Entering the cafeteria, Noctis followed his usual routine.
He selected his food from the all-you-can-eat buffet, settled into a random free seat, and fixed his gaze on a large piece of juicy red meat with casually arranged side dishes beside it.
Now that I have a relatively safe source of nourishing food, should I start training my body? Noctis wondered whether his new circumstances warranted a change in his lifestyle.
Back in the day, it was not really worth the time spent training, since he did not have enough food to build muscle.
He might have been able to get enough nourishment if he had really tried, since he was smart and resourceful at times, yet ironically, his quick-witted intellect also told him it was not truly worth the time, since a normal human's strength was not worth expanding upon.
Adding to that, he wasn't in the best state of mind back then, since for the first time, he had to learn how to deal with loneliness after his parents' passing.
Now it was different. To survive back then, Noctis had once read of two strategies to survive in a hostile environment, and he could not agree more with these statements: one was to be strong, so strong that no one would dare or could dare trample upon you, the other was to become like shit, unappealing, with no value something no one would want to trample upon.
This logic could be seen across nature, as confrontation always had its roots in profit, and if the profits one could gain were more than what one was to lose, confrontation was preprogrammed.
Back then, Noctis could only hold his head low as he went for the latter strategy. He was weak, young, inexperienced, with nothing more than a good head on his shoulders, which made it unrealistic to strive for the first strategy, at least for the moment.
But now, now he had the option to become strong, and he could free himself from his circumstances. He was living from day to day, merely surviving, not striving to achieve anything, not really interested in anything, bored by his repeteiv life that would enevitibly lead him to either die in a ditch or take his own life no longer feeling it worth living, as so many had done before him, but now he could strive to achieve something, to see interessting things and follow that unexplainable feeling that he had felt before; he might have no true interest or had not thought about a way forward.
But now he could, now he could dream and follow his dreams, or at the very least die trying.
Feeling excitement fluctuate in his chest, Noctis couldn't help but look forward to the path ahead. He wasn't one to reach too high, but having a good life, with food, maybe a wife and kids, didn't seem that bad.
Of course, he knew the path ahead was filled with complications, setbacks, and obstacles, but hope was a strong emotion, not easily snuffed out. There was a reason for the saying, "Hope dies last."
Internally deciding to grasp this opportunity and put in effort, Noctis continued eating.
"Hello there, is this place empty?"
A laid-back voice could be heard from the side, interrupting his contemplations suddenly.
Looking over, Noctis was surprised to see Trisha standing beside him. When did she get here? This was a public place, so it wasn't unusual to see a few students, but how did she get so close without his notice?
As an experienced gambler, Noctis quickly hid any surprise on his face. He adjusted his posture, met her gaze politely, and replied in a steady tone.
"Of course, what brings you here?"
Of course, he could guess why she was here. Simply throwing something out to buy time for his own thoughts was one of his go-to strategies to stay on top of a conversation. Noctis was many things, but someone who didn't learn from his mistakes, he was not, and he would not fall for her teasing ever again!
Trisha curled her purple lips into a small smile, pulled back a chair, and sat down with deliberate elegance. Noctis noticed she wasn't wearing academy clothes, but rather a green blouse paired with black pants made from a common fabric that accentuated her figure. He shook his head, consciously pushing away those thoughts, then directed his attention to her, waiting for her to explain her presence.
"Oh, I was just nearby. Isn't it normal to eat with your classmates?... Oh, or do you not like me? Hm. hm. hm."
Saying the latter part in a childish, joking voice, Trisha chukled slightly.
Not knowing how to respond, Noctis simply nodded and continued eating.
Looking towards him, Trisha slightly tilted her head. She asked, making Noctis frown:
"So, from your reaction, you have subordinated yourself to Raef, right?"
What does she mean? Was that what that group tried doing when they "invited" me to their room? And how does my reaction tell her that I have subordinated myself to Reaf? Is she on bad terms with him?
Oh, right, and what happened with Riven?Playing it cool, Noctis answered, in the hope of gaining more information, "What would it be to you?"Looking at him with interest, something seemed to light up in her eyes as she replied,
"So you aren't in his group."
What? How has she gotten so certain all of a sudden? From her gothic look, I assumed she was totally antisocial. Or is she trying to con me? Not showing the slightest change of emotions on his face, he asked in return. "Why would you say such a thing?" Staying vague should be the safest choice.
At this point, Noctis noticed Trisha watching him, a barely contained smile slowly appearing on her lips. I fucked up.
"Oh come on, it's so obvious, you might be good at hiding your emotions, but when one works with an incomplete set of information, how could you even dream of deceiving me?"
Staying stoic, Noctis didn't answer, not because he had no rebuttal, but because he was almost certain that he would give away more than was necessary if he opened his mouth.
"Okay, okay, I'll explain. There are a few factions in our little class, and Raef and I are quite familiar with each other, so because of our little clashes, he now forbids all of his little goons to have contact with me."
So that was it. Well, I couldn't have known that. This is simply unfair. Giving up on his front, Noctis let out a sigh and asked.
"How come there are fractions in our class? Isn't this simply a preparatory system to make us useful to the city?"
Satisfied with Noctis dropping his act, she answered with a smile.
"That's true, but isn't it human nature to crowd together and try to stand above others?... And are you truly naive enough to believe that everyone here gets treated equally?
Hopefully, you are aware that raising an Authority holder effectively requires substantial resources. How do you think these are distributed?"
