Austin and Aeron moved through the counters, taking one food item after another on their tray plates. They were in the academy canteen, having their morning breakfast. There were two more student other then them sitting at the corner tables.
"Why are there so few students in the canteen? Are we late by any chance?" Austin asked, moving along the counter, filling his plate with rice, veggies, a meatball curry which was more water than the curry itself.
He took as much meat as he could, since he needed protein for his muscles. Being a trainer himself, he was strict with his diet along with the training.
"Because the other hostels have their own kitchens with allocated cooks. They can have breakfast, lunch, dinner, everything in the hostel itself." Aeron replied while taking the mashed potato on his plate.
"Why don’t we have it then?"
Aeron stopped abruptly, he turned and gave a weird look at Austin, as if asking why the hell are you asking me something that’s common knowledge. But seeing Austin’s unhinged curious gaze, he decided to clear this anyway.
"Because we’re C class. That’s why. Discrimination on the basis of prowess."
"What about the others from C class. shouldn’t they be eating here then?"
"There’s no one except the two of us in the hostel."
"What!?" Austin yelled out in surprise. "So, that’s the reason why I saw no one in the hostel till now." Another doubt of his was cleared, that he was holding in since yesterday.
"Where do they stay then?"
"Some stay in rent outside, while some in private hostels. And a very few of them have their own family houses in the city. These are no less then the A and B class hostels. Why would they come here? To eat this shit!?" Aeron picked up the watery curry with the ladle, showing it to Austin.
"Since we’re poor along with being weak, we have no choice other than staying in the free hostel and eating this free canteen food." Aeron said, a trace of frustration and helpless apparent on his face.
They took their trays and moved to one of the tables. Sat opposite each other and started eating. Aeron was a bit taken aback, seeing Austin devour one meatball after another. He picked one up and took a bite. His face immediately contorted with disgust. It was the most bland and tasteless meatball he had ever tasted.
"You liked it so much?" He couldn’t endure and asked Austin.
"Hmm? The meatball? Not at all! You were right. it’s shit, really. I’m eating them because I need my proteins." Austin said with a smile.
"Who are you? You’re not Grey." Aeron asked with furrowed brows. Austin’s hand froze, holding the spoon with rice just in front of his wide opened mouth.
"W-What do you mean? Who else would I be? Haha!" Austin said with am embarrassed laugh. Trying to act innocent.
"I mean, the last few days, you used to complain all the time, about the food, the lodging, being poor, about how we were being discriminated on. You looked frustrated and angry on everything. You didn’t even touch the food yesterday. But now you’re accepting everything without a complain. Woke up early, did some work out and now, you’re even eating the same food like it’s the tastiest food in the world. It’s hard to believe these two characters are the same person."
"So that’s what it is. Well...after my duel yesterday, those hits changed me somehow, I guess. Haha!" Austin sighed in relief. For a moment, he thought Aeron had caught onto him being someone other then Grey.
"You can choose to stay weak or choose to be strong. The choice is always yours, and it’s in that single moment of decision that you define who you will become. My moment came yesterday, and I’ve chosen to grow strong Aeron. That’s why I’ve changed. And l like this changed me." Austin said with a smile, and went back to devouring his food again.
Aeron was stupefied. The words hit him like a bullet. An unknown feeling, a heat was rising inside him now. He didn’t know when, but he clenched the spoon tight within his hands. A chuckle escaped him and he started eating again. this time, the same bland food tasted a bit different. With every bite, the corners of his lips lifted into a smirk.
They finished their breakfast, dumped the trays at the end of the counter and moved out of the canteen. not a single word was spoken between the two of them in the meantime. As they were walking along the hallway, towards their class, Austin opened his mouth to ask.
"What class do we have now?"
"Eclipse beast anatomy, I think. Check in the routine parchment." Aeron said.
"What’s that?" Austin asked with his confused and oblivious face.
Aeron shook his head in disappointment. Helplessly, he pulled out a parchment from his satchel, hanging by his shoulder, and passed it to Austin. "Take a look."
Austin took it and unrolled the parchment. It was thin and brown. The ink was fresh and had dried not long ago. He guessed that these were given to all the new entrants and were made just recently.
He then started reading through the lines.
Auxiliary C class routine
Monday:
-class 1= Eclipse beast anatomy
-class 2= Practical (Arena 4)
-class 3= History
Tuesday:
-class 1= Aura theory
-class 2= Aura manipulation
Wednesday:
-club activities
Thursday:
-class 1= Combat fundamentals
-class 2= Practical (Arena 4)
Friday:
-club activities