Playing Along

A few days have passed since the incident in the cafeteria.

Although the current situation wasn't as serious as it was in the cafeteria, the situation around both classes started to get rougher by the day.

Even the students who didn't have anything to do with the argument Nero had were starting to get involved.

And Lucas was able to determine the cause for this.

It was due to the influence of Kai Wiseman.

Ever since the incident with Alberto, Lucas was suspicious that someone was intentionally trying to create conflict between the two classes.

Although Alberto denied it, Lucas was able to see in his eyes that he was lying. The usage of the word 'whoreson' was clearly intentional. Coupled with the fact that Alberto worked under Kai Wiseman, it was easy for Lucas to predict who the mastermind was.

Honestly, Lucas was quite impressed with Kai's way of pulling strings from the background instead of showing himself. He not only successfully instigated a significant discord between classes 1-A-1 and 1-C-8, but he did that without revealing himself.

The only thing he didn't understand was Kai's intentions for doing so.

But there was another change in Lucas's class. One that Lucas didn't like one bit.

The entire class was now aware of Lucas's strength.

Although no one knew his full strength, everyone present at the cafeteria knew that Lucas was much stronger than they initially thought.

Just the fact that he was able to move freely under Nero's pressure while others struggled was a testament to his strength.

This came as a surprise to a lot of people as everyone had thought that Lucas was weak. 

And right now wherever he went, people would always look at him and gossip among themselves. As a result, numerous rumors had spread throughout the Academy about Lucas, portraying him as a dark horse.

Even when he sat in his usual seat, his classmates would occasionally glance at him, which only served to annoy him further. But now the situation was a lot milder than before since a few days had passed since the incident and the rumors started to die down.

The only saving grace for Lucas in the past few days was that no one tried to approach him except for Kent. This was mainly due to Lucas's past actions.

Although Lucas was much stronger than he appeared, his hidden strength only reinforced the negative perception people had of him. Once scorned by others in the past, he now commands a sense of apprehension, as fear has supplanted the once-prevailing disdain in their eyes.

In their eyes, Lucas gaining strength is no different than a strong evil person. Many held fear that Lucas might bear a grudge against them as they had looked down on him in the past.

On the other hand, some were feeling quite conflicted about Lucas's newfound strength. Especially Amelia. 

Lucas, however, completely ignored the looks he was being subjected to and continued to spend his time as usual.

Lucas is currently spending his time practicing in a personal training room.

Instructor Raven had started teaching cadets close combat martial arts. Thus Lucas was given a mid-grade Lvl. 2 combat art that combines physical movement with mana circulation to deliver a powerful punch.

Since Lucas was bored out of his mind and had nothing special to do, he decided to master the art he was given.

After mastering that art, Lucas started to practice the improvised bow-art he had created in Leo-sensei's class. And now, 4 hours have passed since the start of Lucas's training when he finally decided to call it a day.

===

Techniques→

››Weapon Arts:

Thousand Falling Lightning Needle Strike (Lvl. 2) [100%]

››Combat Arts:

Soul Smashing Killer Fist (Lvl. 2) [100%]

››Breathing Technique

Breath Of Vitality

====

When Lucas looked at his status screen to check the progress of his training, he found that the previous Lvl.1 bow technique had been upgraded to Lvl.2 and all of his techniques had a mastery of 100%.

Satisfied with the results shown, Lucas looked at his smart bracelet to check the time and it showed [8:30 PM]. Since he had finished his personal training session, Lucas began to exit the room.

After packing his stuff, taking a cool shower, and changing clothes, Lucas exited the personal training gym.

As soon as Lucas stepped out of the training room, he saw a black-haired girl also coming out from the personal gym next to his.

It was none other than Amelia Black.

As soon as their eyes met, Amelia's eyes began to turn conflicted as she gazed at Lucas.

Is she thinking that I followed her?

Lucas who misunderstood the reason behind Amelia's gaze raised his hands to show that he meant no harm.

"Now before you take any wrong idea, let me tell you, I didn't follow you here," Lucas said in the calmest tone he could muster, taking a few steps back.

Amelia cocked her head in confusion as she took a few moments to process Lucas's words and looked at him with a frown on her face and said:

"Of course, I know that. This is one of five floors in building 5 which features personal gyms for snipers."

"....."

Lucas could only remain silent at her words since he only said that to avoid her conflicted gaze. Deciding that further conversation would be pointless, Lucas shrugged his shoulders and uttered his greetings as walked past her.

"Well, good night then."

"Mhmm."

Amelia nodded her head in reply to his words. 

Her attitude towards me has improved a lot compared to our first meeting.

Lucas thought to himself as he saw the difference in her behavioral pattern. Before, she used to give him only enraged and disgusted looks all the time. But lately, she's been a lot calmer. 

"Oh and, if you love your life, do not be late for tomorrow's Unit Test."

As Lucas walked past her, a cold, threatening voice reached his ears.

Lucas couldn't help but roll his eyes at her words. Just because he had been late to their group meeting didn't mean that he would be late for every event they were going to be taking part in.

"What a coincidence, I just so happen to hate my life."

That was all Lucas said as he left the room.

Honestly, at this point, Lucas was starting to get tired of her constantly changing attitude which always seemed to oscillate between hate and doubt.

But then again, Lucas won't do anything to her since he gets why she hates him so much. After all, what Lucas did to her wasn't an action one could forget easily.

Lucas himself feels greatly disturbed by his actions prior to his awakening and hence what Amelia must be feeling must be much deeper than his own feelings.

All Lucas can do now is stay away from her as far as possible and not involve himself with her too much.

After taking a cab to his apartment complex, Lucas started going over things that he had to do in the future.

For starters, tomorrow is Unit practice.

It was a joint test between classes 1-A-1 and 1-C-8 in which all Units took part.

And depending on the test, Lucas would have to change his plan of action accordingly. Since there is a good chance that there will be another conflict between the two classes.

After all, the first four Units that'll complete the hunt will be claimed as winners. And not only that, this test will affect the merit points they'll revive at the end of the month.

Frankly, Lucas was not worried in the least about this test. He had Amelia, Anastasia, and Nero in his unit and if push comes to shove, he will also take action. Nonetheless, he decided to be cautious since he didn't know what kind of test it would be.

Swkii—!

Just as Lucas was lost in his thoughts, his destination arrived and the cab stopped.

Exiting the flying car, Lucas headed toward his apartment.

"Hmm?"

But just as he was about to enter the apartment complex, Lucas saw something interesting.

At the entrance of the building, a blonde girl was talking to a huge, bulky boy.

It was Grace and she was talking to Alberto.

Lucas's lips turned into a smirk as he looked at the two in front of him. 

It wasn't just Alberto who was your puppet huh?