Was it reckless, doing that despite knowing that I was probably the weakest cadet right now in the academy? Yes.
Did I care? Well, not really.
Unlike the outside world, where anyone stronger than me could easily kill me for such reckless behavior, the academy wouldn't let a cadet kill me in here. And so, as long as it wasn't death, I was fine with bearing the consequences of my actions.
The tray slammed hard into Damon's face, causing him to stagger back a step. It then fell to the floor with a loud clang, scattering the plate and everything else it carried.
The entire cafeteria fell into stunned silence, every eye fixed on me in disbelief. Even Gareth, who stood next to Damon, was agape at first and couldn't speak.
Gazing at the food smeared across Damon's face with the cockroach stuck to his cheek, I grinned in satisfaction.
"Y-you… what do you think you are doing?!" Gareth finally stammered.
Meanwhile, Damon wiped the food off his face with the cockroach, then gritted his teeth in anger. His face flushed red, and I could even see a vein pop in the side of his head.
Then, his brown eyes darkened, and suddenly, the air around me grew heavier.
"You son of a bitch!" He reached out and grabbed my shirt, then clenched and raised his fist. "I'll fuckin kill you!"
I grinned and clenched my fist, ready to meet the blow head-on even though I knew I had zero chance of actually defending myself.
But right as he was about to smash my head, a hand grabbed his wrist mid-swing.
Damon turned sharply to the person who grabbed his wrist. "Who—" But then he stopped, his expression immediately changing. "What do you want?"
I turned to see who it was that could give Damon pause... and my eyes widened.
Standing beside us was Leon, the main protagonist of the game.
He was exactly how I remembered him: tall, with golden blonde hair and green eyes, radiating an air of effortless confidence, and the aura emanating from him was stifling. On his shoulder, a beautiful white cat sat elegantly, licking its paw. Its golden eyes were fixed on Damon.
'Gosh… he looks better in person,' I thought, staring at the overwhelming figure.
Leon smiled at Damon, then finally spoke: "Enough… Let it go, Damon. You do know he is Bondless. If you hit him, it will do more than cripple him."
"Enough?" Damon's hand trembled with rage as he tried to free himself from Leon's grip but couldn't. "You saw what he did. How dare he? He deserves what's coming to him. So don't interfere, Leon!"
Leon tilted his head slightly, and at that moment, the cat on his shoulder stopped licking its paw. Then, just like the cat's, Leon's green eyes changed to a brilliant gold. "I said, let it go, Damon."
For a long moment, Damon stared at Leon, hesitating. Then he bit his lower lip and finally let go of my shirt.
"You do know that you won't always be there to protect him, right?" Damon turned his gaze from Leon to me and scowled. Then after a moment, added. "Ha! …Better watch your back… Bondless."
He turned and began stomping away angrily with Gareth following close behind him.
I turned away from their retreating figures to face Leon, while also straightening my shirt. 'Damn... he didn't even have to say much for Damon to fold. No wonder he's the main character,' I thought.
The moment Leon's eyes had changed to gold, even I could feel an overwhelming urge to bow.
Ha…
It was weird experiencing the aura of the character I used to play as in the game.
I tilted my head in curiosity. 'Mmm… I wonder if I can view what his stats are right now.'
As soon I thought that, a notification popped up.
[Activating Gamer Privileges…]
'…'
[Retrieving Character information.]
~~~~~~ Character Profile ~~~~~~
Character Name: [Leon Von Caprio]
Age: [18]
Level: [17]
Grade: [2]
Element: [Light]
Class: [Knight]
Exclusive Class Attribute: [Master of Arms]
Bond Name: [Uriel Avelini]
Bonded Ability: [All-Seeing Eye]
Exclusive Skills: [Judgement time - Lv10], [Mother's Protection - Lv7]
EXP: [5,600/10,000]
~~~~~~ ============== ~~~~~~
'Ha…'
Though I already knew it would be like this, I couldn't help but surpress the urge to laugh.
'Level 17… this dude really is the strongest first year. That's like… almost double of my current level.'
"…dric?"
'All-Seeing Eye...' I remembered using it. That bonded ability was truly broken. It allowed the user to see every and anything about a person including their weaknesses, abilities and even thoughts. When used in battle, it could even let the user know what actions an opponent was going to take.
However, the cost to use such a broken ability was bearable, though harsh. After using the ability, the user would be blinded for a few hours in the eye they used it.
If you asked me, I'd say it's not a bad trade-off for the ability to be almost omniscient.
"…Cedric?"
I flinched as Leon's voice finally reached me, drawing me from my thoughts.
"Ah… apologies. I was out of it for a moment."
"It's fine. Looks like you were really shaken up." He reached out and grabbed my shoulder. "It's good to see you back in the academy, and I'm happy you finally stood up for yourself." He squeezed my shoulder gently. "Go get some rest. And don't let what they did bother you."
My gaze fell on Leon's hand.
I hadn't thought about it earlier, but from what I remember, Cedric did not have any friends and almost everyone in the academy avoided him like a plague. And since I played as Leon, I, too, didn't even bother to be concerned with Cedric.
So… why was Leon suddenly helping me? Was there some motive I'm not aware of?
My gaze drifted from his hand to the white cat on his shoulder who was intensely staring at me with narrowed eyes, almost as if it was wary of me.
'Mmmm…'
I pulled away from Leon and gave a slight bow. "Thanks for helping me out." When I raised my head, I added, "I'll be off now."
I then turned and began walking out of the cafeteria.
But after only taking a few steps, I suddenly got a notification.
[The Bond Uriel Avelini has used the Bonded Ability: All-Seeing Eye on you.]
'Huh?!'
I immediately halted mid-step. Then almost instantly, more notifications popped up.
[Activating Gamer Privileges…]
[The exclusive attribute Gamer Privileges has activated a Non-diegetic barrier.]
[Due to the effect of the Non-diegetic barrier, the Bonded Ability: All-Seeing Eye has been nullified.]
'What?' I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Gamer Privileges can cancel out an ability like All-Seeing Eye?
Wait… More importantly…
'Why is Leon's Bond trying to use All-Seeing Eye on me?'
I immediately turned around to see Leon still standing there, smiling at me. He raised a hand and gave a wave. But as he saw how intensely I was staring at him, a look of confusion slowly began to creep up his face.
My gaze then settled on the cat on his shoulder. I could see that one of its golden eyes had turned pale. The cat kept staring at me with the same intensity as it was before.
I tilted my head in confusion. The cat's pale right eye was proof that it used that ability. But why?
I decided not to approach them. Doing so would confirm not only that I knew they tried to use the ability on me, but also that I had a way to cancel it. I immediately turned and hurriedly left the cafeteria.