The cafeteria is massive, filled with circular tables scattered about randomly, chairs neatly placed around each. At the front of the cafeteria, a short line of people were gathered in front of a long counter, with a pair of metal humanoid figures serving out dishes one by one.

"Those must be golems." I whisper to myself.

Ooh! You can build humanoid golems in this world, I forgot!

A sudden lightbulb goes off in my head as I think about the golems, but I decide to wait since I haven't the faintest idea about the materials to use.

"Raine! Over here!"

I hear a loud voice call over to me from across the cafeteria.

My train of thought is broken as I search for the voice, looking over to see a girl with light lavender colored hair waving me over to a larger table filled with people.

They are the members of my group plus one girl with sky blue hair sitting to the right of our very own Sylvia looking slightly anxious.

I smile and return the wave, walking toward the table and picking out an empty and sliding it in between Nyx and Sylvia, who are conveniently spaced apart.

Nyx and Sylvia both smile lightly as I take my seat.

I look at the table and notice they are chatting amongst each other and have already ordered something from the counter.

Nyx chose a basic garden salad topped with tomatoes, cucumbers, and what looked to be dried up bread crumbs, likely a substitute for croutons in this world. Seems she has a vegetarian diet, which is a detail left out of the novels.

Nathan had opted for a steak, appearing to be seasoned well and cooked to about medium rare, garnished with basil leaves and topped off by some sort of sauce. As expected of Nathan to order such a sophisticated meal seeing as his family owns the largest restaurant chain in the kingdom.

Nerah, on the other hand, has chosen a few slices of dew fruit, a simple yet popular fruit native to the northern parts of the continent. They're said to be very sweet and refreshing, not exactly unlike the melons from my world.

Aaron is enjoying a food from his previous world, ramen, topped with sliced beef and a cut egg. As he sips from the bowl, it seems like the first time I've seen a look of peace on his face.

Reginald was picking at a plate of sliced and seasoned pork topped with some kind of sauce with a side of white rice.

Tessa is gnawing uncourteously on a leg of what looks to be a deviled hen, which is known to have notoriously tough meat, however rich with protein. Jackson is seated beside her with an uncomfortable expression while she eats, slowly slicing his mediocre looking steak.

Jeanne sits beside Sylvia with a shy expression as she meekly nibbles on the leg of a horned rabbit, vaguely reminiscent of Alice.

Sylvia, however, sits in an upright posture without a plate in front of her, much to my confusion.

"Slyvia," I lean over and whisper, "Are you not hungry?"

"I'm fine," She simply shakes her head, "My diet is very strict, only allowing for small portions only twice a day."

Her answer takes me by surprise. I immediately shake my head, "Absolute nonsense. That isn't healthy in the slightest."

"It's fine, Raine." She sighs, "Back home, I would even go days without eating and it was fine."

Contrary to her words, this is in fact not fine.

Growing up, it is impetus that one gets a minimum of three meals a day. I don't quite understand how these eating habits haven't affected her body's development, but this has to end today.

"Sylvia," I look into her eyes and speak with a concerned tone, "Please, this isn't healthy. Eat something."

Slyvia's eyes widen slightly for a short moment, but she quickly regains her composure and nods with a smile.

"Alright, Raine."

She gets up from her chair and begins toward the front of the cafeteria.

I let out a relieved sigh as I turn my attention back to the rest of the table, who all seem to be absorbed in talking about the tournament.

"Nathan, by the way, you almost lost didn't you." Reginald chuckles lightly.

"Almost my ass!" Nathan huffs, crossing his arms and turning his head away, "I had that whole situation under control!"

"Riiiight," Reginald says sarcastically while averting his eyes, "What about you Jackson? Yours went by pretty fast, didn't it?"

"Yeah, I suppose my opponent was pretty easy," Jackson replies, scratching his cheek in embarrassment.

I recall glancing up at the screen during Jackson's fight, which had gone by relatively quickly. He had used a large scale explosion magic to completely wipe out his opponent. It seemed a little over the top for my taste, but oh well. To each their own.

"We all did pretty well in the tournament," Nathan turns back to the table with a smile.

