"Even the military is behind me on this one, I am just the victim of an unfortunate coincidence, my student's safety is always my top priority. This is the first time that any such thing happened in my many years of being general. If I don't show you proper evidence in a week I am fully accepting jail time or execution,"

The smile on the general's face was calm yet from knowing Ryker all these years, Mason could also sense a hint of madness in his words.

"So be it! You will have a week before your execution! Savour it well! In the meantime, I'll be taking my daughter back home until all of this is settled!"

With a mixture of heavy emotions, Mason scoffed at the general before turning around, his blueish shadowy aura of death expanding across the entire room as he walked away, making the crowd part once more.

"Hold on sir Griffith, but I am sorry to say that your request will not be possible…"

Slowly, Mason turned around with heavy killing intent that consumed all in its path, staring cold, shadowy daggers at Ryker's eyes who still seemed rather calm, handling the heavy killing intent that sucked the air out of the many silent spectators rather well. If it were anyone else in his situation, they would have wished they were turned to dust, piss their pants before fainting or even dying from the shock.

"What did you say… Explain yourself now before I snap your neck…"

Mason's voice was low yet powerful, sending waves of energy in all directions around the room, papers flying everywhere.

"Well, I don't want any students to leave the premises, the ones that were outside before are now required to come back in. Today, we will continue our investigation and analysis on the crime scene and tomorrow every single student in the school will be questioned using a lie detector. Letting students outside could lead to some unwanted variables so this is the decision that we came up with. If you are concerned about safety don't be, we have upped the camera counts all around the school and increased security 10 fold, I'm sure you noticed it on your way here… I know that the extra cameras and monitoring is completely against normal guidelines that were put in place so we respect student privacy and so we don't gather intel from students about their families but this is an emergency situation so it had to be done, at least 24/7 tracking and listening is not in place. And, If you want to call your children it will have to be heavily monitored for safety reasons,"

Mason's eyes grew wide, everyone else in the room following his lead. He gritted his teeth and clenched his hands into a bloody fist. He wanted to do nothing more than to kill Ryker right then and there, grabbing his daughter and leaving the premises, but he knew all too well that it was not possible to do such a thing even with his authority.

The military seemed to be backing Ryker on this one, going against the entire military would mark the end for both him, his daughter, and his entire family, so for now, he had to deal with and abide by the rules.

"So be it! For your own sake and everything that me and you have been through, I hope you aren't bullshiting me… I'm leaving!"

Mason spoke once again, his shadow gaze and cold killing intent fixated on the calm, smiling Ryker, opening his now bloody palms before walking away, everyone making space for him instinctively, not even daring to look in his direction as they still found it extremely hard to breathe in his presence.

"Okay! Now, all of you should follow his lead. The school will open to students in a few minutes and you all are not even allowed on the premises when that happens. You should be lucky that I even allowed for this meeting to happen in the first place… Now, goodbye!"

The crowd still in complete shock and silence from the previous display of power and how Ryker was unaffected, out of instinct, followed orders without a single word, some of them with a heavy look of pure sadness or disgust on their faces as they exited the room knowing full well they could not do anything about it.

"Nurse Joi, could you please be so kind as to close the door for me?"

With a nod, the nurse responded and did as she was told before turning around to face the general as they were the only 2 people in the room.

"So, how has the analysis of the battlefield been going?" He spoke, sitting back in his seat comfortably with his hands clasped against each other planted firmly on his empty desk.

"Well sir, we found no bodies at all, no DNA evidence of anything, only a single footprint on the ground and a few on trees of some sort of unknown armour. There was also clear tampering in the battlefield to hide evidence, maybe some sort of dimensional ability or device involved. Cameras from outside of the school managed to witness 2 flying figures fighting, but they were so far away that nothing but specs of dust were seen. Everything is indeed quite mysterious but we have found no evidence suggesting it being the work of a shalker… Sir… Lying to the masses like this is very wrong and lying and faking evidence to the military higher-ups is probably even worse… If word got out then you're finished… " The nurse responded with a heavy voice.

"Nurse, think about it like this, if I said nothing then I would have died or been ruined anyway, this was the only choice I had left. And besides… I'm not even lying! The evidence will show up eventually I'm sure of it… If not today when we do a more thorough investigation with a bigger team but tomorrow when we question all staff and students… I'm just sure of it…"

The smile on Ryker's face was something all too obscure to her, nothing like the Ryker that she used to know and love as she could not help but stare at his smile in silence, clear concern on her face for both his health and sanity as she knew he did not deserve any of what he was receiving.

****************************

The secretary that was accompanying Mason Griffith stood outside of the general's office playing with her fingers, hoping that all was alright when suddenly,

*Thud* *Thud* *Thud*

She was able to hear loud footsteps coming her way in such a pattern that was all too familiar to her, not being able to forget in a million years from how long she had worked under that man, looking up to see exactly who she expected, the shadow aura exuding from him and the look of pure anger on his face somehow even greater than when he had walked in.

