"Enough!"
A loud voice suddenly sounded, halting the actions of everyone who heard it and causing them to look in Ivan's direction, they all saw him standing just a few steps away from where the bullying was taking place.
After realizing what had happened, a few people quickly gathered around in hopes of watching a good show while some carried on with what they were doing and were clearly not interested in whatever drama was going on.
The red-haired boy and his group all stared at Ivan in confusion, they saw that he wasn't wearing a uniform or tracksuit like them so they couldn't tell his identity in the tower.
"What is it?" The red-haired boy questioned while staring at Ivan with vigilant eyes.
Ivan glared back at him with hateful eyes before spitting out "I do not like how you are treating this person" His words were laced with fighting intent that stunned the red-haired boy for a moment.
"And what does that have to do with you? Do you know his offense? Who the heck are you even?" The red-haired boy retorted at Ivan, clearly annoyed by Ivan's presence.
Before Ivan could respond, one of the girls standing with the red-haired boy clapped her in realization and pointed at Ivan while saying.
"Luke, that's them. They are the ones I told you were walking with Miss Elora earlier today!" The girl blurted out.
Ivan raised an eyebrow, he looked behind him and saw Ralph and Glen behind him; he gave him supportive smiles when their eyes crossed.
" So you're a new trainee and you dare to act big in front of me?" The red-haired boy who was now known as Luke said with a disdainful grin on his face.
Immediately after saying that, he walked toward Ivan as red energy began to swirl around his two hands.
This action startled Ivan, he didn't know that other trainees would be able to effectively summon their Nexus energy at will.
"The same as always, you're only good at oppressing the weak. How pathetic" a scornful voice sounded from the side. Luke stopped walking as his face turned into one mixed with anger and shame when he heard those words.
They all looked at the source of the voice and saw a young woman with brown skin and long black hair that was braided into a single line and left hanging from her right shoulder. She had a pair of gleaming brown eyes and a very beautiful face. She stood at the same height as Ralph, causing her to be taller than Ivan.
She wore a similar purple tracksuit with the zipper undone revealing her gray T-shirt underneath that was sticking to her skin due to how sweaty she was, perfectly showing the outline of her moderate-sized breasts and flat belly.
She was a stunning black queen figure!
Her brown eyes gazed at Luke with a hint of contempt for a few seconds before moving to Ivan.
"And you, mind your business and stop poking your nose in people's business when you are so weak," she said before proceeding to walk away.
Ivan was once again left stunned by the girl's words, didn't she come to help him?
"Hold it right there Sommy! Don't you dare talk to me in such a manner when you're just a failure yourself, what gives you the right to act so arrogantly to me? Think I don't dare to fight you?" Luke raged, veins bulging on his neck and arms as the amount of Nexus energy around his palms multiplied instantly and started giving off an oppressive feeling.
The girl whose name turned out to be Sommy paused her steps and turned her head to look at Luke over her shoulder, a faint smile formed on her lips as Nexus energy slowly appeared around her body.
"Do you dare? Don't compare me to failures like yourself, unlike you who failed pitifully, I have a reason for still being here" She replied, her voice teasing and daring at the same time.
"Tch!" Luke clicked his tongue, he felt humiliated by Sommy's reaction. He was about to rush toward her when they suddenly noticed someone stroll into the lobby.
Despite being just one person, her presence was instantly noticed. Sommy and Luke immediately retracted their Nexus energy and acted as if they were not just about to rip each other to pieces.
This person was of course the green-haired lady who had given Ivan and his friends a tour around the tower; they had learnt that her name was Elora from one of Luke's minions.
Elora gazed at Luke and then Sommy for a few seconds before moving her gaze away.
"No fights allowed in the lobby, go place a challenge in the arena if you feel your hands are itchy," she said before walking away.
After Elora left, a lot of other trainees quickly left the lobby while some still stayed to see if anything would play out.
"See you at the arena then," Sommy said and shot Luke a provocative wink before leaving the lobby, Luke trembled with anger and immediately walked away in heavy steps.
"Come, let's go" Ralph whispered to Ivan, everyone was slowly leaving the lobby so they left too.
Time for dinner soon reached and they all gathered at the cafeteria to get their dinner, they were served a bowl of soup, vegetables, meat, and bread.
The meal was delicious and Ivan felt satisfied after getting full with just one serving, they left for the dormitory immediately after.
While going toward their rooms, they bumped into a boy who approached them immediately after he spotted them.
"Hey, good job with what you did earlier, you're very courageous. But I'll advise you to be careful of Luke, he's a very petty person and strong too" the boy said in a hushed tone while constantly looking left and right.
"Do we know you?" Ralph asked with a frown, he felt this boy was too suspicious.
"Don't worry about it, who I am doesn't matter because I don't want to be associated with you now that you're probably on Luke's target list. You're lucky that Sommy helped you this time and Miss Elora's presence made them back away but they might not be there next time.
Just make sure to run away whenever you see him" the boy whispered back.
The frown on Ivan's and Ralph's faces deepened while Glen's face was covered in fear.
This was their first day and they already made an enemy out of a strong troublemaker?!
"Why are you so scared of Luke but Sommy isn't? Who are they?" Ivan asked after some thoughts.
The boy stared at him for a few seconds as if he was looking at an idiot, his face suddenly lit up in realization as he remembered something.
"Sorry, I forgot that you guys only came today. Let me tell you, Sommy and Luke were actually part of the previous batch that came here for training but didn't meet the passing mark so they have to repeat the training with us, There are actually a total of five of them but I heard that Sommy is the strongest of them while Luke is the opposite!" The boy informed them.
Ivan's eyes widened in surprise, Ralph frowned even harder, and Glen was terrified.
Before they could say anything else, the boy suddenly jumped like a startled kid.
" Oh shoot, he's coming. Bye, you never met me!" The boy rushed his words before running away.
Ivan and his friends stared at the fleeing boy wordlessly before turning around and spotting Luke walking over with arrogant steps, he stopped briefly to look at them before clicking his tongue in disgust and resumed walking.
"Seems like we will have to get stronger faster than we can pray for" Ralph mumbled as they kept staring at Luke.
...…..
Northern sector of San Pluto, inside an underground study with a few bookshelves. Karl sat on a wooden chair with a book in his hands, each page of the book showed a kind of monster and an explanation underneath.
On the current page was a red monster with angel wings and flaming horns, Karl was currently reading the descriptions under this image with a deadpan face.
He currently looked ten times older than he usually did, he looked like an old man who would kick the bucket at any time.
Another man walked into the study, this person was James.
"Father, they have arrived at the tower and have settled in. We encountered five assassination attacks and three kidnapping attempts, all culprits files after failing; we were unable to get their identities" James reported.
Karl raised his head from the book and stared at his son with hollow eyes.
" It's alright, as long as he's safe…in our tower" Karl voiced out.
"There's another thing, father" James spoke once more, he continued after Karl said nothing in response.
"The kid had entered conflict with Luke on his first day, Elora and Sommy helped him this time but I'm afraid of later" James showed his concern. He might be the Tower master but he couldn't just control the lives of the people in it, of course, this was him being civil.
"Don't worry too much about it, Sommy is there for a reason, let them be" Karl said before returning his gaze to the book.
James bowed and left.
...
4 am the next morning…