Chapter 01 - Looking For The Way Home

 

Chapter 01

Noon.

The sun was shining high in the blue sky as the students filed out of class, packing the cafeteria and the old corner store as usual. The school was always abuzz with noise and movement at that hour.

Nothing suggested that today would be any different from a typical school day.

Or so it appeared...

Behind the school, in a corner secluded from public view, a clenched, high-velocity fist slammed into a student's stomach. The sudden blow caused the young man's pupils to constrict as the air escaped from his body, doubling and contracting due to the intense pain.

Ethan Drake couldn't help but fall to his knees on the floor, gasping and trying to contain the burning liquid rising from deep in his stomach.

That bitter, disgusting taste rose in his throat until it flooded his mouth, and then, despite Ethan trying to stop it, he couldn't, and vomit spilled out of his mouth, littering the entire floor.

Bluaghh! Cough! Cough!

There went all the food Ethan had eaten for breakfast in the morning.

His eyes were on the verge of tears from embarrassment and pain, but at the same time, Ethan felt a rising anger inside himself that seemed about to explode like a fucking volcano.

Anger coursed through his entire body, causing him to shudder as his fists clenched and his gaze lifted, shooting a hate-filled glare in the direction of the guilty bastards.

In front of Ethan stood three thugs openly sneering and laughing before his eyes.

“Hahaha! Ethan, god, look at the mess you’ve made. Yuck! What a smell of rotten shit!” said one of them while covering his nose, mocking the bad smell.

Ethan, who was at his limit, felt like he was about to explode. Baring his clenched fangs, he tried to get to his feet.

“You, you fucking son of a…!”

But Ethan didn’t have time to finish his insult as he suddenly received a kick that sent him rolling on the ground until he fell into a muddy puddle.

He ended up covered in mud from head to toe.

(hasta aqui corregimos con gpt-openai)

A small amount of the mud ended up getting in his eyes and mouth. Ethan as best he could wiped the mud out of his eyes and spat out the part that had gotten into his mouth. Finally, he staggeringly crawled out of the puddle.

Seeing the condition of his school uniform and especially his sneaker which he had only managed to buy less than a week ago after a full month of hard work, he felt his face turn white. 

The bullies laughed at his muddy appearance.

Ethan on the other hand, was pale and in slight internal shock.

All his clothes were wet and covered in mud, even his underwear was not safe. Feeling totally humiliated, Ethan stood transfixed looking down at his fists clenched against the cracked and rough asphalt floor. His fists were pressed so hard that his knuckles began to ache and turn red from the pressure.

Ethan felt an incredible rage inside.

He wanted to scream, he wanted to stand up and face these three bastards.

But at the same time, a sense of helplessness and weakness enveloped him.

Why...? he wondered.

Looking up, Ethan looked at the bastard in front of him who was clearly leading the other two.

This guy who was the leader of the group wore a rolled-up shirt that showed off his trained muscles and had his hair slicked back as he flashed a wide grin.

The asshole smiled, smiled at Ethan with a clear sneer.

Ethan shuddered.

Why!? He asked himself again.

Why the hell am I so weak!!!?

He gritted his teeth with all his might, until he almost broke his fangs from the hatred he felt for his own weakness.

He felt powerless, he wanted to smash his fist into the face of the son of a bitch in front of him, but he couldn't do it. The helplessness and cowardice of not being able to defend himself against these guys generated an incredible emotion of irritation and self-hatred towards himself.

He wanted to hit them!

He wanted revenge for what they had done to him!

But...

He didn't have the courage to try to do it.

He was simply weak and pathetic.

His arms were thin and his body did not have much strength either. He was bad at sports and had problems with anxiety and insomnia.

Every way you looked at it, he was no match for this son of a bitch in front of him.

Brad Brandon was the name of the bastard in front of him.

A senior who was the leader of a small group of student bullies.

But it didn't stop there, besides being a school bully, Brad was also a pretty popular guy at school. He was the star of the rugby club and thanks to him, the school club had managed to come in second place during last year's regional competition.

A more than impressive achievement considering that dozens of similar clubs from other more popular and highly rated schools were competing.

As a result, Brad was known as a great athlete. He had a fairly tall and muscular body. He was popular with the girls. His hair, which was always slicked back, had painted red highlights, which matched perfectly with the pair of crimson earrings he had in his ears and lip.

In conclusion, Brad was the typical popular asshole who picked on pathetic students after school. The local school bully.

And obviously, Ethan, a pathetic, wimpy, pale third grader was no match against Brad, a star of the Rugby club.

Ethan knew this.

But his anger and self-hatred at his own weakness made him grit his teeth until they almost bled.

Someday...!

Ethan looked up with his eyes full of anger and made an oath in his mind that someday, he would make these guys pay for all the aggression, taunts and beatings they had unjustifiably done to him.

