Stepping into the cafeteria, the trio looked around. The cafeteria was a high-vaulted space with warm lights and smooth walls, lined with tables of varying sizes. Students chatted, laughed, and ate together. The vast majority were Prismari. Beastkin sat in small groups, experimenting with the food.

"Let's go sit over there," Lucas said as he spotted an almost empty table. Coincidentally, the red-haired young man Evélyne had spoken to earlier in the lounge was sitting there. They moved through the room with an uncanny grace, drawing the eyes of the few not distracted by their Synaps or food.

"Hey, can we sit with you?" Lucas asked with a polite smile when they reached their destination.

The redhead looked up from his hologram to see the trio. He blinked before saying, "Oh, I don't mind at all."

"Thanks."

The trio took their seats. Floating menus appeared before each of them. Lucas stared at the options on the holographic menu, his tail lay lazily on the floor. Sasha sniffed the air for a bit before stopping with a pensive look. Evélyne stroked her hair as the Beastkin tried to figure out which food had the best scent.

Looking up from his menu, Lucas could see the red-haired young man had stopped using his Synap. His eyes moved from Evélyne to Sasha before he feigned interest in whatever he had been doing initially.

"What's your name?" Lucas's question snapped the Prismari into focus.

"Excuse me?"

"What's your name?" Lucas repeated, his laid-back but heavy voice relaxing the young man.

"I'm Kyn. Kyn Flaśh."

Lucas smiled. "Nice to meet you, Flash. I'm Lucas." He then turned to the two women. "Won't you guys introduce yourselves?"

Sasha immediately had an awkward expression, while Evélyne was as stoic as ever. She turned to Kyn and said, "I'm Evélyne Lifeblood." She continued stroking Sasha's head as she said, "This is Sasha Lifewoven. It's a pleasure to officially make your acquaintance."

Evélyne's gaze forced Kyn to look away as he said, "Yeah… I'm glad as well."

Evélyne's expression showed confusion at his reaction, but before she could pursue the matter, Lucas coughed into his palm and asked, "So what food would you recommend, Flash? We are quite curious to try some."

"Ummm… everything is good to be honest. You can just pick a random name and great food will be delivered." As he said with a sigh, his menu got bigger, and he scrolled through its options. The trio replicated the process easily and began browsing.

Once their orders were locked in, four trays floated down from a glowing chute in the ceiling and hovered above the table before landing softly. Each tray had about five utensils to eat the food with: two spoons, two forks, and a small knife.

Lucas blinked at his food. It was a pile of green, rice-like grains, steaming gently and topped with a violet stew that shimmered faintly under the light. The smell was earthy, tangy, with a hint of something… metallic? Lucas regarded the food with interest, his heightened senses giving him much more information than was necessary to enjoy the meal.

Sasha's and Evélyne's trays had the same dish: a glistening golden steak, still sizzling slightly, served with bright red strands that looked suspiciously like molten thread. Sasha sniffed it, taking in deep breaths of its vapor as her ears twitched with glee.

Meanwhile, Kyn's food arrived with a soft thud: a dome-shaped, black jelly that jiggled with every movement, somehow infused with shifting colors. To top it off, a strange, translucent drink sat by its side. Paying more attention to it, Lucas immediately figured out why: bubbles formed at its top and sank to its bottom.

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"…What is that?" Lucas asked, unable to hold in his curiosity.

Kyn grinned sheepishly. "I have no clue. The menu said the jelly is an 'All-flavor Nutrient Sphere,' while the drink is a 'Chrono-fizz.' They seemed interesting, so I decided to try them."

The jelly's color changed from black to red as they spoke. Lucas raised an eyebrow at this before quietly sliding his plate a few centimeters away.

Evélyne was already cutting into her steak. Unfortunately, her fork folded like paper under the pressure of her grip, and she absentmindedly popped it into her mouth along with the bite of meat. Sasha saw her mistress's eyes brighten as she chewed her food, loud metallic crunches drawing everyone's attention. With Lucas and Kyn looking on in shock, Sasha proceeded to emulate Evélyne.

Finally snapping out of it, Lucas asked the pleased women, "Wait, did you just… eat your forks… again?"

Evélyne blinked, chewed once, then tilted her head. "Its taste is rather interesting. It's not a problem if I eat them right?"

