As he entered the cafeteria Luke noticed that it was jam-packed with people.
From first years wearing blue uniforms to third years wearing black uniforms.
The tables were all filled to the brim with noisy students.
Clack-!
Ding-!
The sound of clattering silverware was practically melded into the cafeteria.
A rather peaceful atmosphere was present throughout the hall.
However, that would soon be broken.
Unaware of the impending danger, Luke proceeded to wait in line for the menu screen.
Scratching his rather messily combed hair, Luke attempted to smush it down so that it would rest neatly on his head, however it wouldn't budge.
It annoyed his mother to no end every morning.
No matter how many times she wrestled with the comb to get his hair straight, it always won in the end.
After so many attempts she had just given up and Luke left his hair to become messy.
He had just finished his Mana engineering class and was once again left dumbfounded.
Earlier during the PE class, he had finally felt a sense of inspiration.
A sense of guidance.
When he saw the last kids running down the track long after he collapsed.
He couldn't help but feel a rush of energy.
A wave of determination had pumped through his veins.
For once he had felt the need to do something.
To improve.
All his life he had lived ordinarily.
He had a kind and loving family.
Although he didn't have friends, he still had an enjoyable time sleeping through classes.
He didn't mind being a loner.
However, when he saw him running, he had been taken aback.
It was as if lightning struck him, sending a shockwave of energy coursing through his brain.
It had awakened him.
After he had fallen down in the dirt, unable to move a muscle, he had been ridiculed.
When Aaron and his group of friends passed by him they would mock him.
It was something he was used to as it had been like that all his life.
However, for some reason, he felt dejected.
He felt abandoned.
Before he came to the academy, he had felt listless.
He would sleep through classes and go through life without a care.
To pass the time he would often play VR games.
When he had applied for the academy as all students do, he didn't think anything would come of it.
At most he would just get a letter of rejection and would have to find a different high school.
It was something he had contemplated over little as he had breezed through school.
However, unexpectedly he received a letter telling him he was accepted to the academy.
For the first time in his life, he had felt an inexplicable joy.
He had done it.
He had been accepted.
To the greatest academy in the human territory.
He had felt special.
However, when he saw his ranking, he was inwardly disappointed.
His dreams of making it big were shattered.
'Rank 400'.
The lowest rank.
He was hopeless.
Even though he had been accepted to Rosaria academy it was pointless.
He was the worst one there.
Despite the fact that it was an achievement in and of itself to enroll at the academy, he couldn't find it in him to be happy.
After all, who would care about a rank 400?
So he had decided that he would similarly breeze through the academy.
If he graduated, he would still be able to find a decent job somewhere.
Perhaps at a low-ranking guild somewhere.
So with his goal set, he attended the academy.
It was as he thought, the bullying began as soon as everyone found out what rank he was.
However, he was content to simply sleep through the classes and ignore them.
Following that mindset, he had not even bothered trying to push past his limits when they continued running long past when they should have stopped.
And so collapsing in the dirt he did.
As he sat and watched the remaining runners hold on for dear life, there was one person who caught his eye.
A boy with dark brown hair and icy blue eyes.
His sallow and hollowed cheeks stood out as his face seemed lost in thought.
His skinny frame looked malnourished as if he came from a poor background.
And yet, as Luke watched.
He pushed forward.
One by one he began lapping all of the front runners.
Luke watched with awe and wide eyes as someone who should not have even been able to beat Luke slowly but surely passed everyone.
He watched as the boy who looked as if he might collapse at any minute continued running.
Never once did his eyes waver.
With each ragged breath he took, his body shivered.
His legs seemed to be quivering as he continued to run, step after step.
And yet his eyes remained focused, never once thinking of quitting.
And that's when it hit him.
Like being struck by lightning.
As Luke heard the sound of the whistle, only one thought went through his mind.
'What if I could do that?'
For the first time, he felt like trying to succeed.
Instead of just giving up, he felt the need to try.
To attempt to push past his limits.
To prove to everyone that he is worth something.
That he wasn't useless.
After that lesson, he watched Isaac throughout the rest of their lessons.
He attempted to decipher what it was that made him succeed.
However, he was only left feeling lost and disappointed.
Throughout their continuous lessons over the past week, he had observed Isaac.
However, he had only come to a few conclusions.
Isaac was popular.
Isaac was lazy.
Isaac was incapable of doing basic things they had learned in elementary school.
Of course, all of this made him question whether he was the same Isaac he had seen running that day.
However, there was nothing suspicious about him.
If anything he was oddly ordinary.
And so the seeds of determination began to crumble until all that was left was his old listless self.
His resolve it seemed was only momentary.
After all, he had lived a relatively sheltered life so how could he find the resolve to improve.
Although he had been bullied it still wasn't enough.
He could only sigh in frustration as he was once again lacking in passion to do anything and slept through classes.
'Jeez, how long is this taking?' he inwardly complained as he moved forward in the line.
After sleeping through Mana Engineering he was quite hungry.
Finally making it to the menu he selected one of the basic meal sets.
Staring at the gruel on his tray, he couldn't help but slightly regret his decision.
It was like a gray blob of mashed potatoes.
Supposedly it contained high nutritional value and had most of the necessary vitamins.
However just looking at it, he could help but wonder if it really mattered.
He would probably vomit it all up anyway.
It even smelled terrible.
-KLANG!
Suddenly a lunch try was slammed down on the counter, drawing him out of his thoughts.
Looking up he saw an old lunch lady glaring at him.
Sighing, he left the long line and proceeded to make his way through the tables.
Everywhere he looked was full.
Weaving through the tables, he finally saw a table clear out.
It appeared they had finished eating and were getting up.
Making his way toward the table he was so focused on making sure he got to the table before someone else that he didn't notice someone walking toward him.
To be precise it was a brown-haired boy with icy blue eyes who was heading his way.
Luke also didn't notice that when Isaac was almost standing next to him, he had his foot slightly outstretched behind him.
However, suddenly Isaac tripped.
His hollow face, usually devoid of expression, was surprised, to say the least.
His eyes were slightly wide as he attempted to brace for impact before hitting the ground.
-Thud!
Hitting the ground face first, Isaac lay sprawled on the ground.
A slight groan came out of him, as he slowly began to get up.
It seemed almost nobody had noticed as the cafeteria was still as noisy as it was before.
However, Luke who saw Isaac fall couldn't help but ask.
"Are you okay?" he said in a confused tone.
How could Isaac have fallen?
It's not like the floor was slippery.
Isaac looked up at Luke and nodded wordlessly.
A small trail of red began running down his lips from his nostril.
"You're bleeding," Luke said, pointing at his nose.
Isaac put a hand to his nose and wiped the blood away.
"I'm fine," he said, getting up and brushing himself off.
"Are you sure, you don't look okay…" said Luke.
"Mind your own business, I said I'm fine," Isaac said, before casting a look in a certain direction.
"Okay," said Luke, slightly annoyed.
Looking around once more, Isaac left the cafeteria.
Huffing in annoyance, Luke shook off his anger.
'I was just trying to help.' he inwardly cursed at Isaac.
Turning around to head to the open table, he froze in his tracks.
A new group of students was now sitting at the table, happily eating their food.
'Goddammit!'
Luke's anger towards Isaac resurfaced as he was once again tableless.
*DEAL WITH IT*
I know I said only 4-5 Chappies a week but I couldn't help it these comments and views give me dopamine I think I'm addicted. anyways no chappy tmrw since even I'm not addicted and stupid enough to do that so see u guys on Sunday! as always, Hugz <3