Break or Comply (3)

'I was going to humor these guys, but I doubt I'll have the patience to keep it up later on.'

Once Ren was inside the room, he didn't need anyone to point him to Josh, since he was the only one seated so conveniently at the centre while the rest stood by his side.

Josh wore a hard look on his face at first, but that was until he looked at the blonde who led Ren in.

"What up with your face, Toni?" There was a little hint of disgust in his voice as he spoke.

'Oh yeah, Toni, that's his name.'

Toni was about to answer Josh, but then he heard Ren ask him to leave the room, and as though instinctively, he did as Ren said, "don't let anyone in." Ren added just before the door closed.

What had just happened was just as puzzling as rain falling on the sky, impossible, or, it should have been impossible. A first year just ordered a second year and the second year obeyed without skipping a beat, Ren didn't even have the backing for that and yet…

Ren's eyes scouted the room that looked to be some kind of small abandoned classroom since it still had a white board hanging in front and just one stool that must have been brought there, and that was the stool Josh was seated on.

Counting from left to right excluding Josh, there were ten others present, five on each side.

'Using skills within or near buildings is against the rules, and using them on fellow students is even worse… that's if anyone notices me using the ability.'

Ren didn't move from where he stood just some distance from the door. His actions had already spoilt the mood, so he doubted that Josh would try to follow the usual process, he was ready for a beat down.

As Josh stared at Ren in the eyes, his mouth opened, "I won't take my time here, you will become one of my lackeys and follow me, or be made to fall in line, do you-"

Well, Ren was… that was not what Ren expected, and he had to applaud Josh for going through with it calmly, he couldn't tell if it was psychological warfare or scared shitlessness, either way, he didn't want to listen to it.

"You know, for a guy named Joshua, it's quite bold of you to be acting in such a manner, don't you think?" This really got a reaction out of Josh whose face squeezed angrier than he already looked.

"I didn't come here to listen to what you have to say, I don't care. Just know this, never mess with me, or you'll regret it."

Ren's words came pretty plain and didn't seem to hold much weight to them, maybe it was the wordings or the way he just let them out casually, either way, it didn't stop the anger that raged within Josh to grow even more.

"Are you fools just going to stand there and listen to this bastard? Teach the prick a lesson." Josh ordered.

For one, 'I applaud the guy for keeping his cool this much even though he's that angry, that shows great leadership.' Ren thought to himself.

While that thought passed through his head, nine people were charging towards him, and because the classroom wasn't too big, their numbers were accentuated, making the disadvantage clearer than it already looked.

One of them especially seemed eager to impress as he launched forward ahead of the rest, to get the first hit in, but while midair, his head suddenly felt as though it would explode as pain assaulted just his head from every place within and outside, causing him to groan in pain while holding his head with his eyes closed.

Once he got close to Ren, Ren received him with a solid knee to the liver while bringing his head in with his arms, bringing him to his feet, Ren jammed his head on the door behind him.

Even after seeing this, the rest didn't stop their advance, but they all fell before Ren easily, most of them facing similar conditions of experiencing intense pain just before they reached Ren. Well, it was to be expected, after all, Ren was using the Blood Burn skill he acquired recently. Even when used in such low intensity, it was still enough to create such a big advantage. With Ren's speed, he didn't need to use the skill, in fact, he only did so to test it out.

"Next time, I'll make you cry." Ren said as he turned to leave, not looking at Josh when he spoke, but of course there was no other person it was directed towards.

In such a situation where anyone would jump forward to protect their pride, Josh seemed to remain calm, not saying too much or making unnecessary movements. From Ren's observations, he concluded that Josh had to be a pretty smart guy who normal intimidation methods wouldn't work against. 'Very interesting, but… not for me. I don't have time to battle small time antagonists.'

Toni who had remained outside, keeping guard as he was told, was a bit frightened when Ren left the room, not because of PTSD from the little beating he collected before, but because he just didn't realize Ren had left the room, so it gave him a jump scare to see someone suddenly appear beside him.

By the time Toni went inside the room to check what happened, all that greeted him were bodies of his "superiors" lying across the floor and Josh seated in his chair quietly. Toni could see Josh's hands shaking as he gripped the handles of the chair, 'is he scared shit?'

"GET THESE FOOLS UP… GET THEM UP!"