Sly

Draco returned to his apartment before afternoon, taking a seat on the bed for some rest. He looked down at his hand where a blue flower lay, glorifying the room in its otherworldly scents. It was blue ivy, and it would be given to each student every month.

It was quite costly since it could stimulate the mana within the body and make it more possible to have your breakthrough. It didn't really work for stronger people, but it was perfect for those at the bottom.

'I should probably take this before they come.' Draco thought for a moment, a ruthless plan forming within his mind. He swallowed the flower and sat in the lotus position, feeling mana rushing through his veins. Then, a few minutes later, he started doing push-ups and fighting against imaginary enemies.

Unfortunately, the effects soon ceased as Draco glanced at his hand. He didn't breakthrough yet, but he definitely felt the improvement. Something that would be impossible in his past life, considering his talent.

Draco brushed away the sweat from his forehead before taking a seat on the bed. He did nothing anymore other than wait for them. The ones who are responsible for his dropping out last year.

Twenty minutes later, Draco heard a loud knock on his door.

Putting on a fake smile, Draco opened the door and saw three students standing on the other side. Two boys and one girl. All three of them had this arrogant aura around them that could be felt from miles away.

"Oh." Kevin, basically the boss of the group, exclaimed in surprise when he saw Draco. "Aren't you the one who managed to resist Angelica's pressure? How did you do it? No, never mind."

Draco scratched the back of his head. "So, what did you guys want?"

'From the fifty-one students we shouldn't touch, he wasn't on the list.' Kevin thought as a cruel smile spread across his face. "Hand over the blue ivy to us."

"What?" Draco mumbled, taking an almost unnoticeable step back. "But it's mine. The academy has given it to me, so why should I give it to you?"

"I don't think you quite understand." Kevin sighed, putting his hand on his face to hide his smile. "It wasn't a request, it was an order. Hand it over before you make me mad."

Draco stood in silence for a few seconds as he tried to quickly close the door, only for it to be caught by Kevin's hand. "What do you think you are doing?"

Annoyance was clear in Kevin's eyes as he stepped inside the room, pushing Draco aside and causing him to stumble against the ground. Fear spread across Draco's face. "Fighting on campus will get you expelled."

"It will get me expelled only if anyone knows about it." Kevin grabbed Draco by the collar, pressing him against the wall. "Now, tell me kindly, where is the blue ivy?"

Draco's eyes shook a bit. "I consumed it already..."

"You what?!" Kevin applied more pressure. "It has only been a few hours, and you already consumed it!?"

"Yes..." Draco looked down, feeling a piercing gaze on himself. His eyes shook a bit as he felt a punch landing on his stomach. Before he knew it, Draco was already panting heavily on the ground.

"Very good. Very good." Kevin punched one more time to ease his anger a bit before an idea suddenly flashed within his mind. "Wait... you held on against Angelica's killing intent, despite being a peasant. That must mean you have something interesting, right? There is no way a weakling like you could have held on longer than me."

Kevin looked at his two minions as they immediately started searching throughout the entire apartment. The entire room turned into a mess after a few minutes, but they found nothing interesting except a shabby dagger.

"There is no way you have nothing hidden." Kevin grabbed Draco by the collar again. "Where is it?"

"I-I don't have anything..." Draco looked to the side to avoid Kevin's eyes, gulping visibly. He felt another punch landing on his stomach as he pretended to struggle to breathe.

"Where is it?" Kevin repeated his question, killing intent within his eyes.

"I-I...it's not here," Draco admitted, subjecting to the pain.

"What is not here?"

Draco looked up for a few seconds, seeing Kevin's annoyed expression. He pretended to not want to say anything for a few moments before mumbling, "B-blood grass."

A heavy silence descended.

Blood grass was an incredible drug that could make individuals below [D] rank stronger by a whole lot for a certain period, without having any side effects. It was something that sold for an enormous sum in the market.

"So that's how you survived under the teacher's pressure. I see. It all makes sense now." Kevin nodded a few times before asking. "Where is it?"

"I-I hid it near the Forest of Death, where I found it first."

"That's pretty smart," Kevin admitted. "Anyway, tell me the coordinates"

"S-sure"

"Oh wait, you know what" Kevin suddenly had an idea as he smiled evilly. "Meet us tomorrow near the Forest of Death and show us the way yourself. After all, if some rat turns out to be lying, I will have to take out my anger on someone, right?"

"O-okay, will do so."

With that, Kevin and his two minions left through the door, leaving behind nothing but chaos. The hopeless look on Draco's face immediately disappeared as he rose back up, not even feeling a slight bit of pain in his stomach.

So far, everyone went according to his plan, and he just had to finish the job now. He long ago decided to dispose of the three of them, since they would be quite annoying in the future.

Kevin was the son of the leader of some gold-ranked guild, and that was something he couldn't deal with yet.

So, Draco decided to act more slyly to not have any troubles later on. Moreover, in the future, Kevin would become more greedy and sign a contract with a demon, hence another reason to kill him off.

