"Adam! You trash! What the hell is wrong with you?! Do you want me to hit you again for bothering me?!"
Angeline's shrill shout shattered the silence of the hallway. Her pretty face was flushed with a mix of anger and confusion. I observed her carefully, like a scientist watching his experiment.
Suddenly, Angeline's expression shifted slightly. Her tongue inadvertently licked her wet lips, and her eyes blinked rapidly.
"My mouth feels weird," she mumbled to herself, her angry expression slightly masked by bewilderment.
"Salty... and a strange, slightly sweet taste." She also felt a dull ache in her throat, her jaw, and her tongue, as if the muscles had been working hard non-stop.
But the most disturbing sensation was a sudden heat spreading from within her body, gathering in her crotch until it felt damp and uncomfortable. Her cheeks, already red with anger, now burned even hotter with unbearable embarrassment.
"N-Next time, don't bother me this late at night again, or... or I'll beat you up like last time!" she threatened, but her voice sounded shaky and unconvincing.
Before I could even respond, with a quick movement filled with shame and frustration, she pushed me aside slightly and slammed her bedroom door shut with a loud BANG!
I stood still for a moment in front of the closed door, hearing the lock turn from the inside. My mind immediately went to work analyzing her reaction.
First, her reaction after the Mind Control wore off clearly showed she had forgotten my words, just as I'd commanded. If she remembered and "don't move," plus the fact that she'd obeyed, her anger when the control ended would have been far more explosive, followed by punches or kicks aimed at me.
Second, and this was interesting, the specific command I'd given while she was unconscious—not to yell at me after Mind Control ended—had not held. She'd yelled at me the moment the effect vanished.
Was it because I specifically told her to forget all my commands? If she forgot them, of course she wouldn't obey them. But even when I made her conscious, before I told her to forget my words, she had also yelled at me immediately.
Hmm... So, perhaps commands meant to have a lasting effect beyond the skill's duration are impossible? This part still requires further testing.
Overall, however, I was extremely satisfied. This skill was incredibly powerful. In just 10 minutes, there were no limits to what I could command. The time was short, but it was enough for many things.
Feeling pleased, I turned and walked away from her door.
Meanwhile, behind the locked door, Angeline listened to the sound of Adam's footsteps slowly fading away. She pressed her ear to the door, making sure he was gone. Once sure, she grumbled, "Damn bastard... asshole..."
With an agitated motion, her hand went to her crotch, which still felt hot and damp. An strange, irresistible urge made her fingers, without a second thought, slip into her panties and slide two fingers into her already wet pussy.
"Ah...! Fuck, why am I so horny...?" she groaned, both surprised and ashamed of her own body. Her breath came in gasps.
With a suppressed groan, Angeline began moving her fingers quickly and rhythmically, trying to quell the fiery heat raging in her body, all while cursing Adam's name in her mind.
.
.
.
A shadow—a man with brownish-blond hair almost as tall as me—moved too fast for me to avoid. A powerful, hard punch slammed into my chest with immense force.
"Hngh—!"
My body was thrown backward, hitting the classroom wall with a deafening thud. Sharp pain spread from my chest, followed by a warm, metallic taste in my throat. I vomited blood onto the floor, gasping and wheezing as I tried to find oxygen that seemed to have vanished. Every breath was torture; a few of my ribs were definitely broken.
As my vision swam, a pretty, pink-haired girl approached. She knelt beside me, her face showing a fake expression full of concern. Her soft hands held my blood-stained one.
"Oh, you must be in so much pain," she whispered, her voice like a gentle bell. "Don't worry, I'll help you."
But my eyes, filled with panic and pain, caught it—a faint, cold, mocking smile that flickered across her lips. Then, a warm, almost painfully bright golden light climbed from her hands, enveloping my body.
It felt like being dipped into a spring of life; the broken bones shifted and snapped back into place with faint cracking sounds, the metallic taste in my mouth disappeared, and my breathing eased. I lay gasping on the floor, my body whole again but my soul still trembling.
However, before I could even get up or even think, the blond-haired man was standing over me again. With a swift, contemptuous movement, he swung his foot. The hard tip of his shoe connected squarely with my mouth.
Crack!
Unspeakable pain! My teeth shattered, the taste of metal flooded my tongue. My head snapped back again, hitting the wall. Stars spun in my vision, and this time, the enticing darkness came quickly, promising an escape from this hell. Please... just let me... pass out...
But the pink-haired girl was an executioner too kind to allow it. Once more, her manipulative golden light touched me, washing away the pain, forcing me back into brutal reality. New teeth grew with a disgusting, tickling sensation, and my shattered skull knitted itself back together.
"Pathetic," she taunted, her sweet voice now sounding like poison. "Just imagine if there wasn't a great healer like me here. You'd be dead like a dog by now."
The attacker, snorted in annoyance. He lifted his foot and wiped the tip of his now blood-stained boot on my clothes. "Worthless trash. You dirtied my new shoes."
From the shadows behind the man, a black-haired guy with a relaxed posture leaned against the wall.
"Aren't you getting bored with this game, Max?" he said, his voice flat.
Maximus sneered, his eyes not leaving my trembling form on the floor. "Bored? Never. As a good classmate, I must always be enthusiastic about teaching our friend here to know his place."
The black-haired man just chuckled softly, his voice resonating with a terrible note of agreement.
Then, my attention was drawn to a darker corner of the room. A woman sat on a table, her slender legs dangling casually. Her hair was short and messy, snow-white, covering part of her forehead and one of her eyes. The one visible eye, milky white without a pupil, seemed to stare vacantly in my direction, yet I could feel its weight piercing my soul. She didn't need to say a word to declare who held the power here.
"I'm so bored," the white-haired woman said suddenly, her voice flat, cold, and seemingly coming from a void.
Another woman with straight black hair standing beside her, like a faithful attendant, nodded slowly. "I feel the same."
My heart seemed to stop beating. In that single glance, my most primal instinct screamed in recognition of who she was. A curse froze in my heart, filled with a deep, profound fear.
Yukie Iceblood.