The hall was compacted with students. Although the room was big, it couldn’t contain this many students. Xanxus created a stage of ice levitating above us as we all chattered amongst ourselves about what he could possibly be calling such a big meeting for.

I had Malia in front of me with my arms swung around her torso, keeping her from being too squished by the older kids around us. Jace stood in front of us, making sure no one stepped backwards into Malia and I. Naz and Sara were on either side of me but we were all squished together.

“Budge in, Budge in…” the teacher shoved students deeper into the crowd like sheep.

“Keep em coming. Find every student in the school.” Malia’s form tutor spoke, holding the doors open.

Every teacher in the school was here. All of them stood at the doorways while the guards went searching for any bunking students.

The hall was loud and humid, people complaining and kids screaming from being stepped on. Well this was clearly an organised event. Very well planned.

“EVERYONE QUIET!” Xanxus bellowed but it was useless. The complaining kids overpowered his mana pressure. We were like one ball of mana mixing and merging. 

‘The only thing mixing and merging is everyone’s stinky ass breath!’ Voadhailis groaned as I sniffed the air.

He’s right.

A new man on the side of the stage snickered, shaking his head in disapproval. He wore a yellow suit and looked proper. His posture was fixed back and he looked overjoyed.

“SHUSH!” A monstrous voice shook through my ears, making them ring. That new man yelled, releasing a loud sound wave. WHAT BRANCHED ELEMENT WAS THAT?!

I wasn’t the only one who heard it because everyone let out a synced groan before going quiet and facing the front. The new man giggled at the obedience and smirked at Xanxus in triumph. 

He proceeded to scan the crowd of shaken children, zooming past me before returning his gaze on me. The tension grew in the air as the side of my face pulled up into a sly smirk. His intense glare weighed over me. 

Why did his glare feel personal? 

I clenched my jaw still smirking while holding his cold stare. The hall was dead silent, almost to a pindrop. Xanxus cleared his throat, snapping the man out of his trance and making him look away.

“We gathered you all today to tell you some news.” Xanxus started, hesitantly. “I am leaving my position as the head of this school.”

Students whispered amongst themselves in shock, some gasping and some aweing. They loved Xanxus as their headteacher. 

He tried his best to dig out opportunities for our individual dreams and goals. He listened to every complaint and retraced every mistake of his school. He set in safety lockdowns and always tried to stay in control of what was happening on his school grounds. 

I think it was only until I started at this school, things started to go wrong for him. I see his struggle, I see his faults but I can also see that he loved this school. Every tournament mattered to him. He dreamt of us all to be at the top with him and his academy. He tried his best and now something was terribly off.

Xanxus Academy wouldn’t be the same without Xanxus. He cherished his school and its victories the most. He loved his school garden and his students even though he didn’t show it. He looked devastated. 

Xanxus would never willingly leave his school.

“I will be handing my position to Mr Hundin E Roxeen.”

The man giggled like a girl, fanning himself with a feathered fan. Nobody cheered. Nobody.

“It is rude not to cheer. What a bad impression? I guess I will have to change this whole system.” The man’s voice fluttered in happy little circles in the air, causing me to contract terminal cancer.

He sounded like a princess on helium and cannabis.

The crowd hesitantly started to clap with short pauses between each clap.

“Much better. Now, get Xanxus out of my school. SECURITY!” He yelled.

The students started an uproar but Xanxus just looked heartbroken at the students coming to his defense. The guards grabbed Xanxus with pity in their eyes and dragged him out.

“Classes shall go on as normal.” Mr E Roxeen stated clapping his hands. “Chop, chop!” he said, slapping his fan in his hand.

**

I sat in my form room, at the back with Jace and Naz sitting on my right and the window on my left. Our form tutor was late.

The class was a mess. Children were huddling together, talking about the turn of events and about how things were going to change.

“Zeref! Have you heard? Mr E Roxeen is handing out mana dampeners in the form of collars.” a girl with ginger hair stood in front of me.

“What?! He can’t do that!” Naz yelled in disbelief, leaning into the conversation.

