CHAPTER 154: TRUE INTENTIONS

True Intentions

The group sat back down, and an awkward silence fell over the table, which wasn’t helped by the stares they got from all over the cafeteria.

Mike noted that Agnes’ hateful gaze turned downright murderous, which was funny because during the confrontation, he could practically feel the smugness radiating from her, so she was probably livid at him not getting punished.

As for what Mike thought about the entire ordeal?

Well, the way he went back to eating probably answered that question.

Theresa stared at him incredulously as he ate like he hadn’t provoked one of the most promising people in the academy and gotten away with it.

"You... do you even care???" She questioned, and Mike just blinked before shrugging.

"Of course I do. But there’s no point in losing my mind about it. It happened so, yeah." He answered with a noncommittal shrug, and Theresa’s eyes twitched.

"I understand that you view antagonizing the people in this school as a given scenario, but at least TRY to show some awareness of the possible implications!" She hissed. "Now, not only have you made an enemy out of Agnes, but you pissed off Namor! Do you think he will let this slide?" She questioned, and Mike tilted his head, a faint glint appearing in his eyes.

"Let him try." He said simply, but that made Agnes clamp her mouth shut.

He wasn’t joking.

"... How did you do that?" Kris, who had been silent up until this point, suddenly asked, reverting to his timid but curious demeanor that only Mike could see.

"Do what?" Mike tilted his head.

".. Move." He asked after a moment of hesitation, but Theresa’s eyes suddenly widened as she realized what Kris was talking about.

"Actually... yeah, how did you move despite Mrs Beatrice’s ability being active?" She asked, and Mike just stared at them blankly before his eyes lit up with realization.

"Oh, well... I just wanted to?" He offered, and even Kris looked at him like he’d grown a second head.

"Mike... do you not know what her ability is?" Theresa asked after a moment.

Mike shook his head.

Kris seemed even more taken aback, but Theresa groaned while mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like ’I should have known’.

"Her ability..." She started slowly. "... is called the Mark of the Adjudicator. Anyone she marks is ’judged’ based on her perception of how bad a deed is and whether the target knows they did wrong. In this school, she commonly uses it to freeze students who break the rules. It falls under a unique class of abilities where it has an inviolable ’rule’, and you moved under its influence." Hearing this, Mike blinked before tilting his head.

"Oh, then it’s not that big of a deal." At this, Theresa was about to grill him, but he continued. "I know I didn’t break any rules. Namor attacked me first, and he was the one who started antagonizing us to begin with. I know I did nothing wrong, so it’s not weird that I managed to move, is it?" He explained his reasoning, and Theresa opened her mouth to argue, but then paused and frowned.

"... I... suppose not..." She mumbled as she thought about it. Meanwhile, Kris was looking at Mike in a new light. His face was still impassive, but there was a faint light in his eyes, and Mike felt what seemed to be genuine approval, which made him smile.

"Let’s get that Namor guy out of our minds. He’s weird. I still wanna hear what you guys did during your classes." He said with genuine interest, eager to learn what other people had to do to improve themselves.

***

’That boy. Either he is painfully naive or bold.’ Beatrice thought as she walked out of the cafeteria, looking unbothered by the events that had just taken place.

However, her mind was spinning.

Indeed, she had been following Mike since the day started. Why? Well, outside her normal duties, she was given an assignment, and that was to observe and judge any developments that might arise with Mike’s ability, and despite it simply being the first day, the list of new things she added kept growing.

In truth, she wouldn’t have interfered with what happened in the cafeteria. If nothing else other than to see how Mike’s ability responded under a high-stress situation, but she did so regardless, because she simply saw no way for him to resist someone like Namor Vortan, even if Kris Fulgor was there.

Hence, she stopped the fight, not to enforce the rules, but to stop him from getting hurt.

But here’s where things get interesting.

What Theresa told Mike about Beatrice’s ability is correct. However, in a world where the Lizardmen are constantly trying to gain an advantage over them in any way possible, sharing the full details of her ability would be foolish.

So there was another aspect not many people knew about. Nothing particularly damning, but a sort of failsafe aspect to the ability.

Even if the person was ’innocent’, they still wouldn’t be able to move for some time after they had been marked unless Beatrice let them.

She hadn’t let them, and this period hadn’t completely elapsed either.

’And yet, he managed to move.’ She mused as she rubbed a hand across her face where the strange marking was. It was subtle, to the point where not even Mike had noticed, but a small part of the Mark seemed a bit faded.

’Interesting. Very interesting. What more can you show me, Mike?’ She smiled faintly to herself.

***

The rest of lunch was–thankfully–relatively uneventful. Mike and the other two still got weird looks, but thankfully, no one tried to do anything else.

When lunch was over, Mike said his goodbyes and got ready to head off to the next class when Theresa stopped him.

"Is your next class Power Management & Flow?" She asked, and Mike blinked with some surprise.

"Oh, yeah. How did you know? And why are you asking?" He asked curiously, and she just stared at him for a bit.

"It’s one of the most popular courses in the school despite being under the Combat Pathway, almost everyone in our grade chooses it, me included, so we’re going to the same place." She explained simply, and Mike seemed surprised.

’Actually, that makes sense.’ He tilted his head. From what he knew, the class centered around helping with energy control and management, which was something all ability users needed, regardless of what Pathway they followed.

"In that case, are you coming?" Mike directed the question to Kris, who was standing by the side. The boy just nodded.

"Then it’s settled. Let’s go." Mike said with a cheerful smile and started walking, the others following suit.

As they did, he once more noticed how Theresa and Kris acted weirdly around each other, with Theresa looking visibly uncomfortable while Kris stared straight ahead, his anxiety bleeding into his scent.

Mike resisted the urge to sigh and slowed his pace a little so that all three of them were matching steps somewhat.

"So, is there anything I need to know about this upcoming class with how popular it is?" He decided to break the ice again, allowing his genuine curiosity to clear up some of the tension.

"Oh, well, due to its size, it will be harder for the lecturer to focus on students individually, so you need to he sharp and pay attention to everything she says as having her repeat herself won’t be very viable," Theresa explained, and Mike nodded before asking.

"So... will our instructor this time be someone I need to know? Because I’m pretty sure I don’t know who half of them are. Or quarter." He said, not ashamed of his lack of knowledge.

To his surprise, though, Theresa shook her head.

"Well, I have to be honest. I don’t know who she is either. Apparently, she’s a new hire set to begin teaching this year. Not a lot of people are clear on who she is, but it will probably become apparent when we see her in person." She explained, and Mike hummed thoughtfully before looking at Kris.

"What about you? Do you know anything about this mystery instructor of ours?" Kris blinked, which was his equivalent of a flinch, then he tilted his head ever so slightly.

"I... heard some rumors... and don’t take my word for it... but I believe... she’s the daughter... of the head of a powerful private organization..." Kris mumbled, and the other two gave him curious looks.

"A private organization? Those are different from families, right?" He asked, and Theresa nearly facepalmed.

"Of course they are. God, just how lacking of knowledge are you?" He asked with exasperation, and Mike just shrugged.

"You should be happy I’m actually asking questions to understand instead of pretending to know so that I don’t look like an idiot, which will make me look like an even bigger idiot when people find out by themselves that I’m indeed ignorant." He retorted with they annoyingly flawless logic that Theresa couldn’t argue with.

Still, her pride refused to let her back down. Hence, they spent the rest of the walk bickering, with Kris occasionally chiming in.