Astroth : The Last Dragon

The loud ringing of a bell rang again, marking the end of the fifth period of school. With the echo of that noise, some rumbling began in the surroundings since lunch usually lines up after that said term.

Something similar to school bustlings could be heard in Section B of high school's second-year classroom. Even though the math teacher was present before them, the students stood from their respective seats and gossiped.

The teacher snorted and glanced at the students while going with a bitter expression. From the scene, one could infer his respect was low or the students had that kind of behavior with every teacher on their school staff.

Among those cheery and haughty students, there was one with the least presence, sitting in the last seat of the last row. The sudden bell startled him awake from his deep dream world. His black hair and ordinary face had the least charm one could have.

In those groups of students in the classroom, he belonged to no one. One could even say nobody remembered such a person was in their attendance the whole year. Many of them set out to have their lunch outdoors, but that wasn't the case for him.

Kazuma, the said student, didn’t have any companion to eat his meal with, nor did he have any meal, to begin with. He was the typical case of an orphan and a scholarship student. A lot of his early years had hardships seeping into every next second of his life.

His financial situation was evident by his worn-out uniform and tattered schoolbooks on his bench. The school bag had enough holes for him to be sick of stitching them day after day. His vibe had the narration of his daily life's struggle.

Some would say at least he could live ordinarily while he came and went to school as if he were a typical high school boy. However, reality hits harder than one thinks. In that atmosphere of students, where one won't even respect or fear their teachers, a person like him was certainly going to have bullies all around him.

For certain students, his presence amounts to nothing, but for some others, he was their shuttle, or one could even refer to him as a slave. At that moment, as his daily schedule, another rough voice belonging to a person also startled him, other than the school bell.

"Hey, my shuttle! With the whole year ahead of us, you should engrain my daily command into your head. Are you going to bring me something for a meal or do you need a beating as always?"

He turned around to glance at the student to whom that voice belonged. As he assumed, that was Jack, the most feared and notorious bully in the classroom, with a spectacular record of gang fights in the neighborhood.

No one in the classroom or the school had the guts to deny his command or face him head-on, yet some exceptions are present everywhere. Some of the popular students who are either studying or involved in group activities may be able to avoid him in some way.

Even he avoids certain types of them because some students had certain levels of influence with either staff or management. His targets were usually nerds or people like Kazuma, with no background or connections.

Although this bully should be placed in his rightful place, the one with such a might would have had no reason to pick up a fight with him. What could a person like Kazuma provide for help from a classroom rep or a rich heir of a conglomerate?

Kazuma swallows his self-respect as always and sets out to bring some quality snacks for Jack. While stepping out of the classroom, some chuckles and chortles still rang in his ears. Those hearty laughs belonged to Jack and his goons, targeting Kazuma. He didn't even need to turn around to prove that fact.

On his way out to the same snack shop, the cheerful facial expressions of all the people around the hallway or playground irked his heart. He had no sufficient reason for this sudden bitterness he felt daily.

Those smiles or relationships that people build in the structure known as school, what is their purpose, or why he couldn't properly gain their outcome from these years of his life: such questions lingered in his mind.

School should be a place where everyone can spread or follow equality, but that function has the least value anywhere in the world. If he ever raised that question, one would say, "Ask your teachers or elders for help, but that never worked for the poor."

Teachers, principals, or management, nobody helps a person regarded as worthless in the strongly ruled jungle called society. In his early years, he understood that no equality or justice survives in this selfish world.

Those who either trample others or the ones who bend their necks live in each corner of the world. The ruling group, as expected, tramples others through power, money, or talents. Kazuma belonged to the later group that bowed before the ruling class.

His whole life should be that way until he somehow wins a lottery or some rich family appears out of nowhere, claiming him as their lost heir. Another option was for him to be suddenly transported to a fantasy world, where he could fight back on equal terms with a powerful skill.

Unfortunately, such fantasies remain daydreams because people of their status usually watch with open eyes. When reading such stories, Kazuma never gained hope, or he never wanted to hope for an unnatural thing to happen, but rather he would work even harder to at least earn enough for himself.