“Yeah, collars are a bit extreme.” Jace agreed as the ginger head nodded.

“I knew that man was trouble.” I layed back in my chair, looking out the window.

Students bunking had collars on them as they laughed at a bench. Suddenly their collars flashed red and they all screamed in pain, falling to the floor.

“Guys look outside!” one of my classmates yelled as everyone rushed to the windows, watching the scene unfold.

The students cried out in pain, tugging on their collars. 

“Students!” the nice nurse lady rushed outside frantically, not knowing what to do.

“ArrgggHHHH!” one of the kids yelled out, going red.

Suddenly, the headteacher teleported behind the kids with his hands held behind his back. 

“Skipping class?” he sneered, peering down at their wriggling bodies.

“Sir! This is too much! Let these poor children g-” the nurse lady tried to protect them but was ignored.

“NO!” Mr E Roxeen snapped, letting out a roar and emitting another soundwave but this time the nurse flew back into a wall, crashing into it with force. She let out a whimper, cradling her shoulder on the floor. 

“Off!” the headteacher snapped as the collars stopped flashing. “Now get back to class.”

Scurrying to help the nurse lady, the students all helped her up. 

“I said NOW!” he reiterated, causing them to hurry out with the nurse lady limping out with them.

This guy was bad news.

**

The teacher walked in with a box of collars in his hands and a smirk spread across his face. The class watched him walking, our heads in sync to his every movement. He shook the box, standing in front of the classroom with a smug look.

“Please come to the front one by one and collect your collars. This is compulsory to wear at all times and anyone who refuses to wear these will be expelled without discussion.” His voice had a malicious intent to it and I didn’t like it one bit.

The other students also didn’t want to be treated like caged rats and a burst of uproar engulfed the classroom. 

“Why should we wear these?!” One of the students shouted.

“Where are our rights?!” 

“This is stupid!”

The uproar was starting to go out of control as students started to flip their tables and stand up in rage.

“Silenceee!” Suddenly a chilling voice caused everyone to freeze except me. A deadly mana pressure and killing intent oozed off of the principle, who stood in front of us with an enraged expression.

He scanned the room like a hawk, eyeing every one of us. The students all began sitting down one by one and became gentle like little children.

I couldn’t tell what level he was due to my eye patch but I could tell he was stronger than Xanxus. Could I win against him?

“I’m disappointed in all of you. I know this is a big change but the way you turds acted was downright animalistic. Now take your collars and wear them.” he ordered and the students at the front reluctantly got out of their seats and picked up the dark collars from the box.

“Zeref.” Jace whispered, taking in a big gulp. It was soon going to be our turn.

“…And the last row.” The teacher spoke.

“Don’t move.” I said to Jace and he nodded in understanding. A glint of faith burned in his eyes again as held Naz’s hand.

All eyes were on us as we were the only ones who hadn’t stood up.

“Why aren’t you three moving? And you. Get rid of that filthy eye patch!” The principle shouted, pointing his fan towards me.

I controlled my urge to kill and took a deep breath. Cracking my knuckles and making direct eye contact with the new principle, my voice came out cold.

“Do you want to start a war?”

He kissed his teeth and clenched his scrunched up fan in his hands. I knew he knew who I was and what status I held; The Hunter Association, The Bank, The Elven Royal Family, they were all under me. 

There was no way this mere Principal was going to risk danger falling on the Vrimeon Kingdom. I had strong backers and he wasn’t dumb enough to provoke me.

Paired with my physical power, business mind set and wealth I was able to find strong backers for exactly these types of situations.

I hated getting pushed around by the people up top. That’s why I always aimed to be at the peak. 

“If any of you dare to remove your collars, you will be sent to the detention chamber!” He snapped, averting his gaze from me and eyeing the students. After a couple seconds of an eerie silence, he disappeared into particles of light. 

RING! RING!

The bell rang and the students got up to head to their lesson.

“You have a lot of explaining to do.” Jace eyed me, following me out of the room.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep