BXBX NOVEL Chapter 49: Welcome to the club
Silas\'s expression shifted instantly. His usual calm melted away, replaced by a cold, dangerous intensity. His eyes, once indifferent, now gleamed with a chilling menace. He slowly reached up and grabbed Sensei Josh\'s hand. His grip tightened with deliberate slowness, each inch squeezing the life out of Josh\'s fingers.
The sensei\'s bravado quickly faded, his bones twisting painfully beneath Silas\'s iron-like grasp.
"Back off," Silas said in a voice barely above a whisper, but it carried a weight that sent a sharp chill down Sensei Josh\'s spine. It wasn\'t just a command—it was a warning laced with a promise of consequences.
Sensei Josh, momentarily paralyzed by both pain and fear, released Silas\'s arm, his heart pounding in his chest. He felt something unsettling in that brief exchange, something that clawed at the edges of his composure. His pulse quickened just from the sight of Silas\'s cold, unreadable face, a face that seemed to strip him of his own strength.
\'Am I really afraid of this trash? Or is it something else? Why is my heart racing like this?\' Sensei Josh thought to himself, his eyes still locked onto Silas as he walked out of the office, shutting the door behind him witt a calm finality.
As Silas strode down the hallway, the tension from the encounter melted away, replaced by a different focus. His gaze was drawn to the notification that floated before him, the glowing text filling his vision.
[Host has shown bravery even in a dire situation]
[+2 attribute points]
\'A reward for bravery? Interesting.\' Silas thought, a small smirk playing at the corner of his lips. \'Those attribute points will definitely come in handy.\' His thoughts lingered on the untapped power he had yet to assign.
\'I still haven\'t used the points I got after the evolution quest either… Sensei Josh interrupted before I could even look into the system properly.\' He cast a glance back down the hallway. \'I guess I\'ll deal with that after today\'s classes.\'
Eventually, Silas arrived at the cafeteria, the bustling noise of students chatting and eating filling the air. He slipped through the entrance and made his way toward the section where paying students were lined up, waiting to buy their meals. Silas joined the queue, standing silently behind the other students, ignoring the hostile looks being shot his way from various tables.
After a few minutes, it was finally his turn. Silas grabbed an enormous portion of food and handed the vendor three Grade 2 Crazed Chimptant claws, spoils from his first evolution quest.
The vendor raised an eyebrow, studying the claws carefully before nodding in approval. "Legit," the vendor muttered before handing over the tray of food. Silas took the tray without a word and began scanning the room for a seat.
As he moved through the crowded cafeteria, his eyes landed on Angelica, who was sitting at a table surrounded by a group of her friends. Her gaze met his, and she waved him over, her face brightening.
"Hey, Silas! Why don\'t you join us?" she called out, her voice carrying over the noise.
Silas shook his head. "Nah, I\'m good," he replied, continuing to walk past her table.
"Come on, mate! Don\'t be shy, have a seat with us!" A voice called from the group, causing Silas to pause mid-step and glance over.
The speaker was a tall, handsome boy with long silver hair tied back in a neat ponytail. His piercing blue eyes and strong jawline made him stand out, and his confident, relaxed demeanor was a clear indicator of his status in the academy.
He was Victor Hardcastle, though most students simply called him Vic. Silas had seen him fight in the Ranking Arena—Vic was a Grade 4 mutant ability user and skilled, to say the least.
His reputation as a top-ranking student made him popular not only for his power but also for his looks, which caused almost every girl in the academy to swoon over him.
After a brief hesitation, Silas turned and approached the table, sitting down in the vacant chair beside Angelica. As he placed his tray on the table, all eyes shifted to the mountain of food he had piled onto it.
"You gonna eat all that, mate? Isn\'t that a bit much?" Vic asked, his eyebrows raised in shock.
"I woke up really hungry," Silas said nonchalantly, his eyes on the food, though a strange feeling began to creep over him.
\'I was starving this morning… but when I used the Soul Recovery, the hunger vanished completely.\'
Even though his hunger had disappeared, Silas had still chosen to buy food, curious to see if he could still eat like a regular person. He picked up a spoon and took a bite, filling his mouth with the food before swallowing. Almost immediately, a wave of nausea hit him, and before he could stop it, he vomited right onto the floor.
"Whoa, what the hell, man?!" A girl sitting across from him exclaimed in disgust. She had long brown hair that matched her piercing brown eyes. Her name was Ivy, a Grade 2 mutant ability user known for her sharp tongue and colder demeanor.
Silas froze, his expression one of shock and confusion. \'I can\'t eat human food anymore?\' His mind raced as he tried to piece things together. Earlier, when he had checked the system, he had noticed a change...
[Name: Silas Griswold]
[Race: Mutant]
\'My race changed from Half-breed to Mutant after the evolution… I evolved into a Tier 5 Soul Devourer mutant. I\'m no longer human, which means I can\'t eat like normal people anymore.\' He stared blankly at the mess on the floor, processing the realization.
"Silas, are you okay?" Angelica asked, her eyes full of concern.
"Yeah, man, what\'s going on?" Vic chimed in, leaning forward with a frown.
Silas finally looked up, forcing a smile. "I\'m fine. Just a little sick. You know… after what happened in the Grade 5 realm. Seeing all those deaths… it still gets to me sometimes," he lied, hoping to deflect their concern.
"Yeah, I heard about that. I don\'t get why you joined a raid in such a high-grade realm. You\'re lucky to be alive," Ivy commented, her tone softer now.
"I needed tokens to upgrade my gear. The raid seemed like the best way to earn a lot of tokens quickly," Silas replied. Ivy nodded in understanding.
An awkward silence settled over the group, with everyone else continuing to eat except for Silas. Angelica, sensing the tension, decided to break it.
"By the way, I don\'t think I\'ve introduced you to everyone, Silas. This is Vic—you probably know him since he\'s pretty well-known around here." Vic flashed a playful grin and raised his juice in a mock salute.
"And this is Ivy. She might seem cold, but she\'s actually pretty sweet once you get to know her," Angelica added with a smile.
"And finally, this is David," she gestured toward the last boy, who had been silent the entire time. He looked up briefly, but his shyness was evident. Silas noticed the single glowing bar on David\'s skill slot, marking him as a low-grade mutant ability user. That explained his timid nature. "They are the only people that stayed with me even after I awakened a wrong mutant ability."
"Nice to meet you all," Silas said, nodding politely. He didn\'t want to be part of any group, he only agreed to sit with them because of Vic.
Vic was well known in the Ranking arena so if he gets close to him he might learn a few thing.
"Welcome to the club, mate," Vic added with a warm smile.
Across the cafeteria, a group of boys sat watching them intently, their eyes narrowing as they noticed Vic and his group.
"That bastard Vic… Is he mocking us by recruiting a guy with no visible abilities?" Billy, one of the boys, sneered. His voice dripped with contempt. "He thinks just because he\'s topping the leaderboard, he can bring in weaklings and still stay on top."
"We lost our spot in the rankings because of that guy Ghost Ranger," another boy muttered bitterly.
"Ghost Ranger… I hope he shows up soon. I want to crush him and reclaim my rank," Billy growled, his eyes darkening with anger. "And as for Vic and his little group, we\'ll deal with them soon enough."