The school corridors were practically empty now, apart from some students here and there who were already leaving. Some talking to friends, others simply existing, but that wasn't important now.
Tommy, after a few minutes crossing the corridors, was already a few steps from the door of the library, which was were the literature club gathered.
Why does this school need to be so big, it was a question that Tommy asked himself every day, but of which the answer he would never have. Having to go up the stairs to get to the library on the second floor was always tiring.
Facing the door, instead of entering, Tommy fixed his eyes on the trash can on the wall next to the library door.
He got a little closer to the trash can, stared for a few seconds, and then finally entered the library.
The first thing he felt was the smell of old things and knowledge that people pretended to learn, but in fact they would forget as soon as they left school.
The library, as expected, was one of the largest facilities in the school, with several shelves full of books scattered everywhere.
There were all kinds of books there, for all tastes. Fantasy books, romance, poetry, even the most inappropriate ones that the students hid on the shelves because they knew that the school didn't inspect that.
Tommy found out after some "research" in the library. But let's ignore it for now.
It didn't take long for Tommy to get to the literature club table. A table a little bigger than the others, enough to accommodate at least 10 people and with chairs scattered along the entire length of the table.
Tommy hoped to be the first to arrive, he was always the first. He always arrived earlier than the others to have a few minutes of silence and be able to play without being disturbed. But when he saw that there was already someone else there, Tommy began to question whether or not if he really wanted to go home earlier.
The person who was there was someone Tommy preferred not to get close to.
Rosalina Ross. One of his classmates. A girl with long black hair stuck in a ponytail and intense red eyes that seemed to pierce the skin of the people Rosalina looked at.
Despite being classmates, Tommy didn't like her very much. She made him feel uncomfortable on a level that he was not able to explain. But he was already there, so there was no turning back.
With a discouraged and defeated sigh, Tommy sat in a chair a little further away from where Rosalina was sitting, and just waved his hand as a simple greeting, a way to show that he recognized her presence.
She, however, just looked at him in the same intense way as always and didn't even deign to wave back or greet him, she just kept reading the book she had in her hands.
Tommy didn't care, she was always like that with everyone. He also didn't want or would try to talk to her, because he had nothing to talk to her.
If he had known that she would also be in the literature club, he probably wouldn't have joined the club. But it was too late for that.
Looking at the time on his phone, Tommy saw that it was 15:12. The club's activities would start at 15:30 and end at 17:30. He would get home a little late, but who cared? Today was Friday.
Besides, time was something he always had. Always.
"Good afternoon to all of you! Now that we are all gathered, we can start the activities of our wonderful club! " Said the teacher in charge of the club.
Richards Deeds, Mr. Deeds for his students, was a biology teacher and also the teacher in charge of the literature club.
According to school rules, all clubs needed to have a responsible teacher to serve as their representative and also so that they could request the school facilities for the club's activities. And after the former history teacher retired and ceased to be in charge of the literature club, Mr. Deeds took over as responsible.
Mr. Deeds was a funny and very charismatic man, the students respected him and he respected the students, he was a quiet person to be around. But enough talking about him.
Apart from Tommy and Rosalina himself, the club consisted of 6 other members, 8 of them in total. Tommy knew everyone's names and faces, but never cared enough to become friends with them.
Maybe just because he wasn't interested or maybe because he didn't know how to make friends. We'll never know.
"Before we start, would any of you like to make a brief summary of the book? "Mr. Deeds asked the club members.
No one volunteered.
"Okay" A defeated sigh escaped from Mr. Deeds' lips " Rosalina, could you summarize the book for us? "
"... Of course" Rosalina just nodded slightly.
"The book is the autobiography of Cristino Souza, the first human with an S+ rank ability. In the book, he narrates how his childhood and his youth were until the moment he awakened his ability, which was when greater responsibilities than he was able to bear were placed on him, because now he had to fight a war older than him, represent his people and himself before the whole world and how he always felt different from others due to his exceptional abilities. The book is very famous today because it was the first book written by an ability user, and even 300 years after its publication, it is still considered one of the greatest works in literature "
"Correct! "Mr. Deeds said clapping lightly "Thank you very much Rosalina"
" ... " Rosalina just nodded once more.
Nothing out of the ordinary, Tommy thought.
"Completing what she said, the book is not only popular because it was the first book written by an ability user, but also because it was the first and only one to talk about everything that society and the government did with ability users at that time. Although abilities are something common nowadays, in the past things were very different " Mr. Deeds explained with a serious expression.
"Now, assuming that everyone here has really read the book, Mike, would you mind telling us a little about Cristino? "
"Yes, sir! " Mike, one of the other members of the club responded excitedly " Cristino Souza was a Brazilian man who was born and raised in the city of Minas Gerais, during the time of the 4th Catastrophe "
" Correcting, he was born during the time of the third Catastrophe and died a little after the beginning of the fourth Catastrophe. But apart from that, you're right," said Mr. Deeds.
"Cristino Souza was an important milestone for humanity and for ability users as a whole, because he was the first to break the social belief of the time that abilities had limits or fixed standards. Something that many researchers of that time defended, but that proved wrong over time "
"Nowadays, we have rank S, SS, SSS abilities and some researchers believe that even stronger abilities will soon emerge, which would be classified as rank X. The truth is that if abilities really have limits, we still haven't discovered them and probably never will find out "
"In the same way that the human being can evolve and develop almost infinitely, so the same can be said about the abilities " Everyone was deeply invested in Mr. Deeds' lecture.
"But with this established, let's start discussing the book"
6:30 pm. The club had lasted a little longer than Tommy expected. It turns out that they ended up in a discussion about whether Cristino would still be considered strong by current standards. It was even a lot of fun.
But unfortunately, now it was already night. The moon shone in the night skies accompanied by stars that only highlighted its brightness even more.
Tommy's house wasn't too far from school, so it was no problem for him to walk back. And even if it was dangerous to walk at night, there were guardians everywhere, so there was no need to worry.
Speaking of guardians, Tommy remembered what the others had said earlier, about a dead guardian and a nocturnal creature. He didn't believe it, especially because it was Luke who said that. That guy breathed, drank and ate lies.
But what if there really was a nocturnal creature in the city? Still, it wouldn't be a problem.
While walking, Tommy suddenly stopped and stared at the alley that was in front of him. He stood there, staring at nothing, before finally walking again.
But when he finally stopped looking at the alley, he noticed something strange. Next to the lamppost that was a little further ahead of him, there was a strange thing.
Something... peculiar.
It looked like a strange mixture of animals that shouldn't mix. Deer head, goat horns, gorilla body, scorpion tail, horse paws and bat wings. But the most striking detail was the black color that the body of that thing had.
Tommy's eyes widened in surprise when he finally understood what that thing was.
A creature.
In the blink of an eye, the creature took a huge jump and before Tommy could understand, it was already a few meters away from him, approaching faster and faster.
The creature extended its huge arms, claws grew at an impressive speed and before Tommy realized...
Slash!
The last thing he saw was his own blood painting the floor.
[You died]
[ Would you like to continue? ]
[ Yes ] / [ No ]
[Yes]