Clearing his throat, Edwin shrugged off his shock. "Isolde, follow me to the headmaster's office. The rest of you know that your marks are being calculated, so keep trying to be better. Your total points will determine where you start in the society."

Godfrey sighed. So much for trying his best, it still slipped out of his grasp. This was an opportunity to get a dungeon core that could bring him really close to opening the third door.

Casual green gate dungeons didn't have such powerful cores, and those that did might not be easy to clear.

Isolde left a folded paper on his table as she left. It made him raise an eyebrow. She didn't even look back to give him a sign, which puzzled him further.

When he opened the paper, boldly written on it was: "It's yours, but you owe me a boba tea."

Seeing it made Godfrey freeze. His heart pounded much louder than before, spreading warmth through his system as a smile naturally bloomed on his face.

He was so focused on his competition to get the core that he didn't take a step back to think things through. It might have always been his to begin with.

At the corridor, Edwin glanced at Isolde. "Such a core has no effect on either your summon or you whatsoever."

"So?" Isolde calmly lifted an eyebrow.

"Meaning you planned it for your crush," Edwin said. Those words were like a hammer, slamming off Isolde's collected and aloof demeanor and replacing it with the flushed face of a teenager.

"What?! Godfrey's just a friend!"

"You don't have to yell at me. I can hear you just fine from this distance, even if you whisper," Edwin replied, staring at her knowingly. It made the pink hue on her cheeks brighten as she blushed hard.

***

Back at the classroom, everyone went about their usual, talking in groups, mostly about the test. Godfrey leaned his head on his table like he was asleep, but his eyes were on the paper.

All of a sudden, he heard everyone moving about in a hurry as silence enveloped the room, a familiar sound when the teacher stepped in.

But they had nothing for the rest of the day. As he lifted his head, his eyes narrowed at the sight of three upperclassmen.

All three of them were identical, with red hair at the root and the rest of it jet black. He had never seen them before.

They had black spiked collars around their necks with name tags: Ulric, Wulfric, and Leofric.

"The King's Hounds… they're back!" someone behind Godfrey shuddered.

"Just why would Nexus Club's Number Six, Number Seven, and Number Eight be here?" Lucy barely finished her whisper when she snapped her head toward Godfrey with wide eyes.

These triplets were known as the King's Hounds for a reason. They did his bidding and made sure his fear remained. Right from Jon's freshmen year, these triplets had been his vicious dogs.

He didn't have to give the order, they just knew how to take out the problem, and their methods were rather cruel.

"I'm looking for a Godfrey Daniels." Ulric, the eldest, stepped on the first desk with a smile. "Where is he? Where is the one who dared to challenge the king? We have sniffed out his rebellion and that of the rest of you."

Ulric's cold statement made many perspire, some lowering their heads.

The triplets had been on a mission for well over a month. They had left since the second week of resumption and returned primarily because of the test.

No one could ascertain their current strength.

Wulfric, the middle one, locked eyes with Godfrey. "He has golden hair and blue eyes. That's you, isn't it?"

Godfrey rose to his feet with a frown. He wasn't going to lie to himself, the mana radiating off these triplets was crushing.

"Meet us outside," Ulric said.

"Why should I do that?" Godfrey replied.

The last, Leofric, blurred and stomped Godfrey's table, shattering it into dust. It wasn't brute force that destroyed the table so thoroughly, but flames came with it.

Crimson flames so hidden and well controlled that they only ate away the wood and vanished before anyone could spot them.

Leofric leaned close to Godfrey. "Move, or we will make you move."

Godfrey wasn't a fool. He knew he couldn't win against them outside, and of course, he still couldn't win inside, but since they weren't attacking him outright, something kept them in check, and he would like to use that leverage.

The triplets each had a 6.9 summon and a special skill that allowed their summons to fuse to become one formidable 7.6 high-tier, making them strong enough to rival the higher-numbered members of Nexus Club.

Though Godfrey had little clue of this, the mana radiating from them was a very loud warning.

Leofric's hands transformed into large claws with even longer talons. Half his forearm became pitch black, but from his fingers to his claws was blood red.

The air simmered, wavering due to the heat. Should the flames hiding within that arm burst forth, the damage would be devastating.

"Do you know you can't ever remove the scar of hellfire?" Leofric brandished his claws. "Once it touches you, you're scarred for the rest of your life. Now, I promise not to use my claws if you step out."

Ulric chuckled. "He's already afraid. That's good. Keep your tail tucked between your legs and obediently bow your head to the king, and you might never see us again." He turned to the rest.

"The same applies to the rest of you. Manhattan has one king. There is no shadow king, and there will definitely be no other king except Jon." Ulric glanced at Godfrey.

Leofric shot Godfrey one last glance and walked off with his brothers. "I can't believe a kitten dared bare his fangs against Jon, and it's all because we've been gone too long."

Wulfric, the second, smiled softly. "Coming here was a waste of time. For all we've heard, the blonde is all bark and no bite."

....

A/N: Finally! Back to two chapters!!

We're still going strong! Over 200 powerstones!! I recall just a week or two back when it took us an entire week to get such amount of powerstones!!

It's been a rapid and beautiful growth! Thank You! And I appreciate the gifters too!!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.