At the viewing platforms, on the centre stage, there are two groups of people standing separately. One is the freshmen group and the other is the senior group, both of which just partic.i.p.ated in the compet.i.tion. Suddenly, a light appeared in the centre of the stage and a figure sitting cross-legged emerged slowly as light dissipated. As soon as the light appeared, all the spectators took a step back and cleared a significant distance. All the people are looking at him with various expressions. Some of them are looking at him in fear, some in admiration, some in resentment.
Who could it be other than Sam?
Sam just sat there and meditated with a peaceful expression on his face. Family heads of the n.o.ble families and city lord are looking at him as if they wanted to tear in to shreds and pieces. But Sam was not concerned about it and sat there as if he was in his own home. This made the other freshmen look at him with new respect. They clearly saw how ruthlessly he can kill someone. His methods are worst than death. But now looking at his handsome face with peaceful expression, they weren"t able to relate at all.
Princ.i.p.al stood up rom his seat and broke the silence.
"The a.s.sessment for this year admissions are over and both freshmen and seniors performed well in the third round." He spoke as he looked at all the freshmen and seniors. Even though, he spoke as if he was praising them, anyone could say, he didn"t mean it at all.
All the students who met his gaze hung their head low. He then continued. "The third round is won by the freshmen. Now all the seniors can leave, except the top three rankers." As soon as he spoke, all the seniors left the stage and walked deep in to the academy. There are only three seniors left on the vast stage. They are Mason, Dorman and another senior who is a fire elemental mage at late stage. Princ.i.p.al nodded at them and then looked at the freshmen. He then spoke again.
"From today onwards you are all the students of the Starwood academy. You will be given the living quarters inside the academy and you can sign up for the cla.s.ses you think are suitable. If you can"t decide, you can ask your seniors for help. Now except the names on the list all of you can step down from the stage." As soon as he finished a large screen appeared and there are only four names on the list and those names are of Sam, Melisa, Jack and Shawn.
After only the four of them are left on the stage, Princ.i.p.al looked at the seven members on the stage and then spoke. "Now the prizes will be given for all of you.
Third place of the senior team Howard. Five hundred Academic credits.
Second place of the senior team Dorman thousand Academic credits.
First Place of the Senior team Thousand five hundred Academic credits.
Now moving onto the freshmen team. You guys have three types of rankings. The second-round ranking. The third-round ranking. The overall ranking. I will announce all of them at the same time, since there isn"t much difference.
Melisa – Second round ranking fourth, third round ranking third, Overall ranking third. A total of 1000 Academic credits.
Jack – Second round ranking third, third round ranking second, Overall ranking second. A total of 2500 Academic credits.
Shawn- Second round ranking second, third round ranking third, Overall ranking second, A total of 2500 Academic points." After announcing their names Princ.i.p.al looked at Sam, who is still meditating, with out giving a d.a.m.n about what is happening. Just as he was about to open his mouth. Someone spoke.
"Princ.i.p.al, I don"t think he is suitable to enrol in the academy." The one who spoke his Crimson flame family head. Princ.i.p.al frowned as he looked at him. At this moment other family heads spoke.
"I think Crimson flame Patriarch spoke truth. I also feel like he is indeed not suitable." Heart field family head said.
"I agree." The head of the Grey hound family.
"I think that I already made myself clear about the admissions. You don"t have any say in this matter." The Princ.i.p.al"s voice grew colder. Then the City lord"s voice came.
"Princ.i.p.al, did you not see, how ruthless he is to his own school mates. He is at such a young age, but he is so vicious. He killed so many members for such trivial thing as insulting. If we were to rear someone like him. It would be akin growing a snake inside our own house. He is not suitable for the academy at all." Princ.i.p.al was about to say something, but suddenly an elder from the academy spoke.
"Princ.i.p.al, I think what city lord said makes sense. His character doesn"t suit our academy at all."
Another elder chimed in. "He doesn"t even bat an eyelid when torturing them, He is indeed ruthless."
"Yes, Princ.i.p.al. You have to think clearly. He is already too ruthless."
When princ.i.p.al saw these three elders and the looks on the family heads" faces, he clearly understood the situation. These Elders are all lackeys of the n.o.ble families.
"ENOUGH. Do I need to remind you guys who is in charge." The Princ.i.p.al raised his voice as made every elder shut up."
