Tsugi No Level

Chapter 27: The answer is no

Demo stands in front of Pulmo with his head tilted down a little so he looks a little menacing. Ten exasperated at Demo's rude approach to asking a favor.

"Demo that is not how you ask for ..."

Before Ten can finish his sentence, Pulmo completely unfazed by Demo's gaze takes a step forward and starts walking past him.

"No."

Demo gets slightly flustered at the rejection. But he knows that forcing someone isn't the right move. So he just stands there in silence for a bit. Ten looks at Demo's back as he sulks and when Pulmo walks past him he decides to say proper farewell.

"Thank you for everything. Have a good day."

Pulmo nods and walks out of the building. Demo is so frustrated he raises his face to the sky and lets loose a scream of rage. This startles Ten and he jumps back as a reflex. After a few moments, Demo is done screaming. But Ten is still flustered.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

Demo looks back at Ten and smiles.

"Sometimes you just have to let it go, and I couldn't see a better way. Would you rather I punched you?"

Ten profusely shakes his head.

"Nah, nah. Scream away, man."

Ten decides to go have a look at his room. And it's a beautiful room with a very soft-looking bed. There is even a laptop in the room, he immediately turns on Mai. Ten assumes that the laptop is meant for guests so he turns it on and goes on the internet.

"Mai, are you able to connect to the internet here?"

"I am, but it will take me a second to adjust to their network and coding preferences."

"Take your time. I'll just do some research myself as well.

Ten starts researching the planet and its customs and Higher Reasoning techniques. Demo sees Ten in his room typing away. He looks around the house and the stairs going up. He doesn't want to be rude and snoop around someone's house. He decides to go into his room and practice the quick transformation technique Li-On showed him. The two spend their time doing their respective activities. Their tranquility is disturbed by the sound of a sudden bell that rips through the silence. It's the school bell signaling the end of the day. But Demo doesn't know this as he has never been to school, so he is curious as to what that sound is.

Without saying a word to Ten he walks out of the house towards the school to see what's happening. He closes the door behind him and the sound startled Ten enough for him to take notice. He assumes it could be Braverte coming back now that school has finished or someone else has come home. So he goes to meet them and thank them for their hospitality. There is no one. Demo's room door is open but Demo isn't in the room. Ten thinks to him that there is no way Demo just went out by himself on a strange planet. He stands there in silence for a few moments. It's clear as day that Demo went outside to see what that bell is all about. He has to rush to make sure that Demo doesn't destroy the whole school in a fit of rage.

Demo has a good head start on Ten. The bell was the final bell of the day which means that the students will now start their club activities. As Demo walks on the school grounds he is met with stares of pity. His small size compared to the average student makes him seem underdeveloped and feeble. But Demo doesn't care about any of that. He is looking for the strongest-looking person he can find so that he can learn Cover-Up.

In the distance, he can see several students move out of the way as if something dangerous is trying to make its way through. And there Demo sees him. He is a big guy with a face that just screams it has been in many fights. His school uniform is all crumpled and shabby but his muscles can still clearly be seen, he is trailed by several other strong-looking students. Demo smiles with what can only be described as an evil grin. He is certain that this guy is strong.

Demo walks up to him and stops when he is right in front of him. He looks up because this guy is huge. The big guy looks down at Demo with contempt.

"Move little man."

Demo looks with his evil grin as he asks the question.

"Are you strong?"

The big guy laughs at the question and so do his followers.

"Yes, yes I am."

"Good."

Without any hesitation, Demo punches the big guy in the stomach. The big guy was not ready but even if he was, he wouldn't have been able to handle this punch. He folds over from the impact the back of his shirt dances in the wind created by the blow. His follower's eyes pop open at the sheer violence in front of them. The big guy falls to the ground in pain and throws up his breakfast.

"DEMO STOP!!!"

Ten has finally caught up to Demo. He saw Demo in front of the big guy from a distance but didn't expect things to escalate that quickly. But after the first punch he had to stop Demo from doing more damage.

"You can't just go around punching people."

"I didn't just punch him, he said he was strong."

"Of course, he said he was strong, who the hell would say they are weak in front of a big crowd?"

"Oh come on, just look at his face, clearly he's strong."

Ten looks down at the big guy on the ground.

"Just because he is ugly doesn't mean he is strong."

"Oh come on, Everyone here is beautiful but this guy decides to stay ugly? For real?"

"Maybe it costs money to be pretty out here and he doesn't have the money."

"Look at his body, he clearly made that better."

"Well, maybe he wanted to stay ugly because it's part of his identity."

"Who the hell wants to have an ugly identity?"

"This guy! Look at his friends, they are all hideous. It's part of their charm."

The big guy on the floor is now crying but not because of the punch. His followers can't even help him up because their spirits have been somewhat broken.

"You again?"

From behind Demo the self-proclaimed king and his female companion appear. Demo and Ten both stop arguing as they look at the so-called King.

"So now you're beating up weaklings who can't even fight back. You must be proud of yourself."

This comment frustrated Demo because he made sure to ask if the guy was strong. But before Demo can defend himself the boy continues.

"I suggest you join the Higher Reasoning Research Club, they are training the first years in proper Cover-Up usage."

Demo's eyes jump open, as this is exactly what he needs.

"Where is it?"

The boy points in the direction of a big gym-like building. And just like that Demo starts sprinting towards the building. He is pretty far away already before he remembers to show some gratitude so from a distance he screams.

"Thank you."

The boy with his eyes closed then continues on his way and Ten just scratches his head for a bit as he looks around him. Eventually without saying a word he just backs away from the scene leaving the big guy on the ground with his sullen followers.

Demo arrives at the big gym to see a big door in front of him. He is excited because he is about to learn how to Cover-Up.

Chapter 27 Fin