No state for a fight.

"So when do you give your first lecture?." Ace said quickly, preventing her from responding to his earlier comment.

Emilia looked pensive. "Tommorow evening at the…"

She dragged on her sentence, pondering about the perfect place for them to meet.

'The cafeteria is too noisy, The dormitories? No boys aren't allowed there, Joint training area? No too many people.'

She searched her mind for the right spot, until she finally found it.

Her eyes sparkled with enlightenment as she spoke,

"…Tomorrow evening, at the northern forest of the academy."

"Forest? the academy has a Forest!"Ace exclaimed in suprise. Before realising he had raised his tone a bit to high.

"I thought Culmen was the most futuristic city in the country, how does it have a forest."

"It is the most advanced city in the country, didn't you see how the outer city looked, when you came in?"

Emilia said in a curious tone.

"Come to think of it, how don't you know there's a forest in the Academy campus? it's impossible to miss!"

That reminded him, he didn't remember entering the academy, he got of the train station and arrived at Culmen city, but failed to get to the Academy, a certain blue haired guy and his dealer was to blame for that.

He felt It a bother to explain what truly had happened, so he lied.

"Oh! I uh—was sleeping when I entered the academy."

Well he was unconscious when he got brought into the academy so he wasn't really lying.

"Oops! Sorry I have to go do something." Emilia said abruptly.

"Just remember; Tommorow evening, at the northern forest, and also don't tell anyone, the other nobles wouldn't be too pleased at me nullifying their advantage." Emilia said her tone rushed and hurried.

"What is it with everyone rushing today first the teacher now you."

Ace grumbled, but Emilia was too far away to hear him anymore.

As Emilia left the room, a multitude of hateful gazes, bore into him like a hunter on his prey after hours of waiting.

The weight of their gaze felt substantial, The added pressure aggravating the soul injury he had earlier.

'Horny ba*sta**s.' Ace cursed them in his mind.

'Just because you see a man next to a beautiful lady, doesn't mean anything, we're just friends, nothing more.'

If Ace had any doubts he was in a novel before now he had none, this was like seemed like one of the cliché encounters one would find in a novel.

'I'll rip you all to shreds, if you take one step towards me.'

Ace wasn't too confident of that, maybe he would have been more confident, if his soul wasn't in a bad condition right now, but he couldn't let me then know that; that was equal to bleeding in shark–infested waters.

Ace met their gaze with a glare of his own. his pitch black eyes perfectly reflecting their faces.

After a while, they took their took their gazes off Ace and returned to whatever they were doing before.

'And that's my cue to leave.' Ace observered that the tense mood in the class has disappeared, he decided to leave the class right now.

He adjusted the strap of his laptop bag on his shoulder then stood up from the chair.

Ace had already passed the students seating Infront of him and reached the door, when he noticed a ginger–haired student standing up and walking towards his direction.

Ace frowned, and scrunched up his brows.

'Why is he walking towards me?'

Ace stepped out of the class, acting like he didn't notice him walking towards him.

'Is it because of Emilia?'

Ace pondered, as he merged into the small crowd of students that were in the school corridors.

'No it can't be, out of everyone in the class he was one of the few people, who didn't stare in envy or hatred towards me, I'm sure of it.'

Ace concealed his vitality and turned right a corner in the school corridors.

'Maybe he wasn't walking towards me earlier, I was standing at the door, maybe he just wanted to get out.'

Just to make sure, Ace turned around to look for him.

'Thank god! he isn't here.' Ace took a sigh of relief and stopped walking.

'That could have been really bad, I'm in no state to defend myself if a fight broke out, I'm still to young to die.'

Ace felt mildly annoyed, his soul injury made him unable to use spirit for two to three days, if he did, God knows what would happen to his soul.

This meant he had to tread carefully during this three days, because he was truly powerless without his spirit, Vitality wasn't his strong suite.

His self protection capabilities had reduced by ninety percent from when he could use spirit; With spirit he could fling people, make a drill, a shovel, and a lot of other tools. But with vitality the only thing he could do was to conceal himself and enhance his body for a short period of time.

'I guess, I'll just have to make do.'

Ace resigned himself to his situation and turned back round to the path he was going to.

"Hey!"

A voice spoke right beside him, sending pangs of shock throughout Ace.

There he was, the ginger–haired guy, standing right Infront of him.

"Why were you running, I wasn't going to hurt you." he said in a monotone voice, exhibiting no emotions.

Ace startled at his sudden appearance, took two steps back.

'How did he sneak past me undetected.' His senses was compromised because of his soul injury, but that wasn't enough for someone to get so close to him without noticing.

"Stop acting so shocked, you're not the only one who can conceal your presence." He said a hint of second hand embarrassment—from Ace's reaction—creeping into his tone.

'That's true his presence is concealed, just like mine.'

'But wait, since my presence was concealed as well, how did he find me?'

'I had a five second headstart in leaving the class, but somehow, he not only, identified the direction I went, but also took a different corridor went all the way around me and arrived right up my face unnoticed, in all under thirty seconds.'

Ace silently watched him, thinking about the feat he just did.

The ginger haired guy broke the silence,

"Can you follow me to the cafeteria, I have something to discuss with you."