radicalducati Chapter 113
Chapter 113
Chapter 113
It's not surprising that Raven was bullied. She was indeed beautiful and academically excellent, but she lacked social skills.
The reason why American school bullies can act so arrogantly is not because they are inherently evil, but because American education and social culture, to some extent, condone such behavior.
The United States values freedom, but some people interpret freedom as "doing whatever they want" and establish their dominance in schools by bullying others. Although 90% of schools in the United States have anti-bullying policies, the actual effectiveness varies. Some schools only pay lip service to these policies, and seeking help from teachers often proves ineffective.
Being a teacher in the United States is actually very stressful. Like an alarm clock, they face problems such as low pay, long working hours, and limited career advancement. Standardized tests and state-level curriculum regulations also diminish teachers' autonomy in instruction.
But unlike alarm clocks, teachers here are often embroiled in political struggles. For example, when discussing sensitive issues such as race and gender, teachers can easily provoke anger from both rednecks and minority groups. Worse still, students here might actually be carrying guns.
Therefore, in the United States, although teachers are often referred to as "heroes" or "beacons" in public, this respect often remains superficial and lacks substantial support. Corporal punishment and harsh discipline are strictly limited, and teachers are also vulnerable to challenges from parents, students, and public opinion. This environment leads many teachers to "prefer to mind their own business rather than cause trouble," let alone actively prevent bullying.
After putting the raven to sleep, Rune carefully examined the contours of her face, then began to circulate his magic. He quickly shrank, his hair grew rapidly, and finally, he looked in the mirror and nodded in satisfaction. It wasn't exactly the same, but it was certainly a perfect match.
Under the rune's magic, Raven slept soundly. In fact, she rarely had nightmares since arriving here. Everyone on the farm was kind to her. Clark was a bit clumsy, but cheerful and generous, always trying to buy her ice cream; Martha was kind and gentle, willing to meditate quietly with her; Jonathan, though stubborn, was upright, steady, hardworking, and honest.
Raven couldn't read her magic teacher's mind, but she found their relationship comfortable. There was no need for much talking, no need to worry about manners, and she loved the dark aura emanating from Rune, which made her feel less alone and that she had others like her.
Even so, Raven was startled when she saw another "self" appear before her. Scenes from horror stories flashed through her mind: clones killing the original and taking its place—a jumble of thoughts collided within her. Then, that "self" spoke.
"I'll go to school for you today; you can stay in the workshop," Rune said.
Hearing that familiar voice, the raven stared at its alternate self in surprise, and after a moment, asked, "Is it Transfiguration?"
"To be more precise, it's a human transformation spell." Rune nodded, but then turned to warn, "However, you must never try it. It's a spell that requires extremely high control over magical power. If you use this dangerous spell on yourself, you might not be able to transform back."
During this time, Raven's progress in learning spells was quite rapid, especially some dark magic, which she grasped almost instantly. However, when it came to transfiguration, the situation was completely different. She was still only at the stage of turning inanimate objects into inanimate objects, and the size difference between the two objects couldn't be too great, otherwise it would easily fail.
The raven knew what was important, so she nodded: "Understood, teacher."
Upon arriving at the farm, Rune asked Clark to ask his teacher for leave, and Clark immediately agreed.
"What happened to Rune?" Clark asked.
"No, I've just made some progress in my magic studies," Rune said softly. Ravens are relatively easy to imitate.
For her, saying as few words as possible was perfectly acceptable. By speaking less and doing more, she could perfectly handle the somewhat slow-witted Clark.
He finished eating quickly and rushed to catch the school bus. However, because he arrived early, he didn't run into those beasts. Come to think of it, in Rune's memory, the raven had been doing this for about half a month.
Not long after arriving at school, Rune bumped into that group of idiots. At that moment, the girl in the lead was standing in the middle of the corridor, like a hyena patrolling its territory, a deliberately exaggerated smirk on her lips. Her long hair, dyed a cheap gold, was tied into a high ponytail, and with each exaggerated turn of her head, invisible whip marks were left in the air.
Before her, a girl carrying books walked past quickly with her head down, trying to avoid the group of girls. But that girl wouldn't let her.
"Wow! This nerd seems to have a new notebook!" The girl feigned surprise and picked up the newest notebook, tapping her meticulously manicured nails on it.
The girls around her burst into laughter again, and the ringleader of the bullies laughed loudly, as if she had told a particularly funny joke. The top three buttons of her school uniform shirt were undone, revealing her deliberately tanned collarbone and a small portion of her chest, which bounced up and down with her laughter.
Putting aside her character, this bully with strawberry-flavored lip gloss was actually quite good-looking. However, her eyebrows were always raised in an inverted V shape, with traces of gold glitter from yesterday still clinging to the arches. Her eyes looked like glass beads stretched wide by colored contact lenses, and she wore three layers of false eyelashes. Her voice was also extremely shrill. All of these things detracted from her otherwise decent appearance.
The bullied girl's face was flushed, she bit her lower lip tightly, and tried to keep her lips taut, but they twitched slightly uncontrollably. The tears welling up in her eyes shimmered under the light, like two pools of water about to overflow.
Rune walked over with a cold look on his face.
The girl in the lead naturally noticed "Raven," and she deliberately spoke in a sweet, cloying voice, "Oh, isn't this the little girl who said she was going to perform eating chalk? Oh dear, I forgot my chalk today. Shall we go to the classroom and feed it to you?"