Imperial East Academy (14)

As the group of first years made their way towards the direction of Imperial Academy's Dawn Cafe, elsewhere; two freshmen were busily discussing possible development paths for the Heavenly Demon Gang.

" Hey, chicken legs! Do you really believe we can grow our Heavenly Demon Gang without other gangs finding out?" Bei Xuan pressed his information terminal with rapid precision, resulting in his character deliver a devastating combo to the opponent

Watching his character be beaten into a fatality, Aaron placed his own information terminal down in frustration before replying

" It's not a matter of whether or not we can, it's that we have to. You know just as well as I do that our Boss Yu is undefeated, he'd probably win against every other gang even if they tried to fight him all at once. But once that happens, we'll lose our place within the gang immediately."

His words completely shocked Bei Xuan

" Aaron, you…"

" I'm not saying that we stop him from fighting, I'm just suggesting that we avoid provoking others until our own positions have been cemented as higher-ups." Aaron clarified, predictably dodging the information terminal flying towards his face

" Our Heavenly Demon Gang is not a place for such cowardly tricks! If you don't want to lose your place, then be brave and fight!" Bei Xuan angrily held Aaron up by the collar

Aaron scoffed " Still denying reality are we?"

" What are y-"

" I'm talking about how you and I are the same. We are pathetic, we are weak, and we sure as hell ain't anywhere near Boss Yu's level." He stated plainly

" How in the hell would that have to do with anything?!" Bei Xuan shouted, his voice almost making it past the dorm's soundproofed walls

" This is why blockheads like you should've studied more.. The only reason the two of us can be this close to our leader now is because the core members couldn't be accepted into the academy. Otherwise, when would it be our place to even talk to him? Isn't that why you and I applied to this school? Because both of us know that on a level playing field, our only purpose would be to fill up the numbers."

" Then that's all the more reason to showcase our bravery and-"

" Prove ourselves? Heh, the only thing we'd be proving is our mediocrity, You and I are just parasites, clinging on to our leader's strength and talent because we understand that deep down, we'll never be able to accomplish anything great ourselves…" Aaron laughed self-deprecatingly " Or maybe you don't actually understand, after all someone like you could never understand the struggles of an impoverished brat."

He swatted away Bei Xuan's hand

" You've never had to watch your family struggle with keeping themselves afloat, you've never had to study like your life depended on it, only to just barely hold on to scholarships."

"…"

He continued " Someone like you who can afford to throw expensive information terminals at people and buy their way into the Academy can never hope to understand someone like me, a loser who prays for a chance to ride on someone else's coat tails."

Aaron knelt down to pick up both terminals

" ..so high quality terminals don't break that easily huh?" He muttered while looking at the terminal that didn't seem to have been damaged at all

The speechless Bei Xuan could only watch as his friend gave him back his terminal only to then make their way to the door

" Bei Xuan, remember to explore the school like our Boss Yu said because it's the only way people like us can show our usefulness to him." such were Aaron's remarks before leaving his friend at the dorm.