Chapter 68 — The Nobles meet

While Damian and the Mafia were fighting for their lives in the bloody underworld of Tranquil City, the Noble faction of the first year had a gathering as well.

Inside a lavish room in the Core Region, crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling and expensive wine flowed freely.

Life was really completely different for people living in the same reality.

All the students studied in the same Academy. All of them were excellent talents picked from the top of the entire Federation.

And yet the Mafia faction was putting their lives on the line just to earn money and claim territory.

While the Noble faction was casually spending thousands of Federation coins on a single dinner discussion.

So how could the ideologies of the two sides not be completely conflicting?

This was just one example among countless others.

"Have we figured out how strong that guy is now that two months have passed?"

Leonard spoke to Micheal, who sat at the head of the long table like some kind of young lord presiding over his court.

All of them had gathered here tonight to discuss their plans for their batch and see if they could gain any advantages or benefits from the commoners, like their seniors had successfully done for years.

The table seated about ten people total.

Micheal Thorne at the head. Then Iris Langsten, Leonard Ashford, Ralph Eddington, Ruby Fray, Simon Diserion, Quin Xander, Fiona Sigurd, Victoria White, and lastly... Adrian Murdock.

Yes. Adrian Murdock still moved freely within the circles of the Noble faction.

Almost no one knew that he secretly kept in contact with Damian and fed him information. Not even his own sister knew about his divided loyalties.

As to what these two were actually planning together... only time would tell.

Adrian had also been the one selected to join the Student Council after Damian left, since he was the strongest student besides Micheal himself.

"I don’t know about you guys, but my subordinates couldn’t find any useful information at all. Those commoners who are part of the Mafia never let any news slip, no matter what we tried."

Instead of Micheal, it was Iris Langsten who spoke first. The fifth-ranked first year and another SS-rank talent.

Her voice carried frustration.

"And mind you, they used every means possible to get information. Threats, bribes, everything. Still nothing."

"Their lower-ranked members usually don’t even know anything worth reporting anyway."

Simon Diserion, the sixth-ranked student, spoke from her side.

He was a tall guy with black hair and eyes, though his hair was styled in aggressive spikes that made him look perpetually annoyed.

"What the hell does this Mafia even do all day? I haven’t heard anything about them other than the fact they keep an eye on every single commoner we try to recruit."

Ralph Eddington spoke with clear irritation in his voice.

He’d been ranked tenth when he first joined the Academy, but Damian had pushed him down to eleventh. His rank had fallen even further since then, now sitting at a humiliating thirteenth place.

"Tell me about it! I had to give so many extra benefits and resources just to make those commoners join me and become my subordinates."

A frustrated-looking guy with brown hair and eyes spoke up, hatred visible in his expression.

"All because of these sons of bitches in the Mafia..."

He was Quin Xander, currently the eleventh-ranked student. He was one of the few who’d been directly pressured and threatened by Mafia members when he’d tried to force a talented commoner to become his subordinate.

The experience had left him bitter.

"You’re just stingy, Quin. So what if we have to pay more resources than before? At the end of the day, the majority will still end up as our subordinates eventually."

Ruby Fray spoke casually while drinking her wine with terrible table manners.

She was ranked seventh and had distinctive dark pink hair and matching pink eyes.

She was the most carefree among them, treating everything like a game.

"Anyways, it’s only during our second year when we’ll actually need these pawns for the battlefield expeditions. We have plenty of time to build up our forces."

"Is there really no information at all, Micheal? The Student Council doesn’t have access to anything either?"

Fiona Sigurd spoke up, her tone sharp and analytical.

She was a strict-looking girl with black hair and eyes who wore glasses. Currently ranked twelfth in their year.

Adrian Murdock and Victoria White sat at the far end of the table, largely ignored by the others.

Both of them were engaged in their own quiet conversation, paying minimal attention to the political discussion happening around them.

Victoria White was the fourteenth-ranked student and the least interested in these power struggles among all of them. She was focused on the path of becoming a healer and doctor, not a politician.

She had pure white hair and matching white eyes.

Her Noble house was a subordinate family to the Murdock Imperial family, so she’d known Adrian since childhood and trusted him completely.

All of the people present at this table represented the best talents the Noble families had produced this year at Stormhold Academy.

Every single one of them was S-rank or above.

"Damian’s detailed information is not accessible through normal channels due to Gia’s direct intervention."

Micheal replied calmly, his tone absolutely confident.

