Prior to the apocalypse, John wouldn't have called himself a stranger to pain, per se, but he would have had to admit that the worst thing he'd ever experienced, physically speaking, was getting punched in the face. Hardly a pleasant feeling, but he knew there was worse out there.

Ever since the sky had caught fire and omnicidal monsters had invaded Earth, however, his body had been put through a level of punishment that relatively few people in human history could match, primarily because most people would simply have died if inflicted with such injuries. He'd been bruised, slashed, broken, and even pulped. Only the cheat code of levelling up his stats for their healing side effect kept him alive and sane. At this point, he knew agony intimately, and it was fair to say he hadn't warmed up to it one bit.

Nothing that had happened to him so far could compare to what his body went through when the headmaster plunged its sword-like forearm straight through his futilely blocking steel arms and into his stomach like it was made of paper and not metal. His vision went white as every nerve in his body was abruptly plunged into a burning fire, starting from the breaches in his arms and stomach, and quickly spreading until he was engulfed in an inferno of anguish. The god of torture stuck its fingers into his skull and raked acid-spewing claws over each and every neuron one by one. Misery engulfed him. There was no escape.

An excruciating eternity passed before John gained some semblance of sentient thought back, enough to look past the initial stages of impossible pain and seek to actually do something about it. He would have done anything, sacrificed everything, to make it stop, but perhaps there was a single rational neuron still active in his mind, because he realised he could make it go away with just a tiny sacrifice of Aura. When that realisation hit, he rushed through his menu faster than he ever had before, barely even conscious of his actions.

Upgraded Arcane Level 6 -> Level 7!

-6400 Aura

It felt like it had been ages since he'd needed to rely on level up's healing, but in actuality it hadn't even been a day since the last red monster he had faced had utterly battered him. Still, the ecstasy that flooded his body with the upgrade was the greatest thing he'd ever felt. The agony he'd just experienced gave him new appreciation for the perfect nirvana that flowed out steadily from the sphere of mana in his navel, sending soothing waves of healing through his torso, along his limbs, up into his head, and back down again in a loop around his soul, flushing away the searing pain the headmaster had inflicted on him. A sound that was half a sob and half a sigh wheezed out of his chest, sounding like a poor attempt at imitating a croak.

Awareness of his body returned slowly. It started with darkness, leaving him to rely only on proprioception, feeling. His limbs were heavy, his head stuffed with cotton, and his skin was tingling like he'd just put cream on a full-body bout of the world's worst sunburn. There was a sore tenderness in his forearms and stomach that slowly faded as the level up did its work. John frowned, eyes still closed. It had never taken the level up so long to restore his body to perfect working condition before. That probably said a lot.

He tried to subtly move in place, checking himself over. There didn't seem to be anything amiss. There were damp spots in the sleeves of his jacket and the stomach area of his shirt, as to be expected, and he was somewhat relieved to find no damp spots in his trousers; it wouldn't have surprised him at all to find he'd soiled himself from pain. His Aura never would've recovered from that.

Speaking of Aura…

He called up his menus. His current total was horribly low, sitting at just over 1000 after his level up. He was pretty sure he'd been on about 11000 after Combining more Spells into his Sanguine Clone, so that almost certainly meant he'd been penalised. Whether it was for losing to the headmaster in general, or if he'd been unconsciously screaming in agony or something, he didn't know. It was depressing to see his Aura so low after having it reach so high just a while ago. He'd been so excited about it too.

It couldn't be helped, though. This situation wasn't ideal, but it was better than having to endure the pain of whatever the fuck the headmaster had done to him any longer. Poison, presumably. Not that it mattered.

Can't let that fucker hit me ever again. Completely understand why Daniel said to just run away if we run afoul of the headmaster. They must have gone through the same thing.

John felt a frown pull at his lips, and it wasn't merely at the reminder of the traitorous bastards who'd put him in this mess—he'd make sure to pay them back later.

If they were there to warn us about it, that must mean they'd been into 'detention' at some point and then escaped. If they can get out, so can I.

Smell came next, a pungent antiseptic odour, making him wonder if he was in a hospital, and the strange metallic taste on the back of his tongue backed up the impression. Opening his eyes to return his vision dispelled that notion, but he was perhaps one of the few human beings in history ever to open their eyes and find themselves in a situation that made a hospital bed seem preferable.

He was sitting at a single desk in an empty classroom that initially appeared no different from any of the others he'd cleared out that day. The walls were bare. The windows were slightly clouded, but still gave a view of the corridor on one side, and the false school courtyard on the other.

Glancing around as surreptitiously as he could, there was no sign of his comrades, which he didn't know what to think about; had they got away entirely, or had the headmaster hunted them down? He didn't have time to devote much thought to it. Every other desk was unoccupied, apart from one, right at the front of the class. The teacher's desk. His heart dropped at the sight of it, even though it was exactly what he'd been expecting.

Leaning its elbows on the desk, sword arms steepled beneath its angular chin, was the headmaster. Somehow, the pattern of the fire beneath its black armour made it look like a teacher who'd taken off their suit jacket and rolled up their sleeves. The hellfire light in its bulbous eyes was fixed on John, unblinking, unerring. Its attention held an almost physical weight, heavy as an elephant balancing on his shoulders and with all the quiet menace of a guillotine before the executioner let go of the rope.

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On the blackboard behind it was a message written in blocky, capital letters:

ETERNAL SUFFERING TO RULE-BREAKERS.

Below that, it defined the rules.

