Avry looked rather upset that her favorite candidate was suddenly... Injured.
"What is your verdict now... Professor?" I smiled politely at her. "I have shown signs of injuries, so I am not really suspicious anymore... Am I?"
The other professor stared at me, a few beads of sweat appearing on her forehead. "I guess... Candidate fifteen has a point."
Right... I always have a point!
Avry shot the other professor a glare, jabbing her elbow at her ribs and then looking back at me. I just stared innocent-eyed back at her.
"Fine... You have proven you are injured. We will release you for now. But you will be under observation," Avry noted. She reached out to a set of shears and started to pry the ropes off my arms.
A bit later, as soon as the restraints took off, I rubbed the places which had been bruised.
I barely managed to stand up, my legs wobbly from the exhaustion accumulated from the dungoen and from having to see these two irritating faces.
As I reached towards the door, I glanced once before walking out.
Avry stared back at me. "Leave."
Without another word, I tried to step away. But then—
"Oh wait!" She called out from behind me.
Something about that felt like I wasn't going to be able to leave unharmed afterall.
As soon as I turned around—
Slam!
—a fist collided with my midriff.
Avry was... A bitch.
I don't care if she is a professor or someone I needed to respect... She is simply... A bitch.
As I slid down the wall while clenching my stomach, a few unanticipated drops of blood fell from the corner of my mouth. That wasn't the problem though.
My stomach was... Troubling me.
It was painful.
I couldn't even think about standing up.
"So you were telling the truth," she said, rubbing her fist as if whatever she did wasn't bad.
I looked up. "Rea-lly...? Though... that...?" I rasped, my lungs burning.
"Yes. And after this... Don't go to the infirmary, candidate fifteen," she continued. "You could endure that fight. You can ensure this too."
I gritted my teeth, my eyes narrowing into slits due to agony. "I... See..."
Slowly enough, I managed to stand back up on my two feet. Without a backward glance, I walked out.
If anything, I would die in a ditch then see that smug look on that woman's face again.
Because the next time... I am tearing those features apart with my bare hands.
As I walked over to the dormitories, my mouth continued to bleed.
"Ugh... That really was a reckless thought... Wasn't it?" Was what I loudly thought to myself.
Because my mouth bleed wasn't because of a gut injury...
Let me tell you all something that I am doing here, and that may help you in the future as well.
When we see dumb people, we will be like, "oh! He/she don't seem to know much! So we can mess with them for a while... And they won't know."
When we see smart people, we will be like, "oh! He/she knows a lot. So we should act respectfully to them and try our best to stay put. And if we are to try something, we should think around the box."
But what if...
The person was actually smart, but acted dumb.
On the surface, we would be like "nah! Just another rookie."
But you don't know anything... Until you fall into their trap. And then... They expose their true colours.
Then, there is another one on the list.
One where a smart people act dumb, and then sometimes they will try to act smart but still fail.
This would lead them to believing, "oh! Those human-leeches seem like an ideal victim to hook onto and suck out some nutrients."
In reality... Only after they have fallen into the trap, will they realize that the victim had an armor on them all this time.
They will have no choice but to step back.
Back in the interrogation room, I had actually used that same logic to make the think that I am dumb, trying to be smart.
Firstly, with what I had said back then.
"I have shown signs of injuries, so I am not really suspicious anymore... Am I?"
This was a line that I had mentally hand-picked from a book I had read some time ago. It made me specifically seem dumb, trying to be smart.
This drove off one professor at first. And the second, she just wanted to rage-bait me without knowing she was inside my trap already.
Secondly, the mouth bleed was artificially created by me while I was bound to my seat there.
I had hidden a small piece of blade inside my mouth before hand. And it was very painful, yes.
The blade was sharpened to the smallest detail and it stayed clipped between my canine and molars. So when I swiped my tongue along it, it would immediately draw blood and I would just need to wait a few seconds for my mouth to fill.
Followed by it, I choked a bit—carefully—on the fluid inside my mouth. Which immediately triggered my cough that was definitely not fake.
Because to differentiate between a real and fake was that your body convulged involuntarily on the middle of an action and the other is deliberately after a matter was stated. (And no, it is not that dramatic one where people cough onto their first during an awkward moment.)
Avry and I were pretty much the same. We both are observant.
That led to her hitting me on the stomach.
Of course... I didn't have any preventative measures against that.
"...huh?"
Third floor was absurdly quite.
"Whatever..."
Moving my tongue was also a problem... But I couldn't go to the infirmary now.
Though I had a way to heal it.
I could actually surpress it.
I had the right medication for that.
As I pulled out the key to my room, I could feel the pain at my gut increasing so bad, I leaned my forehead against the wooden door. My vision blurry and spotting at the edges, and my actions becoming sloppier and sloppier.
Regardless...
I had a strong, determined, mind.
