《True World》Chapter 28: Not the Headmaster Anymore?!
Advertisement
Chapter 28:
Not the Headmaster Anymore?!
--- --- ---
“Now, Headmaster Ember, since us nine are here to challenge you, you will not turn us away, now are you?” One of the elders from the Phoenix spoke up this time. This person’s name was Darma Fenix, a prestigious elder in the Golden Phoenix Clan. Wearing gray magician’s robe, there was noticeable trace of arrogance in his demeanor. But he did not dare to flare it in front of the headmaster.
“I have always accepted challenges from those who wishes to take my position. As long as you are strong enough to defeat me, regardless of the method, then naturally I would accept.” Headmaster Ember said coldly. “Except…”
“Hm? What is wrong, Headmaster Ember? Could it be you want to turn us down this time? Could there...be something wrong with your health?” Another elder chimed in. This person was another elder of the Rossia Clan, called James Voidbone. An evil smile was playing on his lips at this moment.
Headmaster Ember narrowed her eyes as she looked at James. “No. I am feeling fine. It’s just, I do not have the rights to accept your challenges as the headmaster anymore.” She said coolly.
“What?! What do you mean, Headmaster Ember?” Karl asked as he grew startled. She does not have the rights anymore? How was that even possible!
“It is true. I am not lying. Just yesterday, I have already transferred my headmaster position to someone else.” Headmaster Ember said, a satisfied smile on her face having seen those arrogant elders become startled.
“You mean...the person you were battling yesterday?...You...lost?!” Adam said as his eyes widened in shock. To have defeated the headmaster, even though Adam was strong, he was not confident that he would be able to overcome the headmaster. Especially alone, as he had found out the hard way five years ago…
Headmaster Ember did not reply to his question, but merely gave a slight nod. But that confirmation had thrown the nine elders into deep shock.
“Goodness! To think there was somebody capable of defeating that old monster…” A womanly elder, from the Golden Phoenix Clan, whispered under her breath. “Do we have any report on who that person was who fought the headmaster?”
“No…our spies reported that there were strange interferences that prevented them seeing anything inside the coliseum where the battle took place.” Another elder from the Phoenix Clan whispered to the womanly elder.
Advertisement
Darma creased his eyebrows when he heard the elders’ conversation. To have no report on someone who was capable of defeating the headmaster alone...this was going to be dangerous.
The nine clan elders stood there silently contemplating to themselves. There was a deathly silence in the air. The Headmaster had on a calm, yet cold, look on her face as she held her head up high.
After a while, Adam broke the silence. In a chilly voice, he asked: “Do you have proof?”
Again, without verbally replying, Headmaster Ember lifted up both of her hands. As her sleeves pulled back down, it revealed her bare wrists.
“”“ !! ”””
The elders’ emotions were thrown into chaos. If they had a sliver of doubt before about the headmaster's words, then at this moment upon seeing her wrists, they had no choice but to believe her.
“T-the Golden Law Bracelet is on her..” Darma stammered as he stared with open eyes at the headmaster’s empty wrists.
The Golden Law Bracelet was the symbol of the headmaster’s strength and authority. The bracelet is made with high quality materials, making it almost indestructible. Moreover, the bracelet also represented the highest order of protection law in the United World continent.
Whoever owns this bracelet would be protected by at least 4 Major Clans, and this was only exclusive for those of a Headmaster status. This is to ensure that no one would dare to steal the bracelet openly, or face four Major Clans’ fury. The only way to get the Headmaster’s position was either to challenge the headmaster openly in due, or if the headmaster was to pass away early due to some “unknown circumstances.”
The headmaster is to keep this Golden Law Bracelet on them at all times, to ensure their sole identity as the Headmaster of Arena Academy. Frauds are impossible to find, and counterfeits of this unique bracelet are none.
To not have the bracelet anymore, would mean that Headmaster Ember had truly passed on her position to someone else.
Someone whom the three Major Clans currently have no idea about!
