Lucas's golden eyes suddenly shot open, his aura flaring for a brief instant before he hastily retracted it. Sitting up with a start, he clutched his chest with gritted teeth.

'Same dream again…'

Reflecting on the crushing weight around his core, Lucas' expression darkened.

'Be free.'

He inhaled, closing his eyes. When he reopened them, his expression had brightened. He beamed a small, seemingly genuine smile as the intangible grip loosened. He calmly moved over to his bathroom and took a warm shower.

When he was done, he wrapped a towel around himself and stepped into his small dressing room. His eyes scanned the space, but the closet was empty except for seven grey, scarf-like garments hanging neatly. A thought struck him,

"Wait. Am I supposed to wear a uniform?"

He mentally asked the school's presence. It beamed him a small nugget of information.

"Ahh… that makes so much sense."

The school had just "told" him the dress code was rather lax and he could wear almost anything he wanted. What was compulsory was putting on one of the scarves.

Their nanotechnology ensured they could shift to fit whatever type of clothing he desired. His tail flicked idly behind him as he thought of his outfit. When he got a clear image in his head, he nodded.

A multicolored light flashed as he took out his storage cube. With a few seconds of tinkering, he figured out how to retrieve stuff from it and pulled out a simple black tunic and some pants.

Sending the cube away, he stored his towel away as well. He put on his outfit; his pants adjusted to his muscular tail quite easily.

'Now let's spice it up.'

His top transformed into a loose, sleeveless black shirt, falling just past the waist. His pants formed into a pair of dark grey combat trousers: slim enough to stay out of the way, loose enough to kick in.

He took one of the scarves into his hand. It easily linked with his mind and shrunk in size, slithering across his right arm and wrapping around his bicep.

"That should do."

Nodding at his reflection, he left the dressing room. He made his way to his bed and took a seat. Conjuring his communicator with a flash of light, he thought,

"How does this thing work…"

Cautiously sending his mental energy into it, it synced with him with a mental click. After a few moments of tinkering, the device "told" him how to contact Evélyne and Sasha. With some slight mental effort, a link was initiated between the three as Lucas began the call. They both picked up almost simultaneously.

/Good morning, Sir Lucas./

/Good morning, Lucas./

/Good morning./

After exchanging pleasantries, Lucas asked,

/Where should we meet up?/

After a brief pause, Sasha spoke,

/The cafeteria? I want to try this… food thing./

Evélyne just beamed over her mental acceptance. Lucas chuckled as he said,

/Catch you two there./

The call dropped, and his communicator vanished. With his plan made, he left his room with a pleasant smile. He quietly walked by some passersby as he headed for his location. As the minutes ticked on, his thoughts slowly drifted idly to the dark-haired student from yesterday.

'Why do they seem so familiar yet completely foreign?'

As he racked his brain, he realized he was already near the cafeteria and could see the two women standing outside.

Lucas waved over to them. When they were face to face, he asked,

"Shall we?"

The trio headed for the cafeteria. Walking in, the see-through doors opened soundlessly to reveal an expansive hall. Tables were arranged in relaxed clusters while allowing for smooth passage throughout the hall.

The few students present—the vast majority being Prismari—ordered their food from their stools through holographic menus. The food then floated over to them from the counters at the back.

As Sasha and Evélyne took in the sight and the people, Lucas scouted out a free table.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"Let's go sit over there."

Grabbing his companions' attention, he herded them to their table. When they sat, menus appeared before them. Reading through it, there were almost a hundred types of food being prepared at the cafeteria.

Looking up from his menu, he saw Evélyne cupping her chin in thought. Turning to Sasha, he could envision steam rising from her fidgeting ears as she manipulated her menu.

"So what are you getting, Evélyne?"

Evélyne looked up at him smiling Lucas with a shrug.

"I have no clue; I will just order at random."

In his peripheral vision, Lucas could see Sasha's tail relax, causing him to subconsciously shake his head in amusement. She then asked him,

"What about you, Sir Lucas?"

"I'm going to choose at random as well; I have no clue what any of these actually are."

Sasha nodded repeatedly.

"I didn't know food would be so complicated. I hope it's as good as novels portray."

As they spoke, Evélyne made her order. A dull silver tray floated over to her. It carried three plates: the first holding some violet plants which gave off a pleasant smell, the second held some blue grains covered in a yellow, almost orange sauce, and finally a plate of pink, translucent, jelly-like substance.

'It doesn't look that bad but… let Evélyne try it out first.'

The Beastkin and Mimic chose to take a wait-and-see attitude. Pulling one of the three-pronged fork near the violet vegetable, Evélyne experimentally dug into it, her gaze lingering on other students in the cafeteria before emulating them.

When she finally placed the violet vegetable in her mouth, she hummed. Lucas and Sasha watched on as she ate, quickly picking up speed with each scoop. Mere moments later, she became a blur and—done. Evélyne's first plate was empty in five seconds flat while her two friends just watched on in sheer surprise at her ferocity in eating.

