The canteen was a loud, chaotic mess.
Jin focused on his wooden bowl. He scraped the bottom with his spoon. The brown stew was bland, and the meat was incredibly tough, but it was fuel. He chewed steadily. His body broke the calories down instantly, sending the energy to his repairing muscles.
Luna sat across from him. She was eating much faster now. The anxiety of asking for the loan was gone. She ripped her hard bread into small pieces and soaked them in the broth to make them soft.
Around them, hundreds of senior students laughed and shouted. They banged their iron cups against the dark wooden tables.
The freshmen were completely different. The new students sat in small, quiet groups. They were covered in the dry dirt from Instructor Thorne's arena. They rubbed their cramped legs and stared blankly at their food.
Jin kept his dark eyes moving. He watched the doors. He watched the aisles. A good manager always monitors the flow of traffic in a public space.
Two figures detached from the main serving line. They walked slowly down the wide aisle between the long wooden benches.
It was a boy and a girl. They both wore the standard black academy uniforms. Their clothes were covered in the same grey dust that covered Jin and Luna. They had survived the endless run on the dirt track.
They looked exhausted. The boy had a dark bruise forming on his left cheekbone. He walked with a slight limp, favoring his right leg. The girl walked close beside him. Her hands were wrapped in cheap, frayed cloth bandages. She carried two wooden bowls of the free freshman stew.
They stopped at the end of several tables. Every seat was taken. The seniors had claimed the best spots near the large fire pits. The freshmen had crowded into the remaining benches, huddling together for safety.
The boy and the girl kept walking until they reached the back wall.
They stopped next to Jin and Luna's table.
There were exactly two empty spots on the long wooden bench across from Jin.
The boy hesitated. He looked at Jin's cold, blank face. He looked at the heavy canvas bag resting near Jin's boots. In a place like the Genesis Zenith Academy, you did not just sit down next to a stranger without permission. It was a quick way to start a fight.
"Excuse me," the boy said. His voice was rough and dry. He cleared his throat. "Every other bench is full. The seniors will not let us sit near the fire. Can we take these seats?"
Jin stopped chewing. He lowered his wooden spoon.
He looked at the boy. He looked at the girl. He ran a rapid threat assessment.
They did not wear customized silk. They did not have expensive Aether rings on their fingers. They were commoners. They were outer-rim recruits, just like his current cover identity. They were battered and tired. They posed zero immediate physical threat.
In the corporate world, networking is just as important as capital. You cannot build a monopoly alone. You need to gather data on the people around you. Letting them sit cost absolutely nothing, but it might yield useful intelligence about the other freshmen.
Jin nodded once. He did not smile. He did not say welcome. He just gave the permission.
"Sit," Jin said flatly.
The boy let out a quiet sigh of relief. He slid onto the hard wooden bench. The girl sat down right next to him. She carefully placed the two bowls of stew on the table so the broth would not spill.
"Thanks," the boy said. He picked up his spoon. "I thought my legs were going to snap if I had to stand for another five minutes."
"Eat your food before it gets cold," the girl told him quietly.
They started eating. They were just as hungry as Jin and Luna. They ate quickly, focusing entirely on the tough meat and the hard bread.
For the first five minutes, nobody spoke. The only sound at the table was the scraping of wooden spoons against wooden bowls.
When the boy finished half of his stew, he slowed down. He took a breath and looked across the table. He decided to break the heavy silence.
"I am Rian," the boy said. He pointed his spoon at his own chest. Then he pointed at the girl sitting next to him. "This is Elin. We came from the eastern border towns."
Jin looked at them. He processed the names and the location. The eastern borders were rough. They were close to the Cyberork Empire's territory. It was a place where people learned to fight early.
"Jin," he replied simply. He did not offer a surname. He did not mention the Apex Empire. He pointed a finger at the small girl across from him. "Luna."
"Nice to meet you," Rian said. He rubbed his bruised cheek. He let out a dry, humorless laugh. "Though I wish we met somewhere else. This place is insane."
