Chapter 1: Death

"Why?”

“Was I wrong? Is telling the truth now a crime?" The young man, with wings as black as coal, was on the brink of execution at the tender age of 210. His eyes were dark and his hair was jet black, a taboo combination in the eyes of heaven.

He had faced discrimination and bullying throughout his life, and when he tried to speak the truth, he was met with execution. But he knew he was not in the wrong. He had simply fought back and exposed the injustice that had led to his impending punishment.

His own family had detested him, and his supposed lover was nothing but a greedy opportunist. Even in the great expanse of Heaven, he had been unable to find true and eternal happiness.

As he was dragged to his birth city where everyone eagerly awaited his execution, he couldn't help but question himself. He laughed bitterly at the irony of it all, for he had once believed in the justice that God had created.

Many stared at him from the everlasting buildings, watching the scene through the windows.

A few decided to take part in his procession to execution. They threw the lying, quite normal-looking yet different stones and pebbles at him.

As he was being stoned, he began to bleed, his blood being as dark as night, considered an omen by many. It was because of these things that he earned the moniker of "The Dark Angel".

Throughout his life, he had experienced only one moment of true happiness, when he believed he had found his soulmate. But that joy was short-lived, as he soon discovered that his love had been fake. From that point on, his life had been nothing but a continuous cycle of misery and despair, as if it hadn’t been earlier.

The words "Kill him immediately! Execute him!" echoed across the vast land, and even the children looked upon him with disdain, as if he were a monster. The weight of their condemnation made him question himself and wonder if he truly was in the wrong.

Children were considered to be pure, an incarnation of God. But that seemed far from the truth. The children, having no hatred in their eyes, followed others. They copied what their parents, teachers and friends did. Not realizing the weight of their actions, they too committed injustice with innocence.

The Dark Angel couldn’t help but smile while experiencing this, a smile that wasn’t visible on the face but surely sparkled within him, a smile which was filled with grief, understanding and resentment… A smile, which he didn’t ponder much about, as, he cared no more.

The supposedly golden shackles that were tied around his wrists, which had already turned black, as if they had corroded, made him experience pain, but this couldn’t even hold a candle in front of his life experiences.

Two guards, wearing golden armours made out of one of the strongest materials, having crests of a horse with wings - Pegasus - in the front, around the chest area, pulled the chains attached to the shackles, indirectly pulling the criminal, delivering him to the grand platform, prepared for his departure.

He was already entitled to death, and the executioner prepared to carry out the sentence, but before he could perform the given task, a sudden cry pierced the air.

The voice didn’t have any hint of sadness. It was just a loud scream, only meant to grab attention.

The dark angel, who had accepted his fate by closing his eyes tight, mustered the strength to open them.

He was too weak to move his gaze around, and he didn’t even need to try as the one who shouted, happened to be right in front of him. Although their eyes didn’t meet, the dark angel did get a chance to catch a glimpse of the kind person, who had extended his life by a few.

Beautiful and seducing lips, blue-coloured eyes and yellowish golden hairs - these traits were rare and couldn’t possibly escape any person in Heaven. The one who intervened matched the said description.

The criminal couldn’t take off his eyes, not because he was mesmerized, but because he simply didn’t have the strength to do so. Adding to this, it was also because the said person was familiar.

It was his first and only love, appearing seemingly out of nowhere and shouting, "STOP!"

All eyes turned to the woman who had interrupted the execution, and even the executioner hesitated in his duty. The sudden interruption had taken everyone by surprise, and a hushed silence fell over the crowd as they awaited her next move.

She took huge strides, walking straight towards the platform, and then climbing it. No one bothered to stop her. Many wanted to see the show unfolding while some, especially males, were just mesmerized by her beauty, which was visible to them after she took her robe off.

The girl walked slowly towards him, every step she took capturing the attention of the crowd. The air was thick with anticipation as they watched the unfolding scene with bated breath.

With every step the girl took, the dark angel was forced to suffer from pain even more. But he didn’t mind. If he could see, at least, one person caring for him, he would definitely not mind suffering from little more pain.

Even though he knew, that she was no longer his girl, he still looked at her, staring at her and perhaps, enjoying each and every step she took.

And in that duration, thousands of thoughts unfold, one of them being, a glimmer of hope!