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"Not all of us," Tessa finishes her deviled hen leg with one last large bite and focuses her attention on Aaron and I with a small frown, "I still haven't seen these two fight."

"Ugh," Aaron sighs with an annoyed expression, "If you really want to see my ability, I can show it to you first hand."

The way Aaron spoke was in an almost threatening manner, firing Tessa up and causing a wide grin to spread across her face.

"Ooh! I'd love that!" She explodes up while clenching her fists together.

"Ehm, hey now," I glance at the two, "Let's refrain from fighting each other, especially outside of official tournaments."

"Sorry Prince, can't do that." Tessa shakes her head, "Unless you intend to show off your ability instead?"

Aarons head perks up at her suggestion, and the rest of the table glances over at me for my answer.

Come on guys, why do you have to put me on the spot like this? Honestly, I wouldn't mind showing off my skill a little bit, but I really don't feel like it now. However, this would be a good time to teach Tessa a lesson.

"Hmm…"

As I'm lost in thought, Slyvia sits back down next to me with a tray of what looked to be a sandwich and a slice of dew fruit on the side.

She blankly stares at Tessa and the rest of the group before speaking, "Can we please refrain from causing too much trouble. Wasn't there enough fighting in the tournament?"

Her cold and blunt tone sends shivers throughout the table and makes Tessa take a seat.

"U-um," Jeanne finally speaks up, "I think Lady Sylvia is right. We don't want to get into trouble or anything, right?"

"Ugh." Tessa lets out a defeated sigh, "Fine I guess."

"Good," Sylvia flashes a relieved smile while picking up her sandwich and taking a bite of it.

Her ability to de-escalate situations is really impressive. I'll have to take a few mental notes on her methods, they'll be helpful moving on.

By the way, Tessa's attitude is a really big issue. Keeping her in check in the future is going to be such a pain. I want to say something to her now, but I don't know if it's a good idea. I don't really want her blowing up at me.

"Tessa," Sylvia looks up while chewing her sandwich, "You should really check your temper sometimes. You almost caused a fight between group mates."

It's almost as if she's reading my mind, although I know that's realistically impossible, it's still nice to have someone to rely on for these sorts of things.

"Ugh, alright. I get it." Tessa grumbles while looking away with a reddened face.

"Thank you, Tessa," Sylvia sighs while looking around the table, "We're in this together, so it's best if we don't fight each other."

"Y-yeah," Tessa looks back with a surprised expression, "Sorry."

As Tessa apologizes, the rest of the table nods in agreement, including Analisse and Jeanne.

A slight curve appears in the corners of her mouth as she looks at me, her eyes searching for my thoughts on the matter.

I return the smile and nodding my head in approval, much to her satisfaction as she lets out a small triumphant huff.

Sylvia's ability to bring everything back together is impressive as well. She's clearly been well trained in this area, as she is in many others as well. Just how hard has she pushed herself for this level of skill…

[Attention new students under the zero program!]

An announcement blasts over the intercom and the sound of the director's voice can be heard throughout the cafeteria, and likely the entire academy.

The attention of our group is immediately stolen away, listening attentively to the next words from the speaker.

[Seeing as the tournament has finally concluded, the higher ups of the program have concluded that it would be wise to give you all a three day rest period. The campus is free to explore and the cafeteria is now open. Take care and enjoy, because from now on, the real battle begins.]

With those ominous final words from the director, the announcement cuts off.

"Sweet!" Reginald exclaims, "I guess we can kick back and relax for these next few days."

"Or," Jackson puts down his fork and straightens his glasses, "We could get some well needed studying for future subjects."

"Ughhh," the entire group lets out a collective sigh at Jackson's suggestion, startling him.

"Can we, uh, not do that," Nyx sheepishly requests.

Jackson adjusts his glasses and looks away from the table with an embarrassed and flustered expression, "N-nevermind then!"

I lean back in my chair and watch on as the group begins discussing plans for the next three days. They all have such lively expressions while discussing, it feels like we're getting more comfortable around each other by the minute.

So, this will be my life for the next six years. I don't mind it one bit.