Kron wrapped a piece of cloth around each of his hands. Slowly, he approached the young man in front of him, observing his possible moves.

"Are you not going to attack or should I attack first?" Cyrus asked, waiting for Kron to attack him. He was standing calmly with his hands behind his back.

Hearing Cyrus taunting him, Kron started running towards Cyrus, throwing a punch as he got close. His hand wraps hardened as it transformed to a sheet of metal. Sadly, the attack was so obvious that Cyrus was able to dodge it by just turning sideways, causing Kron to miss and lose his balance. Cyrus followed it up by kicking Kron away which pushed Kron 4 to 5 steps away.

Cyrus frowned, looking at the struggling Kron. "What are you doing? You won't beat Guson with that!"

Kron fully understood that he won't be able to beat Cyrus easily. He was evaluating his ability against him. Unfortunately, the conclusion that he got is that Cyrus is a more experienced fighter than him so he won't be able to beat him in a direct fist fight. Using the previous tactics that he knew, he walked just enough so that Cyrus would be inside his spherical zone.

"Huh? So you are using that huh!" Cyrus felt his clothes hardening, he immediately jumped back away from Kron then pulled out his two guns. "That's not going to work with me man! I know your ability has a distance." Seeing Kron about to chase after him, he shot him in the legs.

"Ahh!" Kron groaned. The light bullets that Cyrus shot was not that strong but it was enough to stop him on his tracks. The impact and pain caused him to lose his balance and drop down the ground, butt first.

"I'll be honest. I think it would be hard for you to win against Guson. Do you plan to fight him in close combat again?" Cyrus shook his head. "That guy is a superhuman! Your simple tricks won't work on him."

"Then what should I do?" Kron frowned, searching his mind for any other possible ways how he could win the fight.

Cyrus shrugged. "I'm not sure! You know your ability better than me. But here! wait a bit." He walked towards his bag on the ground and pulled out a pistol like gun then threw it towards Kron.

Kron caught the gun, looking confused. "A gun? Like yours?"

"Yep. Its an energy gun. Attuned are able to fuse their element with this and invokers that could synchronize with it like me can even nourish it." Cyrus uttered, thinking that Kron was an attuned.

"I'm not sure. I haven't shot a gun before." Kron said, uncertain of his skill.

"Come on! Just try it. You won't lose anything."

Without any plausible excuse to give, Kron finally agreed. Cyrus gave him a bit of pointers on using the gun. For his first practice, he focused the gun on a rock 4 to 5 meters away then shot it. A bullet made of pure energy was released. His initial shot missed but his second and third shot almost hit the target. Not understanding why, he felt that his senses are overperforming than usual. His fourth shot was perfect and so was the rest of his shots. They hit his targets right on the center.

"What the? Are you some kind of a genius?" Cyrus shouted. "It took me days to hit a target consecutively from that range!"

"Maybe you are just not that good!" Ichika jested, walking with Adriana in between Cyrus and Kron.

"What are you two doing here?" Cyrus frowned.

"We are having a break. So we want to watch a bit." Adriana replied. "Anyway, it looks like Kron is a better marksman than you."

"Ah no!" Kron shook his head, seemingly flustered. "I was just lucky."

"Hmph! He just has a good teacher!" Cyrus rebuked, focusing back to Kron. "Anyway, why not try to add elemental essences to it?"

Kron twitched as he really is not attuned. Currently, it was still only Ichika who knew of his actual ability. "I'm not sure how." He uttered.

"Huh? Its really simple. No magic words or runes needed. Just imbue it with your element." Cyrus said.

"I'll try." Kron covered the gun with his aura then triggered the gun but the only thing that changed was the gun itself. It changed to a different type of metal that Kron was thinking. As for the bullet, it was still just a pure condensed mass of energy. "I might need to practice more." He bit his lips, taking a peek of the reactions of the other three.

Cyrus chuckled. "What is that? You don't need to use any ability. Come on Kron, its just simple."

"Be lenient of him Cyrus," Adriana then smiled at Kron. "You shouldn't be too nervous. Its really simple."

"I think we all have been practicing a lot. Why don't we have a break. Maybe Kron needs it." Ichika added, winking at Kron discreetly. "Why don't we go eat first?"

The group of 4 proceeded to the canteen. Min-Joon joined them as Kron contacted him. Unlike before, there are more of the transported that are hanging out here. Either they have become more comfortable of the environment or they have felt safer due to the recent incident. Just like their group, there are many tables that are mixed of natives and non-natives. Most likely, it was those people who formed friendship in class. Still, many people stared at them as they walked past the people and even after settling in a table to eat.

