Selene pulled out a dagger and tapped the taut rope with it gently. The fibers groaned.
"You’re going to tell everything related to the poisonous gas situation concerning Victor. Or I cut the rope."
The boy began to cry. His face turned pale as sweat poured down his forehead. "I didn’t do anything! It wasn’t —I swear! It was Derek! It was all Derek!"
Selene narrowed her eyes. "Start from the top."
He nodded furiously. "It was during the preparation for the Legacy competition. Derek got access to the control interface of the waiting room from soone. He locked the door system and then rigged the vents. I didn’t even know who the guy was—so contractor or sothing. He never told us nas."
"You were all trying to kill Victor Revenant?"
"We didn’t know it would go that far!" he squealed. "Derek just said he wanted to teach him a lesson. But when the gas was added and the fire triggered—I knew it wasn’t a prank anymore."
"And you just watched?"
"I didn’t know what to do! I—I swear I didn’t help. Derek did it, and he had soone on the inside help him!"
Selene leaned forward and stared into his eyes. "Who?"
"I don’t know. He never said."
She gave the rope another light cut. A few strands snapped.
"Truth. Or your insides decorate the cliff. Trust , no one is coming to save you."
"I’m telling the truth! Please! All I know is Derek’s behind it. Ask anyone in our group. They’re just too scared to speak!"
She finally stepped back, flicked her dagger clean, and turned away.
"You’re going to hang there until sunrise. Hope a wind doesn’t blow."
(( Present — Back in the Dorm ))
Victor’s fists were clenched so tight his knuckles turned white. His jaw twitched with restrained fury.
"So Derek tried to have killed..." he whispered. "I didn’t think he was capable of this."
Selene nodded. "I didn’t either. But you need to know—soone helped him. Soone with higher clearance. That ans it’s deeper than we thought."
Victor’s breath was steady but his aura flared slightly as a ripple of barely-restrained qi leaked from his core. His blood boiled with rage, and his eyes darkened.
"I’m not letting him get away with this."
Selene’s lips quirked, not into a smile but sothing like approval. "Then be smart about it. Vengeance without evidence is suicide. We dig deeper. We bring this out into the light."
Victor nodded slowly.
Because now it was personal.
And Derek would regret the day he ever tried to sabotage him.
(( One Day Later ))
Victor shook his head, trying to process the news echoing through the academy’s loudspeakers. "Rancid Davidson has been expelled... plotting the demise of our warrior category legacy competition winner, Victor Revenant."
He stared at the students milling around him in the surroundings whose murmurs rose in waves of confusion. Soone had confessed, but it wasn’t Derek? Who the hell was Rancid Davidson?
---
**Earlier That Day**
Victor sat tensely across from Instructor Maren Holt in her tidy office just off the central academic block. She was mid-conversation on her tablet as her sandal-clad foot tapped a asured rhythm.
He, Selene, and Danny had arrived together, ard with grim resolve.
"Have you got anything more on that incident you ntioned?" Holt asked calmly while leaning forward. Her blonde hair fell into her lap in a crisp braid, and her tone carried careful neutrality like the mark of soone trained for diplomacy.
"Selene’s already spoken to one of the students involved," Victor began. "He confird Derek orchestrated the sabotage—locks, gas, everything."
She nodded. "Yes, and the janitor who handled Victor’s waiting chamber turned up missing. The cleaning schedule had been shifted at the last minute, and he disappeared the morning after the fire—but no trace since. A lead the instructors should be pursuing."
A hint of dissatisfaction crossed her face.
Instructor Holt glanced at her and spoke; "Everything has to follow due process."
"How soon can this be dealt with?" Victor inquired bluntly. "Because if Derek is responsible, he needs to be expelled. I can’t sleep knowing he’s still roaming the halls."
Selene interjected quietly, "I can bring in the witness again. He said it all under duress—he’ll confirm everything he told ."
Holt folded her fingers together. "We appreciate that, Selene. Witness testimony is vital, but academy policy requires corroboration—preferably from multiple sources. We’re already interviewing Derek and his associates. If the student can do so again in front of staff with full rights to appeal and protection, we can proceed."
It turned out that they had imdiately reported the incident and pointed out Derek and his associates to be the culprits last night.
