22 Confrontation

Keeping the little black book in a pocket, Aser headed out to the cafeteria for lunch. The last two weeks had been really fun for him. Reading all the different kinds of books from the library, studying with Julia, developing and practicing new skills. Everything made him feel as if he was progressing at a rapid pace.

Looking at his peers bustling around to get their lunch, Aser lined up to buy a ticket as well. Suddenly, a tall stocky boy bumped into him. Steadying himself from the knock, Aser looked at the boy with an expressionless face.

"Why'd ya bump into me punk?", the taller boy with a face akin to a gorilla asked. "Ya know who I am huh?", the gorilla-like boy sneered.

"I didn't bump into you. You're just too large of an animal to see the humans around you." Aser replied calmly with a mischievous smile emerging on his face. He knew that the kid bumped into him purposefully. At first, he was just going to let it be. But once he heard the provocation, an idea struck him, and so Aser retorted aggressively.

Hearing the short black haired boy's reply, everyone around took in a gasp while taking a step back. The gorilla stared at this puny kid who dared to speak back.

"You!!! No one talks back to me like that!" he tried to grab the little boy, but Aser quickly jumped out of the way.

"Come on, what can you do to me, pathetic oaf!" Aser exclaimed while getting into an aggressive posture.

The gorilla like kid charged at him with his fists clenched. Aser just stood there with his eyes closed, seemingly scared out of his wits and didn't move as the fist rocketed towards his face. As soon as the fist was within reach, a bright flash of light blinded everyone. Bewildered, the surrounding children shielded their eyes, while the gorilla like boy couldn't see anything from the flash.

Just when the light disappeared and everyone could open their eyes, they saw the oaf laying down crying with his arm seemingly burnt black. Aser without a scratch on him looked at the boy with a sneer, disdain flashing through his eyes.

"You can't even finish a punch right. Pathetic isn't even enough to describe you", he spat, turning around to get his meal ticket and walking into the cafeteria.

The surrounding students were flabbergasted at the turn of events. The short black-haired boy was obviously a new student, seeing as most of them didn't know him. The large kid was a second year and at the Unknown Level 5 already. Seeing a first year knocking him down, the kid got up and ran out of the cafeteria crying.

"Who is that kid?", this question ran through everyone's mind. There were scuffles in the First Son's Academy, but very rarely. The last scuffle was a few months ago, and so the news of an unknown first year beating Charles Carlton spread throughout the academy within a few hours.

Meanwhile, Julia was seating inside waiting for Aser to come by. These last few weeks had been very enjoyable for her. She was the youngest in her family, and her sister was ten years older than her. Even though she was spoiled to an extent and everyone cared about her, she never had a peer to talk with. Meeting Aser, someone who shared her hobbies and interests, and someone who she could call a friend was magical. Looking over to the entrance, she saw a large crowd and heard a disturbance. Curious what was going on, she moved closes to see that it was actually Aser having an argument with an older kid. She didn't know that Aser could be so aggressive, and was stunned when he won the fight without doing much. She knew the skill he had used, since he used it the other day when burning that stupid book, but seeing it being used so effectively was surprising for her.

Watching him walking towards her, she snapped out of her amazement and moved to get back to her seat.

"Hey", he said while scratching his nose, "You saw that?"

"Yeah, didn't know you knew how to pick a fight" she quipped, for some reason angry that he was fighting.

"Umm, he provoked me first and I wanted to test the Essence Flash out haha."

"Are you hurt?", she asked, looking up at his smiling face. "No, I'm okay. Let me get some food and we can chat." Aser replied, moving away to get his lunch.

Looking at the boy's back, Julia didn't know why it seemed bigger to her. Deciding to not pay anymore attention to it, she got back to her food.

…

Finishing lunch, the duo headed back to the library's study room to chat and relax for a bit. Julia was specially interested in the little black book that Aser had found. Once in the room, Aser showed her the Starlight Screen skill. While observing the skill and the book, Julia actually went quiet for a bit and asked, "Aser, can I tell you something? Its about my system and no one other than my family knows about it."

"Yeah, I'll keep it a secret. What's wrong?"

"When I unlocked Jenna, that's my system's name, she gave me an innate active skill as well. Its called [Cloud], and it allows me to gather clouds around myself. I can also use it to absorb Essence Clouds as well as see them. I can't see the symbols you're talking about in the book, but when you use your skill, all of the Essence in your area seem to be pushed away. You seem invisible if I look at you through my Essence Sense. Your Mind's Eye is likely an upgraded on the regular Essence Sense everyone has. Anyway, this skill, you need to keep it a secret. It can not only shield and protect you from physical attacks, but also mental senses as well!" she finished, a worried look on her face.

"Wow, thanks! If you didn't tell me, I wouldn't have known that. I'll use it when I only need it", he agreed, the last time he used the skill, and even now, he only felt the absence of Essence. Without Julia telling him, he wouldn't have even realized that this could also shield him from mental senses, and perhaps mental attacks as well!

The two continued chatting as dusk set and a new night began. Once again, due to the seriously introverted nature of the duo, they had no idea the storm that was raised cause of the fight in the afternoon.