A clandestine meeting was occurring within Callahan’s Greystone Academy, most popularly known as Second Academy, the second institution to be created for espers and casters in Sanctuary. The room was sparsely furnished and the most notable furniture was a decagon desk that had a seat on each side, all of which were currently occupied. The boardroom itself was painted black and with the dim lights, it hid the ten members that were conversing with each other.

“This is outrageous,” one of the shadowed individuals said, his aged voice indicating that he was a male. “Ms. Graves, while I have utter respect and admiration for how you have handled this academy, I can not say I am pleased that you hired an uneducated mercenary to teach our students.

“I am not insulting his experience. Clearly, he’s been on the battlefield for many years. However, can you truly guarantee that he is capable of teaching our younger generation? Keep in mind, that while the war has ended, every nation and corporation in the entire world has been eyeing our city for conquest and we must be ready for anything.”

A wave of murmurs floated through the table as other members expressed their stance. Silvia looked at the one who first spoke and let out a silent sigh. He wasn’t against her so to say and had even helped her when she was first nominated as a board member while the other members regarded her with little faith. But her recent move to hire Jason without the board’s approval was regarded as reckless by even her allies.

“I can assure you, Mr. C, I have good reasons to hire him,” Ms. Graves replied while stifling her sigh.

“Can you elaborate on your reason, Ms. Graves?” another member spoke while smoking. Unlike most members who were conversing through a live holo-video, this member was present and his demeanor was calm.

“I can not,” she answered, her eyes moving from one director to another. “It’s classified by the Council itself. In fact, I would not know of this had I not been a Council member myself.”

“How very convenient for you,” the smoking member sneered. “Ms. Graves, if you are not transparent enough with your reasoning, then I’m afraid we’ll have to vote for a new principal to oversee this academy. After all, we are not confident of your judgment after this debacle.”

Silvia turned to look at the member as he puffed some smoke in, her glasses glinted dangerously as she narrowed her eyes while the other directors voiced their agreement with him

“Oh? Are you sure that’s what you wish for, Mr. B?” she asked, her voice steady as though she was not concerned by his comment.

“Sadly, yes, I am,” he said rather smugly. “All those in agreement?”

Over three quarters agreed with him, using their terminals to vote; only Mr. C and two other neutral directors refused to vote. But before the votes could be processed a loud sound interrupted everyone in the room, a resounding clap echoed through the room. The clapping newcomer slowly appeared from thin air from behind Silvia as he deactivated his camouflage power and Silvia smiled while taking her glasses off and cleaning them.

“My, what a turn of events,” the intruder said. He had sculpted cheeks that were slightly hallowed, pronouncing his angularly square jaw in a clear manner. His pointy yet wide, stubborn chin had a small indent in the center that made women want to place their finger on while his messy black hair along with his haphazardly shaved stubble gave him a sly, roguish look. “Apologies for interrupting your little ... slumber party. I couldn’t help but hear your arguments and I thought ‘Hey, why not help these idiots out?’”

“How dare you! Intruder alert, take him down!” the man with a cigar said, his anger overcoming him. As soon as he finished, the door to the room opened and two security bots entered while a weapon system deployed itself from the roof, turning into a combat drone. 

“Belay that order, voice recognition and confirmation code RC dash Alpha dash 00,” Jason said calmly. The bots and drone received his order and immediately dispersed back to their stations.

“What?” Mr. B exclaimed as his shock caused him to drop his cigar.

“Well, now that that’s over with, let’s get back to business,” Jason said while tossing a bag onto the desk. As it hit the ground, Jason shot a flicker of energy at the bag, causing it to dissolve and reveal it’s content. Several severed thumbs rolled out and each one was a right thumb, meaning that tonight a large number of people were missing a thumb.

“Recognize those? They're the thumbs of your security guards and I got all that in one afternoon. Wanna see what I can do in one night?” Jason took a thumb from the desk and pointed it at them to emphasize his point. “Well not night, I'm usually busy consoling the women of this island, but you get the gist.

“So here's a suggestion. You don't fire me, you stop pestering Silvy, and you keep living a long, blissful life. Everyone wins, am I right?”

The room was silent as everyone looked at Jason fumingly.

“Let me ask you this, Mr. Sage,” Mr. C began as the form of his holo-vid stood up from his chair. “You arrive here and threatened us. And you truly expect this to work?”

“Ah, I knew I was forgetting something,” Jason slapped his forehead before bowing. “Let me introduce myself. My name is Jason Sage however I work for the Council as a freelance Hunter. I'm a Revenant Class Executioner designated as Alpha - 00, my codename is … Fenrir. And the best part? I have a license to kill. Anyone.”

Everyone in the room stopped breathing as their fear solidified. They had heard rumors of the infamous Fenrir who was heralded as the unofficial number one killer in the world, having had over six hundred confirmed assassination kills and that was excluding the many deaths he caused in the wars held all over the world. The only being more frightening than him was The Reaper and that was because of how mysterious his abilities and killings were.

“Well then, now that's sorted out, let's have you fellas continue your vote. All in favor of keeping our illustriously gorgeous leader as principal, say aye! Or click on your holo if you're so boring …”

Jason didn't need to complete his sentence as every member of the board voted to keep Silvia as principal. He turned and nodded to Silvia who nodded back before leaving.

Now then, he thought as he let his mind wander to Melanie. Perhaps I should pay a visit to that little minx, mmm, teach her not to manipulate me.