Brad noticed that look.

"Hahaha, what the hell is that look Ethan, are you trying to challenge me by looking at me ugly?" laughed Brad, showing a clear mockery towards the burning anger in Ethan's eyes.

Brad was clearly displaying an amused, carefree and confident attitude at Ethan's enraged stare.

What are you going to do, you little runt? You want to reveal yourself? Brad asked with a mocking look on his face.

As angry as Ethan was, Brad had full confidence that he could easily defeat the wimpy Ethan. He didn't feel threatened in any way, and added to this was the fact that he was accompanied by his henchmen A and B.

On the right side, was minion "A" named Ron, an obese fourth-year student. His neck and cheeks were rounded, his face full and he had spiky hair pulled up like he had a fucking starfish stuck on top of his head. He was also wearing a school shirt with short sleeves, and you could tell he had a prominent belly as the buttons on his shirt looked like they were about to pop.

Ethan was terrified at the thought that this huge fat ball might try to crush him.

And on the other side, there was the "B" henchman who was the complete opposite of fat Ron.

This guy's name was Spencer and he was also a fourth year high school student. With a tall height and a scrawny, thin body, his face was bony and he looked as if he had been sucked by some kind of evil entity. Rumor had it that he was sneaking weird substances and so he looked more and more like a walking skeleton.

What made Ethan most uncomfortable and uneasy, though, was not this guy's sucked-in look, but the elongated, squinted eyes he had.

Whenever he looked at him, he felt as if he was looking at some kind of evil, treacherous snake. A treacherous person with evil intentions who would not last to stab even his own father or brother in the back in order to achieve his machinations or plans.

This guy was someone clearly not to be trusted, that was the impression he generated to Ethan.

And finally.

Ethan with a complicated look and almost mocked by fate, observes the last participant who is next to Brad's cretin.

A slightly stooped guy wearing a rustic vest and boring, unfashionable circular glass glasses. Whichever way you look at it, this four-eyed guy didn't seem to fit in at all next to these three school bullies.

But there he was... flashing a nervous smile as if trying to get the group to like him.

The whole thing felt ironic, almost like a mockery of himself.

This four-eyed who was now hanging out with Brad and company was once Ethan's best friend.

Specifically, it was during kindergarten that the two were best friends and used to spend hours playing together. But of course... the years had passed and their friendly relationship had long since broken up.

Long time, eh... Byron. Ethan smiled wryly as he looked at Byron, his former childhood best friend.

Brad laughed and ruffled Byron’s hair roughly as if he were some kind of pet, then nodded to his henchman who had a gaunt face

"Spencer, hold on to him so he doesn't move. It's a good time for our new friend to finally join our group" Brad said, with a mysterious smile on his lips.

Spencer nodded and walked over to Ethan.

What?  Ethan watched this guy, and saw the clear amusement in his narrowed, elongated eyes. They were eyes with evil intent. Still feeling aches all over his body, Ethan tried to get up, but he didn't have time, a kick came from in front of him.

Ethan shifted to the side and the kick grazed his cheek, leaving a burning red line across his cheek. He grunted in pain and tried to defend himself, but Spencer who was moving like a snake kicked his foot, causing him to stumble.

Then without giving Ethan time to stabilize himself, Spencer grabbed him from behind and applied a hold to restrict his movements, and in between struggles, Spencer managed to make Ethan fall to his knees on the ground, causing him to fall to his knees and fall to his knees.

"What the fuck are you doing, let go of me!" protested Ethan.

“Hehe, don’t move or I’ll tighten the hold,” said Spencer, holding him back.

“What the hell are you doing!? Let me go!” protested Ethan.

Ethan didn't obey and struggled to get free, but Spencer muttered. "I warned you, you idiot." And then he tightened his grip on his hold, the tendons in Ethan's arm squeezed and Ethan let out a cry of pain.

"Aargh!"

Ethan's agitated and angry breathing escaped from his mouth and nose, his face somewhat red with anger, but he couldn't do anything.

He was so pathetically weak that he was easily knocked down by this asshole.

"Well, well! Hahaha, bravo!" applauding, Brad approached, dragging Byron with his muscular arm around the pale neck of four-eyed Byron. "What do you think, Byron? Are you ready?" Brad asked.

Byron seemed to feel Brad's arm heavy on his neck, but he didn't complain. He hurried to adjust his circular glasses with nervous fingers, and sweating a bit on his forehead, he asked with a slight stutter.

"R-ready... for what?"

"Hm?" Brad looked at him pretending to be surprised. "Haven't you guessed what you have to do already?"

Nervous, Byron shook his head.

Brad smiled and said, "Don't worry, Byron. You're our new friend, right?" he asked, patting Byron on the back as if to try to calm him down, although the blows due to the force, shook Byron a little. Then he looked at the kneeling Ethan who was being held by Spencer.