'Did she just eat her fork as well??'

Hearing the loud crunching from her last bite and seeing the broken utensil in her hand, Lucas didn't know if he should laugh or be horrified. It took even less time for her to finish the blue grains and, in a blink, the jelly as well.

Burp.

That burp surprised Evélyne and snapped her companions out of their daze.

"How was it, Mistress?"

Sasha asked with an excited tail.

"Very pleasurable,"

Evélyne said, slightly nodding with a smile.

'This weirdo always does her best to get weirder, doesn't she?'

Lucas shook his head before asking,

"Why did you eat the cutlery as well, Evélyne?"

Evélyne froze. Frowning, she looked down at the table to see the business ends of her silverware were missing and, for what seemed like the first time ever, her very pale cheeks flushed pink as she noticed no one else eat them

Sasha smiled brightly at this new expression while Lucas just chuckled to himself. After a few pleasant moments, Lucas decided to move on.

"So what's the name of the dish?"

"It's listed as 'whole grain breakfast.' I highly recommend it."

Even though her expression was still quite flat, Lucas picked up on the small increase in her pitch. As Lucas spoke to Evélyne, Sasha ordered her breakfast as well: the whole grain breakfast.

"Uhmm! This is really good!"

Sasha exclaimed. Evélyne's eyes brightened as she watched her eat. Lucas smiled softly and ordered his meal as well. Taking a measured bite of the vegetables, he almost moaned.

'How is this so good???'

Giggles from both women drew him out of his haze. It seemed his expression had melted more than he would have liked…

As they ate, Evélyne ordered seconds and finished it while they were still eating. When they were finally done, Lucas asked,

"So which class should we attend first?"

"How about you choose, Lucas,"

Evélyne said.

Lucas raised a scaly eyebrow at Evélyne but obliged. Asking the school what classes were available right now, it gave him the school's entire timetable. "Reading" through it, he said,

"The System class sounds good, and it's about to start in a few minutes. Let's go."

With a nod, Evélyne and Sasha stood up. They quickly left the cafeteria and moved through the school's halls with a rapid stride, the number of students now quite large as they had to weave through them.

In about 12 minutes, they walked into the class. Lucas looked around in slight confusion since it wasn't a class… at least not like it was back on Earth.

The "class" was huge, almost three hundred meters across, an unknown light source illuminating it. At the center, they could see a lush tree and about 27 students sitting on the grass.

You could practically taste the soothing earthy scent coming from the room. A man stood near the tree in silence. When they made their way over, they quickly realized it was a hologram.

"Alright, since the final three are here, class can begin. Please take your seats… or stand, feel free."

The trio sat close to each other on the soft grass as the man began.

"So, children, what do you consider progression? It's what we are all here for, so a precise definition is a must, right?"

A Prismari student raised his hand. With a nod from the teacher, he said,

"Progression is the unique ability of sapient life to improve upon itself via the System and their worldly knowledge."

"Very good. Now who can tell me how sapient life forms go about this?"

Multiple students raised their hands, and the teacher picked a Beastkin student. Their feminine voice echoed,

"There are multiple ways of doing so, but the fastest are living according to your true nature and linking with a domain core."

"Huh??"

Lucas couldn't hide his confusion, drawing the looks of everyone. Awkwardly smiling, he said,

"Sorry, I just thought of something weird."

The teacher smiled.

"It's okay, Lucas. If any of this troubles you, you can always make that known."

Lucas was taken aback that the teacher knew his name but then he realized he is talking to a hologram in a sentient school. So he nodded slightly and said,

"Actually… I am confused by something… I thought absorbing Spirit energy was the main way to progress?"

"It used to be. But that was when Level 5 was seen as the summit. With the breakthrough to higher levels, it was quickly seen as… obsolete and flawed," the teacher clarified.

"Any further questions?"

"Yes. What does 'living according to your true nature' mean exactly?"

This brought a few students' attention, including Sasha's. The teacher responded,

"Good question. It means doing things in a manner you acknowledge, prefer, and are willing to explore to its natural end. Let's give an example. Let's say you have a passion for food; if you just eat with no real considerations, you will see no difference. But if you go out of your way to truly understand food, evaluate food, prepare food, make food become an integral part of your worldview, the System rewards that effort. Achievements will be awarded for each discovery and advancement on this path of yours. Leveling up becomes easier; gaining skills and traits involving food follows as well. The world actively assists you in your endeavor to explore what 'food' is."

This sank the class into quiet contemplation.

'…So that's why I get Achievements for doing extreme stuff? Because the System sees me as a thrill seeker? But is that all I am?'

Sasha turned to Lucas and whispered,

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Sasha."

The teacher then asked,

"Any other questions?"

Evélyne raised her hand.

"How do we advance beyond Level 5?"

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