Erie had lost over half his health points. He didn't feel like he was dying; it was different. He felt drained, but oddly, his movements and senses were enhanced.
"Hey Erie, are you alright, bro?" Gene saw Erie's face. He looked tired.
"Yeah, I just... I need a few minutes on my own." Erie excused himself, rushed out of the room, and headed towards the training field for the morning training routine.
After training, Erie rushed to the cafeteria's courtyard; everything was happening so fast for Erie. The system called in and warned him he had lost five health points; he didn't know his body would react the way it was.
He thought he would have enough time to go to the library after school and class to study more about the Sun Warriors, Fina, and alternatives. Ideally, it would've been after homeroom because that was the most time to get to the other side of campus. The hunger he felt when he first transformed was bearable, and he thought he could endure it for the rest of the day.
But now, time was ticking for Erie. He only had a few more hours before his HP reached Zero. Erie had other options: to run out of the academy into the city, but the school would send a soldier after him, and he would be punished. "Right, this isn't a regular school where I could make an excuse for why I missed class."
"Would that even matter, though? If my HP hits Zero, would I die?"
Deep in thought, Erie made his way to the cafeteria, breathing heavily. He tried to calm his nerves, but the voices around him were louder and more frantic than before.
He could hear conversations from the other side of the courtyard, the pans clanging in the kitchen, and food being scooped and placed in the tray before him. Slowly, he learned to ignore the noise around him and focus only on what was near him.
A moment later, Stacy walked past everyone in line with a bronze ribbon and eventually spotted Erie.
"Hey, you need to move out my way, shrimp! " Stacy yelled at Erie and stood in front of him. However, Erie overlooked Stacy; he was too busy blocking the noise around him.
"Hey, move!" Stacy yelled even louder. He looked at Erie's bronze ribbon and then at the watch, which displayed Tripple F.
Stacy thought about what had happened the night before and grew frustrated that he had lost against a bronze ribbon.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Stacy shouted at Erie even louder. He grabbed Erie's shirt, and in that instant, he stood in Erie's face, and just like last night, Erie began to see the area around Stacy. He could feel his heart beating frantically, and it smelled like fresh fruits.
Erie's body acted on its own. He pushed Stacy off of him, and his concentration activated. Stacy instantly formed the same rod from last night and swung at Erie. Erie dodged it, and it seemed instant from the outside view. Erie grabbed Stacy's head and needed him in the face, breaking Stacy's nose.
Erie then picked Staycy up over his head and slammed him down on his back; he then stepped on Stacy's neck and pressed his foot harder down on his. he began reaching down towards Stacy, getting ready to place his hand on his chest.
Just when Erie was about to place his hand on Stacy's chest, he felt someone pull him off by his shirt and throw him onto the ground.
"Keep your filthy hands off the silver ribbon, you bronze," the newcomer yelled. Jin had an average height but the body of a super athlete; his appearance was like that of a young adult to whom people seemed to flock.
"Oh, it's Jin. Thank you, Jin." Stacy bowed. He stood up from the ground, holding his nose.
As soon as Jin stepped forward, Jake and Gene walked up behind Erie, and eventually, Jake stepped in front of Erie.
Gene followed Jake. "Do you want to start an out-fight? Because I'm telling you, no one here can beat this guy, " he said, then pointed at Jake.
Gene didn't know how strong Jake was or his ability; all he knew was that Jake had a golden ribbon and that his watch displayed Rank C, which was rare for a first-year student.
Fortunately, Gene's plan worked. He glanced at Gene's, Jake's, and Sene's watches and saw they were all ranked higher than he was.
Jin eventually took Stacy and left the area; Gene sighed and looked at Erie. "I can't believe that worked," He thought to himself.
Erie looked around and saw teachers from far off still sitting in their seats; they did not bother getting up to move. Erie then realizes that teachers wouldn't step in to help if a fight occurred.
Erie decides to stick with Jake and Gene, who have finally finished eating their food. He decides to mediate by the tree, and he realizes that the energy is gathering from the sun.
This drove Erie crazy because why did the Sun Warriors have this type of draw? It didn't make any sense. He was beginning to regret not taking Stacy's energy after the first fight he had against him a while back. After lunch had ended, he got up and rushed away from Jake and Gene.
"5 of 100 HP"
"What the hell is going on!" Erie was worried. "Am I going to die?" Erie's heart pounded, and the energy around him came back
"Energy sense activated."
Erie couldn't focus. Multiple colors of energy sources flowed in his vision. He started having visions, taking all the life energy out of people around him. He began to look at the chests of everyone around him, watching the energy pulse like a hearty beat, and his breathing became more rampant. He thought he was going crazy.
After class had ended, he jumped out of his seat and rushed out of the classroom. He ran to the library, and once he was in, he ran to the fantasy and system book area. He walked past the vampire, Dragon, elf, and werewolf books, and eventually, he reached the sun warrior books. It was the same book he had read before.
All he could find was that sun warriors had been outlawed. He then realized sun warriors had been taking essential energy from people, but the aftereffect was unknown. "What is this?" he read where sun warriors could take energy from animals, but that was a special class of sun warriors.
Erie closed his eyes, feeling his body tremble slightly. He noticed Lilly and a short boy with purple hair standing before him.
"Hey, are you okay?" Lilly asked. Concerned for Erie, he looked exhausted. She saw his eyes turning dark orange. "is he?" she began to think. "I thought I was the only one." Lilly looked around her to see if anyone was watching, and then she turned, exposing the boy with purple hair.
The boy looked over and walked to Erie. "Is he okay?" he asked. Lilly answered. Yeah, can you pick him up? We need to take him to the nursing office, please." Lilly lied, as she wanted to see if her hunch was correct. If it was, then Erie would place his hand on the boy's head and take some of his energy.
Erie did not hear a single word. He only saw two people standing before him with two completely different energies. He wasn't drawn to the orange energy, but he was drawn to the white.
The urge took over, and without a care in the world, his eyes glew a bright orange, and he placed his hand on the boy, trying to help him up; a light came from eries hand, and Lilly took a step back.
"I...I'm sorry," Erie whispered; the energy flowed from the boy's body and entered in eries.