"What just happened?" Mindy asked herself in shock.
The scene kept replaying in her mind over and over again.
A few minutes ago, the genius entered the sitting compartment, looked around for a few seconds, headed over to where they were and asked to sit with them!
In shock, they could only nod at Damien.
Wasn't he anti-social?
Why the sudden change?
Mindy took a peek at Damien who was sitting comfortably beside them.
The atmosphere immediately became awkward.
All of them were gawking at Damien.
It made him feel odd.
Finally, Brianna couldn't take it any longer.
"Why did you decide to sit us? We thought you were a loner!" Brianna blurted out.
"Bri! That wasn't cool," Mindy chided her best friend.
"It's nothing. You were the only familiar faces I saw so I decided to come sit with you guys," Damien replied.
"You're Damien right? Is it true you awoke four powers?" Brianna asked hotly.
She wasn't one to be restricted by shyness.
"Bri! That's not polite!" Mindy glared at her.
Damien smirked inwardly.
He could sense it as clear as day that all of them were interested in his answer and the one with the most interest surprisingly wasn't the petite outspoken girl called Bri but rather the girl with the pink hair!
"Mm yeah that's true. Space element, Psychic element, an unidentifiable soul rune, peak body physique," Damien replied.
"You got to be kidding!" Brianna gaped openly.
Her pink haired friend covered her mouth with her palm, causing Brianna to hastily close her mouth.
"That's awesome man! I'm Austin," said the brown haired, normal looking guy who had been silent throughout.
He stretched his hand out for a handshake.
Damien shook it and replied,
"Nice to meet you."
He turned towards the other guy, the one who was tall and lanky with the white mohawk.
"I'm Zane," he introduced himself.
Damien also shook hands with him.
He then turned to look at the two girls.
"I'm Brianna but you can call me Bri," said the chubby petite girl with a smile.
"Sure," Damien responded.
"I'm Mindy," said the pink haired pigtail girl with a light smile.
"Nice to meet you all," Damien replied.
They gave nods and grunts of agreement.
These people aren't that difficult to talk to after all, Damien thought inwardly.
"So which powers did you awaken?" Damien asked.
"I awoke the boulder element. Earth element variant," Austin replied.
"Gale element. Wind element variant," Zane answered.
"My power is called Urge. It's a Soul path power!" Brianna said.
"Bubble element. Water element variant," Mindy said.
"That's impressive," Damien praised.
They all smiled.
"Not as impressive as yours," replied Mindy shyly.
Damien returned their smiles.
Maybe it wasn't that bad to talk to people at all.
Another new arrival entered the sitting compartment.
Damien and the other four turned around to see who it was.
Damien narrowed his eyes.
"What is he doing here?" Damien asked himself inwardly as he looked at the figure of Victor Kaiser who was in the uniform of the Imperial Institute and was looking around for a place to sit!
Victor's gaze also landed on where Damien sat with the four friends.
A light smile crept to his lips.
He waved at them and went to sit with a nearby group of other students whom he probably knew based on how chummy he was with them.
Damien narrowed his eyes.
What was the probability of Victor choosing the same school as he?
A sense of unease creeped into Damien.
Over the past weeks, as he had trained continuously and absorbed many mana stones, his powers and senses had improved to a rapid rate.
Naturally, his senses still flared up anytime he saw Victor.
He couldn't afford to let his guard down.
Acting as if everything was alright, Damien turned away but he still kept a vigilant eye at where Victor was sitting with his cronies.
Few minutes after Victor's arrival, everyone felt the hovercraft moving.
It was finally leaving.
The sitting compartment opened and two people walked in.
Unlike the uniform which all the students wore hat had black as the dominant color, the two people had burgundy as the dominant color with black and gold trim.
Their uniform was the same as the one who had helped Damien into the hovercraft.
Everyone looked at them, waiting to hear what they had to say.
"So that was the last stop for the Western sector, kids. The hovercraft will now take us to the Imperial Institute which will be your new home. Buckle up and sit tight, folks. We've a two-hour journey ahead of us," said one of the two people who entered in.
He was extremely tall and superbly built and he spoke with confidence.
His partner on the other hand was not as tall as him but he had dyed his hair burgundy, just like his uniform.
