Dio had well expected this outcome. There was no doubt that Jin was talented and wielded a powerful list of spells, meaning in terms of raw destruction power, there could have been some competition between the two. However, this was a spar, a practice battle meant to simulate a real 1v1. In such situations, it may not always be possible to prepare.
Dio walked back and crossed the instructor calmly without saying or expressing anything. For the rest of the class, he could feel a set of eyes intensely piercing through the back of his head. Immediately after, he made it his responsibility to check up on John and visit him in the infirmary.
"Can I come….?" At first, he expected Alex to ask him this; however, to his surprise, it was Hina, the same one who had beaten him during the entrance tests.
"Sure," he continued walking after nodding.
"You should've gone all out on me," she spoke while massaging her chin. "You certainly are extremely tenacious. It is commendable and beyond impressive to learn such a large number of spells. I'm unsure if I should call you a genius or a bozo,"
"It was the entrance test. I understand the crowd would want to observe a spectacle like me perform to his maximum. Unfortunately, for a performance a stage is required. And that particular day, the stage was simply not adequate."
"Hoh, do you always look down on others?" she asked without any sign of hesitation or reluctance.
"Look down? I don't think I do that," Dio cocked his head. Her statement actually left him puzzled.
"You don't?"
"No, what made you say that?"
"The way you speak. It is blatantly egocentric," she replied instantly. To Dio's amusement, she had quite a sharp tongue, something which he enjoyed as a quality within people.
"What of it? Shouldn't more people begin to use egocentric language then? I believe it would benefit everyone," he nodded and took a turn at the end of the corridor. The pathway was overwhelmed with life as the chatters and laughter from the walking students filled the atmosphere.
"You said you were the spectacle and the others get to watch you. If everyone used egocentric language, then the meaning would change. You would no longer be the spectacle, rather, you would be a performer for the audience. It would be you putting in the effort to present yourself to the others."
"That sounds right. Beautiful, even. I believe people would then trust themselves more. My acceptance of my abilities and my awareness of my potential is not an attack on those who remain oblivious," he retorted, instantly leaving her speechless. His words were rather delusional. How could everyone view themselves as majestic and grand? Isn't something beautiful because another thing is ugly?
"Isn't that convenient?" she asked with genuine curiosity in her voice, "to dismiss people's weakness and flaws as misconceptions or false perceptions of themselves. And to attribute it all to a lack of self-appreciation,"
Dio turned around with a look of a child that had been caught by their parents, "marvelous insights Miss Jaegar," he nodded, "you're right but my beliefs are not so superficial. It genuinely doesn't matter to me if you do better or simply are better than me. As far as I see it. I am superior…until I'm not," he smiled and gave her a thumbs up.
"So much thought about the others. Are you sure you believe you're superior?" She smiled and walked past Dio, his eyes following her as they caught onto familiar faces in the infirmary. Instinctively, his fists tightened; this was going to be painful, and that's all he knew.
The bed to his immediate left, the first one, was occupied by John, his generally mundane face now lacked its neutrality. It lacked everything: the slight amount of desperation behind the eyes, any sort of possible warmth. At least he was recognizable; the blood had been thoroughly cleaned up, and his wounds were almost gone.
Dio spared no time to look elsewhere, he knew Alex stood right there with the others. They were here for a different patient, someone in a far worse condition than John's. Once again, it wasn't the physical wounds that were concerning. Jin seemed to be extremely weak. Almost as if he was burned out, he refused to open his eyes or respond. Of course, once this shock wore off, he would recover gradually.
"They be letting anyone into this room, huh?" Dio spoke out loud but didn't look to see their reaction; he was clearly frustrated and didn't like their presence.
"While you're here, take the opportunity to familiarize yourself. The next time, it's going to be you here," Blue spoke as his eyes were attached onto his brother, a tinge of concern, but Blue seemed more disturbed by what his brother's loss meant than his brother's actual loss.
The Godfreys were clearly an influential family. Blue, being the older sibling by two years, gave him the burden of responsibility; he wore the crown of decisions and bore the consequences of their actions. Deep down in Blue's mental state, a conflict ensued between his feelings of brotherhood and his call for responsibility and leadership.
"Hey, did you just read my mind?" Dio retorted sarcastically, "Why wait? Let's go right now. Maybe you can join your brother finally," he scoffed as his hand hovered over John's forehead. "Recuperation," he whispered, and a faint yellow-golden light enveloped John's body. There was no need for him to use another healing spell, nevertheless, he used it to aid the recovery process.
"I'm late for class. I'll be back." his eyes caught Alex's for a second; they lingered before looking away. But the statement was meant for someone else. "See you," Hina smiled nervously as her eyebrows quivered.
Whatever the situation between Alex and him, Dio knew very well that they could solve and talk about it easily, which was why he was comfortable with giving it some time. What concerned him was that her rationality seemingly took a hit after the introduction of Jin.