He had already lost his battle against fate, and with all that had happened, he had surrendered to his destiny, death. He no longer longed for this life, it just didn’t matter to him.

But now, as his death was stalled, and as he saw someone coming for him, a small thought rippled the calm pond, causing him to wonder… wonder if he could somehow survive.

A secondary thought, a little contrasting one from the first, originated too.

As the chance of him being dead, was significantly higher than anything else, and since the sentence was already given, which under no circumstance unless God intervened could be revoked, he just couldn’t help but ponder if she had come to give a final farewell, a small goodbye.

However, he soon realized that he was wrong and that her intentions were far from pure.

"Alisha... thank God you came, I wanted to see you..." the Dark Angel spoke, his voice filled with both, gratitude and sadness. He couldn't help but feel a sense of longing as he gazed upon her.

Only he knew with what difficulty he spoke those words. Despite being in pain, he tried his best to sound as gentle as possible. He didn’t use the chance to vent his anger, for her betrayal, cheating behind his back or dumping him in front of all. He just couldn’t afford to waste the little energy on meaningless words.

He even tried his best to smile, for it only seemed a bit creepy. He tried his best, not to impress the lady in front of him, but to at least, get one wish from her.

But instead of showing any kindness, Alisha's gaze was filled with contempt as she looked down at the Dark Angel, as if he were nothing more than a lowly scum.

She knew very well that she was the one who had cheated, betrayed and taken advantage of him, but in front of all, she pretended that it was this lowly scum who had done the deeds, after all, who would stand for such a guy that was already isolated from the society?

The Dark Angel was at a loss for words, his throat dry and his energy drained from the ordeal he had been put through. All he could manage was a feeble, "Alisha...?" as he looked up at her with pleading eyes, hoping for some kind of explanation or redemption.

To the Dark Angel's horror, Alisha did not offer any of those. Instead, she turned to the executioner and demanded the sword.

The confused executioner questioned her intentions by merely staring at her, but after looking at her smirk, he instantly knew what she was up to.

Without further hesitation, the executioner handed it over, and to the Dark Angel's dismay, she used it to chop off both of his black wings.

"Arghhhhhh!!!"

The pain was unbearable, and the Dark Angel let out a bloodcurdling scream as both his wings were brutally hacked off. He writhed on the ground, tears streaming down his face, as the chains that bound him prevented him from moving or fighting back. All he could do was cry out in agony, his screams echoing throughout the entire land.

The strength for the cries… their origin couldn’t be known for who thinks about that while looking at someone in pain?

They only laugh or show fake sympathy, the latter was not an option for him though.

He was only met with laughter, as everyone enjoyed the scene.

“These disgusting black wings always strained my eyes.”

“Finally they are no more.”, her words, barely audible to him as he kept screaming, were supported by many nearby who could hear her clearly, despite the criminal’s cry.

The executioner clapped, followed by the audience applauding for what she had done, which only made her more confident for the next words that she spat out of her mouth.

"Let me do the honour of killing him!", she said with cold eyes.

‘The ones who seek strength may end up astray. But the ones who seek the right path will be greeted by indefinite strength.’

He always believed this and choose the right path… but… he never received the indefinite strength that was mentioned.

The source of strength for the cry did have an unknown origin, but the strength to speak the next few words was definitely awarded to him, not because he sought the right path, but because of the anger that had built up from his birth, into a volcano, which erupted after the recent action.

The Dark Angel closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, feeling a surge of defiance rise up within him. He refused to give up without a fight, without a final word.

“Fuck You.”, he said.

Those golden words… No one knew its origin, no one knew what they meant, and even the dark angel, who perhaps, by chance, stumbled up these words from some texts of the creatures created by God, knew nothing about it, but his gut feeling made him spit it out.

Everyone failed to grasp its meaning, but they understood, by his expression, that it was definitely, not a pleasant word.

"You all made me this way. It was your discrimination and bullying that pushed me to the edge. But now, all you do is put the blame on me?”, the voice echoed throughout the area.

The sudden strength after those golden words seemed infinite! It's as if he could go on forever.

“I’m ominous, right? So here’s an ominous wording for you my friends.”

“Revenge.”

“A good word right?”, he said with a smile, not creepy, but a decent smile as if he was perfectly fine. But this perfect smile, changed into a scene of horror as he widened his eyes and spoke the next words.

