The Author's POV

Chapter 139: Tryouts [1]

-Clank!

Saying goodbye to Leo and Ram, I quietly went back to my dorm. Thereafter, I sent a quick message to Smallsnake with regards to W.V. pharmaceuticals and threw my phone on my bed.

*Sigh*

As a sigh escaped from my mouth, sitting on my chair in front of a large spacious wooden desk I took out my computer and booted it up.

So far, this was what I gathered from the small conversation I had with Ram and Leo on my way back.

The current Manticore building was ruled by the stronger more influential people, and taking advantage of the fact that there is a time regressive machine, they forced and coerced weaker students into giving them their time passes.

In a way, this was pretty much how gangs operated.

…It was sort of cliche, but with this world being filled with cliches, I wasn't really surprised.

Taking a small notepad from the drawer of my desk, I immediately summarized the information that I had gotten from them.

I first started writing about the social hierarchy of this place.

From what I remember that they told me, there were five people I had to watch out for in this building.

…and according to Leo and Ram, these five people, because of how influential and powerful they were…they were known by everyone here as the 'five tyrants'

Through their connections and parents' fame, these five people ruled the Manticore building with an iron fist.

============

Gerrard Lim - W.V. Pharmaceuticals chairman son

Romelu Connel - Both his parents are A-ranked heroes, and work under platinum rank guild.

Adrea Forsetti - Son of the elder of Gladiatori, platinum rank guild.

Jessica Pandev - Daughter of one of the school instructors.

Gabriella Lemass - Daughter of branch manager of Ashton-district bank, one of the largest banks in the city.

============

As I looked through the list of names, apparently, I was quite lucky to be under Gerrard's rule.

According to what I heard from Leo and Ram, he was the nicest of the lot. Although from what I've gathered they didn't kill as Gerrard did, what they did was even worse.

…torturing you to the point that you wished that you were dead. Be it through targeting your family or anyone that was around you…as long as they didn't like you, they would immediately subject you to intense bullying and include your family in their nonsensical acts.

They were all practically psychopaths. I wasn't really sure how these people even existed as there is a clear boundary between arrogant and insane…and this was on that level.

…to be called the 'five tyrants' because of what they did was understandable. From the way they behaved and pressed people, they were nothing short of tyrants.

Worse thing, because of the connections they each had, working together they managed to secure this iron-clad rule that basically prevented any of the students present from voicing out what was happening…meaning that they had free reigns of this place.

Unless your background was something they couldn't handle, if they deemed you to be their target, you were pretty much done for.

…taking note of this information, I knew that eventually I may be implicated in this nonsense.

I had to act before that happened.

Browsing through the internet with my laptop, I looked through each of their backgrounds in more detail.

Whenever I saw something interesting I would quickly write it down on a small notepad that was next to me.

…From time to time I would also stop and ponder for a couple of seconds as the gears of my brain started moving.

Many different plans started formulating in my mind as I briefly glanced through their profiles.

…I was not having any of this.

The reason why I moved in the first place was because I thought it was going to be a better place compared to the horned sheep building…but it seems like I was too naive.

I was initially only planning on dealing with Gerrard, but after hearing what Leo and Ram had said, I changed my mind.

They all needed to be removed.

Not only because they were going to be interfering with my training and daily life, but also because it was a necessary measure I had to take in order to make Ava join my group.

Thus, with my notepad open, I took a large piece of paper and started creating a mind map with five large squares by the sides, each representing one of the five 'tyrants'

Although I didn't have enough information yet, with all that I currently knew, I started creating connections and links between each member. Though I wasn't planning on acting anytime soon, preparing myself earlier was never a bad thing.

Thus, as different plans and connections started formulating inside of my mind, I quickly got to work as I tried my best to come up with a foolproof plan that would achieve my goals whilst maximizing my gains.

Playing with the pen in my hand, I softly mumbled to myself

"Tut…tut…tut…I hope you don't blame me for doing this. After all, I am just doing this for self-defense. Blame yourselves for threatening to ruin my daily life"

…

Class A-25, Lock.

"Huuuuamm…"

Yawning out loud as I stretched my arms in the air, I wiped the tears that had formed on the corner of my eyes.

