Maxwell was bored like never before, and for the first time since he came into this world, he understood how boring life was without the internet or other forms of entertainment. Never before had he thought about it because he was always doing something or at least trying.
With an exasperated sigh, Maxwell left the mansion on foot. It was still too early to go to the Knight Order, but that was not where he was headed.
After only half an hour of walking, Maxwell found himself in front of the animal mansion with his respective hood on his head. Once he showed his ring, the guards let him in.
Most of the animals were still in the mansion, and he couldn't blame them; life these days was very boring if you had nothing to do.
He searched through all of them until he found a guy called Rat.
"Are you Rat?" Maxwell asked.
"That depends," he replied, looking around suspiciously.
"I need some information."
"You've come to the right place." Rat's demeanor changed completely, rubbing his hands together in excitement. "What do you want to know? The Lion's fetish? Do you want to know what Mantis did last night? Trust me, you'll be surprised."
Maxwell was really tempted to know what Jacob had done last night, but he controlled himself. Rat was a rare type among animals; he was both an outcast and a little loved.
To simplify his existence, Rat was the gossipy neighbor of the club. You had to be very careful with the information you spilled around this guy, and being such a secret club, his existence was a bit marginalized. But he was also the person you could turn to when you wanted to find out something.
"I want to know if you know a guy named Griffin."
"Griffin? You know there are a lot of people with that name, right?" Rat asked as if it were obvious.
"He's a noble and is living in Brenor at the moment." Maxwell thought for a moment so as not to reveal too much information in front of Rat.
"Ahhhhh Griffin!!" Rat slammed his right fist into his left palm. "His name isn't Griffin; that's his last name."
"Do you know him?" Maxwell asked excitedly.
"He's just a little knight who's not even a ranker," Rat laughed.
"Ranker?" Maxwell asked.
"My goodness! You still don't know? Rankers are the most powerful knights in the empire and the continent. They are all given a ranking position that denotes their strength and power." Rat raised his head in an exaggerated manner. "There are only 1,000 rankers in the entire world. Each of them is capable of easily annihilating every single one of us, and based on their ranking position, they receive different privileges and rewards from the empire's royal family. Rumor has it that the top 100 rankers are monsters capable of changing a battlefield with just their presence and destroying a city in the process."
"The Knight of Temperance, The Meteor Knight, The Knight of Flowing Water, The Knight of Eternal Night, The Knight of Flowers, The Knight of Blazing Flames, The Knight of Walking Calamity, The Knight of Power, The Knight of Calm Winds, The Knight of Ice, and many more of these legends are among the top 100 rankers." Rat began to ramble excitedly. "I was once fortunate enough to see a ranker in action. Believe me, they are on a completely different level. We nobles are considered gods by the commoners, but we are really nothing compared to those monsters."
Clap clap
"Focus, dude. Stop gushing over them," Maxwell clapped his hands in front of Rat's dreamy eyes. "What can you tell me about Griffin?"
"Griffin?" Rat let out a dull laugh of contempt. "He's just a bastard who couldn't inherit any land and lives in a small mansion owned by his family. After becoming a knight, he got married and now works as a supervisor for a small subdistrict in the city."
"Okay, thanks," Maxwell said goodbye.
"You're welcome," Rat laughed. "By the way, Raccoon hasn't found a suitable girl yet."
"How do you know about that?" Maxwell asked a little nervously. He didn't like being so exposed.
"I am the Rat."
"That's not an answer."
"It doesn't matter," Rat acted very nonchalant. "This time the information was free since it's your first time here, but next time, you better come prepared with some gold or some very juicy information." With that said, he turned around and left.
Maxwell, for his part, left all thoughts of Rat behind and ran in the direction of the Griffin mansion. He didn't get too close to it; he just watched it from a distance.
After an hour of observation, Maxwell noticed that Griffin left his house very early for work, around 7 AM. His wife, on the other hand, stayed inside the house and did not seem to want to leave early.
Maxwell circled the Griffin mansion and looked for a way to sneak in. To his complete surprise, the mansion had very lax security, with only the two guards at the front door not even bothering to make rounds around the mansion.
Taking advantage of this fact, Maxwell activated his lightning speed and easily jumped the back wall of the mansion.
Without taking time to think, he started running towards the mansion at breakneck speed. When he arrived at the mansion, he flattened himself against the wall with his heart beating a thousand beats per minute with emotion. Taking a few short breaths, he jumped hard and grabbed onto the second-story window sill.
Very slowly and carefully, he peered in. Inside the finely decorated room was a beautiful girl of about 16, changing her clothes. Maxwell was very tempted to stay there and watch the spectacle, but he had come to the mansion with a purpose. He braced his feet against the wall, took a run, and pushed himself toward the adjacent window.
The jump was a little short, and he almost fell, but he managed to steady himself and look into the room. There was a still-sleeping woman who was exactly who Maxwell was looking for. Searching through his pockets, Maxwell took out a piece of paper which he slid through the window to the woman's bed.
Once this was done, Maxwell jumped to the ground, ran, and disappeared into the distance.
---
By the time Maxwell reached the Knight's Order and his classes began, Lidia woke up with a soft knock on her butler's door, bringing a tray with her breakfast in bed.
"Good morning, ma'am."
Lidia nodded indifferently and shooed the butler away. In the middle of her breakfast, she noticed a small note lying on top of her sheets. She smiled, thinking it was a note from her cheesy husband.
Once she opened the note, the first thing she saw was:
"I know what you do with your husband in that mansion. If you don't want anyone else to find out, I'll wait for you in the forest at sunset."
