The next day
Lucian found the building easily enough.
The class was already in session when he walked through the door. Twenty or so students turned to look at him. Some with curiosity. Some with annoyance. A girl in the front row whispered something to the person next to her.
He stopped just inside the doorway and looked at his tablet. Room 204. Introduction to Western Philosophy. That matched. He looked up at the board. Same title.
So he was in the right place.
The lecturer stopped talking. A woman in her forties with glasses and a tone that said she did not tolerate nonsense. She looked at him over the rim of her glasses.
"Can I help you?"
Lucian met her gaze.
"Lucian. I'm a transfer student. Just checking if this is the right class."
She didn't blink.
"What class are you looking for?"
"Introduction to Western Philosophy. Room 204."
She nodded once.
"You're in the right place. Take a seat. And next time, arrive on time."
Lucian gave a small nod and walked down the aisle. He found an empty seat near the back. The students around him stole glances but quickly looked away when he turned his head.
The lecturer resumed.
"Where were we. Right. The allegory of the cave. Plato's argument that most humans live in a shadow of the truth, seeing only reflections of reality rather than reality itself."
Lucian pulled out a notebook. He didn't plan to write anything. It just felt like something a normal student would do.
Then he heard it.
A soft ding. Inside his head.
He kept his face neutral.
A screen appeared in his vision.
NEW SYSTEM FUNCTION UNLOCKED: KNOWLEDGE TAB
THIS TAB CONTAINS ALL ACADEMIC SUBJECTS, COURSES, AND FIELDS OF STUDY CURRENTLY AVAILABLE AT ASHFORD UNIVERSITY.
ALL SUBJECTS: LEVEL 99
- PHILOSOPHY: LEVEL 99
- MATHEMATICS: LEVEL 99
- LITERATURE: LEVEL 99
- HISTORY: LEVEL 99
- BIOLOGY: LEVEL 99
- CHEMISTRY: LEVEL 99
- PHYSICS: LEVEL 99
- ECONOMICS: LEVEL 99
- POLITICAL SCIENCE: LEVEL 99
- PSYCHOLOGY: LEVEL 99
- SOCIOLOGY: LEVEL 99
- ART HISTORY: LEVEL 99
- MUSIC THEORY: LEVEL 99
- LINGUISTICS: LEVEL 99
- COMPUTER SCIENCE: LEVEL 99
- ENGINEERING: LEVEL 99
- MEDICINE: LEVEL 99
- LAW: LEVEL 99
- BUSINESS: LEVEL 99
- EDUCATION: LEVEL 99
- AGRICULTURE: LEVEL 99
- ARCHITECTURE: LEVEL 99
ADDITIONAL SUBJECTS AVAILABLE. TOO MANY TO DISPLAY.
NOTE: HOST MAY ACCESS ANY ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE AT ANY TIME. NO STUDY REQUIRED.
Lucian read the list. Then he read it again.
Level ninety nine in every subject. Every single one.
He let out a quiet breath through his nose.
Of course.
Of course the system would give him this too.
He leaned back in his chair and looked at the lecturer. She was still talking about Plato's cave. Something about prisoners chained to a wall, watching shadows, believing the shadows were real.
Lucian almost laughed.
He had spent eighteen years in the countryside thinking the world was normal. Thinking the Veil didn't exist. Thinking his mother was just a rich woman and his sister was just a brat and his father was just gone.
Shadows on a wall.
Now he could see the fire behind him.
He closed his eyes.
Not sleeping. Just resting. The orientation for the Ashford Keep wasn't until evening. He had hours to kill. And he didn't need to study for any of his classes. Ever.
The lecturer's voice faded into background noise.
Someone two rows ahead dropped a pen. Someone else coughed. The heating system hummed.
Lucian kept his eyes closed.
His mind wandered to the team. Four strangers he hadn't met yet. Cora. Mason. Sera. Derek. He had read their profiles on the tablet last night. They all seemed normal enough. Talented. Driven. Completely unaware that their new teammate could probably solo every threat they would ever face.
He wasn't supposed to show off. His mother said to lay low.
But laying low had never been his strength.
He smirked behind closed eyelids.
The lecturer kept talking.
Lucian kept his eyes closed.
And the morning passed.
Late in the afternoon, Lucian sat in the cafeteria.
He had a tray in front of him. Nothing fancy. Just some bread and water. He wasn't really hungry. He was just killing time until the orientation.
Someone sat down across from him.
He looked up.
Cora. And some guy he didn't recognize.
Cora smiled. It wasn't a friendly smile. More like a cat that found something interesting.
"You must be Lucian." She tilted her head. "Well, you are him. Seeing as you're not reacting, you already know who I am."
Lucian set down his water.
"I read the files. Of course I know you."
He looked at the guy next to her. Blond. Clean-cut. Friendly face. The kind of person who probably volunteered for everything.
"You, on the other hand, I don't know."
The guy grinned. Stuck out his hand.
"I'm in your class this morning. Seems you weren't too interested in the lectures."
Lucian didn't take the hand.
The guy pulled it back without looking offended.
"I'm Mark. Your class representative."
Lucian looked at Cora.
Cora looked back at him.
Something passed between them. A silent recognition. Both of them knew the other wasn't normal.
Mark kept talking. Something about schedules. Something about covering for absences. Lucian wasn't listening.
He stood up.
"Mark, I can't talk right now. Text me later. We'll figure out the class schedules and how you're going to cover for me. Right now, I have something pressing to deal with."
He moved his head slightly toward the door. A silent signal to Cora.
Cora stood up immediately. Didn't even glance at Mark.
Mark blinked at the empty seats.
"Every year we meet strange people," he muttered to himself.
---
Outside the cafeteria.
Lucian walked until they were behind a large tree. Out of sight from the windows. Out of earshot from the students passing by.
Cora stopped a few feet away from him. Her arms crossed.
"Are you sure you're a first-year hunter?"
Lucian frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Cora bit her lip. She looked like she had just said something she shouldn't have.
"I mean... I can't see your stats."
She winced immediately. Regretted it.
Lucian let out a quiet breath. Relief.
She couldn't see his stats. That meant her system only worked on people weaker than her. Or maybe only on people who didn't have their own system. Either way, she couldn't read him.
"You have a system," he said. Acting like he was just figuring it out.
Cora's eyes narrowed.
"Isn't that why you wanted me to come out here?" She studied his face. "The way we looked at each other in there... it was like we both knew something. I thought you had one too."
Lucian didn't confirm or deny.
He just looked at her. Let the silence stretch.
Then he spoke slowly. Like he was thinking out loud.
"So that would explain the abnormality in your soul structure."
Cora went still.
"You're a reincarnator. Reborn with a system. Something I've only ever seen in novels." He tilted his head. "You're like the main character."
The air changed.
Cora's posture shifted. Her weight moved to the balls of her feet. Her hands uncurled slightly. Ready.
Her voice dropped.
"I have to kill you now."