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As soon as the group returned from lunch, it came as a surprise, or not really as a surprise, that they had witnessed Raze running around the arena once again. It wasn't just his stamina that was impressive, but his mental fortitude to do the same task over and over again.
Some of the students, a group of five who had been stopped by Mada before they left the hall, were quite nervous as they entered the courtyard.
"So what should we do?" one of them asked.
"Well, Mada said we just have to deal with him before the assessment, right?" another replied. "So let's just get this over with the straightforward way."
The group nodded in agreement; they knew what they needed to do, but they were uncertain about how to do it in the first place.
For a while, everyone continued their training, and there were some questionable screams coming from part of the courtyard.
Whack! A ringing loud noise vibrated through the air.
"ARGHH!" It was followed by a scream, but Simyon tried his best to hold it in. His skin was red and sore all over.
"We need to refine every part of your body, and the body grows stronger as it's broken down and repaired again," Dame explained as he pulled his hand back and slapped Simyon right on the back, creating another echoing sound throughout the place.
"I said I would help you, so I'm going to do my best!"
The other students found it hard to look, and the teachers who were witnessing such a thing thought the actions were barbaric. Even if the practice was effective for building up endurance, how would getting good at being hit allow one to win a battle?
They shook their heads again as they gave another marking down below.
While Raze continued to run, one of the students had decided to join in. He kept up with Raze since he wasn't sprinting at a fast pace but made sure to stay behind him for a while.
"Stop him from getting to the assessment; there are more ways than just to beat him!" the student was inching closer, and then, just when he was close enough, he dashed forward and reached out with his hand.
He pulled on the piece of fabric on Raze, tugging around his neck. Immediately, Raze stopped in his tracks and pivoted around, staring at the person in front of him.
"It was an accident, bro!" The student said, but when he looked in front of him, he could see Raze with his fist already right next to his face.
It slammed right down on his nose. A cracking sound was heard, and blood spilled from his nose as he almost did a complete backflip in the air before landing on the ground.
"What is going on!" one of the teachers shouted as he came rushing over. "There is no reason to fight anymore. Teacher Lee already stated that your position will be assessed by us. So fighting among each other is pointless."
"Then tell that to him who pulled on me," Raze replied.
The teacher looked at the student rubbing his nose and looked at Raze, who had no marks on him. To him, it was clear who had been the aggressor out of the two.
"Do you think this whole courtyard belongs to you? You think no one else is allowed to run by your side? You should be thankful that someone like you is even allowed in the academy in the first place."
"Someone like me, huh?" Raze said. "Right, someone who doesn't give a damn about what you say." Raze lifted his hand and flicked his fingers out, gesturing for him to go away. "You've ruined the good mood I was in."
The assessor named Tod, who had been watching everything, couldn't believe how a student could act in such a way and how one could talk to a teacher like that as well.
Taking out the book, the teacher proceeded to mark it with several X marks.
Walking back, Raze had gone straight past both Simyon and Dame, who were now dipping their hands in heated sand over and over. The skin on Simyon's hands was now raw and red.
"You should be careful, you know," Dame said. "If that teacher doesn't take a liking to you, then he might not recommend you for the top spots. You'll have to do well from now on."
Raze didn't reply, though, and he just continued to walk. As he did, his hand was trembling slightly.
'It's quite clear he doesn't like to be touched, and the words that were spoken to him about his sister. Did something happen to him in the past, something that happened in his world?' Dame thought.
Rather than continue with the training, Raze had decided to head back into his room and rest up for the rest of the day to get his mind off things. Everyone continued their training, but a short while after, a group of four students had decided to call it a day as well.
They too had entered back into the main living quarters. It didn't seem like a big deal. Some would enter, take a nap, and then come back out to train more. Everyone had their own routine they abided by.
These students, though, were the ones working for Mada, and they saw no better opportunity than now for them to act. As they went inside, they looked around. Seeing no one in the area, they slid the door open and could see their target lying on the bed.
"What are you all playing at?" Raze asked.
"We're here to teach you why you shouldn't stay in the academy!" the student rushed over, throwing out a fist.
Responding, Raze had jumped out of his bed and moved his head to the side, throwing out his own fist, hitting the student back in the face.
"I'm not in a good mood right now," Raze answered. Grabbing the student's hand before he could fall back down, he pulled the student forward again and slammed his fist into his face a second time.
Some time had passed, and it looked like Simyon had taken all the punishment he could handle for the day. So, calling it quits, the two of them had decided to head inside.
"Hey, should we check on Raze? He seemed a bit out of it," Dame said. He could still remember vividly twice now the look he had.
During the first meeting they had, at times Dame felt like he needed to tread eggshells around him. Thankfully, there had been no problems between the two.
Simyon hadn't noticed since he was so focused on his own task. He felt a little bad for not noticing if Raze was having trouble or not. He gave a slight nod, and the two were off heading towards his room.
As they walked over, the first sign they could see wasn't good; blood was dripping from under the door.
The two of them rushed over, worried that something might have happened while they were away, someone might have gone after Raze, but they soon realized as they stepped by the doorway, Raze wasn't the person they needed to worry about.
