Damion stopped before a building and looked up. It had a sign that read, Advanced Exosuit Prototyping, and he recognized the class straight away.
This class was one that he intended to attend at one point in time, but he had neglected it because of the teacher.
The teacher was the only one among all other teachers who looked down on him, and showed visible disgust towards his existence.
Damion felt really bad about that then, but now, he hardly cared about what anyone thought about him. It seemed like the System coming into his life had transformed his mindset.
Damion walked through the door, and in that instant, he was met with the sight of a rowdy class without a teacher. A sea of eyes landed on him in the next second, and at once, they turned derisive, with students sneering and laughing at him.
Damion disregarded the students entirely, his gaze sweeping through the room with indifference as he searched for an empty seat.
Soon he found one, and he unhesitatingly headed for it. However, before he could even walk a few steps, a loud voice boomed through the building, and a bulky student blocked his way.
"What are you doing here?" the student asked boldly.
Without raising his head up to see who it was, Damion replied, "What other students are doing here, you f**king idiot!"
Then without waiting for a response either, he walked round the person and continued on his way to his seat nonchalantly.
A momentary silence hung in the air, then an arm rested on Damion's shoulder and pulled lightly, expecting Damion's body to be jerked back, but Damion barely budged.
"You fool, you have only worsened your punishment!" The student growled.
Damion, in spite of the taunt, continued walking forward, forcing the arm to let go of him.
His senses warned him of danger right after, and his leg coiled, ready to lash out and tackle the student looming behind him. But as soon as he moved though, a loud crashing noise echoed in the class, and Damion hurriedly spun around, just to see a small figure standing behind him, replacing the large student standing there just now.
The figure was of a girl, and she had an Exoskeleton covering her outstretched right arm.
Damion followed the arm's direction, and he found the same student, who was harassing him not quite long ago, struggling to pull himself out of a hole in the wall.
Damion's eyes darted back and forth between the student in the wall and the girl's arm. He found it hard to believe that she had just launched someone possibly three times her weight, all the way to the other side of the class with a single punch.
"Bozo!" The girl hissed, turning on her heel and walking away.
Damion watched her return to her seat, his eyes lingering on her Exoskeleton arm. He couldn't help but admire its strength.
Damion raised his head and resumed his walk to his seat too, not minding the short scene that just occurred. He was considering owning an Exoskeleton Armor of his own after witnessing what just happened.
He looked at the number of credits he had, and a smile painted his face.
Damion had enough to make something, and if he added the Green Rose Poison Heart Core to it, he would surely get good equipment.
Damion looked up, a smile on his face, but that smile soon froze when he saw someone standing before him.
'When did she get here?' Damion asked, surprised.
"I'm Lyra, nice to meet you," the girl said with a soft smile.
She pulled a seat close by, her actions smooth and flawless, and sat beside Damion without permission.
"You new here?" She asked.
Damion snapped out of his shock and nodded his head subtly. He was finding it hard to believe that someone from this class actively talked to him without being disrespectful… or maybe he was speaking too soon.
Damion paused, then looked at Lyra. "What do you want?" he asked unceremoniously.
Lyra shot him a shocked stare hearing his tone, but her smile came back almost immediately and she replied. "Can't I make friends with you?"
"Why me? You should know who I am." Damion responded.
Lyra chuckled at that, looking back at the bulky student getting healed by the medics.
"Well, I'll be blunt. I heard you awakened your Ability, and I'm just curious how that happened and why it happened now of all times."
"I'm a skilled fighter, but my fort is still research. I want to know a lot of things, but I don't have a high enough position to get certain information, so I lay my hands on those I can get."
Damion stared at Lyra weirdly, and a thought came to his mind, 'She's crazy.'
Silence ensued between the two for the next few minutes, and Damion noticed something… no one was staring at him disrespectfully for some reason.
He looked at Lyra's side profile, but he couldn't recognize her face. 'Maybe she's influential in this class.' Damion concluded.
The silence between them lasted for a very long time, until Lyra suddenly stood up, pushed her chair back to its original position, and began to walk away.
Damion unintentionally watched her backside sway as she left, her blonde hair almost covering it.
Her Hazel eyes matched well with her hair, and the tight bodysuit she wore only made her look more attractive.
Damion shifted his eyes from her body to the table before him, and to his shock, there was a paper lying there, some words scribbled on it.
He picked it up without caution and read its contents.
'Meet me on the rooftop after the class.'
"How does she keep doing this? What is her Ability?" Damion fired two questions at no one.
"First she appeared and punched that student without me noticing her presence. Second she appears before me without me knowing again, and now this note," Damion sighed.
"The only way to find out is to meet her, probably. I can complete the last quest from there and head back."
Damion relaxed his mind and sat back in his chair. He watched the students regain their courage and throw furtive glances from time to time, and as usual, he ignored them.
An hour later, the teacher walked in, and Damion's expression darkened.