"Do you think that they know?" Min-Joon asked, shaking as he was not comfortable being looked at.

"Don't worry you were not there." Kron looked gently at Min-Joon, trying to comfort him.

Cyrus snickered, looking back at the people staring at them, causing those people to look away. "I'm pretty sure a lot of them do. Don't underestimate the people here. Someone might even be listening on our discussions right now."

Kron understood what Cyrus meant. With the number of different abilities that the people here could possess, it would almost be impossible to hide a secret. Cyrus was reminding them that they should not talk sensitive topics here. Moreover, among the natives, Cyrus and Adriana are already well known and their enemy from before already recognized the two so it would not be unusual to think that they already spread that information.

"How's your performance in the knowledge class Kron?" Ichika interjected, trying to change the subject. "Ready for the assessment exams?"

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"I'm not doing that bad in basic knowledge class," Kron looked at Min-Joon. "Right Min-Joon?"

Min-Joon nodded. "Uh! Yes. I think Kron won't have a hard time."

"How about you all? Have you done preparing for your exams?" Kron asked, seemingly forgetting the status of his friends.

There was a short pause in their table. Everyone just looked at each other. The reason for this was because Kron was the only one required to take the assessment exam for his chosen path. Ichika and Cyrus were already accepted in the Combat curriculum. Min-Joon was already accepted in the Scholar curriculum. Lastly, Adriana was already accepted in the Vanguard curriculum. Moreover, it should be apparent how they excel in their respective classes. Min-Joon almost always perfects his exam. Adriana who is partnered with him and Cyrus was in the top of their basic environment class. Ichika and Cyrus were said to have won most of their fights if not all.

Kron chuckled, scratching his head. "I forgot. You guys are already exempted."

"Uh.. I might fail in my combat class." Min-Joon said, seeing Kron a bit embarrassed. "I even avoid sparring sessions."

"I'm not stupid but all my classmates studies so hard. I'm pretty sure that if I studied hard then I'll be at the top of my knowledge class." Cyrus awkwardly said, hinting that he might fail his class.

"Well, I am lucky that history classes are not required for natives. I tried to attend that class but I immediately dropped it. Its so boring." Adriana nonchalantly said.

The three were waiting for Ichika to say something but Kron already knew most of Ichika's class standings and she seemed to excel at everything. Like his early impressions of her, she seems to lack any flaws and she continues to improve day by day at a fast rate that it was almost so frightening. The only time he actually saw her genuinely show her weakness was during their initial meeting.

"Okay! Just stop. I know that those classes don't mean anything," Kron smiled. "But thanks anyway."

As the group continued eating and chatting, three young women stopped by their table and they were someone Kron already met.

"How are you Kron? You seemed to have changed!" Ella gave a seductive smile at Kron. She seemed unabashed by the stares she got from the rest of his friends.

Ichika scrutinized the new arrivals, finding them a bit suspicious. "You didn't tell me that you actually got new female friends!" She gave a smile to Kron which does not seem too genuine.

Kron jerked due to the sudden greeting and the smile from Ichika gave him chills going up on his spine. "They are not really friends. I just talked with them once."

"Oh! Don't be that harsh! We had a really intimate talk last time didn't we?" Valerie laughed, finding Kron's reaction funny.

"Hey! Who are these people?" Cyrus frowned. He also didn't find them normal. Not only are their demeanor far from looking normal but they also seemed to be stronger than the usual students that they interact with.

"Then would you mind if we sit down with you?" Aika stepped forward, giving a bright smile at Cyrus. "Don't worry I have no plans making an enemy with the Ammon family."

"Yeah. That would be fine. The more the merrier!" Before Cyrus could even react, Adriana replied. Knowing Cyrus' family name was one thing but speaking it casually was another. It just piqued her interest more of the new arrivals.

Their table was now quite full with Ichika, Kron, Min-Joon, Valerie on one side and Cyrus, Adriana, Aika and Ella on the other. As for the introductions between the two groups, it turned out quite peacefully. Still, Min-Joon felt quite scared of Valerie who was taller and much more muscular than him while Adriana and Aika seemed to be cordial with each other; How much of it is true though would be hard to determine.

The group learned that the 3 are just recently elevated students to the fledgeling class. This means that they are not really that experienced yet but they already finished the basic and introduction classes. In fact, they only started 2 school quarters earlier than the group. It would be quite possible for the group to have them as classmates in the future.

