章 53: New classmates

As the trio walked into class, they noticed two new transfer students sitting in the back. One they instantly identified as Darwin, a hero that got his butt whooped by Sarah on Lucas's first days in school, and another was a blond girl with twin tails.

Darwin sat in Lucas's seat and waited for Lucas's reaction.

However, Lucas just sighed and walked past him to another empty seat.

"Y-You're not going to ask for him to move?" Sarah asked

Lucas looked at her, then looked back at Darwin. "I'm pretty sure he just wants me to make a scene. Let him be." Lucas glared at Darwin, and their gazes met. 'You fucker... I will rip your limbs off.'

Sarah sighed and sat down in an empty seat. She pulled out the chair next to her and offered it to Lucas. He took it and sat down.

"Don't worry, Lucas. If he tries anything, I will beat him up." she said with a smile, "I promise!"

Lucas looked at her and chuckled. "Don't worry. Remember? I unlocked my mana. I can deal with him myself."

Then Lucas's eyes locked on the new girl. 'Is that who I think it is? Jessica?' He had to admit; this was unexpected. He thought he wouldn't have to see her, but now that he thought of it... He didn't know when he met her in the novel.

"Oh well." Lucas sighed. 'Should I kill her? She didn't do anything to me, tho.' Lucas felt his internal conflict escalating as he thought of leaving the girl alone. It was like a vice squeezing his chest, and he could feel his mana become erratic. Suddenly, an invisible miasma surged out of him, making his classmates cough and cover their mouths. "Oops." Lucas apologized sheepishly as he returned to his seat.

The instant Lucas settled into the seat, his mind raced past Jessica, and his mana built up like a raging tornado. Panic swept over him as he remembered the warning Isaac had given him. 'If the original body owner rejects your choices, your mana will run rampant.' He'd experienced this sensation before but felt it differently this time. No matter how much training he had received from Isaac, he could not bring the mad surge of mana under control, and the terror of what could happen if he failed sent chills through him.

He scanned the room. Twenty-one students were milling about, discussing what had just happened in hushed tones. Everyone was looking around except for Jessica and Darwin, who stared directly at Lucas with knowing looks.

Lucas's met Darwin's gaze and smirked. "I will poke your eyes out if you continue staring at me." He threatened.

Darwin ignored the threat and smirked back.

Jessica, however, tilted her head in confusion. She leaned closer to Darwin's ear and whispered, "Does he have his power back?" She asked.

Darwin shrugged. "I don't know. I can only assume that he does."

"T-This is bad..." Jessica muttered a curse under her breath as she caught Lucas' gaze from across the room. She hesitantly raised her hand in a wave, but instead of returning the gesture, Lucas scowled and insolently held up his middle finger.

"I think it's way worse than we've thought." suddenly, she turned to Darwin. "He's vulgar. This was not supposed to happen."

Darwin frowned. "Not supposed to happen? Maybe your future sight simply sucks?" he teased.

"Excuse me?!" Jessica stood up and slammed her hands to the table. Then yelled, clearly offended. But after seeing everyone's gazes on her, she smiled and apologized to her new classmates. "Sorry, guys. We just had an argument..."After saying that, she left the classroom.

Everyone was silent except for Darwin, who cursed and stood up to follow her. "Wait!"

Darwin followed her out of the classroom, and soon enough, they reached the courtyard. Jessica walked to a nearby tree and sat underneath its shade. When she noticed Darwin, she placed her hands behind her back and relaxed against the trunk.

"What is it, Darwin?"

Darwin sighed and sat next to her. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have teased you."

Jessica looked away and fiddled with a leaf on her skirt. The soft petals felt like velvet on her fingertips. "It's okay. But I have a question..." Her mind was racing, and she was trying to figure out why Lucas would behave so rudely toward her. Could it be that he knows the future as well? "You're reincarnated from a world with no magic? Right?"

"Yes, what about it?" Darwin asked. It wasn't a surprise to him that Jessica knew this because her 'Future sight' was a very high-ranked magic that allowed her to gather information about the future.

"And you found out about me and this world from a book?" she asked curiously.

Darwin considered her question for a moment, then opened his mouth to speak. "I mean... It was a novel. But yeah."

Suddenly Jessica's face turned sour as if she had eaten a raw lemon. "Goddamit!"

Darwin looked at her in surprise. "Eh? What's wrong?"

Jessica let out a deep sigh. "I should have known this was going to happen. I can't believe I was stupid enough to trust my future sight." she clenched her fist and stomped her foot angrily. "My future sight is no longer trustworthy."

"Huh?!" Darwin exclaimed in shock. He needed help understanding how a skill that gives nigh-omniscient to a person could be untrustworthy. "Explain. What do you mean?"

Jessica scoffed. "Because Lucas is like you. He is from a world without magic."

When hearing this, Darwin choked on his own saliva. He couldn't believe his ears. "Are you serious?" he asked incredulously.

"I am one hundred percent serious, Darwin." Jessica replied with a sigh. "This is why he is hostile to me... He knows what I planned on doing to him."

Darwin's jaw dropped as he gaped at her. She stood with her hands folded in front of her, and her face remained passive, giving away nothing of her inner thoughts. He wondered in amazement how she could be so collected in such a dire situation.

"It explains how he gained his magic so quickly." Jessica continued. "I can only assume that there was something about Lucas unlocking his mana inside that book. Right?"

"Yes..." Darwin nodded. "Doesn't that mean that we're fucked?"