Can’t I have one peaceful day? Evan thought. He had just been trying to find a place to eat his lunch, and he ended up watching this drama unfold and getting dragged into it. He studied the glaring girl in front of him. Her name tag read Konoe Reika, which meant she was likely Hiroto’s sister. They certainly resembled each other. Aside from their matching hair color, they shared the same rounded eyes and nose. Yet with her fierce expression, Reika seemed far more intimidating than her brother, who stood meekly with his gaze fixed on the ground.
"I was trying to find a place to eat," Evan said.
Reika's gaze flicked down to his name tag and scoffed. "I know who you are."
"I didn’t realize I was that popular."
"More than you think. It’s nice to meet you, I suppose. Konoe Reika." She said it without offering a handshake.
"Evan Whitfield."
"Evan, I suggest you watch what you do here," Reika said. "Don’t stick your nose into things you shouldn’t. You wouldn’t want to get into trouble."
She walked past him, followed by two other girls who snickered among themselves. One of them deliberately bumped her shoulder against Evan's, nearly knocking the tray from his hands.
Evan tightened his grip on the tray, partly to keep his food from spilling and partly to resist the urge to flip them off. He drew a slow breath and let it out, repeating a calming mantra in his head before looking back at Hiroto, who was still standing there like a pathetic, sodden cat.
Should he just walk away? It wasn't as though Evan was unfamiliar with bullying. He'd dealt with it back in his old world too, and he'd simply endured it. Apparently, even a fancy school like this couldn't escape the same old crap.
Evan was still weighing his options when a voice cut in.
"Sorry about that."
"Why are you apologizing? You’re not the one being an ass," Evan said.
"She’s my sister," Hiroto replied.
That just made things more complicated. Whatever was going on between them, Evan knew nothing about it. Maybe Reika’s warning was worth taking seriously. Getting involved in their family drama could land him in trouble.
While Evan was still lost in thought, Hiroto turned and walked away. Watching his retreating back, Evan could almost hear some sad OST playing in the background.
"Hey!" Evan called out.
Hiroto stiffened. "…Yes?"
"Here." Evan tossed him his pocket tissues. Hiroto barely caught them, fumbling with the packet before finally getting a grip on it. "You look soaked. Dry yourself off with those."
Hiroto stared down at the tissues.
Geez, it’s just pocket tissues. Do you really have to look like that? Evan thought, taken aback by the wide-eyed, touched expression on Hiroto’s face.
"T-thank you," Hiroto said, clutching the pocket tissues close instead of opening them and using them.
Seeing him head back toward the classroom building, Evan asked, "Hey, aren’t you going to the cafeteria first? Or do you bring food from home?"
"Ah… no, I live in the Student Residence," Hiroto said. "As for the cafeteria… I can’t go there."
Oh right. His sister had told him never to show his face around her.
Evan and Hiroto stood there in awkward silence as Evan tried to figure out what to do. He couldn't exactly hear that and then just walk away, could he? Maybe it was because he'd grown used to Reid constantly making sure he ate, but seeing someone skip lunch just because they were being bullied just felt wrong.
Letting out a loud sigh, Evan approached Hiroto, who took a step back. Unbothered, Evan shoved his tray into Hiroto’s hands and said, "Here, take mine. You can eat it. Hope you aren’t allergic to anything in there." Then, not wanting the awkward conversation to go on any longer, Evan turned around and headed back to the cafeteria to get another serving for himself.
***
Aside from the incident outside the cafeteria, Evan's first day of school hadn't gone too badly. The morning had been spent in ordinary academic classes, while the afternoon was reserved for Awakener courses. Since he was still new to using mana, Evan had enrolled in Mana Control. Stepping into the training room, Evan paused for a moment. The students weren't all his age. A boy who seemed no older than fifteen chatted with an older girl who could have been nineteen, while several others appeared to be around his own age. Unlike the academy's academic classes, Awakener courses weren't tied to a single grade. As long as students met the prerequisites, they could enroll regardless of when they had awakened. As his gaze swept across the room, it landed on a familiar face: Hiroto.
