NOVEL NEXT Chapter 96: The class
"What?"
Melina's reaction genuinely surprised Xane. He never expected her to be this submissive.
A new possibility emerged in his mind as he glanced at the others' red hair.
Even Zayn caught the anomaly. [This is not normal. Did she receive extra instruction from Xelami?]
Xane looked at the other redheads standing around him, and sure enough, Melina's reaction had even caught the rest of them off guard.
All of them glanced at Jake, searching for the answer.
Interestingly, the other two elites who sat beside Melina showed no reaction at all.
This made it clear that not only Melina but all of them must have received a similar kind of instruction.
Xane also noticed that, except for Jake, even though they all sat together, the other two elites were more detached from Melina.
Melina saw him standing there and burst out again. "Didn't you hear me? Apologize to Liam right now!"
Xane paused and looked straight into her eyes.
He dropped all reason and plans when he saw her face superimposed on those from his past.
Just like many others he had interacted with so far, she also commanded him like he was her pet.
This burned a fire inside him as he just wanted to drop all pretense and smack her in the face.
Zayn sensed the anomaly first and shouted in his mind. [No!]
Xane just took a deep breath and a step back. <Don't worry, I know the limit.>
He turned back to the classroom and said in a calm tone. [I am retracting my quest.]
With that, he started walking toward the back area.
Melina once again shouted, "Apologize!"
Xane completely ignored her and walked to the now-empty seat where Krist had been sitting before.
This was the only empty seat he could find in the lower section.
As he sat behind Auren and his group, they stared daggers at him, but no one among them dared to speak.
Melina was about to shout at him again, but, surprisingly, Samuel chimed in. "Oh, don't worry. There is no need for any apologies. As long as your brother doesn't target that girl, let's not disturb the lower batch."
Melina just looked at Liam and added, "Liam, believe me. I promise that no one from my family will target her."
Unbothered by any of them, Xane leaned back and just looked straight at the podium, avoiding all the eyes on him.
Unlike earlier, Xane just said to Zayn plainly, <As expected, we failed.>
Zayn was at a loss for words. [You really predicted that.]
Zayn thought back to last night when they discussed the limited madness method.
The only reason Zayn gave it a higher chance of success was that, in all this, Xane never intended to target Auren or others from the top batches for now.
Zayn knew this concept of two batches was actually the same as the unspoken rule among the hex masters.
The two-batch rule was clear: the upper and lower batches should not interfere with each other.
He knew that even with all the extra manipulation, when it came to actual training, the academy was extremely ruthless to all the students.
The year-end tasks were all very hard, and while ten percent died due to the impossibly hard task, that did not mean the other tasks were easy to sail through.
Heck, from what he read, each year an extra ten percent of students failed to even complete the normal task.
The entire academy system was a race for students to gain power. Those who failed to do so would either die or become slaves.
Even this two-batch system was designed to provide a grinding environment for the top potentials, where they competed against one another.
This was why Zayn was sure that as long as they stayed away from the top, others should have restrained themselves.
The main purpose of this entire madness was to find the current state of Melina and Liam's relationship and, if possible, to create some chaos.
Last night, both of them had predicted two outcomes: either Melina had already joined Liam's team, or she was still negotiating.
Just to test that, Xane had flaunted her so much and also announced her as the next leader before the entire class.
Melina's reaction was a bit more docile, but the chaos that started afterward was within the possible outcomes Zayn had discussed last night.
This whole mental stimulation of possible outcomes was something Xane suggested after meeting Marcin.
There was one thing Zayn clearly understood: while the knowledge from the novel did narrow the possibilities he could see, not using this information was not the right way in this world, where any mistake could lead to death.
Most of last night, Xane and he spent developing and testing different methods, and this wide simulation was something they both agreed on.
It was a simple method where they would think of all the possible actions and outcomes beforehand based on what they knew so far.
Although time-consuming, Zayn liked it because it was similar to what he did in the void.
The key advantage was that during this entire simulation process, Xane always came up with bizarre possibilities.
Zayn remembered last night when he was going through the first possibility, Xane at least came up with half a dozen different possibilities.
Some of them even involved the case of Samuel and Liam not working together.
Heck, that was something he never thought of, as he knew how broken Liam was in the novel.
Who would even want to leave his side? But that time, he also noticed a big contradiction in his theory.
There were also many other variants.
It was just that when he mentioned the second possibility and how they could use it to create chaos, Xane instantly said they would fail.
Interestingly, that was the only bizarre possibility he added, and nothing else.
Zayn remembered he had asked Xane the reason, but the guy just shrugged, and with no reason, he never thought much of it.
But now, lo and behold, things went exactly like that.
Zayn felt frustration and chills rising in his soul at the same time.
He was frustrated as everything he thought about went to waste. But more than that, there was this chilling feeling of how, even with all the ups and downs, their class was still following the general direction of the novel.
He asked Xane. [Hey, don't tell me you thought about Samuel.]
This pulled Xane out of his own thoughts. He just nodded his head. <Don't think much of it, it was just a random feeling, though that was based on a wild possibility.>
Zayn shouted back at Xane, [What kind of wild possibility?]
Xane was already lost in his own thoughts, so he did not answer.
At the same time, Samuel's face flashed through Zayn's mind, sending a sudden chill into his soul.
The biggest variable, why they failed and why the world still followed the plot, was this guy.
The more Zayn thought about Samuel, the more confused he became.
He mumbled to Xane. [That guy not only calmed Liam but also diffused Melina's anger, but why? Did he really just want to be Liam's supporter?]
As Zayn said that, he thought about how Samuel almost broke their bones. He instantly shook his head.
[No, that was not a person who just wanted to help his friend. Then why?]
He was doing things according to a fixed plan, but no matter from which angle Zayn thought, he could not understand what Samuel wanted.
At this moment, Xane glanced at Samuel's back and asked in a low tone, <Don't you find it weird that both of Samuel's actions stopped the chaos?>
[Both?]
That's when it hit him that he had skipped past a key detail. He understood Samuel intervening with Liam as they were so-called friends, but why did he stop Melina?
This time, he did not have to think much. [He stopped Melina to save the plot.]
Zayn froze at that moment. 'Did he really know the plot? Oh, fuck, if I assume he knows about the plot, then is he following my original plan?'
Xane said with a smile, <Did you forget how you wanted to befriend Liam?>
Zayn still did not forget how he wanted to befriend Liam, join his team, and just sail through the academy under his support. And the one who destroyed that plan was also Samuel.
If everything were to go as his original plan, would he also try to maintain the plot as much as possible? No, no, let's not jump to any conclusions.
Zayn mentally shook his head. [This was too big a deal to take any chances on. After all, if Samuel was really like me, then would he also want us to die according to the plot?]
Suddenly, Xane shifted his eyes as the very next moment, a big fireball appeared on the platform.
The next moment, it transformed into Instructor Luna.
The instructor just gazed down at the platform. Even though those from the House of Zenaris had already dragged Krist out of the class and even cleaned the blood, she still noticed it.
Everyone held their breath, but the instructor just shook her head and turned back to the class. "Good to see you, everyone."
Students nodded and shouted in unison, "Good morning, Instructor."