Dreambreaker : The extra from 2393

Third person's POV:

Aeravat has known Noah for several months.

They weren't exactly friends, nor were they rivals—well not like Noah could actually rival him anyway.

But the bottom line was, there was no real connection between them.

Aeravat simply knew Noah, nothing more than that.

Their conversations were limited.

And the only occasion they talked to each other was during the dungeon trials.

Now, Aeravat wasn't one to be overly friendly or chatty.

He would politely offer a greeting as a formality, but he never felt compelled to forge friendships with others.

Many would try to approach him, specially girls, but he always turned down their attempts at friendship.

I mean, who wouldn't want to be friends with the top ranker? Aeravat was totally aware of this fact about himself.

But when it came to Noah, it was a different story.

The guy straight-up ignored his existence.

Everytime he did try to instigate a conversation with Noah, Noah would simply decline his offer.

Reason why Aeravat tried to converse with Noah, was to ask him about that red bracelet of his.

Something about it just felt... very very familiar.

And not just that. Now, Noah himself started feeling different, like...there was some kind of connection....how to say it?

It almost felt like Noah was holding onto pieces of Aeravat's soul.

Aeravat didn't understand this weird feeling at all.

He tried to brush it off, but...he couldn't.

Behind Aeravat, Emily and Aurora also followed him to where Noah was.

Months ago, Aurora came up with the theory that perhaps Noah was that 'unstory' in Genova incident.

At first, others were skeptical about her claim, but as time passed and they started to see the similarities, a small doubt crept in.

What if Noah really was that guy from Genova? Then, why was he hiding it?

If he was so strong, why hide? Why always act weak?

Was he perhaps a criminal? Or was there some shady business happening behind the scenes?

As Aurora gazed at Noah, she could feel his thick D ranked strength. She was... perplexed.

Even Emily could feel his thick D ranked mana pressure.

They were confused yes, why wouldn't they be?

After the whole Genova incident, they decided to dig deeper into Noah's background.

Surprisingly, official documents from the Academy's data records revealed that he was initially registered as having (G+) strength, in the dungeon trials.

However, when he first entered the Academy, his strength was only measured at (G-).

But now, just in a few months Noah reached D rank? How is that possible?

Ever heard of someone making such an astronomical leap from (G-) to D rank in such a short time?

This was absurd!

It usually takes at least a year and a half, if not more, for someone to climb up the ranks to that extent.

This defied all logic and reason. It was pure, nonsensical bullfuckery.

He also jumped into top ten rankings out of nowhere.

Word on the grapevine is that he enjoys certain perks and privileges as a student, sparking even more suspicion among Aurora and the rest of the crew.

It only fueled their belief that Noah was keeping something hidden, something undeniably significant.

-"Ah? Aeravat?" Noah's voice pierced through the air, accompanied by a scrutinizing gaze that carefully assessed each member of the group before

eventually settling on Aeravat.

"So? You guys just gonna stand there staring at me or what?" Noah asked in a nonchalant tone.

Confusion was evident in his gaze as he continued to slurp his iced latte.

"Ah, no. Just, uh, surprised to see you. You were gone for a whole month," Aeravat replied, his hand rubbing the back of his head nervously. He wasn't quite sure how to approach the topic. "And, uh, you look... strong. Like, really strong. You've suddenly ranked among the top 10."

Slurp!—Noah took another sip of his iced latte before responding. "Yeah, I was absent for a while, and yes, my rank did shoot up. But what's up with the sudden interest in me? I mean..."—he casually glanced at everyone, a hint of skepticism in his eyes as he added—"didn't you guys used to ignore me or something?"

"Wasn't it you though who ignored me in the first place?"—Aeravat asked, irked by the hypocrisy.

"Oh, right... Yeah, you're right,"—Noah replied, finally thinking about about it.

"Well, not me. I never ignored you," Emily chimed in, flashing a bright smile in Noah's direction.

It was true.

Emily did make an effort to talk to Noah from time to time.

After the dungeon trial, her perspective on him had shifted.

Unfortunately, any chance of their connection blossoming into a friendship was cut short as Noah distanced himself from her.

"Nice to see that you're doing well," Noah responded, his smile directed towards Emily.

As Noah smiled, Emily couldn't help but notice... Noah actually looked quite handsome.

Was he always this attractive? It seemed like she didn't fully appreciate his looks until now.

Noah took a sip of his iced latte and casually glanced at Aurora, scanning her from head to toe.

He then shifted his gaze to Takahashi, who was approaching from behind her, accompanied by Myung Joon.

"Well then, see you later," Noah said, bidding them farewell before he turned and walked away.

He wasn't rude, he wasn't cold. It was a weird interaction. He simply went through the motions of polite conversation before making his exit.

-"It has to be him," Aurora muttered, glaring at Noah's retreating figure.

"What has to be him?" Myung Myung chimed in, clearly perplexed by the whole situation.

He didn't knew class A1 well enough to understand the context.

"Nothing," Aurora responded curtly, without even bothering to look at Myung Myung.