Stretching slightly, Draco tidied his room before deciding to have some rest.

***

The next day, after the lessons finished, Kevin and his two minions walked toward the meeting spot. It was just at the border of the [Forest of Death], however, Draco still wasn't there when they got there.

"I swear, if that dude was fucking with us, I am going to break his hands."

"Don't worry, he may be a bit talented, but he is a total pushover," Kevin said. "He almost peed his pants when he was looking at me. There is no way he won't come."

"I guess this much is true." Kevin's male friend agreed as he walked away. "I am going to take a leak."

"Do whatever you want." Kevin remained standing in the same place together with his female friend as they both checked the time. If Draco didn't appear in five minutes, Kevin would for sure give him a beating.

Other than that, he couldn't wait to get his hand on the blood grass. It never-

An agonizing scream resounded throughout the area as Kevin's face turned into a frown. This was definitely the voice of his friend. A sword appeared in Kevin's hand from thin air as he vigilantly looked around. His female friend did the same by taking out a dagger hidden underneath her belt.

"Let's go." Kevin walked towards the place where shouts resounded, trying to stay as quiet as possible. Soon, they saw something unbelievable. Kevin's eyes bulged open while the female exclaimed in shock.

Troy's decapitated head was placed on the ground, covered in crimson blood. When Kevin saw those lifeless eyes, a peculiar sense overwhelmed him. Was it fear? Or revulsion?

While both of them stood in silence, trying to compose their minds from the shock, a noise of an arrow flying reached their ears. Kevin had enough time to react as he rolled against the ground. He then glanced at his female companion, only to see an arrow sticking out of her head.

"No way..." Kevin's neck was already covered in sweat as he looked around in madness. The death of his friends heavily grieved him, but it was not the time to be angry. He had to get himself out of this situation first.

"Show yourself! Stop hiding like a coward and come fight me!" Kevin roared, his eyes crazy.

"Coming, coming, stop shouting like a monkey."

Kevin heard a slight thud coming from behind as he instantly turned around. He saw a white-haired youth staring at him with a smirk on his face, causing Kevin to almost let go of his sword. It was, of course, Draco and he was currently holding Troy's bow and a few arrows.

"Y-you... how is this possible? No, I refuse to believe this!" Kevin shouted, mana coating his hand. He tried to calm himself down. It seems that he had some mistakes, and he had believed in this bastard's act. Draco wasn't weak, nor did he seem a pushover from his merciless eyes. He had to compose himself and fight. Yes. They were both sixteen. There's no way there would be such a difference in power between them.

"How dare you ambush my friends!" Kevin rushed forward like a madman, probably thinking that Draco wasn't really well versed in close combat since he held a bow. Unfortunately for him, it was the other way around.

When Kevin was just a few meters away, Draco suddenly let go of the bow and grabbed a dagger. His eyes turned red and a fierce aura escaped from him, startling Kevin. However, it was too late to stop already, hence Kevin attacked from above with a wide swing, hoping to finish the battle with one strike.

Draco easily dodged to the side and rammed his dagger into Kevin's ribcage, twisting it to make him bleed more. Kevin shouted from the intense pain as he fell to the ground. Yes, it was that simple. Since Draco was more powerful in every aspect possible by activating [Berserker], he didn't see any point in dragging the battle and finished it immediately.

"W-wait." Kevin let go of his sword, trembling from the pain. "Don't kill me, p-please. My father can pay you a lot, just please leave me alone... I will never bother you again!"

"Sorry. Can't do." Draco shrugged his shoulders.

"Just why are you doing this?!" Kevin lost it. "My father is extremely strong and he will easily find you! If you want to live, let me-"

Draco no longer felt the need to listen to this kid as he pierced an arrow straight through his heart. He died instantly, falling against the ground.

'I can't believe these people used to bully me. So pathetic I was.' Draco thought, looking over the battlefield. Despite killing three humans today, he didn't feel a thing. No, he had long ago lost these useless emotions that should be felt when killing other humans.

"I should clean up, but before that..." Draco took the ring off Kevin's hand, his eyes gleaming with avarice. It seemed like his father had spoiled him quite a bit as to even give him dimensional storage. It wasn't cheap at all.

By closing his eyes, he looked inside and a smile spread across his face. Not only was there a card with over 50 million in it, but there were also 21 blue ivy's lying around. With this, he should be able to break through.

Other than that, he has also gained a sword. It was a [G] rank artifact with no special effect, but it was more than good for now. Sighing quietly, Draco started cleaning up the mess. He grabbed all the bodies and cleaned the blood from the ground. He then proceeded to transport them through the hidden path and threw them inside the Forest of Death.

Soon, some beasts would definitely be attracted by the smell of blood and feast on them. Thus, no one would suspect Draco and think that they overestimated their abilities by going into the Forest of Darkness.

There was no way that anyone would tie their death with someone like Draco.

Draco finished the job and went back to his dorm in hopes of a breakthrough, completely unhindered by the fact that he murdered three of his classmates.

He didn't feel any pity at all.