For the second time that day, the door of the room next to us slammed open.

BAM!

Thankfully, or rather, unfortunately, no one was behind it that second time.

It would be an interesting case if the Elder accidentally injured a student by slamming the door open too hard.

"WHO THE- oh. Good evening Elder Urama!" The big boy was about to curse vehemently when he caught sight of the Elder and stopped himself in time.

"You boys. Answer me truthfully and immediately. Did these four troublemakers take anything from you?" Elder Urama barked.

"No, Elder, they did not!" The four boys shouted in unison.

"Good. As you were." With that, Elder Urama pushed us out and closed the door.

Or tried to close the door.

But because I had broken the door earlier, it failed to close properly.

"Elder, you shouldn't have slammed the door open so hard. See? You've broken the door. The poor boys probably can't sleep properly tonight because of this!" I said loudly and shamelessly pushed the blame to that damned Elder Urama.

"What? I did not break anything! The room door was already-" Elder Urama began.

However, I sighed deeply and right on cue, Roland Hu whispered loudly to Jack Yang.

"It was already broken when I found it! That's exactly what my five year old brother said when he broke my dad's vase last week! To think that an Elder of this prestigious academy is acting like a five year old!" Roland Hu said in a whisper that was so loud that the boys in the room could hear it.

Even though they tried to hide their sniggers, they failed to do so spectacularly.

"You!!" Elder Urama glowered at Roland Hu angrily.

Roland Hu merely looked at him and blinked innocently like an innocent ten year old boy.

Well he was a ten year old boy. But innocent he definitely was not.

"Fine! I will pay for the full repair of this room door!" He roared. "Let's go to the next room!"

Like me, Elder Urama learnt his lesson, and he opened the next room door rather carefully with his hand.

"You boys! Did these four troublemakers take any of your things?" Elder Urama asked them loudly.

Upon hearing those words, the fourth boy who was the young master of an affluent and powerful family, immediately leapt down from his bed!

"Yes! They beat me up and stole my most expensive shirt and pants! Elder! You must give me justice today!" He shouted loudly and grabbed Elder Urama's hand desperately.

"Well well well. What do we have here?" Elder Urama's angry face suddenly softened and became gentle like an angel. "Don't worry, my dear boy. I will make sure that justice is served today. So, you're telling me that they BEAT you up, and then TOOK your shirt and your pants?"

"Yes! They did! Look at my wounds!" The fourth boy cried out indignantly and showed Elder Urama his bruises on his arms, legs and feet.

We had done a thorough job on that spoilt bully, and he was truly a pitiful sight back then.

Not that any of his bunkmates looked any better though. HE had done a thorough job on them as well, before we got to him.

"So, assault and robbery." Elder Urama's eyes glinted dangerously as he turned to look at the four of us.

I could hear Roland Hu gulp lightly in fear and his heart beating fast. However, very strangely, Jack Yang and Barrick Rui's hearts were calm and their heartbeats steady.

They had no fear at all over what was coming.

"Teacher Judy and Teacher Tom. You two are my witnesses. What are the consequences of assault and robbery within our glorious academy?" Elder Urama asked in his silky smooth voice.

"For assault. Ten demerit points, a written first warning, and five public lashes with a cane." Teacher Judy immediately replied with undisguised glee.

"Excellent. I shall hereby execute the disciplinary action! For the assault of student-" Elder Urama turned to look at the fourth boy.historical

"Daniel Lie." He replied eagerly.

"Of Daniel Lie! Ten demerit points to the four of you! A written warning. Teacher Judy, proceed to send the warning to their families right now. And five public lashes." Elder Urama smirked at the four of us as a thick but flexible looking cane suddenly appeared in his hands.

"You-you can't do that! Every-" Roland Hu was about to protest in absolute horror when Barrick Rui suddenly grabbed him and closed his mouth with his hand.

"Keep quiet." Barrick Rui said softly and seriously.

Barrick Rui was no loser who would roll over and allow anyone to trample over him that way. And neither was I.

At that moment, the two of us were as two wolves allowing ourselves to be ensnared by the evil hunter.

We were retreating to advance, and somehow, we understood each other perfectly.

Jack Yang, though nowhere as sneaky and cunning as the two of us, was an excellent read of character.

He had long understood that Barrick Rui and I were not to be underestimated in any circumstance, especially in a circumstance such as that moment where we stood to lose quite a lot.

So he took our silence as what it was in actuality - a part of a bigger plan.

"Hmph. It is good that you know your place, fatty. Five lashes! Starting with you then!" Elder Urama raised his cane and swung it down suddenly and very savagely upon Barrick Rui's left arm!

PIAAAAAKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!

Even though he had his shirt on, blood immediately seeped through it as his skin tore and started to bleed.

Barrick Rui winced mightily and released his grip on Roland Hu as he tried to deal with the massive wave of pain shooting up his arm. He was barely able to take a deep, shuddering breath when...

PIAAAAAKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!

Elder Urama's cane came lashing down once more at the exact same spot!!

It was beyond vicious.

My eyes had narrowed to a slit, and my heart burned with anger.

BA-DUMP!

BA-DUMP!

The red mecha core within my heart started to react to my great anger.

But at that moment, I was too angry to care!

PIAAAAAKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!

PIAAAAAKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!

PIAAAAAKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!

Three more vicious lashes struck Barrick Rui with ferocious strength, and by the end of it, Barrick Rui was in so much pain that he collapsed onto the floor powerlessly.

"He is dead. He is so dead." I swore in my heart as I watched Elder Urama's face smirk in satisfaction.