Chapter 103: Swings

Aric's body maneuvered through the air like he was a fish in water. This was the result of his endless suffering disguised as training.

He had thought that he had successfully dodged away from Hugh's attack, but his instincts told him that an attack was incoming.

Aric's body was upside down in the air as he looked down towards Hugh's face. There, he saw a strange and sharp protrusion that was in Hugh's mouth. It was only a split second later that he realized that it was an eagle's beak.

Hugh's brought down his sharp beak onto Aric's body, creating a long and deep cut over his torso. Aric felt the sharp pain on his body, but his body simultaneously moved to counterattack.

Aric ignored the pain on his body as he used his fist to punch Hugh's wings. The two of them exchanged blows, but one had more serious injuries than the other.

Hugh felt the strong force of Aric's punch on his wings. His wings were easily the most vulnerable part of his body, so he felt some of his bones were broken from the exchange.

With the loss of one of his wings, Hugh came crashing down hard on the floor with his face first. He stumbled multiple times until his arm skidded on the ground.

Aric had it worse. With the long cut from his left shoulder to his right stomach, Aric's balance was thrown off because of the pain.

He fell helplessly on the ground. His body moved on its own and turned his body a little bit so that his head would not be the first to collide with the floor. If his body had not moved, his neck would be crushed due to falling headfirst.

A pool of blood was gathering beneath Aric's feet. His cut spurted blood all over the place, further exacerbating his injury. He could feel his blood getting lesser and lesser.

With trembling hands, Aric activated his Desire and lit a fire in his hands. With the heat of the fire, Aric burned his own skin and cauterized the wound so that no more blood would flow out.

This technique brought tremendous pain to Aric, but he could endure it. He had suffered more than that before, and he almost became numb to the pain.

Hugh stood up and transformed his wings back into his arms. He had suffered minor injuries, but he could ignore those and keep on fighting.

He looked towards Aric and saw him burning his own wounds. It looked horrible, and Hugh could smell the burning flesh from where he was standing at. Through all of that pain, Hugh did not hear a peep from Aric.

Aric was enduring so much pain, all for what? He did this just so that he could cause chaos to the school?

"Stop this Aric!"

Aric ignored Hugh's warning words and slowly stood up. Unlike the last time, he used both of his hands to slowly stand up. He was not as lively as he was before.

"Don't be so arrogant now that you have power."

There was a hint of jealousy and self-deprecation in Aric's words. He still had a smile on his face, but there were sadness and disgust mixed into it.

Hugh stayed silent and just prepared his armor just in case Aric decided to attack him.

"I remember when you were so weak, it's laughable. Now, you became...this."

Aric's smile slowly faded until his eyebrows furrowed and clear anger showed.

"What the hell happened to you? How did you get this powerful?!?!"

————flashback————

Hugh saw the world swinging up and down. He could feel the wind blowing past his face as he played on the playground.

Hugh was only five years old at this point in time. There were no traces of fat in his body and face, a complete contrast to his physique later in life.

There were kids all around him playing with each other, while he was all alone at the swings. There were kids on the slide, some were on the monkey bars, and some just played in the sandbox.

The kids minded their own business and ignored Hugh. There were looks of happiness on their faces, with smiles bright, eyebrows raised, eyes sparkling, while Hugh had a look of sadness, with his head down, eyes almost closed, and his body movement diminished.

Hugh felt the swings slowly come down into a crawl until it stopped completely. Hugh knew that his playtime was over, and he would have to swing it by himself.

Just as he was about to get off the swings, he felt a slight push from the back. The hand was small, but it was warm. This push was enough for the swings to get back on their path.

Hugh flashed a look of surprise and happiness as he felt the swings work as it was supposed to. Hugh looked back and saw a boy of the same age as him looking at him with a triumphant smile.

The smile was almost arrogant, but Hugh was only thankful for the push he needed. Hugh enjoyed the time he had with the swing until it was over.

He joyfully stepped back down and faced the kid who helped him.

"You go. I'll push you this time."

The kid shook his head and rejected Hugh's help. He seemed content with himself, proud of his independence.

"I can do it myself."

The kid then went on the swings and pushed it by himself. The swing went higher than Hugh expected, but the kid seemed to enjoy it even more.

After the kid's turn was done, he looked towards Hugh and flashed a triumphant smile. He seemed as if he wanted to impress Hugh.

The kid did not say anything more as he disappeared into the crowd and played whatever he wanted to play.

The time passed and everyday, Hugh would come to the swings and play by himself. Everyday, the kid would come and help him. It was not long until the two became friends.