“I'll make sure to have my revenge!"

“Indeed, it wasn’t you, but me who was wrong.”

“I shouldn’t have stayed quiet while you all barked.”

“I should have caused chaos and killed all those who stood against me…”

His words were shaky and imperfect, but the curse he was uttering sounded powerful and ominous.

The air around him started to vibrate, as if an Airquake, something similar to Earthquake, occurred.

Goosebumps, it knocked on everyone’s door.

“I should have been the audience of this Execution Show.”

“Hahahaha.”

“...”

A moment of silence prevailed which was followed by yet another laughter.

“Hahaha, I’m not a heartless fool like you. So, I won’t stop from giving you a warning before killing you…”

“But beware, if we ever have an encounter, forget about returning alive…”

“You won’t live another day to see the sunrise for I AM THE DARK ANGEL!”

“...”

His words echoed through the crowd, leaving an eerie silence in their wake.

The criminal spoke no other word.

The lady with the sword, Alisha, remained speechless.

In all the time that she had spent with him, she had never, not even once, seen him display such anger or raise his voice in such a manner.

She was just shaken, completely paused as she stared at the criminal’s lowered head, her eyes gazing at his black hair.

It was as if she was staring into blank space.

However, she was brought back to reality as the crowd started to chant about killing the dark angel after regaining their composure.

Alisha raised the sword up to a certain height and then swung it with great strength.

And just as the sword was about to touch his neck, he murmured, “Fuck you.”

It passed cleanly through the angel’s head, who was now, proclaimed dead.

The crowd started to cheer, everyone overjoyed by what had happened.

Alisha looked at the crowd and raised her sword, as if it was her victory proclamation, however, just as she did that the dark angel’s head rolled all the way to her heels.

She shifted her gaze from the crowd to the head, only to find his eyeballs moving, looking at her one last time and then looking at the crowd, as if, memorizing their faces.

She was baffled by what happened and rubbed her eyes once, to check if she was merely hallucinating. But by the time she finished her preparation to check the head again, he was now, really dead. His eyes were lifeless.

‘Yeah, I must have made a mistake…’, she thought.

Indeed, she did, but the one she realized was the wrong one!’

"You should have never been born...", she murmured.

.

.

.

‘And that’s how I was murdered…’

“Haha…”

“But fret not, for I swear on the name of The Dark Angel, that I will have my revenge.”, a boy with jet black hair, and black eyes similar to the dark angel, but with distinguished smooth white skin, a contrast to the rough tanned skin of the angel, stared at the night sky, while clenching his fist, so tightly, that is uncut nails pierced through the skin, making him bleed.

Chapter 2: Reincarnation

As the young boy gazed up at the sky, he released a series of deep sighs, betraying his exhaustion.

Despite his youthful appearance, he appeared burdened with thoughts that weighed heavily on his mind. The subject of his musings was unclear, but one could sense a strange glint in his eyes, a fierce determination fueled by a burning desire for revenge.

His eyes soon paused at the clock on the table, close to the door.

It was four in the morning, not surprising considering that the sky was filled with stars.

“Thinking about that won’t do any good right now.”, he muttered to himself before turning and making his way back to his bed. Collapsing onto the plush mattress, he let out a long, tired sigh. The night had been exhausting, as he had recovered the memories of his past life.

As the events flooded his mind, his head started to hurt, his body suffering similarly with jolts of pain.

It went on for about an hour, finally after which he was awake, rising in a new body!

“Ha…”, he was confused, and bewildered yet calm.

He glanced at his palm while lying on the bed, which bled slightly. But that was nothing compared to the past, nor could it stand a chance against the sufferings of this life.

“Haha, looks like this life isn’t any different from the past…”, he murmured to himself as visible scars and bruises on his arms flashed.

A drop of tear separated from the rest and wet his cheek.

‘Dammit…’

‘Why am I treated this way?’, he cried.

Even though he had put up a great front before dying, he was someone with a soft heart. He would rather get hurt than cause others pain.

‘Is treating others with kindness a sin?’, the boy asked, thinking about the present.

He didn’t know why he had forgotten his past, or why he recalled it at the age of 18, however, he did know one thing, he was given a chance to be reborn.

