The streets of Manila are filled with sunlight, and many vehicles are moving on different routes. Among the students of Manila University, Nicholas ventures into the white hallway, and he stops walking after a tall fat man clad in a white polo shirt and dark pants blocks his path.
"Who are you?" Nicholas asked.
The fat man looks at him from head to shoes, and he lifts the corner of his lip before grinning. Nicholas clutches the strap of his shoulder bag but releases it before putting on a calm expression on his face.
"You think you can intimidate me?" Nicholas asked.
The fat student shrugs his shoulders. "Sorry, but a business is a business."
"It's already 2026," Nicholas said, "and you're already in college, why waste your time trying to bully me, huh?"
The student chuckles. "You're funny."
He opens his bag and brings out a brown wooden stick, and Nicholas watches him swing the stick while lowering his bag.
The passerby appears like a ghost beside Nicholas. He cracks his knuckle as the fat student comes running at him while letting out a roar that fills the hallway. The stick goes straight at the face of Nicholas but with one snap of his finger, Nicholas summons his knife in his left hand.
"How?!" the fat student said in astonishment.
"Magic." Nicholas swung his knife sideways.
The stick falls in half. Nicholas smiles while watching the smile drain from the face of the fat student, and Nicholas does another swing with his knife.
At the corner of the hallway, Ella is watching the scene. Her eyes widen after seeing the pants of the fat student fall from his waist.
"How did Hubert get humiliated like that?!" Ella whispered.
"Hey, next time, bring an extra pants if you're going to bully me." Nicholas looked down at Hubert while he was sitting on the ground.
"Y-Yes!" Hubert stood back on his feet and scrambled away.
Nicholas watches his knife vanish from his grasp, and he inhales deeply. The passerby disappears, and Nicholas brushes his polo shirt with his hands before walking away.
"That was something else, I wondered why he did that," Nicholas said.
Inside a classroom, Ella walks toward a certain row of chairs, and she sits on the chair between two female students with beautiful visuals but thick application of makeup on their faces.
"Ella."
"Ella, you look mad, did something happen?"
Ella remains staring at Nicholas who's talking with Nelly. The two female students sitting at each of Ella's sides turn their eyes to where she's staring.
"Oh, the transferree," one of them said.
"He did something bad to you, right?" the other one who is the taller among them chuckled.
Ella finally spoke with anger in her tone. "Set a meeting for the gang later. We have a new 'prey' to haunt."
The two female students show a malicious smirk on their faces before nodding in agreement to Ella's command.
"Of course, you're the boss, Ella," the other one said.
Ella diverts her brown eyes beside her and sees a man clad in a red shirt, and she raises her eyebrow.
"What do you want, peasant?" she spoke.
Her words bring fear to the man in a red shirt, and his knees shake but he fixes his composure with a gulp. He bends his upper body down and brings out a notebook from his shoulder bag.
"I heard everything, boss. That man right there," he pointed his finger at Nicholas, "I know everything about him that can be useful to your plan."
Those words bring a bright smile to Ella's face, and she turns her eyes to Nicholas. "Stop standing there like an idiot, tell me everything!"
Nelly looks out of the corner of her eye, and her lip forms a straight line. She looks at Nicholas who's writing words in his notebook.
The school bell rings, and the students who are standing everywhere in the hallway step back as their eyes are filled with panic at Ella who is walking with her squad.
"Who's that?" A random student pointed at her.
"Stop pointing at her!" the friend of the student swatted his hand.
Ella raises her hand and snaps her finger. The tall muscular ugly man in her squad approaches the random student and punches the same student who pointed his finger at Ella.
"Respect Ella the great!" the ugly student threw many kicks at the random student's belly.
The random student is crying in pain as multiple kicks keep hitting him. The friend of the victim, a female student attempts to push the ugly student away from her friend but the ugly student slaps her.
As the ugly student continues to kick the victim, Ella is watching the entire scene with a calm expression.
"Those who point their filthy hand at me will face the same fate," Ella turned her eyes around, seeing the shocked look on each of the students around her.
Along the hallway, Nicholas is walking with Nelly beside him while she's holding her phone. His eyes shift beside him, and two men wearing polo shirts with different colours are lifting the random student whose hands are clutching his belly.
