"Silence!" Fredric shouted, his stern gaze sweeping across the class.
The students instantly quieted down.
He gestured towards two students.
"Both of you should come and carry him to the infirmary. Though he’ll be alright, we should be sure he hasn’t sustained any injury."
The two boys immediately rushed forward and carried Jalan off the stage.
"This class has been dismissed. We’ll continue tomorrow," Fredric spoke sternly.
Fredric shifted his focus to me.
"You. Follow me to my office."
Without awaiting my response, he turned around and left the stage.
I followed behind him, paying no attention to the mutterings of my classmates behind me.
"That’s everything you need to know. I’ll ensure that this issue doesn’t escalate. There’s one more thing you need to know: the exploration club has kicked you out due to the rumours circulating about you. Your name has been blocklisted, so even if you want to rejoin, they have no reason to accept you."
"You’ll need to pick another extracurricular club so as not to be held back by your grades. Some of the other clubs have also blockedlisted your name to prevent you from joining them, so it will be difficult for you to pick a new club without help," Fredric explained.
"Which club do you want to join? I’m here to help you as your instructor," he added.
He hadn’t brought up the matter of the duel between Ivory and me.
I had expected him to chastise me and use this as an opportunity to suspend me from his classes.
It was a good reason, and the timing could not have been better.
Yet, he was focused on helping me resolve this matter and improving my grades.
Had he finally had a change of heart? I doubted it.
There could only be one reason.
This was the work of the Zahara Clan’s descendants.
If it weren’t for the quest, I would have believed that the Zahara Clan’s descendants had recognised my talent and understood that it would be a waste of effort to kill me, so instead they chose to aid me in solidifying my position within the Magical Swordman’s Path.
However, that would be giving them too much credit.
I couldn’t uncover their intentions, despite speaking with Fredric for over ten minutes, except for trying to create a divide between me and the top students, which would serve as way to further worsen my current situation.
"I’ll need some time to think about it."
"I’ll wait for you after class to receive your response," Fredric nodded.
"Before you return, I’ll give you some advice: don’t visit the dungeon till that matter is resolved. It’s already enough that you’ve harmed the top ranker in class three. If news spread that you also harmed the top third during a practice duel, it would only bring more problems for you," he added, sighing in defeat.
My expression was solemn.
If news were to spread that the academy hadn’t punished me severely, the students would most likely take it upon themselves to handle me.
I was a talentless heir of the Zahara Clan.
The only people they wouldn’t dare harm, even if they were in a similar situation as mine, were the Zahara Clan’s descendants who had awakened the clan’s talent and the Beastmaster Path.
Compared to them, I was someone they could lash out their anger on without facing similar consequences.
It was a well-orchestrated plan. Still, I couldn’t stop going to the dungeon. But I didn’t express my desires.
"Thank you for the warning." I nodded.
"Are there any questions you would like to ask?" Fredric asked.
"Have you heard about the new rumours spread about me?" I asked.
I observed his expression, hoping to pick up even the slightest detail.
It was as though he had already expected such a question beforehand.
Fredric’s expression turned serious as he nodded in response, "Yes, I have. I won’t tolerate someone sharing such a baseless rumour. I’ve already begun investigating to uncover the culprit’s identity."
"Miss Serafina is also upset about this false rumour and has joined me to tackle this issue swiftly. We don’t plan on letting them off the hook when they are caught. Even if they are descendants of a noble clan, we’ll pressure the academy not to intervene during their punishment."
A lair. Deceiver. And a two-faced wolf.
"I understand. I’ll be more careful in the future," I responded.
"I also want to know when the lockdown will be over."
I failed to ask this question due to the matter we were handling previously.
I wanted to know how much time I have left to complete the quest before the issue escalates.
"I don’t know. Only the upper management knows when the lockdown will end. They said they would inform us when the issue is ready to be resolved," Fredric signed as he responded, his expression thoughtful, "But we haven’t yet heard from them. So we can only assume that it won’t be anytime soon."
My lips turned into a deep frown.
I questioned whether there was something more to this than the academy’s security system and the poisoned repair crew.
As though seeing through my thoughts, Fredric added, "You don’t need to worry about this. Just focus on attending classes, and try to be more friendly with your classmates. I might be able to protect you now, but if all your classmates hate you, then it’ll be difficult to do so in the future."
"If you have no other questions, you may leave." He casually waved his hand towards the door.
I bowed respectfully, then turned around and exited his office.
After gearing up and getting a new magic-enchanted iron sword, I headed towards the dungeon.
I needed to test the limit of my newly unlocked system function, Growth through mastery.
Gather information about Ivory, descendants of the Zahara Clan, and the true culprits behind it.
Lastly, to further explore Felix’s cybernetic combat abilities.