Josh contentedly left the Amelia girl behind.

Was Josh simply oblivious to the way she had looked at him back there? Of course, he had noticed! He could have clearly tried manipulating her. He could have easily sung her sweet lies and convinced her to give him lots of money. He could have bedded her easily too.

He perfectly knew how to do so should the need arose. Even now, he still was confident in making her fall for him if he so desired. Especially now that she wouldn't forget him no matter what, not that it had been his intention.

Now, would her father obediently pay the 100 000 credits? It was possible but doubtful. After all, having the money was one thing, but willingly bleeding out wealth was another. Every successful businessman had a sense for money and a certain pride toward it, well in general.

What were the chances that he would default on the payment? Actually really high. Was Josh simply naively hoping for the best? Oh, he was hoping alright. He was hoping that he didn't get the transfer haha!

If there was one thing that Josh knew it was how to gain, control, and hold power. He had never personally cared about it at all in the truest sense. It had never been his goal in itself. Rather, he had always considered the exercise a tool.

Back on Earth, many had seen annihilating the Dragon Triad as a move that included only violence. Oh, no. There had been a whole political game aspect to it. The triad had been the number one because it controlled numerous other gangs underneath them.

Doing the actual deed had been relatively easy. After all, for Josh killing 50 elite crime bosses was as easy as taking a walk. No, the hard part had been making all the preparations necessary to lead up to that single moment.

Josh had needed to make sure all their allies betrayed them. Their loyal underlings had even cooperated with him for the purging operation. So, yes Josh knew a bit about power, or a lot depending on the perspective.

An aspect of power was strength itself, no matter its source. It could be one being superhuman, it could be having a loyal trained army, it could be the wealth to hire mercenaries, it didn't matter what it was.

Another aspect was a balancing game. One internal and one external. For the internal one, Josh knew perfectly how to handle it and mess up someone else's, but that was beside the point.

In this particular case, the focus would be on external balancing. One's organization had to cohabit with other powers. Some were allies, some were neutral and some were enemies.

Now, the reason why Amelia's father had so easily agreed to the deal was either that he didn't care about losing that sum or that he didn't think he'd actually have to hold his end of the bargain.

Why was that? Well, he probably hadn't realized that the colossal Draconic was behind Josh, his source of power. To be honest, Josh himself wasn't exactly sure how powerful the man was either, but he had seen the elite guards assigned to Amelia. Together they could probably fight even Dario himself.

Now, what good did an empty promise do for Josh? Oh, lots of good! There was a simple concept called "Legitimacy". A wonderful concept that allowed one to accomplish daylight robbery without any of the major powers intervening.

A "justified reason" combined with a big fist would create miracles. The longer the man didn't pay Josh and the better it actually was. There was a thing called "interest". So what if they hadn't actually agreed to any?

On one hand, it wasn't a written contract either and would be hard to enforce, on the other hand, Josh just wanted an excuse haha.

So, yeah. Josh was contentedly rushing back to school. Before long he joined his class with the Amelia girl showing up a tad later and sending him dark and heavy glares. He simply ignored her, wondering if she'd tire her eyes from it. Probably.

Then they all headed to the training facility downstairs. It had two main parts. The first one was a musculature section that seemingly had various technological machines to test and improve's one strength.

Apparently, the whole training to get stronger was there, but pretty much only for the beginners. The thing was that Climbers gained stats way faster from leveling and using stat points thus making the whole training part meaningless.

Josh couldn't help but think it was a shame but he kinda had to agree with that analysis. After all, he himself had already become way stronger than he used to be on Earth. At least 10 times.

The second part hosted some VR machines. That is what they were really here for. They all hopped inside one. Then started a LAN party! Well, except that there was no Duoritos, Mountainy Dew, or some guy taped on the ceiling….

Josh couldn't help but wonder how much he could learn from that. As soon as he entered he was faced with a wide lush green field. Josh could feel his body being heavier, slower, and weaker than usual. It felt bad, real bad, not that Josh had trouble adapting.

This game apparently simulated a normal level 1 everyday individual at the moment of entering the Tower for the first time. It would all boil down to true fighting skills.

Soon a panel appeared in front of Josh asking him to pick his weapon. Josh selected a whip. Why? Because he could haha. Then a few minutes later appeared his first enemy in a flash of light green light.

It was an excited young man. "I'll be the greatest ranker there is! You will be my stepping stone toward that goal!"

Sure kid, sure. Not that Josh was much older in any case. The combat was extremely epic! Josh used his special move called Overbearing Heavenly Anti-Wannabe-Ranker Kick to the Face! That is how the fight ended, yes that easily.

Josh had to agree that the VR application was pretty realistic. It gave the same feeling as crushing a real skull with a kick. Josh was well placed to know.

After that, came a few more challenges that all ended with one move from Josh. Of course, he would shout his attacks like any proper protagonist. For instance:

"Majestic Demonic Crushing of the Nuts!" The face of the opponent was priceless.

"Being Awesome Enough to Render the Opponent Speechless!" The whip around the opponent's neck helped a tiny bit.

"Casually Borrowing a Sword and Plunging it Deep!" Borrowed since it was given back right away.

"Right Handed Backside Face-slapping of Destruction!" As specific as confusing for the opponent.

Josh started to have lots of fun. Beating kids turned out to be pretty darn entertaining, especially every time they shouted a cheesy line before getting completely demolished!

Before long came an emergency request to stop the challenges. There were apparently concerns about students exiting the VR capsules with possible PTSD. When they saw Josh, each of them started shaking in their boots.

Actually, one even fainted. Josh couldn't understand it. Were these guys seriously training to become rankers? It was fine if they weren't but otherwise…That is when an angry teacher started blaming him. He wouldn't be able to participate in the VR thing either.

It couldn't be helped. How was Josh supposed to guess that they were that mentally frail? It hadn't even happened in the real world, it had only been a game.

Well, sure the pain being realistic made it feel real, but it was still all fake. Anyway, Josh wouldn't dwell on the issue. Since he had nothing to do there anymore, Josh simply left the school. Thus ended his first day, with being kicked out haha.

Josh instantly went back to Draconic. There he awaited for Dario that was busy for a little while. As he waited, Josh kept thinking about his future. What his goals should be, what his cards were too. That is when a man brought him out of his reverie.

"Hey, there. How are you doing, Josh? Remember me? Peaceful Joe! What are you pondering about? World domination? Haha"

The man was tall, lean, refined, and was wearing a classy red suit. His red hair and red shoes made him red from head to toe. It looked pretty stylish actually.

"World domination, you say? Actually, yes…"

That is when Dario finally arrived. Seeing Joe's dumbstruck expression he couldn't help but ask…

"What did I miss?"

"…." 0_0