18 Fated

The next few of days went by as Aser busied himself with finishing the trials. His understanding of the First Son's Academy had also improved due to his observations. Other than studying, his favorite part of the day was getting lunch in the cafeteria.

He had discovered a few unusual quirks among his peers. He noticed that some of the boys would always try to approach the girls with flattery at first, but any disagreements would result in them challenging the girls. Yet, the girls would happily accept the challenges and return after some time looking triumphant. This had happened more than a few times over the last few days.

He had also discovered that most of the larger groups of students were also made out of girls. At the beginning, he was confused as to why it would be as such considering the name of the Academy, but later found out it was due to the three largest student unions being led by girls.

He had also been observing the auburn haired girl who was essentially his closest friend at the academy even though they had only had a single conversation. She would sit at the same table everyday, and every time she would have a slice of bread with some mixed fruit juice while reading a book. Sneaking glances at her whenever he could, he saw that she would read completely divergent topics everyday. One day, she would be holding a book on the geography of a certain island, and the next day she would bring with her a research paper written on Essence Particles. Another quirky observation he had made was that she wouldn't just read, but would also jot down a few notes on a separate notepad after she finished a few pages.

At the moment, Aser was sitting across from the auburn haired girl while eating a bowl of broccoli soup with chicken tenders. He saw that the book she brought today was on a topic he was familiar with. It was named "Disposition of Essence Particulates on Constant Velocity", and this topic had been the same as Book 12 of the Essence Cultivation series that Ashes had compiled for him. He remembered that it was truly difficult for him a few weeks ago to wrap his head around the concept, and noticed the slight hints of perplexity on the young girl's face.

"I had a rough time figuring out the concept of Disposition on Essence as well," Aser said, deciding to help her if he could, "The main reason I was confused was I couldn't understand how Essence would always be moving even though it seemed to stay still when I cultivated. Actually, after thinking about it, I realized that the main reason they seemed static was actually do to our actions of cultivation. It's like, when we don't cultivate, the Essence flows around us, but when we start cultivation, we become a giant vacuum that holds the nearby Essence in place!"

Suddenly, the girl lifted her head and looked at Aser with a sparkling gaze, as if what he had said just now was equal to an epiphany gained from a wise sage. Seeing her look at him so respectfully, Aser scratched his head while his face grew hot.

"Umm, I'm sure you would have figured it out soon as well…"

"What about cultivation during movement? As far I know, there are also forms of cultivation that can be done during movement, such as Tai Jia cultivation.", the girl suddenly spat out a blurb of words. Listening to her excited voice and the interesting question, Aser started talking with her about his understanding.

An unknown amount of time passed by for the both of them. The food had already turned cold on their plates, and the surroundings had a lot less people shuffling around. The both of them didn't seem to notice any of it, as if they were in their own small bubbles, separated from the mundane due to their fervent discussion. After a while, the both of them suddenly became quiet and started giggling.

"Wow, I didn't know objects in constant velocity would be able to affect particle density even! Haaaah, it's how they say, always better to discuss with a peer than to read on your own." the girl said after a while.

"Yup, definitely!", Aser nodded while leaning back into his seat. "Oh! I'm sorry about my introduction from a few days ago. My name is Aser Scholt." he added, a hint of awkwardness and fear flitting through his gaze. Ever since he saw the notice, Aser had been very hesitant in introducing himself to others. He didn't want to feel as if he was an animal in a zoo.

"Umm, I'm Julia. Julia Hawke from the Hawke family in Eastern Shelfield. I realized it was the famous Aser Scholt when you stopped your introduction the other day haha.", Julia replied. "But, are you not from Shelfield Coast City Aser? I don't remember any families going by the last name Scholt?"

Hearing her question, he lowered his head with a hint of melancholy and sadness. "I'm not from any family. I was raised in an orphanage since I was young." he replied, seemingly upset at his situation.

"Oh!" feeling slightly awkward, she added, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

"No, it's fine. I'm glad you asked, at least now we won't have to feel awkward about it anymore.", Aser said, snapping out of his memories. Even though it had only been a few days, he had already started missing the orphanage and Sister Tully, but he needed to grow up.

Looking around the cafeteria and noticing it's absence of other people, the duo realized that it was getting late. Getting up from their seats almost simultaneously, they headed to clean up their portions, a silent atmosphere enveloping their surroundings. Grabbing their few belongings, they headed out of the cafeteria. Standing by the entrance for a minute in an awkward silence, Aser turned to her and said, "I should get going. It was nice talking with you. Same time, same place tomorrow?"

Julia nodded her head a bit shyly while mumbling out a barely audible "Okay". Sensing it was time to part, the duo headed towards their destinations. After a few steps though, both of them stopped and realized….they were both going to the library. Sharing a slight glance, Aser couldn't help but start laughing, triggering quiet giggles from the girl beside him.

Letting go of the awkward atmosphere, they both started chatting while jaunting towards the library. The duo painted a picture of serene youthfulness, the autumn sunset harmonizing with the music of the breeze, creating a melody of a fated meeting.