Hearing this, Noctis had a moment of realization. If so, wouldn't it be normal to advocate for the students' competitiveness to further their growth and to shine a light on those who stand above the rest? Or had the character become useful pawns to be discarded when the time came?
It was only logical to sort the raw diamonds from the coal, then help them prosper and integrate into our city's system. This world was a very hostile environment with little to spare, and one had to be smart and tactically aware of how to use what little one had.
Of course, all of us were, to a certain extent, already integrated into the system; it was just that, with the change in our value, we were being reallocated and reeducated to better fit our roles.
"How does the competitive side of this school work?"
Chukeling lightly, she simply said.
"You'll find out tomorrow."
Hearing this, Noctis cursed inwardly. How come everyone loves to play the role of a charlatan the moment I ask for vital information!?
Why didn't the teacher tell me about this kind of competition to begin with? Is this some kind of test to see how one would work without an Incentive to progress? Or do they want to see how good one is at improvisation under pressure? T-they didn't just forget telling me, right?
Distracting himself from these thoughts, Noctis noticed their conversation growing silent, so he decided to try asking something he really wanted to know, but at the same time didn't want anybody else to know about him. Asking as if in passing:
"While studying, I heard that some people skip the Initial stage, named holder, and directly go to the second stage, Asymilator. Is that true? And if so, do we have such individuals in our class?
Throwing Noctis a suspicious look, as if asking why this of all questions, she answered:
"Well, yes, it does happen from time to time. At this time, we have a few such individuals in our ranks, but not all of them started out in the first rank; of those, we have only two, while three others reached it shortly after starting."
"First rank? Oh, do people hide it like you mentioned that people hide their symbolism?"
Shaking her head slowly, she responded:
"You dont even fully understand the ranking system? The First: because the holder stage is strictly not considered a stage, it's more like you have a fragment and are on the way down the path, but haven't fully started yet.
Some hide their symbolism, but with most, it is too flashy to hide. Most people try to hide the true origin of their concept, and as per our ranks, they aren't really public, but they aren't hidden either, as we are supposed to report such things whenever we make significant progress.
And much more importantly, people start showing small physical changes at this stage, like eye color changing, a stronger physique, or, with some, the Hair has certain changes..."
Frowning slightly at the absolutely carefree tone of hers, with a slightly suggestive voice change at the last part, Noctis asked, feeling that something didn't make sense and trying to distract from the topic.
"But don't people in the holder stage and people in the Asymilator stage both have very different progression paths?"
Returning to her typical laidback expression, she simply answered, making his skin crawl. "Of course, Holders need the resource more urgently, but that is the rule of the world: big fish eat small fish and small fish eat shrimp. Asymilators might need such resources less urgently, but tell me, would you leave such valuable resources for others simply out of the goodness of your heart?
They can still use them, so why leave such easily found food? Besides that, this entire facility is designed to throw out as many Authority Wealders as quickly as possible, into the larger confines of the system. So, developing a bit of conflict between students is seen as a positive development and will be overlooked to a certain extent."Staying silent for a while, Noctis could fully understand what she meant, and even if he did not like it, he had to agree.
Placidly ignoring the part criticizing the city and its government, Noctis let out a deep sigh.
"Well, I can't deny that I wouldn't do any better in such a situation."
Nodding satisfied.
"At least you're honest. I've had similar conversations where the other party, with full conviction, stated that they would never abuse the weak and how the duty of the strong was to protect them, only to hypocritically go back on their word a month later."
Trisha spoke with a trace of wistfulness and a mixture of ridicule flowing into her words. Not pokking around anymore, both returned to their meals. They ate quietly, the atmosphere peaceful and relaxed. Once he finished eating, Noctis said his goodbyes in a friendly manner and left the cafeteria. Clearly showing his attitude and underlying agreement to her claims.
Throwing himself back into bed, Noctis wasn't sure what to do now. He was wide awake after that conversation with much on his mind, but at the same time, he knew that it was best to go to sleep early, as he did not know what was to come tomorrow. The only thing he was certain about was that the next few days would be hectic and exhausting.
At the end, deciding to simply use his symbolism a little more to get used to summoning it quickly and quicken his accommodation of it, he lay down, with his arm stretched over the edge of the bed, five threads extending from his fingertips, connected to a slowly growing mountain of silk, quickly creating a new mountain of silk, besides it laying another one almost identical to the one piling up.
So most dont hide their symbolism. Hmm, slightly turning his head, he watched the strings quickly flowing downward out of his fingertips. It doesn't seem like I'll be any different. The Symbolism he had might not have been the most flashy, but it obviously left a trace every time it was used. Evident by the mountains of thread that were building up in his room.
From what he could tell, this thread, when used in combat, can be used in maybe two ways. One would be to try using it as a kind of weapon, entangling another in it; the other was the more suitable approach, which would be to tactically set up a place to then later use the strings as a trap of sorts. Similar to how a spider catches its prey.
At this point, Noctis only had Ideas on how to use it. With little knowledge or experience in this field, he wasn't even sure to what extent he could manipulate these strings, or how others used their symbolisms.
He had watched fights between people from time to time, but he normally tried to get to a safe distance whenever something started. He had only once seen a beast breaking through the walls, and back then, he was busy saving his skin instead of analyzing the fight.
So he might have some experience fighting, but there was little of it, and one had to add that he had none when it came to fights between Authority holders, so of course, his imagination was limited to a certain extent.
Feeling that the production of silk was slowly draining his strength, he knew he could start sleeping at any moment now.
Slowly giving in to the temptation of sleep, Noctis closed his eyes, enjoying the sweet embrace of sleep.