Myung Joon furrowed his brow, his attention now drawn to the guy that Aurora was glaring at.

The guy was slowly fading into the distance.

***

Noah's POV:

Once I got settled into the A1 hostel, my first order of business was to track down Luke Armstone.

Although he used to be one of Takahashi's lackeys, lately it seemed like he had distanced himself from that group.

When I approached him out of the blue, I could sense his unease.

But, after engaging in conversation with him, he gradually became more at ease in my presence.

In order to establish a mutual understanding, I proposed a deal.

I asked him to act as a covert informant for me within the academy walls, given his inclination for such matters.

To sweeten the deal, I promised him generous rewards as an incentive, and he agreed to my proposition.

Next, I catched up a bit with Anastasia and James. I did chat with them online sometimes but, we haven't met in two months.

To my surprise, Anastasia managed to jump up to a ranking of 391. That was no small feat, and I couldn't help but feel impressed by her progress.

As for James, well, he somehow managed to scrape by.

Looking over his reports with Nano's help, it seemed like he only did the bare minimum to stay in the academy.

It was almost as if he intentionally held himself back. Strange thought, I know. It felt like he could have easily excelled if he put in the effort. But...nah, maybe it's just me overthinking things.

So, I brushed it off.

During this period I also learned that Svetlana already had like five guys propose her.

She was basically as famous as the main cast.

And even in her unit some guys were constantly trying to win her heart.

Having romantic affairs in academy was nothing new.

Well, she did mention wanting to make the most of her youth. Good for her I guess.

Once I finished my stretching, I positioned myself on the ground, crossed-legged, and initiated the mana circuits.

Like a magical dust shower, particles of albus bright powder got sucked into my body, exactly where the mana circuits resided.

The otherwise invisible runic tattoos began to illuminate in a radiance of golden-white hue.

The sprinkling particles were pure mana, extracted from the surrounding atmosphere.

With each inhalation, the runic tattoos adorning my body emitted a luminous glow.

With each exhalation, they vanished, becoming invisible as if they were never there to begin with.

After meditating and focusing on my mana circuits for a bit, I stood up.

With a clenched fist, I couldn't help but utter, "I'm not quite there yet... but I can sense it. This unmistakable feeling... It's..."

Yes, without a doubt, it's chaos. The essence of chaos itself flowing through my veins every time I activated my mana circuits.

As I furrowed my brow, thoughts crossed my mind. "Who was she?"

Shaking my head, I refocused myself and took out three rectangular cards from my pocket.

They were runic information that Master gave me.

More specifically they had knowledge about ice runes.

Seraphina told me to learn as much as I could about ice magic, but at the same time to fully understand and only practice fire runes.

Once I was done with fire, she was going to teach me runes of ice, and she wanted me to be prepared in advance.

After practicing a little more with the [Bindrune of fire], I decided to take a shower.

I was mainly trying to learn two things about fire runes:

Firstly, I wanted to discover how to control external fires—flames that aren't originated from mana but naturally occur. A pyromantic ability.

Secondly, I sought to learn the art of teleporting the [Bindrune of fire] using the mystery of teleportation.

It was a fascinating concept that had never crossed my mind before.

I guess mysteries have more potential than what I have explored.

Rocking an indigo shirt and a pair of grey pants, I hurried to catch up with my unit.

Yes, I was not wearing the uniform they hand out to all the first-years.

I had my reasons, of course.

Firstly, I had certain privileges that allowed me to bend the rules a bit.

Secondly, rules never really held much weight with me.

And lastly, and probably the most important, when our unit is assigned specific tasks, strutting around in flashy Arcanum uniforms in the outside world is just asking for trouble.

As I made my way down the corridor, I noticed a group of students coming towards me from the opposite direction.

In the group, one particular student took hold of my attention.

Boys around her were constantly looking at her while conversing cheerfully.

I stopped to look at her and smiled.

'Svetlana looks beautiful as always.'

Svetlana was engaged in a conversation with a blonde-haired boy from her unit.

They exchanged giggles and laughter while enjoying each other's company.

In that moment, her eyes briefly met mine, and I caught a glimpse of the faint smile on her rosy lips.

But, she shifted her focus back to the boy, directing her lapis lazuli eyes away from me, continuing their lively conversation.

She walked past me, as if she didn't even notice my existence.

I couldn't help but steal a glance at her as her flowing onyx hair fluttered in the air.

For a brief moment, I almost caught a snippet of their conversation.

- "Do you have any love interests?", the blonde haired boy asked.

-"Umm, no? Why do you ask?" She said, crossing her forearm and placing a finger on her cheek while tilting her head slightly to the side.

'Finally she can live a normal life',I thought and smiled.

Afterward, I went my own way.

Reaching the room I was informed of, I opened the door.

Immediately, my eyes were met with four students. All of their gazes turned towards me at the same time.

Right there was Karthik, Kai Lee, Nola Reinheart and one other girl I didn't know.

'So this is my unit?', I smirked.