Isaac shrugged, and didn’t say anything.
The silence stretched between them.
Professor Catherine’s eyes never left him, and he met her gaze without flinching.
For a few moments, neither of them moved.
It became almost a contest of who would break first, though Isaac had no intention of giving in.
Eventually, Professor Catherine let out a quiet breath and shook her head.
"Don’t tell anyone your Talent rank. Not Emily, not Celia, not Alice. No one."
Isaac frowned slightly. "Why not?"
A short, amused sound escaped her, half a snort and half a laugh.
A small smile tugged at her lips. "I’ll tell you the reason if you tell me your rank first."
Isaac gave a faint smile of his own. "I think I’m fine without knowing the reason, then."
Professor Catherine didn’t push further.
She seemed to understand he had already decided.
He could guess why she was being cautious anyway.
If Emily or the others knew the truth, there was always the risk of someone pulling the knowledge from their minds.
He didn’t know who would attempt such a thing, but clearly, she thought the possibility was real for some reason.
"Now," she said after a pause, straightening her posture, "let’s go. You need to meet with the leaders of the universities. They’ll want your official report about the N’theris Serpent. After that, you can claim what remains of its corpse."
That made Isaac raise his brow.
"I get to keep its corpse?"
"Yes. However, you can’t take all of it. Other awakeners fought it too, and they risked their lives. They’ll have their share."
"I’m fine with that," Isaac replied.
In truth, it didn’t matter to him if a part of the serpent’s body went to others.
He would be Lord of the City soon.
Every awakener who grew stronger with that material would ultimately strengthen his domain. Their gains would still feed into his authority.
Together, they left the office and made their way to the central chamber where the meeting was being held.
When Isaac entered, he immediately noticed the arrangement of the room.
A circular hall stretched wide, with tiered seats rising up in concentric rows.
At the center, a raised platform had been prepared for him, almost like a stage.
Around him sat not only the representatives of the top three universities but also members of the four major guilds and a scattering of smaller ones.
This was more than just a report. It was an introduction.
Many of these people were seeing him for the first time.
They wanted to see if the person who would become their Lord was fit for the position.
Professor Catherine guided him to the platform.
Once he stood there, the eyes of the hall fixed on him. Some faces were curious, some skeptical, others quietly respectful.
The questioning began soon after.
"This report claims," a voice said from the front row, "that you threw the spear from the city’s border all the way to the battlefield. Is that true?"
The speaker was an elderly man with a long white beard, his age clear in the way his voice trembled slightly.
Isaac recognized him from descriptions he had heard: Principal Marlow of the Sanctum of Masters.
Once, he had been an Overlord-rank awakener.
Now, though, time had taken much of his power.
At best, he was as strong as a Champion, but his reputation still carried weight.
"Yes. That’s true," Isaac said simply.
Marlow leaned back in his seat, exhaling through his beard.
"Oh, Lord," he murmured.
Around the hall, a ripple of murmurs spread.
The sound of whispers layered over each other, some skeptical, some impressed.
Isaac stayed calm in the center of it all.
He had already rehearsed the story with Alice, Celia, and Emily long ago.
They had agreed on the same explanation: Celia had retrieved Alice, who then used her ability on the spear.
That ability had ensured the N’theris Serpent couldn’t revive, even with its multiple lives.
All Isaac had done was throw the weapon at the right time.
It was a believable account. Astounding, but not impossible.
One of the guild representatives, a man with short cropped hair and sharp eyes, leaned forward.
"You make it sound easy. But if it were so simple, why didn’t any of the other awakeners manage the same?"
Isaac shook his head slightly. "It wasn’t easy. I was able to act because Alice used her ability on the spear. Without that, my attack wouldn’t have finished the serpent. The others were keeping it occupied and weakening it. Their efforts gave me the chance to strike. It wasn’t just me."
The words seemed to settle some of the unease in the room.
He had given credit to the others, and in doing so, showed he wasn’t trying to steal all the glory.
Marlow stroked his beard, studying Isaac closely.
"Even so," he said after a long pause, "not everyone could have thrown that spear the way you did. A strike like that takes more than timing. It takes strength and precision."
Isaac didn’t respond to that.
He only inclined his head slightly, neither confirming nor denying.
The silence that followed was heavier than before.
Isaac could feel their eyes pressing against him, weighing him, testing how he carried himself under pressure.
He understood what this gathering really was.
This was not just about the official report of the N’theris Serpent hunt. Everyone here already knew the monster was dead.
