Stare quickly resumed his walk toward his dorm, but was startled when he heard someone panting and running behind him. Pausing and turning around, he saw the lean, pale kid who had been bullied by the group, panting heavily as he struggled to convey something amidst his shortness of breath.
After about a minute of recuperating, the kid finally managed to speak freely.
"You're also searching for the dorm building, right? I'm doing the same, so how about we both go together?"
Stare could instantly tell the kid was probably still scared of the group coming back for him or maybe even another group of bullies.
"He had probably run into these sort of people most of his life," Stare muttered pitifully inwardly.
Still looking at the kid who seemed very eager to get his response, Stare slightly nodded his head in a casual manner, prompting the kid to immediately move very close to Stare.
The two started walking toward their dorm's direction, and it had been quite quiet so far. However, Stare could tell the kid probably had something to say, as he would repeatedly open his mouth as though about to speak, only to close it after a few seconds.
This continued for a while before the kid finally spoke up.
"Earlier today... weren't you scared? Scared of what they might have done to you?"
Stare didn't immediately respond and appeared to ponder for a while. He sensed that the kid needed some advice, and although he wasn't actually afraid of the bullies, he was well acquainted with factor fear.
"Everyone experiences fear; it's a fundamental aspect of cognition. It serves as a reminder of your humanity, of your boundaries."
"...However, you should also view it as a prompt to challenge those boundaries, limitations that shouldn't hinder your progress."
The kid seemed to contemplate Stare's words for a moment, as the pace at which he walked with Stare slowed down a lot. After a while, he added more pace to his movements to catch up to Stare once more.
His expression appeared more relaxed, and he now wore a small smile on his face.
"I'm Bobby, by the way," he said the moment he caught up to Stare.
"Stare Johnson," Stare replied as they continued walking.
Bobby had become much chattier, bombarding Stare with numerous questions ranging from what his media player was, how he got it, to who his favorite Prime, Hero, or Heroine was.
Stare struggled to come up with answers to most of his questions, especially since many of them revolved around Primes, Heroes, Heroines, and the Hero Academy.
Finally reaching the dorm building, Stare hoped to be free from the barrage of questions. However, for some reason, Bobby still kept following him.
The dorm building, where their rooms were located, was divided into about three floors, each containing a vast expanse of dorm rooms.
Stare's room was on the second floor, yet for some reason, Bobby continued to follow him even up to the second floor.
Stare simply assumed it was probably just a coincidence and thought he would probably lose the kid once he reached his own dorm door. However, Bobby kept following him past several dorm doors, only stopping at the same door where Stare had stopped too.
His expression immediately turned perplexed as he turned to ask why this was, but the kid had already beaten him to the question.
"How come we ended up at the same dorm door... could it be?"
His expression also appeared perplexed as he spoke.
Stare wasn't able to come up with an answer either, but he could only think of one reasonable explanation for them ending up at the same dorm.
What were the chances he randomly ran into his dorm mate?
A thought instantly crossed Stare's mind.
'Could it be that he was destined to play a major role in the Oracle's Path?'
Glancing at Bobby again, Stare found this idea quite unlikely. However, wasn't that what the Oracle excelled at—making seemingly improbable events eventually happen?
Contemplating the Oracle's capabilities once more, particularly now in the Academy, Stare felt a chill run down his spine.
'He really needed to be cautious with everyone, lest he end up being played by the Oracle all the while'
'Fuck.' Stare cursed inwardly.
In the end there wasn't much he could really do in cases like this as he wasn't still sure on how to fully avoid them aside being extra careful.
Stare simply nodded slightly, eliciting a strange expression and smile from Bobby.
"Who would have thought we'd end up being dorm-mates, Stare?"
Approaching the door, they encountered some sort of scanner on the door's lock, which instantly scanned both their watches. After a small beep, the door unlocked and automatically opened.
Entering the room, both Stare and Bobby were surprised to find someone else already inside.
