The residual warmth of the ceremony had not yet completely dissipated when the noon bell rang leisurely across the academy.
The flow of people began moving toward the cafeteria.
The crowd inside the report hall gradually thinned out.
Noah walked outward along with the crowd.
The chill from the cognitive upheaval just now had not yet fully faded.
“Noah.”
A gentle voice came from beside him.
Rover had already stood up, her white uniform jacket casually draped over her arm.
Her golden eyes looked toward him as she extended an invitation in a calm tone: “It’s your first time having lunch at the academy.
Would you like to go together?
Besides the academy cafeteria, I know there’s a nearby restaurant with quite good flavor.”
Her invitation was as natural as that of any friendly classmate.
Noah knew that there might be probing hidden behind it, or it might simply be out of concern between classmates.
But whichever it was, he had no reason to refuse.
“Sure.”
Noah raised as natural a smile as possible.
“I happen to be hungry too.”
The two walked out of the report hall together with the flow of people.
At midday, the sky poured down just the right amount of warm light, making the white walls of the academy buildings glow faintly.
They walked slowly along the tree-lined path.
Around them were students walking in groups of two or three.
Laughter, discussion, and the sound of footsteps wove together into the unique vitality of campus life.
“Were you really okay back in the report hall just now?”
Rover suddenly spoke, her voice very soft.
Noah’s heart jumped, but his face remained expressionless.
“It was just a bit stuffy.
I’m much better now.
Maybe… I’m still a little unaccustomed to the new environment.”
The reason was flimsy, but it was better than silence.
Rover nodded and did not press further.
Instead, she pointed toward a glass building ahead that had quite an artistic design.
“That’s the restaurant over there.
The window seats on the second floor have a view of the central courtyard.”
The restaurant was bustling with voices, yet everything was orderly.
The two took their trays and ordered at the window.
Rover’s choice was very balanced.
One grilled fish with seasonal vegetables, one bowl of seaweed egg drop soup, and a small portion of rice.
Noah ordered the fried pork cutlet set meal.
“You have a good appetite.”
Rover glanced at his tray, a faint smile in her eyes.
“After sitting for so long, I used up a lot of energy.
I need to replenish.”
Noah half-jokingly replied as he followed her toward a booth by the window on the second floor.
After sitting down, Rover draped her jacket over the back of the chair.
Her wrist movements when picking up the chopsticks were smooth and natural.
She looked exactly the same as any ordinary student eating a meal.
It was impossible to tell that just yesterday she had still been the leader of a massive organization.
She picked up a piece of vegetables with her chopsticks but had not yet put it into her mouth when she suddenly seemed to remember something.
She looked at Noah and asked, “What did you think of the new student representative’s speech this morning?”
Her tone was very calm, as if she were casually bringing up a classroom discussion.
Noah’s action of picking up the fried pork cutlet paused for a moment.
“Kuchiba Chisa?
Mm… very sincere.
I could feel her gratitude toward Startorch Academy… and toward this Academy Metropolis.”
“Yes.”
Rover took small sips of her soup.
“As a Resonator, being able to study and live freely in an environment like this is something Resonators in many places wouldn’t even dare to imagine.”
Her tone was calm, but Noah could hear a trace of complex meaning in it.
“Doesn’t the Black Shores… also accept many Resonators?”
He probed carefully.
“The nature is different.”
Rover set down her soup bowl and looked out the window at the students laughing and walking through the courtyard.
“The Black Shores is a scientific research organization, a fortress of civilization, a war machine.”
“And here…”
She paused, then gave her assessment.
“It’s more like a utopia.
At least on the surface.”
Noah chewed on the deeper meaning behind Rover’s words and did not reply.
Lunch ended in a relatively relaxed atmosphere.
Rover’s eating posture was elegant and unhurried.
The topics occasionally touched on course arrangements, the reputation of the professors in the Department of Exostrider Engineering, and a few of the academy’s scenic spots.
She truly seemed to be only fulfilling the duty of a classmate introducing the environment to the newly arrived research assistant.
But Noah could feel that those golden eyes occasionally landed on him with a subtle scrutiny that was not easily detected.
She was observing him.
Observing whether he had truly recovered from that abnormality in the report hall, observing his state while handling everyday conversation.
Noah perked up, suppressed all the churning thoughts in his heart, and tried his best to play the role of a young man who was full of curiosity about academy life, occasionally spaced out, but overall normal.
The afternoon class was held in a large classroom on the third floor of the teaching building.
The course name was Introduction to Void Matter Magnetic Storm Theory Basics, a compulsory general education course open to all students. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
When Noah and Rover entered the classroom, the tiered lecture hall that could seat over a hundred people was already more than half full.
They sat down in a position toward the middle-front.
The one responsible for lecturing was a white-haired old professor with a loud voice and clear handwriting on the blackboard.
He began from the basic definition of Resonance phenomena, extended to the fluctuation model of Void Matter Magnetic Storm force fields, and then discussed how Lahai-Roi’s special geological structure produced coupling effects with the magnetic storm force fields.
The course content was explained in a simple yet profound manner.
Even someone like Noah, who had been force-fed basic theory by the system, could keep up with the train of thought.
He even discovered that certain views of the professor subtly complemented the knowledge the system had instilled in him.
Rover listened very attentively, occasionally recording something on her personal portable terminal.
Her side profile looked calm and serious under the soft lighting of the classroom.
She occasionally furrowed her brows slightly in thought, and occasionally nodded as if she had gained some insight.
For a few moments, Noah almost forgot that she was Rover.
She looked just like an ordinary student who had truly come to seek knowledge, immersed in the ocean of learning.
As the class reached the latter half, the professor began explaining the existing periodic prediction models for Void Matter Magnetic Storms.
However, Noah’s thoughts involuntarily drifted elsewhere.
Twenty years ago.
If right now was twenty years ago, then would these cutting-edge theories the professor was speaking about have already been falsified or surpassed twenty years later?
The future events he knew the Sonoro Sphere in Honami City, Chisa’s fall, and even the upheavals that would sweep across various nations and regions of Solaris much later.
At this moment, they were all still shadows that had not yet occurred.
And right now he was sitting here, listening to the most basic course about one of this world’s Waveworn Phenomena.
A sense of absurdity and stagnation surged like a tide.
“…Therefore, the Third Category Periodic Resonance Model has a significant advantage in predicting short-term magnetic storm activity patterns, but long-term trends still need to be combined with records from the Deep Space Survey Platform, as well as real-time monitoring data from the Research Institute…”
The old professor’s voice echoed in his ears, yet Noah felt as though that voice was separated by a layer of frosted glass.
He did not know how much time had passed when he suddenly felt someone gently nudge his arm.
He came back to his senses and found Rover looking at him with a questioning expression in her eyes.
On the podium, the professor had already finished the content of this class and was now assigning post-class reading materials.
The surrounding students began packing up their belongings.
Rustling sounds arose.
“You spaced out.”
Rover said softly.
Her tone revealed no particular emotion.
“Sorry.”
Noah rubbed the space between his eyebrows.
“Some knowledge and concepts… still need to be digested.”
This was not entirely a lie.
Rover quietly looked at him for two seconds and did not press further.
She simply stood up and said, “Let’s go.”
…
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