He gritted his teeth, recalling all the moments that had led him to his execution. He could remember everyone’s face, but more than that, the pain that he had supposedly forgotten after dying once, had become quite fresh.

And now, just like before, he decided to abandon his ideals.

‘Angels.’

‘Humans.’

“I won’t forgive you for causing me pain. I, the Dark Angel, swear, for all the pain I have received, I will pay you back tenfold!”, he proclaimed as rage filled in his eyes and almost exploded, his body shivering visibly due to anger and his teeth grinding amongst themselves.

“I will crush you all.”

“I will…”

He ended up falling asleep while making the promise, his body was quite tired so the sleep took the best of him.

*knock knock*

Repetitive knocks on the door could be heard, the door visibly shaking.

"Zain, wake up!”, following the knocks, a voice made its way inside the room.

“It's time for you to go to school!", a woman's voice called out, a little loud and annoying, but with a touch of warmth.

‘School?’, Zain was confused.

He wasn’t asleep, in fact, he had woken up even before the first knock was heard. He woke up just from the sound of the footsteps and took a defensive position, near the door but pretended to be asleep.

“Ah right… school.”, Zain scratched his head, knowing exactly what the voice meant.

"Zain Kruz! Get up!", The knocking grew louder and more persistent, accompanied by an increasingly forceful banging.

"You can't miss yet another day!", she exclaimed.

“Stop locking yourself inside! Come out!”

Zain lowered his gaze a bit, realizing that he had been skipping school for the past few days. The reason was obvious… bullying.

As he was the same person and not someone else whose soul had somehow transmigrated into this body, he knew what he had been through.

He looked at his arms, trying to check the bruises and scars on his body. Initially, he had locked himself in the room because he didn’t want to show the bruises to his mother, to prevent her from knowing just how bad his suffering was.

‘Huh!?’

“Nothing?”, he murmured, confused by the fact that all the injuries that he had suffered, had miraculously vanished.

Even the old scars he had received, especially the one on his face which had given him the title of the Ugly Duckling, were no more.

He stared at the mirror for a few seconds, confused but understanding as he somewhat knew the reason for this.

‘Did my Heal skill do this?’, he asked himself.

‘But how? Did I regain my lost abilities only now? Not from birth?’, he was too confused, not knowing what had just happened.

If he had this ability from the start, he wouldn’t have gotten any permanent scars, to begin with.

But now that he did, he wasn’t exactly happy, but puzzled.

‘What about my other abilities?’, he questioned himself, preparing himself to try a skill of his.

But no, other than manipulating the mana around him a little, he couldn’t use any of his skills.

‘Ah, looks like I subconsciously manipulated mana to heal myself…’, he realized, knowing that it was no skill of his, but rather, his own prowess of manipulating the mana that mimicked his skill only a little.

“Zain! Please! I’m begging you! Come out!”

“I won’t tell you to go to school…”

“Please, just come out and have something…”, the voice, that belonged to his mother, echoed in the room, snapping him out from thinking all this.

“Y-yes Mother. I’m coming.”, he replied.

His mother, who had been begging him to step out, was shocked when she heard his voice after four whole days!

Tears drizzled down her eyes.

She was a kind woman, who had taken care of Zain despite suffering from many hardships.

His father, an officer, had passed away when he was only 6 years old during a massive war that broke out due to a large terrorist group. He was brutally killed in the process of saving a few.

But the reward for this bravery wasn’t some good wishes or praise, it was isolation.

None of his fellow officers or colleagues ever visited him, neither during his prime nor at his funeral. This was because, the news wasn’t made public as they didn’t want unnecessary attacks on the government, and hence, none bothered to visit him.

None, except one, visited him at his funeral.

His name was Kim Ryung, his colleague.

He did appear to have been his best friend, but his intentions were far from what was shown.

Even his attendance at the funeral had a hidden motive. He wanted to use the opportunity to propose to Zain’s mother, hoping to take advantage of the situation to advance his own interests. However, Jay's mother saw right through his intentions and refused his proposal, knowing that he was only interested in her body and not in truly taking care of her son.

Zain’s mother was a normal human, whereas Kim was a high-ranking Earth Angel, there was just no way that she could get out unscathed even after refuting him!

Face… the cost for refuting him was the disfiguration of her face. Zain’s mother, Zelia, was successfully converted from beauty to one of the ugliest out there.

