Dinner Talk

"...and that's how I ended up making my maid pass out! Hahaha!"

"Ha...haha..."

'How did this happen?'

I still had no idea how I had ended up eating dinner with Thomas at the cafeteria.

We had absolutely nothing in common and we had never even talked to each other. So how was it that the large man with a buzzcut could act this naturally toward me?

Also, he was pretty much the opposite of what I had expected. Instead of a man of few words, he was a man of way too many words as he kept on talking without any sort of hesitation.

"So, who do you think is the best?"

Swallowing the piece of chicken that I had in my mouth, I couldn't say that I understood what he was referring to.

"Hmm? The best?"

"You know! The girls! Which of the girls do you like the most?"

'Really? Are we doing this?'

His face told the story of someone who was way too excited for this kind of conversation, as well as a young man who probably didn't have all too much experience in the matter.

Unfortunately for him, I was too old for these kinds of things.

"They are all beautiful, aren't they?"

Strangely enough, Thomas didn't understand that my answer meant that I had no intentions of participating in this kind of conversation as he just kept going.

"They are, aren't they? But I still think Samantha is the best! Not only does she have a very cute face, but those curves! Hahaha!"

'That's the princess you're talking about, you know?'

"Oh! But Eva is also good, in a different way. Even though her chest is a bit... lacking, she almost looks like a porcelain doll. We are truly lucky, aren't we? To have two of the greatest beauties in Estaria in the same class as us! Hahaha!"

"I guess?"

"Yeah. But I heard rumors about Samantha getting married to the crown prince of Garek as a means of strengthening the nations' bonds. So she is probably already out of the question. Not that any of us would have a chance of getting together with a princess! Hahaha!"

'But that will probably not happen.'

Garek, the nation to the west of Estaria, beyond the large sea known as the Garekian Waters. It was a nation filled with scholars and scientists where many of the great magical inventions originated from.

They were the strongest opposition to dark magic, and by extension, quite hostile toward the country called Madol where dark magic was very common and was openly endorsed by the Empress and her royal house.

The reason why Samantha wouldn't marry the crown prince of Garek was that they would, in the future, go to war with Madol under the pretense of eradicating dark magic. However, underneath that cover, it would be revealed that Garek had been infiltrated by the demonkind who was simply trying to increase their own power.

'Fuck... the more I think about it, the more depressed I get.'

This wasn't just a story about the hero going on an adventure and defeating the evil god. No, the novel contained everything from political dramas to large-scale wars, all of which George would become part of in the future.

Which I was fine with. What I had a problem with was the fact that I would probably get dragged into those events as well.

"By the way, what do you think about tomorrow?"

"I don't know."

Taking a sip of my water, I honestly had no idea. I didn't even know who we were going up against, so it was impossible to say I was confident. Thomas, on the other hand, appeared to know a lot more than me about them.

"I think it will be fun! Some of them seem really strong, despite being a part of the B-class. Not that I think we will lose. Not with that monster on our side! Hahaha!"

"Monster?"

"Don't you know? Even if we have a lot of strong people in our class, there is one that is still miles ahead of the rest of us."

He wasn't talking about George, that I was sure of. Even though he was incredibly strong, he shouldn't have made such a strong impact yet. If that was the case, then Mike probably wouldn't have had the guts to throw a fireball at him during our first day here.

'Then it must be...'

"Eva Redmoon. Even though she is small and looks harmless, she is supposedly a genius that only comes once in a thousand years. If not for the fact that I was able to see her magic during the entrance exam, I would have said that the rumor was exaggerated, but she was truly amazing."

'Sounds about right.'

Having already had the chance to see the stats of all the main characters in the guidebook, I also knew that Eva was pretty high-leveled compared to the other ones. Not only that, but she also had two Rank 3 talents already; Mana Control - Rank 3 as well as Elemental Manipulation - Rank 3.

In other words, right now she was by far the most powerful freshman attending the academy. Or at least, she was the most powerful in the A-class. And although most of my classmates didn't show a lot of their abilities during the magical arts course, I had still seen a bit of what she was able to do.

"Come to think of it, will you be okay?"

Finally, he asked the question that I knew would come, and it was a question that I simply answered curtly with a smile as I didn't want to talk about it more than necessary.

"I don't know. But I will at least try my best."

"Is that so? But didn't you already faint twice in less than two weeks? Hahaha! You will have to work hard if you don't want to be demoted to the B-class!"

'You dense bastard...'

==========

"Energy Blast!"

A small, blue orb shot out from my palm and quickly made impact with the dummy in front of me.

*Bam!*

As it made contact, a small, blue, and cloud-like explosion emerged, covering the dummy from the world, and as it cleared up, I couldn't stop myself from cheering loudly.

"I finally did it!"

After a lot of hours practicing, and with some guidance given by Mrs. Harper, I had finally managed to cast the spell.

It had been excruciatingly embarrassing to be a part of the magical arts course earlier today where everyone else had effortlessly practiced their spells while I had struggled to cast even this simple spell, but now it finally felt worth it.

It couldn't compare to Mike's fireball or Suzan's wind blade, but I was still just happy that I would be able to do something tomorrow, even if it wasn't anything revolutionizing.

===Status===

Name: Alex Winter

Class: Psion

Level: 8

Strength: 4

Agility: 4

Stamina: 9

Intelligence: 21

Free stat points: 0

Mana: 105/105

Skills: [Telekinesis], [Mind Spike], [Illusion], [Energy Blast]

Talents: [Mana control - Rank 2], [Mental magic - Rank 1]

==========

"But is this really enough?"

I had leveled up quite a bit during these two weeks, which I attributed to something akin to newbie gains, but I was still far from the average level of the main cast of the novel and I was also pretty sure that it would only become harder and harder for me to level up.

So, not only would I not be able to use my class-related skills, my body as a whole was a lot weaker than everyone else's.

But I had done everything I could.

Therefore, I walked out of the training room while forcing myself to think about it as positively as possible. However, as I exited the martial arts building, I was met by two very familiar faces. Two faces that I absolutely didn't want to see right now.

"We have been waiting for you, Alex. Let's take a walk."

Mike and Fred had been waiting for me to exit the building and judging by Mike's nasty grin, it wasn't because they wanted to have a nice, friendly chat.

Obviously, I had no intention of following...

*Bing!*

==========

[Act 1, chapter 3: Progress!]

New mission:

- Follow Mike into the park and listen to what he has to say.

Penalty:

- Death

==========

"Sure, let's go."

Mike had probably not expected me to just casually accept his demand, but after taking a second to collect himself we headed toward the same park where I had brought Lya.

The sun had already long left the sky at this point, which made me even more nervous than I already was. But I had no choice but to trust that the mission wouldn't suddenly put me in a lethal situation.

And as we entered the thicket of trees, standing beside a large pond in the middle of the park which reflected the cold rays of the moon, Mike wore a nasty grin as he finally explained why he had brought me there.

"I want you to help me with something tomorrow."