Chapter 279: Rats in Hiding

Late Morning - Mid Winter : Atlas Academy | Atlas, Bahamut

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"If you want me to test you, I can, but don't expect to pass."

The whole room fell into silence instantly, with the only person even moving being Evodiá, who quickly darted over to me. "I apologize, everyone. It seems Professor Whyte is unaware of Sir Sídero's 'reputation'." She seemed a little panicked.

The student, however, wore a greedy expression. "No, no. He already said he would test me, so now he must follow through with his word!"

He was clearly trying to lure me into what he thought was a trap, but I had too much on my mind to even consider caring. "Alright, whatever you want, kid. I hope you don't regret it." With a path clearing between the student and me, I changed to my humanoid form.

Almost immediately, everyone's eyes went wide, and Evodiá's face turned pale.

But shockingly, it was a student who tried to convince me to change back. "P-Professor Whyte! You need to be in your dragon form, especially for Sir Sídero! He has a reputation of not holding back, even if it means his opponent gets hurt..." It was a young girl with white-ish silver scales, seemingly from Krystallo's age group.

-So he's one of those guys...- I put on a smile as I glanced toward the girl. "Thank you for your worry, but it's the only way I can give him a chance." -Although even with this, it comes down to whether I let him pass or not...-

Sídero immediately burst out laughing. "Hahaha! To think such an arrogant half-breed could become a professor! I guess the standards of this academy truly are beginning to fall."

-How ironic...- With what was going on behind the scenes, I couldn't exactly disagree, but to also call me arrogant was like a pot calling the kettle black. "You should learn to be more careful when judging people. You won't make it very far outside this academy if you arrogantly try to look down on everyone." Quickly sheathing my sword with my aura, I continued out into the arena.

"Strength is everything, is it not? If I am stronger than my opponent, who is to tell me I cannot be arrogant?"

"Haah..." While I wasn't originally planning to actually fail him, I changed my mind at that moment. -He needs to learn a lesson.- Finally reaching the center of the sandy arena, I turned back to him. "Alright, since a handicap spar like you would do with a different professor would be unfair, we will do this..." *puff* Using my aura, I created an indent in the ground around me, marking off a 10-meter-wide circle. "To pass, all you have to do is get me out of this circle; there are no other rules."

Everyone looked at me like I was crazy, including the professors and staff in the stands.

"You have 60 seconds. You may begin."

He stared at me in shock for several seconds before moving. "Huh? You're being serious?" He quickly looked around before looking into my eyes and smiling again. "Haha! And you tried to lecture me on arrogance!" He promptly walked over to me with his head held high, not bothering to lower it even though he towered over me. "Even if you wish to back out now, it's too late!" As he raised his paw, he seemed to watch for my reaction, but it never came.

*CRACKLE* The noise of something breaking echoed through the arena the instant he swung his paw into me, forcing several of the students to look away.

But as the dust settled, people finally started to notice that my figure hadn't moved.

-Wow...- "You're even weaker than I expected..." All I did was stretch out my arm and stop his paw, but it shattered his scales and even drew some blood. "Well, give it another try."

*FWOOSH* He hastily leapt back with a bit of bloodlust before lunging back at me and using his speed and body weight to slam the top of his paw into me. *CRAACK-WHAAAM* Expecting me to fly away and let him follow through, the moment his paw came to an abrupt stop, he slammed face-first into the ground.

The impact cracked the ground slightly and kicked up another dust cloud, but yet again, I didn't even budge.

-That was a bit better though...- I was the only one to break the silence after several seconds. "30 seconds left."

Everyone stared at the scene with wide eyes, either not believing what was happening or struggling to even register it.

There was, however, someone in the stands who seemed especially displeased. "To think a professor would cheat in order to fail a student..." It was an older man, likely an older elder with crimson scales matching Síderos.

-Is he Sídero's father?- "There are no rules on what he can and cannot do. If he wants, he could even get someone like you to try and move me, but don't expect me to treat you so kindly."

*flap-Fwoosh* Hastily flying into the air, Sídero threw himself down on me, but the result was the same, leaving him to jump back and recollect himself.

But now his expression had become much more serious. -Much better...- He was finally using his brain.

But before he could come at me again, the Elder in the stands hopped down into the arena and darted at me.

However, the moment he threw his heavy punch at me, I simply turned and caught it. *CLAP* "Hey, I don't remember hearing this student say you could do anything." Gripping his fist, I threw him to the side like he was some kind of paperweight.