Jin did not disagree. He took another bite of his bread.
"That giant instructor in the arena," Rian continued, shaking his head. "Thorne. I thought he was going to kill us. I have worked on merchant caravans my whole life. I have hauled iron ore across the desert. But I have never run until my lungs bled before."
"It is a baseline physical filter," Jin stated. He kept his voice completely neutral. "He broke the weak muscles to force the Aether to rebuild them stronger. It is basic biological mechanics."
Rian paused. He looked at Jin with a hint of surprise.
Most of the freshmen were just complaining about the cruelty. They thought Thorne was a sadist. Jin was the only person who casually explained the exact scientific logic behind the torture. Rian realized the quiet boy in the dirty black uniform was not a simple outer-rim thug. He was smart.
"Well, it worked," Elin spoke up. Her voice was soft, but her eyes were sharp. She looked at her bandaged hands. "My legs hurt, but they feel heavier. Denser. If I survive a year here, I think my bones will turn to iron."
Luna looked up from her bowl. She related to the girl.
"I could not even finish the run," Luna admitted quietly. "I collapsed in the dirt. I do not even have a Foundation core yet. I am completely behind everyone."
Elin offered Luna a small, understanding smile.
"Do not worry about it," Elin said kindly. "Half the class collapsed. Rian had to drag me through the last ten laps. We survive by sticking together. You will catch up."
They fell into a simple, casual conversation. They talked about random things to distract themselves from the pain. They talked about the terrible quality of the free stew. They talked about the massive size of the Academy grounds.
Jin mostly listened. He let Luna do the talking. He gathered data. Rian used a heavy spear. Elin used short iron daggers. They were a paired combat unit. They trusted each other completely.
The lunch hour slowly ticked by.
The heavy food settled in their stomachs. The Aether in the meat went to work, giving them a small burst of fresh energy.
Jin raised his left arm. He tapped the dark metal of his Aether-band. The blue holographic screen flared to life above his wrist. He swiped past the map and opened his daily schedule.
There was only one block left for the day.
"We have one more class," Jin announced. He closed the hologram.
Rian checked his own wristband. He nodded. "Basic Survival. Room 104 in the eastern wing."
Jin processed the curriculum. It was a perfectly logical progression.
The morning class was Geography. Instructor Vane taught them the map. She showed them the twenty planets. She showed them exactly where the monsters lived.
The mid-day class was Practical Combat. Instructor Thorne broke their bodies. He taught them that they needed absolute physical strength before they were even allowed to hold a sword. He taught them how to fight.
The last class was Basic Survival.
Jin easily guessed the subject matter. Knowing where the monsters are, and knowing how to punch them, is completely useless if you die of thirst on the way to the hunt.
Survival was about the environment. It was about finding clean water in a poisoned swamp. It was about identifying toxic plants and building a secure perimeter in hostile territory. It was about living long enough away from human civilization to actually use the combat skills.
"Let's go," Jin ordered.
He stood up from the wooden bench. His legs were stiff from sitting, but they held his weight easily. He picked up his empty wooden bowl.
Luna stood up beside him. She grabbed her thick silver book.
Rian and Elin finished the last drops of their broth. They stood up as well. They grabbed their empty bowls.
They walked together toward the massive collection bins near the canteen exit. They dropped the wooden bowls into the deep iron buckets.
They pushed through the heavy double doors and stepped back out into the bright, crowded academy corridors.
Jin took the lead. He already had the route to the eastern wing mapped out in his head. Luna walked closely on his right side.
Rian and Elin did not walk away. They fell into step right behind them.
The conversation at the table had formed a small, unspoken bond. They were all outer-rim commoners. They were all trying to survive the meat grinder of the first year. There was safety in numbers in the crowded hallways.
Jin did not tell them to leave. He accepted the new formation.
Their previous team of two had just grown. Four pairs of heavy leather boots hit the polished stone floor in unison. They had four new legs to help carry the weight of the Academy. They walked down the long corridor, heading straight for the final lesson of the day.