Fiona’s previously uneasy expression turned angry after hearing everything that had happened in detail. Although she hadn’t done much yet as this was just her 2nd year in Seal Academy and her first year as the Student Body President, for an entire syndicate to trample over her people completely was extremely bold. It was a given that the Student Body President would usually be someone in their 4th year so the prestige that came along with the title was sky high.
The person who would take upon the mantle of being the Student Body President would usually be the unshakable voice in the academy with not a single club or syndicate having the guts to fight back against their edicts. Now, a massive change occurred this year, a mere 2nd-year was now the Student Body President, leaving numerous ambitious students planning on suppressing her before she could even show off to increase their own fame.
If the well-known prestige that Fiona’s position held was trampled upon, the benefits that those people who abused this moment of weakness would almost be unparalleled. Numerous other syndicates planning to collaborate with them, with even more focus once they finish school, and even their fame being a notch higher than the rest, letting them hook more clients in the future.
The Rising Syndicate took this one gamble, sacrificing the risk of punishment to leave their own mark before Fiona could even rise. Unfortunately for them, due to a series of events, they somehow messed with Arin, stopping their plan from succeeding. Whether Arin did it intentionally or not, he did help Fiona out with her current predicament.
“Still… it’s too much…” Fiona glanced right behind her, seeing numerous students need dire medical attention. She gritted her teeth and came over to those injured, shouting at the bystanders watching, “Come help! We need to get them to the clinic! Please!”
Fiona’s pleas were ignored, leaving her no other choice but to use one of her privileges, “Help me save them!” By using her title, she pleaded with all the surrounding bystanders to help her out.
Unfortunately, her reputation had gotten so bad that those who knew her barely cared about what she did.
The professors who didn’t care as much as earlier now observed those surrounding students. If they didn’t act then they would get punished.
Mason stood up, going over to help out. Despite being one of the few helpers, Fiona couldn’t force him to do this.
“Mason, you don’t need to push yourself. I’ll handle this,” Fiona ran left and right, focusing on prioritizing those in dire straits, mainly the ones that Arin injured.
The 1st year students were essentially normal children, without having the privilege of taking strength enhancers or developers meaning that breaking bones would but a much harder feat for them, of course, there were always exceptions. Those people with backing had access to these very expensive drugs meaning that they were ahead of the curve, letting them dominate the school with ease at the very beginning. Slowly over time, these 1st-year students would rapidly grow and develop under the academy’s guidance with some even possibly surpassing those beloved children of wealthy families.
As for these club and syndicate members during the recruitment area, they were the 2nd-year students that were left behind, the ones who didn’t develop enough to reach the standard for being rewarded the enhancement drug. They were the dregs that were recruited in their 1st-year and didn’t show any promise until their 2nd-year. They would have two options by then, to leave their organization due to their poor performance or to continue being in them as their lackeys. Safe to say, it was still a dog-eat-dog world, if you wallowed in self-pity then you would without a shred of doubt be left behind.
“Patrick, do you think Arin’s serious?” Robert sighed at how much of a mess his first day was. “Extorting students…”
“He must be planning something but I don’t know what. You should know more than me,” Patrick stretched his arms which were stained red with blood and mucus.
“Which reminds me. Arin, that name’s really familiar. There were a few rumors about that name but I didn’t pay attention to it in the lower districts.” Robert tried to relax his body as he continued to gaze at the open sky. “Which reminds me, that bastard Elliot lied to us!”
“Yeah, I’ll teach him a lesson he’ll never forget,” Patrick punched his palm with his hand, trying to show off his strength.
“W-Wait, isn’t it fine now, though?” Mason meekly said as he was sandwiched between Robert and Patrick, an extremely uncomfortable place to be. “I mean Elliot did lie but we managed to end it off on a good note, right?”
“Tch, we were fine! Didn’t you see them open up for us? We didn’t need Arin at all!” Patrick roared at Mason’s point. “We would’ve just left and it wouldn’t be the end of that. We just gave that psychopath a stage to show off.”
“Actually…” Mason looked back at Robert to his side, from his understanding Robert was the more reasonable one.
“Hah…” Robert closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. “What is it?”
“Remember the guy that Arin was dragging by the hair… by his ponytail?”
“What about him? Must’ve been some poor guy who Arin tortured for fun.” Robert continued rubbing his temples, trying to explain to Mason that Arin wasn’t a good guy at all, in fact, if anything he was the devil.
“T-Those Rising Syndicate members called him Noland…” Mason gathered up his remaining courage. “He’s one of the core members of the Rising Syndicate, even though he’s only in his 2nd year, he’s already pretty strong. I think he’s the one in charge of the entire operation so-”
“Hah… dammit!” Patrick slammed his leg down, causing the bench to wobble for a bit. “So Elliot actually made the right call. That little… fine, I guess I can’t twist his bones when I see him later.”
