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"Oh."
Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded in his head and he lifted his head to figure out who uttered that sound, before realizing just who that was. Did Fei just accidentally use telepathy on him, or did she need something from him? As he sat there in the academy library in silence, he looked around the area as he waited for her to say something else. He had been dozing off while reading a book in a private corner somewhere, feeling sleepy from staying up so late with thoughts and worries in his head. He could probably assume that stressing about it wasn't going to make it start any faster though.
Then he heard Fei speaking to him again: "Hey, I got one of the titles." She sounded a bit weary, but also really relieved - when the question of what title crossed his mind, his gaze slipped down to the book he was reading. Probably the most common one, he would assume, since the others seemed like they came out a questionable hentai manga.
"Beta?"
The wyrm made a flustered sound when he asked her, and he cringed and was about to apologize, before the telepathic sound of someone clearing their throat came through. He probably should had let the conversation drop there. "Yeah, the normal one."
"...congrats."
He muttered the word awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. He couldn't help getting flustered talking about it - even if he could (barely) force himself to read about it in an anatomy textbook.
"Thanks," she replied smoothly - he wondered where she was, but decided against asking for the moment. He had more research to do. Not normally the kind he would do without wanting to crawl into a hole, but he was getting really worried by now. Maybe he could muster up the courage and manage ask Anna about it the next time she came to the academy to take Fei training?
He felt his face flush with heat. Maybe not yet.
"Seriously, all the Alpha, Beta, Omega nonsense seems like hentai stuff," Fei continued unprompted as if she had read his mind. "It's apparently not as bad for monsters, but geez."
Rather then sexual feelings, the types as they were called, seemed to be focused on using mostly pain (and yes, sexual feelings too, but seemingly mostly the latter) to push certain stuff. It really did seem like this world was built on suffering - and fighting. From the skills to the types...
He rubbed his forehead.
"Yeah," he muttered absently.
"Well, good luck when the symptoms start kicking in full force."
"...yeah."
See, in this world, puberty started around ages eleven to twelve for around ninety-five percent of the population, then the pain from the types started kicking in from around thirteen to fourteen. He himself was currently fourteen and a half in this world and it was said and seemed to be true that the later one started, the worse the pain was going to be.
He himself... actually hadn't even started.
He was pretty sure that was a problem.
It wasn't like his research had been fruitless to the extent that he didn't know that stress or something similar might be to blame - like his body figured that he was in danger to the extend that using energy for puberty was a waste of time. But it also wasn't like he was unaware that royal families and the like sometimes had incest going through them. In this world, it was limited to more distant family members. As such, birth defect could pop up from time to time.
And he was worried about that.
He know his so-called weaken immune system when he was around birth and into his toddler years was actually probably the result of stress. It was conclusion that he had easily drawn and worried over more.
A self-fulfilling prophecy, or something.
Well, there was one person he might be able to ask for help from.
The types, huh?
He really didn't want Alpha or Omega. Mostly Alpha, because what if that pushed him to hurt someone? Or even kill someone?
Maybe-
No. He shook his head, feeling bile rise in his throat just a bit.
Certainly, he would he pushed into a situation where killing someone was the only way to save the people he cared about. Or rather, he did have another back up plan, but that had its own limits, like reaching the person in time.
So...
"Shun! Sue!"
"...hello."
"Hi."
Both he and his little sister greeted him - Sue wasn't too affectionate with people other than him, but he got the feeling that his greeting would stick out like a sore thumb. He mentally cringed.
Julius seemed to pick up on the weirdness of his answer right away and gave him a slightly concerned look.
"Is something wrong?"
"I..." he trailed off awkwardly. Honestly, reading about it in an anatomy book and talking about it in real life were two completely different things. "Can I talk to you about something?"
Julius nodded without pause.
"About what?" Sue questioned, looking between the two of them, and he felt his face become more heated.
"Stuff," he finally said as he tried to calm his heart and cool his face. Reading about it and talking about it to his brother were two different things, mind you, but he sort of had to talk to someone about it. Even he understood that he couldn't keep on hiding this information forever, however much he was worried about telling someone. So he simply told her in a voice that might have been a bit too blunt, "Private stuff, between boys."