While pondering those thoughts, he, at last, reached the shop near the school premises. He always chooses that one since the owner now remembers him and sometimes gives him a discount, given that Jack never pays him back for the snacks.

He asked in his weak and tired stuttering voice, "Uncle, give me my usual chips and coke!" 

The man standing before him, an old man in his forties with concerns and expressions of pity towards Kazuma, gave a glance at him. He replied in his rough tone, "Boy, you’re here again for those boys! You should at least ask them to pay for their stuff."

"Do you want me to stay in the hospital for my life or so while giving such preposterous and sinister advice?" he thought inwardly. His resolve had already faltered when he last denied Jack for such a lousy reason.

If he did it again, Jack would certainly send him to the nearest government hospital, either crippling him for life or wearing him out for at least a month.

"Money! I can earn sufficient money if I have my own life. Respect! It doesn't put bread on my plate." He had built this mindset in those years of suffering alone in society.

Ignoring the owner's advice, he gave him a glance and a polite smile. The owner understood its meaning and packed the stuff with a deep sigh. He passed the order to Kazuma and received payment.

Kazuma gave a slight bow and backed off to his destination. When he retreated from the shop, the owner whispered, "Does the weak have to live while suffering all their life?"

It was hard to contemplate whom his question was aimed at. Was it towards God? Or was that a general question the owner asked himself? Well, it's not like anything would change for those useless concerns for others. He focused on his own work while gazing at the boy fading from his eyes.

Kazuma, on his way back to the classroom, had many such thoughts of rebelling after hearing the owner's advice. Even though he knew the circumstances and outcome of those actions, it wouldn't cost anything for one to dream big from time to time.

"Should I ask him for money today? No! I already bought the stuff for now. I should ask for money the next time that bastard orders me around!" He thought inwardly.

Such thoughts were normal for him since the beginning of his school year. Every day, he would decide to rebel; the horror of a particular event would resurface in his mind. The first time Jack ordered him to do a task, Kazuma firmly denied it, and that was the beginning of the daily suffering and hell.

Since that day, a deep fear was ingrained in his heart, which never allowed or granted guts for him to escape or revolt against Jack. He was terrified and quivering at the sight of Jack. How could he raise his voice in that condition?

He had already accepted the enslavement for the year, yet in his head, he knew such people would cross paths with him in every structure of society. He would be trampled with his current mindset and nobody could help him.

Even with all his circumstances, he was actually a spectacular student with a good head on his shoulders. That was one of the reasons for his scholarship. However, after enrolling in the school, his marks dropped significantly. The argument would be his part-time job and the bullying he had to endure.

While contemplating his future through these daily hardships, he reached the classroom gate. Before entering that hellhole again, he let out a deep sigh with a poker face expression. He realized the more he would react to their bullying, the more pleasure they would feel while intensifying the bullying.

Henceforth, he learned his current non-existent facial expressions and personality!

He now stepped into the gate, and a bright gleam shrouded the entire surroundings. His vision gradually cleared to reveal the bizarre view. The ground had a magic circle thing gleaming under the students.

Everyone had wide eyes and jaws dropped at the unnatural phenomenon. Most of them lost their composure and panicked, but some fantasy geeks had a creepy smile creeping on their faces. Even Kazuma had such a mixture of feelings involving a surge of ecstasy and fear.

This moment could be one of the fantasies he always reads about in fantasy novels or webtoons. A magic circle always leads the said person to a different world and grants them a position of hero with a variety of skills.

Meanwhile, the rumbling intensified in the classroom when that magic circle shined even brighter than before. Nobody had the reflex or time to run away from the classroom. In those moments, Kazuma didn't notice until a voice from a fellow classmate rang in his ears.

"Hey, you man! You're only half inside the room!"

"Huh! What does that mean? " Kazuma thought inwardly when he gradually glanced underneath, where one of his feet was in the classroom while the other one wasn't. Before he could take the initiative to step further in, the magic circle activated!

A sudden surge of pain emerged from his body as if splitting him apart. That magic circle tried to apply to every concerned person, but Kazuma was half in and half out, which complicated things for him.

That splitting pain was the outcome of his tardiness. Enduring that pain, Kazuma screamed with all his might. Tears followed down his cheeks as he gradually lost consciousness.