the price's impact

"What... what is happening to me? My body feels hot," Tristin gasped for air.

"If I use qi energy to suppress the pain, other martial artists will know I'm also a martial artist, and that will ruin the surprise. I'll just endure it for now," he thought, gritting his teeth and taking deep, slow breaths to calm himself.

Seeing Tristin sweaty and out of breath, the students in class began to whisper. "He was acting like a bigshot yesterday, but look at him now. He's so weak-willed," one guy said, shaking his head.

"Was posting his background on the school page enough to raise his blood pressure this much? He's so pathetic," another whispered, watching Tristin sweat and gasp for air.

As the whispers spread through the class and the school page's comment section, Max entered the room. He was caught off guard by Tristin's state. "Is he really that bummed out because everyone knows he's poor and just lost his parents?" he wondered, taking a seat next to Tristin.

"Hey man, don't let it get to you. For what it's worth, I'm also from a poor family. I don't even have a car, but you drive the most expensive car in school. Take pride in that," Max said, looking at Tristin.

Tristin looked at Max, confused, as the pain in his body slowly faded. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

"You know, my parents worked hard to get me into this school so I could form bonds and connections with kids from well-off families. But as you just saw, it's not easy to get along with privileged kids," Max sighed. "Anyway, I'm sorry for the loss of your parents," he said, patting Tristin's shoulder.

"The pain is fading faster than it did last night. Is it because I didn't use qi energy to suppress it this time? Come to think of it, it started when I tried to listen to what the students were whispering about," Tristin thought but was interrupted by Max's talking.

He looked at Max with a frown. "Thanks, bro, but how do you know about my parents?" he asked, leaning his head against the wall.

"Huh? Don't tell me you don't know. So why are you sweating if you didn't know about the post on the school page?" Max asked, his eyebrows narrowed.

"I must have damaged some of my meridians by locking my qi energy for too long," Tristin thought before looking at Max. "What post?" he asked.

Max, too tired to explain after pouring his heart out, slid his phone to Tristin. "Take a look. It's all in there."

Tristin took the phone and started reading the post on the school page. The more he read, the more he smiled and chuckled. "What is Mr. Masombuka thinking? Who in their right mind would believe that I got my Ferrari by saving a daughter of a big man? If rich people were that generous, there wouldn't be poor people in this world," he thought, laughing.

"Why are you laughing? You were sweating a minute ago. Everyone knows about you now, and they'll avoid you. Read the comments," Max shouted in frustration.

Tristin pushed the phone back to Max. "Chill, Max. You'll pop a blood vessel if you don't relax. Before the end of the day, I'll be back on top of the pyramid," he said with a smile.

"Pop a blood vessel? And that's coming from a guy with high blood pressure," Max snorted. "Do you have a plan to counter the post?"

"Nope, but I'm sure something good will come my way," Tristin replied with a chuckle.

"So why are you this confident?" Max asked, wondering. "He was like this during lunch yesterday. What gives him such confidence?"

Tristin pointed at Max's phone. "You also read about how lucky I am," he said, thinking, "Jokes aside, Max is right. This is no laughing matter. Thomas has done a lot of damage here. If I don't change this situation quickly, my plans will be much slower since most people don't care about the poor."

As Tristin pondered how to handle his situation, the door burst open with a flare.

With fifteen minutes before class began, more students had arrived. All eyes turned to the grand entrance to see who had the guts to open their classroom door with such arrogance.

Sipho, Thomas's minion, swaggered in, followed by two guys. They headed straight for Tristin and Max's desk.

"If it isn't the poor, lucky orphan," Sipho said loudly as he approached Tristin.

"Hey, Sipho. What do you want? I don't have the banana peel right now. Come back during lunch so I can use your face as a trash bin again," Tristin said, raising an eyebrow.

Max slowly looked at Tristin in shock, thinking, "This guy really doesn't know the concept of danger. Doesn't he know they're here to start trouble since everyone knows he's from a disadvantaged family?"

Sipho snorted. "A stinking rag like you, use me as a trash bin? You got lucky yesterday," he replied, looking down at Tristin, who was seated and leaning against the wall.

The class fell silent, everyone baffled by Sipho's new composure.

Tristin hadn't expected Sipho to be so composed today. "He's been licking Thomas's boots for so long he doesn't realize his potential. If Thomas were here, he would have burst out in rage trying to please him," he thought, shaking his head.

Ignoring the silence, Sipho continued. "As my name suggests, I came bearing gifts," he said, taking out his phone and showing it to Tristin.

Seeing that it wasn't the post Max showed him, Tristin took the phone and looked. His face frowned as if he had just eaten wasabi. It was a picture of him taken when he was in pain and sweating earlier.

"I didn't see this coming. I was so focused on the pain that I forgot about my surroundings. This is bad. These kids sure don't hold back. Now I understand what Miss Megan meant about the jungle," he thought, looking at the picture.

"That look suits you best. It's like you were swimming in a pool of vinegar," Sipho chuckled. "But there is more," he said, taking out a paper and handing it to Tristin.

Tristin took the paper and read it, smiling. "Now this is the best thing to happen since morning," he said to himself.

Sipho cleared his throat as Tristin read the paper, then stood straight with his hands behind his back. "Tristin, Thomas has issued a challenge of a duel. Do you accept?" he asked, making sure every student heard him.