[George's POV]
After watching that fight, there was a fire that was lit in me. It might have been set ablaze for shallow reasons, but I'm sure it will become brighter and brighter as more time passes.
I went back in the direction I came from, to the river and tried to catch some sleep. I had no light to build a shelter, so I had to sleep on the cold, hard ground. It wasn't pleasant or relaxing by any means. I probably would have frozen to death if I hadn't remembered to make a makeshift bed and blanket by laying leaves on the ground and covering myself with more.
But even with that, I had to curl up to conserve body heat. While trying to ignore the cold, I fell asleep.
When I woke up, the sun was just beginning to rise. I got up, stretched and started deciding my plans for today.
I took a closer look at my surroundings. As I had woken up when the sun was already setting yesterday, I wasn't able to really see well, but when I looked now, I realized I was by the river. It was a sort of clearing that might have been created by animals as the grass had been trodden upon enough for me to make out some prints.
They were fairly big, but not too large. I'm not an expert in tracking animals, so I'm not sure how long ago these were created. For all I know, whatever animal or animals could be on their way here right now.
Speaking of animals, I wonder why I wasn't attacked by any yesterday. I don't know when I washed up here, but it couldn't have taken too long, right?
Why did no animals at least take just a single bite out of me during that time I was unconscious? Maybe they weren't carnivores?
Anyway, I'm lucky to have made it past yesterday. I'm in way over my head. Just thinking about that fight gets my blood pumping. I want to able to do that, purely for childish reasons.
Who knows? Maybe, I'll see them again.
I shuddered.
Yeah, no thank you. If I see those people again, I'll probably die before I know what even happened.
Is this the disparity that Philia talked about? If the people in the academy are even more amazing, then what does that mean for me? Can I bridge that gap? Is it possible for me?
As a matter of fact, I don't think I can. If I can't fight on the same level with the people with Group 39, how will I survive in a place where the people from the Test Zone are discriminated against?
I can clearly remember the way those seniors looked at us, not even bothering to cover up their contempt and disgust. Well, is disgust the right word? I tend to forget the right grammar to use.
But anyway, can I make it through the three years before getting to the academy? So far, I've only made it this far through luck or coincidences. I don't think my luckiness is going to last three years.
If I have a chance, I have to leave this place. I'd rather take my chances in a place where I can actually control my own life or death than die due to someone's whims in here.
I yawned.
There's no point in thinking about this right now. I should make it out of here before making all these decisions.
I got up, ready to start the day's activities.
I went to a tree and looked up at it.
I have to climb this don't I? I don't really want to though.
Nevertheless, I gingerly grabbed one of the lowest branches and lifted myself onto it.
I repeated this action until I made it to the top. I took a deep breath and looked down.
Immediately, I felt dizzy but I held it in and took a long look at all in my vicinity.
There was nothing really remarkable that I could see except for a clearing that looked sort of strange. There were trees that were leaning to one side, making it look like someone bent them out of shape.
Strangely enough, it was in the direction where I saw that fight last night. It made me go back to thinking about it.
Group 9, huh? What separates me from them? Why are we different?
Well, duh!
I smacked my forehead and almost lost balance. I quickly grabbed onto something and fearfully clung to it.
I'm still on this, aren't I?
I made my way down slowly and resumed my thoughts.
Like I was thinking earlier, I know exactly what separates me and Group 9. Natural awakening age. It's as simple as that.
I don't know if awakening naturally has any benefits over being forcefully awakened, but I know that they probably awakened naturally.
I went to where I found those rocks earlier and picked up a sharp, flat one. I also got a bigger stone to use to break off some branches.
It's time for me to make some spears. Judging by how almost everyone has had some weapon or the other, I'm sure there's something fishy going on here, but I can't do anything about it.
The best thing for me to do right now is to make sure I can defend myself at the very least.
To that end, I sat down and vowed that I wouldn't get up until I successfully made a spear.
That took me quite a while, probably a couple hours before I made something I was satisfied with. When I got it right, I then made a grand total of three spears. With that done, I set out to find someone to kill.
However, I made sure to keep track of where I was going so I would be able to find my way back to the river.
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