My Hermes System

Chapter 4: Rude Awakening

"This is blood!"

The female student quickly opened her eyes as she rushed towards the direction of the scent. The cries get louder and louder as she gets closer to the source.

"!!!", her eyes widened as soon as she arrived in one of the isolated arenas of the academy. Right there, in the middle of the platform, a boy in rags was curled into a ball, covered in the pool of his own blood, forming ripples from his trembling body.

It was Evans.

The female student quickly ran up the stage to check up on the boy, and as soon as she touched him, the boy crawled away, the cracks of his broken bones whispering in the female student's ears.

"G...go away!", the boy shouted as he once again curled into a ball, his blood trailing on the ground.

"This… who did this!?", the female student could not help but howl as she looked at the state of the boy.

"Who did this to you!?", the female student once again approached the boy, but due to her vexation, she almost slipped on the boy's blood. But she quickly regained her balance, but the boots hanging on her neck fell to the ground. She, however, did not even care as she once again walked towards the bloodied boy, this time carefully.

"N...no. You've lost too much blood", seeing the boy's pale skin, the female student could not help but cover her mouth. "I will take you to a heale--"

The female student was about to lift the boy up, but then she remembered the cracking sounds she heard when the boy moved.

If she carried him, there was a chance that his broken bones might puncture an organ. The female student could not help but click her tongue.

"Can you hear me, kid?", she spoke softly as she kneeled beside the boy, "My name is Gemma… hang in there, okay? I will call for a healer. I will be quick, I promise"

As soon as she said that, her muscles started to bulge and fur started growing on parts of her skin. Her feet also grew, half a size bigger than it was before, the nails on her toes as sharp as knives.

"Hang in there, kid", Gemma once again whispered before running off the platform, her claws leaving marks in the ground.

With the female student called Gemma gone, Evans was once again left alone in the arena. His cries still echo in the air. But after a few seconds, he lifted his head and wiped the tears that were on his face.

Even doing something as simple as that made his whole body ache. But still, he stood up. If the girl from earlier brings a healer here, he was afraid that he was going to get in trouble.

Evans thought that he would have to pay the healer. All of his treasures were destroyed by Gerald and his group, so they might lock him up if he couldn't pay up, Evan thought.

Evans… was unfamiliar to help. All his life, he lived in a place where his cries were ignored. And when he tells anyone what his father does to him, his father would end up beating him even more.

And so, even though it felt like worms were eating his entire body from the inside out, he started to walk.

It hurts… It hurts… It hurts…

His mind was howling in pain, and yet, he continued to walk. Dragging his burnt feet, leaving footprints and trails of blood as he walked.

It hurts… It hurts…

My fucking feet hurt!

"Gah!"

His eyes trembled as he fell to the ground, unable to bear the pain any longer. The broken bones on his body wriggled, causing him to cough up blood once more.