A young girl with waist-long white hair, and red eyes wearing a casual light blue dress stood nearby. Her beauty stunned Jacob for a bit but then it hit him.

“Aren’t you Angela?” he blurted out while dusting himself off and standing up.

The young girl slightly tilted her head while focusing her gaze on Jacob’s face.

“Yes, I’m Angela. And you are?” she asked politely.

Jacob was speechless at this question. He wondered about the best way to remind her about him.

“You stole my manga,” he said.

Her eyes widened in remembrance and she stepped back.

“You’re the manga thief!” she pointed at him.

It was his turn to be offended.

“I simply contacted the store owner to reserve a copy of the manga in advance! That does not make me a thief!” he clarified while getting annoyed at the girl.

“Your stole my chance to buy that book fairly!” she insisted.

When he thought about it that way, Jacob felt her words made sense. But was society truly always fair?

“That’s how the society works. But didn’t I give it to you for free after your constant harassment?” he asked remembering those annoying days.

The girl’s forehead furrowed as her tone became unfriendly, “You gave it after a week! Do you know how much I had to suffer every day in anticipation? All I did was ask you to give me the manga. I even offered to pay for it and you call it harassment?”

Jacob took a second look at her face and wondered if she truly meant what she was saying. But he recalled his past experience with her.

***

A young girl with bloody red eyes, a flawless face, pale skin, and white hair stood in front of him in the playground after his daily bullying session with Kevin after school in the evening. His face was bruised and his clothes had dirt on them. She expressionlessly looked at him and raised her palm.

“Give me that manga.”

It was a tone that allowed no refusal as though she was a superior being and he was a mere peasant who had to obey her every word.

“I’ll even pay for it if it makes you happy.”

Jacob turned his head while spitting some blood leaking from his gums.

‘Here comes her pity. Do I look like I need charity from her?’ his mentally exhausted mind questioned. 

He was already in a bad mood since his sessions with Kevin had worsened after Angela came bothering him about the manga. It was his favorite series too! Why should he give away his main source of joy to others when he earned it with fair means?

“I have already told you yesterday! That is my favorite series! I will not give it before I finish reading it! Now stop bothering me!”

He left the playground and cleaned himself up in the school washroom and left for his home. Angela remained standing there while remembering his departing figure.

“But that is my favorite series too,” the girl muttered with some disappointment. She didn’t know what to do other than ask him about it again the next day.

“But will he become upset at me again?” she wondered while remembering her classmates who accused her of being a weird antisocial introvert. She always used to feel envious inside as she watched them have fun with each other both at school and after it.

“Angela, is there a problem? The security guard told me a classmate was here and wanted me to check if everything was alright,” a young cheerful voice spoke behind her.

Angela turned to look at the ever-cheerful girl.

“I’m okay class president. I’m about to leave for my home.”

***

Jacob felt more annoyed.

“I don’t care!” he snapped.

She involuntarily took a step back.

“I got that manga with fair means! I paid the full price for it! And all you did was come after Kevin hit me because of you and harrassed me to give you the manga! After all of that, do you still expect me to accept your lies?”

Angela’s face revealed her confusion. She was silent for a moment before asking, “Didn’t Kevin bully you even before that? How did it become my fault that he did what he used to do?”

Jacob felt speechless. He was at the point of wondering if Angela was trying to mock his intelligence or if she was truly clueless.

“You have no clue, do you?”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

Jacob sighed and shook his head.

“Forget it, you owe me an apology for nailing me into the… I mean for hitting me with the tree. Shouldn’t you watch where you’re attacking?”

Angela asked again, “Tell me, what did you mean?”

“Forget it, I don’t even need your apology. Just don’t bother me while I’m here.”

Jacob walked deeper toward the area where the trees were more densely populated. He considered answering Angela’s question but then thought of the headache of explaining everything to a clueless girl who had made his life difficult.

‘I don’t owe her anything. Why should I trouble myself like this?’

Then it hit him.

‘She’s awakened?”

He paused and looked back, wondering if it was too late to go meet another awakened. After all, he had never met anyone else in the same class as him who had awakened. But as he remembered his behavior with her, he felt embarrassed to go back.

“No matter. I think there might be someone else who has awakened in this class. I can check they’re ability if they’re willing to share it.”

Jacob looked at the dense foliage and greenery around him in admiration. He had heard that a teacher working here had a talent for quickly growing plants so no matter how many trees were damaged or destroyed, that teacher could get them back up in a month.

He found a nice spot and sat under a tree leaning against a thick tree trunk. His hand was raised as he muttered, “Summon Undead Archer!”

