"To that extent?"

The Headmaster narrowed his eyes, not taking John’s words as the mere exaggeration of a boastful youth. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

From his private conversations with Nikolas, he knew better than to belittle these five. Even if Nikolas had kept the details of their absence to himself, he had stressed the same point John was making now: that these students were performing a massive service not only to the academy but to the survival of humanity itself.

However, there was a catch: the path they were walking was fraught with extreme risk. One wrong move could trigger a collapse before they were ready.

"It’s an understatement, what I said earlier," John sighed, his gaze steady and firm.

"I know it’s hard to believe my words for now, but when the time is right, when we are more prepared, and the foundation is set, we will come of our own volition and speak with you about everything. We aren’t trying to hide from you; we are trying to ensure there is still an academy left to talk to when the truth comes out."

"Interesting," the Headmaster murmured. He jumped to the same conclusion Nikolas had reached: these students weren’t just reacting to circumstances; they were executing a grand, premeditated plan.

"Then, is there a timeline for when that moment will be? And more importantly, what can I do to help you accelerate this plan of yours?"

John and his friends exchanged swift, silent glances. These weren’t just empty pleasantries from the Headmaster; this was a formal declaration of alignment. The Headmaster was offering to put the weight of his name behind them, even while being kept in the dark about the specifics.

John knew that part of this sudden cooperation stemmed from their performance in the arena. To a seasoned warrior like the Headmaster, it was blatantly obvious that they had suppressed most of their true capabilities.

Even with those self-imposed shackles, they had demonstrated enough potential to make the old man willing to bet the academy’s future on them.

Furthermore, Nikolas’s cryptic warnings had clearly done their job, convincing the Headmaster that supporting these kids was the only way to stay on the winning side of history.

"If so," John said, already pivoting toward a strategic goal he and his friends had originally thought would take months to achieve, "can I ask for a specific favour? We want to establish a club within the academy."

"A club?!" The Headmaster paused, his brow furrowed.

It was common knowledge that only students in their fourth year or beyond enjoyed the privilege of founding a club.

"It’s not particularly difficult to grant you that, considering you just crushed students from the fourth and even fifth years in front of everyone. So, what will our Military Department’s local club be called?"

"Ahem," John scratched the back of his head, his eyes glinting. Since the Headmaster was willing to step in and play the role of a patron, John saw no reason not to aim significantly higher.

"Actually, we weren’t thinking of a department-specific club. We want to establish an Academy-Wide Club."

"Academy-wide?!!" This time, both of the Headmaster’s eyebrows shot toward his hairline.

To achieve academy-wide status of any club, a club founder typically had to be a senior in their seventh year or have accumulated a mountain of merit points through official academy missions. It required approval from the Council of Deans, not just one department head.

"What possible benefit would that serve you?" the Headmaster asked, his voice tinged with genuine confusion. "You do know that only our Military Department holds the true monsters. The other departments are merely supportive careers for us. They are the background players."

The Headmaster wasn’t just surprised by the scale of the request; he saw no viable reason behind it. Usually, only students looking to show off to their elite families back home tried to found academy-wide clubs. In the eyes of true martial elites, it was a worthless deed.

The other departments in Azure Academy functioned exactly as the Headmaster described: supportive professions designed to keep the Military Department operational.

There was the Media Department, which handled propaganda; the Medic Department for healing; the Engineering Department for weapons creation and maintenance; Public Relations for dealing with different forces and recruitment; and the Business Administration Department for managing the vast logistics of any force, and helping run it.

To a standard combat student, building relationships with these support students was a waste of time. Yet John, drawing from the combined wisdom of his teammates and their harrowing time in the Source Code World, knew better.

Gems weren’t only found in those who swung swords. To establish a self-sustaining force, John needed more than just soldiers.

He needed logistics experts, media manipulators to control their public narrative, engineers who could reverse-engineer the new world technology, and administrators who could manage resources across multiple planes of existence, to help him rule over the different worlds without the need to exert all of his time and effort into it.

His friends had repeatedly stressed that expanding their reach to these departments would ensure their outer circle was robust enough to support their inner circle’s combat operations.

Moreover, the Military Department was crawling with Paragon spies and affiliated teachers. The other departments, being seen as lesser, were far less saturated by the major factions. They were fertile ground for recruitment, filled with talented individuals who felt overlooked and undervalued by the current system.

"I need more than just muscle," John replied vaguely, though the intensity in his eyes remained. "I need more help, not only from our department but from the others as well. So, can you help us bypass the red tape?"

The Headmaster fell into deep thought, the silence stretching for a long minute. He knew that if he threw his full political weight behind the proposal, he could force the other Deans to concede.

However, he was still oblivious to the true scope of John’s ambition. Owing favours to other Deans for a project he didn’t fully grasp was a risky move.

"Why don’t we do it this way then?" the Headmaster decided, after considering the hints Nikolas had dropped during their last meeting.

"We’ll start with a local club within the Military Department. If you manage to make a good name for yourselves at the upcoming competition in a couple of months, and by that, I mean showing the world that Azure Academy is not to be trifled with, then you’ll get the academy-wide status you’re asking for."

"Two months?" John paused.