Noon at Astraea Combat Academy was never peaceful.
The grand cafeteria a vast hall of vaulted ceilings, long polished tables, and tall windows flooding the room with sunlight pulsed with noise. Hundreds of students filled the space with overlapping conversations, clattering trays, and bursts of laughter. The air carried the scent of roasted meat, fresh bread, and mana-infused tea.
For most, it was a place to relax.
For others, it was a battlefield without rules.
Shin sat near the far end of a long table, shoulders slightly hunched, hands wrapped around a bowl of soup that had long since cooled.
He had not eaten much.
Not because he lacked appetite.
Because people kept "accidentally" occupying nearby seats only to leave moments later, citing vague excuses.
It was not overt hostility.
Not open bullying.
Just the quiet, suffocating isolation reserved for those deemed weak.
Across the hall, Shin could see groups laughing together, sharing food, arguing about training results.
He lowered his gaze.
"…It's fine," he murmured to himself. "I don't need that."
He had something more important now.
Purpose.
A master.
Just thinking the word sent a small thrill through him.
Master Yorio…
Someone strong had acknowledged him.
Someone extraordinary had agreed to watch his training.
For the first time since arriving at Astraea, he did not feel completely alone.
The mood shifted before Shin even looked up.
Conversations dimmed slightly near the entrance.
A broad-shouldered boy with short dark hair strode into the cafeteria, flanked by two companions. His posture radiated confidence bordering on aggression, the kind of presence that demanded space without needing to ask.
Jaber.
A first-year known less for talent and more for his relentless competitiveness particularly toward Shin.
Where Shin trained to improve himself…
Jaber trained to prove superiority.
He spotted Shin almost immediately.
A slow grin spread across his face.
"Well, if it isn't the academy's most persistent failure."
His voice carried easily.
Too easily.
Heads turned.
Shin's hands tightened around the bowl.
"…Leave me alone."
"Why?" Jaber said, sliding onto the bench across from him without invitation. "Your expression is entertaining."
His companions snickered.
"I heard you got beaten up by a third-year," one added.
"That's not…"
"Relax," Jaber cut in. "You should be grateful. At least someone acknowledged your existence."
Laughter rippled around them.
Shin's chest burned.
Not from anger alone.
From humiliation.
He had endured worse back home, but here in a place meant to forge strength weakness felt heavier.
"Maybe you should quit," Jaber said casually. "Go back to whatever village you crawled out of."
Something inside Shin snapped.
He stood abruptly, bench scraping loudly against the floor.
"I won't quit!"
The cafeteria quieted.
Jaber raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? And why not?"
Shin's heart pounded.
Fear clawed at his throat.
But he remembered the quiet boy under the ash tree.
Remembered the calm voice.
Remembered the strength that required no boasting.
"I… I have a master now!"
Murmurs erupted instantly.
"A master?"
"Who would take him?"
"No way…"
Jaber leaned forward, eyes narrowing.
"…What did you say?"
Shin clenched his fists.
"I am now the disciple of Master Yorio!"
Silence fell like a blade.
Even the distant clatter of dishes seemed to stop.
Jaber's expression shifted from amusement to disbelief.
"…You're joking."
"I'm not."
"That monster accepted you?"
"He's not a monster!"
Jaber stood slowly.
Chairs scraped.
"Then prove it."
He swung without warning.
Shin barely raised his arms in time.
The punch slammed into his guard, driving him backward into the table behind him. Dishes shattered. Soup spilled across the floor.
Pain shot through his forearms.
Before he could recover, Jaber struck again faster, harder, more precise.
A kick to the ribs.
A shove to the shoulder.
Shin stumbled, lost balance, crashed to the ground.
Gasps rippled through the cafeteria.
Some students stood.
None intervened.
This was Astraea.
Strength settled disputes.
Shin forced himself up.
He swung wildly.
Jaber sidestepped effortlessly and drove a fist into Shin's stomach.
Air left his lungs in a broken gasp.
He dropped to one knee, vision blurring.
Pathetic, part of his mind whispered.
Jaber grabbed his collar and lifted him slightly.
"Your master isn't here to save you."
From across the hall, Mira Borne watched with tightly clasped hands.
She had risen halfway from her seat twice.
Sat back down both times.
Intervening physically would only escalate things.
But watching felt unbearable.
Her eyes closed briefly.
Someone… please stop this…
Footsteps entered the cafeteria behind her.
Quiet.
Unhurried.
Unremarkable.