“Wh..who is it?” James said, his voice trembling such that it was almost inaudible.
Headmaster Ember turned to James. “That is for me to know, and for you to find out.”
Several of the elders furrowed their eyebrows when they heard the headmaster’s words. If this person truly inherited the headmaster’s position, everyone is going to know how he/she is sooner or later. What’s the point of keeping up some childish suspense?
Advertisement
Or perhaps the headmaster is playing a trick on them??
“Hmph, since you’re unwilling to tell us who it is, doesn’t that mean you may be lying? We’ll all know who it is at some point, so what’s the point of hiding it from us now?...Unless you never gave away your Golden Law Bracelet!” Adam’s cold voice rang out. By now, there was almost no trace of cordiality in his tone anymore. The previous smile he had showned to the headmaster had also disappeared without a trace.
“Think what you want, but regardless I am no longer the headmaster of Arena Academy. There’s no point in speaking with on these matters anymore.” This time Headmaster Ember directly replied to Adam’s comment. Her voice carried an equally coldness.
“If you’re unwilling to tell us, then we still wish to challenge against you. After we’ve won, then we’ll see if you’ve truly lost your position or not!” Karl said as he looked maliciously at Headmaster Ember.
“Huh, what makes you all so sure that you can beat me, with just your Soul Forces alone? If you each brought along your Clan Masters, then it might be a bit troublesome, but with just you nine? Laughable.” Headmaster Ember said as she glared at the elders.
Bring their Clan Masters? Although they could do that, it was not good thing to do. If a Clan Master were to challenge the headmaster and lost, their entire Clan will lose prestige. To lose their reputation would be an immense blow to any large country. Thus, no Clan Master would want to personally battle against the Headmaster.
Even when they heard about the Headmaster’s supposedly injured state, they did not dare trust blindly. Instead, they sent their top three elders to the scene to test the wind. If the headmaster was truly injured, even if the elders were to still lose, then the Clan Masters would immediately gather together and launch a full out attack against Headmaster Ember.
And these Clan Masters were naturally the leaders of Golden Phoenix, Crimson Dragon, and Rossia.
“No need to hide it, Headmaster Ember. Our intelligence report has stated that you’ve been injured during your battle yesterday. Right, you should’ve be able to use your full power at the Spiritual Rank.” James said with a slight smirk on his face.
“Injuries?” Headmaster said with a confused expression.
Although she was indeed heavily injured yesterday, for some unknown reason, she was fully healed right after the battle. She had none of her injuries before, right now.
Of course, the headmaster was unaware that she had died once and was revived by Vinci later. If she had known, perhaps she would not be able to keep her calm around Vinci anymore.
In the United World, a magic that could revive someone is unheard of. There aren’t even a set grade for such a spell in this vast continent, which goes to show how rare, or even impossible, for such a spell to exist here.
“You can stop acting pretend, Headmaster Ember. Let us start the battle. At that time, let’s see how long you can hide your injuries. Do you dare accept our challenge?” Darma said as he positioned himself for action. The other eight elders began spreading out and forming a wide circle around the Headmaster.
“Dare? Why would I not? Since you all want to fight me so badly, even if I’m not the headmaster anymore, there’s no need to back down from you lot. I accept.” Headmaster Ember said calmly as she glared at Darma.
As the nine elders were not a part of the Arena Academy and were not in possession of the +Arena device, this battle agreement was all made verbally on each of their honor and pride. In this way, it could be said that outside of the academy, battles are often fought in this manner. A verbal agreement, or even none, could elicit a fight at any time.
If it wasn’t because of the headmaster’s great strength and position, perhaps the nine elders would have directly attacked her. But because they were still unsure if she still had her position, the elders had still issued a verbal challenge, so that if they did win, then there would have been an agreement set up before already for them to take the headmaster position. If they had just simply fought directly, then even if they won, the headmaster may not honor giving them her position!
Without another word, the nine elders began quickly closing in on Headmaster Ember; each of one silently chanting their spells as they prepared to launch a full out attack...
