POV: Rai Shinsei
The three-day weekend that every first-year received passed by quickly as I laid in my bed, staring at the ceiling of my dorm in a daze while I bathed in the beam of the morning sunlight peeking through my blinds.
"Are you going to skip class today?" Arthur asked, adjusting the collar of his uniform to his liking as I rose into a sitting position and wiped off the crust from my eyes.
"I'm not sure yet." I replied with a yawn.
I've only been here for three weeks and yet, I can't imagine myself lasting another month listening to Rylie's boring lectures.
"You're probab;y unaware, but today is the beginning of our new course and I heard that the course will be about the principle of Aura. Of course, someone like yourself is overqualified, but I think you should at least attend class today so you can know what the requirement is for passing the final exam." Arthur suggested as he began eating an apple, which seemingly spawned out of thin air as I was inspired to ask him for an explanation until I brushed away my curiosity with a sigh, knowing that it's meaningless trying to understand his strange actions.
The principle of Aura, huh?
I remember when Ryan once tried to explain it to me when I was a kid, but because he is incompetent when it comes to explanations, I was unable to grasp it fully as I was forced to learn about it on my own and from what I learned, Aura is the manifestation of your Aspect in the form of intangible energy that can be manipulated into a weapon with proper control.
Once you manipulate your Aura, its form becomes tangible as the strength and intensity of your Aura is based on your Aspectual Power and another fact that I've learned through a rather painful experience---is that Aura can even disrupt the natural flow of one's Healing Factor---or even worse, render it completely useless.
I can understand why it's important for heroes-in-training to learn Aura Manipulation as you gain the ability to empower your attacks with the addition of negating one's Healing Factor, but why would Arthur, who is also just as overqualified as myself, have the need to go to class?
"Arthur, you're also overqualified, right? Why are you even bothering going to class, especially if you can just skip whenever you want without any consequences?" I questioned as Arthur finished eating his apple before throwing away the remains into his trash can, which had a concerning amount of apple cores within them as he had just emptied his trash can last night.
"You see, I actually don't have any idea on how to manipulate my Aura." Arthur deadpanned, creating a moment of silence as for a second, I genuinely believed he was joking until his expression remained the same.
"Are you serious?" I asked incredulously as he confirmed with a nod.
"Then how were you able to use an Aura-infused attack in your fight against the Seven Sins?" I questioned.
"I don't know how to explain it, but in a fight that requires me to focus, I'm able to instinctively manipulate Aura. I'm not too sure of the reason behind it, but it's been like that ever since I've manifested my Aspect." Arthur answered as his explanation gave birth to a single thought.
He's a genius.
"I see…" I said as Arthur took another bite out of his apple.
"So instead of skipping class, I decided to take this course more seriously as I've put aside learning Aura Manipulation for far too long now. I'll be heading to class early, so if you do show up, I'll see you there." Arthur replied casually, his mouth full as he grabbed his school bag and left the dorm, leaving me alone as I stood from my bed and headed towards the bathroom to wash my face.
With the exception of the infirmary, I only skipped a few days of class, but Ryan has been getting on to me about it as unless I'm sick, a member of the Elite Ten or ranked higher than 15th within the academy, I'm not allowed to skip class.
As annoying as it is, I guess it doesn't hurt to know what the requirement is for the final exam.
With a tiresome sigh, I proceeded with my daily routine as I prepared myself for class.
~
Stepping outside of my dormitory, I took a moment to relax in the cool crisp air of autumn as it reminded me of my hometown.
I do have to admit that the weather up here is pleasant, but there's something that's been bothering me…
As I began heading towards the academy, I noticed Jordan following me, keeping his distance far enough to prevent any suspicion from onlooking students as I pretended to be unaware of his presence.
Why is he following me-
"Rai!" a familiar voice called out, abrupting my thought as I turned around to find Aria, whose smile seemed contagious as Sarah, who accompanied Aria, averted her eyes away from my own as they approached me.
"How are you not cold, Rai?" Aria asked with her hands inside the pocket of her blazer as the two of them wore long, thin black socks with their own colored scarfs while Sarah even wore a black beanie, but as for myself, I chose to wear my usual uniform, despite the bleak weather as growing up, the cold never bothered me.
"Not really." I replied nonchalantly as it took every fiber within my being to avoid noticing Jordan, who hid himself poorly as he pretended to scroll on his phone.
Can you not make it anymore obvious?!
