"Atticus Ravenstein," Jared's voice suddenly sounded, stopping Atticus in his tracks.
"A word with you, please."
Hearing Jared's words, each one of the students who were initially moving out of the room all stopped and turned to look at Atticus, each of them wondering why Jared had asked Atticus to wait behind.
"I'll be waiting outside," Kael turned to Atticus and suddenly declared. Without waiting for a response, he started walking out of the hall.
Atticus turned to look at Jared, who was gazing at him with a small smile.
Instead of trying to guess what the huge man wanted, Atticus decided to hear directly from the man himself. He started walking towards Jared.
After a few seconds, the hall became empty as each of the students left, leaving only Atticus and Jared behind.
"I will go straight to the point," Jared suddenly started speaking, controlling the intensity of his voice as he neared Atticus, who was looking at him warily.
He still couldn't forget the predatory vibe the man gave earlier.
"For the next 3 years, the subsequent combat classes that you will attend would be next to useless for you. Everything that would be taught during these 3 years is what you just utilized skillfully during the spar."
Jared placed his hands on his waist as he continued speaking.
"So here's a thought: how about you stay back after each class, and then we spar with both of us only utilizing Aerokinesis?" Jared suggested, his hands gripping his waist tighter as he hoped Atticus would accept his suggestion.
'Doesn't sound like a bad idea. Training with him would not only improve my combat prowess, I'll also be able to learn more about this Aerokinetic without having to wait for him to teach it in class.' Atticus pondered.
Although he had been able to use the ability effectively, Atticus had no doubt that there was still more he had yet to learn.
It was better to learn directly from the source rather than try to figure it out on his own.
However, he couldn't shake off his skepticism as he gazed at Jared, who now had a strained smile on his face.
'He won't take advantage of me, will he?' Atticus shuddered at the thought. He would rather die than let that happen.
After a few seconds that felt like a decade to Jared, Atticus suddenly spoke, "Okay," agreeing to the proposal.
Jared was almost tempted to hug Atticus tightly in celebration. He was glad Atticus accepted his offer.
"Good, good. We'll start tomorrow. You can start heading back now," Jared happily said, deciding to call it a day for today.
Atticus nodded, and seeing that there was nothing left to do, he turned and started walking towards the exit of the hall.
As soon as Atticus left the hall, Jared's artifact suddenly sounded.
Jared swiftly checked, and he couldn't help but sigh as he saw the person calling.
'Of course, he was listening!'
Jared cleared his throat, raised his hand, and clicked on his artifact to answer the call.
The artifact lit up, suddenly displaying a holographic image of Harrison.
"Jared," Harrison immediately spoke, his voice still maintaining its usual sagacity and wisdom.
"Yes, Vice Principal," Jared responded respectfully with a small bow. His usual playful demeanor was long gone.
"The academy was founded to train every youth in the human domain. This is how it has always been since its establishment. And for its prosperous continuation, it is paramount that under no circumstances should there be any favoritism,"
Jared listened to Harrison without uttering a word, his head still slightly bowed.
"Jared,"
"Yes, Vice Principal," Jared responded.
"While I understand your decision to teach him after class, you will see to it that nothing outside the LCBT-001 class, in which you will eventually teach other students, will be taught. Am I clear?" Harrison's voice was firm.
Jared's response was immediate, "I understand."
As soon as Jared responded, the hologram displaying Harrison's face immediately vanished, and the artifact's initial glow dimmed till it disappeared.
Jared released a sigh of relief. 'At least he didn't put a stop to it,' Jared thought.
Unfortunately, not everyone shared the same level of familiarity with Harrison as Isabella did, enabling them to confidently speak up whenever they disagreed with something he said.
Although the absolute power of the academy was Aric Stormrider, who reported directly to the Paragon Council, the man hardly ever interfered in the matters of the academy.
Every single authority to manage the academy was given solely to Harrison.
Jared couldn't count the number of times brain-dead instructors had all tried to question his authority.
This was especially so for new instructors who were from tiered families and thought it beneath them to listen to a man who wasn't even a member of any tiered familes.
And this had always ended up terribly for each one of them.
With a small sigh, Jared turned and left the hall.
...
Atticus met Kael outside the hall, and with a nod, they both started walking towards the elevator.
After walking for a while, both of them turned left towards the hall where the elevator was, and as soon as they turned, Atticus's steps almost paused as he saw the figure who was by the elevator door.
Flowing purple hair and an enchanting and peaceful presence: Zoey Starhaven.
Both Atticus and Kael turned to face each other, their gazes meeting. Kael didn't even need to say or indicate anything; Atticus already knew what the boy wanted to convey.
Atticus subtly shook his head, his mouth silently moving, mouthing a 'Not now.'
Kael shook his head and turned to face his front, not uttering a word.
The duo kept on moving through the hall. Zoey had already entered the elevator by the time they got a few meters away from it, standing alone in one corner with her cold gaze forward.
Seeing that the doors were already sliding to a close, Atticus thought it best to wait for the next one to arrive, but he would never have expected what happened next.
Before Atticus could react, he suddenly felt a strong force push him from behind, his form shoved into the almost-closing elevator.
Atticus turned in time to witness the transformed large hands of Kael, his two large hands stretched out as though he had just pushed something, before the elevator door slid to a close.
Atticus gulped.