14 Route B The Blind and Deaf Boy (1/2)

”Whew...” Ruto let out a sigh laced with the mental exhaustion from his first real 'fight.'

Well, it was more like a one-sided beat down, but it doesn't change the fact that this is the first instance he has ever gravely injured someone before, in both lives. It also gave him clarity on how drastically his strength outweighs that of the average student, despite the education they may have received before. Also, the remarks made by the students around him during the fight helped him realize that the school is not simply meant to facilitate the growth of magical prowess. Given that there seems to be an exam to become a second year student, and that there seems to be a physically-oriented exam, it seems that the school tackles a variety of subjects within its walls. His main objective at the moment is to lay low and wait for Asuna and Erin to show their faces inside of the cafeteria.

Ruto couldn't help but smile as the pale tender face of the blonde cat-girl he aimed to make happy appeared in his mind. Thinking of her in the situation he had gotten himself into only made him affirm his aim as he now vowed to himself to protect and comfort her... along with Erin.

'Ah, there they are!' Ruto began to run up to the familiar faces of Erin and Asuna, of which he spotted at the complete opposite side of the cafeteria.

'Is it just me, or are there a lot of people looking at me,' Ruto thought to himself ominously.

He had hoped to escape the focus of the school by not sticking around in the same location immediately after the incident. If he could simply keep his appearance from circulating too much, he'd be fine, right? Well, even if his identity were to spread, he was sure he'd be able to reason with the school given the fact that Ruko had instigated the conflict. Ruto had simply seen it through.

Of course, Ruto realized its was a naive sentiment as his instincts began to alarm him of a dangerous presence approaching him. His body seemed to react to the fear that began to seize him as his body went rigid, but his body's reaction only seemed to scare him more.

'Why can't I move?!' Ruto's mind began enter a state of panic as he realized he had lost the ability to move his body.

Not only had he lost the ability to move his body, his senses similarly began to fade. For some reason, a terror far worse began to seize control of his mind as his ears began to ring as if to protest the foreign existence. Abandoning him once more, his vision began to fade in response to the fear that hindered his ability to control his body.

As if the world had ceased to contain heat, an odd numbness spread from the center of his chest to the rest of his body. However, unlike his initial fear from being unable to move, Ruto felt like he heard someone call out to him as he calmly allowed the strange numb feeling to spread. The numbness followed an almost planned path as it slowly spread towards Ruto's extended right arm, resulting in a sudden chill to permeate throughout his petite body. However, as the feeling spread towards Ruto's head, his consciousness faded into a dark abyss.

[You have failed to resist the abnormal status effects \u003cFear\u003e, \u003cParalysis\u003e, and \u003cDrowsiness\u003e.]

An ominous stone fortress stood tall on a cliff-side overlooking a Cyrul Family estate within the Kingdom of All, one of the only countries that allow both demi-humans and humans to live together in harmony. Outside of this Kingdom, demi-humans are forcibly enslaved and believed to be lesser or even evil according to human religion. The Cyrul Family was headed by a long-eared elf with the title Duke of the Wailing Woods because of his achievements in quelling the sudden chaos caused by monsters emerging from out of a newly emerged dungeon. Not only was he granted control of the Wailing Woods, he was given authority over the ominous stone fortress which is known as the maximum-security prison, 'Siren's Edge.'