"Young master!"

"Young Master Renok!"

Two servants who came with Renok and stood among the audience shouted, shattering the silence.

Rudrean blinked, and then he looked down as a pool of blood flowed out from the headless body.

Cloud Warrior Harga, the Headmaster, and the other seniors frowned.

Everyone else was dumbfounded.

A student had just been killed by another student in front of everyone.

"I... did not mean to do that." Rudrean looked at the seniors. "But I don’t regret it."

And right then, a girl shouted, her voice hoarse and shaken.

"T-Thank you very much for killing him!"

Everyone’s eyes moved toward the voice.

"What are you saying?" the friend next to her whispered and elbowed her. "Renok’s family is big. They will kill you if you speak like that."

However, the girl shook her head and gathered courage. "That guy... he threatened to have my family killed if I did not sleep with him. I only had today to obey him."

Tears flowed out of her eyes. "If not for you, he would have ruined my life."

"H-he said the same thing to me!"

"Me too!"

Aelira’s jaw clenched. "That bastard has been here for five days and already targeted five girls. Good thing he’s dead."

The seniors and the Headmaster looked at each other.

’Clean that body. We’ll pause this event for for now.’

"Everyone! Please return to your residences for now. When it’s time to reconvene, you will be notified on your cards."

As the students heard this, they burst into low murmurs among themselves.

[Isalyn: Not bad, Rudrean. If someone disrespects your woman like that, that person fully deserves death. Even if you didn’t mean to do it, you did the right thing.]

Right then, Aelira arrived next to Rudrean and grabbed his hand. "Let’s go. The Headmaster has called us." 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

...

On the mountaintop, inside the Headmaster’s pavilion, the seven seniors and the Headmaster looked at Rudrean and Aelira, who were sheepishly looking at them.

"Come on, seniors. That bastard was going to die sooner or later because of his actions. He has ruined many lives by riding on his family’s power," Aelira said with a pout.

"That’s fine, but the Isbilun family will not be quiet." The Headmaster caressed his beard. "They will seek revenge against you, and that too swiftly."

"So... I am not a criminal in your eyes?" Rudrean asked.

"Not in our eyes." Cloud Warrior Harga chuckled. "If you had killed someone innocent, then sure, but Renok was a low-life whose only purpose in life was to harm others. None of us here is related to the Isbilun family, so we don’t care."

The Headmaster nodded. "However, if the Academy interferes in this feud, we will get ganged up on by all the prominent families. The Academy is strongest because of me, the sole Core Genesis powerhouse on Earth, but they have a considerable number of Foundation powerhouses and possess the power to destroy this Academy if they work together. If possible, we have to avoid creating a large conflict because of this."

Rudrean raised his hand. "I have a plan."

Everyone blinked, curious.

"We will deal with the Isbilun family ourselves, but for that, Aelira and I need to get to the nearest Exceed Shrine."

One of the seniors frowned. "The distance is 2.3 light-years from here. You would need a spaceship with FTL to reach there fast, but our academy’s FTL spaceship just went for maintenance yesterday."

"No worries. We actually have our own FTL mini-spaceship." Aelira grinned. "We’ll get there fast and return quickly."

"If the Isbilun family comes here, please tell them to stay here." Rudrean’s eyes were calm. "Tell them that the person who killed Renok will be here soon."

The Headmaster and others were surprised.

"In that case, depart right away." The Headmaster nodded.

Rudrean and Aelira didn’t wait and left. Meanwhile, the Headmaster looked at Cloud Warrior Harga.

"It seems they have a secret. They are considerably more powerful than they were five days ago, and they were missing for five days..." The Headmaster caressed his beard, his eyes curious.

Cloud Warrior Harga nodded. "They definitely do, and it should be related to the big lockdown on that planet. Both of them acted extremely cautiously and have even learned a spell that allows them to escape advanced detection from high-tier devices and even Soul Tree powerhouses. They exited the city secretly and told me that if they were discovered, they would be killed."

"What?"

"That sounds interesting. Did they perhaps acquire a treasure of some kind?"

"We need to know why the planet was on lockdown. Do you know, Harga?"

"I asked there, but nobody was answering. Everything was secured, and everyone was tight-lipped." Cloud Warrior Harga wryly smiled. "My status wasn’t high enough to get any information."

"Listen," the Headmaster said. "No matter what secret they have, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that those two are talented and have a bright future, and they can elevate people who stand beside them. So support them and help them, so that you may gain the same in return. I don’t know about any of you, but those two will definitely be able to rise in the Rainstar Institute."

Suddenly, he looked diagonally. "And they are gone. The spaceship they have is far more advanced than ours. All the signs I have observed so far indicate one thing. They haven’t acquired a treasure, but a backing."

"A backing from someone powerful. Someone who knows their worth."

...

With Isalyn’s mini spaceship that she sent out of the pocket dimension, Aelira and Rudrean departed and arrived in front of the Exceed Shrine within ten seconds. Actual travel through FTL only lasted for two seconds. The remaining eight seconds were spent in FTL entry preparation, which was basically opening a wormhole through which the ship could travel at FTL speed.

As they exited the ship and floated, they saw a magnificent, large construct made of golden material, inlaid with exotic gemstone designs and carvings of intricate patterns.

A large door stood there, showing nothing but darkness on the other side.

People were coming in and out through the large, mysterious door now and then.

Spaceships were parked all around the nearby space station.

"How is this even suspended like this, ignoring all gravitation and electromagnetic waves of this star system?" Rudrean muttered.

It was the only thing that wasn’t rotating around the two suns of this star system.

"Not from this world, huh? It does seem like this thing is from another world." Aelira nodded.

[Isalyn: Go in. It’s time to become even more powerful. With your Arcane Paths, no one in the Foundation stage will be your match.]