RBR Chapter 16 In Low Spirits

Lunch had started just 15 minutes ago...he had checked the time... At first, he had thought that it was wrong since it had felt like hours being in that office.

Seated on one of the long benches in the cafeteria, Eric still felt goosebumps. The deliciousness of the new menu item he was trying, even failing to bring him the liveliness he so much craved.

The headmaster had just essentially revealed that he knew everything about him, yet he didn't even have the slightest idea what being a mythic class even entailed. He ate slowly, even the cells not rushing him this time as they were probably performing some sort of parallel thought processing, trying to come to terms with someone having knowledge of their secrets.

"Buddy, why the gloomy face? Did the headmaster somehow rape you or something?" Mathew's playful question failed to pass through one ear and out the other.

"No, worse, he wants me dead." Eric decided to humor the teen with an answer with the thought that maybe social interaction would calm his nerves.

"There's no way that could happen!" Mathew denied with a shake of the head. "If you don't want to say, its up to you." The boy appeared to be visibly depressed at his answer, thinking that he wanted to keep it secret. That was the truth, but it seemed none would believe him...he sighed. 

"There is a very thin line between insanity and sanity. The headmaster crosses into insanity sometimes. If he said something to you, then don't take it to heart. He's a very strange man." Elec's attempt at soothing his nerves came as a surprise.

Eric raised his head and looked at him. Both teens had been occupying seats opposite him this time. Elec was giving him small glances, probably having detected his sour mood, while Mathew was frowning at him, dissatisfied that he hadn't gotten the information he wanted.

"You always enjoy your meals, so it was somehow vexing that you weren't eating with gusto." Elec gave a hasty explanation.

A warmth was born in his heart at his look-alike's concern.

(Emotions burden the body, not just the mind.)

'Is that your attempt at soothing me?'

(A good emotional state is needed to keep this body in optimum shape.)

"So, what are we having as a snack?" He forced himself to become lighthearted.

"Hey! You just ate this meal! Do you know how many calories it has?" Mathew's eyes widened at his question.

"He's like that. He never gets chubby like you." Elec said in amusement.

"This is a choice! I can always slim down if I want!" Mathew protested in exasperation.

"Heh...I have never seen the slim version of you." Elec scoffed, causing a round of bickering.

Eric felt something warm about the way all three were bantering. It was comforting knowing that he was friends with them, no matter how strange that sounded.

"Time for home is approaching. Would you like to hit the virtual MMOs?" Mathew's question had terms that he failed to grasp.

His cluelessness was noticed by Elec who proceeded to explain.

Apparently it was a place where virtual games were played. You could be anything, from an ancient gunslinger to an adventurer.

Eric's heart sped up at the vivid imaginations within his mind. Dragons! He could get to see one! He didn't know why, but only that creature had somehow given rise to curiosity within him.

-----

The virtual games proved to be so entertaining that, in just the single minute he had started playing, all his worries had been pushed to the side.

He chose a fantasy game with his character being a red dragon with a T-rex body. Honestly, Eric found that the games were fun. His dragon character afforded him flight, which he used to explore the giant continent. The realism of the game was so immersive that when he was dragged out 3 hours later, he felt like it had been mere minutes.

"Hohohoho...I can see it right there in your two eyes, the desire to continue playing. You should curb it as you might find yourself addicted." Mathew said with an arm placed around his shoulder.

"It was very interesting. I wish I had more time." With longing within his heart, he reluctantly went out the building with the two, where they separated from Mathew and entered an already waiting car.

"If mother wasn't so keen on having me at the dinner table, I would have gone straight to bed. I am so exhausted!" Elec yawned, his eyes, drowsy.

Eric didn't say anything in return. He felt contrary to Elec. His blood was seething within his veins. The game had lighted a flame within him, the infernal of freedom. How he wished he was like Elec, with mundane worries. He instead had to watch out for his very cells, Godfrey, and Baguma. 

Every one of the three had sinister or unknown motives towards him.

'Why can't I just be a regular teen?' He lamented within while looking out the window.

A drizzle had started, at some point, clouds having obscured the sky. They were dark, gloomy and thick, heralding the heavy shower that was to come.

Eric found it ironic that the air was filtered, yet rain was allowed to fall into the city. There probably had to be some sort of mechanism within the shield the purified the droplets.

'The headmaster didn't take action, why? Could it be that he's plotting something, or could it be that he's angling for a chance?'

His thoughts naturally drifted to the meeting from before. Elec was lightly snoring beside him, his face pure and contented.

'Gaming just wet my appetite. I am going to have trouble sleeping this night!' He sighed as his gaze went to the raindrops falling onto the glass and rolling down the window.

-----

'The matriarch took the news too calmly. That man has knowledge of our practices, probably even the location of the cave in the wilderness.' Leah had frozen the moment the headmaster had revealed that secret. How had the man known? It had and was still gnawing on her mind.

The moment the lesson had ended, she had contacted the matriarch, but the woman had been too calm, as if everything was still under control. Ever since her arrival, she had been instilled with the law that nothing about her previous life should be revealed, especially the part about residing within the wilderness since young.

But now, someone not even related to the clan had just let out the secret in a class full of ears. The fallout from this was going to be huge, not to mention that many are going to be asking questions. Escaping the inquisitive students had been a hassle, and she was already dreading going back to school the next day.

A sigh escaped her lips as she leaned back within the tub, moving her gaze to the vertical window connecting to the bathroom's ceiling. There was no sound but she saw the rain sliding down the glass.

The falling rain conjured a memory.

She had sat down with folded knees right outside the cave entrance, watching the falling rain drops. The pitter patter of the drops on the leaves of the foliage had been soothing, causing drowsiness to naturally take over her, only for the sound of footsteps to cause her alertness.

"Don't you feel cold?" A question. She had been 10 at the time.

"No." She had lied even as she pulled the furs tighter around her small body.

"Leah, how do you think it is to live inside the city?" The boy asked. His name was still etched in her mind, Eli.

"Why would you ask me that? I can't even imagine it." She had spat out.

But now, Leah had the answer, with it being complicated. The wilderness had been simple, but here, everything was a convoluted mess of webs.

What had been the point of surviving to 16 then? Maybe it would have been better if she had died just like the others.

She lowered her head, her mouth submerging within the waters as she let out a scream, which only came out muffled.

[How I wish I could get to live in the city!]

The memory continued within her mind causing her to raise her head out the water. 

'I must hold it together for him. I promised to.' Her will strengthened.

Tomorrow, she would face those curious questioning kids with the usual expression, stoic calmness. That ought to chase them away, right?

She rose, the warmth that had been lathering her naked form falling away in rivulets until only droplets were left.

Now draped in a bathrobe, she came out only to see that a meal had been prepared. The time had gone by without her attention, and now it was just a few minutes past 8pm.

"..."

She sighed. It was going to take a while to get used to the fact that the meals were going to be enjoyed only by her. Echoes of a memory were dredged up as a bunch of children sat around a hearth, enjoying the day's hunting trophies, bantering and doing all things entertaining.

Now, all that was left of them was her. With clenched fists, she headed to the chair and sat down, the aroma already inviting. Getting used to this way of life was going to be very very hard.