"Hmm?"
"Did Mr. Verim-?"
"No way."
Hasty looks up to Mr. Verim at the front reveal that he's still at the desk, his Halo sinking into his shirt and flesh again. The students don't know what to think. Melody snickers, releasing her tight fist.
"Okirk!"
"O!"
His friends find him sitting on the floor with a red cheek, they take a knee beside him. Checking him all over while he sits still glaring at Melody. His crew can't seem to find any other injuries.
Rubbing his cheek with the back of his hand, Okirk spits a bit of blood to the floor, which affords him some oohs and ahhs from the crowd around.
"Hey!"
One of Okirk's goons shouts towards Mr. Verim. Red-faced.
"What the Hell were you thinking!?"
The other chimes in. and now the class begins to chatter.
"D-Did you hit-"
"Enough!"
Okirk cuts his friend's accusations off, swinging his arm outright.
"It wasn't him. It was-"
Catching a glare from Mr. Verim, paired with a glint of his Halo still ready for activation.
"... an accident."
Okirk finishes, getting the idea. Okirk gets up with the help of his two friends, they work quickly to dust him off. Shoving past everyone, Okirk gets into the hall and grunts in frustration. His foot stomps are heard all the way down the hall until he leaves the floor.
"Heh heh."
Melody flicks her nose, pleased. Rolling her wrist and having to stop when it stings her, Melody thinks for a moment,
"Damn, he has a hard face!"
She finishes playing with her wrist and turns around, ready to face Mr. Verim for whatever punishment is coming her way.
"Worth it."
Mr. Verim is standing now, his coffee steaming on the edge of his desk. Carefully stepping out in front of the class, Mr. Verim has his eyes pried open on every student. After a moment and some hard blinking, they watch him.
"Apologies."
He opens his mouth, and the student's understandably guffawed as if this is enough to make up for this veritable attack on them.
"I understand that this is not enough, but I did have a purpose in that."
He looks over Melody and onto the other students, shifting his shoulder. The students shake their heads in disbelief.
"From what I could gauge, there are less than a few of you who were prepared and quick enough to react."
Mr. Verim flaunts his head off to his side.
"For battle or a random attack, the few would still be standing and able to protect themselves and others, whereas the rest are still with shaken fists, gritted teeth, and bruised egos."
Mr. Verim's croaking voice drones, letting everyone feel the severity of his gross demonstration.
Students close their eyes, rub their faces some more, and some choose to walk into the hall or to the bathroom for some water. Mr. Verim lets anyone do whatever they want in this.
"I wanted to know who wanted control… and who wanted to fight!"
Mr. Verim shouts enough that all of his students could hear him, whether with their ears or through their thoughts. The message gets across. Mr. Verim's light is shrouded a bit in everyone.
His students find themselves half-ignoring him and rolling their eyes almost in tandem. This extreme weeding process has damaged his credit, but Mr. Verim seems like the type who wouldn't care about such things. His results lead him to several thoughts. He focuses on these while the students slowly begin to filter back into the room.
"So, some of them will require a softer approach."
"I wonder if I could use that."
"Now, with them… hmm."
When the class is filled again, Melody is sitting at her desk and wondering what is happening with Mr. Verim.
"He looks almost like… he has such a serious depression. It's strange to see him like this."
Melody tries to peer harder at Mr. Verim, curious if she'd be able to read anything. The man they all met just a bit ago seems to be replaced with this more sober and determined presence.
Mr. Verim waits until everyone is settled in before he continues on. Walking over to the window to see some birds flying off the grounds.
"Can I tell you something a little bit fun?"
He looks out and squints to see the birds taking off into the clouds.
"Well, fun for me. You might think so too, but I can't say."
Heads nod across the room. Mr. Verim pushes away from the window sill, walking to the middle of the class where the podium stands.
"I activated my Halo in 2 seconds,"
He sets his right hand out to the class, holding up his index and middle finger. Curious gazes follow his demonstration.
"In those 2 seconds, only 5 of you were able to tell that both a spell was being activated and that you'd need to turn away or close your eyes."
Raising his other hand with his five fingers flexed out, he raises his right hand with the 2 up to his eyes, pulling down the bottom lids to show the red under of his eyes.
Melody lets free a small smirk.
"...And, of those 5, there were only 2 of you who were prepared to do anything real."
Mr. Verim keeps his hands at his face, eyes pried open and he turns his face to Melody. His other hand drops to his hip.
Melody wears a tangled expression, raising her cheek off of her hand.
"2 of us?"
Raising her voice in her head, Melody had an understanding that she was likely the toughest in the class. Mr. Verim can feel her uneasiness at the news. Smirking a devilish grin, Mr. Verim knows that he's just tested her vanity of power.
An air of heated energy begins to hover around Melody. Her thoughts are racing quickly through her head, wondering who the other could be, how to get stronger than them, what her next step should be in training, overall impressed by Mr. Verim's Burn Flash.
"So, he did see. He must've seen me hit Okirk in the Flash."
Melody answers herself, worried about why it seems like he's personally attacking her.
"Melody, was it? You'll learn in my class that I tend to see everything- even if you don't think I'm around. I'm a sneaky one that way."
Mr. Verim's voice whispers softly into Melody's head, filling her mind like poured coffee. The ability of a controlled Blessed- their natural ability allows them to hear thoughts, but it takes someone of mastery, like Mr. Verim, to place thoughts into another's head and with such clarity. Melody can almost do this, barely able to give vague feelings, like earlier in the day.
"And don't worry Melody. I'm not out to get you or anything. It's just factual. You're not the only student here who can face the wider world with determined strength."
Mr. Verim continues, speaking to her thoughts like some mystic. Continuing on the class, so as not to let anyone be suspicious or to catch on of his greater meaning in his revealing the fact.
Continued in PART TWENTY-TWO…