The conference was being held in a huge hall inside the academy, decorated with divisional banners and the Royal Academy's emblem. The spotlight was on the high podium, where Dan stood next to the academy's director.
Dan approached the principal and whispered anxiously:
"Principal... I haven't thought of anything to say."
The principal laughed lightly, patted Dan on the shoulder and said:
"Kid, don't worry... I'll take over."
He took a step forward and signaled for the conference to begin.
As soon as it began, questions from reporters poured in like arrows:
"Dan Noctine, you survived an attack by a creature from the Void... how do you feel?"
"What about the rumors swirling around you?"
"How did the fight with the Void Assassin develop?"
The voices accelerated, the questions overlapped, until Dan's head began to spin and his breathing became louder in his ears. He felt a weight on his chest, and a real desire to run away from it all.
When Ilaris noticed Dan's confusion and shaky breathing, he smiled softly, then raised his hand to signal to the reporters to stop.
In a loud, confident voice, he said
"Please take it easy. The young man, Dan Noctine, has just emerged from a month-long coma. Don't expect him to recount the miracle of his survival in a minute."
The room suddenly fell silent, and the noise of questions disappeared.
Then he turned to Dan and gently placed a hand on his shoulder:
"Let me take this round, new star."
Dan nodded silently, grateful, as he took a step back, watching the director step forward.
Addressing the reporters, Ilaris said:
"I'll tell you what happened. Dan Noctine is one of our bravest students. When the Void Creature broke through the barrier, I noticed it immediately."
Hearing those words, Dan looked at the principal in amazement, and thought to himself
Did he just lie?
the director continued without hesitation
"That's when my deputy and I went to confront the creature. We fought against it with everything we had, while Dan practiced in the forest. What a diligent student! When he saw the two of us on the battlefield, he didn't decide to run away, but looked at us bravely. Even though the battle wasn't his own, he decided to help in any way he could... as expected of a son of the noble Noctine family."
That's a big lie... The Void Creature was looking for me in the first place! How could he lie so calmly without blinking an eye?" Dan thought to himself in amazement
The director continued
"When the fight intensified, at the crucial moment, Dan decided to intercept the Void Creature, taking a fatal injury... just to give me a chance to attack. He knew it would cost him his life, yet he did it without hesitation."
Well, I don't know about that, I knew the Void Assassin would attack me from his left hand... because he killed the knight in my room the same way. I wasn't sure, but failure means death. Still... I didn't mind at that moment, Dan muttered to himself.
The director was still completing his speech, his voice filling the hall. With each sentence, the audience became more and more emotional, Dan even saw some eyes tear up.
Then the director said in a more somber tone:
"As for the rumors... leave them to the cowards. This young man doesn't owe you anything. It's us... we owe him."
There was silence again. But this time, it wasn't a silence of tension... it was a silence of respect
When the conference ended, Dan was still frozen in place, as if his feet were glued to the ground. He turned to the manager and said in a hushed voice:
"Director..."
"Yes, Dan?" The director replied, still smiling at the journalists as they left.
Dan said, still pretty shocked by everything that had gone down in the room:
"My conscience is killing me... all these lies..."
The director let out a short laugh, then said in a lighthearted tone:
"Oh, your conscience? Don't worry, kid, it'll evaporate in time."
Dan looked at him in shock and said:
"Is that something you'd say to one of your students? How'd you become a director?"
The principal just smiled, but it was a quiet smile.
"You're a funny kid. You want me to tell them that I agreed to make one of my students bait for an SS creature? They'll call for my imprisonment. And if I tell them the Void Assassin came for you, they'll be even more convinced."
Dan kept frowning at the director .
The director laughed.
"Let's put that aside for now. We've got more pressing things to talk about."
Dan didn't really want to sit down, but the director started talking in a formal tone.
"Since you just woke up from a month-long coma, you're excused from practical training for two weeks. Your body needs to rest, and there's no question about that."
Dan let out a sigh of relief for a second, but the director didn't give him much of it.
"But, you'll be enrolled in all the theory classes, no matter what."
Dan looked a little annoyed, and the director said.
"Let me explain our class system to you."
"There are two types of classes: The first is common, and all students take it, no matter what element. It covers stuff like combat strategies, history, and elemental science."
He then looked up at Dan
"The second type are special classes, in which students are divided according to their elements. So, young man, since you have the space element... you will be placed in the space class."
Dan raised his eyebrows in surprise
"And... are there other students with the same element?"
The principal gave a short, mysterious laugh
"No, there aren't. That's what makes your situation so complicated, in fact there are no classes even for the blood element, bad luck, kid."
He leaned back in his chair:
"Because you're a month late, you're going to have to make up a lot. So, you'll be taking extra classes after your core classes, every day."
Dan gasped: "Every day?"
The principal nodded:
"Every day. That is, if you want to stay in the academy program."
Dan rested his head on the chair, sighed deeply, as if a new mountain had been placed on his shoulders, and thought to himself
It seems that surviving the Void Assassin was only the beginning