Mason gave an awkward smile as he was confused, “Didn’t you listen to Elliot earlier? What happened? I thought you guys were friends.”
Robert grabbed Mason’s shoulders which made him immediately shiver, “Long story short, we don’t want to talk about it.” Robert gritted his teeth as he avoided the topic.
“At least Arin saved us in the end.”
“What are you talking about?” Patrick coldly asked Mason, instead of Robert’s demeanor which was somewhat kind, Patrick seemed a complete brute.
“It’s… the rumors about Arin is that he’s-”
“It’s no rumor, he’s Kian Theo’s son. One of the three Labyrinth Solver’s protegee, Arin Theo,” Fiona managed to send every single person to the clinic by herself. Her speed spoke volumes about her physical capabilities.
Robert immediately looked at Patrick in surprise but Patrick looked back at Robert in complete fear. They were all of a sudden acquainted with a bigshot, the only thing left boggling their mind was whether it was the good or bad kind of attention.
“Please join the Student Body Committee,” Fiona stood up straight as she offered up her hand, trying to recruit them into her organization. Robert and Patrick were also unprepared for Fiona’s sudden offer. “You helped Mason out despite everyone else turning a blind eye! I hope you can join me in helping others.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Robert and Patrick completely understood where Fiona was coming from, if Arin didn’t personally interact with them then they would still be nobodies that Fiona wouldn’t glance at unless they were in dire straits. Fiona’s ideals were for all to see, she was open with what she wanted and each and every single one of her moves was for what she believed in.
“Not happening…” Robert sighed.
Looking around at how little her words mean to everyone, she wasn’t that favored by the students
“Wait, before you continue on, I’m willing to give you all the benefits of the position without any of the responsibilities. There’s also…” Fiona tried continuing further on about the other luxurious benefits of joining yet it still didn’t cover up the fact that her organization was essentially useless.
“Still, I don’t think I’ll join you. I’m sorry.” Robert made his stance.
Fiona expectantly gazed at Patrick who immediately blurted out, “Don’t look at me. Reforming the school sounds stupid, I don’t want to be a part of it.” Patrick was casually crossing his arms when he finally realized just what he said.
Robert immediately elbowed Patrick who just took it. After saying something so offensive, if Fiona wanted, he would’ve been severely punished for disrespecting her. Robert stared daggers at Patrick, completely furious at how socially inept he was.
“That’s…” Fiona knew that people thought of her that way, a stupid goal, the betterment of everyone was too idealistic, something that everyone had already given up on. “I understand. However, if you ever change your mind then the offer still stands. Even if the world throws you away, the doors are still open. Mason, let’s go.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Mason rubbed his arm as he stood up, trying to escape the awkward atmosphere. He followed Fiona’s back who still seemed so reliable despite suffering through such a life-threatening situation. He knew that a single person wouldn’t be enough, even the Student Body Committee wasn’t powerful, it was full of countless cowards like him trying to find safety under Fiona’s reputation. Even forcefully stealing talents away by using that cheap trick during the assembly, she knew that the burden of this idealistic dream was too much in such a place as the City of Sin but she firmly believed in her goals.
Patrick felt bad at how Fiona didn’t even hold any bit of malice towards him despite insulting her to her face so he said out loud, “There’s another guy, Elliot. He wants to join you! Apparently, Arin likes him so you might have a chance to-”
“Shut up! What if Arin hears about this?” Robert covered Patrick’s mouth in a desperate attempt to save his friend. “We’ll have a terrible time!”
“Even if he’s a psychopath he won’t kill us! We’ll be fine!” Patrick grabbed Robert’s hands covering his face and retorted.
Fiona looked back and slightly smiled, “Thank you.” This was one of the few times that someone helped her out of pure kindness. There were numerous people trying to help her out to get something out of it, either to get her hand or to take over her position. Even though Patrick gave her an almost useless piece of information, it was the gesture of kindness that Fiona appreciated.
Mason immediately came up to whisper to Fiona’s ear, “I’ll explain everything later. In even more detail.” Mason was a coward but he still did his part, being Fiona’s information gatherer.
Fiona nodded and went on their way back to the dean’s office to continue her conversation with Dean Alabaster. She felt that the sun was a little brighter today.
~~~
The doors of the steam train finally opened with a mechanical thud, releasing a bit of steam from the sides so that the gear would turn properly. Arin stood up and left the steam train without any issues. He was met by a few guards who feigned ignorance at his presence so he just left the station.
After a relatively long jog up the mountain, he finally reached home where Kian’s car was already parked by the side. He went inside his home and yelled out, “Dad, I’m home!”
“You are? Good, you see I need you to chop up some-” Kian responded from the kitchen.
“Yeah… I need to work out! So, I can’t!” Arin’s voice echoed as he ran up the stairs in a frenzy, trying to escape that little bit of menial task that bored him. The previously cold and brutal temperament he had all faded away as he seemed to have turned into a normal kid.
