Two hours ago.
Neo slowly opened his eyes. He rose from the bed and looked out of the window.
The sun was setting down, casting a golden radiance in the room and on Neo's face.
Alden and Owen were still asleep.
"Ahhh." Neo let out a deep sigh as he touched the back of his neck. The back of his neck was drenched in sweat because of his long hair.
He looked at the smartwatch on his wrist. It showed 18:36.
"A 30-minute nap turned into a few hours," Neo muttered as he let out a deep sigh. "I am so thirsty." He stood up from the bed and tied his hair. "Well, I better go and buy something." With a smile, he left the room.
The lights in the corridor were on, and unlike yesterday, many first-year students were going about their business.
In no time, Neo reached the convenience store, which was next to the cafeteria.
He entered inside.
The store was large, almost as large as the cafeteria, with several checkouts, but even still, there were several rows of students at each checkout.
He took a basket and started shopping.
He first took drinks. For himself, he took a bottle of water. Because Neo did not know what Owen and Alden wanted to drink, he took sodas and juices as well.
He filled the basket with snacks. "I took drinks, protein bars, chips..." Neo counted on his fingers. "That should be enough."
Neo walked to the checkout and stood in line.
Thud!
A boy bumped into Neo's shoulder, knocking the basket out of his hand.
"Hey, watch where you stand." The boy spoke with an arrogant smirk as he continued walking forward.
A group of three passed Neo and walked to the front of the line.
Neo trembled in anger. "Hey, you are cutting the line!" He shouted. "And you should at least apologize to me."
"Haaa?" The boy, as well as his two friends, stopped and turned back. "Are you talking to me?"
They walked up to Neo.
The other students in front of Neo sensed what was about to happen and immediately abandoned all their stuff and left the convenience store.
"If you are going to fight, get out of the store!" The cashier, an elderly woman in her late fifties, shouted.
She was unbothered by the situation, and by the tone of her voice, one could tell that this was not her first time seeing a situation like this.
"Did you say something to me?" The arrogant boy who bumped into Neo asked, sticking his face close to Neo.
"Yes." Neo did not back down. "Should you not at least apologize when you bump into someone?"
The boy was taken aback. He turned and looked at his two friends, and a second later, they busted into laughter.
"Hahah! Who are you to make me, Liam, to apologize to you?"
Anger built up inside Neo. "I see. I see." He barely held back. He did not know how to reply nicely. If he did reply his way, he would start a fight. Thus, he bent down and started picking up his stuff from the floor.
"Ohh? What happened? Did the big boy chicken out?" One of the friends of Liam teased. "Hahahah!"
"Fu.ck off. Or you will regret it!" Neo, unable to take it anymore, threw a fierce gaze at them as he threatened.
Liam's face twitched in anger. "Regret it? Come on, make me regret it!" He kicked Neo's basket. The contents of Neo's basket flew all around the floor. "Do you know who my cousin is?"
This was the last drop that made the glass overflow. "I do not care about you or your fuc.king cousin!" Neo spoke as he raised, the anger in his voice evident. His expression was grim.
"How dare you speak like that!" One of Liam's friends shouted. "Do you know who you just offended..."
"Shut the fu.ck up!" Neo spoke with utter coldness. This was the first time someone disrespected him like this. "Do you dare come outside the store?"
Neo did not wait for their reply. He walked out of the store.
Liam and his two friends did not fear. They followed closely behind Neo with their hands in their pockets.
On the crossroad, Neo turned left, entering the corridor with the rooms from number 300 to 499.
He stopped and slowly turned back.
Swoosh!
As he turned back, he saw a fist in front of his face.
"A sneak attack!" He muttered as he jumped a step back to dodge. However, the fist still grazed his cheek slightly.
Neo touched his cheek, feeling the slight cut. "A brass knuckles?" He muttered, looking at the brass knuckles Liam and his friends wore.
"You brought this upon yourself," Liam said. "We will beat you till you are half dead."
There were no cameras in the hallways. In the convenience store and outside of it there were, but not in the hallways. This was because the powerful beast tamer families did not want the academy to follow their children's movements and dig into their secrets. But this also helped implementing the law of the jungle deeper.
