Provocation

My eyes were completely devoid of life.

"What…" I responded coldly.

No, I can't make any rash decisions.

My eyes returned to normal, but upon setting my eyes on the girl, I saw her shaking.

"Y-you're just trash!" She shouts before going to slap me again, and I receive it without even a peep.

"Sure," I reply before walking away.

The girl was too stunned to speak as I went to get another tray of food.

…

After finishing dinner, I did a quick stretching session as my muscles were pretty sore from earlier today.

"School starts tomorrow…." I muttered before moving on to the next stretch.

I then glanced at my body which was frailer than a piece of glass.

Strangely, I had the urge to work out but didn't have the motivation to finish it.

After a few pushups, I had flashbacks to my previous life where we worked out pretty much every day, and it was so exhausting that I wanted to die… I guess I got my wish, but the gods do know that it is an expression, right?

I ended my pushup session not even a minute in.

So, I lay on my bed and stared up at my phone, which had my schedule completely laid out.

The class sessions weren't as long as I thought since we had only three classes, but instead, that extra time was given for us to use.

I didn't know if it was a test to see which students were motivated and which ones were not, but I knew something was up as it seemed like a complete waste of time from every angle.

tch

I decided to just go to sleep and think about it more in the morning.

…

The morning was rough as everybody stared at me due to my inability to control my anger.

I mean, how childish could I get… I was about to punch her because she knocked over my piece of chocolate cake.

"That thing still looked delicious, though," I muttered as I ate my toast, imagining it as chocolate cake.

"What are you muttering to yourself about?" I suddenly hear somebody from over my shoulder.

It was the girl from yesterday, and somebody who I assumed to be her guard stood next to her, menacingly like a bloodthirsty beast.

Wait, is this bloodlust?

I've never felt it directly targeted at me before, but I could already feel that it was familiar.

Then, maybe I can block it?

I was about to activate the skill but quickly decided to hold back as I didn't want to provoke the guard.

Killing me is probably as easy as killing an ant.

"Yes?" I respond.

"I want to have a talk with you," She says, and with the urge of the guard next to her, she forcefully brought me outside the cafeteria, where we stood in the hallway.

Her eyes continuously glared at me, but I didn't glare back.

"I will give you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," She said, and I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes.

"What is it?"

"Speak with respect!" She shouts.

"Sure,"

I was willing to submit to her for just a bit but not give up my pride.

"*sigh*... I'll pay you tons of money and even give you an adventurer pass if you become my butler. You'll be unable to reject any of my orders, but at least you'll have a better life,"

She talked in an arrogant tone as if I was already going to accept her proposal.

So annoying...

"Just go away," I say, shooing her off.

I've already collected enough information on this city to allow me to survive, but it's just a matter of how I play my cards.

One slip up, and I'll either get imprisoned or killed, and I'm leaning towards the latter.

Well, I did get up bright and early in the morning to research because I expected this to happen… so maybe it wasn't worth it.

"Y-you dare!"

I guess now I just have to provoke them, so they actually make a move.

"Class is about to start. Can I go?"

The girl was fuming in anger, and when I glanced at the guard, I noticed he was staring down at the girl with eyes filled to the brim with annoyance.

It seems the guard himself isn't a noble and is actually down to earth.

I brush her hand off my shoulder before heading to my first class, Magic Theory.

"Wait... Maybe that will work... Actually... Yeah, that's a pretty good idea," I muttered.

…

I was very impressed by the huge learning rooms which were seated like a colosseum.

The class was interesting, and I took quite a liking to it as it was something completely alien to me.

Magic.

Or shall I say mana: a source of energy, not from this world.

We still don't know where it is, but we summon the mana through the system, which is then guided by skills.

The skills allow us to mold mana into forms of attack, defense, or support.

"Now, I will ask a very basic question that you haven't learned about but should be able to figure out with everything that I have just said…." The teacher announced.

Everyone leaned forward in their seats, intent on answering the question.

"What other source apart from humans holds mana inside themselves?"

A few people, including me, shot their hands up.

"Yes… Uhhhhh… Dalor," He calls on a kid in the front row.

"Monsters,"

"Not exactly, and you'll see why later on in the lesson, but… incorrect,"

Next, he glances at me.

"Yes, Orion,"

"Dungeons,"

"Yes, correct! Dungeons hold mana inside them. In fact, we are more similar to dungeons than living monsters. Isn't that pretty crazy?"

The professor was excellent at keeping the class and my attention on him.

He was interesting to listen to and always answered questions, no matter the person's status.

"Okay. Now that we're reaching the end of class, I'll have to finish the lesson and not answer any other questions. If you would like to, you can come to me after class…."

Everybody nodded their heads.

"Good, now, where do you think the system came from?"

The system? Well… obviously from a foreign place, right?

The man glanced at me as if he had read my mind.

He shook his head slightly, signaling that I was incorrect.

You look like a fish…

His eyebrow twitched for a moment, and just to make sure it wasn't a coincidence, I said another unnecessary thing.

Your class sucks ass…

His eyes shifted towards me again before rolling.

You're built like a spicy chicken nugget….

This time, there was no response, so I assumed he disconnected from my mind or something.

"He's powerful," I muttered before feeling a pair of eyes crawl all over my body.

It came from the seat next to me, so all I had to do was just turn my head.

"What? Does he not like you?" The dark elf who sat beside me asks.

He was a bit taller than me and had a long skinny body with dark chocolate-colored skin.

His pupils were a pale gray, similar to the girl who keeps attempting to enslave me for something.

Either to abuse, get tedious work done… or… other pleasures, you could say.

Ick... Disgusting…

Finally, the dark elf's white hair was locked and then pulled back into a ponytail behind his head.

He was the only one in my row as everybody avoided me, probably due to the incident from yesterday.

Why they are avoiding me? I don't know…

"No. He's spying on my thoughts with some type of magic," I responded.

"Oh. I wish I was smart enough to be spied on by the professor," He chuckles to himself, and just as the professor caught us chatting it up, the bell rung, signaling the end of the one-hour period.

"What's your name?" I ask the boy.

"Findir, what about you?"

"Orion, nice to meet you,"

"Nice to meet you too,"

This guy is pretty chill…