He’d changed dramatically over the past two months. Grown into his role as the leader of the Noble faction.

Gone was any trace of the fear he’d once felt toward Damian after that first confrontation.

Time really did make people forget, after all.

The terror that Damian had inspired had faded significantly in the hearts of these talented students.

It wasn’t just arrogance on their part, either. Micheal was already at E+ rank and about to break through to D-minus rank any day now.

The others were also catching up rapidly to the top rankings.

"If I knew what his current rank was for certain, I would have challenged him already and taken back the top spot."

Micheal continued, cutting his expensive steak with perfect etiquette.

"But I won’t make the mistake of underestimating that guy again. If even Gia is personally hiding his detailed information, then there’s definitely something wrong with his earlier talent assessment. He can’t possibly be just a B-rank talent like the initial reports said."

Silence fell across the table as everyone adopted thoughtful, pondering expressions.

Gia was the main consciousness of Admin AI, and for it to take direct action protecting a student’s information meant that Damian was genuinely special somehow.

"But don’t worry too much about it. I’ll take action as soon as I reach D- rank and challenge him properly."

Micheal’s confidence was absolute.

"Our seniors are also pressuring us pretty hard since we haven’t been able to help them recruit subordinates from the new students like previous years. We need to show results soon."

He finished speaking and returned to eating his food with elegant, practiced movements.

Adrian, who had been mostly silent throughout the entire conversation, spoke up suddenly in a casual, almost teasing voice.

"I would strongly advise you to at least reach D+ rank before even thinking about challenging that guy, Micheal."

Everyone turned to look at him with varying expressions of surprise.

"He was already at E+ rank two months ago. And now that all this time has passed with him training constantly, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already broken through to D-minus rank or even higher."

Leonard’s face twisted with annoyance.

"You’re thinking way too highly of that commoner’s talent, Adrian. Even if he somehow has the same high-rank talent as us, it would still be incredibly difficult for him to advance that quickly without proper resources and guidance."

"Exactly," Iris agreed, her tone dismissive. "We have access to the best skills, the best weapon arts, personal instructors, expensive supplements that boost Aura growth. What does he have? Some scraps from sympathetic professors?"

She laughed lightly.

"There’s no way he’s keeping pace with us. It’s mathematically impossible."

Ralph nodded enthusiastically.

"Adrian, I think you’re being way too paranoid. That guy got lucky during the recruitment day incident. He caught Mara off guard with a cheap trick using the Aura Jamming device. That’s all it was."

"And Gareth proved it," Quin added with satisfaction in his voice. "He beat Damian down like a dog in front of everyone. Showed him his real place. I bet that commoner is still recovering from the humiliation."

Simon leaned back in his chair.

"Two months isn’t nearly enough time to close the gap between our resources and his. He’s probably still stuck at E+ rank, struggling to break through while we’re all advancing steadily."

Ruby giggled, clearly tipsy from the wine.

"Maybe he gave up entirely! Maybe that’s why nobody sees him around campus anymore. He realized he can’t compete and ran away to hide~"

Only Fiona looked thoughtful, her analytical mind working.

"Adrian does have a point about not underestimating unknowns. But statistically speaking, rapid advancement without proper resources is highly unlikely. The numbers don’t support it."

Micheal raised his hand slightly, and everyone fell silent.

"Adrian, I appreciate your caution. Really, I do. But you’re giving that guy way too much credit."

His smile was confident, bordering on smug.

"I’ve been training under my family’s personal combat instructor. I have access to SS-rank weapon arts. I consume Aura supplements worth thousands of coins daily. My progress is guaranteed and measurable."

He took a sip of wine.

"What does Damian have? Determination? Anger? Those things don’t beat systematic advantages built over generations."

Adrian said nothing, just smiled slightly and returned to his conversation with Victoria.

But inside, he was thinking about what he’d witnessed in the garden that night.

About Damian’s cold, calculating eyes. His manipulative planning. His complete lack of hesitation or moral restraint.

’You fools have no idea what kind of monster you’re dismissing.’

The dinner continued with the Noble faction’s confidence growing with each passing minute.

They truly believed the gap between them and the commoners was widening.

That their systematic advantages would inevitably lead to total dominance.

They had no idea that at this very moment, the "weak commoner" they were dismissing was standing in a blood-soaked street, surrounded by corpses, having just conquered his first territory.

They had no idea the game had already changed.

And by the time they figured it out, it would be far too late.