The days in that class really felt strange and different for Ray, he left the class with a usual expression and still carrying 3 books with him.
He walked alone through the military corridors of Aphares. Ray then arrived at the cafeteria, which was full of Slayers, he then joined one of the food lines and waited.
The smell coming from the cafeteria was mouth-watering and smell so tasty. His thoughts wandered, thinking about what kind of food he will eat later.
When it was his turn, Ray was amazed - there were so many food options to choose from. As the chef handed him a big plate, he was immediately confused.
"Here, you can eat whatever you want, this is your plate portion," said the chef.
"Eat whatever I want?! Am I really allowed to take whatever I like?!" Ray exclaimed with a shocked expression and wide eyes, while the chef just nodded in confusion.
Without hesitation, Ray immediately took 3 steaks, 4 jumbo lobsters, 1 whole fried chicken, and various sauces.. Filling the plate to the brim in an instant.
He quickly carried the full plate to the table, the books he was still holding making it hard for him to manage everything. He sat down and started devouring the food ravenously.
No one wanted to sit with him, but Ray didn't care, he kept eating ravenously and happily.
Meanwhile, the people in the cafeteria stared at him with disgusted expressions—like they were looking at a greedy monkey.
Not long after, he finished his meal, his stomach was extremely bloated and felt like it was about to explode, he then stood up with a satisfied expression and rubbed his stomach.
Just as he was opening his mouth with great joy, he felt something was off.
"Eh?"
His surroundings distorted momentarily, making Ray shocked and alert—his view around him seemed to glitch.
"W-what?!"
Ray quickly stood up with cold sweat on his face, he stretched out his hand to use the [Summon] Perk and tried to call out to The Weaver.
Just as he was about to activate his Perk, his surroundings suddenly returned to normal, but Ray's eyes remained wide with irregular breathing.
'Hey! Isn't that William?! He's really handsome!'
'That's William! The best Slayer in this military!'
Not far from there, Ray heard the sound of a group of people, they seemed excited, and their eyes were all fixed on one person walking through the cafeteria.
The person at the center of attention was a guy almost as tall as him, with glowing green eyes, brown hair, a handsome face, and an athletic build, wearing a uniform with a white cloak.
"Who is he?" he thought.
That guy kept walking, even passing by Ray. Ray quickly turned around to look at him, and many people were following him, bumping into Ray, making him annoyed, especially with his stomach full.
"H-hey! Watch where you're going, okay?!" he said, getting bumped around and overwhelmed.
After a while of being bombarded by the guy's fans, Ray finally stood up again with an annoyed expression on his face.
He then turned around and tried to catch another glimpse of the guy, but all he could see was the backs and butts of his followers. "Who is he? How can he have so many fans like that?"
"If I'm not mistaken, his name is William Cassener," Ray, who heard that, quickly turned around.
As he turned around, he was startled and jumped back. He very shocked when he saw Michael's face inches from his own.
"Fuck! Are you trying to jumpscare me?!" Ray said, growing more annoyed as he muttered.
"Not really," Michael replied shortly. Ray got even more annoyed, and just as he was about to speak, something suddenly punched his stomach, and he made a painful expression.
Ray immediately grabbed his stomach in pain, even bending over. It turned out the one who punched him was the girl who was sitting next to Michael earlier at the Ascendant Room.
"I told you, don't talk to my brother!" the girl said with a threatening tone, then she hugged Michael.
Ray then stood up with an increasingly annoyed expression. "Hey, Michael?! Is this girl your sister?! Teach her some manners, that punch hurt like hell!"
Michael just sighed softly, then scolded the girl. The girl, still hugging Michael, could only look teary-eyed and kept apologizing.
"What is wrong with that girl? So cloppy," Ray thought.
"Sorry about her being naughty... Her name's Cylis Emily, I guess it's better if you know her name, even though it's sudden," Michael said while patting Cylis' head—while Cylis just stuck her tongue out at Ray with a teasing expression.
Just as the three of them started talking, the sound of footsteps approached them.
"Oh oh oh, what's going on here? Is there a problem, guys?" said a man with his arms crossed over his chest as he approached them. It was William Cassener.
Ray furrowed his brow, confused by William's sudden friendliness—while Cylis just gave him a sharp stare and continued to hug Michael.
"Ah, no... We were just having a casual chat, hehe," Ray said with a awkward laugh and a forced smile, hoping he wouldn't get into trouble this time.
