Chapter 348 - 348: ...Oh
Heven Academy.
One of only three institutes that could be considered a school in Asgard. Given the growing population of the Aesir, perhaps three schools were no longer enough to sustain them-- this, however, was not a problem.
Most Aesir do not go to school and prefer the life that they have been used to since time immemorial. They were hunters, adventurers, and gatherers that explored the 9 Realms and beyond if they were capable-- and most would treat them as their superior.
And right now, there was a young man, small in stature, floating in the air and overlooking the Academy in its entirety. Van's estimate was right, this place was not as big as NYSA. However, since it was on a completely separate island of its own and surrounded with nothing but the sea for miles, it seemed bigger than it was.
He just finished his one and only class, so he really had nothing to do for the rest of the day or the time before that. Today was only his first day, and he was already running out of things to do. He was going to walk in on Athena's class earlier but decided not to do so when he heard her laughing menacingly through the door..
It would seem that he wasn't the only one who had fun on his first day. But he was sure Athena was teaching history… is that supposed to be fun?
"Run, run!"
"Hm?"
Van's thoughts were then disrupted as soon as he heard the loud roars of someone from the ground. He doesn't know whether his hearing had suddenly improved, or whether the one shouting just had a very loud voice. But no matter the case, it was enough to get his attention.
He slightly lowered his altitude, squinting his eyes as he looked in the direction where the noise was coming from. There was a large field, similar to where Van held his class earlier, near one of the college's many buildings. But unlike the field his class was in, this one was cleaner, and even had lines similar to the one you can find in track-- and perhaps that was really it.
"Haha! Run!"
There was currently a group of students shouting, cheering at a half-naked student running on the track. And considering the trail of dust and smoke that he was leaving behind him, he was moving quite fast.
Van then completely lowered himself to the ground, landing somewhat near the group that was cheering the student.
"..." And as soon as he got near, Van quickly noticed that something was amiss. The running student's body was already drowning in sweat; and considering he had only just started, it would seem he didn't have that much strength or stamina.
But still, he continued to run. And as he got closer to the cheering group, Van had finally realized something-- the student was actually a girl. He didn't notice it when he was in the air, but her hair was all messed up as if it was forcefully cut short.
Her breasts were also of a humble size, but enough for Van to realize that it was slightly jiggling. This group wasn't cheering for her… they were bullying her.
And as soon as Van realized that, he quickly took off his shirt and rushed to run towards her, covering her torso even as she moved.
"!!!"
The student jumped in shock as Van suddenly appeared beside her, causing her to lose her footing. If it wasn't for Van catching her, then she would have definitely violently rolled on the floor.
"W… who?" The student could not help but stutter as her body tried its best to recover her breaths. Van, however, did not answer her as he just dropped her on the ground.
"What the? Who in the hel are you!?"
The group quickly ran towards them, with the one in the front, presumably their leader, pointing his finger at Van.
"What the… I haven't seen you here before, who do you--"
"What class do you and your group belong to?" Van did not let the student finish his words as he looked each of them in the eyes, "I will let you off with a warning since you're not in my class, but if I see you doing this again, I will kill you."
"..."
"Pft."
And as soon as the group heard Van's words, they all quickly burst out in laughter. Suffice to say, Van was the smallest person in the vicinity. Even the girl she rescued was taller than him by a few inches.
And so, with him standing his ground and even threatening the group, they all could not help but think of how funny the situation was.
"And which class do you belong to," one of the students of the group said, covering his mouth to try and stop himself from laughing, "Kindergarten?"
"Pft."
And once again, the group's laughter became even louder.
"..." Seeing this, Van could not help but let out a sigh. This was the second time that he was mistaken as a student of the college. Truly, it wasn't his fault that he seemed to not be growing-- but maybe the headmistress could have given him something for him to be easily identified as one of their instructors since his identification card was still in the works.
If he said he was an instructor, then these motherfuckers would just probably laugh at him again. And so, the only thing he could do was slowly walk towards them, giving them a small smile as he did so.
"Run," he then said.
"What?" The group was still laughing, wiping their tears as they all looked towards Van.
"Run until I tell you to stop," Van repeated; and although he was smiling, the tone of his voice was anything but.
"It seems you're not understanding something here, squirt."
Hearing the commanding tone of Van's voice, the leader of the group stepped forward, meeting Van in the middle, looking down on him as he did so.
"I don't care if you're new here, if-- Huk!"
And before he could even finish his words, he felt his neck almost snap into two as Van suddenly pulled it down, causing his eye level to now be beneath Van.
"What the… Let go of me!" The student quickly slammed his fist towards Van's cheek. However, Van's head did not even budge an inch; instead, the only thing he did was look at the other members of the group.
"Run until I tell you to stop," Van once again repeated. The female student who Van had rescued, could only watch from the side as the situation continued to unfold before her. She was initially going to run for help, but when she saw the boy that rescued her not even budging from being hit in the face, her feet stopped.
"Let go of Haf!"
"We will--"
"Gah!"
And before the remaining members of the group could yell their complaints, they heard a tiny crack whisper in the air, followed by the wrenching scream of their friend. They didn't really see what happened, but seeing their friend grasping his hand, they were sure that the crack they heard earlier was the sound of it breaking.
"Run until I tell you to stop," Van once again repeated, his hand still gripping the student's neck, "If you don't, his other hand will be next."
"We--"
"Fuck!"
And before they could even utter a word, another crack whispered in the air. And as soon as the sound reached their ears, they immediately started running on the track, causing the female student to move to the side to avoid them.
They didn't even try to fight back, and how could they? Their leader, Haf, was the strongest of them; and he was currently being treated like some kind of toy.
"You will run as well," Van then said as he threw the student he was holding towards the track, "Don't stop until I tell you, or you know what's going to happen next."
"I…" Haf was about to say something, but when he saw the cold look in Van's eyes, he decided against doing so and just chased his friends.
Seeing this, Van let out a short but deep sigh as he nodded to himself, seemingly satisfied. He then summoned roots from the ground, making a chair to relax in as he watched the group continue to run.
"U...umm, hello?"
"Hm?"
The female student that Van had saved approached him, taking this chance to thank him for saving her. Van, however, only blinked a couple of times before nodding his head once again. In truth, he had almost forgotten about her even though she was the reason this situation had happened in the first place.
"Don't mention it," Van then said, "Go back to your dorm and rest, you seem to need it."
"R… right," the girl muttered, her breaths still heavy from having to run without pause earlier, "Can… Is it alright if I ask what your name is and which class you belong to?"
"Hm?"
"So I can thank you again!" The girl quickly replied, "My… my name is Sigrid, from class 126."
"Mr. Evans, class 155."
"Mr… Evans?" Sigrid squinted her eyes as she tilted her head in confusion.
"I'm their combat instructor," Van let out a sigh, "I'm not a student."
"W… what!?" Sigrid's breaths once again almost became empty as she slightly backed away.
"...No need to be surprised, I have a daughter older than you," Van shook his head, "So, are you going to tell me the reason why they're bullying you?"
"That's…" Sigrid looked at the running group of students, before slowly turning her eyes back to Van, "...It's because of my father."
"Your… father?"
"Hm," Sigrid nodded, "There are rumours going around that he… was beaten almost to death by a human. Even though he is my father, I have only met him once… so I don't really know why they are doing this to me."
"...Who is your father?" Van asked as he took in a small gulp.
"One of the Aesir directly serving King Odin, Hermod."
"...Oh."