Chapter Nine - Broken Record part 1

Meanwhile, at an empty area of the middle sector's eastern outskirts...

The sun reflected off the beautiful crystal class of the surrounding buildings, sparkling as it passed through the few trees in the area, leaving being patches of light on the empty ground. Shouting loudly in this area was a large group, that seemed to be comprised mainly of youths. There were over five hundred of these youths divided into several lines. They stood uniform, like a group of soldiers. Many of them wore very solemn expressions, and a few even had looks of terror in their eyes.

The youths were separated by cultivation level, which also separated them by age, barring a few exceptions. The warriors at the 1 - 4 levels of the Hardbody Stage were in the first row, and these youths were mainly 10 - 13-years-old. In the middle were warriors at the fifth through the eighth levels of the Hardbody Realm. These youths were mostly 14 - 17-years-old. Finally, on the row behind them were warriors at the ninth and tenth levels of the Hardbody Realm. These youths were all 18 years and up. All except for two young people who appeared to be about 16 years old, both of whom were actually female.

In front of this group of training cadets, were two middle-aged adults. One was a tall and sturdy man with a short sleeve shirt and gym trousers that hugged his thick muscles tightly. He had a bright red crescent scar on his cheek. The other was a beautiful woman. She was wearing black tights that showed off her tall, slim, athletic legs, and marvelous curves.

"Today, we lost 57 young warriors, and 13 more are seriously wounded. Five of our advisors have also been hospitalized. Can anyone tell me the reason for this? No one? Okay then let me," said the woman in an icy cold tone, before her voice boomed, becoming even more menacing, "THERE IS AN IDIOT AMONG YOU WHO DARED TO KIDNAP THE LITTLE PRINCESS OF THE FRENZY FAMILY!"

All the warriors present had their expressions darken intensely. Either by coincidence or by design, the bright day began to slowly become cloudy, as the air started to smell of rain.

"And do you know what's worse? You failed! Not only did you fail, but you allowed her little friends to kill two of our little homies and still escape unscathed! Not only have you tarnished our reputation, and I mean entirely thrown our face into a broken dumpster in a random alley, but you allowed that madman Hur Frenzy to catch wind of this operation and go on a rampage!

"If not for Bruno and Vino fighting him directly, we would've been dealt an even more vicious blow!" The woman was breathing heavily, and her gaze swept over the leading group of youths, "If we are to become a powerful organization, what is required is discipline. If you want to be a powerful warrior, then you must work hard to discipline yourselves while still young!"

This fierce woman was none other than one of the co-leaders of the Silver Mercury Gang, Mary Silver! Standing imposingly next to her, with a stern and stony expression on his face, was her partner and lover Bruno Mercury.

"All of you are commoners, like us. Unlike the noble families, we don't have unlimited access to profound exercises, arts, or secret tomes teaching you how to cultivate battle qi! The schools have rejected you as delinquents! We were society's outcasts!" Mary Silver held her proud chest as she gazed into the eyes of these youths, pride lacing her voice, "However, now is the dawning of a new age! We are the ones currently in control of this city! Bruno is the acting mayor. Who can tell me what this means?"

"Mistress Silver is the new mayor!" yelled the gangster platoon in unison. Bruno grimaced but made no objection.

"That's right!" Mary Silver harrumphed coldly, "The powerful families are bound by the treaty for another two years. That means in these two years we absolutely must become a high-level organization or we will absolutely be annihilated! All of this is then for naught…"

"Do not be fooled! This city is not as weak as it appears on the surface! The mystics and fey hid within this city make up a minority, but they exist all the same! You know what that means!" thundered the tall Bruno Mercury, "Training, training, and then more training! To be warriors of worth, you must exercise your minds and bodies, building up true strength. The secrets of the world will never be shared with weaklings! Until you are strong, we can never gain a foothold in the middle sector. As for you,"

Bruno Mercury's gaze penetrated deep into the crowd in front of him, locking eyes with a terrified looking young man who looked age 18. This young man was pale, tall, and thin. With his red hair, he looked around 90% similar to Frankie Baldez. Bruno thrust out a palm, and an illusory palm imprint made of wind shot out tore through the crowd, startling and separating the young warriors before blasting into that young man's chest. The young man was powerless to resist this force as he got knocked flying ten meters back, like an arrow with a tail made of blood, before crashing to slide for three meters more.

Bruno spoke domineeringly, "You let your brother die just so you could try to capture a woman! You are not a man and even less a brother of ours! It is only out of consideration for your mother that I do not kill you right here where you stand, Sancho Baldez, but from this day forward, you are no longer one of us! Leave, trash!"

