He tries to ignore the gossiping passengers, but as soon as he turns his face forward, it's like flipping a switch, everyone starts whispering about him again. They look so amused, desperately trying to stifle their giggles.
It's still just whispering, but to Atniel, it sounds like a full-on roast session happening behind him. It's so annoying that he starts whining in a restrained voice, grumbling like an old man babysitting a pack of hyperactive toddlers at home.
As a former holy knight who dedicated his life to worshipping God, he can't stand the injustice Irvine faced this morning. But these girls are treating it like a comedy show. No longer able to endure it anymore, he gets up and shouts at them loudly while spitting out some saliva out of his mouth cavity.
"Be quieeeet!!!" His voice booms, shaking the bus windows like a bad karaoke night. "Do you have any idea what this kid has gone through?!!"
His outburst makes the driver slam on the brakes. Everyone is stunned, except for the old bus driver, who looks like he's seen an outdated porn movie.
"Hey, Kid! What was that? Have you gone nuts?!"
Atniel turns back to the driver, guilt written all over his face as if he just realized he forgot to feed the cat. He has a reason to be mad, but right now, he feels like he's just tripped on a banana peel in front of a crowd.
As he slowly turns back to the other passengers, he finds them staring at him like he's just grown a second head.
"Elea! Did you notice that just now?"
"There's no doubt about it! It came from that kid!"
"But he's just a Seed E recruit, right?"
Only now does Atniel remember that he's in someone else's body. That's right! Irvine is a Seed E recruit, a group known for their, shall we say, unique talents for being useless at Ezlenmir Academy. He shouldn't be scaring people with his intimidating image while using the face of someone who's basically the poster child for underwhelming.
"Uh, please! Just forget it! Why don't we all stay quiet and pretend this never happened? And please never talk about anything, even just whispering, shall we?"
And those girls? They're actually Irvine's seniors. One of them, a girl with pointed ears, stands up, looking like she just stepped out of a fashion magazine with her fierce yellow eyes.
"Stay quiet you said? You got a problem with me chatting with my friends?"
She has a firm face, with her light red hair tied to the back, and her gaze alone giving so much sense of dominance. Looking hot with dense athletic boobs in C-cup sport bra, her smooth four-pack abs and shredded arms are clearly seen due to her sports bra only covered by a not fully-zipped battle vest.
With just military shorts covering her bottom, her thighs look like they could crush coconuts. She's Elea Adlen from the mountain elf tribe, looking sexy and seductive, but honestly, Atniel is more concerned about how much he despises that kind of appearance.
Atniel also notices the girl's legs are covered in thick white fur, like she's trying to win a "Best Dressed" award for a yeti convention.
"So, a descendant of Princess Louisia, huh?" He flashes a silly smile before casually walking away.
On the other hand, the elf girl already looks so pissed off. "Hey, you punk! How dare you show your back while I'm talking to you?!"
"Elea! Stop it! Don't start a scene here!"
"Shut up! This guy needs a lesson in manners!"
Atniel stops and looks back only to show his silly face. "A girl in minimalist clothing talks about manners? That's rich!"
However, he knows he's still the newbie in a movie set. Not wanting to escalate things further, he shakes his head and decides to make a graceful exit.
This only makes Elea angrier, and she starts gritting her teeth like she's trying to chew through steel. She brings her palm closer to her mouth and starts muttering something in a foreign language.
"Nueyr, Ceva Jegambuqam! Zafikag recijis jejuasamlal, ci asar alaqag xamf recamf lelzaqa!"
Atniel recognizes the language and glances back, only to see Elea sporting a grin that could only be described as "I'm about to cause chaos." Her right hand is glowing with mana, making her face a bit brighter due to the dim light.
The air around her is shimmering because of heat. A spark appears in front of her palm, and before anyone can blink, a tiny flame forms and grows into a fireball faster than Atniel can say "Uh-oh."
"Emberflare Aetherstorm!"
The bus fills with the terrified faces of Ezlenmir Academy students, all too aware of the disaster that's about to unfold. Fireball at that size is not just for party trick. It's for a full-blown disaster for sure.
"Someone! Please stop her!"
Atniel knows he has to act fast. He clenches his right fist, summoning a bit of divine energy, hoping it'll be enough to save the day.
Fortunately, a girl with all-white hair and eyebrows grabs Elea's wrist. In an instant, that wrist is wrapped in thin ice, which spreads and solidifies, and also extinguishing Elea's fireball in seconds.
"Aezel! How dare you interrupt me?" Elea hisses, looking like she just had her favorite dessert taken away.
"We only need one more mission to graduate from the academy, and I don't want you to ruin everything over this trivial matter!" the white-haired girl named Aezel reprimands.
"Tch!" Elea clenches her fist, crushing the ice by tightening her fist.
She shoots a glare at Atniel, who's ignorantly showing his back. Unlike Elea, Aezel eyes Atniel with suspicion, noticing the raw energy in his right hand. Talk about a plot twist, it's not every day a Seed E student has that much raw energy.
Atniel finally gets off the bus, mumbling to himself in an uninterested tone. Unfortunately, there's no other bus to take him back to Blemlisk Hill after that last one.
"Maaan! I should have stayed quiet and let that moving metal box take me back to this boy's dormitory."
And so, he decides to continue his journey on foot, still whining about everything that hasn't gone according to plan.
"I never thought being a normal human would be this tiresome. Walking for an hour already feels so heavy for me."
"It hasn't been a day, and I've already missed my wings so much."