The morning sky was pale, as if it hadn't fully woken up. Ares Valentine stood before the campus gate with a calm, unreadable expression like all the chaos of incoming freshmen had nothing to do with him. Footsteps, panicked voices searching for classrooms, nervous whispers… all of it entered his ears, yet none of it stayed long.
He observed people the way someone watches an aquarium. Not involved just taking notes.
The Faculty of Psychology towered above him, its glass walls reflecting the thin morning light. Ares stepped inside, walking through a corridor still cluttered with club brochures and hastily printed event posters. Students around him were busy searching for rooms or simply trying not to look like they wore the wrong outfit.
Ares just walked.
His steps were steady, his eyes sharp but not intimidating. Each time he saw someone, his mind moved on its own: movement patterns, micro-expressions, tiny habits everything normal people overlook.
The girl with her hair tied high, constantly touching her nose nervous, possibly afraid of being late. The big guy laughing too loudly craving social validation, likely the center of a future friend group. The older lecturer with a firm stride military background? Or just disciplined lifestyle.
All of it surfaced instinctively. Ares never learned it from any textbook. His mind simply… worked like that.
When he entered the first lecture hall, the rows of seats were almost full. The whirring fan blended with the murmurs of freshmen. Ares chose a seat in the middle the best spot to observe without drawing attention.
The lecturer arrived five minutes later. A woman in her early forties, sharp features, confident steps. Her fingers tapped the table with a steady rhythm. Ares recognized the pattern: someone used to controlling a room.
"Welcome to Introduction to Psychology," she said, adjusting her glasses slightly. "Today we're not studying theory. I just want to know how you view human beings."
Silence filled the room.
Ares watched her for a moment and knew: she didn't truly want answers. She wanted reactions.
"Who wants to go first?" she asked.
A few hesitant hands rose. Ares didn't move.
He saw no reason to. Not today.
While some students tried giving philosophical responses, Ares noticed something else: a tiny inconsistency in how the lecturer kept glancing at the door. Someone peeked through the window for a moment, then left. The lecturer stiffened for a fraction of a second so subtle, yet obvious to Ares.
There was a story there. A pattern left unexplained.
He filed it away in his mind and returned to the class.
When the lecture ended, students spilled out of the room. Ares walked slowly toward the outer stairs. The sun was higher now, but the breeze carried coolness from the trees.
He had just stepped onto the staircase when a loud voice tore through the campus noise.
"MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!"
An electric scooter sped far too fast a freshman who apparently thought the campus was a race track. Ares only glanced, but it was enough to calculate distance.
In a split second, something strange happened.
Time stretched. Light dimmed around him. Voices sounded distant, as if underwater.
And in the frozen air, a cold voice echoed not from outside, but inside.
> [Boot sequence initiated…]
Ares stopped. His body could move, but everything felt heavier.
> [Cognitive channels syncing…]
[Parallel-calculation mode: ONLINE]
[Probability Engine System: Awake.]
Thin threads of light flickered at the edges of his vision like cracks on a glass touched by sunlight.
Ares didn't breathe for a moment. Not out of fear but because his mind was trying to process something that defied human logic.
> [Evaluating scenario.]
Collision in 0.84 seconds.
Physical damage: moderate.
Optimal solution available.
Suddenly, the world snapped back into motion.
Ares shifted two steps to the right, smoothly, precisely like someone who had already calculated the perfect trajectory. The scooter shot past, brushing the edge of his jacket, and the rider only had time to yell:
"HEY! Watch it!"
Ares didn't respond. He just stood there.
The voice…
The light…
The fracture…
It wasn't a hallucination. It wasn't a dream.
Something had awakened inside him.
> [System ready to receive command, Ares Valentine.]
Ares closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, the campus looked normal.
But he knew
nothing would be normal anymore.
And for the first time, something stirred in his chest:
not fear…
but a dangerously sharp curiosity.