"So what do you actually want?" Cyrus asked frankly, feeling that they just didn't come here to just chat.

"What do you mean? We are just passing by and want to greet Kron." Ella replied, looking at Kron. "So have you finally learned your ability?"

Her question caused most of the people around the table to frown. Was she really just concerned of Kron or are they being curious of his ability. It was the question that most of them thought.

"Uh yeah. Though its nothing special." Kron answered.

"Really? Its not something unique is it?" Aika joked while looking at Kron with great attention.

Kron slightly twitched due to Aika's words. "Wait! Does she know? No. That's not possible!" He thought, trying to compose himself.

"He is attuned to the metal element," Ichika interjected with enthusiasm. "I believe its not really common here so Kron was just being humble."

"So you are a rare attuned!" Valerie chuckled. "That's really great. Congrats!" She said loudly, getting the attention of the people in the table.

In that moment of distraction, Aika's eyes changed and sparkled like before momentarily. She was trying to be discreet this time as Kron was not alone but her mistake allowed a few of them to notice her unusual behavior. As she focused at Kron, she would also see something from the two people beside him, causing her to be alarmed for a bit. Her sudden behavior didn't escape the sight of Min-Joon, Ichika and Adriana. Min-Joon was naturally curious so he was actually observing keenly the three new arrivals even as he kept quiet. Ichika has improved awareness since she awakened and Adriana was trained as a child for the vanguard path so she was more sensitive of sudden changes.

"Attuned huh?" Aika whispered, feeling that quite a number of eyes was observing her, she smiled. "I'm happy that you awakened your ability!"

"Uh.. Thank you!" Kron said, feeling embarrassed.

"So are you all really that friendly with everyone?" Adriana sarcastically asked.

"What do you mean?" Ella replied, smiling at Adriana, acting innocently. "Its good to make lots of friends. After all."

"Well, nothing really. Its just that this is not the first time I saw you three talking to random people." Not known to the three, there were quite a number of people that have noticed their behavior and Adriana was one of them. Still, she ignored it before because they are not the only group of people who would suddenly approach new students.

"Aha! You are actually researching for future capable teammates!" Cyrus laughed, thinking that he finally understood their intentions. "Well, unfortunately for you, you would still need to wait quite a few months if you want to invite me."

Aika released a soft sigh as if she just got out of a predicament. "Okay. You got us. Yes. We really are looking for capable teammates."

"So do we look capable?" Ichika asked, trying to corner Aika as she felt that Aika was still not telling the truth.

"Aika. I just got a notification. Teacher is looking for us." Valerie interjected, looking seriously. She was either good at acting or there really is some emergency.

"I'm really sorry! We need to go. Let's meet again next time!" Aika said as she stood up together with Ella and Valerie before saying their goodbyes and leaving.

The group kept quiet until they are sure that Aika's group was already away. They then went out of the canteen, away from any prying eyes.

"Ughh! Are you stupid Cyrus?" Adriana rolled her eyes.

Ichika nodded. "Yeah. He really is stupid."

"What? What did I do?" Cyrus frowned, not really finding the insult acceptable.

"Do you all think that they are really just looking for a teammate?" Min-Joon interjected, looking concerned.

Ichika frowned. "Her eyes changing should be some kind of ability! I'm not sure what it could do but she is definitely trying to take some information about us."

"Her eyes changed? She has also been doing that before when I first met them." Kron added.

"Well, what else could they want?" Adriana's forehead creased. "I just hope that they won't be enemies."

"Huh? What are you all talking about? What eyes?" Cyrus asked, seemingly oblivious of what Aika did.

--------------------------

-On an isolated corner in the campus-

"So how was it?" Ella asked.

"The two beside him are gifted awakened." Aika smirked. "I'm sure of it!"

"Well, you finally found not just one but two unique awakened!" Valerie chuckled. "How about Kron?"

Aika's eyebrows furrowed, looking conflicted. "I'm still not sure but he definitely is not an attuned. Auras of the attuned are different."

"Then was he lying that he unlocked an ability?" Ella bit her lips, remembering how Kron broke through her ability. "Or do you think that he could somehow block your ability?"

"Block my ability? I never thought of that!" Aika shouted. "Still, I finally have something to report."

"You still need to find out what ability they have though." Valerie added.

"Isn't the assessment exams coming up? We could try to watch or find out their results from there!" Ella said.

Aika nodded. "You are right! Let's just hope that they do attend!"