"I see… Are you okay?" Aria asked in concern as I clenched my jaw in order to restrain myself from glancing at Jordan, whose presence felt as if it was screaming at me within my peripheral vision.
If you're going to follow someone, at least do it properly!
"Yeah, I'm fine. Are the two of you heading to class?" I asked in order to shift my focus elsewhere, despite them obviously on their way to class as they had their school bags with them.
"We were heading there now. What about you?" Aria inquired.
"I was just on my way." I replied, prompting us to walk together as Aria walked on my left while Sarah walked on my right, arousing many curious gazes as we approached the academy, but despite the undesirable attention I was receiving, it was much better than restraining myself from noticing Jordan, who began following me once more as I was curious to know more about his intentions.
"Did you decide to cancel your leave-of-absence?" I asked Sarah, who avoided my gaze as she remained expressionless.
"I did. If I want to become a hero, then I at least need to gain the courage to, even if it takes one step at a time." Sarah replied as her sensible answer surprised me.
What a mature response.
I certainly wouldn't have expected this from her three weeks ago.
"Rai, have you heard about the new course Ms. Rylie is introducing us to?" Aria asked as we entered the academy, where many students headed towards their respective class while others sat at tables to enjoy a light breakfast, chattering with their friends in the midst.
"Arthur informed me earlier. It's about the principle of Aura, right?" I replied, asking for confirmation as Arthur is known to be an unreliable source for information.
"Yep! Before you enrolled, Ms. Rylie taught us about the basic procedures of becoming a hero as the mission we completed last week was our final exam for that course, which we should be getting our results back today, so I'm kinda excited for that, but I was wondering how much you knew about Aura since you were able-"
As Aria nearly exposed my true power through her rambling, I swiftly pinched a small flab of fat on the side of her stomach, causing her to squeal as she looked at me with a flustered, yet displeased expression as her sudden reaction startled Sarah.
"What is wrong with you!? Why would you do that!?" Aria questioned in a low tone as her cheeks flushed red while I shrugged with my shoulders, unwilling to tell her the reason as it would lead to an unnecessary complication because amidst the crowd of students, Jordan was still following me.
It's odd.
Although I felt the clashing of Aspectual Forces between multiple students who decided to pick a fight with one another, within the mix of Aspectual Forces, I was certain that Jordan was listening in on my conversation as I sensed his Aspectual Force, despite his lousy attempt in trying to conceal it.
Once you become an Aspector, your body goes through a tremendous change as all of your senses are considerably enhanced.
The fact that Jordan is desperately trying to conceal his Aspectual Force means that he doesn't want to be noticed and since he activated his Aspect in order to fully maximize his hearing, his sole purpose must be to gather information, but why?
After the day I defeated him, he wouldn't dare to even look me into my eyes as we would occasionally cross paths due to being in the same year.
I'm sure the defeat he suffered from me is etched into his mind, so why would he risk following me?
"You are truly a despicable bastard."
Could it be…
"How annoying." I muttered amidst Aria's pestering as she demanded me for answers until I apologized, putting an end to her quiet outburst as she pouted, making it known to me that she was visibly upset as Sarah was left in the dark, confused and curious.
"What happened-"
As Sarah tried to ask a question, a random student inadvertently bumped into her shoulder as he was distracted with talking to his group of friends, causing her to stumble into me as I caught her within my grasp, prompting a faint blush across Sarah's face as I expected the boy to apologize for his carelessness, but to my astonishment, the boy glared at her with a scowl as if she was the one in the wrong.
The boy seemed to be older than myself as he stood a few inches taller than me with a fairly built frame, but despite his physique, his impudence was a reflection of his own appearance as his face was marred with acne while his chin jutted out like a spear begging to pierce its victim.
Is he delusional?
"Watch where you're going, dumbass." The boy mocked irritably as his group of friends snickered at Sarah, who succumbed to her own trauma as she remained silent while her breathing became shallow, her fear allowing them to walk away satisfied as their gall behavior provoked Aria, who was ready to confront them until I sighed.
With me already annoyed from being unable to comprehend Jordan's peculiar actions, Sarah being disrespected before me was the last straw as I turned around and glared at the boy of fault.
Sarah…
You can't just let these bastards walk over you.
As the supposed leader of the group tried to walk away, I grabbed his shoulder, preventing him from taking another step forward as he turned around and glared at me with a contemptuous scowl.
Especially…
"What the hell do you want?" The boy questioned in an insolent tone as my actions gathered the attention of several passing students.
If he's weaker than you.