Chapter 13: Soft

Yanael stood just behind Zach's shoulder as usual. But she suppressed her presence so that unless one looked straight at her, it was easy to forget she was there, even with her beautiful appearance. She stood with her hands clasped in front of her and her eyes almost closed, immovable like a statue and elegant like a painting.

However, when Drupesch took three steps back and away from the class, Yanael looked up and opened her eyes. She looked at Drupesch before taking a step forward and in front of Zach.

Zach barely had time to question Yanael's actions before a tiny pebble the size of a marble shot into the arm of the student next to him.

"Julius!"

Zach called out to Julius, who let out a stunned gasp before clutching his arm in pain as he hissed between his teeth. Zach grabbed him and helped him hide behind Yanael.

Zach didn't even have time to feel strange about hiding behind his delicate-looking maid before the rain started properly, and pebbles whizzed through the air, striking the sitting ducks that were the students.

Shouts, screams, and squeals rang out as the students ran around like headless chickens, trying to avoid the indiscriminate attack with minimal to no success.

Some people were quick enough with their heads to lay down and crawl instead. But that was only smart until the pebbles started curving through the air and descending like miniature meteors, peppering everyone, regardless of prone, supine, or vertical position.

The only one who avoided the pebbles was Zach. Julius was also on a streak after the first hit. However, it was rude to Yanael to claim that Zach avoided any pebbles. He didn't even move. Yanael used her shield to intercept and block the pebbles that came their way.

Julius took inspiration from that and used his mannequin as a shield. Since the mannequin was far from as competent as Yanael, he had to move it himself to cover up the gaps Yanael left since she only prioritized defending Zach.

Zach, who was crouched to reduce his surface area, glanced up at Yanael.

'Woah.'

Yanael was staring daggers at the smiling Drupesch. She had even brought out her sword and was cutting down the pebbles in their paths.

Zach glanced around.

'Ah.'

Since Yanael was busy protecting him, she couldn't do anything about Drupesch. She was locked in place.

Even if she was fast enough to cover the distance between her and Drupesch before the instructor could react, she couldn't guarantee that Zach wouldn't be struck by any of the pebbles flying around at an incredible speed.

The pebbles were far from fatal, but that didn't mean Yanael could let Zach get hit. He would still be hurt.

And Zach's safety was higher than Drupesch's subjugation in priority.

'The instructor mentioned a golden barrier thingy, right? Something like that would be perfect for situations like these.'

If he could activate his contract skill to defend himself, Zach wouldn't have to watch Yanael restrain herself to protect him.

Zach crossed his arms, tilted his head, and closed his eyes, ignoring the chaos around him as he thought about how to use his skills. It had activated when Yanael protected him against the chandelier.

But since it didn't activate now, it was clear she couldn't activate it by herself.

'Was it subconscious?'

That meant he had been involved in its activation. But he didn't remember anything like that. He felt Yanael's warm and soft embrace as she wrapped him in her arms. He felt a sharp sense of alarm when he realized something was wrong from Yanael's actions.

Zach frowned. How did he even notice what Yanael was doing when she was moving that fast? How did he have time to process that something was wrong?

'Wait…'

Why, afterward, did it seem like he felt the danger before Yanael even moved? No, not quite before she moved. At the same time she moved, he was hit with a pang of anxiety.

'No way, right?'

An idea hit Zach, but it wasn't quite relevant to his current situation, so he set it aside. Instead, he focused on what he felt.

He felt something warm, something soft, and something dangerous. He was scared and worried that he would be harmed, hurt, in pain, or killed. It wasn't the first time he felt that fear.

After all, he had been in quite a few stressful and potentially dangerous situations since he was young.

But it was the first time he could do something about it.

His proverbial toolbag wasn't empty or useless anymore. He was no longer at the mercy of his cursed luck. He had a tool he could use to defend himself.

And in his current situation, it wasn't only to protect himself. It could also liberate Yanael.

Zach focused on the feelings he had experienced during the entrance examination.

'Soft…'

That was the wrong feeling.

Zach looked at the hailstorm of pebbles that had turned his classmates into sobbing, bleeding, crying, fetal messes on the ground, huddled up with their familiars for protection. There were a few exceptions, such as Dukiel, Anerias, and Violina, and a few others, who were doing marginally better than the rest.

But Zach ignored them.

Instead, he focused on what it would be like to be hit by a pebble–what it would be like to be hit by three, four, five, ten, or a hundred pellets.

His skin crawled at just imagining the pain.

That was just what Zach needed. He needed something to spur his need for defense.

He just felt too safe with Yanael next to him. She was too good at her job, even if her tea could use some work.

A weak, translucent golden dome appeared around Zach and most of Julius, protecting them and the mannequin from the pebble storm.

Yanael noticed and glanced back at Zach. Zach nodded. Yanael moved.

Zach had trouble keeping up as Yanael dashed through the field toward the sadistic instructor. But he saw when Yanael approached. However, he wasn't the only one, which he also saw.

Drupesch faced Yanael without so much as a seed of concern on her face. The pebbles didn't shift a millimeter from their paths as Yanael stepped into Drupesch's personal space.

Yanael swung her sword.

A flat stone the size of a palm blocked it. Sёarᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"You've still got a long way to go, little birdie."