Needless to say, the scar on Zain’s face was also the result of Kim’s powers, who spared not even a little kid, after all, he was the fruit of love between the one he loved, Zelia, and the one he hated, that is, Zain’s father, Kain.

All the women who hated Zelia for her beauty and the men who liked her, started to destroy her mind after seeing what had happened. She was emotionally and mentally down, and seeing this battle of emotions that his mother fought for so many years, Zain, at the age of 16, asked if they could move to a different city.

Taking his suggestion into consideration, Zelia decided to move to a different city. But criticism followed there as well.

But the situation was much better than earlier.

She was somewhat at ease, and Zain, who started to attend the school here, despite being bullied because of his low strength and ugliness, kept it a secret from his mother.

Zain walked out, only to find his mother on her knees.

“Mother!”, he didn’t hesitate to hug her, by kneeling on the ground, matching her position.

“Please forgive me.”

He said as tears drizzled down his eyes, his mother crying at the same time while being puzzled.

They shared this moment for a few minutes, which healed most of the pain that they had suffered all this time.

Zain, in his previous life, had only once been hugged, by Alisha, but there was no warmth, in contrast, the hug was cold.

But now, his lifelong wish had been fulfilled. Although Zelia had hugged him on countless occasions, he never thought much of those moments as he had yet to regain his memories during those times.

It was only now, that, his heart felt a bit at ease.

Zain revealed that he would be going to school upon hearing which, his mother smiled. She walked down and set the table with breakfast, waiting for him to get ready in the meanwhile.

And while he was in the bath, tons of thoughts shrouded his mind yet again.

The common being:

He no longer wanted to be oppressed; instead, he decided that he would become the oppressor himself.

Although it may have been a morally questionable path, he had resolved to become a force of evil to combat those who did evil to him. He planned to leave the good ones alone, as they were few and far between in his eyes.

‘First those bullies…’

‘And then…’, he even started making a to-do list during which, he was reminded of a serious issue.

The most pressing concern on his mind now was whether or not he still had his powers.

He didn’t completely test all his skills, so he couldn’t say for sure.

During his time in heaven, each angel possessed many skills. Along with that, a unique power based on the deity they worshipped was also granted.

Once they had pledged their allegiance to the deity, they were granted blessings that allowed them to use or advance special powers.

The most important rule was that the angels had to pledge their allegiance to at least one deity! If not, then they would be branded as a fallen angel!

However, that was different in the case of Dark Angels. The ones possessing abyssal eyes, obsidian black hair and black skin, were considered to have contracted with the demons. Whether it be a baby or an adult, none were subjected to exceptions and due to that, they weren’t allowed to have the chance to contract any deity.

This led to them being branded as Fallen Angels, making them a target for all the hatred of the Angels.

‘Hmm, indeed. I can only use a minuscule of my powers, but none of my skills.’

‘I need to regain them.’

‘And for that, I need to…’, he thought about it for a few more seconds while standing still in the shower.

After a few, he exited, drying his hair and then wearing his school uniform.

‘Ah, just look at this.’, he smiled as he spotted many kick marks, faintly visible on the shirt.

His mother didn’t have the chance to take a look at it as he always did the laundry for his cloth, but the last of his suffering was just too unbearable.

He never thought about picking his clothes and washing them, hence the marks.

He smiled, his eyes widening as each second passed by and his body warming up from anger.

‘Looks like there will be a blood bath today.’, he said to himself as he wore the same shirt, without trying to even dust it.

Chapter 3: A New Day

Zain headed downstairs, walking straight into the kitchen where a small round table had three chairs around it.

He pulled one of them and then sat down, looking at the delicious noodles and some salad prepared at the side.

He loved noodles, and that was why Zelia prepared it, but thinking about his health, she even made some salad, expecting him to eat some this time at least.

Zain, without any hesitation, gobbled up the entire thing.

While he ate heartily, his mother kept staring at him, eating her own.

Her eyes never moved away from him, her smile somewhat filled with sadness.

Zain noticed this, and asked, “Is something the matter, Mother?”

‘Mother?’

‘Not mom?’, Zelia noticed this change but didn’t speak about it.

“Ah, nothing. I just…”, she was about to tell him that she was just reminiscing about the old times, how they lived happily and how quickly he ended up growing when she noticed something.

