Kaen was walking down the hallway after leaving the Magic Combat class with Professor Aeryn.
"Dude, what was that thing you did?"
Marco was next to him, talking nonstop about what he had just witnessed. He kept praising the professor, her style, but most of all... he couldn't stop thinking about what Kaen had done during class.
Of course, Kaen would've called that much talking an exaggeration. In his opinion, any conversation that went beyond three lines already qualified as background character rambling.
"That was nothing."
"What do you mean 'nothing'? You neutralized all the professor's attacks! And that last one? How did you stop that lightning spell?"
Fair question.
Marco wasn't the only one wondering how Kaen had simply... canceled the spell. The attack didn't even reach him. It vanished before it got close.
Blocking magic was common.
But canceling a spell completely? For people who lived and breathed magic, that was basically insane.
But for Kaen, someone from a world where magic didn't exist and physics was the only rule, it was logical. Expected.
He remembered the moment: the lightning spell coming in a straight line, the professor smiling, and him raising his hand.
All he did was channel his power. Of course, it wasn't just regular mana, but his unique ability of vector manipulation.
He injected energy into the space around his body with precision, shaping invisible vectors around himself. A kind of invisible field formed, altering the air and pushing away the particles that would carry electricity.
The rule was simple. No circuit, no discharge. The spell dissipated before it even touched him.
"Just a bit of physics."
"Physics?"
It was partly true.
The concept made sense back on Earth. But here in Veyhart, Kaen had access to a power that turned what would've been a wild theory on Earth into reality.
It was like he had his own domain.
Of course, that didn't make him invincible. He had just been lucky that the professor used an electric spell. If it had been something more chaotic or a higher-level spell, he'd be screwed.
"Be quiet, Marco. That doesn't matter to you. Didn't you say your specialty was light magic? Then you'll never be able to do that."
Annoying extra... asking things even I can't explain properly.
What could Kaen even say? Oh, I just snapped my fingers and it happened? Or maybe: Actually, I was a physics student in my boring previous life and used a bit of basic knowledge?
It wasn't a lie. But he couldn't say that. And since he didn't know how to explain it in magical terms... screw it.
While Marco kept talking as they walked, Kaen kept looking away, searching for something more interesting than that conversation.
That's when he spotted Yenne further down the hall.
She was standing still, like she was waiting for someone. And judging by how she was looking at him, Kaen had a strong feeling that someone was him.
"Let's turn here."
"Huh? Uh... sure."
They took a left, heading toward the cafeteria.
"Hey, you. Don't ignore me again!"
Didn't help.
Yenne was already walking fast behind them, drawing everyone's attention.
"When are you going to stop ignoring me?"
"Do we have anything to talk about?"
Kaen answered without even turning around, still walking beside Marco.
"Kaen... maybe you shouldn't talk to her like that. She's from the Veltarion family."
"Hey, don't bring up my family."
"Ah, I'm sorry. I'll leave you two alone."
Yenne hated when people mentioned her family at school. In fact, she hated the idea of using her last name to get anything.
As if being ignored by Kaen wasn't bad enough, now I'm getting slapped around by someone who just got here?
Realizing he was getting sidelined, Marco left to let them talk it out.
"I didn't come here to use my family's influence."
"Perfect. Then you can leave too."
"What?"
To anyone who knew Kaen had tried to get close to Yenne when he first arrived at the academy, that would've sounded crazy. But that wasn't the kind of approach he wanted. At least, not yet.
He already had an idea of what she wanted from him.
"About your powers... how do you manage such good control over them?"
Bingo. Not just from Yenne's response, but from the fact that she was right in front of him.
He looked at the door. Cafeteria.
I'm actually starving.
"Are you even listening to me?"
He turned his head. Yenne was watching him with a sincere look in her eyes. She really wanted to understand.
"What do you mean how? You just train until you get the results you want."
It was a simple answer. But for someone like Yenne, who had been stuck for years because she couldn't control her mana well, it was like saying: keep failing until something works.
She didn't have that kind of time to waste.
If she didn't understand the cause of the mistake, she'd never improve. And somehow, she felt like Kaen could see that.
Even if it meant swallowing her pride as a noble.
The real problem was having to ask someone like him for help.
She came back to reality and looked around for him again.