She asked Kyn. Lucas chuckled while Kyn awkwardly said, "No?"

"But they taste good, Sir Kyn," Sasha countered, her mouth full of meat and metal, as she was down to one fork.

Lucas couldn't help but burst out laughing at this point, prompting Sasha and Kyn to laugh as well—the former because she could sense how Lucas felt, and the latter because of the absurdity. When the laughter died down, Evélyne spoke with a smile.

"You're laughing again. That's good."

Lucas's smile dropped almost imperceptibly. "Yeah… I just forget where I am sometimes."

Evélyne tilted her head slightly, studying him. "I've noticed... you're more relaxed when you're not thinking too hard. Like now."

"Yep, a good meal will do that," he muttered as he stirred his food, preparing to eat.

Evélyne hesitated, then carefully said, "Lucas… do you hate me?"

Lucas and Kyn froze. Sasha kept eating, but she shifted in her seat, glancing between the two. She said nothing. Lucas took his time to scoop up a bite of food, chewed, and swallowed.

'Why in the true void is she asking me this now?'

As he stared into Evélyne's almost apathetic eyes, he told her the truth. He felt his core clench as he said, "…I hate the pact."

Evélyne frowned at his response, her aura becoming a little unstable. Sasha silently placed her tail on her lap. The entire cafeteria fell into silence as everyone felt the weight of her presence.

"That's not what I asked."

Lucas met her gaze, his golden eyes eerily calm as he uttered, "I know."

Evélyne stared at him, faint crimson streaks racing within her ruby eyes. "Then—"

"You're trying to be my friend while keeping me in chains. That's not friendship, Evélyne. That's a contradiction."

She looked genuinely stunned. The knife in her grasp deformed as she lost control of her grip.

"I didn't—"

"Trap me? Then what are you doing right now? Simply because I don't want to answer your question, I feel like my heart is being crushed!" Lucas finished for her, his voice slowly rising in both anger and frustration until he yelled out.

Silence pressed over the cafeteria. Kyn had stopped eating entirely, shrinking in on himself as if hoping to disappear. Even the jelly stopped changing colors and went back to its original black.

Lucas pushed his tray forward, appetite gone. "I'm going to head out."

"Lucas, you don't have to answer—" Evélyne reached out, almost on instinct.

He stood smoothly, not looking back. "I'll see you both later," he said to the two women before walking off with heavy yet even steps, every ounce of playfulness gone from his voice.

Evélyne stared at his back as he disappeared into the sea of students. Looking down at her hand with the knife clenched within, it was barely recognizable. Her expression was still flat as she processed what had just happened.

Sasha exhaled. She moved closer to her mistress. "I thought I said you should try being his friend, Mistress?"

Evélyne looked at her, her apathetic eyes melting into confusion and… pain? "I did. That's why I asked him the question. How can I be his friend if he hates me?"

Sasha seemed stumped by this. She wrapped her mistress in a hug and expressed her opinion. "Sir Lucas doesn't hate you, Mistress. He is just… more complicated than us. But you know what can make him trust us more, right?"

Evélyne nodded as she looked toward the direction Lucas had left in. She then closed her eyes and sensed her core. The monolith forged from four platonic solids still stood tall, but a few chains now wrapped around it. She then retracted her mind and hugged Sasha back.

"What if he decides to leave?"

Sasha's ears dropped at this but she said nothing.

A few hours later, Lucas sat in his meditation room, thinking. After blowing off the two women, he had explored some other facilities of the academy he was looking forward to. He sat with a steely gaze as he recounted his experiences.

"I would say today has been alright. The academy is practically brimming with knowledge, and it's still the introductory week, so I have a bit of time to explore more. Now I just have to fit in as much as possible. In the meantime—"

He locked his hands in a circle; at its center a ball of Spirit energy appeared.

"I have to find a way to improve my manipulation of kinetic energy. I thought what I can currently do would grant me a skill from the System, but it seems to be extremely strict."

The ball of energy pulsed rhythmically, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. He kept changing and adapting it to enhance his control.

'I have to grow stronger.'

———

In Evélyne's room, she sat on her bed with her communicator in her palm. It lit up as she connected with her mother.

"Mother, we need to talk about Lucas."

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