unOrdinary: The Alternative

Chapter 22

Blyke grumbled to himself as he walked the hallways with John, "You really think it's a good idea to skip class when you already suck at understanding the lessons?" 

"First of all, fuck you," John replied.

Blyke merely shrugged. They both knew it was the truth, no matter how much John would try to say he wasn't that bad.

"And secondly, I got some friends who can help me work through that mumbo-jumbo, so it's not a big deal. Other stuff takes priority sometimes." He continues with a shrug.

Must be talking about those other three he hangs out with, the Low-Tiers? 

Blyke's seen John with them pretty often, though he hasn't personally interacted with them much. Putting himself out there wasn't always his specialty. But, they seemed alright, and John enjoyed being around them, so he didn't bother asking about it.

He chuckled though, "Fucking mumbo-jumbo?"

"Damn fucking right mumbo jumbo! I never asked to deal with letters and shapes in a subject about numbers!"

"Well shit, better take one or the other—I heard that next year we either take Trig or Advanced Algebra." 

John quickly grew a look of disgust, though before anything else could leave his mouth besides, "Blegh!", he stopped. His eyes looked off elsewhere for a moment, feeling the mass of aura activating up ahead, then looked back at Blyke and pointed a thumb at the right intersection of the hallway.

"Someone's using their ability. My guess...probably around level three."

Blyke's not sure how long it'll take for him to get over the fact that not only could John straight up copy abilities, but that his passive lets him straight up sense the aura of others around him. That's gotta be a hell of a helper in any fight he gets into. 

However, at the moment, he just groaned. "Seriously, goddamn—how many times has it happened in the last hour...?!" Blyke mutters to himself.

"Yeah well, no rest for the wicked and all that," John remarks, brushing off Blyke's disbelief. Approaching the corner of the wall, John leans against it, looking at Blyke. "You know what to do."

"Why haven't you dealt with one of them yet?" Blyke questions. 

"Because I've been dealing with them since I got here." John snaps back, "Plus, others need to see that someone in the actual rankings, no matter how pointless it all really is, is doing the same." He explains. 

Blyke could feel his eyes narrow at that. While the importance of his rank isn't as deeply rooted in him—compared to someone like Arlo or...Zeke—he still did hold a bit of pride in himself for his strength and placement in Wellston's Top 10. To hear John just so casually dismiss the entire notion of it, of that acknowledgment of his strength, it...irked him more than he probably should let it.

But he masked that behind a sigh because that wasn't the problem right now. Stepping past the corner, he saw what needed to be taken care of. 

The reason for why they were skipping class? Since Blyke found out what John said was going on in the school, the latter thought it was a good idea for him to see it firsthand. 

Blyke certainly wasn't expecting to come across these incidents as often as they did. 

The first time, it had just been a scuffle between two students that Blyke wouldn't have given a second glance normally, but once he actually stepped up and asked what was going on, he could see the difference in the two students injuries and how one of them clearly hadn't wanted to fight as much as the other did, no matter what the stronger one tried to say to Blyke.