciting a pained "Auwaaakkk!" from the boy.
"Fucking annoying," I muttered.
If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be in this situation.
Yes, him, during the interrogation by the seniors, he mumbled something like—"They are my friends!"
At that moment I didn't know his true motives.
Was he trying to use me as a means to escape?
Was I just a convenient scapegoat in his desperate attempt to evade?
It seemed my suspicions were not unfounded, as the ensuing events unfolded exactly as I anticipated.
Regrettably, the unintelligent bullies remained oblivious to his deceit.
They thought James and I come to his defense, so they swiftly turned their beating to us as well.
I was hunched over like a prostitute , staring at the ground due to the punch I had taken earlier.
"Nano, don't heal visible wounds," I whispered.
If others were to find out about my 'healing' ability, it could spread like wildfire.
"What was that, pale face?"_the one who punched me, a blonde guy with blue eyes.
He leaned in closer, bringing his ear near my mouth.
I wasn't sure if it was frustration or anger...
Regardless, I had reached my limit and wasn't going to to tolerate this anymore.
"I was saying... Hak!" I bit his ear as hard as I could.
"Ah, fuck, my ear!"—he screamed.
Blood started gushing out of his ear, and dyed my mouth red.
"Fuck!"— He was too preoccupied with the sudden influx of pain.
He probably didn't expect any retaliation from me, considering I was only a rank G.
He made a big mistake.
"Hey! What did you do,you f*cker?Are you crazy?", The ponytail came rushing towards me.
But I saw a chance and took it.
I delivered a sucker punch to the blonde guy's family jewels.
"Agh!", A silent scream escaped him revealing the agony he was experiencing.
"How did you like the blow job?", I asked. I wanted to know.
I knew I would face consequences for my actions but, it didn't matter.
And as expected, a clenched fist was launched in my directio.
I tried to dodge it, but it connected with a resounding —Thud!
I found myself sprawled on the pavement, vulnerable to a swift and forceful kick—Thud!
Relentlessly, the guy with Korean plaa looking gay and the ponytail unleashed a barrage of punches on me, showing no mercy.
From the corner of my eye, I caught sight of James with his face pressed against the ground, but his one eye was open. I could see that he was feigning unconsciousness to avoid further beatings.
'Smart move',I thought silently.
After a momentary pause, he shut his eye and continued to play the role of dead.
The other, blonde guy was still crouched on the ground, holding his omlete .
I tried to think of a way to get out of this situation.
A sudden idea struck me.
I gathered whatever strength I had in me, preparing for the dramatic escape.
"Miss Riya!" I shouted, gazing towards the opposite end of the alley.
The two boys stopped their beating and turned their heads.
"Professor Riya? Where is she?"
Seizing the moment, I swiftly rose to my feet and sprinted away.
"Hey! Stop running, you bastard!" The guy with the ponytail shouted at me.
"Seong, don't let him escape!"
Seong, his accomplice, was already chasing after me with great speed.
I noticed that I was dealing with someone who knew some movement techniques.
I gritted my teeth, realizing that I needed to come up with a plan to escape.
My mind raced as I tried to think of a way out.
In the narrow alleyway, a dustbin had fallen in my path.
The two guys chasing me were getting closer by the second.
I weighed my options.
'Should I use teleportation? No, that would raise suspicions.
Should I use my nano?'
I glanced back and saw that they were almost within arm's reach.
"Fuck it," I thought.
I jumped over the dustbin just in time.
My success in using the dustbin as a trap card was due to my quick thinking rather than a preconceived strategy.
Although I'm not sure if it was pure luck or something else, it did work.
The two guys were so focused on chasing me that they didn't see the dustbin.
The ponytail guy tripped over it, and Seong stumbled on him, causing both of them to fall over.
As a grin slowly spread across my face, I thought to myself, 'This is it!This is my chance to escape'
Seong noticed my expression and asked, "What's so funny?"
Suddenly, I felt a surge of mana coming from him.
I attempted to flee, but my leg was immediately ensnared by a rope made of pure energy.
I frowned.
'Seems like the escape failed?''_"
"I asked what was so funny?", the guy named seong asked while slowly getting up.
I replied through gritted teeth, "The only thing funny about this situation is your ridiculous ponytail."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY FUCKER!" Seong shouted in response.
Before I could make a run for it, the man with the ponytail charged up his mana and threw a punch.
***
Third person's POV:
From a distance, James watched as the man with the ponytail charged up his mana and threw a punch at Noah.
Suddenly, James' eyes glowed green, but no one noticed.
As the mana-coated fist was about to strike Noah, it lost its mana and the impact barely affected him.
Noah stumbled back in surprise, wondering why the punch didn't deal any damage.
James closed his eyes once more, and everything returned to normal.
"What happened?", Noah asked.