Advertisement
Evolution Barricade
Kaden barely had a life; from a young age, he watched and studied diligently but failed to go anywhere in his life. An avid fan of isekai manga, he densely throws himself in front of a car when he's told he'll be living on the streets! The gods spare him but he soon finds out why - he's being given his very own miniature hell, doomed to be... a barricade! Kaden will be tasked to stop people; the more successful he is, the more he levels up and curries favor to grow. From a humble row of thorny grass, just how far will he go as a barricade!? Evolution Barricade is no longer active! This is because it served as the basis/concepting for another series I write, known as STEM: The Topical Dungeon. If you liked Evolution Barricade, please check it out here!
8 219Skin Never Forgets
Skin never forgets. And neither did she. After losing everything, tonight she's taking revenge. Winner of the Huddler's Challenge short story contest! Full story is out now!
8 120Starchild
“It’s life’s illusions I recall. I really don’t know life at all.” from the song, Both Sides Now, by Joni Mitchell Starchild is an adventure novel set within an understanding of reality that is rooted in Eastern spiritual traditions.It takes as its starting point experiments in remote viewing that were genuinely undertaken by the American military in the nineteen-nineties under the name of the Stargate Project. It then imagines how a more advanced attempt to weaponise the capabilities of consciousness might have been developed in the present day.The story then explores how Ultimate Reality might respond to such a threat.Deep, elemental forces thus bring together Samantha Martin and Sahadeva Varma, old colleagues from the Stargate Project, to avert the apocalyptic consequences of this military attempt to weaponise consciousness. This fast-paced story spans genres including romance, action, adventure, science fiction and more. Although this story is based on concepts drawn from established spiritual traditions, these have sometimes been extrapolated to the point of very extreme speculation for the needs of an adventure story.Much of the underlying philosophy, however, as explained in the dharma talks given by Samantha Martin, is paraphrased from the guidance of respected spiritual teachers. Scheduling: Starchild is a previously unpublished novel of one hundred thousand words which was serialised in weekly instalments over twenty-five weeks from 15th November 2021 to the 29th April 2022. Each instalment contains five chapters – an average of approximately four thousand words in each instalment. Acknowledgements: All the mandala images, with one exception, were drawn by Brian Huggett using the Spirality mandala drawing application. The mandala associated with chapter 82 and which occupies the centre of the front cover of Starchild is attributed to Jgmoxness, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons. The comet image is derived from a photograph by Marco Milanesi downloaded from Pexels. The cover image was assembled from these images by Brian Huggett.
8 104King's Genesis
A new game, 'Chaos Realms' is released on the eve of the 22nd Century. Its announcement brought skepticism, as the creators claimed it would be the second world for humanity. But all of that doubt was washed away in mere moments. It altered the very bedrock of society. Hundreds of millions of people signed up in mere days, with many more over time. This story, however, is about struggle. One young man's struggle to become the strongest, and how much of his humanity he was willing to sacrifice. But would the game always just be a game? Or would it become something else entirely?
8 177The Chaos Immortal
Before the beginning of time, there was chaos. Or rather that was how many thought. The one being that knew the entirety of the matter did not have the thought to correct this. He would rather observe everything in silence. One day, due to boredoom, he decided to personally experience the universe. He has experienced all yet he is a complete novice at the same time. Read about the epic (or not) adventure following our hero on his adventure.
8 285Everyday Magic: Diary of a Shadow Worker
After trying and failing to come up with an original story that she could feel proud of, Iona Malcolm decided to write her own life as fiction. Shouldn't be too hard, considering her best friends were Trickster Spirits. However, in order to communicate with them enough to understand what they were talking about, she had to face the daunting task of completing her Shadow Work. Suddenly, she finds herself at the precipice of finally changing her circumstances for the better, building her own personal paradise, with the help of the gods willing to aid her in her journey towards finding Elysium on Earth. All she has to contend with are the demons.
8 120