Most of the young warriors looked at Sancho with pity in their eyes. A few others sneered and looked delighted, while a few seemed bummed out. However, these harsh words were like blades that carved into Sancho Baldez's heart, making him cough up blood repeatedly. His internal organs were damaged, and his chest felt like it had caved in, but he was far more hurt about leaving the gang. "Boss, I…"

"LEAVE!" Bruno Mercury's voice cracked like thunder in the same instant that real thunder boomed in the skies. The previously sunny day had already become cloudy, and now it started to downpour rain. However, the authority in Bruno's voice was apparent. No one in the crowd looked at Sancho any longer, as if he never existed in the first place. There was no room for compromising in that tone at all. Sancho was officially exiled.

Sancho Baldez cast a pathetic shadow as he struggled to rise to his feet before silently departing the area. He walked for block after block with a totally deadpan expression on his face, before finally stopping in a random alley. The walls of the buildings within this alley had various dents and scrapes. A big battle had apparently taken place here recently. Sancho glanced down to the dead-end of the lane and saw a caved in dumpster lying in its own ruin. Rage suddenly burst forth from Sancho's eyes, but it was swiftly replaced by extreme melancholy.

"Frankie…sniff," several lines of tears ran down Sancho Baldez's face uncontrollably from the corner of his eyes as he reminisced about his baby brother. No one had ever handed them anything. Their mother murdered someone she shouldn't have in a high stakes burglary when Sancho was 11-years-old, leaving him alone to fend for himself and his kid brother. Frankie was merely nine years old at the time! Their dad had abandoned them long ago, after all.

Sancho scraped his way up from the gutter. He was recruited into the still-growing Silver Mercury Gang at the age of 13! His battle prowess quickly gained him a 10 man squad, a 25 man squad, and finally, he managed to obtain a 50 man squad! This year he was able to pull some strings and get his brother into Nine Sun High School! Unlike the bougie Thoth Academy, one only had to prove their strength to be admitted into Sun Academy at any grade level! Sancho had a big homie from the Silver Mercury Gang that was in the advanced class of Nine Sun high school. With this big homie's backing, Sancho's confidence was surging!

That was the reason he decided that after Silver Mercury conquered the city, he would then capture the heart of the angel of Thoth Academy, Margot Frenzy. On that fateful day, he just happened to notice Bravo carrying an unconscious Margot, one who had suddenly grown into a great beauty, and Sancho saw a perfect opportunity! He immediately organized a team, putting little Frankie in charge of clearing those brats and bringing his future conquest home!

Never would he have imagined that this decision would lead to the death of his little brother at the hands of some nobody wastrel at the second level of the Hard Body Stage.

"Kasino Riot…" Sancho Baldez gnashed his teeth furiously. "I will hunt you down and grind your bones into dust! I will drink your blood and piss it into that slut Margot's mouth! I will destroy your whole family, your entire clan! Ahh!!"

Sancho Baldez screamed like a maniac in the alley for ten minutes, but then people opened their windows, cursing and throwing things at him. Sancho was forced to pathetically retreat while covering his head.

Nonetheless, he swore he would have his revenge!

......

Back in classroom 457…

"This is preposterous!" shouted Kenneth Royale, standing up from his desk once more.

The second incense stick on the teacher's desk had already been burned halfway, and Lucky Riot had yet to exit the original pressure chamber. In fact, only about a minute or so ago did a single tiny bead of sweat appear on Lucky's forehead. At this point, Scarlet Mercury was forced to ask the dean of Thoth High, Magus Fierce Storm, to have another original pressure chamber delivered so she could finish testing her students. Magus Fierce Storm was startled because this was the third teacher to make this request today!

Scarlet felt she had to make this request. At this rate, she would be too far behind her peers! Some of whom were already done testing. How could she allow herself to be a mediocre teacher with her pedigree? Of course, these teachers who completed their testing were mainly in Thoth Middle School. Thoth Elementary School students simply couldn't use original pressure chambers, or they would definitely be crushed to death.

To the class' delight and surprise, the backup chamber was delivered by their previous dean, the dean of Thoth Middle! This dean who also happened to be the foreign student liaison.

"Students, greet our Senior Magus Fair-Weather!" said Scarlet Mercury sternly.

"Greetings honored Senior Magus," shouts were heard from the entire class as they stood and bowed or curtsied low.