Kaen was already holding a tray, piling food like a warrior after a long day of battle.
"..."
"....."
"Do you seriously not know basic table manners?"
His tray looked more like a banquet platter. Rice piled to the edge, three huge chunks of meat, vegetables scattered like decoration, two chicken legs stacked like trophies, stuffed bread, sauce dripping down the sides, and a banana stuck in the middle like part of the main course.
"I used to live alone. Never learned that stuff."
Yenne, who had sat next to him, watched in disbelief.
'He's a complete barbarian.'
Kaen was chewing on a chicken leg while using a spoon in his other hand to eat rice.
For someone from an aristocratic family, using a spoon for anything other than soup was basically a crime against good manners.
Yenne almost sighed out loud.
Kaen, still with his mouth full, replied,
"Sorry I'm not from a noble family."
It was true he wasn't from nobility, but coming from Earth, where etiquette was easy to access, maybe that excuse didn't quite hold up.
But Kaen never really cared about that.
He was the kind of guy who laughed at posts like,
"Hahaha, really? People eat pizza with a fork and knife in Brazil?"
All while holding three stacked slices and biting into them all at once.
Basically: while you go overboard with manners, I go overboard with the lack of them.
But the ironic part was that a part of Yenne actually felt a little bad for him.
She figured that, being a commoner, he probably came from a place where etiquette just wasn't a thing.
"...."
He paused for a moment and drank a glass of juice, feeling a wave of relief through his body.
"So you want me to help you with your magic control?"
"It's not help. I just want a few tips on how to improve..."
He stared at her, almost in disbelief at how she dodged the obvious.
'Is she seriously trying to pretend she doesn't need my help?'
Kaen thought it was hilarious how nobles behaved. Even when they had a problem, they tried to look self-sufficient. And sometimes they masked it with that old favor exchange trick.
"I already told you. I don't want to help with that."
"Why not?"
That was a good question.
Kaen was a commoner. No money, no connections, no support network. Someone like him turning down help from a noble of the prestigious Veltarion family, part of the Third Magic Tower, would seem like an idiot to anyone thinking logically.
"You have nothing to offer me."
That sentence could drive any noble crazy. After all, nobles had everything commoners didn't.
But the thing is, Kaen wasn't exactly driven by logic. He lived in the moment. And at that moment, he already had everything he needed—shelter, food, and a decent bed.
If everything went south, he could become an adventurer after graduation. Not the ideal plan, but not something he wanted to think about right now either.
Between option A: suffer now for a maybe better future, and option B: enjoy the present with no headache...
Kaen always chose option B.
And besides... he really wasn't in a rush to get close to Yenne.
But she didn't seem like someone ready to give up.
"I've been watching you... I noticed your power has a cost, and your body doesn't handle it very well."
'Great, she's becoming a pain.'
Kaen started blaming himself for showing up at the end of the practical exam and taking down the boss. That little test of his gave her an opening.
He finished his meal and looked at her more seriously.
"So? What do you have to offer me?"
Yenne crossed her arms, trying to hide a small smile that was clearly visible to Kaen.
"My family is part of the Third Magic Tower. We have access to research most other houses can't even dream of."
She paused briefly and noticed the slight sparkle in Kaen's eyes. He looked genuinely interested.
'Perfect. He's hooked.'
"One of our tower's projects involves Vitality Condensers. They're magical crystals that, once refined, help strengthen the body from the inside out. It's not healing or a temporary buff. It's gradual reinforcement..."
But just as she finished, Kaen's curious expression shut down suddenly and dramatically.
It was like watching a window slam shut.
He stood up with his tray and said flatly,
"...Magic steroids."
"What?! No! They're not steroids!"
"Hmm... Are you sure? Because it really sounds like steroids."
She huffed.
"Idiot...!"
Kaen stood up, taking his tray with him.
"Either way, no thanks. Not in the mood to inject crystals into my kidney just to stop coughing after using magic..."
Then he stopped.
Turned slowly, took a few steps back, and stopped right in front of Yenne.
He leaned in just enough to look her in the eyes, way too serious for what he was about to say.
"...and I'm also not risking my little guy breaking down. Who knows what side effects that stuff has."
Yenne froze. Her face turned red instantly. Her soul left her body for half a second.
She turned to the side, visibly shaken.
"You're a complete idiot."