When they arrived at the university cafeteria, Lucas ordered his usual hearty meal—a generous portion with meat, rice, and sides.
He turned to see Amelia Su standing awkwardly behind him, holding an empty plate like she had no idea what to do next. She looked lost, frozen in place, her shoulders stiff and eyes darting nervously.
Lucas sighed and stepped forward.
"Come on," he said gently, taking her plate. He walked back to the counter and helped her get a full tray of food, choosing dishes that looked nutritious and appealing. Then he led her to a quiet corner of the cafeteria where no one was sitting.
"Let's sit here," Lucas said, gesturing to a table tucked away from the crowd. She followed him silently, clutching her tray like a shield.
Once they sat down, Lucas smiled warmly. "Go ahead, eat!"
He immediately dug into his food with the kind of gusto that only someone who had skipped lunch could manage. He wasn't trying to be a role model; he was just starving.
But his enthusiasm had an effect.
Amelia finally lifted her chopsticks, nibbling timidly at the food in front of her. She ate quietly, taking small bites, glancing at Lucas from time to time.
The tray of food he picked for her was more than she seemed used to—it was rich, well-balanced, and filling.
Lucas had chosen it intentionally. One look at her was all it took to know that she hadn't eaten well in a long time. She looked fragile, like a stem about to break in the wind.
And the more he looked, the more he remembered what Mason—the chubby guy from Tianhai—had once said: "The person in the front row needs to be strong, solid, dependable."
Lucas glanced at Amelia and couldn't help but frown a little.
Could I really trust someone like her to stand in front of me on the battlefield?
If she got hit by a monster's punch, she might go flying. His reflex would probably be to pull her behind him, not rely on her to tank hits.
Of course, Lucas knew better than to judge a combatant by appearance alone. Power was in the stats, not the physique. But still, the image of Amelia cowering before a boss monster wasn't exactly reassuring.
Even more concerning than her body was her personality. She had all the signs of someone with crippling social anxiety—avoiding eye contact, sitting with a tight posture, flinching at every loud sound.
And yet…
She had SS-Level Talent. And her class was a Holy Shield Knight—one of the most powerful frontline roles in the game.
Lucas couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
The goddess of destiny really has a strange sense of humor.
But as he watched her eat, he began to think more deeply.
The dean had brought them together. It wasn't just for the welcome ceremony. That was just the surface reason. The deeper message was clear: these two should consider teaming up.
And Lucas saw the logic.
He was already an S-Level Talent, with a hidden combat class and the best score in the national exam. People already called him a Transcendent-Level freshman, and he had the strength to back it up.
But Amelia…
She was the only SS-Level freshman this year. A true outlier. And while her demeanor didn't match her status, her potential was unmatched.
Lucas knew that in the future, if he was to challenge the Mysterious Tower, he couldn't do it alone. He'd need teammates who could hold the line, handle pressure, and trust him in battle.
Amelia Su could be one of those people.
If she could be trained.
---
After they finished eating, Lucas decided to try opening her up.
The key was to find common ground—something that would make her feel less alone.
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "Hey… you know, I wasn't exactly a genius either."
Amelia looked up in surprise.
Lucas grinned. "Seriously. Before the awakening and job change ceremony, I was just a run-of-the-mill student. Grades? Average. Talent? Unknown. Nobody paid much attention to me. And now look—I'm apparently some 'Transcendent-Level' celebrity."
He pointed to himself in mock disbelief. "Who would've guessed?"
For the first time, Amelia's eyes met his directly. They were wide, curious, disbelieving.
"You… really?" she whispered.
Lucas nodded. "I'm telling you. Not everyone is born with a spotlight. Some of us have to stumble into it."
That opened the door.
Little by little, Amelia began to share her story.
She grew up in a small main city, in a poor household. Her parents were both Low-Level professionals, barely scraping by. She had a younger brother—the golden child. All the attention, all the praise, all the resources went to him.
Amelia was ignored, quietly forgotten in the background. Even before her brother was born, she had been lively, cheerful. But over the years, her spirit dimmed.
At school, she had no friends. Not because she was disliked—she simply didn't exist in other people's minds.
If someone from her class had been asked about her, they might've said, "Oh, yeah… I think there was a girl like that." A faint memory, at best.
But then came the awakening and career transfer ceremony.
In a school that had never even seen an S-Level Talent, Amelia Su awakened SS-Level Holy Shield Knight.
Everything changed overnight.
Her parents, who barely acknowledged her before, were suddenly beaming with pride, treating her like a trophy. The school celebrated. The city's officials visited. Even the old principal stepped in to personally assign four A-Level students to form a team with her.
They trained. They hunted monsters. Amelia leveled fast—reaching Level 18 before the national assessment. She broke every record her school had ever known.
Kyoto University contacted her directly, offering her a place. The students who teamed with her were accepted too, riding on her coattails.
But through it all, Amelia hadn't changed.
She was still the quiet, anxious girl with no friends.
She still couldn't look people in the eye.
And deep down, she still believed that no one really cared about her—only what she could do.
Lucas listened quietly, heart heavy. No wonder she's like this...
He finally spoke.
"Hey… don't worry about tonight."
Amelia looked at him.
Lucas smiled and pointed to himself. "I'll be the one doing the talking. You just stand beside me and look cool. Got it?"
He thumped his chest. "If anything goes wrong, blame me."
For a moment, Amelia looked confused. Then, slowly, she gave the tiniest nod.
Lucas walked her back to her dorm building. Before she went inside, she turned back and whispered, "Thank you."
"It's nothing," Lucas replied, waving. "Now go get ready. We've got a show to put on."
As she disappeared through the door, Lucas pulled out his phone.
6:15 p.m.
"Crap—I've got less than two hours."
He hurried back to his own dorm, where Zach, Leon, and Noah were lounging around. The moment he walked in, Zach jumped up.
"Dude! Where'd you go? What happened? You're the welcome ceremony guy, right?"
"Yeah, yeah," Lucas waved them off. "No time—I need to write a speech!"
His roommates wisely backed off, giving him space to focus.
Lucas opened the dean's reference documents and began scribbling furiously, piecing together a speech that was sincere, clear, and just flashy enough to make an impression.
By 7:45, he was finished.
No time to double-check.
"Let's go," he told Zach, grabbing his coat and rushing out the door.
They arrived at the auditorium just before 8:00 p.m. Counselor Cao breathed a visible sigh of relief when he saw Lucas walk in.
The Freshman Welcome Party was about to begin.
And Lucas… was about to step into the spotlight.
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