The Author's POV

"Sorry for my tardiness"

-Swoooosh!

Opening the door and scratching the back of my head, on the other side of the door, I saw three people standing with their backs straight. As soon as I opened the door, a surge of powerful aura came crashing in, creating a powerful gush of air that reminded me of a typhoon.

Feeling the gush of air brush past me as my clothes fluttered lightly, I tried my best the keep my smile on my face as I looked at the people before me.

Taking a closer look, there were three people.

The three people looked to be in their twenties, however, considering that they were all wearing Lock uniforms, they were still not there in terms of age.

Their ranks looked to be at around the rank region, with the weakest of them being . They each wore green-colored uniforms indicating that they were in their second years and the one leading them, the strongest one of the lot, I could feel his rank being at around .

The reason I knew this was because they didn't shy away from releasing their oppressive aura.. Their intentions were obvious. Intimidate me.

...well, it was supposed to suppress me, but it really had no effect on me at the moment. Still, I pretended to grimace under their pressure.

"kkhh...who is this?"

'Observe before acting'

Seeing my reaction, keeping the pressure for a couple of seconds before removing it, the leading youth looked at me as he said in a solemn voice.

"You're the one that just moved in?"

Pretending to catch my breath, I slowly nodded my head and responded.

"huff..huff...Indeed."

As I responded to them, I tried my bests to hold back. Although the way they talked and behaved irked me, I had to hold it in until I found out who their backer was.

Chances were that they were someone I should probably not offend for the time being.

After making sure he had exerted his 'dominance' over me, the leading youth briefly glanced at his two lackeys behind him before looking back at me and saying

"My name is Noah Riley, a fellow student who resides in this building. Currently, I am gathering all of the people in this building for our usual end-of-the-week meeting. Seeing that you are here, you should also come and introduce yourself."

"Don't worry, he just wants to get to know you better and help you adapt to this place faster..." said Noah in a casual manner.

Although he claimed that he was requesting for a word, his tone didn't contain any trace of request.

It seems like something annoying was about to happen.

Overbearingly stepping into my room without asking for my permission, Noah and his lackeys glanced around the room before a smirk emerged on their faces as they saw the two people inside of the room.

Turning his attention towards them, crossing his arms, Noah snorted as he spoke

"hmph, it seems like Leo and Ram are also here, perfect, you guys must come with us too"

Silently clenching their fists beneath their clothes, Leo and Ram both smiled towards Noah and stood up.

"...Yes"

"Understood"

Nodding his head in satisfaction, Noah calmly watched as Leo and Ram left the room with their heads hung low. Thereafter, turning his attention towards me, he said

"Hurry up as we don't have much time to waste"

"...alright"

Watching from the side, I calmly observed everyone present in the room. From the way that the trio was looking down at Leo and Ram, and by how they both refused to retaliate.

Although I wanted to help them, as they were the first people I actually got along with in this academy...now was not the time.

...from the way I saw things, it seems like whoever was backing the trio was rather powerful. To give his lackeys that much confidence. From the way they spoke and talked, it looked as though they owned the place...this situation may indeed become troublesome.

After making sure Leo and Ram went out, looking at me, nudging me with his head, Noah coldly said

"Follow along"

Smiling amiably, I nodded my head.

"Sure"

"...good choice"

Seeing me nod, Noah turned around and left. Nodding his head towards his two lackeys, Noah directly turned right and walked through the long corridor that seemed to stretch to no end.

As I looked at Noah and the rest from behind, for a split second my eyes narrowed. Thereafter, an amiable smile appeared on my face as I closed the door behind me.

-Clank!

as to who the person

...

the fifteenth floor, we soon arrived in front of a large wooden door decorated with fine golden

backs and clothes, Noah and his two lackeys carefully fixed their clothes and made

slightly as they had their heads held down. Observing everyone around me, I carefully imprinted everyone's behavior in

get an idea

"Alright"

sure that they looked presentable, fixing his hair, Noah carefully knocked

-Knock! -Knock!

of seconds after Noah knocked on the door, opening the door was a young man dressed in a butler

neatly brushed to the side and wearing a nice butler outfit, a young man that looked to be in his mid-twenties

"Please come in"

"Thank you, Chris"

who seemed to be named Chris, Noah entered the room followed by his two Lackeys.

the apartment, I was immediately left speechless by the grandeur of the place. With a mixture of endearingly vibrant colors matched with the nicely decorated room, the arrangements of the furniture

color introduced by the furniture and accessories such as the paintings on the wall and the green plants placed by the

of light that warmed the colors of the room. There also seemed to be a second floor as by the

to my new room. This penthouse apartment was by far a lot better

this place made this

Noah, are these the

forward, a youth with

"Yes"

grey blazer forward lightly, the youth raised his brow

seems like we have

Noah calmly introduced

student that has

I observed the

could tell that he was from a prominent family was his clothes that seemed to

of any pimples or imperfections. The most notable feature of the youth were his pair

him, the youth was

for a couple of seconds, smiling, the

Noah nod, the youth smiled

the new

his hand forward, with a friendly smile on his face, the youth looked

Manticore building, my name is Gerrard Lim, and I am currently in

hand towards him, I shook

meet you. My name

"Haha, great, great"

soon noticed that something wasn't right as a cold glint flashed past Gerrard's eyes as

"kh...."

he was doing and put on the greatest performance I could

-Thud

ground, I 'fearfully' looked at Gerrard from the ground. My hand shook

"Kh..what's going on?"

my eyes, letting go

there is no

along with the others laughed out

what a

"hahah, that was funny"

up, nodding my head towards Gerrard, I thanked him

"T-thank you..."

... rank

brief moment that he exerted his strength, I noticed that his strength was rank. Just

that didn't matter. All I needed was a couple of seconds and

that prank of mine. Here, why don't you

students standing on the second floor of the apartment. It also seems that Leo and Ram who were with me moments

"Y-es"

my head, I pretended to still be shaking from the incident and slowly walked upstairs. Slowly walking upstairs, from the corner of my eyes, I managed to see Gerrard

from the distance, the corner of my

you wait, I'll pull an even better prank

up the stairs, I joined the rest of the students that were gathered in the room. I soon spotted Ram and Leo

found them

saw what happened are you

"Are you hurt"

I shook my

nothing to be worried about.

I wasn't lying.

that much. As I thought back at Gerrard who was still downstairs talking to his lackeys,

this Gerrard Lim guy...why is everyone so fearful around him? Isn't he just rank? Although that is

was about to finish my sentence, to my surprise, I found both Leo and Ram putting their hands on my mouth as they tried to stop me

do you want to

couldn't help but look at them in confusion as

"...what's wrong?"

make sure no one was paying attention to them,