Stare immediately heard the loud synchronized exhales from both Bobby and Joel, who had been sitting nearby. It was evident they had been holding their breath since Raziel's appearance and had only released it after he left. Stare considered calling them out for being right after Raziel's indifference but was cut off by Professor Khan's sudden appearance.
The middle-aged professor, dressed in his usual white lab coat, walked into the classroom and asked Stare to move to the front row, as expected. It seemed almost everyone in the class had grown used to this special treatment, including Ava, who no longer paid any attention to him.
He had suspected she was losing interest in him when she remained unbothered despite Raziel's entrance not too long ago but he had not expected it to be this bad, that she didn't even throw her usual tantrums or even look to his side, despite both of them sitting side by side.
Stare was mostly happy about this development but then a small part of his ego felt pricked, thinking about the fact that he had been replaced as a subject of interest in less than three days, even though the interest wasn't of a good reason, and that small part of him was what was curious on what could have piqued Ava's interest so quickly.
Although People with similar character as hers had the tendency to quickly lose interest it wasn't usually this quick and it wasn't in cases were they haven't achieved their desired results.
Shaking his head in an attempt to clear it from those thoughts, Stare immediately stopped stealing glances at Ava.
He had a whole lot of more important things to think about rather than trivial matters like this.
He still had to think of how he'd go about the fief training he planned to begin today, after all in the end he had close to null knowledge on the ability and the Oracle had a habit of making the abilities he gained and processes to hone them mostly different for each cycle he lived through and to make matters even more complicated, this was also the first he got an ability that wasn't elemental or related to a form of energy making it even harder to rely on his past experiences and knowledge
While Stare remained lost in his thoughts, Professor Kali interrupted him, extending his usual invitation to chat over coffee whenever it was convenient.
After receiving a slight nod and smile from Stare, Professor Khan proceeded with his lectures in his usual dull manner, no longer bothering Stare.
The three hour long lectures had eventually come to an end and just like last time, the students with the status of Main Hero were allowed to leave first immediately after Khan's exit and then those with the Supporting Hero Status followed after.
Joel had left with other students of same status as him, leaving Stare with Bobby who both made their way to the fief awakening class alongside the other students with similar Status as them immediately after the students with the Main Hero Status had left the class.
Just like yesterday, their teacher Emma was already in the class and had her signature cheerful smile on her face, immediately greeting the students the moment they walked into the class.
This seemed to lighten the dampened mood of most students which had most likely been caused by the taunts they had mostly received from students with the Main Hero Status and Elites.
They mostly returned her greetings with a small smile but the moment she planned to begin the lectures the atmosphere in the classroom changed as everyone took up a serious expression, all focused on the lectures she was about to begin.
This was most likely because of the looming threats posed by the Elites and generally students with the Main Hero Status.
Most who hadn't already become lackeys to them, saw this as their only way of gaining a method of at least defending against some of the taunts that was bound to be thrown to them, especially with their sudden activeness.
The Hero Theoretical Knowledge course wasn't designed to provide combat expertise, and even their combat class instructor, Lagertha, had refrained from delivering a formal lecture. She had essentially left them to their own devices, merely offering guidance and tips to a select few who had caught her attention during weapon training.
With these limitations, their primary means of defense remained their fiefs and the class dedicated to teaching them how to utilize these abilities. Most Elites had already mastered their fiefs, while students with Main Hero Status claimed to be on the brink of activating theirs. However, for them, the uncertainty loomed over whether their fiefs still existed, given how inert they had remained after their initial awakening and the consumption of Algos.
Sadly, Emma didn't touch on anything relating to fiefs and was still as focused on survival tips, emergency procedures and other things related to both these subjects.
This development immediately disheartened the majority of students, evident in their dismayed expressions. In their eyes, the longer their fief training was delayed, the less prepared they would be to defend themselves against students with Main Hero Status. This raised questions about whether they could truly be considered aspiring heroes if they couldn't even use or activate their fiefs.
Grumblings and complaints filled the classroom as the three-hour class came to an end. Disappointment and fear were the prevailing emotions. Stare himself had hoped to gain some valuable insights for his planned personal training but that ended up to be impossible.
After the class, the students were required to rush to their next class, which was the Combat Class.
Much like the previous day, the Main Status students were already in the hall, vigorously attacking dummies with an array of weapons. However, what they hadn't anticipated was Lagertha's presence. She stood there with her emotionless expression, her crimson eyes scanning the students.
The newcomers wasted no time, rushing to retrieve their weapons and immediately engaging the dummies. Stare, on the other hand, hesitated as he entered the hall. Lagertha's intense gaze had fixed on him, akin to a bird of prey eyeing its quarry. This sent a shiver down his spine, particularly when he recalled her indifference to his condition the previous day.
Unable to make a reasonable move under her scrutiny, Stare resolved to ignore it. He pushed forward toward a wall lined with various weapons, maintaining a stoic expression.
As he stared at the assortment of weapons on the wall, an important factor he had somehow overlooked quickly came to mind.
He had not yet selected his special weapon like the rest as the situation at which his last two combat classes ended didn't give him much opportunity for such a choice.
His fingers brushed past each weapon indecisively as he seemed to contemplate which of them to pick.
In actuality, to Stare it didn't matter what weapon he picked as he already had a vast knowledge on almost every known weapon from the numerous lives and cycles he has led.
After a moment of contemplation, a smug grin spread across Stare's face as a memory surfaced.
He turned his gaze back in the direction where he had noticed Raziel the previous day. The white-haired boy was still there, fully engrossed in slashing his daggers at the dummies.
Stare's smug smile widened as he swiftly selected a pair of daggers and approached an unused dummy. He tightly gripped the daggers and casually began making simple stabs at the dummy. It was a noticeable departure from the serious and intense approach of his fellow students.
This was all part of Stare's plan. While most students sought Lagertha's attention, he deliberately aimed for the opposite. He had no desire for the demoness's scrutiny, no matter the reason.
Lagertha did seem to notice his lackluster performance, and her gaze on him grew colder. However, beyond that, she didn't react further and eventually shifted her attention to other students in the hall.
The three-hour class concluded without any intense disruptions or disturbances, in contrast to the previous two classes. Stare had kept to himself, paying no attention to anyone, including Raziel, Bobby, and Joel. He wasn't too much of a fool to try anything, especially with how the demoness teacher's eyes barely left his body, besides it wasn't like he could do much with his current meager strength.