The Drafty Class Leader

The next morning, the lower deck was steeped in a stifling, strange atmosphere.

Yesterday's clamor and bloodshed had faded, but the invisible barrier, accompanied by the whispers around him, was even stronger than before.

The reserve apprentices around him were all avoiding Li Ang. He knew that, as Matthew's "prey," no one else dared get too close to him.

Before long, the assembly call sounded. It was the signal for breakfast, and they went to a slightly larger cabin on the fourth deck to eat.

This barely qualified as a crude dining hall. Several long wooden tables and benches were bolted to the floor, giving off the stale smell of rot.

Soon, two silent sailors carried in the food.

Each reserve apprentice received a chunk of black, hard coarse bread that reeked of sour fermentation, along with a bowl of watery oatmeal porridge in which the grains could practically be counted.

"Why are we eating this again?" A young noble pinched his nose as he stared at the food before him, his face turning green.

Most of the others also frowned deeply, looking as though they could barely swallow it.

They might not have been fabulously wealthy before, but where had they ever eaten food this crude?

Not to mention, they had been eating this stuff for days straight.

Li Ang silently took his black bread and oatmeal porridge, found an empty spot, and sat down.

He broke off a small piece, put it into his mouth, and chewed slowly.

The rough grains scraped against his mouth, and the sour taste made him want to vomit, but he forced himself to swallow.

His body needed energy, especially now that he was sick.

He took a sip of oatmeal porridge to wash down the hard-to-swallow bread. Heh, this stuff was less porridge than it was water.

As Li Ang grumbled inwardly, he began to desperately miss his old life. Never mind the meat at every meal in his previous life—even the original owner's former life had included white bread and thick soup with meat in it!

He truly missed the satisfaction that came with grease and fat.

Just then, he noticed Helena sitting diagonally across from him.

This girl had been one of the few who had sympathized with Li Ang yesterday and had not joined in the "bullying." Now, she was taking small, careful bites of her food with utmost seriousness.

Unlike the others, she did not complain or show disgust. She merely lowered her head slightly and carefully used her spoon to eat the pieces of bread soaked in her bowl of porridge, one bite at a time.

Sensing Li Ang's gaze, Helena looked up. Their eyes met, and when she saw it was Li Ang, she gave him a faint smile in greeting. She had a somewhat favorable impression of the boy who had helped her yesterday.

Li Ang returned Helena's smile. He also had a favorable impression of this girl, who had not joined the others in mocking and isolating him.

Suddenly, a small commotion arose at the entrance to the dining hall. Matthew had arrived.

His face still bore obvious bruises and swelling, especially around his chin and lips. The swelling made his once fairly decent-looking face seem somewhat comical.

Most eye-catching of all was his slightly upturned upper lip, revealing a clear gap. Where one of his front teeth should have been was now completely empty.

As he walked, he deliberately held his back straight to preserve what little authority he had left, but deep in his eyes was an unmistakable trace of lingering fear and embarrassment.

Kavi still followed closely behind him, his face wearing an obsequious expression and a nearly imperceptible hint of schadenfreude.

"Class Leader, please sit."

Kavi pulled out a bench, his voice as loud as though he were calling commands. In the quiet dining hall, it sounded rather abrupt.

Matthew gave a slight nod, trying hard to maintain the dignity of a class leader. He slowly sat down, accepted the black bread Kavi handed him, and carefully took a bite.

"Hiss." A stifled cry of pain escaped him.

The hard black bread struck the wound on his lip, making him suck in a sharp breath.

He instinctively covered his mouth, a flash of pain and humiliation crossing his face.

"Big bro... Class Leader, take it slow..."

Kavi hurriedly leaned closer.

Matthew set down the bread with a dark expression, then picked up the bowl of watery oatmeal porridge.

He scooped up a spoonful and cautiously brought it to his mouth.

Enduring the pain in his lips, he swallowed a spoonful, and then... quite a bit of the thin porridge leaked out through the gap in his lip.

"Pfft..." Someone in the dining hall failed to hold back a very quiet snicker, then hurriedly stifled it.

Matthew froze at once, his face alternating between green and red.

He abruptly looked up and swept his fierce gaze across the crowd, trying to find whoever had dared laugh at him.

But everyone had their heads lowered, pretending to focus intently on the food in their own bowls.

"Hmph." Matthew let out a muffled snort before speaking.

"Eat... eat faster. Once you're done... cough... get back to meditating. Whoever... whoever holds us back, don't blame me for being rude!"

That drafty threat, paired with his swollen cheeks and missing front tooth, had lost most of its intimidation.

Quite a few reserve apprentices kept their heads down, but their shoulders trembled slightly.

Matthew barely ate anything before rising first and leaving with an ashen face. Kavi hurriedly followed after him.

Once he was gone, the atmosphere in the dining hall seemed to loosen slightly, and the complaints about the food began to rise again in low voices.

Li Ang finished the last mouthful of bland oatmeal porridge and felt a little strength return to his body.

He did not linger. He rose as well, silently left the dining hall, and headed straight back to his tiny shabby room.

He shut the door, cutting off the noise and mildew smell outside.

Under the effect of [Gale-Sailing Canvas] Lv1, the air in the room circulated much faster, instantly becoming far fresher.

He sat cross-legged and took out the Level-0 Spell Compendium.

His Astral Star had already condensed, and much of his mental power had recovered. It was time to learn his first spell.

He opened the book, his gaze falling upon one of the spells.

[Level-0 Spell: Breeze Technique]

[Effect: Within the range of the caster's mental guidance, gather or disperse airflow in a small area, creating a breeze]

[Spell Structure: Use an Astral Star to trace a basic wind-element symbol and trigger a magical resonance]

[Learning Requirement: Wind-element affinity, with at least one Astral Star condensed within the Mental World]

"Gather or disperse airflow in a small area?"

Li Ang murmured the effect description, and something suddenly stirred within him. This description felt so familiar!

He instinctively looked up, as if he could see through layers of rotten planks to the three sheets of [Gale-Sailing Canvas] hanging high above on the mast.

"The principle... is almost identical!" Delight burst into Li Ang's eyes.

The canvas used the Wind-Gathering Array to manipulate airflow on a large scale, while [Breeze Technique] used mental power to trace runes and achieve a similar effect within a smaller range!

At their core, both guided and shaped the flow of wind-element magic. Only their scale, medium, and precision differed.

This discovery was like a lighthouse in the darkness, instantly illuminating his path to learning spells.

He no longer needed to force himself to understand that abstract "symbol" like the other apprentices. Instead, he connected it with the feeling of airflow manipulation he had already "experienced" through the canvas.

His consciousness sank into his Mental World, where that azure Magic Starlet rotated obediently.