Mana left his body as the ground in front of him cracked and a lightning bolt shaped rift opened up. The same white bony hand he had seen before left the rift, held onto the ground, and raised itself out of its home world and into his world. There seemed to be a faint connection between the two of them.

A two-meter-tall white skeleton with blue soul fire greeted his eyes. Instead of the chipped iron sword, this skeleton had a bony bow with a quiver with a few white bony arrows that ended in white arrowheads. He counted them one by one and confirmed that there were ten. This skeleton also wore tattered leather armor but it seemed to be a lighter version of the warrior’s armor.

“Let’s see what you can do,” Jacob rubbed his hands in anticipation. He looked around for a suitable target and then noticed a squirrel munching on nuts at a branch ten meters high on a tree opposite to him. It was staring at his skeleton archer.

He pointed at the squirrel and then a little below it.

“Hit the branch below the squirrel,” said Jacob while wondering if his skeleton would be able to understand his commands since he was unsure if the world for undead creatures had a squirrel as well.

The skeletal archer looked up at its target, held its bow in proper form, took out one bony arrow, lodged it into the bow, pulled the string that looked like an animal tendon, and aimed at the target. There was a pause in its movements for a second while the squirrel gazed at the unfamiliar creature then it released its arrow.

Putch!

The sound of air being torn was uncomfortable but Jacob looked up to see the result.

“Damn!” he felt sorry.

The arrow had pierced the branch perfectly. But he didn’t know what transpired at that moment. At the edge of the white bony arrow hung a squirrel with a bleeding pierced leg. The white arrowhead was painted red with its blood and its small body was shaking while it was screaming.

“Dammit! What do I do?” Jacob panicked. If he was given a choice to get his skeletal archer to shoot an arrow right through Kevin’s head, he would do it without hesitation and feel no remorse. But this squirrel was innocent! How could his innocent heart be unburdened with guilt?

“Yeah, the school hospital! They must have something to help the little guy!” Jacob looked at the branch ten meters high. “But how do I bring it down?”

***

Meanwhile, Angela was still standing on the spot remembering Jacob’s leaving back.

“He’s still the same. Not even bothered to answer my simple questions. Maybe he’s the same as them.”

She thought of her classmates who isolated her due to her slightly different personality.

“But it’s in my bloodline!” she murmured and remembered how her father used to reply to her complaint about her cold bloodline causing problems.

“Our bloodline gives us an affinity for ice and its naturally easier for us to awaken a talent for ice manipulation. So what if it makes you give the vibes of a cold person? Remember Angela, in this world might makes right. So what if they don’t understand you? A few years from now you’ll be a great ice hunter and you’ll be able to get everything you want!”

She remembered her younger self looking at the slim man with ear-length white hair and a small white beard and asking, “But I want friends now!”

The slim man’s face twitched while he gave a response he felt appropriate.

“You’ll be able to make friends with someone who is able to understand you. They might not act like it but if you look hard enough, you’ll know that they’re able to understand you. That person can become your friend. Of course, you can make female friends. As for boys, they won’t be able to understand you. Let me know if some boy approaches you to become your friend.”

The young girl nodded with a cute smile while holding a small body pillow with her favorite anime character.

Angela left reminiscing about the past then looked at the melting ice arrow stuck to the tree trunk and wondered about different battle uses for her A Rank Ice talent. She suddenly looked deeper into the forest where she heard a shrill scream and frowned. After hesitating for a moment about Jacob’s warning of not disturbing him, she walked towards the noise.

***

Jacob looked between his skeletal archer and the screaming squirrel. He didn’t have the confidence to climb the tree safely and get the squirrel down. He felt that he didn’t have fine control over his strength for the delicate job in front of him. And he had enough of falling on the ground and greeting mother earth with his face.

“You’re the one who hurt it so you’ll be the one to get it down. Go!” He ordered his archer and wondered if it was able to follow this command that was more complex.

The skeleton archer looked at the squirrel then unequipped its bow and hung it on its back. It walked towards the tree trunk and inserted its white bony fingers into the tree trunk and climbed the tree like a gecko. It was only missing a tail.

The squirrel screamed louder after seeing its assailant approach it with two balls of blue flame burning in its eye sockets. Each time the skeleton’s fingers pierced into the tree trunk and made a tearing sound, the squirrel shook. As Jacob watched in amazement, it took the skeleton archer just a dozen seconds to reach the squirrel.

The squirrel gazed at the approaching white bony hand of doom while crying and it closed its eyes.

“Stop!”