Surviving as the Second Main Lead: Second Lead's POV

Two years passed after Horas’s first visit to Howard with Jack. Horas tried training his body and skills in the meantime but his progress was nil.

No matter what he did, it seemed to not affect his growth. So he gave up and focused on Mark’s training. At least that was a somewhat useful and productive use of his two years.

And at the age of seven, it was finally time to join the academy. Horas could no longer avoid it anymore. He just hoped that it would help him with his current problem.

And speaking of problems, there was one more thing that bothered Horas currently.

Horas looked at the screen in front of him, hoping that the words would change. But no matter how much he glared at the next, it did not change its tag.

“Why did I go through that much stress if my only reward was this useless skill? Why did I address it as an ‘ultimate skill’? Was that extra character bluffing?”

Had Horas known that this would be the outcome of his struggle, he would have preferred to go after the protagonist’s cheat. That would have served him better in the longer run. Also, losing one cheat would not have affected Howard.

But what was done was done. Horas would have to accept what happened and live on with the consequences. He had enough on his plate otherwise so he could not complain about his circumstances.

“Horas, are you ready? It will be your first day of school. Are you nervous? You don’t need to behave like a brave child and hide your emotions with me.”

Mark hopped out of the corner he was hiding in and out into the open. He looked even more excited about Horas going to school than Horas felt himself. He wanted to shake his head every time he saw Mark.

The man was making a fool out of himself.

“Mark, calm down. I don’t think it’ll be a good day for me anyway.”

Horas was not too optimistic about other students’ attitudes when it came to him. He had written these people and he knew that they were not good people. Most of the students were shallow and too bind up in their own merits.

Since Esper’s academy was an elite school, getting into it was not easy. So most people here have a superiority complex.

Mark’s sad smile said that he understood Horas’s concerns but he was not worried.

“Don’t worry kid. I know what you can do and I’ve seen you overcome harsher things. Compared to your first dungeon, these kids are nothing.”

Mark’s words did make Horas feel better but not by much. He knew he was in for a hard day ahead.

Horas could feel everyone’s eyes on him as he moved through the hallway. It was a given that everyone was interested in him since Horas was a kid and too young to be in the academy.

“Hey, do you think this kid got lost? Should I help him out?”

“Who is this kid?”

“Man, they let anyone in these days. How did a kid get in here?”

Horas could hear the kids talk around him and it annoyed him. These kids were busy talking about him but they were not even bothered to keep quiet about him in the first place.

‘No, don’t get angry at these kids. You were the one who wrote them to be this way so you have no right to be mad at them.’

Horas tried to contain his feelings but it was hard for him to do. The voices of everyone else were rushing in his head. The more he ignored them, the more he could hear them.

Finally, Horas entered the classroom he was supposed to be in and took his seat. He felt out of sorts to be the only one in right now. He had purposely come early so that he will not be stared at by everyone.

The classroom was slowly being filled but Horas kept his head down. No one seemed to notice his presence as well, too busy making friends and allies right now.

Finally, the teacher came and everyone rushed toward their seat. Horas did not react to the teacher, but he did yell when he was about to be crushed under someone’s body weight.

“What the why is there a kid in this class?”

The kid who had been about to crush Horas questioned as he looked at Horas. Everyone else started at Horas as well, just realizing that he had even been in the room until now.

And it seemed as if a reaction had been set off all of a sudden by Horas and now everyone was looking at him with awe and confusion. Even the teacher looked startled before she looked down at her sheets and then back up.

“Hey kid, are you lost? Teacher, can I help the kid back to his parents? I think he got in here by accident.”

A grey-haired beauty by the name of Ashley Whinstone questioned. The only reason Horas recognized her was that she was a future character known as Absolute zero, an ice user.

She had been a grade C minor character who sometimes showed up and had a crush on Howard later on. But she was just a thirteen years old teen right now. She was kind and soft as well, unlike her future-hardened warrior.

“Calm down Miss Ahsley and go back to your seat. I assure you that Horas is supposed to be here (despite his age) and he will be a part of your class as well.”

Horas could have sworn that he hear the teacher mutter ‘they just keep on getting younger every year’ before she looked up. Her words made the class go quiet in shocked silence.

“But mam, no matter how I look at him, this is just a kid.”

“I know Mr. Kronos, but don’t question the process. You are all kids here. Now sit down and take your seat. Otherwise, you all will be handed detention on your first day of the class.”

Kronos looked pissed off but he sat down nonetheless. He was not going to risk going against the teacher in front of him. But the threat of the first-day detention caused him to back down.

The teacher’s annoyed look caused everyone else to look away as well. No one wanted detention on their first day.

“Look, I know that all you brats have egos the size of the moon but you will all keep it in check. If you want to stay in this academy, you need to show restraint. Now open your books and do self-studying. I am not in the mood to look after you brats.”

It was unprofessional of the teacher to assign this self-study as first class. But Horas was glad to have this time for himself.

No one else approached Horas for the rest of his class but Horas could feel their eyes looking at him from the corner. They were all interested to know more about him and dissect him with their eyes.

Unfortunately, the first class ended far too early and then it was time for weapon and combat class. Their teacher was none other than Instructor Harris, the one who had taught Horas how to handle the gun.

“...”

“So Horas, how old are you?”

“How did you manage to get in here when you are so young? Is it because of your connections? Do you know that one of the school directors is my aunt but they refused to take me in early?”

“How did you do it, man?”

Horas was getting overwhelmed by the overly excited people around him. They were making it obvious that they were here to question him.

Their eyes looked at Horas with excited eyes. They were like hyenas eying their prey as they closed in around Horas.

“Umm, guys. I hate to break it to you but maybe we should start walking toward our combat class? I’ve heard that instructor Harris does not like it when his students are late.”

Someone yelled but most people ignored the speaker. Their curiosity was greater than their fear of being questioned by their new professor. Everyone ignored the speaker in favor of being closer to the person of their interest.

Horas tried hard to ignore all these people but his head was spinning around. He was trying hard to regain his breath.

And just as Horas was about to lose his focus and do something he was about to regret his next actions, the door to the classroom was banged open and Instructor Harris walked in.

Instructor Harris looked pissed and for good reasons. He hated people taking him and his training lightly just because he was not S-class. There were a lot of students who looked down on him at first.

“I can see that the first years had some guts to not show up to class. I guess they are all in need of some schooling here.”

The glass gulped as one when they looked at their intimidating instructor in front of them.

Despite their initial bravery, seeing a bulky guy in front of them was making the class nervous. And they all forgot Horas and bullying him for the time being.