There were students in the corridor just now when one of Liam's friends hit Neo, but they all just walked away. Acting as if they had not seen anything. They did not want to get involved in troublesome matters.
"Good, good! You fight dirty." Neo smiled crazily. "I am so going to enjoy this."
"Beat him!" Liam shouted angrily.
Neo did not give them a chance to rush at him. He leaped at them.
Liam could not even react, and Neo was already in front of him.
Thud!
He delivered a strong punch in Liam's abdomen.
Liam immediately collapsed to the ground. But he turned out more persistent than Neo thought.
He grabbed Neo for the legs, hugging them.
"What are you waiting for!" Liam shouted, bringing his stunned friends back to reality. "Attack him!"
Both of his friends threw a punch at Neo's face.
Unable to move, Neo was taken by surprise. He dodged one punch, but he could not dodge the next one coming. He could only grit his teeth and endure.
Smack!
The punch landed right on Neo's nose.
"Hahahah! How you like that!" While still holding onto Neo's legs, Liam raised his head to look at Neo's expression.
However, unlike what he expected, he faced with Neo's murderous gaze.
Instantly, Neo bent down, delivering a punch in Liam's face. Thanks to this, Liam's grip lessened, and Neo broke free.
He then kicked Liam in the stomach.
As for his friends, they were stunned in fear. Especially the one who hit Neo. After seeing how quickly Neo handled Liam, he was trembling in fear.
Swoosh!
Thud!
Swoosh!
With swift moves, Neo handled Liam's friends as well, making their faces bloody.
"You will regret this!" Liam, lying on his stomach, threatened bravely.
However, when he saw Neo walking closer to him, fear arose in his heart.
"Y-You can't h-hurt me. You will get in trouble with the dorm supervisor." Liam spoke of the consequences of Neo's action in hopes of making him stop.
But Neo did not stop, and he walked up to him.
When Neo arrived before Liam, he bent down. "Transfer your points to me." He said, stuffing the smartwatch on his wrist to Liam's face.
"Haa!" Liam smirked. "You wish..."
Smack!
Before he could refuse, Neo smacked him in the nose. "Do it!"
"N..."
Smack!
"I can hit you all day." Neo threatened.
When Liam looked into Neo's eyes, shivers ran down his spine. 'Those are the eyes of a madman!' Liam thought to himself, his heart trembling in fear. 'I will give him the points. I will get them back anyway.'
"Alright!" Liam shouted angrily. He unlocked his smartwatch and touched it to Neo's.
Ding!
The ringing sound of notification rang on Neo's watch.
"Scum!" Neo cursed angrily when he looked at his coin balance. He had received 90 points. "It's just the first day, and you have already started forcing weak students into giving you their points?"
The anger burned in Neo, but he forced himself to calm down. After all, Liam's words held some truth. He could get in trouble with the dorm supervisor. "Since I already took your points and beat you up. I will let you go this time. But if you try to mess with me again, you will not slide with just a bloody nose."
Neo raised and walked up to Liam's two friends to collect their points as well.
They did not resist like Liam and obediently handed their points.
After collecting their points, in total, he had 200 points.
He also collected their brass knuckles and put them in his pockets. There was no knowing where he would need a weapon to defend himself and his friends.
With this, he vent his anger off a bit.
Thus, he turned and was about to head back to the store.
"Wait!" Liam, lying with his stomach on the ground, shouted.
Neo stopped but did not turn back.
"You will pay for this!" Liam threatened as the blood flowing from his nose entered his mouth. "My cousin is second year. You will regret doing this to me! Do you dare tell me your name!?"
"I warned you. If you mess with me again, you will not slide with just a bloody nose." Neo spoke. "But since you are persistent, I am not afraid to tell you. I am Neo Walker, from class 1-A. If you want revenge, come find me."
Neo then left.
He went back to the store. His stuff had already been picked up from the floor and returned to their place, so he had to shop again.
After he finished shopping and paid 0.2 points, he returned to the room.