Shatter

Vol. 1: Chapter 40: I Won't Bother You Anymore

44th Day of Exios. 15:55 at the public training area, second floor.

"Ah, that was tiring!" Luiz stretched out his arms after their long training session.

"Zachariel, you're still not tired?" He looked at Zachariel whom he labeled as a monster.

Luiz and the others had to rest and wait for their next turn while Zachariel trained with them non-stop. If anything, he just had some sweat on his body and recovered after a short time.

"No, I'm not. I still have some energy left." Zachariel replied. Lia stuck on him like a kid.

"Will you train again later? I wouldn't mind if you would."

"No, 4 hours is enough already. Furthermore, you've given us a better training result than when we were on our own." Iria gave him her thoughts.

"Is that so? I guess I'll go home early today then." Zachariel couldn't think of anything to do at the moment.

`I actually have to buy new clothes.` He stopped walking and scratched his head.

"Lia, do you know where I can buy clothes in this city?"

"Hmm? Oh! You wanted to buy new clothes, right? I can help you out with that!" Lia jumped in excitement. Her short layered brown hair bounced as her wide green eyes looked at Zachariel with anticipation.

Zachariel nodded back at her. "Thank you, Lia."

"No problem! So, what kind of clothing do you want, Zachariel? Is it a conchon shirt? A leather one? A…" Lia started with her babbling and Zachariel was dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events.

{Note: Conchon is a demonic plant. It's like cotton, but better in all aspects.}

`What's this?! She started acting like an interrogator or something. I must've aroused the curiosity within her?`

He observed what they had discussed earlier.

Their classmates tightly clenched their fists, especially the boys who had dark expressions on their faces.

`Damn it, how dare you act intimately in front of us?! Go away! We don't want to hear any of this!`

They went down the staircase, with both Zachariel and his classmates enduring Lia's incessant questioning about what type of clothes was he interested in.

The passersby were weirded out about Lia.

`What kind of a crazy girl would ask a boy about the type of clothes he likes?`

Zachariel didn't answer Lia, and Lia seemed unbothered about his unresponsiveness. He was sure that if he'd answer her questions, he'd be asked another question.

`There are more people here during the noon, eh?` Zachariel observed his surroundings.

`Hmm? Aren't those two people senior Prospects of mine?` He saw Rainald and Cassia going together to the north. The two seniors didn't saw him and continued on their way.

`Are they going to an arena or are they returning to their group? Or maybe they're just strolling around here.`

"Okay, we'll part ways here. Zachariel, I thank you again for joining us with our training session today. If it's okay with you, we would also like to invite you to tomorrow's training session too. Of course, if you don't want to go, we won't mind about it as well."

Iria was grateful to him. Zachariel was the perfect training partner any freshmen student could ask for right now. He wasn't as arrogant nor domineering as the others, and he would adapt his power and strategy depending on his opponent.

"Don't thank me like this, Iria. We're classmates, remember? I'll see if I could also go back here tomorrow for another training with you guys. Take care and see you all around!" He waved his hands to them.

Iria nodded and left with Kaela and Ksenia.

"Zachariel, take care and see you around too!" Luiz and Luka waved their hands and left the area. The rest followed suit.

"Let's go Lia.” Zachariel led the way.

"Okay!" Lia replied.

Zachariel and Lia went to a grook gathering point.

`Should I go to the north circular area?`

He thought for a moment before telling Lia.

“Lia, let’s go to the north circular area.”

“Do you have something to do there, Zachariel?” Lia asked.

“Yeah, I saw some of my seniors earlier so I thought they might be there.”

“Okay!”

The two rode a grook and went to their destination.

After a few minutes, they had finally arrived at the north circular area.

`Isn't that senior Cody?`

He saw the group of senior Prospects gathered below. The grook landed on the gathering point a few hundred meters from them.

Zachariel went down with Lia.

The senior Prospects were discussing something when they noticed Zachariel approaching them.

"Zachariel, you're here. I saw your match earlier and it was a good fight." Cody patted Zachariel's shoulders.

"Thank you, senior Cody," Zachariel replied.

Cody nodded at him and asked.

"So, how come you're here by the way? Missing us?" Edward sarcastically asked Zachariel.

"No, senior Edward. Me and my classmate just passed by here." Zachariel pointed at Lia beside him.

"Your classmate?" Edward and Cody looked at her.