“Son, your face…”, it was only now that she realized that the long-received scar was no more on his face.

Her eyes widened as the words stuffed out of her mouth without making any sense.

“Mother?”

“Son, you don’t have any scar.”, she said, her smile widening as tears ran down her eyes.

She was so happy that she didn’t even question the miracle that had happened, but Zain didn’t hesitate to let her know.

“Actually Mother, I awakened some healing powers last night.”

She quickly stood up from her seat and rushed towards him, hugging him yet again.

Zain remained immobile for a few seconds during which he thought to himself, ‘Please be patient, Mother. As soon as I develop my strength a bit more, I will make sure that the scars on your face, run hundreds of miles away from you.’

Soon afterwards, Zain walked out of the house with a bag, heading to the school. His mother, who waved her hand, wishing him good luck, immediately ran into the room as soon as he left.

‘Ha...’

Zain walked down calmly, thinking about the promise he made to himself about having his revenge.

‘It wouldn’t be easy.’, he thought, thinking about his situation.

The place was completely different from Heaven, and humans were more vicious and wicked than angels. Considering how low their family status was, fighting some immature kids only to kill them, didn’t sound much promising other than venting some anger.

He kept walking, thinking about it when his gaze landed on the large tower, penetrating into the sky, its tip completely hidden within the clouds.

‘The Tower of Angels…’

The gigantic tower, having a white exterior with golden musical notes-like designs all over, followed by some noticeable red rings, as if separating one floor from the other, stood miles away from him, yet completely visible.

‘Ha, only after climbing it can I have my revenge.’, Zain’s eyes burned with desire of wanting to rip apart those angels in heaven!’

The Tower Of Angels:

The name came from the fact that every ranking in the world was based on the angels. An awakened human was called an Earth Angel, an awakened from a race other than humans but actually had intelligence was called Hell Angel and those, who lived their lives as beasts or monsters, were referred to as Monster Angels.

All in all, the word angel was categorised as the basis for rankings and that was because the laws were written by the very angels in heaven, referred to as Heaven Angels, who wanted a clear-cut hierarchy.

The tower would provide many rewards, but at the same time, it possessed a risk: death.

So why would one want to seek their own death?

Apparently, the tower was the only method for humanity or any other race to build their powers rapidly. Dungeons sprung all around the world which was equally dangerous as compared to the tower, and to combat the monsters from the dungeons, it was necessary to climb the towers and get rewards.

Zain continued to walk towards the high school that he attended, the Rein Highschool for Angels.

‘Yes, this is where I study.’, Zain said to himself as he arrived in front of the school, through whose gates, many students entered.

The boys wore white shirts along with brown pants, which was the same with the girls as well, except for the fact that the pants were replaced with skirts along with a blazer over their shirts.

He entered through the gates casually, speaking to no one. None approaching him either, but definitely giving him certain weird gazes.

Zain’s heart started to pound loudly, and a wave of blood rush could be felt. The amount of adrenaline secretion topped, followed by a sense of extra-sensitivity.

The fact that he had worn a dirty white shirt on which several foot markings could be seen, made everyone mock him even more.

Zelia, from whom he thought to have kept the bullying hidden, already knew about this. But she chose not to say anything, as all she could afford was a single hug and respect for his decision.

*gulp*

‘No. Not again.’

Zain’s memories from the past resembled the moment occurring right now. It was just too similar. The fear of the past life rejuvenated within him at the instance, causing his body to have severe responses, of increased alertness, extra-sensitivity and what not?

However, he handled the situation quite brilliantly, first getting away from the students to an isolated area, near a tree, and then breathing in and out, calming himself down.

‘This unusual fear, looks like even death couldn’t take this feeling away.’, he said to himself as his normal heart rate was regained.

After calming down, he looked at the gigantic building in front of him. It too was white just like the tower, but instead of any red or golden markings, it had black lines drawn at several places.

Ignoring that, he walked straight towards the entrace of the main building. Walking upstairs, he reached the first floor where the third class was his.

He walked swiftly, got into the class, and went to his seat quite immediately, the last seat of the fourth row, close to the window.

Doing no unnecessary action, he sat down, and almost immediately, lowered his head, placing it on the desk and sleeping, for some time until the class started.

Not that he wanted to sleep, but he had nothing better to do. He did think about working a bit with his powers, but it could just be dangerous with many students around.