If I said I wasn't tired that would be a lie. Having spent most of yesterday going through all of the information I could find regarding the 'five tyrants', I only got around four hours of sleep.

…I was understandably tired.

-Clank!

Entering the class like usual, Donna calmly walked towards the podium of the class. Thereafter, placing all of her stuff down she took out a tablet and did the register.

"Rank 1, Kevin Voss"

"Yes, Present"

"Rank 2, Melissa Hall"

"Present"

"Rank 3, Jin Horton"

"Present"

Propping my head with my hand, as I listened to Donna, I calmly observed the classroom. Kevin and the other were sitting in their usual seats on the right side of the classroom.

It was the usual sight.

Kevin was talking with Emma, Jin was with Troy and Arnold, Melissa was going through a bunch of papers in here and, and Amanda was staring at Donna with an emotionless look on her face.

…everything was pretty much the same as it was during the first time I had come here. Although if I did have to point out a notable change, it would be that I was pretty much on speaking terms with most of them.

I was no longer a nameless nobody in their eyes. Which I didn't really mind at this point.

With everything that was going on, their connections were indeed quite useful for my future plans.

"Rank 197, Ren Dover"

"Present"

Hearing my name being called, I quickly raised my hand and responded. Staring at me for a split second, Donna looked back at the tablet and checked my name off. Thereafter, she continued doing the register

"Rank 209, Ruben Nasri…"

like that, for the better part of the first five minutes of the class, Donna did the register. Thereafter, after finishing the register, placing the tablet down, and glancing at everyone in the class, Donna spoke up as she announced.

"I wanted to inform you guys that the tryouts for the intra-academy tournament have been pushed to tomorrow morning and that all of the individuals who were previously chosen by me to be prepared…"

"huu?"

Sitting up straight as I stared at Donna from above, an audible gasp escaped from my mouth as I looked towards Donna in confusion. Soon after, a wave of whispers resounded across the classroom.

"What? why did it suddenly move?"

"What's going on?"

"Wasn't it supposed to be in another couple of weeks?"

Looking around I could see that I wasn't the only one that was caught off guard by the news as almost everyone present felt the same way.

…and their reaction was understandable.

I clearly remembered Donna saying to me last week that there was still a month left before the tryouts, how did the time suddenly go from a month to a week?

Noticing the commotion that the announcement had caused, raising her hand, Donna's eyes shone for a split second as she spoke up

"Please be quiet and let me explain"

Thereafter, as her voice traveled through the ears of everyone present, every one of the students speaking found themselves unable to move as their minds went blank for a split second.

…Soon the room was once again enveloped in silence.

Brushing her hair to the side as silence returned to the classroom, Donna casually said as she continued.

"As most of you know, the tryouts were supposed to happen in a couple of more weeks, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, we have no choice but to push it to tomorrow. This was not something that was decided on a whim, but it was something that all of the heads of the departments have agreed on during the last meeting we had during the weekend."

Pausing for a second and glancing at certain people within the class, me included, Donna continued speaking.

"So for those of you that have been selected beforehand, please meet me at the arena grounds in Section G tomorrow morning at 8:00 A.M. where you will be joined by the rest of the candidates from the other classes. Any questions?"

Stopping there, Donna looked around the class and pointed towards a student.

"Yes?"

Raising her hand up, one of the female students stood up asked

"Miss Longbern, if we participate in the tryouts, what about the register for the classes?"

Hearing the question, Donna kindly smiled.

"You don't need to worry about your attendance as the professors have already been notified in advance…"

*Sigh*

As I was listening to Donna answer questions, a sigh inevitably escaped from my mouth as I buried my face in my arms.

'You know what. Whatever.'

As I had put a time skip in this part of the novel, I had no knowledge of any of the circumstances happening right now.

…and honestly, even if this deviated from the original plotline, I wouldn't even be surprised anymore.

With everything that had happened to me these past five months, I now knew better but to not be surprised by an unforeseeable change.

Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me…well, I did get fooled more than twice, but that was beside the point.

I no longer should just think something will always go my way.

There will always be something that will go against what I predicted. It was just how life worked.

…and knowing this, I decided to just go with the flow and adapt to any of the changes that were happening around me.

I guess you could say that this was my own way of maturing.