Senior Magus Fair-Weather was once known as the most beautiful woman in the city! This was her title for a full twenty years until the little princess of the Divine Sun Family was born. Her outrageous appeal eclipsed all others before she had even matured, not even Senior Magus Fair-weather could compare to the now 19 years old Tapati Heru. Nonetheless, Fair-weather was still magnificent.

In spite of being considered an elder in age, her appearance was that of a youthful 30-year-old woman. She was wearing a red skintight dress that outlined her alluring curves. Under the dress, there were two straight, chocolatey, brown legs, and it could be said that they were perfect. Not only was her body attractive, but her appearance was also charming. With round eyes, red lips, and an oval face, it was like looking at a model.

Everyone in Thoth Academy adored this woman, whether it was little girls or boys, men or women.

"Hello, my dears, hello," Senior Magus Fair-weather's voice was sweet and soothing to the ear, like birds singing in the spring. She glid over the ground rather than walking. Her bearing was exceptional and filled to the brim with grace. Of course, she was still walking, but her mystical movement art just made her movements mysterious to the extreme. This left a deep impression on Margot Frenzy every time she witnessed it. This time was no exception. Her eyes shined as she watched curiously.

For some reason, she caught a trace of something this time. Her foot started tapping in an odd rhythm.

This look of complex thought did not escape Fair-Weather's notice, and a sharp glint secretly flashed in her eyes as she glanced at this princess of the Frenzy Faction. Margot's foot was tapping in a way that revealed some things. However, Magus Fair-Weather just turned to look at the fawning Scarlet Mercury and asked gently, "Is this little one the Kasino Riot whom you've allowed to rope you into a gamble?"

If anyone else had said this to her, Scarlet would exchange more than a few choice words with them. However, this was Magus Fair-Weather, and Scarlet simply didn't feel upset at all, "It is indeed him. He has quite the sharp tongue, but how much he can back it up still remains to be seen. He will embarrass himself, and he will likely escape with his tail between his legs in fear that I would actually dirty my hands on him."

"But honored teacher, didn't you previously dirty your hands and his clothes when you brutally assaulted him at the beginning of class? You even demolished my row with his face!" called out Margot Frenzy innocently. One would think that what she just spoke of had nothing to do with herself, and she was just politely reminding the teacher. Scarlet gnashed her teeth in frustration. This harlot wanted her neck!

Sure enough, when Magus Fair-Weather heard this, she frowned. A small bit of killing intent leaked from her eyes, nearly terrifying the life out of Scarlet Mercury. Magus Fair-Weather looked to a young man she was quite familiar with from the previous few years, "Marcus, come here. Tell this Magus what has happened here. Leave nothing out."

The boy named Marcus excitedly stepped forward right away with stars in his eyes. The Senior Magus Fair-Weather not only had his name committed to memory, she even called on him! This felt like the greatest accomplishment of his life. "Yes! Once Teacher Mercury arrived, she told us the basics of the…"

Marcus explained the ins and outs of the day from his first-hand perspective, and Senior Magus Fair-Weather listened patiently. Scarlet Mercury's back was covered in cold sweat because Fair-Weather's formerly sweet and amiable smile first became a frown, then became far more profound. During some parts, Fair-Weather showed shock and slight amazement with a bit of admiration. Unfortunately, by the end, Magus Fair-Weather had absolutely no expression on her face at all. This most recent change scared Scarlet the most.

"It seems I should stay to speak with this young man. Mrs. Mercury, I will need you to accompany me to the Vice-Principal's office after all the students have been tested," said Fair-Weather plainly.

"Yes, Senior Magus," said Scarlet Mercury helplessly. Well, whatever would come shall come, no? She wouldn't be fired just for slightly harming a student. Of course, the crux of this matter was that she intended to do a lot more than 'slightly harm' that student. In fact, this was truer now than previously. If she had a chance, she would strangle this little calamity to death.

"How long has he been in for, so far?" asked Fair-Weather in a relaxed tone. The whole class simultaneously looked at the previously burning incense stick. However, what incense stick was there?

"Ah!" Aubrey Graham suddenly exclaimed, covering her mouth with her delicate and dainty hands. Keeping time was her role as class leader, "Teacher, I apologize! I was dazed by the Magus Fair-Weather and forgot to light the next incense."

"I know how long it has been, but you might not believe it…" said Margot Frenzy at the back of the classroom. She didn't bother paying attention to the traditional incense stick method of telling time and used her communication device instead. Maggie had a sweet smile on her face as she looked at the seemingly cultivating Lucky. It seemed to her that he was growing more handsome again, "He's been in there for an hour and fifteen minutes, or nearly three incense sticks worth of time."