Surviving as the Second Main Lead: Second Lead's POV

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Horas was running toward something. His hand was outstretched to try and get hold of the light.

In the eternal darkness surrounding him, the ray of light in front of him was the only thing keeping Horas going. He needed the light if he was to survive this ordeal.

Horas had no idea why he was running or what he was running away from, but he knew that he needed to get away from the thin chasing him.

‘...cannot…run…away…’

“Oh, fuck off and leave me alone. You are almost as annoying as a possessive girlfriend following her lover everywhere.”

Horas yelled back toward the unseen monster chasing after him. He knew it was a dream since he was not getting tired even after what seemed like hours of running.

‘...the deal…needs…to…be…fulfilled…’

“And I told you that I do now know anything about this ‘deal’. Just leave me alone.”

The air was getting heavier and denser. Horas knew what would happen next since he had experienced the same dream every night.

‘Now the water will rise and I will become unable to breathe. I need to reach for the light before that happens.’

Horas tried not to panic but it was impossible for his heart not to skip a beat in this situation. This dream felt all too real and the fear of death caused Horas to keep on going.

‘...body…promise…give…it…up…’

“Shut up. As if I will give up my body so easily. I still need to go back home to my words.”

Horas yelled but his voice sounded calm to his ears. Water was making his moments sluggish and the darkness was closing in all around him.

‘I refuse to give up. I need to live.’

Desperation rose inside Horas’s body. It made him feel the same emotions and feelings he had felt the first time he had come across this darkness.

‘I am almost there. Just a little more push.’

Horas was almost across the point where his power would rush into his body. Just a little more and he will be able to break his shackles and be free.

“Move.”

Darkness crashed into Horas just as his hands clasped around the light. He had made it in time today as well, but the chase had been a close one.

Horas was jolted by a small shock and he was instantly awake.

///

Horas opened his eyes and nursed his hurting body. His legs ached, almost as if he had gone through a real struggle. Horas was sure that his body would have marks from his dream.

But since it happened every night, Horas had learned to deal with it over time. He no longer felt as if he would not be able to function in the morning.

“Darn it. Another day started with this bad memory from my past. I cannot believe that encounter with the demon king’s minion is affecting me so badly even after 11 years.”

11 years ago, Horas had almost become a sacrifice for the demon king’s resurrection. He had not known it until much later but the dungeon had been a special-grade dungeon.

And by that, it meant that no one knew how it had started or what level it was. It almost felt man-maid but that was a hilarious thought to have.

Ever since that day, Horas had been kept under watchful eyes and not allowed to have much personal freedom. But he understood that it was for his good. No one knew how this situation would affect Horas’s mental health.

He had even been pulled out of regular classes and ended up having private lessons instead. That caused Horas’s ‘friend-less’ situation to worsen.

Especially with all the nightmares he was recently having.

“Horas, are you awake yet? *yawn* I got a message from Instructor Harris asking for you to report to his office. You should get going now.”

Mark almost stumbled into the room as he yawned. From the dark circles under his eyes, it was safe to say that Mark had not slept a wink yesterday night.

He often surprised Horas with his ability to run on the minimum hours of sleep humanly possible. Horas reached out for Mark’s coffee cup but Mark showed incredible vigilance and managed to smack Horas’s hand away.

“No! My coffee mug. Get your own, Horas. And not from my stash.”

Horas shook his head at the predictable answer he got from Mark.

‘It must be all the coffee Mark consumes. It must have some kind of drug mixed in it. No wonder he never allows me to have any.’

“Fine, no coffee for me. I’ll just freshen up and get going now.”

………………………….

After having a ‘not so pleasant’ morning, Horas was running late for his meeting with Instructor Harris.

In his defense, he did not know that the new session traffic would be much worse than any year before. It seemed almost as if everyone was either lost or in a hurry.

Horas had to forgo breakfast to make it on time to instructor Harris’s office. Instructor Harris seemed to be going over the student profiles.

“Instructor Harris, I heard that you called for me.”

Horas stood at attention, not willing to let his guard down. Who knew what instructor Harris would have him do but Horas wanted to be ready for anything.

However, contrary to Horas’s expectations, the instructor did not make any ridiculous statements.

Instead, he pointed toward the chair in front of him and asked Horas to sit down. Then, he passed a few profiles to Horas silently.

Horas looked at the first profile and his heart sank to the pit of his stomach. The paper in his hand spotted a very familiar name on it after all.

“Howard Spencer, S-rank candidate potential. What do you think about him?”

Instructor Harris asked with a calm voice. But Horas caught the sliver of interest Instructor Harris was trying not to show. It was not difficult to know why instructor Harris was asking Horas this question.

He was one of the only individuals who knew of Horas’s real full name. So he had likely linked the connection in his mind already.

‘How annoying. Is there even a point in lying about it?’

“Howard Spencer is an impressive individual. The first person to score a perfect score on the test as well as the only ranked S-potential candidate in the first year right now.”

Horas knew that Howard was not the only S-rank in the first years since the other members of his party had also awakened as S-class. But it had happened later in his book and many students’ potential had to be reevaluated.

It also exposed a fatal flaw in the ‘potential recording’ process, hence changing the academy.

‘Not that I know anything about it. Let’s not think about it in case anyone decided to check my mind.’

“Is that all you want to say to me? If you give me a good enough reason, I can allow you to back out as my second in command Horas.”

It was a nice offer but Horas was not going to take this offer. He was not going to act as Horas Spencer since it was an identity that should be forgotten.

“Instructor, I know what you are worried about but the first son of the Spencer couple is legally dead already. I would appreciate it if you would not bring it up again.”

Horas was not going to give himself any reason to get attached to anyone or anything, even a name.

Instructor Harris sighed as he watched the kid. He could not bring himself to say anything so he could only look at the kid in pity. He had played a big hand in molding Horas in this young adult as well. It was a pitiful and proud feeling at the same time.

“Alright, if you are sure. I will not ask you this question again so take it as a warning. Now. let’s talk about the real reason I called you here and what I expect from you.”

Horas sighed in relief when instructor Horas let him go.

“I want you to observe the class from inside and help the students out. They will be heading out for their first dungeon exercise as soon as they get their weapon and I want you to go in with them as well.”

Instructor Harris was clear and Horas did not need to go against his instructions. He had enough experience to lead a group now.

‘I don’t think anything happened during this day apart from Howard Spencer showing how good he was with his sword. It should be alright for me to participate.’

“Hmm, I shall keep an eye on these kids. Is there anything else you want me to do in there?”

Horas had a feeling that there was a specific reason he had been called in instead of any other random aid. Instructor Harris hardly ever did things half-heartedly.

The instructor hesitated before he decided to rip the band-aid off. But in the end, Instructor Harris did not bring anything up.

“No, there is nothing else for you to be worried about. Just go in and keep an eye on the students. That’s all you need to do.”

Horas watched his instructor, but it did not seem like instructor Harris would say anything else to him.