I’m … back home. No fresh air, no super expensive furniture and antiques and no silence from the forest. But… I like it better here. Maybe because I lived here more than there or because this place has traces of my parents but I liked it here. The apartment felt larger the moment I walked inside. It's only been three days so it’s not as dirty as I’d have thought but that was only my thinking. I spent about 265 days inside the forest.

I thought I’d start crying the moment I thought about my parents again but I could hold it back in. I wasn’t feeling bad anymore because I knew. To find them, I have to stop crying. Actions speak more than words and I’ll make my actions loud and clear. But when I passed the bedroom of my parents, I couldn’t hold back one tear. Well… a tear should be fine…

I entered my room before letting out a sigh. I was tired to say the least. With all that has happened today, I just wanted to lay down on my bed and let my dreams take me again. But out of the corner of my eyes, I could see my room and it was a mess. I thought I had it tidied up before going to school? Maybe I just skipped it since this is my room. But now seeing my instruments loitering around gave me the urge to put them away.

I won’t be needing them for the time being. I’ll most likely not be here for the next week and my concentration will be on my ability which I still don’t fully understand what it is. If I describe it shortly, it is like I have a library in my head but I can’t access any knowledge. I just know that they are there. Awakening sure is a weird thing.

I couldn’t even test my ability before getting thrown out. That old bastard really couldn’t let me test it out for a moment! Or maybe he just had his reasons. In any case, disobeying that madman meant only hell for me in any way.

I started to put everything I won’t need for the time being away in our guest room that we also use as partial storage. My mum used to buy every type of device she could find and afford, resulting in putting all the unopened boxes inside this room. Sighing, I stopped thinking about it much and put all my stuff here. Well … I should have put them more in order but I didn’t feel like actually doing more work than necessary right now so I let them there without any order.

Back in my room, I thought about how I could stylise this room more for my ability. According to all the stuff that happened related to my ability, I can understand that my ability is probably a crafter type ability. Man… what luck… But thinking about my ability comes later. I had another worry right now which didn’t let me sleep.

What the hell am I supposed to do tomorrow? I know that I will have to ask for a week long leave of absence but what is the reason? Shouldn’t I prepare a letter for that? And now that I think about it, what did the old man say for my absence for the three days. How am I supposed to explain myself?

Thinking so far, I turned on my phone and called the old man. I can see behind a lie but I myself am not a great liar and telling two different stories will make us both only look more suspicious. And telling the truth is also out of option. If I told them about my awakening, then who will believe me even if they saw my real self… even Felix would be worried if I wasn’t really mentally ill.

Hearing the tone from my phone, I held it to my ears and started to explain my worries. The old man waited for me to say everything before giving me an answer to my thoughts. He was awfully serious so it made me feel weird. Like the one talking isn’t the same madman that likes to make rocks rain from the sky in the name of dexterity and endurance training.

-Just say you have family matters to attend to next week so you'll not be in the city. If they ask about who you are going with, just say that your uncle 'Mehmet Arslan' is taking you with him. This should be enough of an explanation. Any more would just not be believable. As for your last three days, you were with your uncle as you recuperated from your head injuries. Tell them it was a slight concussion but you recovered fast. Don’t tell them too many details or your lie will be filled with more mistakes that don’t add up. Also don’t think too much about it while saying it to your classmate.

"Never thought my master was teaching me how to lie~ And you want to be a role model for your students."

-And I never thought I even had to teach someone how to lie to begin with as it's not something that hard unless you are too dumb to think about it.

“Pugh!...”

Emotional damage -9999! That hurt like hell, old man! It felt like an arrow pierced me right through my stomach. I’m not dumb, I’m just bad at lying when the only people I lied to was my mother who could see through it immediately. After that failure, I became a good honour student, okay?

-Ugh… I can already feel the headache coming from this. Just say what I told you and all will be fine. Now if you excuse me, I've got to get back to the ladies~.

"Pervy old man! Stop teasing me with stuff like th…"

BEEP

and he hung up just like that. Great… Guess I'll have to figure out the rest if something troublesome is going to happen. Putting down the phone, my worries were slightly gone but a headache appeared when hearing that old man’s last statement. Could have left out that part to be honest…

I threw myself back on my bed and closed my eyes as I laid down on my back. My dark brown hair was messy at the moment and my face said more than enough that I was done for the day and for the last 265 days… besides the torture, having to dream every day about ‘that’ may be helpful for training but a pain in the ass for my mental fatigue. But after my mind calmed down and my body relaxed, I could understand that after all this time, I didn’t have the dream today.

Oh how thankful I am for a good night’s rest.

---

“Haaaa… “

What a great rest I had! It was currently 7.40 AM and I was on my desk laying my head down on my desk while listening to some music. My night was so relaxing, I was almost refusing to leave my bed. But I have to go to school so here I am. We had maths first so I knew I’ll be bored like shit when I already know most of the stuff.

