Incarnate of the war God

"You all did so poorly in your mock test, and I am ashamed to say I am your homeroom teacher!" The bald, pot-bellied man announced as he walked into class A the results of their mock test. His face was pulled into a frown while he glared at the supposed best student in the year three class. "Only two of you got a satisfactory mark in this class! All the rest are barely above average! And you all are preparing to have your finals in a couple of weeks!" He continued angrily. "What have you all been doing with your study time? Playing? Dating? It is your final year in high school, and if you waste it, you are wasting away your future! How will you get into a good university if you get bad results in your high school finals?" "Among all thirty of you, only Alaric got 92% marks! And you, Alaric!" The teacher turned to the black-haired boy sitting at the farthest corner, close to the window. The said boy stood up with an expressionless face as the class erupted into a murmur from how unkempt he looked as always. "Quite!" The teacher roared, and the class went silent. " Your marks dropped by five during the last test; are you starting to slack off? Are you beginning to feel proud because you are the top student?" He asked, and Alaric remained quiet. "Answer me, young man! Are you joining the rest of the class to goof off now? Do you not know how important it is for you, especially, to get a good result and go to a good university?" "I... I came in late for the first test, and I was unable to complete it within the set time," Alaric replied timidly as he felt all eyes were on him. He could feel their usual judging eyes on him, making him feel conscious of his massive eye bags and his patched clothes. He looked down to avoid making eye contact with the people looking at him. "I don't care for your excuses! The school will be arranging another mock test for you next week; you should all prepare for it," the teacher announced, and the students groaned in displeasure. "In this light, Alaric, you will be teaching your class after school for the next week in preparation for the coming mock test." "I can't," Alaric replied calmly, and the teacher frowned. "What did you say?" The teacher explained. "I have work to do after school, and I don't have extra time to spare. I'm sure Gina would be pleased to take the class," Alaric explained as he shot the brown-haired girl sitting at the front a look. Gina's face flushed in embarrassment, and she immediately looked away. "I don't mind taking the class, sir; Alaric had to do his part-time jobs," Gina offered. "You are still thinking about jobs at this time? Don't you know how important your finals are?" The teacher argued, his irritation building up as he saw Alaric's nonchalant expression. "Only a student who has eaten their fill will be able to write an exam. If I don't work, I won't eat, and my siblings won't eat, or do you intend to feed us, sir?" Alaric asked with a raised brow, and the class snickered. They were all aware of his family condition—a dead mother and a drunkard father. If it weren't for his intelligence and good grades, Alaric would not have been able to set foot in such an elite school, not to talk about being a student there. Which was why people looked down on him and often made fun of him. Their fun was only minimal because, at the end of the day, he was still the best student in their school. Hearing his words, the bald teacher pursed his lips and glared at him. "Do whatever you wish," he said, turning away. "As for the rest of you, I will be here to monitor the after-school lesson myself." As the school came to a close, Alaric let out a sigh of relief and began to pack up his things. Gina walked up to him with a polite smile when the rest of the of the students went out to get something to eat before the after-school tutorial began. "Here is it. It's $10," Alaric announced, and he gave a compliant note to Gina, who smiled and handed him the money. "Thank you! With this, I will be able to study for the physics exams. The last one helped me improve on my test." She grinned excitedly, and Alaric hummed, and he stood up to leave. "Instead of you going to work on the construction site again, why don't you tell the students to pay for your time so we can all study together?" Gina suggested, and Alaric continued walking. "I don't need their money," he replied, and he walked out. Studying while getting money would be the best thing to do; however, having suffered ridicule at the hands of the rich kids around him, Alaric, who had once thought of the ideas, decided against them. "Have you eaten?" Alaric asked as he walked into their shabby home with a bag of groceries to see the whole place had been ransacked through and everything was in disarray. With pursed lips, he dropped the bag by the door and walked in to check things out as he got close to the one room he shared with his three siblings. His eyes turned dark with rage as he noticed his siblings huddled together in the corner while crying. "Big brother!" Ben, the second-oldest among them, called out as he noticed Alaric coming in. "What happened here? Did he come home again?" Alaric asked while picking up the scattered items on the floor. "Yes, he said he needed money because he lost some money at 'work' today, and then he was looking for your savings. He hit Tom when he couldn't find any money," Ben explained, and Alaric nodded, suppressing the anger boiling up in his heart at his father. "Clean this place up; I will make dinner. Tom, are you hurt anywhere?" He asked as he moved closer to the youngest, who was being held by their only sister. "I'm fine; he didn't hit me too much," Tom replied as he wiped his face. Alaric put the things in his hands away and checked on Tom to see for himself if he was injured or not. Seeing that the boy was okay, he nodded and pulled him up. "The dinner will be over soon; clean up," he instructed, and he walked into the kitchen. Once dinner was over, he put Tom and Ella to sleep while he cleaned up the remaining part of the house with Ben. "Big brother, are you going out to work again?" Ben asked. "Yes, I won't be able to work when the finals start, so I need to save up some money for us to eat. Here, keep this for me; you can use part of it for lunch food tomorrow. I won't be home until late tomorrow night," he explained, and Ben frowned as he took the dollar notes from his older brother. "If you can't work, I will work. Look at you; it's been so many days since you've slept or gotten any rest. Your exams are coming up, and you barely have time to read because you are always working!" Ben argued, and he got a glare from his older brother. "You are just fifteen; who will employ you? Forget about working and just face your studies; you need to work hard and enter a good university in the future." Alaric encouraged, and Ben pouted as he put away the washed dishes. "Lock up the door and make sure you don't open it for anyone, including Father," Alaric instructed, and Ben got a thumbs up. Looking at the time, he realised he was running late and decided to go with his worn-out bicycle. It was three in the morning when his shift for the day ended at the bar. Normally he would have to work till morning, but his manager was their neighbour, and he gave him a few hours off due to his upcoming exam, which was why he had closed earlier than usual. Thinking his father could go back home to look for trouble, Alaric decided to go back home and get some rest while making sure his siblings were alright. As he was leaving the bar, a sudden storm broke out, causing him to lose his grip on his bicycle and balance. While trying to regain balance, he felt a shadow cast over him, and his heart skipped a beat as people's yelling voices filled his ears. As he looked up, he realised that a massive billboard was falling towards him, just a few centimetres away from crushing him. He tried to move, but fear had rooted him to the spot. In the next moment, he saw himself lying motionless under the billboard, his body completely crushed.