As he slept or at least pretended to, a few girls and many more boys entered. They started to chat and the already present noise just grew louder.

The boys discussed their games and some were flaunting their girlfriends.

Zain kept his eyes closed, somewhat annoyed that he couldn’t enjoy the breeze because of their loud chatter.

But he kept pretending, not for long though. He was forced to shiver yet again when he heard a familiar voice.

The bullies, the ones who bullied Zain for what felt like an eternity, entered the class, crashing open the door.

*BAM*

Zain kept his face lowered, not making the slightest movement. However, that didn’t stop the bullies from noticing him.

At the same time, some girls, who were talking amongst themselves, watched Zain sleeping. When he turned his face from one side to the other, one of the girls said, "Ha, he indeed looks like a shrimp.”

As if it was not enough to let him know that he was hated, the girl even started calling him a shrimp.

But to his surprise, yet another girl, besides the one who called him by the name, had a different reaction.

“Wait, don’t you think he looks somewhat handsome?”

“Eh? Are you out of your mind?”

“How can someone with such an ugly scar ever look handsome?”, the girl asked, making a disgusting expression on her face by lifting a pencil, and placing it in front of her, as if imitating the scar.

“No, look, there is no scar on his face.”, she said, somewhat surprised.

The girl who was mimicking, shifted her gaze almost immediately, but Zain was looking to the other side, so she couldn’t confirm it.

“Stop joking.”

“No, I’m-”, before the other girl could continue, one of their friends ran from one desk to the other, hugging the girl who was trash-talking about Zain.

Zain now had a distressed look on his face as he felt the bullies approaching.

‘What should I do?’

‘What should my next course of action be?’, he started to wonder.

“Oh! Zinny Boy! You came today?”, said one of the members of the gang, having a long neck and snake-like eyes. Little, almost transparent scales could be seen on his body.

"Haha, look at that punk! I think we need to play with him a little today too!", said one of the bullies who was actually standing in front of all of them, his belly being thrice the size of his large head. His skin was distinctly reddish.

He had thick spiky yellow hair, and was as tall are Zain, though, the shortest among other bullies.

Zain kept his head lowered, upon seeing which, the big belly dude walked straight towards him, pushing his arm towards Zain and grabbing his hair tightly.

"You little rascal, how dare you forget to greet us today?"

Zain’s body started to shiver on its own, even more than before. It seemed as if it had been habituated to this type of treatment and response.

‘My body…’'

He himself was surprised at how pathetic he was. Moreover, the bully who grabbed his hair, caused him pain as well, since he started to pull him upwards, trying to almost make him bald!

"Say, why didn't you greet us, you little piece of shit!?", he immediately lifted him while holding his hair and threw him with great force.

Zain went flying and hit his back against the walls.

"Ouch!", it was indeed painful, but not too hurtful at the same time.

As for others, they stared at the scene and just smiled, as if this was a common occurrence. The widening of their smiles acted as salts to his wound, pricking him even more.

But he controlled himself. He tried to first calm his body, and prevent it from trembling just by hearing the bullies’ voices!

It was hard, but he had to do this. It was unacceptable that he was thrown to such ends that forced his body to behave in such a manner.

‘Calm down…’

‘Calm down Zain.’, he said to himself, even after the trembling stopped.

Yes, the trembling stopped within a few seconds after getting crashed into the wall, but the anger within him, made his body start to tremble yet again.

It was this that he wanted to control, not the fear.

He realized, since the start, every time he was bullied, rather than fear, it was the anger that made his body tremble and even now, it wasn’t fear. It was the rage that had been locked in a cage, which tried to break apart the shackles and unleash itself, manifesting into something dangerous that could end up destroying everything that ever bothered him.

But right now, Zain controlled himself.

‘No.’, he didn't mean to tell himself that he wouldn’t seek revenge. What he actually meant was that it was just not time yet.

‘Not right now. It’s not the right time.’

Who would foolishly do something disastrous in front of everyone?

Even if in anger, he could get a moment of satisfaction, the aftermath would be just too overwhelming!

Also, he wasn’t even sure if he was stronger than the boy in front of him, his powers had yet to return, and the only thing he was proficient was, the manipulation of mana around him.

He did consider it though, if just simple manipulation was enough to send the boy flying.