Michael frowned deeply when he finished digesting the information and memories of Mr. Klein.
All he got to know was basic information about the Sacred Desert, and that the hidden region couldn’t be accessed anymore. Mr. Klein was familiar with a few human adventurers who had been spending the last few years in the hidden region. They had almost been thrown out of the Origin Expanse after losing their territories, only to be picked up by Hiro Zan and the unknown mastermind, who nurtured them into loyal underlings.
The human adventurers in the Sacred Desert died according to their broken Lord IDs, which Mr. Klein got to know in the same period when the government’s AI sent Michael a message about Danny’s death.
Michael wasn’t a genius but he could put two and two together.
‘The adventurers were probably the humans Danny had talked about in the past. There were only a handful of human adventurers in his region, and they all ended up working for him. Well, given that they were the mastermind’s underlings, it’s probably more likely that they tricked Danny…these bastards…’ Michael cursed in his mind before various questions flashed through his mind.
‘Did they backstab Danny? But how did they die then? Did Danny kill them after getting backstabbed? But if that’s the case, Danny should have survived somehow… They shouldn’t have killed each other. There has to be something else. I’m definitely missing some pieces.’
It was annoying that Mr. Klein didn’t even know who the mastermind was. Mr. Klein obtained various benefits and rewards in exchange for working for someone he never met. That might have worked well until now, but the teacher made a mistake when he tried provoking Michael.
Underestimating Michael – his fury and poor anger management – was Mr. Klein’s biggest mistake. He shouldn’t have done that.
Looking down at Mr. Klein, who was lying on the ground near his feet, Michael bent down and punched fiercely. He wanted to kill Mr. Klein for being useless and for setting up a trap. The Zan Twins and Mr. Klein had been ordered to provoke him. They had most probably been instructed to enrage Michael until he couldn’t hold back anymore.
That worked out well – much better than they could have hoped for. Michael ended up snapping, severely injuring two fellow freshmen and a teacher. Their plan had yielded good results, too good results. The broken arms of the trio lying in puddles of their own blood were hard evidence for that.
‘To think that other people are so worried about the Zenovia family’s plans. Politics is really scary.’ Michael thought, punching Mr. Klein once more for needlessly dragging him into the scheme of other families and powerhouses.
The reason Michael had been targeted was Alice, or the Zenovia family, to be precise.
The Battle Exchange would happen soon, and the mastermind wanted to tarnish Alice’s image just before she would meet up with the Berserker race and the Warlock Centaurs. It would be best if she had to step down from her position as a representative of the freshmen, and that she would be restricted from attending the meeting of the Tritan Alliance.
She was not supposed to gain the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs respect in the Battle Exchange, otherwise, she was likely to succeed in approaching them for future business deals with the Zenovia family by establishing cordial business relations. The Zenovia family was trying to push forward and surpass other Supreme Families by becoming a core piece of the Tritan Alliance, and many families disliked that.
Speaking of Alice, Michael was not surprised to spot her running to the watchtower alongside a large team of medics a while later. The medics had already spotted the injured and rushed to the twins. They didn’t dare to approach Mr. Klein yet, because Michael was standing next to him, lightly bent over, his fists smeared in blood from punching Mr. Klein.
The presence Michael exuded was unnatural and exceedingly dangerous. Looking at Michael was enough to see the goosebumps spreading all over the medics’ bodies.
Michael straightened his upper body and moved away from Mr. Klein after kicking him in the medics’ direction.
“Make sure he won’t die,” Michael snarled before he stored his artifacts back in the War Rune.
Once Dragon Might disappeared, Michael’s killing intent dispersed as well. He was still angry about the things the twins and Mr. Klein said, but beating the shit out of them had helped him let out some steam. At the same time, Michael got to know a few pieces of information that might be useful in the future.
His gaze moved to Alice when he perceived that she was staring at him. A trace of disbelief and incomprehension could be found in her eyes as she stepped closer. Michael was also surprised to see concern in Alice’s eyes. It was rare for her to show so many emotions at once, especially since she was usually not that concerned about anyone or anything – except her family, maybe.
