Picking Fight

"Everyone, now that we've spent some time with each other, shouldn't we officially introduce ourselves?"

The guy who spoke was Hugh Jass.

-"Eh? Introductions? It's already been five days. Is there any need to do that now?"

Someone from the back voiced their opinion.

Actually, everyone was thinking the same thing.

It's been five days since the Academy started, and during this time we have only engaged in light physical training and basic general knowledge classes.

Groups have already begun to form and there is no need for introductions at this point

Yet, Hugh shook his head. "I know it's not our first day, but we've all been busy settling in. Now that we're all feeling more comfortable, I think it's a good time for us to get to know each other better. So let's take some time to introduce ourselves and get to know each other a bit more."

Actually, what he said was not wrong.

Our main classes will begin starting today, so it's appropriate to consider today as our official first day.

And from the looks of it, it seems that I wasn't the only one who thought that.

"Sure, let's do that!" the one who said that was Nero Dekrauf, the supposed protagonist. He practically jumped from his seat with an excited look on his face.

Sigh… To get excited over introductions… He really is a weird protagonist.

"Okay, I'm glad everyone is on board. So I'll go first!" Hugh said with a sincere smile on his face.

"So my name is Hugh Jass-"

Before Hugh could even get past his name, a couple of giggles broke out in the classroom.

"Haha, I know it's a funny name. Anyway, I'm 18 years old and I like to play video games. I am a sniper, and my preferred weapon is a handgun. I would like to get along with everyone. Thank you."

After concluding his introduction with a short, respectful bow, Hugh sat back in his seat.

"Okay, I will go next!" following him, Nero stood on his spot. From the looks of it, he was very eager to start his introduction.

"I'm Nero Dekrauf. I'm 18 years old and I like to…"

I kept listening to his introduction since he was the protagonist of the story(I believe he is though not sure yet).

After Nero, one by one, the rest of the cadets stood up and introduced themselves.

I made a mental note of what every potential main cast spoke in their introductions.

The more I know about them, the better it will be for me. Even if it's a minute detail, I can't let anything escape. After all, the story revolves around them.

Just like that, a few minutes passed and almost everyone was done introducing themselves.

The ones left were only Quinn and me.

When everyone turned their gaze to Quinn, he declined to participate in this little class event.

"Fuck off!" he said.

With that, everyone turned their gaze to me.

"Lucas Morningstar." I just said my name and continued to sit in silence after that.

It was better for me to not say anything unnecessary since someone might pick a fight with me.

The atmosphere in the class turned awkward after Quinn's refusal and my short introduction.

"Is that all? Don't you have any hobbies you want to mention?" Hugh Jass asked me, perhaps trying to lighten the mood.

-"Why even ask? His hobbies must be to make unwanted sexual advances toward girls!"

Before I could answer, someone replied to him.

I had a feeling this would happen. I looked at the young man who interrupted me.

Judging by his gleaming golden hair and costly accouterments adorning his well-nourished form, it was clear that he hailed from a life of opulence and luxury.

So he was a rich kid.

After noticing Lucas staring at him, the boy flinched at his indifferent face and shot a scowl.

-"Wh-What? Why are you looking at me?"

"You have a problem with me?"

"I-I… It's not just me. Everyone has a problem with you–"

This time, before he could finish, I cut him off. "If you do, then it would be better to leave the academy since that problem is not going away."

-"...Huh?"

Of course, he was confused by my reaction. "I mean, it's obvious that all you can do is talk and don't have any real abilities. So I suggest you leave the academy since the problem is not something you can handle."

-"..."

I think it took him a minute to process what I said. And as expected, when it hit him, the boy got up from his seat.

His face was red with rage and nerves were twitching on his forehead.

-"You! What did you say to me?! Do you know who I am?! I am Chris Wright! The youngest son of the prestigious Wright family! How dare a nobody like you talk back to me like that?!"

He was a rich kid after all.

Like the Morningstar family that controls the western continent by serving under the Central Government as a 'ruling family,' the Wright family controls the northern continent.

