The next morning, Nolan stood in front of the gates of a public school. He looked at the two-story building ahead of him—a wide structure stretching from left to right with peeling, neglected walls covered in graffiti. The gate was half-attached, held together by duct tape and a prayer. The front yard was filthy, littered with dry leaves and trash; it looked more like a hideout for thugs and gangsters than a school.
Wearing a black jacket over a black T-shirt, a gold chain, jeans, and sneakers, Nolan pulled his hoodie up over his head. He walked in with his hands shoved into his jacket pockets and his backpack slung over one shoulder. Glancing to his right, he saw a crowd of students "hanging out" by the edge of the yard, looking completely indifferent to their surroundings. A group of boys sat on the steps leading into the building like a pack of predators watching the other students enter—looking exactly like guards waiting to shake down their next target for cash.
Unfazed, Nolan kept walking. His expression was calm and hardened; nothing about this place intimidated him. He started up the steps when suddenly, "clap," someone slapped a hand on his shoulder from behind. Nolan turned to see a guy slightly taller than him with long black hair tied back in a ponytail. He wore glasses and had a wide, muscular build—twice the size of Nolan and clearly someone who relied on his brawn to survive. He was smiling as he gripped Nolan's shoulder.
"Yo, dude, let's head in together," the guy greeted him.
"Rico... you just getting here too? Usually you're here way before me," Nolan replied casually.
"I overslept—the usual, had some stuff to take care of last night," Rico replied, quickly moving to walk alongside Nolan.
"Hah... classic. Let's go, get inside," Nolan said.
The two of them walked into the school building, completely ignoring the crowd loitering by the entrance and sitting on the stairs. The group clearly watched them, their eyes following the pair until they disappeared inside, but they didn't say a word. Rico was Nolan's classmate and a fellow gladiator who hoped to make it big one day. He was the one who had introduced Nolan to the coliseum a year ago, right after Heidi was hauled away and Nolan moved into his apartment.
The inside of the school building was even worse than the outside. The pillars were covered in graffiti and showed cracks that had been lazily plastered over. Groups of students sat indifferently in the hallways—some studying, others just loitering or watching whoever passed by. In the center was a basketball court enclosed in chain-link fencing like a cage, surrounded by the square-shaped school building; plenty of students were out there playing.
As they walked past a few girls who were dressed more like streetwalkers than students, the girls moved out of the way for Nolan and Rico. For some reason, they either feared them or just didn't want to get involved, since they clearly knew one of them were gladiator—the kind of guys who, if they snapped, could easily kill someone since they were already of age. After they passed by those girls, Rico seemed to remember something,
"Oh, that reminds me. I heard from Mr. Cole that a transfer student is joining our class today," Rico said.
"Hoo... seriously? Someone actually wants to enroll in a cattle pen like this? Honestly, a cattle pen is probably in better shape than this school. I should apologize to cows everywhere for the comparison," Nolan replied sarcastically.
"Hahaha... your mouth is as sharp and biting as ever. But yeah, you're right. If I had the choice, I'd obviously rather be at an elite private school than here," Rico replied.
"Those schools are for the upper class and people with real families. That's not us," Nolan said.
"Yep... you're right. Besides, if I went there, I'd just feel awkward since everyone is probably a genius," Rico added casually.
"Wait, when did you even see Mr. Cole?" Nolan asked.
"Yesterday. Ran into him while I was watching your match at the coliseum. Though, as far as everyone else knows, I'm the only one who knows the guy named Grey is actually you," Rico answered.
"Oh... I see," Nolan replied casually.
"But seriously, you're insane... taking down Tigra just like that? He was a two-time champ and the most promising newcomer around, everyone was sure he was going to be huge someday," Rico said, glancing at Nolan beside him.
"Ah... it was nothing... you know why I'm doing this," Nolan replied.
"Yeah... win the tournament, then buy your sister back," Rico said, his expression turning serious. He knew exactly what Nolan was going through, having been best friends since last year.
"Yeah... that's the reason. That's all there is to it," Nolan replied shortly, his face dead serious.
The two of them fell silent and kept walking. Rico kept his hand on Nolan's shoulder, giving it a light squeeze—a silent gesture of encouragement, as if saying "you're going to make it" without needing to utter a single word. When they reached the classroom, a few people were already inside, grabbing their own chairs and desks.
In this school, students picked out whatever furniture was available at the back of the room and dragged it to wherever they felt like sitting. There were no seating charts, no assigned rows, and no rules about who sat next to who; everything was left up to the students and their own whims.
Nolan and Rico grabbed their desks and chairs, hauling them over to the window in the back, where they sat down side-by-side in the last row. Nolan started pulling books out of his bag and tossing them onto the graffiti-covered desk in front of him. He pulled back his hoodie and leaned back casually in his chair, looking at his smartphone.
A moment later, the morning bell rang, and the room suddenly filled with noise as their classmates swarmed in, dragging their desks and chairs to their chosen spots before the teacher showed up. Once everyone was seated—though the room looked like a mess with no clear rows—a male teacher who looked more like a soldier than an instructor walked inside, accompanied by a spherical drone shaped like an iron ball with a large camera lens floating right beside him.
Behind the teacher, a stunning brunette appeared. She looked undeniably striking, wearing a simple white shirt with the top two buttons undone under a black jacket, paired with black jeans and sneakers. It was obvious she had just arrived from the countryside. She stepped inside and stood at the front of the room right next to the teacher, immediately becoming the center of attention.
The girls in the class glared at her, clearly already plotting to bully her who was so obviously more beautiful than them, while the boys practically drooled over her look. Seeing this, Rico nudged Nolan—who was busy with his smartphone—with his elbow.
"Dude, the transfer is a girl... she's gorgeous and curvy, look at the front," Rico whispered.
Nolan lifted his head to look, and his eyes went wide the moment he saw the girl standing at the head of the class.
"Wait... her again?" Nolan asked, his voice slipping out unintentionally.
"What... you know her?" Rico asked, shocked.
"Go ahead, introduce yourself," the teacher said, glancing at the girl with a flat, expressionless face.
The girl nodded, then took a single step forward and looked over all her new classmates.
"Hi everyone, my name is Nina. I just moved here from a village in the Red Tower region. It's nice to meet you all," Nina said, introducing herself with a friendly yet firm voice and a faint smile. Even so, her red eyes scanned the classroom with a sharp intensity until they finally landed on Nolan, and their eyes met.