37 Rivals

After the incident at the rooftop, Green and Ryan drifted apart and hardly spoke with each other, Green and Sam rarely spoke to each other and Laura avoided Green because she wanted to be in Ryan's good books.

Green decided to ignore everything around him like he did at the orphanage and focus on his fitness and magic power training.

Things continued uneventfully like that until one day when Green and Ryan met each other alone on the hallway.

School had dismissed for the day and most of the students had left for their dorms, the only students present there were those that had some issues to rectify with the teachers. Green was one of such students.

The hallway was quiet and dimly lit but was bright enough for people to recognize each other. It was on this hallway that Green saw Ryan coming from the opposite direction with a deep frown on his face.

His gut churned in nervousness and he felt his knees get weaker as they got closer, ever since that day, Ryan had been looking at him like a cockroach that needed to be crushed.

Green hung his head and walked past Ryan without making eye contact but he realized that even with his head hung down, he could still feel Ryan's burning gaze on him.

Green heaved a huge sigh of relief as they walked past each other, he didn't want to be having confrontations with Ryan in the school, he felt a bit happy that they ended their friendship on a neutral note.

"Don't even think for a moment that I've forgotten about what you did"

Ryan's cold voice echoed in the hallway as his footsteps stopped.

Green paused and made a silent groan of exasperation. None of them turned to face the other, they still stood facing opposite directions.

"You'll pay for messing with Laura"

He finished and resumed walking away.

'There's no doubt that that voice belongs to his DID... Perhaps I thought too soon, he intends to bring violence into this... More reason why I should get stronger quickly'

Green thought with clenched fists as he walked away.

Down the dark hallway was a muscular man dressed in a black suit, the two rival students hadn't noticed his presence but he had just observed their brief encounter.

A normal person wouldn't have heard a sound from that wide distance but the person standing there was no ordinary person, he was none other than Bernard Bones, the school's director of security whose feral sense of hearing was extraordinary.

'A rival huh? Interesting'

***

Black Dragon House

Derek was about to enter his dormitory building when he saw a black cat lying calmly with purple eyes staring straight at him. He wasn't the sort of person to get terrified of a cat but for some reason that he didn't know, staring at that cat's eyes sent chills down his spine.

'What's a stray cat doing in the school's premises?'

Derek thought,

With a very lackadaisical and care free gait common to cats, the black cat licked it's paw, stood up and catwalked towards an alley that was close by.

That single act intrigued Derek and he decided to follow it and see where the stray cat was headed to.

The moment Derek stepped into the alley, he realized that something was amiss somewhere. Firstly, the alley was much darker than it usually was and that could only mean one thing.

..... someone was using magic!

Secondly, the cat had vanished into thin air.

He cautiously took a step backwards and put his hands in his pockets, there was no need to panic, only few people in the entire school could beat him and those people were probably too busy to bother themselves with small fry like him so he was quite confident that whoever lured him here would be weak. He was completely shocked when he saw the figures that walked out of the dark alley.

A moment ago,

The hell hounds were gathered in a dark alley, they seemed to be waiting for something... Or someone.

Drex and Hyun Jun were seated on the trash cans as they made small talk, Trevor squatted close to the wall with an unconcerned expression on his face while doodling on the floor with a stick. Jason leaned against the wall with his head up as if he was thinking about something while Penelope stood beside Carly who stood at a corner with her hands covered in a purple aura and her eyes glowing purple

"Are you sure that he's going to come?"

Penelope asked,

"Argh... Is this the millionth time you're asking me this question today? Just shut up and allow me to do my job"

Carly snapped back, she was working on a spell.

"He's here"

Hyun Jun pointed out to them as a black cat pranced towards them, walking calmly behind it was the boy they were waiting for.

"Oooh... He looks cool"

Drex said as he sized the male student who suddenly had a dumbstruck expression on his face, it was expected since a cat had just vanished right before his eyes. Carly heaved a sigh of relief as she ended her spell.

A handsome face that belonged to a boy who looked not more than sixteen years with black eyes and spiky black hair that hung over his face in bangs, his jacket was unbuttoned but his uniform was neatly ironed and his sling bag hung loosely on his shoulder.

"Carly wasn't bluffing when she said that his aura is stronger than Trevor's"

Jason said calmly as he watched the year 1 student who had just appeared before them,

"Trevor check this guy out"

Hyun Jun tapped Trevor lightly on the shoulder.

Trevor who was doodling on the floor looked up and cocked his head to the side as he too observed Derek while thinking,

'Not stronger than mine by a huge margin though, I think we can fight on equal footing'

"Remember, we're not here to recruit him yet. Just checking him out"

Jason said to them and walked in front of them to meet Derek. The hounds quickly followed his lead and they all came out together to the light where Derek could see them.

The confident expression on Derek's face faltered instantly as he saw the six students that walked out to meet him.

'Damn! I knew this was a trap but I didn't expect to see the witch with five other strong students'

Derek was partly terrified and partly awed by the seniors who appeared before him.

In one glance, he could tell their strengths, they were obviously people he should not mess with. There were two seniors there whom he could fight with on equal footing, but the rest were way ahead of him... Just like the witch.

"W..what is going on here?"

Derek managed to ask,

"I'm impressed that you're able to open your mouth to speak when standing before royalty"

Drex teased,

"Just shut up Drex, Jason should speak first"

Penelope chided him,

"I'm second in command..."

"Nobody asked you"

Carly cut Drex off rudely as he wanted to speak,

"You all should just shut up already!!"

Jason yelled at them and they all instantly kept quiet.

Derek shook his head slowly in disappointment, when he saw their aura, he had expected them to be mature and super cool but he was disappointed because they just stood there bickering like children.

"What a waste..."

Derek said and turned to walk away.

WHOOSH!!!

The wind whipped cruelly against Derek's face as Jason appeared in front of him, his speed was inhuman.

"What the... What the heck?"

Derek uttered in a voice filled with terror as he took a step back.