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

From the shadows of a booth, a man who had thin eyes and thin mouth appeared. He had a smile while he slowly clapped at the three freshmen who were making a scene.

His presence was quickly known to everyone there as they could feel the air become tight. This meant only one thing; this was a person who reached the second advancement. 

Some people noticed the armband on his bicep, and their reverence towards the guy increased. Only those who are the elite of the elites could even be considered to be a part of the student council.

He was not the most handsome of the bunch, but his presence alone became attractive in most females' eyes in the club. The men in the room envied his strength as they wished they could advance to the second level.

Hugh, Aric, and Dempsy felt the invisible pressure from the guy, but it was very weak compared to professor Kain’s pressure.

“So you guys are the infamous trio?”

Dempsy looked at the man up and down, criticizing every bit of physical power he could see. Judging from his lack of muscles, Dempsy deemed him to be physically weak. That did not mean that the man could not fight; that only meant that his Desire was strong enough to make up for it.

“Beat it. We’re talking here.”

Dempsy did not see anything special with the guy. As a member of the Elite Troop Squadron, he saw multiple geniuses in his travels. There were plenty more powerful people than the guy. Hugh was the only one he saw different, like a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

“Woah, that guy just brushed off that Student Council officer, how brave!”

“He must be strong, right?”

The crowd was whispering to each other in disbelief. They were having fun talking about the lives of others, and they relished the fact that there may be a fight happening soon. They felt pleasure in people getting beat up.

“I think I have heard of that officer before; was it Fenix, Relix?”

“Felix?!?! That guy is the Vice President!!!”

Now, the crowd felt even more surprised that Dempsy dared to talk down on the Vice President.

“See that guy? That’s Dempsy. That’s Hugh, and that’s Felix.”

Balen was going around putting more fuel in the fire. He made sure that people were looking at the fight and spread more rumors about them.

Hugh got terrible vibes when he looked at Felix. This must be the guy that the guards back at their headquarters wanted him to meet. Judging by his sinister smile, Hugh did not want to deal with the guy, but he had to. He needed to get stronger.

When Felix heard Dempsy’s comment, he did not have an aggressive reaction. Instead, his smile got even wider, giving him a creepy aura.

“I heard you got beaten black and blue by this fat guy, and you retreated like a chicken.”

Felix had a teasing smile as he put both of his hands around Dempsy and Aric’s shoulder. They tried to get away from Felix’s arm, but the arm was like a lock that prevented them from getting out.

Aric did not like being talked to that way, so he displayed a fierce look towards Felix. It was only Dempsy who dared to speak to Felix with superiority in his tone.

“What? You want to fight?”

The declaration of the challenge gave the crowd excitement and anxiety as they waited for Felix’s response. There was no way that a Vice President would let Dempsy’s words go; that would lower his standing.

Felix smiled and responded to Dempsy

“Hahaha, don’t get too overexcited. Are you even the strongest in your group of three?”

Felix quickly disassembled the tension with a lighthearted tone. He looked easygoing, but Aric knew that he was a controlling and manipulative bastard. He was a snake, and the man who does the dirty work for the President.

Aric knew that he was controlling the room in his favor by his words and his posture. Aric just did not know what he was planning to do.

“I’m stronger than this guy.”

Dempsy pointed at Aric, demeaning him with his words. This infuriated Aric and prompted him to burst flame in his hair and confront Dempsy. Aric was now head to head with Dempsy.

“You want to try this again, hothead?”

Dempsy spread his hands as he asked for a fight. He was itching for any fight that he could take. It did not matter if that was a second-year or a third-year; he just wanted to fight.

“You only won once, slimy boy.”

Hugh let the two of them duke it out. It was better that they forget about him so he could silently get out of this situation.  If a fight broke out, he was not sure that he could survive without his transformation.

He was about to slip out when Felix stood behind him, preventing him from getting out.

“How about this guy? You stronger than this guy?”

Dempsy turned his head from Aric’s direction and looked at Hugh. Right now, he was not stronger than Hugh, but if his restriction were released, he would be stronger than him.

“Yeah, I’m stronger than him.”

The information spread in the crowd around them. This confused them greatly since they thought that Hugh won against Aric and Dempsy. That meant that Hugh should be stronger than Dempsy. Does that mean that Veer’s report was not accurate?

Aric’s inner circle took this chance to spread the information that Hugh got beat up by Aric.

“Yeah, that Hugh guy is weak. Don’t believe Veer’s report.”

“I think so too. If Dempsy says he is stronger than Hugh, and Aric defeated Hugh, then that means the report was fake.”

Felix smiled as he heard the murmurs around him. This was exactly what he wanted to happen; he wanted to discredit Veer’s words. No one should go against the Student Council, which meant no one should report information other than them.

Felix decided to put the nail in the coffin by speaking towards the crowd.

“This Hugh guy is just an F-rank. He got in the special class because of his connections.”

Gasps were heard throughout the club as they looked at Hugh in a bad light. They worked hard for a place in the special class, and Hugh got a golden ticket because of his wealth.

Felix did not say that Hugh was poor, as he let the crowd build their own conclusion.

“Boo!!!!”

“You suck!”

“Get out of the special class!”

The crowd now looked at Hugh with disgust in their faces. Hugh’s head was down as he heard the jeers directed towards him.

Dempsy was the only one who knew the truth. He was the one who let Hugh into the special class, and he knew about Hugh’s transformation. He could have dispelled the misinformation by speaking out, but he did not.

Dempsy looked at Hugh and his trembling balled-up fist. He could tell that Hugh was angry and furious at the situation he was in. It was only a matter of time until Hugh’s frustration burst out and lead him into transforming.

Dempsy wanted Hugh to get mad and transform. That would mean that he could fight him again, and this time he could have a better chance of defeating him.

Felix looked down at Hugh as he spoke to the crowd.

“See that, people of the special class? He does not have the power nor the courage to defend himself.”

The crowd nodded to themselves as they now believed that Hugh was a fraud. Hugh was not even reacting, which in their eyes meant that it was true. They thought that Hugh hung his head in guilt.

“Do not believe the lies of this Veer person. They are telling you lies to gain more traction for themselves.”

The crowd now looked at Felix, wholly absorbed at his words. They were now willing to believe everything he had to say.

“Who knows, maybe Veer and Hugh are the same person. Maybe they are colluding with each other to climb the social ladder.”

They all listened with righteous indignation. They were all ready to stampede and riot at Hugh. They could not let Hugh’s manipulation control them. They did not know that they are the ones being manipulated.

*BOOM*

The light in the club went out in a split-second. The angry tension was quickly dispelled as most students got confused at the blackout. This was supposed to be a high-end club inside the special class; a blackout was impossible.

*plop*

The crowd felt something fall on their heads as it rained from the ceiling. Everybody looked up and saw pamphlets pour down into their hands.

Everyone got a copy of their own as they looked at the title of the pamphlet.

‘Hello, Hi, and Greetings to Everyone. Veer here...”