My Bugged System Made Me Too OP!-Chapter 30: It’s Noah

There was also the fact that he had already been expecting the attack.

From the moment Lloyd’s fingers curled and the chant began to roll off his tongue, Noah had known something was coming.

Lloyd was not the type to let someone turn their back on him without retaliation. His pride was too fragile for that.

So when the stone had formed, when it had hardened and begun spinning faster and faster, Noah’s muscles had already tensed beneath his uniform.

He had been ready.

That readiness had made all the difference.

Even still...

Noah’s gaze flickered briefly to the side as the murmurs grew louder around them.

’Even still... I can’t afford to fight with Lloyd right now.’ he thought.

It wasn’t fear.

It was calculation.

His eyes shifted slightly, glancing past Lloyd to the other two boys standing behind him. They hadn’t moved yet. But they were watching closely.

Noah frowned faintly.

They weren’t as loud as Lloyd, but that didn’t mean they were harmless.

He was currently stronger than the three of them.

But that was only if he used his skills, and that was the problem.

He couldn’t use them.

Not here.

Not now.

The academy still believed he was in the low-apprentice rank. A trash student with no real talent.

If he suddenly displayed power beyond that level, it would raise questions.

Questions he wasn’t prepared to answer.

His fingers curled slightly at his side.

A sharp groan broke through his thoughts.

The boy behind him — the one whose cheek had been grazed — was still clutching his face.

Blood stained his fingers, dark red against pale skin. It trailed down along his jaw in thin lines, dripping onto the polished academy floor.

Students nearby recoiled.

Some gasped.

Others stepped back, forming a wider circle around the scene.

The hallway was no longer just noisy.

It was chaotic.

"What the hell was that?!"

"He almost hit him!"

"Someone call an instructor!"

Voices overlapped, sharp and frantic.

But just as quickly as concern rose, the direction of blame shifted.

"It’s because Noah provoked him."

"Yeah, he walked up to Lloyd first."

"He was acting all confident earlier."

"If he didn’t start it, none of this would’ve happened."

Noah’s jaw tightened.

He hissed quietly under his breath, eyes narrowing as he listened to them.

’Of course they’ll support him... pathetic bunch.’ he thought.

Not one of them had stepped in when Lloyd insulted him.

Not one of them had questioned why Lloyd attacked first.

But now that blood had been drawn, they needed someone easy to blame.

And he was convenient.

Always had been.

Lloyd straightened slowly, brushing imaginary dust off his sleeve as if the previous moment had been nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

He scoffed, lips curling upward again.

"You got lucky," he said, voice loud enough for everyone to hear. "Do you think you can be lucky forever, Noah?"

Noah looked at him.

Just for a second, and then he scoffed lightly in return, ignoring him.

He turned his gaze away, as if Lloyd’s words weren’t worth responding to.

A sharp voice suddenly cut through the tense air behind Noah.

"What the hell is going on here?!"

The words were loud, sharp enough to slice through the overlapping murmurs and whispers that had been swelling in the hallway.

Every single student froze.

Slowly, heads turned, towards the source of the voice.

An instructor had arrived.

He stood several steps behind Noah, tall and rigid, his presence heavy enough to command attention without needing to repeat himself.

His brown hair was combed back neatly, though the center of his scalp was noticeably balding.

The thinning patch caught the overhead light, making the contrast between hair and bare skin more obvious.

It was not something easily ignored.

Strands of brown framed the sides of his head, but the middle remained sparse, giving him an aged, severe look that only deepened the sharpness of his features.

In his right hand, he held a long cane.

The wood was polished smooth, its surface slightly glossy under the light.

His grip around it was firm, and his expression stern.

Deep lines creased his forehead. His lips were pressed into a thin, unyielding line. His eyes were hard, scanning the scene with visible irritation. There was no warmth in his gaze, neither was there patience.

He took a single step forward, the tip of the cane striking the floor with a sharp tap.

The sound echoed.

His eyes moved first toward the injured boy.

The student was still clutching his cheek, fingers stained red.

His face was twisted in pain, teeth clenched as he tried to endure the sting.

The instructor’s gaze lingered on him for a moment.

Then it shifted.

It moved to Lloyd.

Lloyd was still standing with his posture half-extended from the previous attack.

Though his hand had lowered slightly, it was still angled forward, fingers slightly curled as if magic had only just left his palm.

His expression was tense, jaw tight, though he quickly tried to compose himself under the instructor’s stare.

The instructor’s eyes rested on him briefly.

Then—

They moved again, to Noah.

The moment their gazes met, the stern look on the instructor’s face twisted.

His upper lip curled faintly.

His brows drew together, not in confusion, but in something far more personal—disdain and disgust.

He didn’t even bother to hide it.

The way his eyes narrowed, as if merely looking at Noah was enough to irritate him.

Noah’s eyes widened just slightly.

’Instructor Brey...’

Out of all the instructors in the academy—

This was the one he least wanted to see right now.

If there was any instructor who could be said to hate him the most, it was Instructor Brey.

From the very beginning, Brey had made his feelings clear without ever saying them directly.

The way he called on Noah more often than others. The way he scrutinized every answer he gave. The way he would pause just long enough after Noah spoke, as if searching desperately for an error.

And when he found one—

No matter how small—

He punished him.

If Noah mispronounced a single word, he was reprimanded.

If he hesitated even for a second—

He was accused of not paying attention.

Even when others made the same mistakes, they were dismissed with mild warnings.

But with Noah—

It was always different, as he was far more harsher and colder.

Brey never needed a real reason.

He simply found one.

Now, standing in the middle of this chaotic hallway, cane in hand and irritation written across his face, that same familiar hostility was present in his eyes.

He inhaled slowly through his nose.

Then he hissed softly,

"You..."

The single word was directed straight at Noah.

Not Lloyd, or even the injured student.

His gaze hardened further.

"Who did this?"

His voice was firm. But beneath it was something that suggested he already had an answer in mind.

For half a second, silence hung in the air.

Then, almost at the same time, the student around raised their hands and pointed their fingers at Noah.

"It was him!"

"He started it!" 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"He provoked Lloyd!"

"He walked up to him and insulted first!"

Dozens of fingers aimed squarely at Noah as if there had never been any other possibility.