Kaleb and the others saw Alice as well. Seeing her look at Michael, Kaleb couldn’t help himself. He rushed over to her and began to explain the situation from a bystanders’ point of view, hoping that Alice wouldn’t be angry with Michael for causing trouble.
However, Michael didn’t feel the need to do so. He wanted to return to his room and wash up. The blood on his body and clothes made him feel disgusted. After all, it was Mr. Klein’s blood. The teacher’s sight was already enough to make him feel nauseous, forget about roaming around with his disgusting blood smeared on his body.
But before Michael could move he heard Alice’s lecturing voice, something he was very familiar with at this point.
“You didn’t do anything after you heard that? Didn’t you say that you’re Michael’s friend?! At least the idiotic couple of the brute brats recorded everything. What the hell did you do, other than watching??” Alice cursed her brother loud enough for everyone to hear.
The medics looked up in surprise. They couldn’t recall having heard Alice speaking that loudly ever. It astonished them greatly, even more so that she was lecturing her younger brother. Alice was a strict teacher, she was known as the Frozen Duchess for being emotionless, but people also knew that she pampered her brother – except when it came to training.
Seeing her like this was quite unexpected.
“What was I supposed to do then? I didn’t want to stop him after hearing what these bastards said… As for Mr. Klein, nobody likes him either way. He deserved the beating as well…” Kaleb responded meekly.
The other students behind Kaleb nodded their heads in approval. If not for Zeke holding Lincoln back, the descendant of the Piedra family would have happily joined hands with Michael to help him beat the shit out of Mr. Klein and the Zan Twins.
“Are you an id–… You did a good job by not stopping him. But that was not what I meant. You should have helped him beat the shit out of these three bastards!” Alice declared, pointing at the twins and Mr. Klein, who were all being tended to for their injuries.
The medic team were busy using the levitating stretchers to pick up the three injured, storing the stumps of the trio’s arms in technologically advanced boxes that had been invented to preserve severed limbs, and releasing special mist that ought to heal the arm, allowing perfect reattachment to the body.
But just as the medic team was about to leave, they heard what Alice said. Their eyes widened and they looked back at Alice for the second time. However, this time, Alice looked back at them, her agitated expression replaced by utter coldness.
“If they die while you’re staring at me, I will personally skin you guys alive. My student won’t take responsibility if any of you mess up,” She said in a seething tone that was barely loud enough for the medics to hear. They gulped hard and left hurriedly.
By the time Alice scared off the poor medics, Michael had calmed down a little. He stepped closer to Kaleb and Alice, and met their gazes.
“It seems like I caused you some trouble,” Michael said straightforwardly, without a trace of guilt in his eyes. “But I won’t apologize for that. Had they not chosen me as your weakest link, they would have picked on Kaleb for sure. He would have fallen into their trap even if I hadn’t.”
Alice had already suspected that something would happen soon. The other families had been too quiet in the last few weeks. It was almost as if they silently agreed to allow the Zenovia family to become an important part of the Tritan Alliance. After all, it was quite obvious that Kaleb would rock in the Battle Exchange. The Zenovia siblings were bound to gain the Berserker and Warlock Centaurs’ respect since they were both young, powerful, and talented. 𝑛𝑜𝗏𝖊𝒍𝓝𝖾xt.𝗇𝓔t
But all while Alice paid close attention to Kaleb to shield him from bullies and low level politics, she forgot to pay close attention to Michael. Under ordinary circumstances, Alice was certain that Michael would answer provocations and fight back people using petty tricks much better than Kaleb. That was something she had sensed in her first meeting with Michael at the afterparty of his and her brother’s graduation ceremony. Unfortunately, Alice totally forgot to take into consideration that Michael was not exactly in high spirits, and that Daniel Fang’s name could be used to easily provoke Michael at this point.
Alice was pretty sure that nobody would have been able to hold back as long as Michael did if they were in his position. He did well, and Alice was proud of him after she heard what he did from Kaleb.
She took a step closer to Michael and gently flicked his forehead.
“There is no reason for you to apologize in the first place. Everything will be fine,” Alice reassured him with a small smile blossoming on her face, “Trust me. I’ll handle it!”
Michael looked at her in surprise and his heart felt warm for the first time since his brother died.