RAZIEL EREBUS (I)

Slowly, Stare opened his eyes and discovered himself lying in an unfamiliar room, accompanied by a slight, nagging headache. Using his fingers to gently massage his forehead, he attempted to piece together the events leading up to his blackout, instantly recalling his altercation with Raziel.

A memory that instantly intensified the headache he had been experiencing, prompting him to reflexively clench his fists in irritation.

"That bastard," Stare muttered angrily, but then he sighed suddenly as he released his fists and resumed massaging his forehead.

'This cursed headache, how did it even come about?'

'Hold on…'

Stare abruptly halted his forehead massage, slowly running his hands over his nose, then using his tongue to brush against his teeth.

As he pondered, he realized he didn't feel the pain and injuries from the fight either. In fact, where was he?

Swiftly sitting upright on the bed and leaning against the wall behind him, he scanned his surroundings for clues but was stunned to see a woman casually sitting on a chair hovering just a few inches away from his bed, holding a plate of food and gazing back at him.

"Oh! You're finally awake," the lady said casually, as her hovering chair moved closer to Stare's bed, causing him to shift uncomfortably to the other end.

He intended to ask her who she was immediately, but held back for the moment and instead carefully studied her appearance.

She was a blonde who appeared to be in her mid-twenties, culturally well endowed, wearing a white coat with a 'medic' tag and the name 'Anissa' on it.

Was he in the Academy's Medic Facility?

Stare pondered, but he found the answer to his question in the lady's next words.

"You know, I never expected to have any patient students this early on."

""Makes me curious about you, Stahr... did I get that right?"

"It's S-t-a-r-e," Stare corrected, but he still kept his distance, unsure of the lady's intentions.

"Ah, I apologize for that, Stahr. Back to the matter of my burning curiosity, why don't we have a little chat…"

"I'm curious about what runs through that brain of yours. I mean, getting into a fight with that guy on just the first day, and what's better is that you even managed to bruise him," Annisa asked, pushing her chair closer to Stare despite his attempts to keep his distance.

However, Stare was too engrossed in his thoughts to notice. It turned out he was right after all; with all these exaggerated reactions, even coming from an academic staff, Y-204 must have managed to land himself into some sort of powerful family in this cycle. That would probably explain some odd things, like his already seasoned abilities and fighting skills.

His accuracy however didn't make Stare feel any better.

There was now a high probability that Raziel hailed from a powerhouse family. Judging by the reactions people had given, especially after his fight with Raziel, it was likely one of the Powerhouse families—one where he could be considered an elite.

All of this just made his already challenging plan seem almost impossible, especially after his fallout with Raziel on their first meeting. He hadn't even had the opportunity to discuss the Oracle situation with him or confirm if he had unsealed his memories.

All this thinking instantly brought back his headache, prompting his hand to resume the forehead massage.

"You know, I made some more inquiries and only ended up becoming even more curious," Anissa continued, seemingly unfazed by Stare's troubled expression.

"...I found out your father, Richard Johnson, is just an Efficiency Expert with nothing particularly exceptional in his field of work, and your mother, Jessy Johnson, is simply a baker. It makes me wonder even more what might have motivated you to do what you did, with no solid background or support whatsoever."

Stare's expression instantly turned hostile upon hearing those words.

"How did you get that information?" he asked, his fists clenched, ready to launch at the lady at any moment.

However, Anissa immediately raised her hands to show she meant no harm.

"My apologies," she blurted out hastily.

"...I hadn't meant anything hostile; I was simply curious. Besides, the Academy keeps records of all its students' backgrounds, and this information is accessible to staff, so it wasn't anything secretive," Anissa added. She also opened a holographic picture from her watch, displaying not only Stare's background details but also those of some other students.

Noticing that Stare had relaxed a bit as his fists slowly unclenched, she offered the plate of food to him.

"You know, you should relax a bit... If I truly intended to harm you, I think the four hours you were unconscious would have been enough time for that," Anissa remarked.

Stare seemed hesitant at first, but eventually accepted the food from her hand.

In the end, she was probably right; it was highly unlikely that the lady had any ill intentions, and he was quite hungry himself.

As he took the plate of food from her hand, both he and Anissa's attention were drawn to the door suddenly opening, with Bobby and Joel rushing in.

Anissa simply flashed a small smile at the two before turning back to Stare.

"Looks like you have friends after all... that was quite unexpected."

"All the same, no matter how daring or entertaining your thoughts may seem to you, try to avoid at least dying or sustaining severe concussions. It's preferable getting the gist directly from the perpetrator themselves."

"I have a feeling this won't be the last time I'll be seeing you, Stahr. In fact, I bet it'll be in a few days at most," Anissa added with a joking smile before gliding away in her hovering chair.

"It's Stare," Stare muttered, annoyed, as he stared at Anissa's exiting back for a few seconds before turning his gaze back to his friends, who had gotten a lot closer to the bed he was lying on.