First conflict

"Hmm? What do you mean by... by frightened? He seemed pretty calm at that moment."

Xavier gave him a confident smile and leaned on the table, raising his index finger as if he was lecturing to a kid.

"Well, I can't say for sure that he was frightened, but surprised is for sure. I am not exaggerating this time, ok? I am certain that he was surprised. The reason? I was paying attention to his actions all that time. When you took your battle-axe and nearly ripped off his head, he couldn't follow the movement of the blade with his eyes. When he realized, it was already on his neck! That's what I could deduce upon seeing that scene," he crossed his arms arrogantly, proud of his analysis.

Ares found him to be very idiot for bragging about something like that, but he himself needed to admit that the boy was very smart for noticing all those things.

'I didn't think about it at the moment. To be honest, my body moved on its own. My instincts got pretty sharp after two months inside the forest. I can sense the danger coming sometimes and my body just reacts accordingly. However, now that I remembered about Erwin's reaction, I am pretty sure that he didn't follow my attack with his eyes.'

Nonetheless, there was something that was bothering Ares on that analysis. He wasn't underestimating Xavier's intelligence or anything like this, but something couldn't get out of his mind.

"I don't think that it is the case, entirely. Maybe he got surprised by my speed, but I don't think that it was a big deal to him. He wasn't calm at that moment, only. Instead, when the blade of my axe was on his neck, he had cold eyes and a chill smile. He was liking my reaction, at the very least...", Ares was looking at Xavier as he reasoned.

"Did you see him fighting against someone seriously before? But it has to be in a serious situation...", he asked at last.

"Y-... Now that you are saying this, no I don't think so. Coming to think about it, he never fought seriously before. In truth, nobody dared to challenge the coordinator of the dormitory this year," Xavier's eyes widened in realization.

"That's what I thought," Ares continued. "He has more to show. Definitely, he isn't just strong in Mana control and Mystical Arts. Now that I remember his reaction, I am sure of it-"

Even before he could finalize his sentence, Ares' hair stood on end and his heart skipped a beat.

He moved his head to the side, just in time to avoid a fork that came flying in his direction.

'What the hell?' He thought, without knowing how to react to that.

Behind him, he could hear laughs.

Ares looked backward, to a table that was positioned closer to the center of the cafeteria. There, a group of trainees was chatting and looking with scorn towards Ares' table.

There were even females there, which was something that Ares couldn't see until that point since the Girl's dormitory was separated. However, he didn't even care about them, he was focused on figuring out the person that threw that fork.

"H-Hey, Ares! Don't look too much at their table, or else they will get pissed off!" Xavier said with a worried expression.

Ares, though, didn't hear him. At that moment, he was exhaling anger from every pore of his body. His mind was screaming to him to do something against those jerks.

"Shut the hell up, Xavier. Your voice is pissing me off even more," he bluntly said.

Once Xavier heard his voice, a chill ran down his spine.

'W-What kind of voice is this!? Is that the same Ares that was talking to me a moment ago!? He seems... He seems different than before. His eyes have a crazy gleam inside, his posture is that of someone prepared to kill someone, he looks like a mad murderer!'

That behavior, that countenance, everything was new to Xavier. Even when Ares looked straight at his eyes and talked in a serious tone, he didn't seem like that version of him. Not even a bit.

'It is like I am looking at two different people with the same appearance... It's strange...'

One of the guys that were sitting at that table noticed that Ares was still looking at them. He narrowed his eyes while clenching his fists.

"Why are you still looking at us? Did you lose something on our table?"

Upon hearing those words, a vein appeared on Ares' forehead, he was at his limit already.

'Damn it! I am on my first day and I will need to kick someone else's butt...'

He got up from his table, walking toward the place where the fork thrown at him was. He took it with him.

Ares walked slowly towards the table of that jerk who attacked him out of nowhere.

Meanwhile, a girl with a ponytail made in her long blond hair was looking at him with her purple eyes. She was attentive about the scene unfolding on the table right behind her.

On the opposite side of her table, Erwin was combing his white hair and looking with interest to Ares.

Also, there was someone hidden in the darkness of the corner of that cafeteria. He had his arms crossed and was, apparently, asleep. However, one of his eyes was slightly opened, watching carefully that scene.

Ares got beside the chair of that boy who threw the fork at him.

"I didn't lose anything on your table, but I do think you lost it..." Ares held the fork on top of the table, with its extreme pointed to the ceiling.

"Really?" The boy sarcastically asked while laughing with his friends. They were finding that scene quite amusing.

Nonetheless, if they had looked at Ares' crimson eyes, they would understand the seriousness of that situation.

"Yes, really," Ares grimly said, taking the boy by his neck in a tight grip. "Why don't you take a close look!?"

Ares pulled his head backward, then pushed it downwards with all his might.