"What happened to him?" Nicholas asked the two students but they didn't stop walking.
Nicholas hears the answer from them which is, "He got hit for pointing at the lady boss of the South!"
"Lady boss of the south?" Nicholas raised his eyebrow in confusion.
Nelly pats his shoulder. "I know who did this."
Nicholas looks at her. "Tell me."
Nelly shakes her head and tells him. "No, that's not our problem, we shouldn't interfere."
Nicholas shakes his head. "I can because I can fight."
He cries in pain after Nelly hits the back of his head with her hand. "You can't handle a group with six members who can bring knives in this corrupted university."
Nicholas rubs the back of his head. "But you are rich and have many connections, why can't you interfere?"
Nelly chuckles, and she looks straight into his eyes. In his eyes, she sees the determined burning passion in his words. She inhales deeply and tells him. "Listen, Nicholas. No matter how rich I am or my family is, I can't stop the gang of the lady of the south if they decide to beat me up in the blink of an eye or if they decide to beat the people I'm close to."
Nicholas nods slowly before letting out a sigh. "I'm sorry, Nelly."
Nelly laughs and pats his cheek while looking at his face. "You're like a kid, you know."
Nicholas steps back, and a red hue appears on his cheek. "I am not a damn kid!"
Henceforth, the door of a clinic opens, and Nicholas steps inside. With a deep breath, Nicholas approaches the staff, and asks, "Uhm, I came here for the student who got beaten up. Where is he? I'm his friend."
The staff member, a lady looks at him. She points her finger at a certain bed, and Nicholas turns around.
"I think he's conscious now," the staff said.
"Thanks." Nicholas glanced at the staff before walking towards the student lying on the bed.
Nicholas looks at the student putting an ice bag on his abdomen. A bruise is visible on the corner of the student's mouth, and he's looking away, clearly afraid of Nicholas.
"Hey," Nicholas whispered, "I won't hurt you. I just want to know who beat you."
The student continues to be quiet but Nicholas didn't give up. He inhales deeply, and asks, "Is it the lady boss of the south? Just so you know, I'm not her accomplice, I'm just a concerned student."
The student blinks slowly and speaks softly. "It's one of her accomplices."
"Tell me what he looks like," Nicholas said, his veins appearing on his hands as they closed while shaking.
Along the crowded hallway, Nicholas is marching his way with his hands clenched, and his eyes are now dull. The noise that once filled the hallway vanishes after the students notice Nicholas walking past them like he's wrapped in a terrifying aura.
"I hate bullies who torment the weak, and I hate people who act like mighty!" Nicholas spoke angrily in his mind.
The passerby appears beside Nicholas, and he says, "Boy, calm down! Your heart is beating fast!"
Nicholas hears the words of the student who got beaten up, saying, "Please, don't tell him that I told you who he is. I don't want to put my family into this mess that I caused."
"How can I?" Nicholas told the passerby, "After an innocent student blamed himself for getting beaten up? I can't sit here doing nothing."
Nicholas looks at each of the students. "Tell Damon from Class 3, I will kick his ass! CALL HIM OUT THIS INSTANT AND I'LL FEED HIM HIS OWN MEDICINE!"
All students turn their eyes at the sound of the door banging against the door frame but Nicholas remains standing with a steady determined look.
"You've trained me, and I conquered my enemy," Nicholas began walking towards the door, "the time to face a real enemy is right here."
The tall ugly bully steps out of the room. He cracks his neck, and turns his eyes where Nicholas is walking at.
"What's with the noise? Eh? Why do you keep staring like that, you want to die?"
Nicholas stops walking in front of him. Due to their height differences with Nicholas being smaller than the bully, Nicholas raises his face.
"Damon from Class 3, you look nothing like a warthog."
"What did you say, brat?!" Damon yelled at Nicholas while his big hands are closing.
A vein pops on the forehead of Nicholas, and he yells back. "I said what I said, warthog!"
Damon thrusts his fist towards Nicholas. The eyes of Nicholas are wide and filled with anger, and he watches the fist flies closer to his face.
The students who are watching the scene cover their eyes with their hands, and a loud bang coming from the lockers fill the hallway. They lower their hands, and Nicholas is standing while facing Damon who's lying down on the layers of lockers.