-Clink! -Clink! -Clink!

"May I have everyone's attention please"

Tapping on the wine glass in his hands, Elijah gathered everyone's attention.

Standing elegantly in the middle of the hall, Elijah made sure that everyone was looking at him before continuing.

"First of all, I would like to thank all of you that decided to attend the gathering. Although our elective could be considered on the smaller side compared to other electives, we here are like a family."

Making eye contact with everyone in the room, Elijah mood turned a little bit serious as he spoke

"I have recently been made aware of the conflicts happening between the juniors and us seniors, and it honestly pains me to see this. I may not be able to change this, but I sincerely hope that in our elective this prejudice and conflict does not appear."

Pausing slightly, and looking at everyone in the room, Elijah raised his glass and said

"This is more than just an elective. This is a family!"

At first, everyone was quiet. Turning to look at each other a myriad of expressions could be seen from certain individuals' faces. they wanted to rebuke but...they dared not to. With Elijah's current influence, his words were law. Refusing him was like signing a death warrant.

-Clap!

Breaking the awkward and tense silence was the sound of a clap.

-Clap! -Clap! -Clap!

Soon someone else started clapping, and like a chain reaction, everyone followed along and started clapping.

"I understand, I will follow the president's order!"

"We love you, president!"

"I love you, president!"

Cheers resounded across the hall as both the male and female students cheered for Elijah.

Smiling, Elijah took a big gulp of the wine and once again lifted the cup in the air

"It is with great honor and pride that I welcome you to our elective, food exploration!"

"Thank you!"

"Food exploration!"

"Best elective!"

Though everyone cheered, two individuals didn't. One retained an indifferent face throughout the whole ordeal while the other cringed repeatedly.

Of course, this didn't escape Elijah's eyes, as his eyes narrowed for a split second before returning back to normal as if nothing happened.

Unbothered by the fact that Elijah probably noticed my behavior, I nonchalantly sat on a sofa and enjoyed my wine. The fact that he managed to say those words without cringing was worthy of my admiration.

For all I knew, Elijah cared nothing for the conflicts within the academy. In fact, he was probably rejoicing at the fact that there were conflicts within the academy. Most notably at the fact that some of the attention was diverted away from him, allowing him to act as he pleased.

Looking at the glass of wine in my hand I frowned.

Though I usually disliked alcohol, due to previous trauma, it wasn't a problem anymore. Excluding the fact that the wine wasn't that strong, with my new physique only alcohol higher than 70% could affect me. Anything lower than that didn't bother me.

Sort of ruined the pleasure of alcohol, but oh well, it's not like I needed alcohol in my life again.

After nearly finishing half of the wine that I had brought with me which I so conveniently hid inside of my bracelet, I felt my bladder bloating.

Walking up to a waiter I asked

"Excuse me where's the bathroom?"

Pointing towards the entrance of the room, the waiter said

"Turn right over there and after you walk a couple of meters you should see a bathroom sign"

"Thank you"

Thanking the waiter and following his instruction, I headed to the bathroom

"A man's gotta do what a man gotta do"

...

Sitting on the sofa, Amanda was lost in her own thoughts. Occasionally she would glance to her right where a male student sat. He looked completely out of place with his clothes that did not suit the atmosphere. He had short black hair and blue ocean-like eyes. His features that were devoid of any pimples or freckles looked clean and pleasant. Though he could've been considered handsome, he was only average if compared to the likes of Jin and Kevin.

Looking at him, Amanda couldn't help but look at him in confusion. He was currently sitting on a sofa sipping on some wine looking extremely bored. No one approached him, nor did he approach anyone and he seemed to enjoy the solitude as he would occasionally mumble to himself.

...was what he said true?

The reason why Amanda was paying so much attention to him was because that very same student had approached her earlier. It was when she was on the balcony looking at the moon lost in her own thoughts.

...It was odd.

She had a vague recollection of him, as he was one of the more famous students in her class. Not in a good way though...

The 'weirdo' was what they called him.

She wasn't sure about the details, but he was regarded by most of the students as a weirdo that they should avoid at all costs.

Thinking about her interactions with him, Amanda couldn't agree more.

...he was a weirdo.

Usually, the male students would come towards her and try all ways to get her attention.

yet, he only told her two things before leaving. What was even more confusing were the things that he said to her.

'You should be careful tonight...' and 'Something might happen tonight, and you might be the targetno, you're most likely the target'

If this was a new trick to try to get her attention, he had succeeded.

She didn't really put his warning to heart, but she definitely started paying more attention to her surroundings.

Having been in these sorts of situations since young, her temperament became cautious. If anything remotely suspicious happened she would immediately raise her guard to the maximum.

Scanning the hall everything seemed normal, and apart from a few people already getting drunk, there was nothing odd about the...hm?

Drunk?

Weren't wines the only thing that were served here?

How could people get drunk off of wine?

Instantly Amanda knew that something was wrong.

Hiding her hand behind her back, she prepared to summon her bow in case something dangerous happened.

-Thud! -Thud! -Thud!

One after another students started falling on the ground.

Amanda instinctively tried to summon her bow but a wave of vertigo caused her to lose her bearing.

Stumbling around, she tried her best to support herself against a pillar.

Looking around, every student fell on the ground unconscious.

"Damm it!"

Gnashing her teeth, Amanda tried her best to combat the drug effects.

Although the drug was strong, she still did not lose consciousness. It partly had to do with the fact that she was one of the strongest people in the room and her strong mentality.

