Chapter 36: Encounter
Encounter
Needless to say, Mike didn’t have the easiest time sleeping.
It couldn’t be helped, he was too excited and nervous to get anything more than three hours of sleep, which is another reason he inwardly praised his passive skill because it seemed keen at coming in clutch at the most convenient times as it managed to stop himself from feeling fatigued despite getting less sleep last night than he had in a while.
He was still a bit miffed, though, about his lack of sleep despite the lack of exhaustion.
There was no two ways about it, sleeping just felt nice, and having that luxury stripped away was truly an agonizing experience.
But alas, there was no use crying over spilled milk, and Mike forced himself to move past it, no matter how agonizing it felt.
On that note, Mike ended up getting out of bed pretty early. He initially wanted to be up by 6:30, but he got up by 5 due to the aforementioned reasons.
After taking a shower and putting on his uniform, he stared at himself in the mirror.
His hair had grown out a bit ever since he left Klein 4. He hadn’t bothered cutting it once, so the white strands were starting to grow over his left eye, and the rest draped down his head in fairly haphazard patterns, giving him a somewhat wild look that didn’t appear too bad, if he said so himself.
He shrugged and stepped out of his room. Since he woke up early, he might as well just get to classes early, too.
He made himself a hefty breakfast. Considering when he’d be able to eat lunch, his abnormal metabolism was bound to cause problems.
’Also, my first classes before the lunch break are combat-oriented, so chances are that I’m gonna burn through calories quickly.’ He noted as he checked the time. 5:59.
Deciding to waste no more time, both to avoid his roommate and to just leave early, Mike swiftly cleaned up and left the dorm room.
Stepping out so early was quite the novel experience. Most people were still in their dorms, either still getting ready or just waking up, as such, most of the pathways were devoid of students, and what few students who were around consisted of seniors who were doing commissions that required them to stay up for a while or wake up extremely early.
’No one to stare at me, either.’ Mike thought, a bit pleased at the prospect. He’d like to avoid being looked at like some sort of specimen by his peers for as long as possible.
He did wonder what classes Theresa would have first. From what she told him, her Pathway was also combat-intensive, and he hoped they would have some matching courses, though, he doubted he’d see her for the first one considering how it was focused on close combat – as per its name – as she was a ranged fighter.
Soon enough, Mike arrived at the location for his first class, Training Hall C-1.
To the surprise of absolutely no one, it was a large building. It – and the ones like it – was rectangular in shape, and it looked to be around 200-300 meters long and about 100 wide. It also had a domed ceiling.
Mike walked inside, perfectly aware that he was extremely early and would need to wait for a while before classes started. But hey, might as well spend his time familiarizing himself with the place, right?
However, as soon as he entered, he paused, his nose picking up a vaguely familiar scent.
He turned his head to see a figure sitting down cross-legged in the center of the hall. Their face–or what Mike could see of it–was devoid of all emotions, and they looked quite serene. Mike blinked a few times as he soon realized who the person was.
’Kris Fulgur?’ He thought, surprised. Not by his identity per se, but more of the fact that he attended such a class.
Mike had gotten a brief but memorable look at Kris’s ability. He used chains, and they looked to be used from a distance, too, so seeing him here was a bit of a surprise.
’Then again, I only got a brief glimpse. Moreover, it’s entirely possible that he’s a jack of all trades who’d go in close to deal damage. But... why is he so early?’ He wondered, completely ignoring that himself being so early was also odd.
With nothing better to do, Mike decided to approach him. He always had an odd feeling whenever he encountered the guy. Not danger, though, there were copious amounts of that as well.
It was hard to explain, but the best way Mike could describe it was seeing someone who looked scary but wasn’t. Which is why he had the audacity to approach.
When he got close, he suddenly felt himself being observed. This surprised him, and Kris hadn’t turned to look at him, yet his feelings made him aware that he was indeed being observed by some odd means.
’Interesting.’ Mike thought. Underrated, and probably a bit unwisely, Mike got close.
"Hello and good morning." He greeted.
For a few seconds, Kris didn’t face him, though, Mike felt like the strange form of observation intensified slightly.
Eventually, Kris turned to look at him, his electric yellow eyes regarding him emotionlessly. A few seconds later, he just hummed slightly and face his front again.
Mike stood there for a few more seconds before scratching his head.
"Uh, nice to meet you." He tried again, but this time, he was wholly ignored.
However, he didn’t feel discouraged or annoyed. Well, he was a tiny bit annoyed, but it didn’t last long.
Why? Because the feeling Mike got from Kris wasn’t irritation, disdain, or anything he’d expect from the guy everyone seemed to hail as some sort of genius.
Instead, it was...
’Fear.’ Mike blinked and rubbed his chin.
’Is he scared of me? Why? That can’t be right. My performance against Agnes couldn’t have been THAT impressive. Right?’ He questioned inwardly, but he was fairly certain that wasn’t the case as his gut told him so.
However, what could it be, then?
’Perhaps...’ He mused before trying something.
He ’lost interest’ in Kris as he simply started doing stretches on the spot, intentionally looking elsewhere as h pretended to be warming up.
However, he attuned the rest of his senses to Kris, and it was almost as good as him staring at him directly. Moreover, his instincts still made him aware of how he was being observed by some strange method.
Time passed, and when Mike finished his stretches, he too sat down cross-legged and let out his aura a small bit, making use of his Aura Modulation to make the output as small as possible, appearing to be concentrating deeply.
As soon as this happened, Mike felt relief from Kris as he slowly stopped observing him. In fact, he noticed his shoulders relax a little.
’Weird. He seems scared of me. But not scared of ME.’ Mike noted, if that made any sense.
He deliberated how to go about it. In hindsight, he truly had no need to get Kris to not fear him and speak to him. But in true Mike fashion, he had a random thought and was determined to go through with it, even if it had no practical benefits in the long or short run.
He made sure Kris’s attention was off him completely before enacting his plan.
Taking a deep breath, he tried too condense his aura with how little of it covered his body.
Despite it being a bit of a ploy, he did truly attempt to condense his aura until it liquefied, but it was something that was fated to fail, as not only was Mike not quite there yet, but the amount of Aura he used to make the attempt was too small to achieve any reasonable results.
As such, the expected result happened, and Mike’s aura briefly flickered unstably before settling.
Mike sighed and complained aloud.
"Man, getting that stuff to work is hard." He shook his head, and he felt Kris start observing him again. The same fear and apprehension was there, but now there was a touch of curiosity. Just a spark, but it was there.
Mike smiled internally, but he didn’t address Kris. Instead, he once more let out his aura a tad and tried to condense it, and once more, he failed.
He complained again, and once more he felt Kris’s curiosity grow.
Mike kept at it, and soon enough, he felt the curiosity turn to confusion, then slight frustration, before turning into minute anger.
After his last failure, his senses noticed how he almost opened his mouth to say something, but managed to hold himself back.
’Now.’ Mike thought and opened his eyes, facing Kris.
"Hey, so I know you probably don’t want to be disturbed, but do you have any tips on condensing your aura? Well, that’s understandable the assumption that you have an aura-type ability, but some external input would be nice." He asked with a chirpy tone, and despite his blank expression, Mike felt a flash of panic followed by what he thought was the urge to reply.
A moment later, the urge won out, and Kris spoke, his voice surprisingly soft.
"Your approach... is too straightforward..." He said, his voice barely a whisper, but Mike smiled as he fully faced him.
"Really? Do you mind giving me any tips?" He asked.
And thus was the beginning of his plan to get Kris Fulgur to open up.