"My lord… How did it go? Is everything okay?" She asked, now walking directly to his side.

Mason took a quick glance at her, slightly calming his nerves and aura, sighing before responding.

*Sigh*

"Yes, I'm fine… I apologize for my previous outburst, it was just uncalled for. As for what happened inside… All that you need to know is I'll do what I have to do to keep my daughter safe, even if it means I have to slightly bend the military's rules to my will…"

*****************************

With a long, deep breath, Moby took a glance at the slightly cloudy bright blue sky through the window to his side, playing with the pen on his right hand as he patiently waited for his class to start, his mind still in deep thought pondering over the next few steps of his plan.

"Hey! Do you have any idea what the lockdown yesterday was about?"

"I have no idea… It seemed to come out of nowhere… Why does this shit keep happening to our school? Are we cursed? First the exam shit and now this… I feel like death is around every corner..."

"I think there is a mass murderer around the school… But I'm not sure… I haven't heard from one of my friends ever since he said he was going to go hunting in the forest yesterday..."

"Wait really!?"

Rumours had already spread like wildfire, people making their own theories on what had happened, those small whispers entering Moby's ears were filtered out like they were not even there. He had heard too many theories and whispers on his way, through the hallways and the outside of the school.

Also, on his way, he could not help but notice all of the extra security all over the school, cameras and guards in almost every corner, especially around the forest where everything went down the other day, something that Moby fully expected to see.

From what he had witnessed, it seemed like he had done a good enough job hiding all the evidence, the military should have no clue about anything.

Yet, that was of course only natural and was nothing to celebrate considering how thorough he was hiding every last spec.

Moby took another deep breath and turned around to face his class. Few of the seats were still empty from the massacre exams that had just occurred and the seats that were still being used either had a kid silent or gossiping with their friends.

Everyone seemed to be present, simply waiting for professor Leo to arrive, all but one person that he had been waiting so long to see face to face…

*Slam*

Suddenly, the door of the room was thrust wide open, making the entire class go silent.

A man of tall stature entered the room exuding confidence, papers in his hands, a rather odd look on his usually up-beat, casual face. He wore a standard striped button-up shirt, his sleeves rolled up revealing his thick forearms, his broad shoulders and biceps looking like they were ready to tear the entire shirt to shreds, his usual spikey hair looking less sharp and pointy than usual.

He threw the papers on his desk and spoke with a heavy voice.

"Good morning class… Damn, this has been one heck of a few weeks, hasn't it? One problem after another... I haven't been able to properly sleep for weeks from everything that was going on…"

*Yawwwwnnn*

"Anyways class, according to what I've been given, I need to explain to you the new protocols and rules that will be going on in the school. The reason for yesterday's lockdown is still considered a military secret of high order so I'll not be able to tell you guys what happened until I am given explicit permission, which will probably be when they find a definitive answer to everything. Now, does anyone have any questions before I get started?"

Leo's heavy voice rang throughout the entire room, the whole class turning tense as a usual silence enveloped the entire class since no one was willing or even dared to ask a question.

"Well, seems like there are no questions, then I'll just get star-"

*Slam*

With a rather quiet sound, the door opened once more, making everyone's attention focus on it, Moby suppressing his various emotions under his cool, calm, and collected poker face knowing exactly who it was that had arrived.

"Good morning professor Leo, sorry for my tardiness, I had some trouble arriving to school today, I beg for your forgiveness," The figure of a beautiful red-haired girl wearing standard uniform spoke from the door, her face not being able to be seen from her deep bow and from her hair covering her face that was not tied in her usual ponytail that everyone always saw her with.

"Miss Reid, yes, you are indeed a bit late. But since today is rather special, I won't hold it against you this time, please take your seat and listen to my rundown of the new school rules and protocols, it might take a while so bear with me," Leo spoke in his still tired voice.

The red-haired girl lifted her head, revealing her serious expression and beautiful face, making tomatoes out of the faces of some of the male students.

"Yes sir! I thank you for your leniency and generosity," With a still serious expression, she spoke, making Leo nod back at her.

She lifted her body up and stood up straight with elegance, walking past Leo's table to get to her desk at the front of the class. However, not before taking a glance straight at Moby's direction, a clear yet subtle ominous smile on her face that no one else seemed to notice, Moby, still with his calm demeanour playing with his pen staring back at her with a serious, cold and indifferent expression.

Their gazes only lasted a split second in reality, no one noticing a single thing. Yet, for them, it felt more like minutes of cold, ominous staring instead, before Abby's face reverted back to normal and she sat down quietly to listen to what professor Leo had to say, not before looking back at Moby once again with a cute chuckle that Moby knew all too well was not out of love, loyalty or affection, but simply out of amusement, and maybe even a hint of contempt like he was a poor little mouse stuck in her trap.