Cat Mania

29. Meeting the Principal

'A shield...? I thought his ability was transformation..' Inhyuk was surprised at this new fact. 'Does he have multiple abilities just like Jiwoo...?'

'Waa!' Jiwoo was amazed at the sight of the holiness. 'I didn't know mr. Cale could create a shield! That's awesome!'

Seongha stared at Inhyuk, 'why's he surprised? Did he not know this?'

Giwook stopped attacking Cale, finally.

'He's finally done.' Cale thought as he felt like collapsing.

"Cale, go to the infirmary and get treated. The rest of you, head to class." Giwook told the students and teachers.

Cale went to the infirmary, dragging himself there.

Suddenly, he was stopped in the hallway to his destination.

"You're Cale Henituse, right?" An old man approached him.

Cale turned to look at them, "yes..?"

The old man smiled. "Nice to meet you, I am Han Seongik." He introduced himself, "I am the principal of this academy."

"..." Cale watched him warily. That smile gave him an unsettling feeling of being watched.

"I saw a glimpse of your fight with instructor Giwook. I must say, " the grandpa played with his white beard, "I am quite impressed by your performance. Not like the other two were bad or anything."

'So?'

"I heard you were unaffiliated." Seongik smirked, "why don't you come to Baekho?" He offered. "Although, you are lacking in strength, which is Baekho's core, I see potential in you despite that regard." The man offered.

Cale stared at him, in disbelief. 'Please be joking.'

Cale had heard from Kartein, a brief summary, that Baekho specialized in close-combat. They were a large organization in South Korea, one big enough to keep Shinhwa and the Union in check.

"Are you sure..?" You asked him. "I believe Jiwoo would be much better with Baekho's abilities."

Seongik shook his head, "no, I want you."

"..." Cale looked at him, as if he were a weirdo, 'you could've worded it better, old man.' "I'll have to decline. I'm not looking to join any group yet."

His eyes widened in disbelief, he thought unaffiliated awakeners would want to join a group as big as their's. "Alright.. I understand. But, please, keep my offer in mind if you ever decide to." Seongik left Cale alone.

'Let's not meet again.' Cale walked to opposite way. He looked at his palm, 'I'm not that hurt. I'll head to my room first and rest.' He thought, then furrowed his brows a bit. 'I tested Kartein's ability he taught me during the spar to see how well it worked. For some reason, the Vitality of the Heart was activated, but it was strange, its healing powers were stronger than before as if the restrictions were being lifted...'

"You're back." Kartein greeted him.

"Hello." Cale said, walking inside his room.

"Did something happen? You look tired."

"Yeah." Cale fell onto the bed, face first. He turned his head to the side to breathe. "Our professor made me, Jiwoo, and Wooin fight him separately."

"How did it go?"

"They did well."

"What about you?" That was what Kartein meant.

Cale groaned, "he was only tanking their attacks, but suddenly he started attacking me instead."

"Huh? Why?" Kartein was a bit shocked, an instructor, whose job is supposed to teach children, attacked their student?

"I think he saw something I used when I had a simple spar with that kid Jeongsu."

"What did he see?"

Cale started thinking Kartein was interrogating him. "A shield."

"A.. shield...?" Kartein repeated.

Awakeners usually don't use shields in their beginning stages, unless it's part of their abilities, mainly because it used more energy to create one than just simply protecting oneself. So, if they did, it would put them at a major disadvantage.

"Yeah. What's so special about it? I heard awakeners can have more than one ability." Cale was confused.

Kartein sweated, 'that's only possible if you're trained inside a group or with a mentor.'

"Oh, and on my way here, the principal of this academy came up to me." Cale sat up.

"What..? Why..?"

Cale shrugged, "he offered for me to join 'Baekho'."

'The principal here is Han Seongik?!' Kartein concluded. 'And he offered Cale to join his organization?!'

"I declined him though, is that a bad thing...?" Cale asked, a bit worried. He knows how higher-ups in companies are like.

Kartein shook his head, "no. Seongik is not the type to get mad over such things." He told him. 'He's more like the good cunning-type.'

Cale sighed, relieved. "I'm going to take a nap then."

Kartein nodded, "don't forget to practice your force control."

Cale already got the hang of using force control in his sleep from Kayden's ridiculous training methods. It didn't bother him though, moreover, it felt refreshing to do so.

"Cale?"

Knock knock

"Is he asleep?"

"Aww man, I wanted to see how his shield looked like."

"Sorry, Subin."

"His shield was pretty. It looked like it belonged to an angel."

"It does belong to an angel! Cale is an angel!"

"Subin..."

"Damn, when will you ever stop fangirling?"

"When you turn into a handsome man!"

"What?! I'm already the most handsome guy there is!"

"Yeah, yeah. You look more like a dumpster raccoon wearing a gold chain. You'll never reach their level."

"How dare you, uncultured rat! At least I don't look like you, someone who hands out nightmares like it's their job!"

"Guys.."

Pow! Pow!

"Ow! Ow! Just wait til I tell Seongha about this!"

"Not if I tell your sister first!"