Unforeseen Showdown

After parting ways with Isabella, Aymon made his way through the lively cafeteria. The atmosphere was cozy, with students chatting while enjoying the delicious food. The cafeteria's menu was diversified, offering over 50 breakfast choices with nearly limitless combinations.

Opting for a balanced breakfast, Aymon chose a protein-rich omelet with mixed vegetables, a side of whole-grain toast, and a cup of freshly brewed black coffee. As he headed to an unoccupied table near the large crystal windows, he couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction. The academy's cafeteria had exceeded his expectations in both variety and quality.

While savoring his breakfast, Aymon took out his portable LP-67. The holographic display projected a digital overlay of his schedule and objectives for the day. Aymon decided that after breakfast he'd go to the library for a quick scan of its various books. His ability allowed him to absorb knowledge at an incredible pace. If he enhanced his extraocular muscles and optic nerve, Aymon could read 5 pages per second, while fully understanding what he read. In his schedule, after the book scanning session, there was a training session. This was to be done in the individual training rooms. He wanted to test his strength against a B-rank opponent to gauge his current combat prowess and to start preparing for the examination.

Just as he was about to get up and leave with the remaining coffee for the library, something caught his attention. There seemed to be a conflict brewing between a couple of students five tables away from Aymon. It wasn't something that he would usually care about, because if he judged that there was no benefit to him in getting involved, then he would just ignore it. This was a different case, though. Two students, one female, and one male were picking on a male student, which was a pretty normal thing in the academy, as the students wouldn't be penalized for conflict unless it escalated to life-threatening fights. The person they were picking on was DBsh-1888643-wb, the one who piqued Aymon's interest. Aymon decided to sit down for a bit more to observe how the situation would unfold.

"Such an interesting first morning," Aymon thought as he sipped his coffee, observing, "I guess academy life will be full of surprises."

Aymon decided to enhance his hearing with astral energy so he could better understand what was going on. The girl was of medium height, 164cm, with short blonde hair and chestnut brown eyes. Next to her was a 173cm guy with a buzzcut and a silver ear piercing. They were both sneering at Aymon's interest target, DBsh-1888643-wb, who was sitting alone, trying to enjoy his meal.

"There is no room for trash like you here, Byron," said the girl, looking at DBsh-1888643-wb, whose name Aymon now knew, "How did a loser like you even get accepted here?"

The male student accompanying the girl chimed in with a mocking tone, "Yeah, Byron, maybe you sneaked in when nobody was looking. Or did you bribe your way in with some crumbs?"

Aymon, having now enhanced his sight as well, noticed how Byron, the target of their taunts, remained silent, his gaze fixed on his half-finished plate. His anger and frustration could be seen from how he clenched his fist hard enough to make a small drop of blood drip down his hand onto the ground. There seemed to be some deep history between these three. Considering Byron's strength, Aymon tried to understand the reason for his silence.

The girl continued her verbal assault, "Look at him, thinking he belongs here. Don't worry; you won't be here for long. I am sure that an F-rank trash like you would never pass the 進路判定試験."

"F-rank!? The guy whose presence I didn't even sense until I was hit, hard enough to make me lose my balance for a second, there is just no way." Aymon couldn't bring himself to believe that someone who displayed such a level of skill was only F-rank. His judgment never failed him; he estimated that Byron's rank would be at least B-, so there was no way he was that off with his assessment.

"Ah, I get it now," Aymon, having realized the reason for such a big discrepancy between his actual rank and his assessment, let out a small grin, setting his cup of coffee aside as he rose from his seat. "Who would've guessed that I'd get to have so much fun on just the first day?" Aymon mused to himself as he confidently made his way toward Byron's table.

As the distance between him and the aggressors was gradually closing, Aymon decided to grab some attention to himself, in order to put his plan in motion. He enhanced the sole of his shoe with a little astral energy to let the aggressors know that someone was coming their way.

The girl, noticing Aymon nearing them, shifted her attention from Byron to this stranger who seemed to be approaching. She shot him a disdainful glance.

"And who might you be, his knight in shining armor?" the girl inquired, trying to ridicule Aymon, "Mind your own business if you don't want to get in trouble."

Aymon, with his unwavering calm, responded in kind, making fun of the girl he now faced, "Oh, but how scary you are, I am shivering, please don't kill me."

Byron, hearing Aymon's response, started laughing, as if all the tension and pent-up anger were gone now. "You are one funny guy for sure," Byron chuckled, appreciating the unexpected turn of events.

"Thanks for the compliment, but I am nowhere near as funny as these two friends of yours," Aymon continued as he sat down in the chair next to Byron's.

The girl, however, wasn't amused. She clenched her fists, visibly irritated by Aymon's casual demeanor. "You think you can just waltz in and mock us? You have no idea who you're dealing with," she retorted, a defiant glare in her eyes.

"Well, unfortunately, I don't know. Why don't you tell me? And while you're at it, I hope you don't mind explaining why you were verbally harassing this kind fellow," Aymon said, pointing with a tilt of his head to Byron while leaning back in his chair as if settling in for a show.