*FWOOOSH-WHAAMM* The entire arena shook as he hit the wall, leaving everyone watching in silence.

But Sídero seemed unfazed.

-Wow, is he actually putting aside his arrogance?- It was quite a pleasant sight, but he was still unfit to pass. "You have 15 seconds left."

The next thing I knew, I was getting barraged by spells I had never seen before, zapped by lightning, burnt by fire, and even sliced by water.

He was simply throwing everything he could at me, even if it seemed shameless, but while it was certainly commendable, I didn't step out of the circle. "3.. 2.. 1... Time's up."

*VWOOM-WHAMMM* The ground shook violently as I slammed my aura onto him and pinned him to the sand.

"You have failed your examination."

A look of fear started coming to his face as I walked over to him.

"Your strength and determination are certainly worthy of praise; however, your character needs work."

*crumble* Hearing some noise behind me, I looked at the opposite end of the arena and saw the Elder I threw back in his dragon form.

He looked truly furious. "You failed my son because of his character?!"

"Haah..." I could only let out a sigh. -I guess it runs in the family...-

"You think you have the authority to do that?! How dare a mere fake prof-"

*FWOOOSH* Instantly appearing in front of his face, I stared into his eyes with narrow pupils oozing bloodlust.

-How does he know about that...- Clamping his mouth shut with my aura, I changed back to my dragon form. "I apologize, everyone. It seems there is something I need to discuss with this man here."

However, before I could actually do anything, someone interrupted. "Professor Whyte, I can deal with him if you would like to continue testing other students." The man's voice was deep and smooth, and when I turned around to see who it was, I saw an elf in a white Sirathian priest's robe in the back of the stands.

He looked like a man in his 70s with white hair and a thick beard. -Who is that?-

Several students immediately spoke up in unison. """ Headmaster?!"""

"Hoho~; I'm glad you all can still recognize me." The light around him quickly started to warp, revealing a draconic man that looked like a 25-year-old human with the air of a prince around him.

However, even though he looked young, his aura was enormous, even beating out Myles by quite a margin.

-So that's him, huh...- Mother had given me a very detailed description of him before I left; the only difference was his demeanor. -Didn't Mother say he was typically stern and cold to new people?-

He looked at me with a wide, pleased smile. "It seems I didn't go wrong in choosing you as a professor, Sir Whyte. However, I believe it would be best to leave this matter to me." *FWOOSH* Instantly disappearing from where he was, he appeared in the center of the arena, kicking up a huge amount of sand. "Although I certainly understand that you could handle this matter, I believe it would be better for you to test the other students as well."

The students all tensed up instantly, but I couldn't blame them. "I can test those who wish to be tested by me, however..." I quickly turned to the students. "I don't think there is any-"

Krystallo immediately threw her wing into the air with an expression of pure excitement.

People looked at her like she was crazy, but it just made the headmaster chuckle. "See? How could I dare let my professor handle something so tedious at the cost of bonding with the students?" He immediately probed my aura and used a bit of wind magic to speak solely to me. "Let me handle this. That man has very close ties to the upperclassman's current combat instructor and is a very well-known and respected man in Atlas. At least in front of others, this matter must be handled delicately."

I hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Haah, alright. In that case, I will leave this to you." Finally backing away, I used magic to silently speak to the professor as well. "Make sure to tell me what you figure out."

He responded in kind. "Of course."

Walking back out into the arena, I looked over the students. "Since Miss Krystallo is the only one that wishes to get tested by me, the tests will resume normally." I quickly looked at the professor who was standing with the upperclassman. "If you need any help, just let me know."

He reluctantly nodded before trying to break the ice off everyone by resuming things as usual, but almost everyone was still tense.

Scanning over the rows of seats in the stands as I walked back into the crowd, I noticed several people I had my eyes on had disappeared, with a few others watching me with condescending looks. -It seems like there are indeed more rats than we originally thought...-

Finally finding a place to lie down, I spent my time watching the student's tests while carefully observing those in the stands, and while there were certainly a few that I needed to keep my eye on, the most suspicious ones had already left. -I should tell the Headmaster about it when I get the chance...-

Before I knew it though, the upperclassman had finished, and it was my turn to test Krystallo.

But now, with most of the bad actors gone, I had to admit that I was quite excited. "Alright, Miss Krystallo, I hope you aren't expecting me to go easy on you."

She quickly showed a competitive smile. "Of course not!"

I gently motioned to her, having her pull out the bag of steel beads I had made her last night. -Let's see how she has progressed, shall we?-