“Sneaky, haha. Good thing I already bought some pre-chopped-up garlic and onions,” Kian heard Arin’s window open and another thud right after, coming from Arin jumping out of his window out to the back where his training equipment was.
“Still as energetic as ever, no wonder you’re so strong,” Kian prepared the ingredients and set off to cook their dinner. Although it wasn’t as extravagant as earlier, it was still one of his mastered dishes. Unfortunately, the main ingredient of the sauce was out of stock which made this dish a little less appealing than initially planned.
“Tch, things are starting to run out. I already have a stockpile ready but that’ll only last us five years. It better be enough time. No, it will be enough time,” Kian’s thoughts trailed off as he wondered about the incoming trouble that was plaguing the city.
After a while, Kian finally put up the last finishing touches by brushing honey on the steak in front of him. Kian slightly patted honey on one portion while he dug in the honey bottle with his brush and poured a ludicrous amount on the other portion.
“Son, it’s dinner time!” Kian screamed out at Arin who was still doing his sets. As soon as Arin heard his father’s call he dropped everything, “I’m coming!”
Kian lightly smiled and placed the two plates in hand down on the table, right beside each other. Their dining table was rectangular in shape but the two decided to eat on the elongated side, sitting side by side.
Arin wildly slammed the door open as he ran into the dining room with sweat dripping down his face. Arin went inside and sat down on his spot about to dine in when Kian grabbed Arin by the neck and raised him up.
“Clean yourself up. You reek,” Kian threw him to the side as he sat down on his seat, waiting for Arin to dress up.
“Fine,” Arin grunted but still did as his father said. He went upstairs and took a quick shower, rinsing himself of all the grain, dirt, and blood he had on him. After finding a set of clothes in his drawer, he went downstairs in a hurry.
“Alright, let’s eat,” Kian took and grabbed the first bite with Arin following right behind him. “So, anything interesting that happened? Did you take over the school already?”
“Not yet, I think that’ll take a while on my end,” Arin quickly devoured the piece of steak he had in front of him that was covered with a thick layer of honey.
“Oh, how so? Any problems? Any girl that might’ve gotten your attention?”
“One girl, Fiona, the one you warned me about. She’s strong. Real strong.”
“Stronger than you?” Kian nudged Arin’s shoulder. “I can’t believe that a little girl’s stronger than you. If only you-”
“Only if I do it myself,” Arin grunted. “I want to see how far I can get by myself.”
“Ohoho, my little boy’s losing against a girl. How hilarious- I meant tragic,” Kian laughed around as he joked with his son. “How about your reputation? You showed something grand?”
“Nothing much except for the end. Some kind of syndicate was messing with the Student Body Committee and I took the opportunity to trample on them. That should be enough to make a statement.”
“Mmm… that’s good for the first day but you can’t act like that until you’re stronger. Remember, violence is encouraged but the students might not like it. You should try and focus on either creating your own force or joining a pre-existing one.”
“You haven’t heard about how I’ve done it though, you might like what you hear,” Arin ended off his sentence with a knowing smile.
Kian noticed Arin’s expression and haughtily laughed, “Let me hear it.”
“Apparently, this syndicate… I already forgot the name but that’s beside the point. They oppressed a lot more smaller clubs and syndicates so I thought of a way of showing off while gaining their respect. I rounded up five hundred of them and made the bystanders beat them up.”
“Gahaha! That’s a good one, I’ll use that in the future,” Kian took the last bite of his meal and was about to stand up when Arin tugged on his shirt.
“There’s something more,” instead of the usual carefree expression on Arin’s face, he now had a serious undertone to it. “Some people from the outside went here.”
“Arin. Thanks for the information but this tackles something you don’t need to worry about right now,” Kian also seriously spoke, compared to his previously joking tone, it was much more dire.
“I can help-”
“You can help by getting stronger. Arin, believe me, I want nothing more than to tell you everything but it’ll change your judgment on how to proceed in the future. Unless you are strong enough to handle that reconnaissance team, by yourself without any help, then you won’t be able to do anything. I’m confident that their weakest member’s as strong as you, am I right?”
Arin crossed his arms, “So what if they are?”
Kian sighed, he knew how nosy Arin tends to be when it concerns himself but this time it was grave. “They’re weaklings that serve no purpose in the grander scheme of things. If you can’t handle weaklings then there’s no point in jumping into the fray.”
Arin looked down and clenched his fists, he knew what his father said was correct, and although there were definitely spies roaming about, Frederick’s team seemed to be a little special with how blatant they were. He decided to keep Frederick’s name to himself to investigate in the future, if his father won’t tell him anything then he’ll use the people in Seal Academy to look into it for him.
“Hey… listen, do you want to go on a run with me? Clear your mind for a bit?” Kian knew that Arin was feeling down right now so he offered something that they hadn’t done for a while now.
“Yeah…”