Chapter 259: A Fair Score
Chapter 259: A Fair Score
Everyone stood there motionless for long stressful moments. The dean didn't move a finger as he glanced at Mark.
"Don't be a fool, you know I can't do anything to that boy according to the code of the academy."
"Sometimes despair would drive sane people insane," Mark slowly said while he was trying to see through the dean.
"That's if he was a sane one to begin with," Igory didn't hide his own sarcasm at this moment.
"Then step aside and let me do my job," the dean was standing there fixedly while the tension all around was lacking a fuse to ignite.
And the entire place would be torn into pieces with a wild war erupting here.
"What do you plan to do exactly?" Mark asked while motioning with his hands for the masters around to step down.
The dean watched the slow and careful moves of the masters while saying:
"I'll ask for the evidence," he pointed to the pillar and added, "even if I asked for pictures in exchange of my finger then I won't hesitate to do it."
"Why can't you just accept your loss?" Igory sneered.
"I'm not a loser," yet the dean shouted in some nervous way, "and I'm already sick of this situation. Step down now or else I will take this as a direct challenge to my authority."
"Humph," Igory harrumphed before stepping after the path Jim and others went to. "We'll see about that," Mark said while he was the last one to move.
As for Jim, he only kept his mouth shut and listened to all this without saying a single word.
But as they went down the altar and started to retreat, he paused.
"What are you standing here for, kid?" the dean said without even turning his back to him, "move your ass now or else they would blame me for anything happening to you."
"He is right," Mark turned to glance at the dean while standing beside Jim, "we should regroup with our people and stand there."
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"This is where I will stand," yet Jim was strangely stubborn and his voice was heard clearly despite him not shouting.
"At least you have some dignity to face your crimes," the dean sarcastically said before taking out a long and strange shaped stick.
It was like being made out of a myriad of different shaped branches of many trees. Some were red, others were white, and even some had no color at all, fluctuating with colors and reflecting anything around.
And there was the head of a human with two giant carved wings on his back.
"A fairy..." Jim slowly muttered in surprise to see such a symbol in the hands of the dragon up front.
"It's indeed a relic from the ancient and long gone fairies," the dean said as he slowly raised the stick high in the air. He held it with both hands, arched his giant back and stood there in that stance for a long minute.
"We should go now," Rana nervously said as she turned around, "they are surrounding us."
"Let them be," Jim was still stubborn, "I'm the king here and I won't let anyone deprive me of my rights."
"I admire that rude boldness you got there, kid," the dean said in mockery, "but soon I will disclose all your faults and cheats."
"Then go ahead and do it," Jim said and even though he took a few steps to the front, "I dare you to prove it."
"We'll see," the dean only said before the stick started to shine in different lights. The lights seemed to crawl upwards from the place of his hands to the statue of the fairy at the top.
Jim watched the lights going up slowly, merging together and forming a strange black red color.
However the moment that color reached the statue of the fairy, it instantly was absorbed and vanished before it got replaced by a golden light.
And that light shone brightly all over the altar, and strange enough the light never exited the altar area.
"What is he doing?" Jim couldn't help but ask.
"It's the ancient ruling fairy scepter," Igory slowly said, "the dean only has it, and there is only one in the entire academy."
"He can control anything inside the jurisdiction of the academy," Rana explained further, "and by it he can force the judging altar to show the facts based upon which you got that scary score."
"I like the scary part in it," Jim chuckled in a carefree way.
"Aren't you nervous?" Mark asked in doubt.
"Why should I?" Jim shrugged, "after allI got that score for what I honestly killed."
The masters exchanged silent glances that attracted Jim's attention. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"The ring," Igory slowly said.
"Is it against the rules?" Jim knew what he was trying to say.
"He could use that to negate the score of you," Mark said, "it's not against the rules, but it's not part of it either."
"I... don't understand," Jim honestly said.
"He can use the fact that you didn't personally kill those monsters against you," Igory clearly said.
"But..."
"All of them are doing so," Mark sighed, "I know, and he knows like anyone else about this... However, according to the book, that's a mistake."
Jim turned to glance at the dean and now understood the reason behind what just happened between the two sides. "So that's why he looked so confident," he slowly muttered.
"He could see you got most of the cores from someone else," Rana said, "that's why we need to retreat and join our people. Like this we can have a chance to bargain."
'Don't move...'
Just as Jim was about to agree, the firm voice of his old man rang in his head. He was surprised to hear that especially with him being so close to the dean.
But he trusted his old man, and if he risked it to tell him this, then he wouldn't retreat.
"I'll... stay!" Jim said it and all the masters around felt he was losing his mind.
"Should I drag you then?" Igory was running thin on his patience with him.
However before Jim could say anything to justify his decision, the dean roared all of sudden.
And the golden light started to converge over the pillar like something was sucking the light dry.
"By the power I hold I ask for the fair assessment of the disciple named Jim," the dean roared in a strange , harsh and deep tone.
Jim noticed that with each word the dean said, the golden light around vibrated like it was reacting with his voice.
And then the pillar started to shine in golden light while the window up above changed.
"Fair?!! How can this be...?" the dean turned like everyone standing here to glance at the window high above.
And instead of the scary score Jim had, there was only one single word there... "Fair."
"Oh, that was... unexpected," even Igory said it with a shocked expression on his face. The tension he felt and others around had was vaporized instantly at this moment.
"See old man? I wasn't lying or cheating," Jim said in a loud tone that forced the dean to turn angrily at him.
"This can't be real," the dean pointed to the sky, "the total number of the cores all disciples can get won't allow you to have such a number! You cheated! There is no way around it."
"Then... Prove that my kid cheated," Mark took a deep breath before standing to face the dean. "Otherwise you have to declare him the new king, right?"
The dean's face showed how angry he was. His body trembled while the veins of his neck bulged. He even breathed out dark smoke from his nostrils, giving him a funny look that made Jim smile.
"I won't accept it," the dean said in determination.
"Then prove it smart dragon," Igory didn't let this chance slip by and said in mockery to the dean.
"I'll prove to all how he cheated," the dean seemed to go crazy right now as he turned around to the altar. "I demand a collective summary of his score," he shouted while raising the stick high in the air.
He started waving it right and left without pause for long minutes. The air around the altar started to howl violently while Jim glanced at the nearby Rana.
"He is trying to bring forth the recorded images of the cores you collected," Rana said without waiting for him to ask.
"Can he really do that?" Jim was surprised to hear this, "is there some sort of recording or cameras in the forest?"
"No, it's the images the judging altar took from you while calculating the score," Rana corrected, "and now he asked for these pictures to come as a proof."
"But that won't be done without a price," Igory sneered, "finally that old man will lose a finger or two."
"Really?" Jim chuckled and that made Igory even laugh.
"Sure, his injury won't even heal at all," Igory viciously said before adding, "a small price to pay asshole."