"Yes, she's Lia Milelli. Lia, they're my senior Prospects. He's senior Cody and senior Edward." Zachariel introduced the parties to one another.

"Nice to meet you, seniors!" Lia bowed at them. Her sweet and playful voice astounded the seniors.

`Wow, she's a bit excited and doesn't seem to be bothered by our presence. Is it because she's with Zachariel? This junior, maybe his real talent lies on women?`

"Ah, is that so? Anyway, Zachariel. Did you manage to recover a bit more of your memories?" Cody inquired.

He was worried that Zachariel may misunderstand things again if he couldn't recall his past. Although his behavior changed, it might not be the good outcome he had wanted.

"No, senior."

Cody sighed. "Alright, anyway. Here's a recording that might help you out. Take it and only play it when you're in your room, okay?"

He handed out the magic recorder which he played a few days ago in Zachariel's room. It was round, at least 10cm in diameter.

There were small holes on some parts of the equipment, and four rectangular buttons at the top.

"Thank you, senior." Zachariel received the recorder and put it in his pockets. It fitted well inside.

`Oh, is this an array formation based on spatial magic in my pockets?`

Zachariel was intrigued. He tried to take the recorded back and it returned in his hands. `How convenient. Can I store my clothes here later too?`

He wanted to try out this strange idea. Who knows?

"Senior, is Amelia and the others here too?" He looked around the area.

"Yes, they've already left here a while ago. I thought you'd meet each other in the center." Cody was surprised about it.

`Don't tell me they went around? That's almost 50km going around here to the other side!`

"I see." Zachariel understood now.

"You can stay here and wait for their matches to start at 15:45. It's 15:20 now." Cody suggested.

"Are you okay with it, Lia?" Zachariel asked her.

"Yes, I can wait!" Lia was unbothered by it.

"Seniors! Can I ask you a question?"

"What is it, Lia?" Cody was interested.

"Do you know the reason why Zachariel lost his memories?" This was a matter that left her wondering for hours yesterday.

`If they are his seniors, they must know something, right?`

"Ah, well, Zachariel was involved in an accident a few days ago and he bumped his head on the ground, that's why he lost his memories." Cody remained composed.

He didn't want to sound a bit doubtful in front of this girl.

"Is that what really happened, senior?" Lia closely observed Cody's facial expressions.

Cody plastered a poker face in front of her.

"Lia, just forget about it right now. I'll try to remember it as soon as possible. You don't have to go that far for me, okay?" Zachariel interrupted Lia's questioning.

He didn't want Lia to act rudely in front of the seniors.

"But Zachariel!" Lia complained. She didn't buy out Cody's reasons.

"Lia, we'll talk about this at another time, okay? Let's just watch the fights on the arenas for now." Zachariel replied coldly.

Lia's mood went downhill. `Maybe I am a bit annoying to him now?`

She felt sad. `That must be it, right? I just wanted to help but I guess…`

A few memories in the past reminded her of how her curiosity made her lose her friends. She  overstepped her bounds, to the point of asking the personal matters of their lives.

Lia immediately shut up and no longer talked as the time went by.

`I'm very sorry then… I guess I'll have to stay away.`

"Zachariel, I suddenly remembered that I had to do something today. I'm sorry but I won't be able to help you with buying clothes later. I'll go now, bye."

Lia's apologetic tone surprised Zachariel and the two seniors.

`What happened? How come her mood changed all of a sudden?`

"Lia, wait!"

Zachariel wanted to stop her but Lia was already far away.

After a few minutes of walking, tears formed in her eyes. She ran as fast as she could. She wanted to go to a place where she could be alone.

`Lia, after all this time, you still hadn't changed!`

The crowd saw her and were disturbed about her crying.

"Hey, young girl!"

A guard tried to stop her and ask her what was wrong but she ignored their call.

`Lia.`

Her name echoed in her mind. It was spoken by a variety of voices.

`You're so annoying.`

`You're bothering me!`

`Stay away!`

Her mind was filled with cold and mocking tones, they were the voices from her past.

`Lia, how about you talk to the woods instead?`

`Lia, you're the most annoying person I've met in my life.`

`Lia, you're bothering me. Your annoying voice is ringing my ears and I'm almost deaf right now. Stay away, you damn b*tch!`

A cold voice resounded in her mind.

She ran away, far away from any people, where she was alone.

`I'm sorry! I won't bother you anymore!`