At first, he seemed preoccupied with setting up holographic character decorations in the room, not noticing them.
After finishing, he nodded slightly and turned around, only to find Stare and Bobby standing at the door, observing him.
For a few seconds, silence filled the room, perhaps as they sized each other up, especially Bobby and the new kid.
Stare, however, simply took note of the kid's features: caramel skin, orange short dreadlocks, and deep blue eyes.
His main focus was on the dorm's appearance.
The room was considerably spacious, about five times larger than Stare's own. Its plain-colored walls were adorned with smart lighting, which Stare suspected contributed to the warm atmosphere upon entering.
There was a substantial wardrobe, large floating beds, and a door likely leading to the bathroom.
Overall, the dorm exuded comfort, a stark contrast to the previous academies Stare had attended in previous cycles, something Stare was happy about.
"Uhm, I guess you guys would be my dorm mates... cool. I'm Joel Gallagher from the Western Region," the kid introduced, breaking the odd silence that had been lingering in the room.
"I'm Stare Johnson."
"Bobby."
Both Bobby and Stare responded almost simultaneously.
"Cool, you guys fans of Stormbringer?" Joel asked, pointing towards his holographic decorations. It depicted a masked person in a costume with a hovering board and a guitar.
Stare wasn't familiar with the figure, so he simply shook his head, while Bobby muttered some incomprehensible words, seemingly more occupied with checking out the dorm room and had, in fact, already chosen a bed.
Stare simply walked toward the last bed on the left.
"So, Stormbringer, is that your reason for coming to the academy?" Bobby finally responded after settling comfortably on his spot in the room.
"You could say that, in a way," Joel replied with a reminiscing smile. "My reason for being here might seem extraneous to most."
"It's actually a funny reason. I figured I wouldn't have to pay the excessive credits for VIP spots at Storm's concerts as a Prime and Hero. Plus, I didn't have much going on in my life at that moment too."
Stare instantly noticed a familiarity between Joel and Doush; they both seemed to have an affinity for doing surprisingly unconventional things.
"The two would probably relate a lot," Stare made a mental note.
A small frown briefly appeared on Bobby's face upon hearing this, but his expression soon turned plain once more.
"So, what fief did both of you awaken then?" Bobby asked again.
Joel casually responded with "skin hardening," and then Stare, who wasn't aware of the term at first, also replied with "teleportation."
Bobby seemed to ponder their responses for a while before nodding to himself in silence.
This instantly prompted a strange feeling in Stare.
It almost felt like the kid was gathering information about them while not revealing anything about himself, something Stare wasn't entirely comfortable with.
"How about you? What fief did you awaken?" Joel asked, as if echoing Stare's thoughts.
"Oh..." Bobby stuttered for a moment.
"Uhmm... mine is among the less well-known fiefs, so you might not really understand how it works," he replied simply. Although both Joel and Stare weren't entirely satisfied with this response, neither of them felt inclined to push the matter any further.
Afterward, the room became much livelier as they engaged in sharing stories of their lives outside the academy. Well, it was Joel who did most of the storytelling, while Stare and Bobby listened quietly.
Joel seemed to have many intriguing stories that went on for a while until they were interrupted by a monotone voice resounding through the entire room.
[Curfew in 5 Seconds]
The digital clock in the room displayed 21:00, flashing repeatedly in red.
Promptly following, the room's lights dimmed slightly.
This signaled their cue to rest for the day, so they all settled into their beds, snuggling comfortably as they prepared to call it a night.
"Wow... time really flies," Joel remarked casually, accompanied by a yawn.
"Who knows what events await us tomorrow."
Stare, whose eyes seemed focused on the room's ceiling as if lost in deep thoughts, couldn't help but entertain the same idea.
After all, there's a very big chance he'll meet Y-204 tomorrow during the Academy's first class. Plus, there's the huge possibility of the Oracle sabotaging his plans."
"Yeah, who knows what events await us tomorrow," Stare replied in an almost inaudible tone before tightly shutting his eyes.