Lidia clenched the paper, bit her lips, and looked out the window.
"Carlos!!" she screamed furiously.
"Yes, my lady." The butler entered, a little frightened by the shout.
"Execute the mansion guards, then hire others who know how to do their job."
"But madam," the butler trembled.
"Do you want to join them?" she asked through gritted teeth.
"No, my lady," the butler shuddered in horror and ran to carry out her orders. He shook his head regretfully as he thought of the families of those two guards.
Seeing the butler leave, Lidia gritted her teeth and threw the paper furiously against the wall.
***
For his part, Maxwell, upon arriving at the order, immediately realized that something had changed around him. It was not exactly a physical change; he felt that everyone was looking at him very differently than before.
Some with respect, others with admiration, and a few with fear. In his classroom, Maxwell could clearly feel the difference. All the girls looked at him with shining eyes and smiled at him.
After his easy victory yesterday against Jacob, his demeanor had changed from indifference to admiration.
Maxwell smiled to himself; being popular wasn't a bad thing at all. In fact, it was very useful when it came to picking up girls.
Class started normally after that. Adelaida had arrived at class shortly after him, but she didn't speak to him. In fact, she couldn't even look at his face; she was avoiding him.
---
"Alright, class dismissed," Miriam gave everyone permission to leave, but asked Maxwell to wait a bit.
"Maxwell."
"Yes, professor."
"I wanted to tell you something." Miriam smiled. "When I was young, I used to sneak away to a hideout with my friends." Miriam pulled out a piece of paper with an old key on it.
"We had amazing experiences there and now I want to give it to you so you can do the same."
Maxwell held both things, a little surprised and suspicious as well.
"Why?" he asked.
"Let's just say you're a good investment and I have nothing to lose by becoming your friend."
Maxwell nodded, pocketing the key and paper. He had no problem with receiving 'investments' if they asked for his help afterward, and he would decide whether to give it or not.
"Bammmm!!"
The classroom door was suddenly kicked open and a bald Caucasian man in his 40s walked in, his face red with anger.
"Who is Maxwell?!!!!"
Maxwell and Miriam were surprised by the sudden intrusion. Maxwell remained silent; he didn't know what the man wanted him for but he wouldn't announce his identity in a stupid way.
"It's him!!" A boy peeked out from behind the man and pointed his finger at Maxwell. The man's gaze immediately fell on Maxwell. "I'll wait for you at the coliseum," he said without bothering to look at him again before walking away.
Once they were both gone, Maxwell laughed lightly.
"What idiots!!" Maxwell walked out of the room, but in the opposite direction to the man and the boy. He had no reason to follow the man's orders, nor did he have any desire to fight.
"Maxwell, where are you going?!!" Miriam screamed in panic.
"I don't know. Maybe to the cafeteria." Maxwell shrugged.
"You can't do that." Miriam held his shoulder. "That man earlier was Derek Tudor, the Immovable Knight. If you disobey one of his orders, as a student of the order, he can expel you and even put you on trial."
"Immovable knight?" Maxwell asked, a little worried.
"Yes. He is ranked 365th in the knight rankings, so he has a lot of power in the order," Miriam explained.
Maxwell gritted his teeth and began scratching his head in exasperation.
"Curses!!"
---
Maxwell didn't know how it had happened, but it seemed that his encounter with Derek Tudor had spread very quickly, and many students and even a knight had arrived at the coliseum. It was not easy to see a ranker in action, and even though they thought nothing was going to happen, they still came.
Maxwell saw Adelaida, Filip, and Andrea among the spectators. Many looked at him when he entered and began to whisper among themselves.
A little nervous about the sudden escalation of the situation, Maxwell entered the coliseum.
"Why did you make me come here?" he asked.
"You still don't realize that, right?" Derek laughed. "I've just come to teach you a little lesson."
Maxwell furrowed his eyebrows. "What's that about?"
Derek walked over to Maxwell very relaxed, and when he was two meters away from him, he suddenly accelerated, and the next second, he appeared in front of him and threw a punch that hit his stomach and sent him flying against the wall.
"Next time you want to hit someone, ask who their father is first," Derek smiled confidently, turned around, and walked out of the coliseum with the boy he had brought.
The crowd that had gathered to watch an entertaining fight shook their heads in disappointment. Adelaida wanted to get up and help Maxwell, but Andrea held her shoulder and shook her head.
Maxwell, for his part, curled up on the ground, holding his aching stomach and a small puddle of vomit on the ground. When he saw Derek leaving the coliseum as if he no longer cared about his presence, Maxwell felt hatred.
"Who cares if you're the 365th ranker? Nobody hits me and gets away with it!!" Maxwell stood up a little unsteadily and activated his lightning speed. He shot out at a mind-blowing speed and appeared in front of Derek, standing there. He could recognize the boy with Derek; it was one of the boys he had hit when he defended Filip.
A smile formed on Maxwell's face, and he punched the boy in the stomach, sending him flying against the wall as well, and appeared in front of Derek with several sparks of electricity on his body.
"An eye for an eye," he said in the middle of the coliseum where he had bathed in silence.
Derek looked at Maxwell coldly.
"Do you have any idea what you're doing, kid?"
"No." Maxwell was honest. "But I've learned in class that you won't be able to kill me even if you're a knight ranker."
"I don't need to kill you to make your life miserable."
"You may attempt it; however, you will not be the first to try, and success may elude you." Maxwell challenged him.
*****
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