Somehow, in the blink of an eye, I ended up on the otherside of the door. I lay flat on the floorboards with her face buried under my hair.
A laugh bubbled up from the back of my throat as I flipped until my gaze fell onto my ceiling.
Holy cow! Did I just...
I sat up, look at the open door. I didn't even bother. With a flick of my wrist, the door slammed shut.
My magic...
If I was already bleeding, I could control those drops into razor-sharp strings that had the ability to chop of human limbs.
Overpowered, you ask?
Yes...
But along with it, comes the great disadvantages.
The amount of power it comes with, can end me in the middle of my sleep if I am not cautious. This same strings can someday strangle me without my notice.
And no one would be able to save me... Of course. They know no shit about this magic and I spoke nothing about to them.
After some time, I looked towards my bed sitting at one corner, the shut balciny doors and the huge rug at the center of the room.
I thought to myself for a while...
Then crawled on all fours and flopped onto the carpet. I couldn't keep my eyes open for longer. So, I shut my eyes like anyone else would.
Sleep it out. For the best.
***
A harsh wind blew into my room, stirring me instantly awake. My hazy mind already tracking every small changes.
I was on my bed, the blanket at my chin and a wet towel on my forehead. Then at the corner at my peripheral vision, I saw a shadow moving along the floors.
My muscles made me sit up like I was a robot on a remote controller. My head spinning at the speed of my actions, and of course... My eyes were blacked out for a few seconds.
A groan escaped at the back of my throat, as I grit my teeth against my aching joints.
My skin was burning, it was also flushed red.
"You are quite tough I would say..." That shadow called out.
I forced my melting eyeballs up...
Avry, that bitch.
"What do you want?" I asked back.
She tilted her head to the side a bit, furrowing her brows as if she was struck by my words. "Really? This is how you speak to someone who took care of you the past three days?"
I blinked, in confusion and frustruation.
Alright... Let's begin.
THREE DAYS?! THREE—FREAKING—DAYS?!
Secondly, she is the one who entered my room, lifted me onto my bed and tried to calm my fever down?
Okay okay! I get it now!
SHE MUST HAVE POISONED ME!
"What do you want from me?!" My voice laced with venom that must have been enough to scare her. Though it was low just to my aching throat.
She smirked at my direction, insufferably.
"Why? I volunteered," she answered quite calmly. "Afterall, it was because of my lunch that you ended up bedridden, right?"
If only I could... I would have used my magic to shut her up forever. For... Ever.
"Hmm... Right..." I smiled at her, glaring at the same time. "Thanks... I would say."
Her own expression dropped, her eye narrowing down as she watched me struggle to stand up.
Trust me... My knees were killing me.
And I wasn't even past my twenties. Sigh... What a time.
No, but truly, something was incredibly wrong with my body. This isn't the first time I have been suffering through this.
Back on Earth, ever since my late fourteens, I started to experience intense fever that would keep me exhausted for a very long time. Normally, I had learnt to hide my illnesses from my family to get away from the critisism that came with it. They never believed it.
Then came the sudden nosebleeds and skin irritations. And my brain would feel so heavy that tearing it off may have relieved me.
Regardless, to prove to Avry that I didn't need her help, I stood on my two feets and attempted to walk towards the adjoining bathroom and splash some water on my face.
However, the universe seemed to hate me...
The world tilted violently on its axis and my vision slowly started to spot. A vein strained somewhere at my right shoulder, so I couldn't lift my hand or turn my head as the floor rushed to meet me.
Sweet... I messed up.
From what I heard later on, I had fallen directly in front of Avry. Along with it, my nose was bleeding, and it wasn't from the pain of falling on the floor. It just happened.
Which, wasn't surprising anymore.
The funny fact is that, the next thing I knew after I woke up, I was sitting up on an examination bed and with my head leaning on someone's shoulder while a tube ran along my arm. It was connected to a device that did something before circulating back into my arm.
I tried to lift my head, but it was heavy. Maybe that machine was sucking out every nutrients from my body.
A short while later, a middle-aged physician walked into the room and headed straight for the device resting idly on a table.
With a loud click, a mechanism suddenly snapped and inside revealed a piece of paper that was stained with my blood.
Oh... I see where this is going.
He tore out a piece of paper and threw it into a container of water, which immediately caused a reaction that turned the water a deep blue.
And upon seeing this... His expression turned solemn. Not even a three seconds later, his gaze snapped to my face.
Something about the way he was looking at me, said he was feeling pity towards me.
"The results seem to be definitive," he spoke. "I am afraid I have a huge bad news."
Before I could even open my mouth, the person next to me did. The familiarity if the voice was ticking me off.
"What is it?" Avry asked.
I didn't pay a mind...
The man took a deep breath before talking again.
"Symptoms and the test shows that she may have... Leukemia."
*********************
First draft: 02.11.2025
Rewritten: 25.08.2026