"Do I have an opinion here?" Suddenly a voice came from the stage. All the spectators looked towards the stage and saw, Sam who was meditating all this time spoke as he opened his eyes and slowly stood up. He stretched his body a little as he looked at all the Family heads and elders. All of them are looking at him as to listen to what he has to say.
Sam turned towards the Elders and said. "I want to ask a question. Did I break any rules?" As soon as they heard his question all the spectators were dumbfounded. That"s right he indeed didn"t break any rules at all. So, they have no reason to reject his admission. But these Elders doesn"t want to give up yet. One of them spoke.
"Its not about the rules. You definitely lack character. With your ruthlessness, you will be a tumour to the society, much less an Academy."
Listening his answer, n.o.body believed it. But n.o.body called him out as well. Sam only nodded as he had a pondering expression on his face. Then he looked at the Family heads and asked.
"what is the problem with you guys?" The family heads were about blow their tops when they heard the nonchalance in his voice. But they kept their cool and the Crimson flame family head spoke.
"You killed our off spring. So, don"t even think about using the academy to escape the consequences."
"Oh, why can"t I kill them?" Sam asked with same nonchalance. The Crimson flame family head felt humiliated. He gritted his teeth and spoke.
"Carl is of n.o.ble birth.
He has a great future.
He has yet to see the world, how can he die in the hands of a peasant like you? Even if he tries to kill you, it should be your honour" He spoke as if he is stating a universal truth. Sam suddenly felt speechless as if he looked at the Family heads who are nodding their heads with approval.
He shook his head and spoke. "Do you know why they died?"
All the family heads frowned as they looked at him and he continued. "Because you guys rubbed your hypocrisy over them. You should have told them one thing. They can use their status to live in a society, but they can"t live with it in a battle." He paused and continued.
"Let me give you a d.a.m.n good reason why I can kill them. Because he provoked with insufficient strength.
So, what if he is of n.o.ble birth. He is weak.
So, what if he had a great future. He is weak.
So, what if I am a peasant. He is weak.
So, what if he had status. He is ultimately still weak. So shut your f.u.c.k.i.n.g mouths and stop showing off your hypocrisy." He then turned towards the Princ.i.p.al and said. "What do you guys decide about the admission?"
Before the princ.i.p.al could speak, an elder who spoke before beat him to it. "A disrespectful brat like you can only dream about getting an admission. Princ.i.p.al, I think we should teach him a lesson instead. You also heard how he spoke." Sam raised his eyebrows and took a good look at the opposing elders and then the family heads. Then he looked at the Princ.i.p.al and said.
"I actually don"t like to talk much, but as it is about the academy where the future generations are nurtured, I will make an exception." He paused and let out a sigh. Then he pointed at the elders who spoke out earlier and continued. "An academy which has these people, people who could get their teaching values swayed by the things like power, authority and wealth as teachers. I don"t have much expectations on it that it could nurture any good students. As far as I know, the student"s quality will on depend on the teacher who nurtured them. So, I refuse the admission of this school."
As soon as he finished, he saw the surprise in everyone"s eyes. Including the princ.i.p.al. Then he saw the looks of the n.o.ble family heads, who were a bit surprised but also happy. But before they could get fully excited, Sam did something that truly felt like cold water splashed on their faces.
Sam took out two badges and started rubbing them with his sleeves, then he pinned both of them on his chest over the coat, then he looked at all the dumbfounded gazes of the spectators before finally stopping at the family heads. He then spoke. "Goodluck killing me. But I have an advice for you. If you guys aren"t completely confident enough to kill me or if you think there is even a slight possibility that I can escape. You better stay put and do nothing because if you miss, I will make sure that I won"t miss at all." He got off the stage and walked towards the exit. The family heads" faces are looks to behold. They clearly saw what badges that Sam was wearing. They are the badges of the pseudo rank 2 artisan and the scholar artisan. They are now sweating at the fact on how they offended Sam. They even made advances to kill him. They regret it now dearly.
Looking at Sam"s back, Philip and his friends followed him. City lord and the Crimson flame family head looked at Haley and Freya hesitating before leaving with same dumb expressions. But they didn"t dare to stop them. They already are regretting about their actions; they don"t want to offend Sam even more.
