"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Nathaniel was screaming on the floor while the healer reattached his hands. At the same time, the guards were keeping the young man on the ground since he was in a dangerous mental state.
"I WILL KILL YOU! ERIK ROMANO, I SWEAR, I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU! AAAAAAAAAAAAH"
Erik didn't say anything, watching Nathaniel lie on the ground in pain, knowing that he had just taken his rank was already enough for him. There was a smile on his face, which not only Nathaniel noticed but even the healer and the guards who entered.
"I WON'T REPEAT MYSELF, ERIK ROMANO; GET OUT!" The healer barked.
"Yes, sir!" The awakener replied. With that, he left the fighting room and headed to the elevator. Once on the ground floor, he saw Floyd standing up from the couch he was sitting on and still waiting for him.
He had a happy smile on his face. Erik turned to his left and saw a huge electronic board that reported the match winners and their new ranks. Under ten more match results were Erik's. Floyd saw his friend win from the board, and he was smiling because of it.
"Congratulations!" Floyd shouted from the other side of the room. The two walked toward each other and hugged; that was a great day. Nathaniel was basically hated by everyone, as he was mean to everyone, and Erik's friends had known his personality since school.
"Thank you, Floyd," Erik said, smiling.
"You must tell me everything!" Erik's friend said.
"Sure, but let's get back to the Red Palace first..."
"Yes. Oh, I told the others that you just won; they said to meet at the cafeteria!"
"All right..."
With that, the two left the building, took the bus, and headed to the Red Palace. After entering through the main door and taking the elevator, the two went to the cafeteria on the first floor. There they found their friends waiting and waving from afar.
The cafeteria was filled with people talking loudly about this and that, some eating, others drinking coffee or tea, and most of them laughing and joking around after a hard day of training. All of them were wearing the usual Red Palace uniform. Most of those present also carried weapons such as swords, axes, hammers, etc.; the list could go on forever.
When the group came closer to their friends, Erik greeted everyone with a nod and a wave of his hand.
"Let's grab some food and catch up," said one of the friends. The group then proceeded to order their meals and sat at a nearby table to chat.
Everyone congratulated Erik for his victory. All his friends, especially those from Thorthon High School, knew how hard it was to beat an opponent like Nathaniel, and they were glad he did. Erik thanked his friends and said he couldn't have done it without their support.
That was not only because of Nathaniel's personality but also because they were happy for Erik's growth. Not even two months prior, the young man was a nobody, had no power, and didn't know how to fight. Erik's friends had seen him train tirelessly daily, and they were proud of his progress. They knew he had worked hard to get to where he was and deserved the victory.
In this short period, he had been able to pull off a feat that no one else would have been able to do. It wasn't only because he learned hand-to-hand combat, the sword, or even made four neural links, which usually take years to make, in a few months, but also because he grew as a person.
They knew how pitiful Erik was sometime before, and despite still having some childish or cowardly traits or the inability to look people in the eyes, the young man was slowly coming out of his shell.
However, the eight friends didn't waste time and started torturing Erik with questions about the fight.
"So, how did it go?" Floyd asked. "You said you would have told me once we got here!" he added, looking directly into his eyes.
"I will tell you it ended with me chopping his hands," Erik answered with an evil grin. "But don't worry, the healer has already reattached them."
However, the mood suddenly changed when he said those dark words without a hint of emotion in his voice and a slightly satisfied look on his face.
"You chopped his hands off?" Aaron asked.
"Yeah," Erik replied. "But the fight was tough..."
The young man then explained what had happened; he also said how Nathaniel lost his reason mid-fight, tried to kill him, and how the guards intervened a couple of seconds after he won and explained that they had to apprehend him to let him calm down. Although Erik won, the match would have ended in his favor regardless since it was clear that Nathaniel tried to kill him.
"If what you say is true, then I think Nathaniel will be expelled," Amber said.
"Really?" Erik asked.
"Yeah. This is a serious matter," his friend replied. However, Erik couldn't help but smile. That was an unexpected bonus, as he messed up Nathaniel's life with his taunts. The young man knew that was a pretty messed-up thought, but that was the bare minimum after what Nathaniel had done. Erik's friend looked at him with concern, wondering if he truly understood the gravity of the situation. Despite his smile, Erik knew that he had to face the consequences of his actions, especially considering Nathaniel's background.
He didn't feel sorry for him; instead, he had other plans in mind. Erik swore that he wouldn't allow anyone to mess with him anymore. If someone wanted to hurt him, he'd make them pay the price for it.
However, Amber was a little bit worried, and this was reflected on her face. Nathaniel came from a complicated family that many knew was related to the Crystal Cross Gang. His father, who was apparently the leader of the Mambas, a gang notorious throughout the whole country, was an extraordinarily shrewd but violent man.
As far as she remembered, there was a rumor saying that he killed several police and military officers during his career as a criminal, and that was without talking about ordinary people, merchants, and the like.
Even though any official source didn't confirm these rumors, they were pretty common among the city's gangs, and despite not having the proof, people close to the higher-ups knew about this too. Once school began, Amber's father warned her to stay away from Nathaniel, who initially had a crush on her. That was the reason for the animosity between Nathaniel and her.
"Erik, be careful. Nasty rumors roam around Nathaniel's family. We all know how he is, but there is still a lot most people don't know..." She then turned to look around to see if anyone was listening to their conversation. After she ensured that the other people inside the cafeteria were minding their own business, she resumed.
"I assume you are aware of the rumors regarding Nathaniel's father's line of work, am I right?" she asked.
Erik wasn't just sure; he actually read a message on Nathaniel's phone, which he promptly deleted, in which he talked about this with some people. Of course, he couldn't say so.
"Yes, I heard this..." he said.
"Well, let me tell you something. My father basically confirmed this to me once before high school began. Knowing Nathaniel's personality, I bet things won't end here. After all, YOU, among all the people, just beat him, and if he is really going to be expelled from the Red Palace, things will become complicated," Amber said.
However, Erik had done everything he did, knowing this well. The point was that he simply didn't care; the Crystal Cross Gang, a far scarier organization than the Mambas, was already on his tail. Even the gang, the greatest stain on New Alexandria's history, could do nothing to him inside the Red Palace. Why should he be scared about Nathaniel's father?
pαпdα Йᴏνê1,сòМ "At this point, it doesn't make any difference," Erik said. "I already have a huge target on my back," he added.
"That is true; however, don't think they won't find a way to reach you. You are safe here since the Red Palace is a private institution with ties to the government. But this is also true because not many people can join it. The military school will be different since everyone must join it, and there are ways to send people after you there."
Again, Erik was aware of this, yet he did what he did without thinking twice. Someone could have thought he had been stupid for messing with Nathaniel, but he didn't care.
"I'm already strong enough to beat him, and it only took me two months to reach this level; what will I become in another two?" Erik asked.
"Don't be too cocky," Gwen interjected. You somehow managed to win against him, but that's only because you have double the amount of neural links. If you didn't, you would have lost badly and wouldn't surely be here Erik," she added.
"Gwen!" Amber said.
"What? Isn't this the truth?" she asked.
Erik then looked his friend in the eyes, which was weird since he usually avoided doing so, and then said, "This is true, but I promise you, Gwen, that in a month, I will be much stronger than I am today..."
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