"Sorry for my tardiness"

-Swoooosh!

Opening the door and scratching the back of my head, on the other side of the door, I saw three people standing with their backs straight. As soon as I opened the door, a surge of powerful aura came crashing in, creating a powerful gush of air that reminded me of a typhoon.

Feeling the gush of air brush past me as my clothes fluttered lightly, I tried my best the keep my smile on my face as I looked at the people before me.

Taking a closer look, there were three people.

The three people looked to be in their twenties, however, considering that they were all wearing Lock uniforms, they were still not there in terms of age.

Their ranks looked to be at around the <F> rank region, with the weakest of them being <F->. They each wore green-colored uniforms indicating that they were in their second years and the one leading them, the strongest one of the lot, I could feel his rank being at around <F+>.

The reason I knew this was because they didn't shy away from releasing their oppressive aura. Their intentions were obvious. Intimidate me.

...well, it was supposed to suppress me, but it really had no effect on me at the moment. Still, I pretended to grimace under their pressure.

"kkhh...who is this?"

'Observe before acting'

Seeing my reaction, keeping the pressure for a couple of seconds before removing it, the leading youth looked at me as he said in a solemn voice.

"You're the one that just moved in?"

Pretending to catch my breath, I slowly nodded my head and responded.

"huff..huff...Indeed."

As I responded to them, I tried my bests to hold back. Although the way they talked and behaved irked me, I had to hold it in until I found out who their backer was.

Chances were that they were someone I should probably not offend for the time being.

After making sure he had exerted his 'dominance' over me, the leading youth briefly glanced at his two lackeys behind him before looking back at me and saying

"My name is Noah Riley, a fellow student who resides in this building. Currently, I am gathering all of the people in this building for our usual end-of-the-week meeting. Seeing that you are here, you should also come and introduce yourself."

"Don't worry, he just wants to get to know you better and help you adapt to this place faster..." said Noah in a casual manner.

Although he claimed that he was requesting for a word, his tone didn't contain any trace of request.

It seems like something annoying was about to happen.

Overbearingly stepping into my room without asking for my permission, Noah and his lackeys glanced around the room before a smirk emerged on their faces as they saw the two people inside of the room.

Turning his attention towards them, crossing his arms, Noah snorted as he spoke

"hmph, it seems like Leo and Ram are also here, perfect, you guys must come with us too"

Silently clenching their fists beneath their clothes, Leo and Ram both smiled towards Noah and stood up.

"...Yes"

"Understood"

Nodding his head in satisfaction, Noah calmly watched as Leo and Ram left the room with their heads hung low. Thereafter, turning his attention towards me, he said

"Hurry up as we don't have much time to waste"

"...alright"

Watching from the side, I calmly observed everyone present in the room. From the way that the trio was looking down at Leo and Ram, and by how they both refused to retaliate.

Although I wanted to help them, as they were the first people I actually got along with in this academy...now was not the time.

...from the way I saw things, it seems like whoever was backing the trio was rather powerful. To give his lackeys that much confidence. From the way they spoke and talked, it looked as though they owned the place...this situation may indeed become troublesome.

After making sure Leo and Ram went out, looking at me, nudging me with his head, Noah coldly said

"Follow along"

Smiling amiably, I nodded my head.

"Sure"

"...good choice"

Seeing me nod, Noah turned around and left. Nodding his head towards his two lackeys, Noah directly turned right and walked through the long corridor that seemed to stretch to no end.

As I looked at Noah and the rest from behind, for a split second my eyes narrowed. Thereafter, an amiable smile appeared on my face as I closed the door behind me.

-Clank!

'I really am curious as to who the person they are following is...'

...

Taking the elevator and going all the way up to the fifteenth floor, we soon arrived in front of a large wooden door decorated with fine golden patterns.

Straightening their backs and clothes, Noah and his two lackeys carefully fixed their clothes and made themselves look presentable.

Turning my head to the side, I soon notice Leo and Ram shivering slightly as they had their heads held down. Observing everyone around me, I carefully imprinted everyone's behavior in my mind.

...this was so that I could get an idea of who I was about to meet.

"Alright"

After making sure that they looked presentable, fixing his hair, Noah carefully knocked on the large door.

-Knock! -Knock!

Thereafter, a couple of seconds after Noah knocked on the door, opening the door was a young man dressed in a butler outfit.

With his black hair neatly brushed to the side and wearing a nice butler outfit, a young man that looked to be in his mid-twenties came to greet us at the door. Extending his hand forward and smiling, the butler said

"Please come in"

"Thank you, Chris"

Nodding his head towards the butler who seemed to be named Chris, Noah entered the room followed by his two Lackeys. Shortly after, following Noah's lead, Leo, Ram and I, also entered the room.