The classroom got fuller with each passing minute and seeing every new student entering the classroom, I felt a bit weird. I know who they are but after so much time, I almost forgot about them. I couldn’t recognise them at the beginning, only remembering them with each passing second. It was natural though since you would forget people you only know their names after almost 9 months. But it also felt weird that some people looked at me. And not with the usual scorn…

It was 7.50 AM. Through the door of the class came a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes. Felix looked at our desk for a good minute before slowly moving forward. I could almost feel every step he made when walking, which made me scared for no reason. Oh boy…

"Oi, fucker! Why is a bastard that doesn’t even text back his friend sitting where my best buddy is supposed to sit?"

"I am sorry to tell you this but I think I am that best buddy?"

"I know my best friend and he would have answered at least once after my 20+ messages and 7 missed calls.”

“Having to lay on the bed without doing anything because of a concussion is also something your best friend doesn’t do but here we are…”

“You bitch! Could have at least answered me when you knew you’d be going to school! I don’t believe you’d get your phone only when you walked to school! I was extremely worried. The teacher said that your uncle, whom I never heard off, was taking care of you because you fell down the stairs but it’s no secret what happened at monday.”

Felix went on and on about this all while I had a wry smile on my face. It was really depressing that everyone in school knew that I got beat up badly by some boy that went there just to brag around. This leaves a bad aftertaste in my mouth.

But besides that, I knew that Felix’s rant was my fault. Maybe not the first day , but I could have answered him when he texted me. It is suspicious of me not to answer him fast enough. I thought about being more careful about how I act in the future all while he still went on and on. I just wished he wouldn’t be so loud to attract everyone's attention

"Honestly, do I have to tell you that doing something like that is…"

"I-I think you should stop , Felix…"

"Huh?!"

A voice from one of the students in the class called out to Felix who got caught off guard. It was weird that someone else was protecting me when all they thought was bad about me. Their ideas about me were usually filled with hatred and disgust. Felix looked back to the one student , looking at his brown eyes with annoyance. I could tell what Felix was thinking right now. It was probably along the lines of ‘Why are you bothering us when you all hate him?’.

"Why are you bothering us anyway? You all wouldn’t start thinking of him positively because he was gone for three days. If it was that easy, then all of your hatred till now is unjustified and deserves all the disgust it could get! Now get away!”

"It's not about that… Didn't you see the news this morning."

"...What news?"

I asked the student who now looked at me with a look on his face that said true pity. The boy in front of me was one of the more timid guys that didn’t really show hatred towards me but held his distance, not to be associated with me. I can understand his reasons but still…

But the information about some news made me think about only one thing that should be huge enough to get into the news and makes everyone look at me with pity…

My face twisted slightly when I understood what he was talking about. Shit… now my mood is ruined. I just wanted to relax but everyone is looking at me knowing how I initially felt.

"Yes … What news?"

“!?”

What? This angelic voice that voiced these words… Gina? Everyone was looking at her when the one that wasn’t interested in other peoples' talks went up to us and asked the same question as me. Especially since I’m someone hated by the people here and not just a stranger to her. So I could almost hear everyone’s thoughts that asked since when was she interested in me to do something she never did to someone else. Some guys even stared daggers at me because of that. Dude! I’m as surprised as you all are!

The boy pulled out his phone while tapping on it to show us something. It was the headlines of the so-called news he was talking about.

"...Here… I'm sorry for you, Laith…"

The boy was reluctant about giving his phone to Felix and Gina while I stood behind them not even looking at them. I felt sick for some reason. Felix took the phone and started to read the news out loud so Gina and maybe others that didn’t know could hear it as well. There was no privacy when it was something in the news.

"A traffic accident happened yesterday morning at 8.34 AM. 5 vehicles were involved in the accident including the company vehicles of the company terra-tech including the head of IT and his wife Aziz and Aylin Arslan… There have been 12 confirmed casualties and the bodies of the couple are yet to be found... What stands out is the statement of the police chief of London stating 'the disappearance of the couple is coupled in a mystery as the traces of those two couldn't be found anywhere. It is yet to confirm if they were in the vehicles during the accident but evidence shows us that they were in the car prior to the accident. I'll have to ask the whole of London to look out for the 2 for every clue will be helpful.' The police are implying that the disappearance of those 2 couldn't have been natural. Is it something supernatural like magic? Or is it a kidnapping in work here that can't be explained without the evidence? Noticing that in the US , an area in Los Angeles lost its colour while in northwest of Berlin , a cut that goes throughout it's forest appeared out of nowhere. Is the supernatural world coming forward? We don't know yet but we will keep you updated on every occurrence possible… This…I'm sorry… Laith I …"

"It's fine."

"No man I'm really…"

"I said it's fine! It was my fault for not replying to you and this happened while I was recuperating. So just … Stop It… alright?"

I truly don’t know why but I felt worse with each passing second. That is not something I wanted. I wanted to see Felix again and talk with him. But instead all these eyes. All the looks. All this pity. Just stop it! I do not want you to degrade me for that! I didn’t made up my mind and moved forward only to be met by this.