For a brief moment, Evan wondered if Hiroto had somehow followed him after their encounter earlier. He dismissed the absurd thought. Hiroto had enrolled in this class long before Evan ever set foot in the academy. Evan took one of the empty spots, ignoring the curious glances Hiroto kept sneaking in his direction.
At the front of the room stood a woman with dark, wavy hair tied into a low ponytail that kept it neatly away from her face. She had warm brown skin and sharp, observant eyes. Her academy instructor's uniform consisted of a tailored charcoal coat trimmed with silver, a high-collared blouse, and fitted trousers.
"Alright, class. Welcome back. And welcome to our new student. Evan Whitfield, right?" the teacher said. "My name is Ananya Mehra. You may address me as Instructor Mehra. Last class, I assigned you all homework, so let's see how you've been progressing."
Evan watched as the other students pulled out slim matte-black wristbands no wider than two fingers. A narrow crystal strip ran along each band. After fastening them around their wrists, they began jogging laps around the room one by one.
Seeing his confusion, Mehra beckoned him over. "I'm testing them on maintaining a steady mana flow while moving," she explained. "As for you, our transfer student, we'll have to start from the beginning. Hopefully you'll catch up fast. We'll start with sensing mana within your body and basic circulation."
"So I just... stand here and do it?" Evan asked, glancing at the students wearing the wristbands. "I don't need one?"
"No need. The wristbands mainly let the students monitor their own performance. As for me..." she tapped the corner of her eye. "I've got excellent eyesight." She raised her voice. "Mr. Volkov! You're not even trying to maintain your flow. Don't think I can't see it just because I'm helping the new student!"
The boy nearly tripped before quickly recovering. "Sorry, ma'am!"
Mehra looked at Evan again. "So, no need to worry. Unless you'd like me to start even earlier and explain what mana is?"
Evan shook his head. He already knew the basics. Mana theory had been covered years ago in school alongside the history of the Tower and Awakeners.
"Good. Then close your eyes and try to sense the mana within your body."
Evan obeyed. Frankly, he didn't quite understand the point of the exercise. Ever since Awakening, he had always been aware of the mana within him. It rested inside his chest like a small sphere of light, pulsing with every heartbeat.
"Hm?" Mehra murmured. "Looks like you've already found it. Now let's try basic circulation. Draw a small amount from your core. Let it flow into your shoulders, then divide it between both arms."
Following her instructions, Evan drew a tiny thread of mana from his core. It traveled through his shoulders before branching into both arms and reaching his fingertips.
"Good. Now continue. Let it flow down through your torso, into your legs, then bring it back to your chest."
Evan did as instructed.
"Complete one full circuit."
He guided the mana through the rest of his body before returning it to the core in his chest. With each slow breath, the circuit became smoother. In... and out. In... and out.
"You can open your eyes now."
Evan blinked them open to find Mehra staring at him. "...Did I do something wrong?"
"Wrong? Absolutely not!" she exclaimed. "You did so well that I was honestly shocked. That was one of the cleanest circulation exercises I've ever seen. Your control was excellent, and there wasn't the slightest hint of leakage. How did you learn that? Did your brother teach you?"
He shook his head.
"No? That was your first time?"
He nodded. "Is it supposed to be difficult?"
Mehra pointed toward one of the students still running laps. "Mr. Volkov over there took an entire week just to sense his core. By the end of the third week, he could barely complete a proper circuit. That's perfectly normal progress. Even after that, it usually takes Awakeners months, sometimes years, before they can complete a full circuit without leaking mana."
"Uh... maybe it's because I don't have much mana?" Evan scratched the back of his head.
"It's not that simple. The amount you have has nothing to do with it." Mehra waved a dismissive hand. "Some students have enough to flood a room, yet they waste half of it through sloppy control. Others have barely any and still toss it around as if it's free."
She turned back to Evan, her eyes bright. "You, however, have remarkable control. I've spent years teaching this subject, and I can tell when someone's gifted. Mr. Whitfield, you're a little genius."