As I stepped into the living room of the apartment, I was immediately left speechless by the grandeur of the place. With a mixture of endearingly vibrant colors matched with the nicely decorated room, the arrangements of the furniture and plants, made this modern and multi-functional living room come to life in an instant.

The cotton white walls and the dark wooden floors acted as a blank canvas that further emphasized the color introduced by the furniture and accessories such as the paintings on the wall and the green plants placed by the sides.

Best of all, a large window at the end of the room enabled the light from the sun to freely illuminate the room, creating this brilliant veil of light that warmed the colors of the room. There also seemed to be a second floor as by the side of the apartment a wooden staircase could be seen.

As I admired this room, I couldn't help think back to my new room. This penthouse apartment was by far a lot better than the room that I had just moved into, however, I wasn't jealous.

After all, thinking about the monthly rent price of this place made this place look less attractive in my eyes.

"Ah, Noah, are these the last batch?"

Just as I was finishing admiring the place, walking forward, a youth with a grey suit and white T-shirt came to greet us.

"Yes"

Pulling his grey blazer forward lightly, the youth raised his brow as he spotted me standing next to Leo and Ram.

"Oh? it seems like we have someone new here"

Nodding his head, Noah calmly introduced me to the youth.

"Yes, he is a new student that has just arrived today. His name is Ren"

As Noah was introducing me, I observed the youth next to him from head to toe.

Aside from the obvious penthouse apartment, another reason I could tell that he was from a prominent family was his clothes that seemed to be made by top-end designers.

His face was rather handsome as his skin seemed to be devoid of any pimples or imperfections. The most notable feature of the youth were his pair of eyebrows that were akin to a sword's edge as they made him look sharper and more commanding.

As I was observing him, the youth was similarly observing me too.

Shortly after, after observing me for a couple of seconds, smiling, the youth looked at Noah.

Thereafter, after seeing Noah nod, the youth smiled brightly

"So this is the new student? Great"

Extending his hand forward, with a friendly smile on his face, the youth looked at me and said

"Welcome to the Manticore building, my name is Gerrard Lim, and I am currently in my third year at the Lock"

Similarly smiling, extending my hand towards him, I shook his hand and introduced myself.

"...right, very nice to meet you. My name is Ren"

"Haha, great, great"

Shaking my hands for a couple of seconds, I soon noticed that something wasn't right as a cold glint flashed past Gerrard's eyes as the aura around him erupted.

"kh...."

Surprised, I immediately realized what he was doing and put on the greatest performance I could muster.

-Thud

With one knee on the ground, I 'fearfully' looked at Gerrard from the ground. My hand shook shortly after...

"Kh..what's going on?"

After a couple of seconds, seeing the shock and fear in my eyes, letting go of my hand, Gerrard laughed out loud as he helped me up.

"Hahah, I was just joking there is no need to look at me so seriously"

Patting me on the back, he along with the others laughed out loud

"hahah, what a nice prank"

"hahah, that was funny"

Standing up, nodding my head towards Gerrard, I thanked him for helping me up.

"T-thank you..."

...<E> rank

During that brief moment that he exerted his strength, I noticed that his strength was <E> rank. Just a tidbit stronger than me.

...but that didn't matter. All I needed was a couple of seconds and his head would be rolling on the floor.

"haha, sorry about that prank of mine. Here, why don't you join the others"

It was only after I got up that I managed to spot a crowd of students standing on the second floor of the apartment. It also seems that Leo and Ram who were with me moments before were both escorted upstairs moments prior.

"Y-es"

Nodding my head, I pretended to still be shaking from the incident and slowly walked upstairs. Slowly walking upstairs, from the corner of my eyes, I managed to see Gerrard nod to Noah and the others in satisfaction.

Spotting them from the distance, the corner of my mouth inadvertently pulled up.

'Just you wait...just you wait, I'll pull an even better prank on you later. One that you wouldn't forget for a lifetime"

Going up the stairs, I joined the rest of the students that were gathered in the room. I soon spotted Ram and Leo standing quietly in the corner. Without hesitation, I joined them.

Moving towards them, as soon as they noticed my presence, I found them both quietly moving towards me to check if I was alright.

"Hey...we saw what happened are you alright?"

"Are you hurt"

Smiling, I shook my head and reassured them

"haha, nothing to be worried about. I am fine."

I wasn't lying.

