"Came on foot?" An eighteen-year-old leaning against the wall of a building with other boys and girls the same age as him crackled, smoke curling from his lips.

What stunned Godfrey the most was that they were smoking! The faint glow of their cigarettes flickered like dying embers against the evening air.

"He's quite handsome. Come here, which school are you f—?!" One of the girls paused mid-sentence as Godfrey shot them a glare, his eyes gleaming subtly with mana.

The aura he projected made the hairs on their skin rise. Godfrey walked past them without another glance, his calm yet imposing stride silencing the laughter that had filled the alleyway.

The moment he entered the main venue, disbelief and grave shock covered his face.

It was like the courtyard of a mansion, with a massive, sparkling blue pool at the center. The courtyard sloped downward with stone stairs built into its sides, leading up to a large terrace.

Students filled the entire area, some laughing, others dancing, but what caught his attention was the number of them drinking and smoking openly.

There was a wide dance floor before the mansion, bathed in dark lighting. Even so, Godfrey could make out the silhouettes of those moving there, the elites of different schools.

He couldn't believe these were students.

"Hey! Pretty boy, come join us!" A female voice called out, drawing his gaze to a group seated around a low table.

In their midst was a wheel covered in small glass cups filled with colorful alcohol. Each time they spun it, laughter erupted as someone was chosen to drink and answer either truth or dare.

"I don't drink alcohol," he replied coolly, walking past as they booed and called him a liar. Rubbing his temples, Godfrey ground his teeth.

'I'll just speak to Jon and leave.'

He went straight to a bar, ordered a fruit drink, and sat quietly. Turning the chair slightly, he gazed at the mansion some distance away. He knew Jon was in there somewhere.

On the second floor, seated near the massive floor-to-ceiling window, were two girls who drew the admiration and respect of everyone in the room.

One was Seraphina, the pink-haired Queen of Polaris, and the other was Elizabeth, Queen of Blue Rose High, another private school, though lower in ranking than Polaris.

Elizabeth's night-black hair and sculpted face made her a rival in both beauty and presence to Seraphina. They chatted casually, but when Elizabeth's eyes drifted downward, she caught sight of a golden-haired boy seating by the bar.

He stood out like a diamond among gold.

"Do you know who that is? I don't think I've seen him before," Elizabeth asked, intrigued.

The moment Seraphina looked, her eyes widened. "That's Godfrey."

"Godfrey? You know him?" Elizabeth blinked in surprise.

Seraphina tried to remain composed but found herself glancing at him again and again. "He's the sophomore at Manhattan, the one I told you about. The one who killed two sandworms."

Elizabeth's lips parted in astonishment. "He's that Godfrey?!" She took another long look at him. "Then what's he doing down there with—"

A scream cut her words short as a girl fell from the dance floor into the pool with a loud splash.

"You've got to be kidding me! I was dancing with a 3.1 low-tier trash all this time!" Lucian sneered, brushing his long hair back, his pinky grazing his eyepatch.

Laughter erupted throughout the place.

"She's a Manhattan student, right?" A guy beside Godfrey asked, chuckling.

"Tsk! The standards of Manhattan have dropped. Why would they even allow such a girl to come here?" Another boy spat in disdain.

Godfrey shook his head when he realized the girl was Lucy. She emerged from the pool, gasping for air, but before she could climb out, Lucian stepped on her head, pressing her down. Hard lines appeared on his forehead.

"Who asked you to come out?" he spat, shoving her back underwater with his foot.

Edric appeared with Rosalind, their fingers intertwined. After Lucian whispered something to him, Edric extended a foot toward the pool. Ice spread from the tip of his shoe, sealing the entire surface in seconds, trapping Lucy beneath.

"Did he just—?!" The boy beside Godfrey couldn't finish as laughter and nervous chuckles broke out. Some of Lucy's classmates hid their faces, too afraid to speak up.

"She seems comfortable," Rosalind muttered, crouching near the edge of the pool. Lucy's muffled struggles beneath the ice sent faint ripples across the surface.

"It's probably because her summon's a land crab," Siegfried added mockingly. Bearing a grudge since Lucy rejected him for Lucian.

"Let's make a game out of it. How long do you think she'll last? Eight minutes? Ten? Fifteen?" Rosalind said loudly enough for others to hear, and soon the boys beside Godfrey began placing bets, laughing like it was entertainment.

They counted out loud, minute after minute, until ten minutes passed. Lucy's hands pounded weakly against the ice, her face flushed red as she ran out of air. Her eyes pleaded for mercy.

Lucian crouched, smirking. "You can do better. You're a crab. Think like a crab."

"If you had actually paid attention in any of your classes," Godfrey's voice cut sharply across the noise, "you'd know that crabs can't think. They react."

Lucian's smirk vanished. His head lifted, and when his eyes met Godfrey's, he froze. He stumbled a step back, shock rippling through him. Rosalind's laughter died instantly, fear glimmering in her eyes.

The students nearby turned toward Godfrey, confusion in their faces. "Who's he?" they whispered among themselves as he approached the pool.

"Sit down!" Edric barked, fury burning in his gaze.

Godfrey scowled, lifted his right foot, and slammed it down. The ice around his feet exploded, and the rest cracked apart, shattering into fragments. Water burst upward as Lucy broke the surface, clinging to the pool's edge and coughing violently.

"Do you know who you're going against?" Edric growled, stepping forward. "I'll break you before Isolde returns!"

Godfrey clapped once, his expression unreadable. "I don't curse much, but you're a foolish coward, someone who'd rather watch a Manhattan student, an underclassman, be humiliated so badly just because of what summon she got."

"Does it hurt you because you're a humanoid summoner?" Edric grinned, his voice dripping with mockery as the crowd reacted.

"I actually thought the Manhattan King had a different perspective," Godfrey said, his tone calm but cutting, "but he's the same as the rest of you, standing there, watching someone who looks up to him get frozen underwater by his so-called hand."

His gaze lifted to the rooftop of the mansion, where Jon stood beside a few others. Godfrey had noticed him the moment Lucy fell, watching, saying nothing.

"And you think it's right to slander the upper echelons of Manhattan in public?"

That cold voice came from his left. Godfrey turned, eyes narrowing as Snow approached with slow, deliberate steps.

It seemed he was already fed up and wanted Godfrey to understand exactly why he was the second strongest, and Godfrey only the third.

....

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