"Urk… where am I?" (Fredrich)
Opening my eyes all I could see was a wooden ceiling above my head.
Confused, I tried standing up but stopped midway due to a sudden sharp pain coming from my head.
"Arghh!!! That bastard really didn't hold back-… Hm?"
turning my head, I found out that I wasn't the only one in the room.
Although I didn't notice it at first because of my abnormal state, now that I think about it, this place seemed very similar to the room me and Jericho used.
The only difference was the quality, as this room was significantly more luxurious than hours.
The beds inside were all at least twice the size of ours, and the furniture starting from the cabinets to the tables were all made with higher quality looking wood and some gold finishes.
Sitting my body up on a wall, I then scanned the area with my eyes and was able to get a better view of the situation.
Just like I expected there were other kids here too, without any sign of an adult at that. Some were crying while some were tucked in a corner hoping to not be noticed.
One thing was for certain though, it was the fact that none of them looked like they wanted to be here. Their eyes were all red from tears, and their noses were wet with snot. Some of them also had bruises all over their body, with one particular kid having two black eyes that made him look like a panda.
They were all, for some reason, looking at me with pity. Trying to understand why I heightened my body a little to the point where I could see my face in the mirror on the other side of the room.
It was there that I could see the reason for their pity.
Looking at the mirror, my former face was nearly impossible to distinguish. My head was covered all around with bandages but one could see some blood staining it.
It looked like my face had been completely run over by a truck before coming here, so there was no way I could not react.
"Wha--- what the! Urk!!"
Suddenly shouting, my head suddenly tensed up and started hurting again.
"Argghhhh…."
Sitting down while growling, I tried my best to ease up in hopes to lighten the pain. However, before I could do so it seemed as if my shout ended up calling the culprits as the door was swung wide open and the fat trio came in.
"Ohoh… looks like your awake, you damn peasant."
Said Darius angrily. Although a few hours had already passed by, he was still a little angry about the behavior Fred showed a while ago.
"That look suits you, want me to make it permanent?"
"Screw off"
Hearing Fred's reply Darius snapped his fingers.
Hearing the signal, the boy who passed out when he was hit by an orange stepped up and kicked Fred in the stomach repeatedly.
"Urk!"
Thwack thwack thwack!*
"If I didn't order someone with a healing type gift to apply first aid on you, you would've been dead by now. And this insolence is how you'll repay me? F*ucking worthless piece of crap!!"
After a few more hits and seeing that Fred was no longer able to stand up, Darius ordered the boy to stop and step back.
"that should keep your mouth shut."
Seemingly done with him, Darius ignored the heavily injured Fred and started addressing the children in the room.
"Everyone shut up and Listen to master Darius!"
Shouted his lackey to gather everyone's attention.
Coughing to clear his throat Darius began stating his reason for gathering the children so forcefully.
"Ehem… my name is Darius Futwark, son of Devon Futwark. I am currently ranked 31st among the participants and as you guessed, the highest-ranked person among the regular class."
Hearing his introduction, the children cowered even more. Not only does he have a higher rank, but he has a background that surpasses it.
Looking at their reactions, Darius once again thought of the conversation he had with his dad.
His dad was one of the most famous people in the world. although he wasn't all that good-looking because of his bulging stomach, his charisma and leadership made a lot of people adore and respect him.
To Darius, his dad was a hero stronger than anyone, he took pride in his father's accomplishments and would act as if it was his as well.
Being praised for the littlest things by people trying to curry favor, Darius thought that he could get anything he wanted. This ended up making him more and more arrogant by the day, as he thought that as long as his dad was here, he would be invincible, capable of doing anything in this world.
But that idea was soon shattered as it seemed that even heroes had something they couldn't defeat.
"Darius, once you are in the advanced class the only thing that matters will be your strength. Your background has little to no influence in there so don't expect that you can get in solely relying on my power. I've already got the info that you're going to be ranked 31st, one away from the advanced class. If you want to get in then prove it to them yourself"
"Eh… bu-but couldn't dad just pressure them? I mean, the-there's no way they would be able to do anything if you were to personally move."
"I'm glad that you think so highly of me son. However, erase the idea that I am some kind of omnipotent person. That type of thinking will get you no where in this world. as the sole heir to my empire you should know that there are a few people, who can destroy everything I've built up with a single word. Asher the current leader of the colorless jokers is one of them."
"No-no way"
To Darius who thought that no one could ever hope to match his father, this sudden revelation broke his entire mentality.
The fragile belief that he was more special than anyone was starting to break, with all being left was a kid full of insecurities about his weakness.
{what if I eventually get surpassed by someone more skilled but currently lower than me? Will dad make sure that I keep my rank….. or will he not be able to? Ah….ah…. noooo! I will not allow it!}
He was starting to get paranoid.
{To make sure that I keep my place, I will not allow a single one of them to even begin thinking of aiming higher! I will… I will suppress them!}
"From now on all of you will be under my command! I decide when you'll eat and I'll decide where you'll sleep. Failure to follow my orders will bring dire consequences, understood?"
To use his influence here and lessen the remaining competitors. That was the plan Darius came up with to retain his rank.
{Joining the advanced class can wait. It's more important that I solidify my place here-}
Boom!!
"Wha-!"
Out of nowhere, a loud explosion burst from the other side of the door, waking him from his thoughts.
Smoke from the debris came inside the room, not allowing anyone to see.
Panicking, Darius Shouted an order to open the windows. A kid who was coughing hard, unable to breathe didn't even wait for the order to finish as he started hurriedly trying to find the window handle.
"Ah! Found it!"
Shouting with joy as if he found some sort of treasure, the boy turned the handle which opened the window. The smoke inside started to clear out and a faint silhouette was starting to be seen from the other side of the door.
"Heh, took you long enough" (Fred)
Now that the dust was starting to settle, Darius angrily turned his head to see who was the culprit.
It was there that he saw a black-haired boy wearing a surgical mask around his face. On the right hand of the boy was some sort of remote control with a red button in the upper middle part, the button, currently being pressed by the boy's thumb.
"Helloooo~~~ is there a guy named Fredrich in there?"