Classes must be attended in the correct order as defined by the curriculum.

Classes must be entirely completed before moving on to the next.

Starting a class early is forbidden.

Students must always be respectful to members of staff.

Any attempts to resist punishment will be met with greater punishment.

This, John surmised, was the detention room.

So it dragged me here rather than finishing me off. It could have easily ended me. I was completely out of it. Absolutely zero comprehension of the outside world, while the poison or whatever was working its dark magic/ John narrowed his eyes. More weird rules of portal worlds, or a quirk of this 'boss' in particular? What the fuck is up with this thing, even? Is it some kind of demonic actor playing out a role, or does it genuinely think of itself as the headmaster of a school of monster bugs?

The headmaster gave him no time to ponder such questions—which was perhaps a good thing, since there were no answers to be had anyway.

The last of the 'traditional' five senses to return to John was hearing. Or maybe that wasn't accurate. His hearing had always been there. The room had simply been silent before the headmaster noticed his wakeful state.

Slowly unfolding its sword arms, the headmaster rose to its full height, looming like a demonic tower. Then it rumbled, sounding more like rolling thunder twisted into words than a human voice, "NEVER IN THIS HEADMASTER'S YEARS HAS A STUDENT SHOWN SUCH IMPUDENCE! AND NOW, YOU DARE TO RESIST YOUR DETENTION! BOWING YOUR HEAD AND SLAPPING YOUR FACE A THOUSAND TIMES WON'T BE ENOUGH TO SAVE YOU! YOU WILL COPY LINES IN YOUR OWN BLOOD, STUDENT!"

The words were so loud John could feel their resonance on the air. They shook his bones. Vibrated his chair beneath him. All of a sudden, he was transported back to childhood classrooms where he'd trembled in his chair even when the teacher's ire wasn't directed at him. He locked his body in place as best he could, refusing to visibly tremble.

John took a deep breath. Regardless of the persona he'd adopted, he knew he was the furthest thing from a rebel. Talking back to teachers was a pass time reserved for the cool kids in class, never him. It wasn't because he respected people in positions of authority, exactly. It was more accurate, perhaps, to say that he'd always been too scared to engage in an argument with an adult, afraid of the possibility of them shouting at him, as they did to the other kids.

And yet, he knew he couldn't kowtow here. Submitting to anyone would be worthy of punishment in the Aura system's eyes. He was certain of that. Showing deference to a teacher? A headmaster, even? In this situation, when he'd placed himself in the role of the delinquent, he could imagine few things more uncool.

If he didn't already know this scenario was survivable through Daniel, he was sure he would've been in a deep panic right now, foreseeing a slow, painful death for himself. Instead, he… wasn't calm by any stretch of the imagination. His chest felt too tight to make that claim. But he had hope. With hope came determination. With determination came the will to act.

Thus, he slouched in his chair, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and pasted a smirk on his lips as he replied, "What can I say, headmaster? I don't follow the rules."

+600 Aura

Only 600 for talking shit right to a red-souled monster's face? John had to hold back a grimace. It was pretty definitive confirmation that farming Aura was more rewarding with other people around to witness his exploits, if he hadn't received it already.

The mantis' eyes burned even brighter. It pointed one of its sword-like arms at him. "THE AUDACITY! YOU WILL WITNESS MY THOUSAND-STRIKE DISCIPLINARY TECHNIQUE, AND LEARN YOUR PLACE AS A MERE STUDENT!"

"Nah. School is for nerds, bro."

+600 Aura

"WORTHLESS TRASH! YOUR NINE FAMILIAL RELATIONS SHALL BE EXTERMINATED IF YOU DON'T LEARN TO RESPECT YOUR ELDERS!"

"I don't need to learn anything. I'm already perfect."

+400 Aura

Huh. Didn't like that one as much? Trying too hard, maybe?

John internally cringed at the clear signal that his last quip wasn't well-received.

And yet, the monster reared back like it had been slapped. "YOU DARE CLAIM PERFECTION?! ARROGANCE! THIS SCHOOL IS A HEAVENLY INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION! ITS HALLS WILL NOT BE SULLIED WITH THE TAINT OF DELINQUENCY!"

"No one can tell me what to do."

+600 Aura

"YOU WILL COMPREHEND THE SUPREME DAO OF DISCIPLINE OR YOU WILL PERISH, STUDENT!"

"Nah."

+1000 Aura

The mantis went still. The air in the room thickened until John felt like he was breathing in smog. Narrowing the hellfire in its bulbous eyes to slits, the mandibles at the end of its triangular face twitched for the first time, and its next words came out in a soft, sibilant hiss.

"Then you will learn the way of the world, student. I, your humble headmaster, will give you some pointers."

It took a step forward, and John snapped his arm up, activating Accelerate and slotting Ultimate Shot. However, he didn't aim at the mantis. Instead, his arm raised to one side, aiming for the window that led out to the courtyard outside. His Ultimate Shot roared out, smashing through the glass faster than a blink, and John threw himself into a Flash Step, following hot on its heels. The mantis' screech of rage followed him even in the throes of the Flash Step, and then Catfall kicked in, letting him land gracefully on his feet, and he was running.

"ATTEMPTING TO ESCAPE PUNISHMENT?!" The headmaster's voice thundered after him, and he looked back to see the giant mantis throw itself out the window after him. "DEATH IS TOO KIND A FATE FOR VERMIN SUCH AS YOU!"

John launched himself into another Flash Step with all the strength he could muster. The chase was on.

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