Chapter 34: Falling in Combat Class
While Shani focused on moving her legs and regulating her breathing, and Kiran remained busy chatting away, neither of them noticed the tall male student trailing behind them.
Shani finally completed her second lap, but her pace slowed even more.
Behind her, the boy clicked his tongue. "Weak."
It seemed he had run out of patience. He overtook Shani, and just as he drew alongside her, his long leg hooked Shani’s already trembling one.
"Ah!" Shani cried out.
Her legs had barely been able to support her to begin with. The moment he tripped her, they buckled completely. Her knees slammed hard against the track.
Before her arms or face could hit the ground, Kiran reacted instantly. She grabbed the back of Shani’s shirt and gently lowered her the rest of the way.
"Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!" Kiran shouted furiously at the student who had tripped Shani.
The boy feigned innocence, though one corner of his mouth curled upward. "I didn’t do anything."
"You think I’m blind?! You were the one who made Shani fall!" Kiran rolled up her sleeves as if she were ready to punch someone.
The boy looked genuinely surprised by Kiran’s reaction.
Normally, Kiran was quiet and unassuming in class. That was exactly why he’d gone ahead and tripped Shani despite knowing Kiran was beside her.
Still, he had no intention of admitting it.
"How could you have seen anything? You weren’t even in the right position. Besides, I didn’t do anything!"
"You still won’t admit it?!"
"Just because you’re friends with a liar doesn’t mean everyone else is one," the boy sneered.
Their argument immediately drew the attention of the other students, who stopped focusing on their laps.
"That’s Dave, Leah’s partner. Is he getting revenge on the Class 5 girl?"
"He’s not exactly wrong. Anyone would be furious if their partner suddenly lost a rank."
"Still, taking it out on that Class 5 student doesn’t make much sense."
"What do you know? She and Jeryon are obviously in this together."
Amid the heated discussion, Damon narrowed his eyes and walked over to where Shani was.
He immediately instructed his assistant to help her up. "Take her to the medical facility."
Then he turned to the culprit. "Dave, you lose points."
"Instructor, I didn’t do anything—"
"You think you can get away with pulling tricks in my class?!" Damon’s booming voice instantly silenced Dave’s protest.
"Serves you right," Kiran muttered in the Zephyrian language without thinking.
Seeing Kiran stand up for her so fiercely, Shani answered in Zephyrian as well, "Thanks, Kiran."
As Kiran and Damon’s assistant helped Shani toward the edge of the field, the two of them continued chatting in Zephyria Languange.
Hearing the unfamiliar language, Dave assumed they were insulting him.
"Hey! Stop speaking some alien language! This is Argenor! Use Nova or Argenor Languange!"
Hearing Dave raise his voice, Kiran immediately turned around and shot him a sharp glare.
"Bitch! What a squawker!" Dave cursed in Argenor Languange.
Shani understood Argenor Languange, so she immediately recognized squawker as a slur directed at avian beastmen.
Kiran, on the other hand, had never learned Argenor Languange.
But when she first arrived in Aurelis, the very first thing her feline cousins had taught her was how to swear.
"What did you just say?!" Kiran growled.
If the other students hadn’t held her back, she probably would have punched Dave in the face.
Damon let out a weary sigh. "Dave, that’s another penalty point. Everyone else, keep running. Time isn’t stopping. Kiran, you too."
Seeing the mini hover cart arrive to pick up Shani, and realizing Dave had received another penalty, Kiran flashed him a taunting grin before resuming her run.
Meanwhile, Dave felt it was completely unfair.
He thought he had just defended Argenor, defended feline beastmen against those squawkers.
So why was he the one being punished while Kiran and Shani got away without anything?
"I speak Zephyria Language. They weren’t insulting you." One of the students approached Dave, giving him an unfriendly look.
Then he lowered his voice. "Instructor Cross’s wife is an avian beastman. You just insulted his wife."
Several students who had been about to encourage Dave immediately turned around. They wanted no part in this.
The last thing they needed was for Instructor Cross to think they also enjoyed insulting avian beastmen.
In an instant, Dave was left standing alone.
The students running past him all gave him a wide berth, as though he were some contagious bacteria to be avoided.
...
Shani returned to the dorm an hour before the afternoon class ended. Fortunately, the fall hadn’t been too serious.
Her legs had already been giving out before she tripped, and she’d been certain she was about to collapse anyway. When she did fall, she managed to land in a way that wasn’t too painful.
Besides, Kiran had caught her before her hands hit the ground.
Even so, her legs still had trouble supporting her after all that running. She decided to take advantage of that and leave early without earning a penalty.
’Instructor Cross isn’t going to deduct points from me... right?’ Shani hesitated for a moment before encouraging herself again.
Back in her room, she immediately took a shower and changed into clean clothes.
Then she lay down on her bed.
The muscles in her legs still ached, though they were much better after receiving treatment from the medical team.
"Now it’s time to increase my rank," Shani declared enthusiastically.
"With 75,000 Credits, I can buy 10,000 Energy. Doesn’t that mean I can become an SS-Rank beastman just like Jeryon?"
She immediately sat upright. Her eyes sparkled as she imagined becoming the strongest beastman on the continent in an instant.
She couldn’t help giggling to herself like an idiot.
But her laughter came to an abrupt stop when the system’s voice shattered her fantasy.
[Warning! Host, for the safety of your body, purchasing more than a total of 100 Energy is not permitted.]
"Huh?! I can’t have more than 100 Energy? But I gave Jeryon 10,000 Energy! That’s not fair! Totally unfair!" Shani was on the verge of tears.
...