"Friends accompany each other in their misdeeds, understand, Byron?"

"I-I don't know what..."

Brad frowned at not getting the response he wanted, tightened his arm around Byron's neck, and asked again, but this time with a colder tone.

"We don't have much time to keep playing, Byron. Will you do it or not?"

Byron was quite pale, and his body seemed to tremble a bit.

After a moment of silence, Byron finally nodded his head.

“Great, that's what I like to hear, Byron! You really are our friend. I was starting to doubt it and even thought about throwing you off a cliff if you didn't give me an answer!” Brad applauded again and removed his heavy arm from around Byron's neck and stepped back, leaving Byron alone in front of Ethan.

"Hehehe, he's all yours, four eyes. I'll keep him still, hit him whenever you're ready," Spencer laughed while holding Ethan's hands so he couldn't move or resist.

Ethan clenched his teeth and looked up to meet Byron's gaze.

Byron turned his gaze slightly to the side.

Smiling with clear anger, Ethan said, "...What good new friends you've made, huh, Byron."

"...," Byron didn't respond and turned his gaze back. Brad, who was watching, nodded and smiled at him while cracking his knuckles. Byron felt his back chill at the sound of Brad's knuckles cracking.

Nervously, he returned his gaze to Ethan.

Silence lingered for a while, Spencer who was holding Ethan back frowned in annoyance at the tardiness.

"Byron what the hell are you waiting for!? Do it already, we’re running out of time!"

Brad's scolding from a distance made Byron tremble.

"I-I'll do it!" Byron clenched his fists tightly.

"Hehehe, Brad, this four-eyed nerd doesn't dare to hit him. He's just a piece of trash like the rest," Spencer taunted.

Quickly, Byron responded.

"I-If I dare!"

"Then do it already, stop wasting time, four-eyes!" 

"I-I'll do it right now!" cried Byron, then he raised his fist and before Ethan's wide-open eyes, Byron's fist landed forcefully on his nose. 

The punch made Ethan's head snap back, feeling an impact at the back of his head. Then Ethan felt his hands free and fell to the ground, holding his nose in a rush as red blood trickled through his fingers.

"Ugh!" Ethan groaned in pain, his nose was bleeding from the blow. 

But at the same time, a splashing sound was heard behind him. 

Confused, Ethan turned his head back and was surprised to see a mud-covered Spencer with his bony face totally tinted with an intense red. 

Seeing this, Ethan realized what had happened. 

That blow he felt at the back of his head was his head colliding with Spencer's face who was restraining him. Due to the blow, Spencer fell backwards, straight into the mud puddle. 

And now... 

Oh, shit. 

"You, you damn son of a b*tch! I'm going to cut you into a thousand pieces!" screamed Spencer, totally crazed with anger. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a sharp knife. 

Seeing the knife, Ethan's pupils contracted abruptly. 

What the f*ck!! Damn lunatic! 

Ethan tried to get up to run, while Byron was paralyzed.

"Wait, Wait a moment!" Byron stuttered, and afraid, tried to stop the situation.

Even Brad and the chubby Ron who were a few meters away, watching the whole event with a smile until just a few seconds ago, felt their smiles fade when they saw the knife.

Both knew that hitting or bullying other students was not the same as pulling out a knife and attempting to stab a schoolmate.

That was already an attempted murder!

"Spencer, wait! Stop there!" Brad shouted as he ran to stop his friend.

But just in that moment of chaos...

*Ding*

A sound similar to a notification sounded in the ears of all present. Both Ethan, Byron, Spencer or even those who were far away like Brad and Ron heard it in their ears.

A message appeared in front of their eyes.

System Notification: Summoning to the New World in progress!

Summoning process activating in 1...

"What the hell?" Ethan was surprised. His shocked eyes looked underneath and he noticed that before he even realized it, a circle of bluish light almost 5 meters long had appeared, enclosing him inside.

And in the same circle, trapped next to him were Byron and Spencer who were still wide-eyed in disbelief.

...2

On the other side, Ethan also noticed that Brad and the chubby Ron had been enclosed inside another bluish circle of light similar to the one he had under his feet.

Spencer and Byron touched the beam of light that encapsulated them, and their hands hit against a mysterious invisible solid wall.

"What the hell is this?!" Spencer shouted.

"We can't get out!" Byron hit the invisible wall of light with his hands.

Ethan moved his gaze from side to side, looked again at the drawing of the bright circle under his feet, and then looked at the message that was above them.

A murmur escaped his lips.

"Could it be that... Are we being summoned to another world?"

...3...Summoning activated!

The counter reached three, and the shining light flooded the circles. Both Ethan, Byron, and Spencer were enveloped and devoured by the intense light. They let out screams of panic before losing their consciousnesses and falling into darkness...

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Capítulo 02 ❱❱