What they wanted was to see him, measure him, and decide for themselves what kind of Lord they were about to serve.
They wanted to see if he was fit to be their Lord.
His eyes moved across the tiers of seats and landed on a small group from Aeternum University.
A few of them were shaking their heads, the disappointment on their faces clear.
’They look disappointed.’
’Probably because I’m young.’
’They must be thinking that someone like me would be led around by nose by others, and because of that I’m not fit to be the Lord.’
He let the thought settle for only a moment before speaking aloud, his voice steady but strong enough to carry across the chamber.
"I have something to say."
The hall went quiet again. Dozens of eyes turned to him in anticipation.
"I’m going to create a Super Guild."
The words made several people shift in their seats.
One of them, an older man with gray hair tied neatly back—the headmaster of Aeternum University—leaned forward slightly.
"A Super Guild?" he asked.
"Yes. All guilds within my territory will be under the umbrella of this new organization, which will be named Imperium Aeternum . It will also take charge of managing the city from this point forward."
He spoke with a small smile. His tone was calm but firm.
For a moment, there was stillness.
Then the hall erupted in noise.
"What do you mean the guilds will need to work under you?"
"This is why we said a child can’t lead us!"
"Aeternum? That’s our university’s name! Are you trying to mock us by stealing it?"
The accusations and outrage overlapped, and the chamber filled with heated voices.
Isaac did not respond. He simply stood there, his expression calm, his gaze steady.
’It’s like watching children shout,’ he thought.
A few weeks ago, he might have felt overwhelmed.
Facing so many influential figures, being shouted at from all sides, it would have been enough to shake him.
But after what he had gone through, after the battles and the times he had stood with death breathing down his neck, this felt almost trivial.
He glanced toward the back of the hall and saw Professor Catherine.
She was leaning against the wall, arms crossed. A faint smile rested on her lips.
’She knows what I’m doing,’ Isaac realized.
He had never truly desired the role of city ruler.
But now that it had come to him, he would not do it half-heartedly.
If he was to lead, then he would lead with both authority and vision.
"Silence," came a voice, deep and commanding.
The noise in the hall tapered off almost immediately.
It was the principal of the Sanctum of Masters, Marlow.
Though age had weakened him, his authority had not diminished. People still listened when he spoke.
The principal looked at Isaac directly. "Young man, I trust you understand the weight of what you’ve just declared. Can you explain why you have chosen this path? Without a proper reason, I doubt anyone here could accept it."
"I understand why you ask that, Principal. And I do have reasons."
Isaac took a breath and continued.
"My decision to create a Super Guild is simple. I want to remove the power of private organizations having their own private military forces."
One of the representatives frowned. "And why don’t you want them to exist?"
"So that no one can point their weapons at me," Isaac answered plainly. "I won’t stop anyone from leaving for another city. But if you choose to live under my rule, you will have to follow my rules."
The old principal chuckled softly.
He had spent his life surrounded by people twisting words, disguising their intentions behind layers of polite lies.
Hearing Isaac speak so bluntly was almost refreshing.
But the reaction in the hall was mixed.
"You think people will just accept this?" an awakener from Black Wing Guild said sharply. Isaac recognized him as the vice leader. "This is madness. People will rebel."
Isaac tilted his head slightly.
"And who exactly are these people who will rebel? The top guilds? The major guilds? I assume you know what happened to Titan Edge Guild."
His lips curved into a smile.
"So if you are planning rebellion, I suggest you prepare yourself for the same consequences."
The vice leader’s expression faltered.
He had heard the rumors.
Isaac, the Saintess, and the Evil Sword had destroyed Titan Edge Guild, whose leader Vale Rae had been said to rival even Overlord-class awakeners.
With both Saintess and Evil Sword bound as Isaac’s Subjects, there was no doubting where their loyalties lay.
"This is tyranny!" another voice shouted, this time from the Aeternum University side. "You think your might makes you right?"
"Does it not?"
The bluntness of the reply stunned the speaker into silence.
Isaac’s gaze swept across the room.
"As for tyranny, wasn’t that the way this city was run before?
"The governor ruled unchecked. The top guilds were his lapdogs. The major corporations followed his orders without question.
"And the top three universities could have stood against him, but you turned your eyes away. Now that a young man speaks of ruling, suddenly it’s tyranny?"
His smile turned cold.
"It wasn’t tyranny when the governor controlled everything. But now you see a chance for a bigger share if you push me around, and you call it tyranny. Isn’t that convenient?"