The hivemind is conquering for me?

Orchids’ round of questioning went by a lot swifter than my own, I could tell from the body language the man was expressing that my big softy had scared him.

With our cliché young master moment happening surprisingly early with little to no consequence, we made our way past through the next checkpoint, losing our crowd for it to be replaced with just a few stragglers.

”So, what’s next? Where does my favourite Praetorian suggest we go first?” I chimed up gleefully, causing Nerissa to reply. ” Favourite? Have you ran into other Praetorians that you call friend? I know you are jesting, but... I would find great unease in sharing you with my kin Apollo. You are my friend after all, I have not made a new one in millennia’s so I feel... Protective of you.”

I nodded my head in understanding. ”I get that, I feel protective over my friends as well. They are all important to me and I want only the best for them.” Nerissa nodded her head in agreement before answering the question I had asked.

”The next area we are about to enter has representatives of multiple classes and such. There is also food here, as it’s going to take all day for everyone to be registered.” My head began to careen around, like a sonar device and attempted to gain a whiff of where the food was.

Tapping into my heightened sense of smell was both a good and bad Idea, as I found where the food was, but I also smelt everyone between the food and myself and bleurgh... Still, my appetite was not diminished.

”I could do with something to eat. Girls?” I asked, getting affirmation from both Janine and Orchid. We then began to walk over to the food area and whilst walking Nerissa asked. ”So, Apollo, your armour when you activated it, it had a new sheen about it. Have you managed to improve your armour while you were gone as well?”

I almost lost my cool when Nerissa asked that. Onyx had given me a gift a short while ago... The helmet of the praetorian that tried to erase me from existence. Now while she wouldn’t give me the details of how she acquired the helmet, the context was pretty obvious. After allowing the orbs on my armour to devour the helmet, it was like a superfood to my armour, and while it had not changed colour or appearance, it did have a glossier shine and was more durable now on the outermost layer; there was not enough material for an entire body composition change.

”Oh yeah, I got my hands on some new material, don’t know the name of it, but it’s slightly enhanced my armour, very useful.” I simply said, causing Nerissa to nod her head with no further follow up.

We grabbed our food hastily, it was just fast food and after seven burgers, I decided it was enough for now. Nerissa then suggested we look around at the representatives of the classes as most were run by student representatives and we would get a more raw understanding of what the classes and lectures would actually be like.

I had no objections to this, as hearing more about a class I previously dismissed might actually sway me as I learn more about it... Or maybe not as the first one we arrived at, while swarmed, I wanted to give a wide berth. Psionic cosmetology.

If Janine decided she would want to do that, I would actually die of boredom in that class. As we continued to look around, I noticed a lot of these classes were aimed towards beginners or those that didn’t understand Psionics. For example, there was a Psionics linguistics class for those that didn’t know the names for everything.

However, as we strolled, I suddenly felt an arm grasp me tightly, forcing me to come to a halt. Looking to the body that owned the hand, I spotted Janine fixated on something. Tracing her gaze, my eyes went to the little stall that said. ’Psionic firearms.’

”Do you want to go check it out?” I asked, causing Janine to suddenly realise she had grabbed me. She then pulled away and looked around with an uninterested look. ”I mean... If you want to. I am not really fussed...”

Having become more adept in women’s speech, I knew what that meant and made my way over to the booth. Sat there on her own reading a magazine with cartoon characters drawn all over it, was a very very slim woman who looked rather pale.

Sickly wasn’t the right word to describe her as although she looked frail, she was not gaunt and her pale skin looked incredibly healthy from my scientific gaze. She had black hair that contrasted magnificently with her pale skin and was styled in a braid that hung loosely down her shoulder.

She also had a long fringe that covered half of her face and as she looked up, she had one of the most gorgeous eyes I had ever seen peeking out of the gap of her fringe. A beautiful Neon green that made me want to stare deep into them.

Upon noticing us approach, her eye widened and then widened even more, spotting the Praetorian. She immediately hid her book and presented herself to the best of her abilities, still the nerves got the better of her and she began to play with the bottom of her dress to ease her worry.

”H-Hi, can I help you today? I mean, Are you interested in Psionic firepower and firearms?” She asked, causing me to reply with the first thing that popped into my head. ”Hi there, I really like your eye colour, they are very beautiful.”

Orchid didn’t even bother getting mad anymore at this, she realised her Apollo was just spouting his inner thoughts, and she could never be mad at him for that, as she too had to admit, the prey’s eyes were very pleasant to look at.

The pale woman’s skin immediately turned a hue of pink, even more visible than usual thanks to her complexion. Clearly not expecting the complement, she couldn’t change the subject and asked. ”R-really? You don’t think they are hideous?”

I was visibly taken aback by what she just said. ”Hideous? Have you seen your eyes? They are so vibrant, I bet I could still see them easily in a dark room. Whoever is calling them hideous is blind. Now are those your natural colour or did they change during your awakening?”

I leaned in over the booth, not realising I was over fixating again as I got a closer look at the woman’s eyes. The woman began opening her mouth over and over to speak, but nothing was coming out as the handsome guy was inches from her face.

She wasn’t used to the attention of others and especially being looked at like she was the only thing in the world. She felt her breathing pick up due to a mixture of anxiety and something else.

As I was examining the eye to the best of my ability without popping it out and dissecting it, I suddenly felt a gauntleted hand grab my head and pull me backwards. ”Apollo, I am fine with your quirks and intense focus, but be mindful of strangers.” Nerissa said, causing me to snap out of my trance.

”Oh. Oops, did I do something weird? Sorry Miss?” I paused to get the woman’s name, but her beautiful eye had widened and was staring at the Praetorian. She had seen the Praetorian a few times in the last few months and she had never spoken... To speak now and so casually to this person in front of her... She felt her throat dry up, this must be an incredibly important person.”

”Miss Are you ok?” I asked, causing her to jolt in surprise before declaring. ”What? Huh?” She suddenly recalled I beckoned for her name, causing her to sit upright. ”I’m, uh. My name is Evanthe Zeva.”

”Evanthe Zeva? A beautiful name. Matches perfectly with those eyes of yours. Now, only fair you know us right? I am Apollo, this lovely woman is Orchid, this gorgeous Sepiida is Janine and this pile of scrap metal is Nerissa. A pleasure to meet you.”

I smiled playfully, expecting exactly what happened next to happen as Nerissa placed her hand upon my shoulder. ”A pile of scrap metal?” She wasn’t angry, just very curious as to why I would address her in such a way despite not doing so before.

”Well, scrap metal to be, After our little spar, that’s all is going to be left of your armour. Scrap metal.” I said. Nerissa smiled, her eyes squinting in delight underneath her mask. ”Confidence? I am glad you feel such a way Apollo, it will be a delight to beat that confidence out of you.”

I smiled back, my emotional warfare a clear failure on my end to destabilise her before our spar before turning back to Miss Evanthe.

”Sorry, I like messing with my friends at inappropriate times. Can you tell us more about these Psionic firearms? We are very interested.”