Philip and Others met with Sam. They didn"t know what to speak at all looking at Sam"s expression and just kept on walking together. But after sometime Philip broke the silence.
"Sam are you sure, you don"t want to join the academy?" He asked in a concerned tone.
Sam just stayed silent. Actually, he was pretty p.i.s.sed about the att.i.tude from the teachers from the academy. Looking at his silent face, Philip continued.
"Actually, this time the academy"s selection has much more than normal a.s.sessment. According to my father there is something big going on at the Count [n.o.ble t.i.tle] city. That is the reason, Freya, Haley and Paul all got admitted last year even though they are all at the initiation only. My father said the count needs the young talents for something. So, you might miss this opportunity, if you reject the admission."
At Philip"s words, Sam has a change in expression, but he didn"t say anything. He then looked at them and finally stopped at Haley and Freya. "Just forget about it. Let"s go. I have something to do." He spoke and the rest of them followed silently.
After sometime, the group of six people came to a place which made Philip and others look in astonishment. They are in front of an inscription tower. When they saw Sam about to make his way in to the tower. They have a premonition that something about to happen.
Finally, after two hours they came out side, with Sam in lead. Sam has a red colour badge which has a "1" and 9 golden stars below it. Then there is a symbol of brush and scroll and a rune below it. All the people in the tower and the staff are in uproar. Philip and the others are also looking at him in awe, they are still in daze as they followed Sam without even thinking what is going on. Before they knew it, they are at another place. Then they were dumbstruck again. They were in front of the Formation tower. This time they felt their hearts come out of its place. They looked at Sam as if they were looking at a monster. When they compared themselves to him? Never mind...
After sometime, Sam has a blue colour badge with same "1" and nine stars, but at the bottom it has a formation flag. Looking at the badges on his chest Sam felt quite satisfied. But he then took them off and pinned them inside of his coat and then turned towards Philip and others. "Let"s go my treat today." Then he walked towards River side mansion.
It already became dusk. At the river side mansion Sam and Philip are sitting around the fire. There are several birds over the flame. Sam took these bird type beasts from the a.s.sessment grounds. As the birds were grilling everyone was silent as they don"t know what to say. They had too many surprises today. First is Sam is way more powerful and second one is Sam is becoming a rank 1 inscription master and Formation master.
Sam looked at their faces and spoke after he sighed. "Ms Freya, Ms. Haley. I am really sorry. I know its not comfortable for you guys, but I must say. I can"t just leave your kin, just based on our relationship. Because I don"t think our relationship is close enough. So, if you want to stay away from me. I won"t stop you. We could act as strangers." As soon as Sam spoke both Haley and Freya froze for a moment then Freya spoke.
"You don"t have to apologise. Actually, me and Carl aren"t close anyway. He is an illegitimate child of my father and we are not any good terms. In fact, I hate him to the guts. It"s just that I was afraid, you will hate me for what my family did." As soon as Freya finished, Haley also said.
"I also don"t have anything to do with what happened. Even Harry is also son of a concubine. You don"t have to apologise." She paused and then took a deep breath and then looked at Freya. Freya also met her gaze and they both nodded and turned towards Sam again as Haley continued.
"Actually, we are the one who should apologise for what our families did. We also have a favour to ask. We hope you can be lenient if our families don"t provoke you further." They both looked at him with a pleading gaze. They were both afraid. Because, with Sam"s status as an Artisan, Inscription master and a Formation master, all he need is to say a word and make some promises, then there would be a lot of individual cultivators, that are willing to take revenge for him. That is why they are pleading him. Sam then nodded and didn"t say anything. They then had small talk as they ate the grilled meat peacefully.
Meanwhile many people in the city are in uproar as the news about Sam rejecting the admission and his status as an Artisan spread among the city. Then they heard another shocking news, after leaving the exam site, Sam went to Inscription tower and the formation tower and pa.s.sed the rank 1 exam. The Family heads in particular are restless. They wanted to make a visit and compromise. But they don"t know how they should proceed. There is another person who is also restless now. That is the Princ.i.p.al of the Academy.
He is already a little regretful, about Sam not taking the admission. Now that he heard that Sam is also an inscription master and Formation master, he immediately lost his cool. "I have to action immediately. Otherwise, the losses... I can"t let him go." He muttered as he walked outside.