The Wright family is also a military family, similar to the Morningstars. The heads of their family have often held high-ranking positions in the United Military.

They are known as 'The Lions of the North' for their role in the border wars against the vampires for all these years.

But that was all there was to it. 

I don't give a fuck whether his family are Lions or Tigers. In my eyes, they are all the same, mere pussy cats. They can target me all they want for all I care. But they will have to prepare themselves to face a Calamity in case they do.

"So?" Lucas just shrugged at Chris and looked at him.

Seeing Lucas's nonchalant attitude angered Chris to no end. Just as he was about to say something he turned and stood there like a statue.

All the anger and rage he felt was gone and it was now replaced with fear. Currently, Lucas was looking at him without even releasing any killing intent but that was enough to make him stop talking.

Lucas's eyes looked lifeless and dead as he looked at Chris. It's as if he wasn't looking at Chris as a person but instead, as a bug that can be crushed at any time.

Chris felt like an eternity had passed while looking at his eyes but in reality, only 2 seconds had passed. He was sweating buckets from his forehead and his entire back was drenched with sweat.

The entire was concentrated on two of them but no one could discern what was happening. In their eyes, it looked like Lucas's stare had silenced Chris but nobody knew the truth of the matter.

By now, the atmosphere in the class turned even more awkward as they didn't know what was wrong with Chris.

Lucas ignored Chris after that and looked forward without any change in his expression. Only then did Chris was able to break free from his reverie.

A few of his friends were perplexed at Chris's sudden silence but before they could ask him, the door to the classroom opened.

Looking over, it was their head instructor, Liz, who had entered the classroom.

But most of them were still looking at Lucas and Chris. No one knew why Chris turned silent since they never paid attention to Lucas's eyes and not a single person ever thought that Lucas might have been behind this.

"Get a grip. You are an adult, and these are kids." I told myself.

******

(Anastasia's PoV)

I was looking at two of my classmates in front seats, Lucas and Chris. Not just me but the entire class was paying attention to the two of them.

Although nothing serious has happened yet, they were clearly arguing with each other. The one to start the fight was Chris who taunted Lucas. Clearly, he was in the wrong but no one seemed inclined to stop them.

The reason was obvious. Even if the one at fault was Chris, Lucas was much worse than him.

He is a bona fide criminal who once tried to assault a girl and escaped punishment due to his family's influence.

No one has good feelings for him and some even hated him. Since I was a teenage girl myself, I can't help but develop a dislike towards him. After knowing that my best friend Amelia was the victim, those feelings only intensified.

Currently, the entire was in silence after Chris stopped speaking for some reason. Seeing his face drenched with sweat, it looked like he was afraid of something.

Perhaps most people didn't notice it, but I could clearly tell that he was afraid of something. But I couldn't sense any killing intent or spells that might have caused this.

I tried to look more clearly with my eyes.

But just as I tried to check if anything was wrong, pain started to afflict my eyes. A burning sensation spread throughout my eyes and I hastily covered them with my hand to alleviate the pain.

"Urgh..." 

A small groan escaped from my lips as the pain slowly started to decrease.

"Amelia! W-What happened?! Why are you covering your face like that?!"

Amelia, who was sitting beside noticed my condition and started to panic.

"N-Nothing happened. Calm down"

"How can I calm down? Let's go to the infirmary right now."

Before Amelia tried to get up from her seat I stopped her and removed my hands from my face. 

"Don't worry. Something just fell in my eyes, that's all."

"Are you sure? Your eyes are looking red."

"Yeah, no need to worry. They will return to normal after some time."

"Is that so? I am relieved then."

My friend finally relaxed after realizing that it wasn't anything serious. I couldn't help but smile while looking at my friend.

But what was that? I never felt anything like that in my entire life even when my eyes had awakened.

Amidst my confusion, I looked towards the boy who argued with Chris.

Did he do something?

That thought lasted one second before I dismissed it. There is no way he was behind this. After all, nobody should have known about it.