The silence left behind from the confrontation spoke volumes
Tarin awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, he wasn't embarrassed exactly, just the tension really built up, and in a way, it was his fault.
Corvyn was the first to speak up.
"Well, that when blissfully."
Keiran scoffed. " It's not my fault; the dude's a prick." He's made his way to the fridge where all the food packs were stored. " People like them pretend to be approachable, nice even, but they are wrong Uns, absolute bastards."
"Come on Keiran. Didn't our parents teach us proper manners, never judge somebody negatively until they give us a reason to." Maelea responded, ever so positive and easy-going.
"He's baiting us guys!" Keiran snapped. "Pretending to be cushy- cushy with us, I've heard nasty things about him from House Vire kids."
"Not like he could manipulate us anyway." Vellea murmured. "He's just an arrogant dumbass that thinks he's smarter than everyone."
Lyssa crossed her arms and interjected. " I believe he's a lot smarter than you give him credit for Vellea."
Tarin turned his head to her, eyebrows raised in a question, "You think so?"
Lyssa rubbed her wrists slowly, something Tarin noticed she did when she was thinking about sharing information she had. "I believe he's calculating, and a lot smarter than your average arrogant noble, something about him is different, I can't quite put my finger around it."
She glanced at the balcony door Kael had previously left through.
'Hmm, I'm going to keep tabs on you.'
"But we don't really know him," Tarin said. "Is that fair?"
"No, it's not," Corvyn said lazily. "But since when does fair have anything to do with noble politics?"
That earned a few dry chuckles.
Tarin's brow furrowed. "He didn't feel malicious to me."
"People like them never do," Kieren muttered. "That's the problem."
Lyssa sighed. "Look. He might not be here to hurt anyone, but he clearly doesn't like us. Plus, he won't be a problem, first term exams are coming up, with his shitty core drift, he will probably get replaced by other House Vire students from other family branches."
"That's his choice," Vellea said. "Let's hope that happens then, seems like an asshole."
There was a pause. All of the main cast stared at each other
Eventually, they all nodded in quiet agreement.
Avoid Kael Vire.
What's an arrogant noble with a shitty core going to do?
Tarin wasn't sure he agreed.
But he said nothing else.
**
Kael leaned on the balcony railings and stared at the beautiful lake.
Kael sat on the edge of the floating dock, boots dangling an inch above the water, arms resting on his knees. The sky above was dark but moonlit, clouds stretching like threads across the stars.
He liked the quiet.
It was peaceful.
Liked the space between expectations.
But tonight, it didn't feel like peace.
It felt like a getaway from hell.
" You don't seem happy; my specs detect a 50% increase in frowns." The System told Kael.
"How would you feel if somebody told you you're a horrible person for something you didn't even do?"
"Technically, you did, albeit the previous body owner, whatever, I guess. potato patata you humans say?"
"Shut up please, I beg you. Just Piss off."
The System didn't respond after that, Kael assumed it got the memo, and he started pondering on what to do.
"Why I'm I getting forced into situations with the main cast?"
This wasn't supposed to happen, Kael hoped he could influence stuff from the background while staying as far away from them as possible.
'It seems like the universe wants me to be as close to the spotlight as possible'
Kael thought back to the awkward talk with the main cast, the bonds seemed closer they looked more of a unit compared to how it was initially in the novel.
Keiran who was a bit of an arrogant judgmental douche during the novel was even worse here.
He pulled up his interface.
"System. Give me a full Status window, I want to see what I'm working with."
There was a pause.
"Didn't you say in your words to "Piss off."
"Your petty twat, you're a machine, do your job!"
"Alright, Alright I'll get it up."
[ACCESSING: CORE DIAGNOSTICS][USER: KAEL VIRE – IDENTIFIED][AUTHORITY OVERRIDE ACCEPTED — USER RECOGNIZED AS NON-ORIGINAL OCCUPANT]
Kael's breath caught.
"Can people see my status?"
"Don't Worry User, the only way another individual could see your Status screen is if you willingly gave them access, or if they have high Netwalker Path."
"Will they be able to see the User Recognized bit?"
"....."
"Shit..."
"There are modules that help combat it, but if you encounter a really powerful Netwalker, you're most likely screwed, majority if not all your System information will be lay bare for them."
Kael pushed that horrible notion to the back of his head,
He studied his Status
[STATUS: KAEL VIRE]Alignment: Core Drift – Class-Ω (Unstable High Variant)True Output: A+ Grade (Suppressed)Public Grade: EPaths Detected: Synth (48%) / Sigil (27%) / Netwalker (16%) / Unknown (9%)Relic Affinity: Moderate (Linked)Anomaly Traces: Temporal Residue DetectedClass Prediction: Divergent AntagonistStatus: Narrative Change (4.7%) — Path diverging from original projection
'user level to low, to access Narrative change'
Kael stared at the words.
"Narrative Drift."
It was happening.
He wasn't just remembering the story differently—he was changing it.
And now he had no idea where it was going.
He closed the window with a flick of his fingers.
The water below rippled.
Kael clenched his jaw.
He'd come here to survive. To stay one step ahead. He wasn't here to play the game or rewrite it. He didn't want attention. He didn't want redemption. He wanted a clean, boring life for once.
And now?
Now he had six main characters eating dinner beside him and one noble brat ready to throw hands over a reputation he hadn't even earned in this timeline.
"What are you really trying to do here?" he whispered.
He didn't have an answer.
Not yet.
Footsteps.
Soft. Even. Not Tarin.
He turned his head slightly, enough to see the silhouette approaching down the dock.
Straight posture. Careful pace. Familiar mana signature.
Lyssa Saren.
Of course it was her.
Kael didn't move.
Didn't speak.
He just waited.