However, the disciplinary office had only taken their statents and promise to look into their reports.
Victor had returned late to his dorms around midnight and didn’t even catch a wink of sleep till the next morning, hoping that by the ti morning routine was over, Derek would have been dealt with.
However, despite coming to the disciplinary office once more to inquire about the matter, it would seem that investigations were still ongoing despite their claims last night.
The only bright side about all this was that Derek and his gang had been brought in and were currently being questioned.
Victor stood with a straight expression. "Expect in your office once he’s ready."
Holt nodded. "I’ll coordinate with Vice Chancellor Vale. She’s reviewing the disciplinary board’s schedules—should be within the week. Thank you."
---
**Later That Morning**
Victor focused on his warrior lectures which were hours of wading through technique: how to angle a rising slash, build mana into a strike, reinforce internal aura.
Always the sword, always the art, always the discipline.
Victor of course always made sure to edit what he was taught to suit his own Qi based techniques.
---
By mid afternoon, Victor had just finished another warrior lecture when the announcent ca over the tannoy.
"Rancid Davidson has been expelled from the Awakened Academy for plotting the demise of a fellow student—our Warrior Legacy competition winner, Victor Revenant. This confirms the academy’s zero-tolerance stance against betrayal from within. Competition is welcod but such vile actions are condemned. Students are warned to desist from such conspiracies imdiately."
Silence rippled across the academy grounds. Victor paused mid-motion as his jade-green eyes narrowed in confusion.
"Rancid Davidson? Why isn’t it Derek?"
A low rumble of whispers started:
> "Ah so the incident back then was caused by a student..."
> "Rancid? Who even is that?"
> "He’s a mage awakened that likes to go around causing trouble. No one expected him to be involved."
Victor instantly turned around and began heading down the walkways with his mind racing faster than his feet. ’Who was Rancid Davidson?’
He’d only focused on Derek’s group and Selene had confird that Derek was truly the one responsible. He’d never even heard the na Rancid.
Was so unknown evidence uncovered? Or was this all just a cover up?
---
Victor’s pulse hamred in his ears as he paced outside the Vice Chancellor’s office with his fists clenched tightly at his sides.
The announcent of Rancid Davidson’s expulsion still cut through his mind like a spiky blade.
Fortunately, imdiately after hearing the announcent, even Selene had co.
He turned to her with a glare.
"Who the hell is Rancid?" he demanded.
Selene t his eyes, unwavering. "One of Derek’s gang. Probably a mage or warrior—soone lower-tier. I dug into the expulsion. Rancid Davidson is not only real, but he’s from Derek’s group. But Derek is the one who orchestrated the gas incident so..."
Victor’s jaw hardened. "Then why’s Rancid taking the fall?"
Selene’s frown deepened. "I don’t know. Probably trying to cover up for him." She jabbed a finger at the office door. "Let’s go get so answers."
Inside, the Vice Chancellor’s office was luxurious with four tall columns, a large dark desk as well as one larger table at the center.
A half-circle line of instructors stood as stiff as soldiers around the larger table.
The Vice Chancellor, Lysandra Ravaryn-Duskbane, looked up from her seat behind the desk with an alert expression.
"Victor Revenant," she began with an authoritative tone. "We were about to send for you. Sit, please."
Victor didn’t.
"I should be receiving proper answers," he voiced with a low tone. "Rancid Davidson is not the dude who tried to kill . Derek is. I demand he be expelled instead."
An instructor on the far left with his arm banded with academy insignia, spoke before anyone else could. "Rancid confessed. He nad himself as the one who engineered the gas and tampered with the door controls. All evidence points to him. He will be expelled."
Selene jumped in. "That’s impossible. I got a full confession from one of Derek’s goons. He nad Derek as the ringleader!"
An unmistakable tension thickened the room. Other instructors shifted uncomfortably.
Vice Chancellor Lysandra raised her hand. "There may be a mistake. We need clarity."
One instructor exited the room. Minutes crawled by like ancient ice, and then he returned, flanked by a pale youth whose eyes were wide with fear and guilt.
They inched forward. As the boy stepped up behind the instructor, Victor recognized the student. It was one of Derek’s mage-enlisted accomplice... One of the two that ambushed him underwater a month back.
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