The implications of his words seemed to dawn on his little sister suddenly, and she stepped back with her face turning slightly pink. "Oh."
"...puberty?" Julius questioned, saying the word outright.
"Uh, yeah. That stuff."
Julius nodded silently, but didn't really react otherwise, only rubbing the back of his neck before he started walking off somewhere, beckoning him with a hand.
Guess he should follow.
"So."
He just sat there awkwardly for a moment, before he took a deep breath and started out with, "So, I'm fourteen now. And, uh..." He paused for a moment. He'd admit. He was scared - and yeah, embarrassed, but mostly scared. "I, actually haven't gotten one of those titles or skills."
Julius blinked and was silent for a second. Maybe he had been expecting something else? It wasn't like the Concealment skill couldn't hide the scent that one got when they obtained it, but it wasn't the case here.
"Nothing?"
"No..."
"No hair growing or anything."
"Uh, pretty sure there's none."
"I see." Julius finally said. It wasn't like there was much his brother could really do here. "Have you told anyone else this?"
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat before finally admitting, "...no."
Julius nodded silently, brows furrowed. "Maybe you should go tell the school medic, huh?" There was a short pause. "I can come with you, if you want?"
They walked down the hallways.
No one else was roaming around at this time, and the few people who were seemed to be intimidated by Julius and the expression he had on his face with his slightly furrowed brows and the small frown. And well, it was Julius. Maybe, if this were normal circumstances, he would try to reassure them, or maybe Julius would, but.. He couldn't say he had seem such an expression on his older brother's face in a long time - and he was pretty sure Julius didn't know that he knew of those times anyways.
If Julius caught him looking at that expression, he would quickly flash him a reassuring smile. It almost convinced him - that was how effective it was.
"Don't worry about it," Julius suddenly spoke up, startling him. His brother gave him a reassuring look. Julius was older than him, technically speaking, in terms of physical age, right? He would admit, he avoided somethings during his research. So his older brother would, uh, probably know more about thus stuff than him, right?
He was actually starting to believe him a bit, despite his worries about all of that stuff.
"I..."
<Proficiency has reached the required level.>
<Acquired skill [Alpha LV 1].>
He...
Mm? Did he just imagine that?
He ended up absently tilting his head in confusion, the sentence he was saying dying off awkwardly as he stared blankly - Julius seemed confused too, as his face shifted to realization when he realized something was wrong.
Placing a gentle hand on his shoulder that he barely felt, his older brother asked, "Shun? Are you okay?"
<Conditions satisfied.>
<Acquired title [Alpha]. As a result of title [Alpha], acquired skills [Olfactory Expansion LV 1] and [Strength LV 1].>
What?
He stopped paying attention to the voice in his head.
He... got one of the titles? Alpha?
It was written on his status screen clearly, and yet he didn't want to believe it. He suddenly felt scared. It wasn't like people describing the power of Alpha hormones was entirely false - what if he hurt someone? What if it messed with him and made him so angry he hurt someone he cared about?
"Shun?"
Suddenly he felt someone calling his name, so worried. Y-yeah, Julius was here with him, in the walking down the empty hallways. He... should try to say something.
He felt someone place their hand on his back.
He took a short breath.
"Hey, Shun?" Julius said, keeping his composure. "Can you try to try to take a deep breath?"
And he did. A bit too faster, multiple times, slower every time, time passing by.
"What's..." Julius seemed to realize something and inhaled a breath, then paused. "Alpha."
"Yeah." His previous worries bubbled up.
Julius seemed surprised for a second then regained his composure so fast he was pretty sure he just imagined it.
"...so, the later it starts, the worse it's going to be?"
"Ah, don't worry about that," Julius quickly told him, as if trying to reassure him. "There are ways to lessen it. It's going to be fine."
Would it work completely though? he wondered, but didn't voice that thought. The pain from the types had a habit of ignoring Pain Resistance skills and the like. Julius said it in a way that compelled him to believe it - his older brother always had that kind of feel to him. It was definitely inspiring to someone like him.
...guess he had no choice but believe him.