Zack groaned as he slumped over the lunch table and shoveled the food into his mouth at an angle. The teachers had informed them that basic conditioning exercises were how they were going to start ending each class. It had been a grueling workout that came after everyone had already exhausted themselves.

Tessa sat down across from him, her arms slightly shaking as she carried the food.

He was sitting in the same corner and table as the day before. Once more, he had been sitting alone until she arrived. “You didn’t want to sit with everyone else?” He asked, not shifting from his slumped position.

She shrugged. “What the teacher said is true. With your compatibility score, unless something happens, you will come out on top. I figured it was better to get on your good side now when there are fewer people there.”

Zack blinked and sat up straight. “That is kind of a cold, logical way of looking at it. Isn’t it?”

She carefully brought the fork to her mouth, eating with the manners that only someone highborn would have known and practiced. “Is it? It is certainly practical, and my presence will help you avoid trouble as well.”

Zack looked around the cafeteria and shook his head. “Actually, I think your presence will cause me more issues than anything else. Up to this point, our classmates and others in the school have been taking their time forming opinions. There were a few who didn’t like me from the start, then a few more who decided they didn’t like me after our math class yesterday. Now though, all the people who have been ignoring my existence have seen you sitting with me, instead of them.”

She tilted her head at him and then took in everyone staring at them. “Oh, I see what you mean.” Tessa frowned and continued eating, her brows furrowed in thought. “Maybe this was not the best way to go about doing this. It might have served better to have this conversation at a more private location.”

“Why are you talking like that?” Zack pushed his now empty plate of food to the side. “It sounds all stilted, and proper. I heard you in class before. I know how you normally talk.”

She mewled softly and ducked her head, as a blush that matched her hair spread across her face. “I talk like that whenever I am nervous.”

He sat back in shock. “Why would you be nervous? I am a nobody right now. Someday I may be someone with ability. That isn’t the case right now.” Zack wasn’t looking down on himself, nor did he have low self-confidence. He was simply stating the facts. At that moment in time, he was still a non-entity.

“I am not familiar with many people our own age,” Her voice dropped to a near whisper. “As I’m sure you heard this morning, my father possesses a position where knowledge is easy to come by. I was taught by him and my uh, well, my mother until recently. They decided it would be better for me to socialize with people my own before it became too late.”

“Ah, I understand now. You’re so nervous and awkward around everyone else, that you chose to approach the person who was alone.” Zack nodded and stood. “You could have just said that from the beginning.”

Tessa blinked and shook her head. “That’s not, oh whatever. I guess it doesn’t matter.”

He grinned at her sudden change in speech. He believed the reason she had given him about choosing to befriend or at least become acquaintances. The reason he had given her, however, had been what calmed her down.

“Wait,” She called out to him before he could leave. “My name is Testarosa Ricerca. It’s a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance properly.”

“I know, the teacher called you Tessa this morning.” Zack looked down at the plate in his hands and then met her eyes. “My name is Zackary, no last name.”

He hurried off before she could say anything more. There were few things that embarrassed him as much as admitting that he had no last name. Telling people he was an orphan was simply a fact of life, it was something normal. People died and left their kids without parents.

Not having a last name was different. It set him and Zara apart, while also robbing them of part of their identity. Even orphans were given a last name if they didn’t already have one when they entered their first orphanage. For some reason, the siblings had never been given one. Another sign that someone near the top wanted them forgotten.

Tessa twirled her fork absently, “I’ll meet you at the Mana Tech building as soon as I’m finished eating.”

He appreciated how straightforward she had been with her intentions. It was easier for him to trust someone like that. Knowing he had been approached with an ulterior motive in mind was easier to believe than someone desiring a normal friendship.

Zack wove his way through the crowded cafeteria, and outside after stopping to deposit the items he had dirtied. It wasn’t until he had stepped through the doors and into the bright sun outside that he noticed he had been followed.

It was a group of five boys, with Spencer in the lead. Two of the bigger boys each grabbed one of his arms before he could react. Working together, they dragged him towards the nearest copse of trees, paying no mind to his struggling or raised voice.

The noble-born boy wasted no time in punching Zack as soon as they were clear of prying eyes. His weak, untrained fist twisted at the wrist and crushed the thumb he had placed inside the cocoon of his fingers. It was a perfect example of how not to form a fist, and how to then improperly punch someone.

It hurt Zack, but it hurt Spencer more. As a noble, he was used to a comfortable and soft life. He was ill-prepared for what would happen when he went through the portals. Despite his parent’s words, and near-constant lectures. He had wanted to enjoy his life. Exercising or even doing more than the minimal studying and weapon training he had done went directly against that desire.

From the time they had grabbed him to that first ineffectual punch, none of them had said a word to him.

“What was that for?” Zack gasped out, the food he had just been eating threatening to come back up.

The two thugs gripping his arms pressed his back against a tree and held him there. With a look of disgust at the crying Spencer, a tall, handsome student he didn’t recognize, stepped forward. The last member of the group had his back to them and was busy making sure no one approached the area.

“Do you know who I am?” The tall student asked him. His voice was even, and his dark brown eyes calm as he watched the gasping boy. There wasn’t a shred of sympathy or emotion in them. It was as though he was looking at something no more significant than a mere bug.

Zack shook his head, forcefully calming his roiling stomach with deep breaths. It was easy for him to ignore the pain from the weak punch and focus on the situation at hand. “Should I?”

“One should always know their betters and their place.” A hint of cruelty twisted his face as he cocked his arm back and stepped into a full-force punch. Unlike Spencer, this noble knew what he was doing.

Zack gasped out as he felt a lower-rib bend and crack from the force of the blow. The thugs dropped his arms, letting him collapse as he vomited onto the dirt beneath the trees.

The teen crouched in front of Zack, outside the range of the foul-smelling puddle of chunks. “You should really chew your food more.” He said disinterestedly, not caring that he had damaged the boy more than originally intended. “This is your only warning. Stay away from Tessa. She and her father will one day belong to my family. Until that day comes, I would prefer that she keep away from the disease-carrying peasants.”

“She approached ME!” Zack gasped out.

“As if I care.” The teen stood and straightened the sleeves of his uniform. “I am Dorn Albright, the eldest son of Duke Albright. I will be the one who someday takes over Albright Industries. Do you really think, even for a second, that the two of us are on the same level?”

Zack struggled to sit up, the fractured rib protesting against the simple movement. “I agree. You are not on my level. You never have been and never will be. I don’t care if you want her. That has nothing to do with me! What you just did though, that was personal.”

Dorn snorted in mock amusement and stood. “You have got to be joking. I’m not on your level? You must be even more delusional and stupid than I had heard.” His foot shot out and hit Zack's jaw, knocking the already injured boy into the rough bark of the tree.

He was unconscious before his body hit the ground.