God Of Gluttony: Runestones Give Me Unlimited Abilities

2 The Punishment

Alex didn't need to look at the face to know who it was. He recognised her from the voice and the ear grab, it was the matron.

'What does she want from me?' He thought in panic, 'I made sure I cleaned all that mess.'

"So you thought that you could act however you like in this orphanage and get away with it right?" The matron asked, her eyes were blazing with the desire to discipline the frail boy in her arms.

"I'm s..s..sorry ma'am. I'm really sorry." Alex blurted out.

Rule number one to survive as a weak child in the orphanage; always be sorry about everything or they would mistake your innocence for arrogance and punish you dearly for it.

Alex understood that and apologised profusely to the matron even though he knew that he didn't do anything wrong.

"Your apologies will not restore the food that you wasted earlier, will they?" The matron asked fiercely,

'So that's what this is about...' Alex thought,

"The other kids told me that you spilt your dinner and made fun of the food and me. Did you think that I wouldn't find out?"

Alex looked up in horror at the lies that had been levelled against him. He couldn't even understand how the matron would believe such lies. Did he look like someone who could do that?

However, there was no time to be confounded. He quickly began to apologise knowing that if he denied it, the matron would assume that he was calling her a liar and that would not end well for him.

"I'm sorry matron, I don't know what came over me. I am really sorry," Alex begged,

"Keep your apologies to yourself. When I am done with you, I am going to make sure you do not ever think of repeating your actions today ever again."

Alex's heart dropped into his stomach when he heard the matron's words. He didn't know the exact punishment she had in store for him but the woman was very notorious for giving inhumane punishments. He could only hope that his own punishment would be bearable. He had not had any dinner, and he hoped he wouldn't faint.

Firstly, the matron took him to the cook's room. The cook was a perverse obese man who lived in the orphanage. He liked little boys, and the management of the orphanage knew this but since he had not done anything wrong yet, there was no need to sack him because they knew that if they did, it would be difficult to find another good cook for the kids.

The matron knew that an experience with the cook would traumatise Alex forever and that was why she took him there while she watched as the cook tied Alex up, stripped him completely and whipped him while playing with him.

After that ordeal, Alex's eyes became cold and hollow. He walked back to the lodge with the matron in silence. The woman seemed to be proud of herself for some unknown reason while Alex mulled within himself. His innocence had just been taken from him and he had been exposed to the world's dirtiest man ever. Alex was filled with nothing but hate. He hated the cook, he hated the matron, he hated Flash, he hated all the kids in the orphanage, he hated the world.

It was at that very moment that Alex's conviction to acquire magic grew stronger than ever. If his savings weren't enough to get him a runestone then he would have to steal one. The thought of doing a bad thing didn't even make him flinch because from then on, Alex believed that he would do anything possible to rise in life— anything possible.

****

The orphanage was bustling with excited little boys. They were chattering endlessly and moving about with no particular direction in mind. It was the day before the Awakening when all the 15-year-olds in the kingdom would go to the town market to buy their runestones.

Alex was sitting quietly in a corner. His eyes were cold and hollow. There was no emotion — not even fear when Flash and his gang stepped up before him.

Flash had never paid much mind to Alex aside from the fact that he was a good victim to bully. So he did not notice the drastic change in the atmosphere around Alex. He did notice that Alex had become quieter since the food incident but aside from that, he didn't notice anything else.

It was a good day so he was in no mood to hurt anyone, he just wanted to tease Alex but when he looked into Alex's empty, scary eyes, he felt reluctant. However, his gang was behind him so he couldn't back away, he inflated himself and towered over Alex's small stature.

"I can see that someone is actually deluding himself into believing that he might actually get a runestone today."

Alex ignored him.

"Well, let me tell you something, there are no runestones for hopeless people like you. People like you are doomed to be at the lowest rung of society for the rest of their lives. Bottom feeder!" Flash spat on him and walked away with his gang to cheers from the other kids.

'Well, I am going to prove all of you wrong!'

Alex thought as he wiped the spittle off his hair and thrust his hands into his pockets to rattle his two bronze coins — his entire savings. They were not much in terms of savings, but those were all he had since there was not much to do in the orphanage to get money since no one liked him and he was too weak to do much hard work. Those were the two coins he came in with since he came into the orphanage and he had held onto them ever since. Today, he hoped they would be able to get him a runestone.

Any runestone would do, as long as it had magic within it.

Very soon, the boys were taken to the market to go and shop for runestones.