"You won't get away this time!" Seong shouted as he leaped to launch a kick at Noah.
Unfortunately, Noah couldn't dodge in time.
But before the kick could land, Seong's body froze.
Suddenly, both boys were frozen in ice-covered.
"What just happened?" Noah asked, confused.
As they stood there, their professor, Riya, approached them from behind with a raised brow, asking, "What were you guys doing?"
***
(Somewhere in Zenith Point)
[Visionary Alliance tower]
—Dhup!!
"We don't have enough time in our hands!", a man who appeared to be in his mid 30's slammed his hands in the table and shouted.
Anger and disgust with a sense of urgency clearly visible in voice.
"The second cataclysm is looming in the distant future, and that future isn't as distant as it might seem! We need to start building our forces and forming alliances with other races, and you geezers know that very well."
The man pointed at the holographic image of seven people, all of them appearing to be in their mid-seventies.
Despite their power and influence, the man wasn't afraid to speak out and point fingers at them.
His shouts fell on deaf ears as the people on the holographic monitors looked at him indifferently, as if he were a naive child.
He may have been younger than them, but he was far from naive.
Their lack of interest only served to fuel his frustration.
For almost two years he had been working tirelessly to unite all the continents, hoping to secure their future, but all he had received in return was a sense of helplessness.
Even though he was considered one of the strongest humans, right now he felt helpless.
"You geezers are so obsessed with amassing resources and power for your own families in times of crisis that you forget what's necessary!"
Finally his voice carried mana with a tone of frustration and desperation, causing the entire building to shake with its reverberations.
"I'm sorry, Ezekiel, but the Elite League needs more time to consider your proposals," replied an elderly woman in her mid-60s.
The gray strands of hair on her head were a reminder of the passage of time that her body had experienced.
"Hah!"
—PCHEW! With a weird mechanical sound Ezekiel turned off the holograms.
Walking towards the balcony, his long hair fluttered in the slow wind, and the coldness brought a sense of relief to his sweaty face.
Through the balcony, he could see the beautiful view of Zenith City, stretching far into the mountains and forests.
Despite the breathtaking scenery present in front of him, Ezekiel wasn't looking down.
Instead, he was looking up at the sky, right at the sun—"If only someone could bring hope to humans as the sun brings light."
***
(Arcanum Academy-Nursing facility)
Noah lay on a hospital bed. Even though he didn't need any medical attention, thanks to Nano, he was forced to lay on the bed like a paitent.
A healing potion or Nano could easily heal his injured body in matter of seconds, but potions were costly ; they weren't randomly used.
And while he would have loved for Nano to heal him, he simply told Nano to not do so. He was currently being monitored by professor Riya.
To his right Noah could see two boys, same age as him ,laying on beds.
One with green eyes and black hair and other was a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes.
He was Aaron Lincoln.
***
Noah's POV:
'Aaron Lincoln.'
Seeing the guy I gritted my teeth.
If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be in this situation to begin with.
Through hospital formalities, I came to know that his name was Aaron.
"Hey Noah..." James whispered, but his tone felt lifeless.
His face had a blank and lifeless expression.
The beating he endured from the bullies wasn't the cause of his behavior.
Rather, something more ominous was at play: Professor Riya was currently discussing the impending cut to our credits outside the nursing facility.
"You have to tell the hospital staff to bind me to the bed with iron chains. It's the only way to keep everyone safe."
I could feel the irk in his voice as he spoke.
Suddenly, his tone shifted and he spoke loudly and aggressively, "I SWEAR ON MY NAME, IF THEY DON'T, SOMEONE IS GOING TO DIE TODAY!"
He shot Aaron a menacing look and kicked him off the bed.
"I'M NOT KIDDING, SOMEONE'S GOING TO PAY!"
Rising from the floor at a sluggish pace, Aaron then proceeded to recline on the bed, muttering, "Am I to blame for your dumbass arriving at the wrong time and place?"
In a fit of rage, Aaron kicked James, causing him to jostle in his own bed.
Although his actions betrayed his emotions, Aaron managed to maintain a composed tone as he added, "Had you not shown up, I would not have suffered such a severe beating."
"Perhaps if you weren't so overweight, you would have had a chance to escape and none of this would have happened," James said as he kicked Aaron back.
"Why blame me for your inability to defend yourself ? You were beaten to a vegitative state, not me"
James leapt at Aaron with full force.
The commotion caught the attention of two nurses who promptly intervened and separated the two men.
James continued to shout, "I will kill you! I swear I will!"
Aaron scoffed, "Who's afraid of a scrawny little boy anyway?".
Contrary to his words, his nose was bleeding with a fresh wound.
I was too exhasuted to care about them, besides something else piqued my interest.
"Status"
[System Updating...]
[Rank unlocked: G+]