Together We Level Up

Chapter 8: The beginning part 1

In an empty hallway, 3 guys are beating up a person. One of those bullies picks him up by his collar with only one of his arms and punches him down to the ground.

"You thought that you're so good, didn't you?

Well, now look at you... Down on the ground... Pathetic."

Khyaa- Thuuuu

" Go fuck yourself."

Surya says this to the bullies as he spits blood on the ground. He tries to get up, but,

"Ughhhhh!!!"

One of the other two bullies suddenly slams Surya's head down with his leg.

"You know, you're not the strongest anymore, we're the top of the food chain now, no one looks up to you."

"At least I fucking worked for my strength, you shitheads."

"What???!!!"

"Ugh."

Says the second bully as he kicks Surya's head again and keeps his head pinned to the ground.

"That's exactly right, even after you say you worked for it, we are just naturally that much better than you."

Says the third bully, now sitting on the side.

"We were always watching you, you know. Always acting so high and mighty because you were gifted with that body of yours. Hell, you were even sometimes the top of the class. Fuck, all the girls we ever liked, ignored us and kept following you. Even our own parents used you as an example of how they want us to be. Now, tell me, how does it feel now??
TELL ME HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE ON THE FUCKING GROUND YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE?????!!!!!"

The third bully starts pounding on Surya after angrily exclaiming his true feelings.
Following him, the other two also join in and continue beating him.

.....................

After returning home, he changes and prepares to go to the gym. Watching the Olympics with his dad was one of his most cherished memories.

"I want to be like those people too... I want to be strong like them. Thousands of people looking up to you like that, I want to know that feeling. I want to be strong, I want to feel strong."  

But,

"My body hurts."

Eyes completely turned blue, bruises and cuts all over his body, it had become a daily routine now. Day after day after day, ever since they got awakened....

"I can't take this anymore.."

He tries to go to the gym but his legs can barely even move anymore.

"Dammit, move..."

He was barely able to walk his way to his home in the first place.

'When it started, my parents tried to contact the school.... Nothing happened. They tried to go themselves.'

His dad said,

"My son comes home every day with bruises!!!! I don't even remember when I saw him without a black eye!!!! What is this that you're doing here ???? Who are those kids???? This is your responsibility as the headmaster to make sure these things don't happen!!!!"

"I'm sorry, but, we can't help."

"What??? What do you mean?!!!!"

'Later we found out, that those kids had several high-ranked hunters in their families. They had better connections and more influence. Putting pressure on the school administration and local authorities to ignore.'

................................

One day, when they were sitting together in their living room.

Knock knock

"Dear, can you check ???"

His mom goes to check. She opens the door to find there are two men standing. One of them smiles gently and says,

"We are here about the school bullying case, you see... One of those kids is my nephew... We have come to talk and apologize. Do you mind if we come in?"

His mom, startled, offers them to come in. And they start discussing with his parents.

"You see, when they got their powers, they became so arrogant, it's been a pain to actually discipline them."

His dad already in a bad mood, replies,

"Is that your excuse for allowing your nephew to beat my kid halfway to death each day??"

The man gives a nervous laughter while saying,

"No, no... Of course not... We are here to apologize after all... We are terribly sorry about what has been happening and about what will happen later."

His dad flinches,

"Later?"

"I mean you see, we may be B ranks but the rest of our family members are not. We are busy all the time with the gates, so, it's not like we can actually spend time with them. Plus, we don't like to make the children of our family bad."

Confused, his dad asks,

"Wait... What are you trying to say here?"

"I mean, it's fine for your son too... I mean,  kids facing hardships early on, grow up to be strong people... I'm sure he'll be able to handle it."

"You... Do you have any idea what you are trying to say??? You are telling the father of the kid that your nephews are beating every day to let it happen??? You bastards, who do you think you are???!!!!!!"

As soon as his dad started yelling, the man's expression did a complete 180° turn as he stood up with a pair of eyes full of bloodlust.

"We are here to politely solve this matter. Please don't raise your voice in front of people who fight every day to save your lives."

Completely boggled by the reply, Surya's dad became speechless.

"You!!!"

...............................

'After that day, my parents stopped talking to me... They couldn't even look me in the eyes... My dad, who was once a proud man, now, thinks of himself as a failure.'

'I wanted to represent my country... I worked hard for it since I was a kid... And this is what happens... Not even able to walk properly because my legs hurt too damn much.'

'Over and over and over and over again.... 

I slowly got left alone.. with no one to talk to... No one to understand me... No one to help me... I wanted to be strong too, you know....'

'Ever since magic became a thing... It slowly destroyed my life... Not even able to shift because of restrictions due to the gates... I'm stuck here with these people with only dropping out as the option.'

As Surya is sitting alone in his class with no one there,

'It's not like I don't want to fight back... But... But... Every time I think of hitting them back...'

A shiver runs down his spine.

'I, for some reason, imagine myself in their place... As if, I'm the one hitting myself... If only.... If only .... I didn't do such a thing...'

As he was waiting for the classes to start after everyone arrived and prepared himself for the daily chore he had to do after school, that is, being beaten by those kids, suddenly a ray of sunshine entered the room as a person entered the door,

"Is this class 11-B???"