Lucas silently followed behind the school administrator. Students gave them a quick look before going back to their business. Watching the administrator's measured stride and his very bland and pragmatic gray jacket and pants, Lucas almost groaned out loud.

'He sure looks like a hard-ass… Am I really going to be expelled on the second day? Why am I so reckless? I'm not in the cavern anymore, for crying out loud.'

As he stormily followed, his tail whipped around aggressively. His thoughts were rapidly spiraling. It didn't take long for Lucas to get to what he assumed was the man's office. The door wasn't overly elaborate; it was a see-through door made with some metal and glass-like material.

It opened automatically as the man stepped through, prompting Lucas to do the same. If the interior of the office could be described with one word, it would be 'spartan.'

A broad and thick wooden table sat stably at the center of the room, with two comfortable chairs placed near it. Nothing could be found on its smooth surface. Around the room hung two portraits, and that was it. The dull gray of the room seemed to break down any desire to look around for long. Getting to his seat, the man calmly said, "Sit."

Lucas took his seat calmly, and they just stared at each other as the seconds ticked by. Neither broke eye contact until the man asked, "Do you know why you are here, Lucas Maverick?"

"I blew up my meditation room?"

The man subtly shook his head. "That is beside the point, Mr. Maverick. From the report I received from the school, you almost detonated yourself, then you discharged a powerful surge of kinetic energy into your neighbor's room. The resulting blast demolished both your room and theirs to an uninhabitable degree. This reckless act didn't only endanger you; it endangered other students as well."

The disciplinary officer paused here, his weighty gaze trying to crush Lucas. Lucas's expression dimmed as he thought, 'He is right… did someone die?' He asked himself, more curious than worried. Before he could examine his thoughts further, the administrator continued.

"Thankfully, no one got hurt."

Lucas exhaled. 'At least I might not get expelled directly. I should ask the school what the rules are after this—'

Lucas was pulled out of his thoughts by the man's sharpening gaze. With Lucas's full attention on him now, he continued speaking.

"Given no one got hurt, you will not be facing direct expulsion. But, you shall receive a disciplinary strike and a week of class suspension. Four more strikes and you will be expelled. I hope I have made myself clear?"

Lucas felt the presence of the school lock in on him a bit more at that, his skin writhing subtly. "Yes, sir."

"You may leave."

Lucas was somewhat surprised, but he coolly stood up and took his leave. The man's gaze followed him. When Lucas left, he pulled up a hologram. It was a file on Lucas.

"He held back during his grading exam and still got accepted into the third grade?… Keep an eye on him, will you?"

At his request, a powerful, immaterial entity buzzed, and the room seemed to warp very slightly at its affirmation. It was the school's presence.

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'Phew, at least I didn't get expelled. If I did, where would I even start?'

Though Lucas's expression was quite calm, he was shaken within.

'It's fine. I just need to be more careful—'

He felt something buzz from within his Mind. It felt like a delicate touch to his eyeball—not painful in the least, but very noticeable. He stopped his stride. Soft, multi-colored light flashed, and his communicator appeared in his palm.

'That's how its notifications work? I should try to tweak it later. It would scare the hell out of me if I got a message in my sleep.'

While he thought, he activated the device to see it was a message from Sasha, a type of mental note.

/Good morning, Sir Lucas. How was your night?/

'Oh.'

His scaly tail waved as he tinkered with his communicator to give a response. It took him a few moments to figure it out, and he sent, /It was quite productive. On that note, try not to practice anything too… explosive in your meditation room./

Sasha replied almost instantly. /Okay, I won't. Where are you right now? My mistress and I were thinking of attending the sports class. Apparently, it's something Prismari came up with to have fun, and they teach it here!/

Lucas blinked as he felt Sasha's emotions through the message. Forcing down his smile, he tried to respond before coming to a problem. /Somewhere in the Southwest Wing. Just tell me where you are, so I can come meet you. I have something to tell you guys./

/Okay, Sir Lucas. We are at the sports class in the Eastern Wing. You should hurry, class is almost full. There are just five spots left./

/You're already in class? I can't come in. I got suspended./

/Suspended? What does that mean?/

Lucas asked the school for directions to the sports class and began his walk toward that direction.

/It means I can't attend class for a week./

/Ahh… Well, let me tell my mistress then./

/Okay./

Lucas kept walking as he fell into thought.

'Dang. Missing classes will suck… wonder how I'll pass the time...'

He redirected his thoughts and asked the school about recreational activities. It informed him there were numerous facilities and devices for such by transmitting the information directly to his mind. Unfortunately, it also informed him they were off-limits for the duration of his suspension. Breathing out a sigh, he was about to ask some more questions, but a mental message interrupted him.

/Why did you get suspended?/ Evélyne asked bluntly. The emotions behind the message were mostly unclear, but Lucas felt a strong amount of concern.

With raised eyebrows, Lucas responded, /Well… I blew up my room… and my neighbor's./

/Are you okay?/ Evélyne instantly asked, surprising Lucas even more.

'Is this how she feels all the time?'

/Yeah, I'm fine. I just can't attend classes for a week, and I have a strike./

/I see… where are you? Sasha and I are coming over./

Lucas thought of declining, but the intent behind Evélyne's message suggested she really wouldn't take no for an answer.

'It's okay. No need to antagonize her more. Just accept and have as much fun as possible. Remember, all this is for my escape. Childish outbursts just decrease my odds of doing so.'

Convincing himself not to flat-out rebuff her, Lucas sent, /How about we meet at the library in the South Wing?/

/We are on our way./

With that, their communications ceased. Lucas unhurriedly moved toward the direction of the library, head in the clouds.

'I keep saying I'm going to escape, but how am I going to do that exactly? The [Pact] needs Evélyne's consent to break down, and given her odd desire to… befriend me, I don't see that happening anytime soon. Or ever. But… can't I convince her to dissolve it if I treated her more—'

His gaze regained focus at this line of thought, his eyes flashing with a chaotic mix of emotions before becoming muted.

'No. She killed Crash. It doesn't matter if what she feels is genuine. She killed someone important to me. The fact that I am not considering vengeance…'

He clenched his scaly fist. He knew the situation was more complicated than he wanted to admit. It was Crash's choice to "die," which made blindly pursuing vengeance frankly insulting to his sacrifice. Not to mention, he might just get himself killed while proving absolutely nothing in the end. Even if he could somehow gain enough power to defeat Evélyne, he didn't know if he could bring himself to kill her with all the time they had spent together and her assistance in his growth.

To add on top of that, his mimic nature was constantly nullifying and repressing his stronger emotions, making it quite difficult for him to hold on to his hatred or build any fondness for Evélyne and the others.

'But somehow, I still do…' he thought, his gaze becoming lost once more as he walked off, head lost in the clouds.

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