Yet the atmosphere shifted instantly.
Mira's eyes snapped open.
Yorio had come only to get food.
He had been debating between soup and bread when he noticed the crowd forming.
Crowds usually meant trouble.
Trouble usually meant avoiding the area.
But then he heard a familiar voice.
"…Master Yorio…"
He froze.
Shin?
A cold knot formed in his stomach.
(I'm weak… I'm weak… I'm weak…) he chanted internally like a desperate mantra.
Everyone here is stronger than me.
Don't get involved.
You will get hurt.
But Shin was on the floor.
And Yorio had promised unintentionally to watch over his training.
He sighed.
"…Why does this keep happening?"
Then he walked forward.
Jaber felt it before he saw him.
A sudden tightening in the air.
Conversations dying mid-sentence.
The unmistakable sensation of being watched by something dangerous.
He turned.
Yorio stood a few steps away.
Expression blank.
Eyes calm.
Posture relaxed.
Ordinary.
Yet every rumor Jaber had heard roared to life in his mind.
The first-year who defeated the third-year First Rank.
Without touching him.
Without visible effort.
A monster in human form.
Yorio spoke softly.
"What are you doing?"
Jaber's throat went dry.
"…You."
Shin's face lit up despite his injuries.
"Master!!"
Gasps spread.
Master.
So the rumor was true.
Jaber's hands trembled slightly, though he tried to hide it.
"I—I don't care who you are!" he shouted, voice cracking. "Don't look at me with those eyes!"
Yorio blinked.
He wasn't looking with any special expression.
This was just his face.
Panic rose.
Yorio had no idea how to de-escalate a fight with someone stronger than him.
Running would abandon Shin.
Talking wasn't working.
So his body defaulted to something familiar.
Something from another life.
Karate.
Specifically…
A very old beginner technique his father had once taught him for confidence.
He stepped forward.
Took a stance.
And shouted at the top of his lungs:
"OSU!!!"
The cafeteria froze.
No one had heard that sound before.
It wasn't a spell.
Not a battle cry common in Avalon.
It was sharp.
Sudden.
Completely alien.
Jaber flinched instinctively.
"What the—?!"
Yorio executed a basic straight punch into empty air.
"YA!"
Then a front kick.
"SEI!"
Then another punch.
"TOH!"
Each movement accompanied by loud, explosive shouts.
Completely incomprehensible.
Completely unexpected.
Utterly terrifying.
Students stared in stunned silence.
"What… is that?"
"Is he attacking the air?"
"No… he's building momentum!"
"It must be a foreign technique!"
Mira covered her mouth, eyes wide.
Even she, composed as she was, had no idea what she was witnessing.
Shin's eyes shone with awe.
So this is Master's technique…
Precise movements.
Controlled breathing.
Explosive vocalization.
An advanced discipline beyond his comprehension.
Jaber staggered backward.
Every shout felt like an invisible blow.
Every movement seemed to carry unseen force.
"I—I don't want trouble!" he blurted, retreating further. "Keep your weird attacks away from me!"
Yorio stopped mid-motion, confused.
"…Weird attacks?"
Jaber bolted.
Actually bolted.
Nearly tripping over a fallen chair in his haste to escape.
His companions followed immediately.
The cafeteria erupted into stunned murmurs.
Yorio lowered his arms slowly.
"…Did that work?"
Shin scrambled upright despite his pain.
"Master… that was incredible!"
"It was?"
"Yes! The way you projected power without touching him—!"
"I didn't—"
"Please teach me that technique!"
Students nodded vigorously.
"Yeah, what was that called?"
"Is it a secret art?"
"Is it mana-based?"
Yorio panicked.
"…It's… basic exercise."
They gasped.
Basic?
Mira stared at him, mind racing.
If that was basic… what does advanced look like?
Within minutes, the story spread:
Yorio had repelled an aggressor without making contact.
Using an unknown martial art accompanied by explosive vocal techniques.
A discipline so overwhelming that the opponent fled in terror.
At the center of it all, Yorio just wanted lunch.
He looked at the spilled soup on the floor.
"…I didn't even get to eat."
Shin straightened proudly beside him, bruised but smiling.
"Master, I will buy you a new meal!"
"…You don't have to."
"I insist!"
Yorio sighed.
Maybe things would calm down now.
They would not.
Because Astraea Combat Academy had just witnessed something entirely new.
Not strength.
Not magic.
Something stranger.
And far more difficult to understand.
To be continue