After giving the announcement, both of them left.
The talking and discussion resumed once more.
Damien noticed people were moving around, talking to other students, trying to make connections and friends.
Two of Victor's friends were moving towards various groups of students and some of the loners and talking with them.
Some of them moved from where they sat to join Victor and his cohorts.
Others to remained in their seats and displeasure was evident on the faces of the two boys.
What on earth were they doing?
Austin had also noticed what was going on.
"What do you think they are telling people?" he asked.
Zane and the others also glanced over.
"I dunno. I think it's some kind of faction building shit or something," Zane mumbled.
"What do you think, Damien?" Mindy asked.
"I'll agree with Zane on that one. They are probably making a group of sorts as lackeys to the rich kids," Damien said.
"Do you think Victor is the one building the faction?" Brianna asked.
"I don't think so. He's probably a member. Someone called him over too. Victor's family may be rich but I don't think they have that kind of pull," Damien replied.
Austin nodded in agreement but the others were a little skeptical.
"Who's got more pull than Victor?" Zane asked.
"Don't forget that there are many other rich families and kids in the Western sector. Besides, it's not like the Imperial Institute will have students coming only from this sector. A lot of people are coming from various sectors," Austin reminded them.
Brianna craned her neck to look at the large group which now occupied a sizable portion of the sitting compartment.
It was quite comical and the others snickered at her, much to her annoyance.
At that moment, they noticed the two boys heading over to them.
One was pale, thin and lanky with raven black hair which had been slicked back in a prim fashion. A rapier hung from his waist.
He had a naturally aloof look.
The other was a muscularly built boy with perfectly trimmed blond hair and good looks.
"Hello. I am Rico Lewis and this is my friend Danny Bloom. As we are all going to be in the same awakened school, it is best that we western sector folks stick together. A lot of people will be coming from other sectors and the Imperial Institute is in our sector, our territory," the pale and lanky dark haired boy began.
"Since it is paramount that us western folks stick together, master Ronnie Quentin, of the reputable Quentin family, is forming a faction. I want to thus invite you to join our faction," Rico continued, looking at Damien.
"What is the meaning of this?" Zane questioned.
Without even looking at him, Rico replied, "Shut up. This invitation isn't meant for untalented folks like you. It is exclusively for Damien."
"So Damien, what do you think? This is a once in a lifetime open opportunity. Join us and master Ronnie Quentin will reward you.
If you don't know who master Ronnie Quentin is, let me tell you.
He comes from the reputable Quentin family up north of the Western sector and he is the grandson of the Sky Lord, Darius Quentin!" Rico praised. The fervor and worship was evident in his voice.
A satisfied grin slid onto his lips when he noticed the reactions of Damien and other others.
Who was Sky Lord Quentin?
He was one of the nine Planetary realm experts of Earth!
He was an extremely powerful individual at the apex of earth's political and power hierarchy!
No wonder people like Victor Kaiser and these two boys who looked like rich kids were all flocking to join Ronnie Quentin!
As the grandchild of one of the most powerful people on the planet, surely Ronnie would have access to lots of resources!
He could easily pull out thousands of high grade mana stones in the blink of an eye!
All those who followed him would reap many benefits from him.
This was an extremely tempting offer!
Damien couldn't deny that he was tempted by the prospect of it.
After all, who wouldn't want to easily access thousands of mana stones without paying a dime?
His path would be extremely rosy!
But that wasn't Damien.
Damien preferred to work for his stuff.
Only then would his reward be sweeter.
Power offered on a silver platter never lasted long.
In the grand scheme of things, it could be used against him.
Damien also didn't want to be involved with anything that Victor had a connection with.
'So Damien, what do you think? Choose wisely," Rico said.
Austin and his friends turned to stare at Damien.
Would he accept the offer?
Well who wouldn't?
He would be crazy not to!
Notwithstanding the fact that Ronnie Quentin might go out of his way to intentionally make things difficult for Damien if he refused, Damien had no choice.
Rico could feel that Damien was already in his grasp.
A wide smile had formed on his lips as he eagerly awaited Damien's answer.
"As much as I would like to accept this tempting offer, my answer is no," Damien said with a smile.
Rico's smile froze on his face.