“Serena~~ where are you?”

Serena’s girl friends shouted at the noisy club. They were looking for her since they got separated due to the busy dance floor.

They wore dresses that revealed most of their skins, and they had colored drinks in their hands. They all locked arms with each other as they stumbled with their high-heels on the floor.

They had shiny accessories all over their bodies that complemented their styled hairs. Hugh could see many male students look in their direction.

Once Serena heard her friends’ voice, she turned away from Hugh and kept quiet, even though Hugh insulted her.

“I don’t need other people’s validation, unlike you.”

Hugh continued their banter, but Serena ignored him. She treated Hugh as if he did not exist at all. Judging from her reactions before, she would not have taken Hugh’s words lightly, but strangely, she kept quiet.

Hugh then noticed the girls come over towards them, and he understood why. She did not want to be seen by her friends talking to him - talking to Hugh would severely lower her standings in the social ladder.

Hugh sneered at her in disappointment. He was about to turn around and leave when he heard the voices of Aric’s friends.

“Yoo, dude. Is that Hugh talking to your girl, Aric?”

Tanner put his hand on Aric’s shoulders as he pointed in Hugh’s direction. The guys around Aric wore polo shirts with tight-fitting jeans with expensive watches on their wrists. Tanner had sunglasses even though it was dark inside.

Aric wore a black leather jacket with fur on the edges over a white t-shirt. His hair was gelled neatly and parted to the side. Hugh could also see women all over look in their direction.

“Dude, you’ll let Hugh approach your girl like that?”

Aric’s friends goaded him into confronting Hugh, which worked because Aric walked towards Hugh with a menacing smile.

Serena took this chance to split away from Hugh and reconvene with her girl friends. She glanced at the battle between Hugh and Aric before she disappeared with her friends on a booth.

“What are you doing here, fatty?”

“None of your concern, jockhead.”

Aric did a half-smile as he looked back at his friends like he was incredulous at what had just happened. He did not think that Hugh had the guts to talk to him like that.

“It is my concern. This is my territory you are stepping in.”

Aric stepped closer to Hugh as he pushed him away. He had his chin up while he looked down at Hugh.

“I didn’t see you piss in it.”

“Oooohhhhhhh”

The jeering sounds in the background were made by the people watching the confrontation. It was at that moment that Hugh realized a lot of people were watching their movements.

He looked around, and the people in the club were looking at him and Aric while whispering.

“Is it that guy?”

“Yeah, I heard it’s those guys from class A.”

“What is it?”

“Didn’t you read Veer’s pamphlet? That fat guy supposedly defeated the jock and another guy.”

“That’s them?”

Aric looked around the club and felt his reputation being tarnished. They had not yet known that Aric beat Hugh one on one in class, so the boys from class A spread the news to salvage Aric’s reputation.

Tanner approached one group and spread the information.

“Hey, did you know they already fought in class? Aric beat that fat guy up with no scratch on his body. You can ask anybody in class A; they witnessed it happen with their eyes.”

“Is that true?”

“Yeah, I heard the same thing from a guy in class A.”

“Then what about what Veer said?”

This time, Tanner lied to the masses and discredited Veer.

“Don’t believe the lies that mysterious reporter said. That person had no evidence while we have multiple eyewitnesses.”

The doubt started to spread throughout those who were bored inside the club. Not everyone was interested in the confrontation with Aric and Hugh as they kept minding their own business.

“You want to be reminded again why I’m the alpha?”

Aric confronted Hugh as he raised his hand, and it erupted into a reddish flame. Hugh would never back down from a fight, but that is not what he should be doing right now.

He should be searching for a Student Council officer to ask permission to go to the dungeons. Once he gets there, he would eat tons and tons of materials to improve his armor.

Once he powers up, he would have enough power to stand up to Aric, but right now, he needed to be low key. He needed to avoid getting into fights, or else he would be forced to use his transformation.

“Hmph...whatever.”

Hugh decided to keep his anger in check and save it for a later date. He needed to remain calm and not let Aric’s insults into his head.

Hugh turned to leave Aric, or else he would have punched the guy and turned it into a fight. Aric knew that Hugh would not display his transformation, so he took advantage of this fact.

“See that? How could I have lost to that coward?”

Aric spread his hands and shouted towards the crowd. It was unacceptable to him that people doubted his strength behind his back. He needed to assert his dominance right now while the attention was on him.

Hugh stopped in his tracks as he balled his fist until it trembled in anger. Silver and brown liquid leaked out from his body and was about to form into his arm when the entrance door opened with a bang.

*bang*

Two men came in; one had a full white suit while the other had a full black suit. The man who wore the white suit had appropriately white spiked hair, and Hugh recognized him immediately; it was Dempsy.

The man in the full black suit had a bowl cut hair that hid his calculating eyes was Balen. They both came into the club to wind down after a stressful day.

The girls’ attention shifted their focus from Aric to Dempsy as they found him to be dashing in his clothes. If Aric was considered handsome, then Dempsy was deemed to be hot in the girls’ eyes.

They gave Dempsy seductive looks as they watched him enter the club. Dempsy had his hands on his pockets as he leisurely walked into the club until he saw Hugh.

The three of them met yet again. The last time this happened, they ended up beating each other near death. Dempsy smiled as he walked towards them.

With the added attention that Dempsy was getting, things got tense again as the three faced off. Aric frowned as he saw Dempsy get the attention he had. 

Aric might get away from berating Hugh, but if he insulted Dempsy, another fight would break loose. He was not confident about that fight. He needed to lay low first before he tried to rechallenge Dempsy.

“Fight me again, Hugh.”

Dempsy’s voice was filled with seriousness and excitement. His voice might not have been louder than the music inside the club, but it took everyone’s attention.

“It’s that guy, right?”

“Who?”

“That white-haired guy! That’s one of the people on Veer’s pamphlet.”

“Did I hear him say that he challenged the fat guy? Did he say again? Then, did it happen?”

Fight him again? Did that mean that the three-way fight from before really happened? The consensus about the validity of Veer’s report turned on its head again. Now, people are starting to believe it happened based on Dempsy’s reaction.

“You may have defeated me the first time, but I’m stronger now.”

That seemed to be the nail in the coffin as it confirmed that Hugh defeated Dempsy. The crowd whispered amongst themselves as they discussed the rumors.

“If that’s true? Then why did Aric lie?”

“Are you kidding me? Of course, he lied! He wanted to keep the fact that he lost a secret.”

“Ohh!!!”

Although they were whispering, it was loud enough for Aric to hear what they were saying. He balled his fist in anger as his social standing plummeted because of Dempsy.

Dempsy wanted to fight Hugh again because he wanted to improve his Desire. His power would increase every time he battled with a person stronger than him, so he took this opportunity to fight with Hugh.

*clap*...*clap*...*clap*

A slow clap emerged from the shadows of a dark booth, and everyone could feel the air tighten around them. They all looked towards the booth, and a man in loose clothing appeared.

Most of the freshmen recognized him, and they whispered amongst themselves.

“Hey! Isn’t that a second year?”

“What’s a second-year doing here?”

As Hugh looked at the man walking towards them, he noticed the armband on his bicep. It displayed ‘Student Council’.