"Really?" Embarrassed by the praise, Evan glanced down at his feet.
"Chin up." Mehra patted him on the shoulder. "The people at the top love judging everyone by rank, but the world isn't nearly that simple. You have a natural talent for mana control. Be proud of it. Seeing how quickly you've grasped the fundamentals, I'd say we can skip ahead and see how you handle the current lesson."
For the first time in his life, Evan somehow became a teacher's star pupil. The original Evan had always earned excellent grades, but that was simply something he was expected to maintain. He had never taken any real pride in it. This, however, was different. Mehra was praising him for something he genuinely excelled at.
He had little trouble maintaining a steady flow of mana while jogging around the room, keeping pace with the rest of the class. Though the constant praise from Mehra was a little embarrassing, the lesson made him understand how he had managed to cast so many spells while fighting Isaac. His mana pool might have been pathetically small, even by F-rank standards, but his efficiency in using it could almost be called S-rank.
At least he had one thing going for him. A sense of accomplishment lingered in Evan’s chest even after class ended, following him out of the training room. That feeling lasted all of ten seconds.
Footsteps echoed behind him. Evan glanced over his shoulder and found three teenagers following him: two boys and a girl, with Andrei Volkov at the front.
"Is there something you need?" he asked.
"You. F-rank. We know who you are," Andrei sneered.
"Seems like everyone does these days."
"A trash nobody who got transferred here after the semester had already started," the girl said. Her name tag read Emma Powell.
"Don’t think you’re hot stuff just because you got accepted," the second boy, Yoon Ji-ho, added.
Why did people keep bothering him when he was just minding his own business? Was it because Evan was a transmigrator, or was his curse somehow attracting trouble?
"I assure you, I'm not," Evan said. "Now, if you'll excuse me."
He tried to walk past them, but Andrei shoved him back.
"Listen here, F-rank. You should know your place," Andrei said, stepping until his face was inches from Evan's. "Nobody wanted you here. You only got into this place because of connections. But guess what? Plenty of people here have connections. What separates the wheat from the chaff is our ranks. Just because Mehra praised you doesn't make you better than us."
"I think you three are the ones who believe that," Evan replied.
"You bas—!"
Before Andrei could finish, Evan's two fingers shot straight into his nostrils.
"Uagh!" Andrei stumbled backward, clutching his bleeding nose.
Evan flicked his fingers in disgust, trying to shake off the snot clinging to them. "Please stop wasting my time with this useless posturing."
"Someone needs to teach you a lesson!" Emma shouted, raising her fist.
Before she could swing, Evan pulled out his phone and replayed the recording he had taken of their threats.
"I wonder what the teachers will think if I share this recording," Evan said.
The three bullies' expressions twisted.
Ji-ho took a step forward.
"Oh, and don't bother trying to break my phone," Evan continued. "Everything's backed up to the cloud. You can beat me up if you want, but that'll only draw more attention to me. I'm sure you know my brother is an A-rank Healer."
He gave them a small shrug. "He'll have me patched up in no time, and he's pretty protective. Do you really want an angry A-rank Healer holding a grudge against you? Who knows? Maybe one day you'll need his help, and he'll remember today. Or maybe you'd like to test those 'connections' you were so quick to look down on?"
The three glared at him with clenched fists, but none of them dared take another step. It seemed they weren't completely brainless after all.
"You'll pay for this!" the trio shouted before retreating.
Evan scoffed and slipped his phone back into his pocket. Glancing toward a nearby corner, he said, "You can come out now."
Silence lingered for a moment before someone stepped into view. It was Hiroto.
"Did you enjoy the show?" Evan asked.
Hiroto flinched as though he'd been struck. "N-no, it's not like that!"
Crossing his arms, Evan waited for Hiroto to continue.
"I was just worried," Hiroto said. "We... people like us... we shouldn't stand out like that..."
"People like us?" Evan frowned. "What are you talking about?"
Hiroto lifted his head, meeting Evan's gaze. "We're the same, aren't we? We're both F-ranks."