Ms. Turner [1]

"Please explain what happened today..."

The woman wasn't happy. In fact, she was incredibly unhappy. Pissed off even. Angry as fuck, one could even say.

"Okay... Want to come in and sit down? I'll make some tea..."

I felt like I was making a pretty big mistake to invite the furious woman into my home, but I couldn't help myself. Firstly, it wasn't polite not to invite her in. Secondly, I wasn't one to say no to having a gorgeous lady keep me company.

With a sigh, she resigned herself and accepted my proposal, "Fine... I'll have some."

Accompanying each other into my humble abode, I quickly put away the plate that I had been eating on and started the kettle. "Did you really eat here instead of the cafeteria? You know that this academy carries the highest level of food preparation in the world right?"

Ms. Turner couldn't quite get her head around the fact that I chose not to eat at one of the best facilities in the world. It didn't feel right to burden her with my secrets, thus I made the choice to bring out my hidden technique once more; I lied.

"I am too busy training. I don't want to waste any time while I'm at the academy, we only get one chance after all."

Trying my very best to keep a serious face, I met her eyes head-on, not budging for a second as I placed one of the cups of tea I made in front of her. Somehow, it appeared to work as her stiff face softened a bit and her eyes changed from anger to that carrying, what I assumed to be, pity.

"I understand."

She stood up and started to walk away as she spoke, "But you are not allowed to skip class anymore. Don't get me wrong, I do understand the choice you made today but I promise you that attending classes will be worth your time. See you tomorrow, Mr. Jackson."

And just like that, she was gone.

'What just happened...?'

****

[Jessica Turner's Pov]

Leaning back into my comfy armchair at my spacious apartment, I couldn't help but think back at what had happened during this first day of the semester as I was scratching Mr. Fluffy on the underside of his chin.

At first, I had been so incredibly angry at the fact that one of the elite students of the academy would dare to carry such an aloof and idiotic way of acting, on the first day even. My perception of James had been the lowest it could have been when he somehow just escaped from the classroom.

Though it had to be said that it was impressive for someone that young to carry the ability to teleport, it made me furious that he just ditched class like that. The more I thought about it, the more I was certain that he had to be the hidden heir of one of the hidden families; How could he otherwise be so adept with his Manual that he learned to bend space and time?

Making up my mind, I decided that I would put him in his place before he would act out even more. So I went to his apartment to 'talk' to him. When he opened the door, I could see the same fake nervousness that he had in class. It made me even angrier thinking about the fact that he was playing with me.

However, as he talked about how he had spent his day, his face changed. No longer was it a fake face full of deceit, it was a face of resolution. He was now a young man with a clear goal in mind, a goal that he wouldn't let anyone oppose.

It was obvious that he truly came from a hidden family and from the limited knowledge I had about them, I couldn't help but pity the kid. A lot of the hidden families used inhuman practices to make sure their heirs were as strong as possible, something that a lot of the time ended in their doom.

'I can't imagine what he went through to throw his academic life away just to have an excuse to keep to himself and train...'

Unfathomable, it was just incomprehensible that he made the choice to throw away all chances at making friends just to make himself look like a fool so he could focus on his training in solitude.

'I have to help him... I can't let him go through these three years without making some kind of emotional connection...'

With my hand still stroking Mr. Fluff, I let my head fall backward, just staring into the ceiling as I resolved myself to not let that pitiful kid waste his youth.

****

[Sophie's Pov]

"Hey, Sophie..."

"Yea?"

"Are you sure we shouldn't have tried to invite James? I mean, he must also have liked to make some more friends here, right?"

I, Arthur, Anna, and the princess herself were currently eating dinner in the cafeteria, enjoying an incredible assortment of different meats and potatoes. After we had shown each other a tiny bit of our abilities, which was pretty much every skill that we currently had, Sarah started to talk to us, proposing to eat together to strengthen our bonds.

What she didn't know was that Arthur was also part of our clique, which at first made her a bit uncomfortable. He was a commoner, after all. Though it didn't take long for her to ease up after getting exposed to the joy that is the hero.

"Who is James?" The princess asked with a curious expression, most likely interested in what other common friend we could have already made this early into the semester.

Arthur jumped to the gun, excited to talk about one of his idols, "Oh! He is a really cool guy! Although he spends most of his time training, he is incredibly wise and polite!"

'Is that really the same James that I know...?'

Not wanting to destroy the image of James that Arthur had, I kept mum about the dark secrets he carried, "He is just another friend. James is also in the B-class like Arthur but, as Arthur said, he spends most of his time alone."

'Because he is pathetic!'

Sarah's eyes lit up a bit, getting even more intrigued about this wise and passionate man who spent all his time trying to grow stronger, "Is that so? Then I guess he will soon become part of the A-class, I assume? It would be nice to see this young man someday, he seems like a delight."

It was hard to know if she really was a teenager or if she was just an old woman in disguise. Her way of speaking was so incredibly stale that it made me uncomfortable and therefore I decided to try my best to change it, "Sarah, no need to talk like that with us. As you said before, in the academy we are all the same right? No need to speak like you are surrounded by stuck-up nobles."

She flinched a bit at my words, almost as if she instantly realized her mistake, "Oh, sorry. I am just not used to... You know..." Feeling my brows rising, I didn't understand what she was saying, "Used to what?"

Her face turned down towards the table as she explained herself, "I'm not used to being around what I would call friends..." As we let a couple of seconds of silence wash over the table, my thoughts quickly made a pretty accurate assumption, 'I guess we are all misfits here, after all...'

My beloved quickly went into action, trying to cheer the pouting girl up, "Don't worry, Sarah! We are all friends here, right? Let's try to just have fun and grow as much as possible during our years here!"

Seeing my darling act so friendly towards the beautiful princess made my heart clench in envy, and I couldn't help but glare at Sarah to wordlessly tell her that, 'He is mine, you got it?!' Noticing the look I gave her, she replied with an almost invisible nod that showed me that she understood.

Continuing our delicious meal, we spent our time talking about what we expected from the academy, what we wanted to do and what classes we were planning on taking. All in all, it was a great time.

'I wonder what that stupid hermit is doing?'

****

[James's Pov]

I had done all I could before the semester started for real. I had already figured out, with the help of the glorious internet, what would happen during our first day. That was actually one of the main reasons why I had decided to ditch class even before my accidental social suicide.

There wasn't a single thing that I could show my classmates right now, except for the little 'teleportation' trick. Hopefully, it had planted the idea that I was just a weakling who was able to teleport, at most useful as a porter.

Having now spent four days training hard, I was kind of excited to look at my status once more.

"Status"

===Status===

Name: James Jackson

Rank: E

Strength: F+

Agility: E

Stamina: E-

Intelligence: E+

Mana Capacity: D

--> Main Manual:

[Trickster - Ungraded] - Minor Understanding

An ungraded manual for those who don't want to be understood. A trickster is only a trickster until people understand your tricks.

-Core Skill: [Double Trouble]

-1st skill: [Swap]

--> Side Manual:

[Empty]

==========

I had already managed to break through another minor rank, most likely thanks to the fact that I was doing double the training simultaneously. My strength had also increased a minor step, going from F to F+, while my Mana Capacity had gone from D- to D.

I wasn't sure exactly how good my progress had been, I was confident that it was an impressive feat for a freshman to already reach the middle of E-rank. I also had a feeling that my understanding of my Manual was about to progress as well, going from Minor Understanding to a Medium Understanding which would let me unlock another skill.

'I just have to keep on going!'