Knowledge and Power: Reborn into a society that only values strength.

Taking a deep breath I focused on both energies, soul, and manna, first combining them inside of my body and then imagining them leaking out like sweat and freezing to my skin, suddenly I felt very, very cold, and when I opened my eyes black ice covered my skin.

I tried to heat it up, but it wouldn't melt. Although some of it did trickle into water, which quickly became more than a little uncomfortable. After a while, it started to hurt. 'What's the deal… It doesn't melt with normal magic? Ok… So let's try reabsorbing it then…' I brought my soul back into my body and it brought the manna I used along with it, but my whole body was covered in chills on the outside, and a fiery burn on the inside, like alcohol, was running through my veins. It wasn't like I was melting, it just stung like lemon juice on open wounds.

'I'm topped off on manna… So why… Did it make me so tired…' I let out a heavy breath as I sat down next to the window. 'I still have to put on my uniform… But I feel like I just ran a marathon… I need some water…'

I looked over to the bathroom sink but quickly decided walking over to it would be too much work and conjured some with magic. But that only made the faint stinging I felt turn into an intense raging burn and I lost control of my magic, drenching myself as the water ball I was slurping down popped over my lap.

"Ugh…" 'I wanna go back to bed…'

After a few minutes of sitting still, not wanting to accept what had happened, I finally got up and changed into my uniform, since I had to change anyway. But I had been keeping track of time ever since the girls had left. "Class has… Already started… Hasn't it…"

I slowly took my hand away from my door before I could open it. 'I mean, it was already going to be super awkward, but if I show up late! And then I'd have to explain why I'm late… So I'd have to talk to him! Could I just ignore him? I could just turn around and leave if he asks right? But what if he tries to stop me? If I run away am I faster than him? Wait, that's a stupid question, he wouldn't actually chase me down the halls when he's supposed to be giving a lecture right?'

I brought my hands up and rubbed my whole face. 'It's fine. I'll just skip class too… He said he was going to come check up on me, so I should probably leave if I'm really trying to avoid him… Plus, fresh air would be good, my body is itching to move… I can't believe I'm saying this but I want to go on a run.'

I reached for the door handle again. 'Oh… But then again someone might see me if I just go walking through the halls…' Once again I took my hand away and began slowly pacing back and forth until I paused, staring at the window and feeling a slight tingling in my back. 'I'm not scared of heights anymore… I could always… No, that would be crazy, right? Just to avoid talking to one man? Would I really do that just to avoid talking to a guy just because we shared a few embarrassing moments? I'm sure we will be able to just… Laugh at them… Right? Like when I accidentally knocked him out and he fell on top of me, or when he pulled my face out of the river because he thought I was drowning… It's kind of funny… Like that time I… Suddenly I found myself straddling him after ripping his shirt off and biting him all over…'

I heard a knock on the door and didn't even bother finishing my thought. I leaped up onto the window sill and crouched under the open pane, jumping out, only looking down after I started to fall, my heart suddenly racing as my breath stopped in my lungs. 'I'M DEFINITELY STILL SCARED OF HEIGHTS!'

My body burned with a surge of energy as manna shot through my limbs to reinforce it and I braced for landing. All the joints in my legs still screamed at me when I hit the ground, aching from the lengthy fall. "Ow…" I whined. The stone below me had cracked and several students stared at me as I slowly tried to straighten my legs and carefully began walking away. 'I'll just go to Bear's house and see Little Rune… I'm sure seeing her cute face will cheer me right up… And… Well, l I'm mostly just going there because it would be a good hideout. Now that the student body saw me jump from like 30 feet in the air suddenly I feel the need to hide from more than just one person…'

I continued stepping slowly, my joints never quite feeling the same even when I made it to his house. The pain coupled with the fact that I was crazy enough to actually jump stopped me from thinking about anything else. When I made it to the door I tried to open it, but it was locked. Luckily, I knew how the locks worked, so I just picked it up with magic and opened the door, stumbling inside. "Hey Rune… Are you in the–"

One step through the door I felt something hit me in the back of the head, making my whole life flash before my eyes. It wasn't even strong enough to knock me down, but it was the same spot that had killed me once before so… Well, at least it rested my mind, needless to say, I wasn't thinking about being embarrassed anymore.

I suddenly heard the gasp of a little girl. "SIYA! Oh my gosh, are you ok?"

"Uh… Yeah…" I slowly covered the small knot that was forming, but I didn't even feel any pain. Instead, it was as if I had suddenly relieved everything I had gone through, good and bad up till that point. 'I'm sure she feels awful… I should smile, right? To let her know it's ok?' I turned to see Rune looking back and forth in a desperate panic before taking my hand and leading me to the bed, helping me sit down. 

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I didn't know it was you. Are you sure you're ok? You don't look ok…"

I wiped my eyes which had almost started to water and smiled back at her. "I told you I'm fine, really… Although you did startle me." She hesitantly took a step closer, still unsure what to do, so I just grabbed her and gave her a big hug. "Look, see, everything is still just fine. Even better now that I'm with you."

She let out an embarrassed groan before hugging me back. "They said you didn't want to talk to anyone because you got cursed… So I started staying here again… Are you better now? Is the curse gone?"

I chuckled timidly. 'So that explains that…' "It's almost gone… But it still makes it really hard to talk to my teacher, and that makes things hard. You don't have to worry though, even if I get cursed again, I'll never be sad about seeing you." 'Although… I wasn't expecting it to cheer me up so much either.'