Despite trying his very best to be loud, his voice had at best come out conversational instead. But the people currently in the room weren't normal beings; they all could still hear him clearly as he continued speaking.
"Because of the importance that the leader's summit embodies, we've always strived for fairness. To bridge the gap between the higher and lower years and make sure they each experience memorable battles and challenges,"
By now, the faces of the first year instructors had already morphed into a perplexed look as they each stared at Rhiannon with a look that screamed, What the hell are you talking about?
Jared chuckled slightly, his intense grin undisturbed as he watched Rhiannon speak.
Isabella too was silent. Her expression completely neutral as she waited for Rhiannon to finish speaking.
Rhiannon continued, "And this is why, in lieu of all of this, I propose we use the LevelLock."
As soon as those words dropped, the hall instantly erupted into chatter as the first-year instructors immediately voiced out their disagreement, their collective voices resounding across the room.
"This is outrageous! We've always proposed this same thing every year, but you all always shot it down! Why the hell would we agree to this now!?"
Rhiannon maintained his demotivated smile and responded calmly and with a straight face, "For fairness."
The other first-years also voiced out their disagreement and started speaking out, but it was obvious that Rhiannon wasn't alone on this.
The other second and third years suddenly started backing him up, expressing their agreement with what he had proposed.
The hall instantly turned into chaos as the instructors went back and forth between each other.
It was crystal clear what the second and third-year instructors were trying to do. The LevelLock was the same feature that was used in the combat training classes, the same feature Atticus and Jared had used during their first class when they sparred against each other.
A feature that allowed one to limit the power and abilities of selected individuals to an agreed level.
Their intention was as clear as day; they wanted to limit the strength of each of the youths to the same level so that each one of the students would have the same starting point.
It would sound incredibly odd to many people if they were to hear this, and this would be because the higher years were naturally stronger and more powerful than the lower years.
So why then was a third-year instructor, who clearly wanted the winner to emerge from his year, proposing that they make the students' strength equal?
That same question was what many people would wonder. But to the instructors currently in the room, there was no one amongst them who didn't know why they were doing this; it was very obvious.
'How predictable,' Isabella inwardly sighed. She already knew well that they would do something like this. The reason they were doing this was simple: Atticus Ravenstein.
To the higher year instructors, he was too much of a wild card. They couldn't risk losing the whole competition to a first-year; it would reflect badly on them.
If they had to be absolutely honest, there was no permanent relationship whatsoever between the instructors and the students they currently teach.
Hell, after this year, everything would shuffle, and they would get new students. However, each one of the instructors was tiered, and the tiered were proud by nature.
The second years would rather a higher year win; at least there would be a valid reason for their loss, while the third years wanted to win at all costs.
Each of the instructors went back and forth between themselves with no signs of stopping until a scoff, one that resounded with such intensity that each of them had to pause, suddenly sounded.
Many didn't even have to turn to look; they were all well aware of who was responsible. Only one family could be that loud, and amongst said family, there was only one currently present in the academy: Jared Stellaris.
Immediately after the scoff, Jared's voice boomed as he sneered, "You bunch of pussies! Stop trying to hide behind 'fairness.' It's clear as day you lot are scared about that monster beating the shit out of your students." Jared burst into a loud and annoying laughter as he finished speaking.
He didn't try to reduce the intensity of his voice nor did he try to mince his words.
Some of the instructors carried their gazes away, each of them embarrassed. Jared had been right on the mark.
But unlike what one would expect, Rhiannon simply responded calmly, "So, do you refuse?" He didn't even try to deny or accept Jared's accusations. From the start, he had already anticipated the first year's instructors knowing what he was doing.
He had still gone on with it because he was well aware of the personalities of two iconic figures amongst the first-year instructors.
Especially the hyper man he was currently looking at. "No! I accept! Let's do it!" Jared suddenly declared with a huge grin, prompting the other first-year instructors to be shocked.
Jared chuckled, "You all should calm down. That boy defeated the entirety of the 2nd-year top 100 in an instant, and you're worried about him losing? Let's just sit and watch the show!"
Zael, one of the first year instructors who had watched Atticus's first division battle with Jared, with his scaled skin and slits like eyes, suddenly sighed,
"You're falling into their trap, dumbass. This is exactly what they want. Think about it, if his powers were restricted, could he still do that? Besides, it's obvious that if we agree to this, for the sake of 'fairness,' they would suggest some other rules that would clearly be unfavorable for him."
The other first-year instructors all nodded their heads in agreement. He was completely right.
Jared's grin widened even more, "Although he had been spouting bullshit, the corpse still made some sense. It would be far too easy for that monster, and it'll all probably end in an instant if we don't do this. Besides, I really want to see him struggle!"
Rhiannon completely ignored the fact that Jared had called him a corpse and simply maintained his neutral stare.
The other first-year instructors were still unconvinced, frowns marring their faces.
Vlade released another sigh, "I guess we'll leave the decision to her then."
He and the rest of the first-year instructors turned their gazes towards Isabella, who surprisingly hadn't said anything since Rhiannon had spoken. Each of them was waiting for her to make the decision.
After a few seconds, Isabella finally opened her mouth to speak.