A pool of blood slowly formed around the body, the latest one to fall to the ground.
A young boy with black hair lied in the puddle of blood.
"Raven Hesse...."
The man clicked his tongue as he stared at the boy.
"Pathetic, he didn't even listen to my master plan. How could he not care about everything I had to do to ensure he would die?"
Raven wasn't particularly strong, even though he was in the upper echelons of the soon-to-be students of various academies in the training exercise he had put together, Raven Hesse was still weaker than he expected.
It was meant to tire him down, wear him both physically and mentally.... That was because, he was weak.
Not he as in Raven, rather, the instructor was weak.
After all, he didn't even awaken.
The instructor sighed as he brought out his phone from his pocket.
He slowly dialed a number and called it.
"I'm done with the job."
The voice that came from the other side was deep.
—Are you sure?
It obviously belonged to a man.
"....Yes, shot in the head."
—Bring his head back, only then will you get your reward.
"Also, everyone who knew about my job as a teacher is dead."
The instructor added.
It was part of the reason he had made them kill each other.
—Remove the barrier.
"I've done that as well."
The barrier that had stopped the soon-to-be students from leaving.
—Good for you.
The man paused before adding.
—Bring his head back, only then will you get your reward.
Then, the man hung up.
The instructor let out a sigh as he put the phone back in his pocket.
"At least the pay is—"
The words got stuck in his throat.
Not out of fear, but out of sheer amazement at the sight in front of him.
"Gnghr."
Raven let out incomprehensible noises that couldn't even be classified as groans.
"...."
The man stared at him wordlessly as the boy got up.
"Fuck.... my head, hurts!?"
Those were the first words that left his mouth as he regained consciousness.
His tone was that of someone in between drunkedness and pain. Even red eyes to go with it.
He was dizzy.
It seemed like there were fifty people in front of him, the world moved and the people constantly went into each other, went out, spiraled and continued in that sequence.
Suddenly, he lurched over.
And....
"You survived a bullet going through your head, but it seems it took your mind down to the level where you don't even realize you're supposed to be dead."
The man, the instructor, said from observation.
"Bul.... let?"
Raven asked.
His head hurt, every small noise only made it worse, however he managed to hear one thing.
"Gun?"
He asked.
"Yes, gun. I shot you."
Mockingly, the instructor even used his hand to form a gun and made "pew-pew".
Suddenly, a burst of memories went through Raven's head.
Not someone else's memories.
Kyle's nightmares....
The man before him began to take shape, the fifty people gradually became one, all going inside him.
What Raven saw now was no longer the instructor that had killed him.... But rather, a man who pointed a bullet at his own child's head, a man who left his children for the other world, the only inheritance he bothered to give was his outstanding debt.
"Bastard!"
He screamed.
His eyes became moist, accompanying the blood that streamed down his face.
"I'll kill you where you stand!"
He yelled.
He no longer sounded like a drunk.
The instructor merely shook his head.
"One of us has a hole in his head, and the other is practically fine."
Before the man finished his words, Raven moved, showcasing a speed that he had never shown before.
"Wait...."
The speed he was moving at, it was faster than he had ever moved before, it was supposed to be impossible considering that he was critically injured.
"Die!"
Raven yelled as his fist smashed into the man's guard.
Even though his feet was firmly planted into the ground he was still sent back.
The man's arms stung from the blow.
"Impressive."
He complemented, a smile plastered on his face as he stared at the boy standing a distance away from him.
If looks could kill, he would be dead by now.
'He's suddenly stronger than me.'
A fake smile.
Too fake.
The instructor moved, moving at a speed that was faster than Raven's.
"...."
He punched Raven's face.
However, the boy didn't seem to feel it.
He grabbed the hand in a blur, twisting it as he smashed his head into the man's.
"You bastard!"
He did it again, this time letting go of his hand.
The man staggered backwards.
"Motherless fuck!"
He capitalized on that, landing a solid uppercut.
"How dare you?!"
He punched the man, sending him to the ground.
"What made—"
He stomped on the man's face.
"you think—"
Again.
"you could have kids—"
And again.
"—only to abandon them?"
Multiple times.
"Huh? What fucking made you think that?!"
Countless times.
The boy stomped on his face, letting out all the pain that he had gone through. For once, he had let someone else know of what he had to do to stay alive, though the person was being brutally disfigured.
It was only after his face was a mass of disfigured flesh and blood did he stop.
"Haah, haah...."
Finally, he stopped.
"Bastard."
He murmured as he looked at the horizon.
Just for him, the sky seemed a little brighter, the world seemed a little better....
"Who's the—re?"
Finally, the blood loss caught up to him.
But, he was sure he heard someone.
"Are you alright?"
The person moved out of the shadows.... A woman.
"I...."
After the whole ordeal he returned to how he should have been.
"I th...."
"Well, that's.... a dumb question."
He staggered forward.
"After all, I'm.... Invincible."
A/N: Regular updates are resuming soon. Support with powerstones, it means a lot.