...but she didn't know how long she could remain conscious for. Time was ticking and she could only try her best to not fall for whatever plot someone was brewing.

Looking around she tried to look for the boy that had warned her beforehand...but it was to no avail as he was missing.

'Is he the mastermind behind this...?'

Thought Amanda as she looked for any traces of him. It wasn't wrong of her to suspect him as he just suddenly disappeared as soon as everyone started falling on the ground. To call this not suspicious would be a lie...

'Maybe he was the type of person that loved to tease his prey?'

But she quickly denied the possibility. Although he was weird, she could tell he wasn't the culprit. Although Amanda didn't like to talk much and always seemed to be absorbed in her books, she was always observing. It was something she developed over the years to get a better read on who had malicious intentions against her. Their posture, their expressions, their temperament, she could pretty much determine if someone had any ill will or was wearing a mask to hide their true selves by observing those things.

Although he was weird, she could tell at first glance he meant no harm.

"Cough!...cough! kh-Amanda!"

Coughing and stumbling on the ground, Elijah walked towards Amanda.

Looking at Elijah who seemed to be in distress Amanda took a few steps back.

"Huff..huff..huff"

Dropping on one knee, Elijah panted heavily.

"Kh-what's happening?"

Amanda who although was also suffering, tried her best to restrain herself from helping Elijah.

Her instincts told her not to...yet she couldn't help but take a step towards his direction. He was the only key she had to find her mother...she needed closure.

Although she was struggling, Amanda was slowly getting used to the effects of the drug. Soon her mind regained some clarity.

Arriving a few meters before Elijah, Amanda extended her hand in his direction

"than-kh you"

Reaching with his right hand, Elijah tried to grab Amanda's hand...but before he could fully touch her, she smacked his hand away.

-Smack!

"Yo-u"

Shocked Elijah looked at Amanda who was glaring at him.

"Drop the act"

"Wh-at are you talk-ing about?"

"You think you can fool me when the entire time you had a smirk on your face?"

Taken aback, Elijah touched his face.

"ku ku ku"

Trembling, Elijah smiled deepened as he started laughing.

"how careless of me...I just couldn't contain my excitement"

Standing up, Elijah exaggeratively facepalmed

"Ah... I'm sorry, I just couldn't hold myself after imagining myself sharing some alone time with you, one of the three great beauties of the first years "

-Voom!

Summoning her bow, Amanda instantly drew it.

"oh my, aren't we a little too hasty?"

Raising his hands in surrender, Elijah smirked as he walked in Amanda's direction.

-Woosh! -Woosh! -Woosh!

As soon as Elijah took a step in her direction, without batting an eye, Amanda released three arrows in successions.

Suddenly three white streaks of light appeared before Elijah as the arrows whistled through the air.

-Thump! -Thump! -Thump!

"Oh wow that's some great archery"

Looking behind him, Elijah whistled in admiration as he looked at the three arrows that pierced the wall deeply.

"...too bad you missed"

Looking at Amanda who was on the floor panting heavily, Elijah had a delighted smile on his face. A couple of minutes wasn't enough to combat the drug that he had carefully prepared beforehand.

Walking slowly, Elijah savored Amanda's struggling expression.

"Yes...this is what I wanted! Finally, the oh so indifferent Amanda has finally shown me a different expression!"

"Wh-at have you done to me!"

Gritting her teeth, Amanda glared at Elijah who was only a few steps away from her.

"Oh dear, don't show me such face..."

Kneeling on one leg and holding Amanda by her chin, Elijah expression twisted savagely

"Now, now, we wouldn't want our dear Amanda showing such a face now would we?"

Grabbing onto her face, Elijah looked at her features in admiration

"If not the strict orders I received from mother Matriarch I would've already devoured you..."

"Mother Matriarch?"

"Ooops, it seems like I spoke too much"

Lightly knocking on his head, Elijah had a silly expression on his face.

"Let's just say that you're going to be thanking me soon"

-Pu!

Spitting on Elijah's face, Amanda defiantly looked at him.

"Fuck off!"

"Y-ou y-ou"

Trembling, Elijah touched his cheek where Amanda spat. Looking at his finger which was covered in saliva, Elijah faced twisted menacingly as his hand grabbed her neck

"How, how dare you spit on my face!"

His strong voice reverberated across the hall as he tightened the grip around Amanda's neck

"Unlike you, I wasn't born as beautiful as the rest. I was insulted, jeered at, and bullied for my appearance."

"This world's hierarchy is dictated by two things, beauty, and talent."

"Unlike you who had both, I had none! I was bullied and harassed throughout my whole childhood. Even my parents forsake me for my younger siblings who had better appearances than me!"

Gripping on Amanda's neck tighter, Elijah pulled her face closer to his.

"Just when I was about to end my life...mother matriarch came and saved me"

"She gave me talent, power, and my current appearance"

Glaring with all his might, Elijah's voice kept rising.

"If not for her I would be NOTHING!"

"khh"

Lessening the grip on Amanda's neck, Elijah looked at her and said

"Thus, no matter how much you struggle I will stop at nothing to complete her task!"

Sigh

Startling both Amanda and Elijah, a loud sigh resounded across the hall. Soon a pale youth with deep blue eyes walked into the hall. His eyes slightly paused on Elijah before looking at Amanda who was struggling with all her might

With an annoyed look, he scratched his head and said.

"I warned you didn't I?"