When Leo had gotten to the academy, he had expected to deal with arrogant nobles, overly strict teachers, and probably a few idiots trying to prove themselves through pointless fights.

What he had not expected was organized gangs fighting over influence like miniature kingdoms inside the school itself.

The atmosphere around the training intersection had already turned heavy long before Lucien stepped forward. Students surrounded the area from every direction, some standing on the upper walkways just to get a better view while others whispered excitedly amongst themselves. Nobody looked surprised this was happening. If anything, most looked entertained.

Brak had already been carried away toward the medical wing alongside the other injured students. The remaining Capricorn Rebels stood behind Lucien with ugly expressions, though none of them dared to move recklessly.

The Crimson Cross members, on the other hand, looked completely relaxed.

Leo studied them carefully.

Most wore modified academy uniforms decorated with crimson belts, crosses, chains, or stitched markings. Some carried weapons openly despite being inside academy grounds. Others simply radiated the type of confidence that came from already knowing weaker students feared them.

At the center stood the purple-haired boy.

His long hair swayed slightly beneath the artificial wind drifting through the open training sector. The eyepatch over his left eye made his grin somehow look even more unsettling. Unlike Brak’s rough intimidating presence or Lucien’s calm indifference, this boy looked genuinely insane.

The purple-haired boy smiled wider after seeing Lucien.

His visible eye narrowed playfully while his fingers slowly tapped against the hilt of the curved sword hanging by his waist.

’Who keeps Vestige with them. You could just summon it dumbass.’

Lucien simply stared at him calmly.

"You beat Brak badly," Lucien finally said.

The purple-haired boy tilted his head slightly. "Mhmnnn. I diddd."

Then his grin widened.

"But he wassss disappointinggg."

Yin Li nearly exploded in rage after hearing that. "You sneaky bastard—!"

Before he could continue, Leo immediately held him back.

’Don’t die yet. I still need your cooking skills.’ he said inwardly.

"Relax! Or else I’ll reduce the whole fat in your body!"

"I’ll break your own bones too!" Yin Li yelled.

The purple-haired boy laughed happily as if Yin Li’s threat genuinely amused him.

Leo glanced between them before finally lowering his voice toward Yin Li.

"So who’s this idiot?"

Yin Li calmed himself and spoke."Keep your voice down!"

Leo blinked. "What? He talks like a dying flute and you just literally yelled at him out of nowhere."

"He can’t do anything to me, trust me.He speaks that way because he enjoys annoying people!" Yin Li whispered aggressively. "And that’s Caius Draken!"

Leo turned back toward the purple-haired boy.

"He was in Capricorn Rank with us last year. Same class too. An Aquarius now. Second year."

Leo frowned slightly. "Then why’s he in a Great Gang already?"

Yin Li scratched his cheek nervously. "Because he’s a monster."

"He joined the Crimson Cross immediately after resuming last year," Yin Li continued. "At that time, Crimson Cross wasn’t even considered one of the Five Great Gangs yet. They were strong but not strong enough to compete with the top factions."

"But then Caius started causing problems."

Leo raised an eyebrow slightly. "What kind of problems?"

"The violent kind." Yin Li sighed deeply.

"He challenged executives from stronger gangs, started conflicts everywhere, destroyed arenas during ranked matches, and somehow still kept winning. The seniors started noticing him almost immediately."

Leo looked toward the purple-haired boy again.

"Within months," Yin Li continued, "Crimson Cross rose into the Five Great Gangs. Most people say Caius was the main reason."

Ahead of them, Caius unsheathed the sword and placed it across his shoulder while staring at Lucien with visible amusement.

"And then?" Leo asked quietly.

Yin Li hesitated briefly before answering.

"He became obsessed with Lucien."

"...Obsessed?"

"He wanted Lucien to join Crimson Cross. Said someone with Lucien’s talent shouldn’t waste time leading weak Capricorns."

Leo almost laughed at that. ’Weak Capricorns.’

Lucien alone already felt dangerous enough and Leo was probably one of the strongest Capricorn currently.

"Brak was the one who wanted to create a gang and thus became a low class bully who harassed his rank and forced them to join him and that’s how I became one of his closest friends." Yin Li continued already getting immersed in the story he was narrating.

"But when he tried it with Lucien, Lucien beat him to a pulp. Caius then tried all he could to bring Lucien to his gang and present him as a member of his own faction to the actual leaders of the Crimson Cross."

"So what was Lucien response?"

"No, obviously." Yin Li said with confidence."After that, things got worse."

He glanced toward the blood stains still visible on the ground from earlier.

"Caius eventually realized the easiest way to force Lucien into reacting was through Brak."

Leo understood immediately. "He used Brak as bait."

Yin Li nodded bitterly. "Brak’s temper makes him easy to provoke. Every time Caius wanted to drag Lucien into conflict, he’d beat Brak up first."

"That’s stupidly effective."

"Exactly."

Leo finally understood why Brak respected Lucien so much despite their personalities being completely different. Lucien protected his people.

Even now, Lucien stood alone before nearly twenty Crimson Cross members without the slightest hesitation.

Yin Li suddenly sighed.

"The worst part is... Lucien could’ve ranked up already."

Leo glanced at him.

"What stopped him?"

"The gang wars."

Leo frowned.

Yin Li lowered his voice further.

"Last year’s exams got sabotaged after several Great Gangs targeted the Rebels together. By the time the exams ended, Lucien, Brak, and I had all failed the promotion evaluations."

Leo blinked slowly. "So you all repeated the year."

Yin Li nodded awkwardly."Pretty much."

Honestly, that sounded unbelievably petty. Then again, this academy already looked like the type of place where students would casually start civil wars over pride.

"So what happens if students dies in the process of gang shenanigans?"

Leo would have expected Yin Li to flinch, but the chubby boy didn’t.

"They die every year," Yin Li said quietly. "At least Royals don’t die that much since the academy personally protects them, but the others? They’re free to die whenever they want."

His expression darkened slightly.

"Of course, those responsible are punished heavily. If they’re above eighteen, they’re usually sent to Primoria Prison and charged for murder."

He glanced around the academy halls.

"Still... this place was built to teach us how to fight for survival and power. Aura isn’t really all that cool when you think about it. So that’s why most students try all their best to only focus on academics."

Leo almost fainted. No one told him this!

Ahead of them, Caius slowly spun the black sword in his hand before planting its tip against the ground.

"You know," he said lazily, "I was beginning to think you no longer cared about your little followers."

Lucien stood calmly with both hands still inside his pockets. "You talk too much."

Caius laughed immediately. "And you still talk too little."

The surrounding students instinctively stepped farther backward as Aura slowly began spreading across the training intersection.

Leo narrowed his eyes slightly. Unlike Brak’s straightforward aggression, Lucien’s Aura felt... strange.

Caius suddenly disappeared. He moved so quickly that Leo almost lost track of him completely. The black sword sliced downward toward Lucien’s shoulder with terrifying speed, sharp enough to split apart the stone floor beneath if it landed properly.

Lucien tilted sideways calmly and the blade missed him by inches. Without wasting movement, Lucien stepped inward and drove his fist directly toward Caius’ ribs.

The attack looked brutally simple yet the force behind it distorted the air enough for nearby students to visibly flinch.

Caius blocked with the flat side of his sword but still slid backward several meters across the ground.

Leo blinked slowly. ’That punch looked painful.’

Caius grinned wider instead of looking annoyed.

"There it is."