Eric swallowed hard against the sudden tightness in his throat.
The sound was loud in his own ears in the crushing silence that had followed the Principal’s declaration.
A desperate silent scream of injustice echoed in the chaotic confines of his mind. But I didn’t even do it! I didn’t ask for any of this! I didn’t create a new group! And yet I’m the one who has to endure the consequences. I have to face the scrutiny the pressure! He felt a surge of profound helpless frustration.
It was a feeling of being a puppet in a play orchestrated by forces he couldn’t control let alone understand. He was being judged for the actions of a powerful being that wore his face but was not him.
With a monuntal effort that felt like lifting a mountain Eric summoned a sliver of courage.
It ca from the deepest most terrified corners of his soul. He forced his trembling muscles to obey.
He lifted his head slowly defiantly.
His gaze traveled upward across the sea of staring faces. It went until he t the Principal’s eyes. The old man’s gaze was like a physical weight in itself.
It was sharp and piercing ancient and wise. It was as if he were trying to peel back the layers of Eric’s being to see the truth hidden deep within.
The Principal had been observing Eric intently for so ti now. He had watched him ever since the boy had first entered the auditorium.
To be perfectly honest the Principal hadn’t seen anything particularly special about him. There was no overwhelming aura of power. There was no simring wellspring of untapped energy.
There was nothing that would outwardly justify the Emperor’s unprecedented proclamation. He had been quite surprised even skeptical to hear the news.
The Emperor had not only granted this seemingly unremarkable Prince Eric direct entry into the Academy.
But he had also declared that the boy possessed the true latent potential to one day surpass the Emperor himself.
It was a statent of such magnitude such importance that the Principal in all his long years had never heard its equal. Initially he had privately doubted the Emperor’s judgnt.
But then the previous night a detailed report had reached his desk.
It outlined the events that had taken place in the dormitory courtyard.
This sa boy the one personally endorsed by the Emperor had openly defied the centuries-old rigidly established tradition of the Academy’s faction system. He had rejected all four of the powerful groups.
And he had audaciously resolved to forge his own path to create his own group from the ground up.
At that mont upon reading the report the Principal had allowed himself to think that the Emperor with his unfathomable insight was right after all.
Such an act required a level of courage or sheer arrogance that was far from ordinary.
But now looking at the boy trembling in the front row his face pale and slick with sweat the Principal saw nothing of that reported defiance.
He saw only fear. I don’t understand, the Principal thought a genuine flicker of self-doubt crossing his mind. Have I grown so old so detached from the currents of power that I can no longer perceive a person’s true potential?
Or is this boy so incredibly powerful a true prodigy that he has mastered the art of concealing his abilities completely?
That would be a feat that is for all intents and purposes impossible for one so young. Or... The third most unsettling possibility lingered in his mind. ...did the Emperor for the first ti in his long reign make a mistake?
An idea then ca to the Principal’s mind. A test was in order. A small almost imperceptible smile touched his lips as he continued to stare at Eric. He would see for himself what this boy was made of. He would test him now.
Suddenly the Principal’s voice bood.
It shed its earlier gentleness. It was now filled with a thunderous authority that seed to shake the very foundations of the auditorium.
The air itself vibrated with the force of his words.
"Eric son of Noor IV!" he roared. His voice slamd into Eric like a physical blow.
"Did you truly think that creating a new group would be so simple? If it were that easy don’t you think soone in all these long years would have broken this tradition before you? What were you thinking when you took such an audacious step?! Tell !"
As the last word left his lips the Principal unleashed a trendous amount of his own power. It was not a focused targeted attack like a punch or a spell.
It was a vast suffocating wave of pure oppressive pressure that flooded the entire auditorium. It settled upon everyone present like a crushing invisible weight.
It was a physical manifestation of his imnse authority his incredible strength.
The professors standing on the sidelines of the stage were visibly surprised by the Principal’s sudden aggressive behavior. But none of them moved to intervene.
They simply watched their expressions grim and serious. This was the Principal’s prerogative. It was a test he was entitled to administer.
The Principal’s power was so imnse that even the upperclassn the proud mbers of the four powerful factions began to struggle.
They remained in their seats.
Their pride and their rigorous training did not allow them to collapse or show overt weakness. But the strain was clearly visible on their faces.
Their jaws were clenched tight. Their muscles were taut. Their knuckles were white where they gripped the arms of their chairs.
Only the fourth-year students the true elites of the Academy seated at the back of their respective sections seed relatively unaffected.
A slight tension was visible in their posture a quiet bracing against the overwhelming force.
But they were enduring the pressure. It was a clear testant to their own impressive well-honed power levels.
However the sa could not be said for the new first-year students.
They were suffering imnsely. The pressure was a physical tornt for them. It made it difficult to breathe to even think clearly. It felt as though the very air had turned to lead.
It was compressing their lungs clouding their minds with a primal fear.
The Principal had deliberately calibrated the release of his power.
He did not unleash his full terrifying might. He used just enough to affect everyone in the hall especially the first-years. And most especially he focused it on the one at the very center of it all Eric.
For Eric the pressure was an agony beyond description.
It felt as if a mountain had been placed directly upon his chest.
He gasped for breath. His lungs were unable to expand. His vision was beginning to blur and swim at the edges. His heart hamred against his ribs a frantic terrified drumbeat.
Beside him Monica though also feeling the pressure was not as severely affected.
Her own significant power offered a degree of resistance.
She was surprised by the Principal’s sudden outburst.
But more than that she was surprised to hear official confirmation of what Eric had done. She watched him now with a new critical curiosity observing his struggle.
A few rows away Alina was also struggling to endure the imnse pressure.
She was trying her best to remain upright to not show any weakness. But the strain was clearly visible on her face. Her skin was pale.
Her breathing was ragged and shallow. She was not able to handle this level of raw power well at all.
The entire auditorium had been transford into a crucible a testing ground of imnse pressure.
And Eric the boy who had started it all was being subjected to the most intense heat at its very center.
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