Although Gerrard's rank was indeed higher than mine, his pressure wasn't actually affecting me that much. As I thought back at Gerrard who was still downstairs talking to his lackeys, staring at Leo and Ram, I started probing.

"Right, this Gerrard Lim guy...why is everyone so fearful around him? Isn't he just <E> rank? Although that is indeed an impressive rank...for a third year that's rather, mhh, how should I say, lackin--"

Just as I was about to finish my sentence, to my surprise, I found both Leo and Ram putting their hands on my mouth as they tried to stop me from speaking any further. A look of panic appeared on their faces.

"Shhhh, do you want to die"

Taken aback, I couldn't help but look at them in confusion as I asked

"...what's wrong?"

Quietly glancing towards his left and right side to make sure no one was paying attention to them, lowering his voice, in an almost inaudible whisper, Leo slowly said

"Don't ever mention anything regarding his talent again, or you might find yourself in deep trouble."

"...deep trouble?"

Nodding his head, Leo solemnly looked at me as a trace of fear flashed past his eyes. In an even lower tone, he quietly said

"One time a student made a similar mistake to yours, as he made fun of Gerrard's rank...do you know what happened next?"

Shaking my head, I asked

"What happened?"

Slightly biting his lips as he moved his head closer, Leo quietly said

"...three weeks after the incident, the staff from the Lock found him dead in his own apartment with a suicide note neatly written on the corner of the desk"

Opening my eyes wide, I looked at Leo in shock.

"A suicide note?"

Nodding his head, unfazed by my shocked expression, Leo continued

"Yes, and the strange thing was that even though everyone knew it was Gerrard who was responsible for this, as the school and the authorities couldn't find any evidence of it being a homicide, the case was ruled as a typical suicide case...however, the reason why everyone knows that it was him who did it...is because shortly after, the student's family also died by the hands of a series of strange accidents ranging from car crashes and cardiac arrests...everyone. Dead"

"huuu..."

Listening to Leo recount what Gerrard had done, I couldn't help but exhale out loud.

...even his family was targeted.

Thank god I didn't act rashly, else things might've become serious.

Scratching the top of his nose, in a solemn voice, Leo said

"...trust me when I tell you this, but Gerrard is crazy...He is not right in the head, provoking him is like asking for yourself to be killed."

Listening to Leo speak, the frown on my face deepened as I couldn't help but softly mumble

"...psychopath"

To openly kill a student just because they made fun of his talent. Moreover, their parents too? This guy was beyond redemption.

Gerrard was not right in the head...and everyone in this room understood that fact. Perhaps this was why everyone was so scared of him.

Seeing that I understood, sighing in relief, Leo added

"Yes, so please refrain from ever mentioning what I just told you to not mention"

Nodding my head, I reassured him as I switched the topic

"...alright I'll be careful, but what's his background? What kind of background does he have? I mean, for him to be able to hide the evidence so cleanly...it must be quite a big background"

Hearing my question, both Leo and Ram looked at me strangely. Thereafter, Ram joined in the conversation as he asked me with a hint of doubt in his voice.

"You really don't know?"

Shaking my head, I denied.

"Nope"

I really didn't know.

This man was not someone that appeared in the novel, nor that I ever remembering writing about. Therefore, it was only normal that I had no idea about him.

"You really need to inform yourself better"

Looking at me strangely, lowering his voice, Ram started speaking

"...Gerrard Lim is the son, only son, of the number one pharmaceuticals company W.V. pharmaceuticals who is said to be worth over a 100 billion U in value...a giant amongst giants who recently have seen a major market share increase in the potion market..."

Raising my brow, as Ram was talking, my head quickly snapped in his direction as a certain word caught my interest.

"Did you just say W.V. pharmaceuticals?"

Nodding his head seriously, standing beside Ram, Leo once again spoke as he warned me about the consequences of provoking Gerrard.

"Yes, so be extra careful and try your best to not p..."

However, contrary to Leo's wishes, as he tried to lecture me, his words went from one ear to the other as the corners of my mouth threatened to pull themselves upwards at any given second.

Massaging my chin, I couldn't help but think back at an incident that had happened not so long ago...

'...I see'

'So Gerrard is the son of the chairman of W.V. pharmaceuticals. The very first company I bet on during my first two month's in this world...and the ones that were responsible for Tobias' church death'

...This was starting to get more and more interesting

The more I thought about it, the more the corner of my mouth inadvertently pulled upwards. In the end, even though I tried to hide it, a large smile appeared on my face.

'What an interesting piece of news.'

What a very interesting piece of news indeed...

'It seems like I was going to be pulling a big prank soon...'