"Oh, good to hear that. By the way, this is the first time I see you here, you're also wearing the Ascendant Room uniform... Are you an Ascendant Slayer?" William asked with a thin smile, making Ray slightly suspicious.
"Y-yeah, nice to meet you, my name's Ray Arcelius... My class is The Summoner," Ray said, extending his hand and returning a thin smile.
Seeing that, everyone in the cafeteria looked at him with even more disgust and muttered insults at him, and one of William's followers immediately spoke up. "Wait, young master! He's a peasant from Fool City! You don't have to befriend someone like him.
"Young master? Am I dealing with another spoiled rich kid?" Ray thought, rolling his eyes in boredom.
"And I'm William Cassener," he said, ignoring his follower's remark and shaking hands with Ray, giving him a thin smile.
Feeling like this is a good start, Ray immediately shook hands with him—but something felt off... William's grip was incredibly strong and tight.
William's face still wore a smile, as if nothing was wrong, but his grip seemed to be crushing Ray's fingers. Ray could only grit his teeth and return a thin smile, trying not to show the pain.
"Oh, I think introductions like this are too ordinary, don't you think? How about we have a little duel in the arena? Just a friendly introduction, hehe," William said with an innocent-looking smile.
"Duel?" Ray looked at Michael, but he just sighed and turned away. Cylis, on the other hand, grabbed Michael's hand and whispered something to Ray. "You're cooked."
"Yeah! It's just a friendly duel, just for introduction, and I've never heard of the Summoner class before, it's just a way to bond, I promise," William said convincingly, making Ray try to process the situation.
Just as Ray was thinking, suddenly William's followers burst into cheers and chants.
'Teach him a lesson, young master! Show the strength of The Heroes to that commoner!'
'Bring it on! Bring it on! Bring it on!'
He then facepalmed and let out a slow sigh.
He had read a fiction story before, and his current situation was eerily similar to the one in the story, where the bully always seems to show up.
Just as Ray thought that his situation was like in a story, the environment around him suddenly glitched again, and the bodies of the people around him started to distort like they were experiencing a digital disruption.
"What the...?! This again?!" he thought, his gaze wary and scanning the surroundings.
A moment later, the environment returned to normal, and seeing Ray's alertness, William spoke up with confusion. "Hey, what's wrong? Do you will bring it on the duel?"
"Ah? Y-yeah, maybe it's not a bad idea to have a duel as an introduction," Ray replied, his expression returning to normal now that everything had settled down.
William smiled thinly, then motioned for Ray to follow him to the duel arena—accompanied by almost everyone in the cafeteria, who were all curious about the upcoming duel.
As they made their way through the corridors to the duel arena, a large number of Slayers began to follow them from behind, filling up the corridor and creating a sea of people.
"Looks like you've got quite a fanbase," Ray said, glancing back over his shoulder.
"Haha, it's a bit funny... But yeah, I actually like it when they cheer me on like this," William replied casually, a relaxed smile on his face.
Ray was thinking about a few things, and he knew for sure that William wanted to embarrass him in front of everyone, but... did it have to be this over-the-top?
When they arrived at the arena, Ray was once again amazed by the arena. The arena was massive, with a hard stone floor, and a giant screen at the top to broadcast the live action inside.
The two of them were getting ready in the arena, and Ray was even offered a choice of weapons since he didn't have any—he ended up choosing a one-handed sword.
"Oh, I wanted to ask you something... Why did you choose me to duel with you in the arena?" Ray said, getting ready and having a safety chip attached.
"Hmm... Maybe you could call me a duel maniac?" William replied with a grin.
"Eh?"
"You didn't see me at the Ascendant room today, did you? Want to know why? I was busy dueling, of course. Almost everyone here has dueled with me, and I love it," William added, drawing an antique sword from his scabbard.
The sword looked incredibly cool and shiny, as if its blade was coated with thick mana that could crush anything with a single swing.
Ray also activated his [Summon] Perk, calling forth two The Weavers. Not to be outdone, he also coated his sword with the [Mana Flux] Perk.
'Show him no mercy, young master! Take him down!'
'What? Seriously? He's fighting with two weak spiders by his side? He's really an idiot!'
"Are you ready? The Summoner..." William said, standing firm with a wide grin on his face, ready to pounce.
Ray just smiled thinly and cleared his throat, getting into a stance with the two The Weavers at the ready in front of him.
"Relax, I'm ready."
[ Aphares Log In Succesfully... ]
[ Duel Will Started From The Countdown... ]
[ 3... ]
[ 2... ]
[ 1... ]
[ Begin... ]
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