Even the bastards that hated my guts were no different! The fucker James, some of Gina’s friends that blocked me always. It was everyone! I felt their gaze sting my skin. Slithering around my body like a snake coiling around my body. I was like a caged animal and I don’t like … no. I truly HATE this! My anger rose as my muscles spasmed, making my face grimace with pure anger.

With my teeth clenched, I packed my stuff and moved towards the door. I had enough! After going to the secretary to get my leave of absence accepted, I’ll leave school again. I don’t give a shit about what kind of punishment the teachers are going to give me at this point. As a matter of fact, they will look at me the same way. So I also don’t want to see them.

I just want to train now. At least that will get my mind off this awful feeling. But before I could even leave the classroom, Felix went towards me and grabbed me by the wrist. Turning around to look at him for a moment was only out of respect for my friend but today is a day I don’t want to see him as well.

"Hey Laith … Wait a seco…"

Felix tried to stop me again. Let me leave! I’ll break down any moment I want no one to see me like that! I do not want you to pity me even more! Just stop it!

My mindset changed from the me of before thanks to the madman that calls himself my master but it didn’t change by much. It was always he who did the best for me. I bet he could understand as well that right now, I really don’t want any of this.

I had to go and yet was stopped by my best friend again. But I waited long enough. If he doesn’t get that I want to be gone, then I will just force myself out!

"Enough!"

VUUM

A pressure I didn’t know of left my body, descending onto the entire classroom. Everyone felt their knees become weak and their heads lowering. This feeling was as they were in front of an enraged king. Only Felix and Gina had a different look on their face as they looked directly into my eyes. This time, their look was one of surprise. They could see how I looked at them at the moment. My eyes told them how I truly felt at the moment.

I felt like I could throw away all of them at this moment. I wanted them gone at this moment and my anger took the better of me, letting me release my pressure even with the device on my wrist that’s supposed to hide that. I may not be a normal human anymore but my mind was still that of a teenager so my emotions messing with my logic was to be expected.

But what I didn’t know was that besides the look of my eyes, they were also surprised by my eyes. Besides the bad feeling the two felt when looking at me who was ready to attack with my expression, there was something else that was in their minds. As if out of one mouth, the two of them thought the same thing at the same time

'his eyes… Their colour…'

My eyes were glowing in their original colour but what I didn’t know at the time was the slight green appearing with the black in my iris. The shine was the same Gina saw in the alleyway. But also different. It was clearer and felt more powerful. As if the light could penetrate your whole being.

SPARK

A slight electrical sound was what I heard coming from the red armband on my wrist. It started to spark slightly with red and white bolts. I covered it as fast as possible with my other hand while looking around the classroom. It was then when I had an idea of what was happening right now. Seems there is more to awakening than just strength and I can’t control it. I waited until the armband stopped acting weird and it was only then that I could see everyone else relaxing. Seems I was right… my eyes returned to normal as I repositioned my glasses slightly. I had to go now.

"Fuck…"

I opened and closed the door as fast as possible, leaving everyone in the classroom to their own thoughts. I had to finish this as fast as possible. At least no one will understand what happened since no one was awakened. This should buy me time for an explanation.

Felix and Gina looked at each other for a bit. Felix opened his mouth to then close it again. He didn’t know what he should say. But before he could even think about what to think about, his thoughts were interrupted by the other person next to him.

"You saw that colour as well ,didn't you?"

This was all that Gina could say at the moment. Talking about Laith’s feelings at the moment was something Gina didn’t want to start when she could tell that Felix was in bad shape. His mind was spinning and he didn’t know this side of his best friend. It was shocking to say the least.

"…yes"

"What was that? Aren't you his best friend? You should know more about him."

“I am asking this myself as well… if only I knew better…"

Felix had a pained expression on his face. He really wished right now to understand his friend the best. But what he did and what this all resulted to was because he didn’t understand his friend enough. Only when all is done did Felix partially understand what Laith wanted.

He didn’t want to look weak.

“Shit… this is my fault.”

Gina stayed silent. There is no way to deny what Felix said. Felix made the situation for Laith only worse and both of them knew it.

If only you could understand your friend better sometimes…

A day before, 10.18 PM.

“I have a favour to ask of you.”

“I’m honoured that the great Akira wants something from me. I’ll try to help with anything I believe is right. But don’t ask me to join the association again.”

“I won’t do that. I understand you enough that you don’t like to be bound. Especially with your identity.”

The men Akira talked to took a sip of his tea while sitting on his comfortable chair behind his desk. Akira took a sip as well from the couch in front of the desk. Tasting the tea and smelling the fragrant scent, Akira’s face showed a slight smile.

“Ah~ where do you get such great herbs for this tea. I should get myself some as well”

“This is my own mixture of herbs I grow from my home. Here. This is the recipe. I knew you’d ask about the tea so I already prepared the recipe.”

“Ohohoho~ how kind of you!”

Taking the slip of paper , Akira took another sip before putting the cup on the tea table in front of him. He looked towards the individual in front of him with a serious look. The latter understood the mood and put down the cup as well before he looked towards the mighty being in front of him.

“Now… how can I help you?”