Everyone in the auditorium sat on the edge of their seats, they had been teased long enough, and the anticipation was killing them. Unfortunately, they would have to wait just a bit longer.
"Of course, secrets are kept for a reason, and we can't have anyone here leaking any details. Thankfully, there is a solution. Visiting us from the Federation of Blessed Individuals, he has taken his precious time out of the day to offer his assistance."
Everyone's eyes then turned to focus on an old man rolling onto the stage in a motorized wheelchair. Based on his appearance alone, it was a wonder how he was not already 6 feet deep. His hair was a pure white, and his eyes had a glazed-over gray appearance. If his wrinkles worked the same as tree rings, then Terran was sure he would hold the world record for the oldest tree.
"Everyone, please give Mr. Assured a warm welcome."
The room fell silent for a brief second before exploding in applause. Terran was honestly a little surprised by the energy from the crowd that had appeared out of nowhere.
Turning towards Oliver, Terran found that his friend was hooting and howling as if he was looking at a celebrity. This was a consistent reaction Terran saw in the majority of students.
"Hey, why's everyone so excited?"
"Don't you know? Mr. Assured is the VP of the Federation. He's probably the third most prominent figure throughout the entire city."
"Really? The only things that look prominent about him are his wrinkles."
"Ouch!" Terran didn't expect Oliver to suddenly slap him upside the head.
"Oi, show some respect and don't insult the man! They say he's been around since before the Oasis was founded. He's one of the reasons we are all here today!"
"Alright, settle down everyone! He didn't come here just for applause. In a second you will all receive a mental contract from Mr. Assured. All terms will be clearly stated for all to understand. Those that wish to continue their stay at Palm Academy will need to accept this contract."
Hearing these words, Terran frowned. This was the second time he was learning about the Federation's precautionary measures over the Oasis. He had not forgotten about the injection they had given to every registered blessed. Which actually held the ability to suppress a blessing.
When it came to the contract, Terran wasn't exactly sure what everyone else's experience was like. This was because a system notification popped up in front of his face.
[An incoming contract has been received]
[By accepting this contract, you are agreeing to forfeit your rights to intentionally reveal any secrets kept by the Federation of Blessed Individuals. Information will be determined a secret based on the average knowledge of the non-blessed civilians. Any breach in the contract will result in the automatic activation of the Anti-blessing serum.]
[Do you accept? YES | NO]
Terran almost choked reading the message.
"System, how is the general knowledge of the civilians determined?"
What did this statement mean? This meant the old coot could not only create contracts but somehow used a blessing to always have the knowledge of every non-blessed civilian throughout the entire city. Yet, his powers did not stop there as he could also somehow create a serum that could nullify others' blessings if sent within the bloodstream. And this was just the tip of the iceberg since those were only the cards Terran knew of. How many more mysterious skills did this old blessed have?
At this point, a chill ran down Terran's spine. "If this man is responsible for the anti-blessing serum, then will he be able to tell if it no longer resides in my neck? What about the contract? Will I even be able to agree without it? There was only one way to find out.
Dropping out of school was not an option for Terran. To get his answers, he needed power, and the fastest way to obtain power was through the academy. Sure, he could drop out and become a serial killer targeting blessed, but even he had some principles, even if they were few. Not to mention such a method would only get him so far. Who would teach him combat? Who would teach him inscriptions?
Trials were also an option, but he had learned that trials got progressively more challenging. Some people had even reported not being able to use their blessings within their trials. If that was true, he would need real skills if he didn't want to end up a fish out of water.
Terran sighed as he accepted the contract, "No risk, no reward."
His heart palpitated in the next second as the blind old man's gray eyes jumped to his position.
"Shit, of course, he knows! Why couldn't it just go my way?"
Sure, the man was blind, but as he seemed to be staring at him, nothing was stopping him from pointing him out to someone who wasn't.
Terran was not scared for his life but instead scared for his freedom. Only Gaia knew what would happen if the FBI found out he was unkillable and couldn't be controlled. Maybe he would end up like some lab rat. Or perhaps they'd use his body as a source of infinite meat to feed the entire city.
Luckily, the man known as Mr. Assured soon turned his head to stare at another student. The student he had turned towards was a beautiful girl adorned in a fancy outfit embroidered with a wave insignia.
A few seconds later, Mr. Assured turned his head again. This time towards a buff, muscular student. However, this student, Terran actually recognized. Similarly, this oversized teen also wore fancy clothes, this time engraved with the symbol of two fluttering wings attached to a shoe. This was the student Terran had a not-so-friendly encounter with the other day in his inscriptions class.
Terran continued to follow the old man's line of sight as he gazed at over a dozen students. However, one thing remained constant: that was that every one of these students wore clothing embroidered with a crest.
It was not long until Mr. Assured stopped his actions and frowned.
"Could it be?" An idea had popped into Terran's mind that brought with it hope.
There were always those that got around the rules. Surely, the federation needed wealthy backers. But what backer would want to support an organization that wanted to enforce controls on them? After observing the situation, Terran believed that there was a good chance certain influential families were able to get around the injections.
The only problem was, judging by Mr. Assureds facial expression, he knew the number of students that were supposed to not have the injections. But if that were true, then he also knew that there was one extra. One extra that was not supposed to be out from under his control.
Thankfully, Mr. Assured never took any action. Thinking about it, it was likely the only man he could get to help right now was the chancellor doing all the talking. However, it was very possible that the fact some were exempt from injections was a secret. After all, the only way it would be acceptable for a gun to be pointed at your right hand, even if it was for the safety of humanity, would be if everyone on earth had a gun pointed at their right hand.
Because of this, the federation would do its best to hide the fact that a few were exempt. As for why he didn't call all the students that lacked the serum? It was quite simple. Not even he could bother the heirs to those families, at least not all at once, and not today of all days. The first years were on a tight schedule after all, and this day was something along the lines of a ceremonious tribulation.
Of course, all of the above was only Terran's speculation. It was also possible Mr. Assured was just an old coot that liked to gaze off into the distance. However, Terran had a knack for making accurate deductions, and he was confident most of his guesses held at least some truth.
Only a minute had passed since the contracts had been sent out. In that time, every student had accepted. Some had taken a few more seconds than others, but none of them really had a choice. All of them were either the hope of their families or expected to keep up the tradition. None wanted to go home and explain how they had gotten kicked out, not even a month into their four years of the academy. Not every student would fall under this blanket, but all the same, they held their own reasons.
With everyone successfully contracted, Mr. Assured wheeled his way out of the auditorium. This caused Terran to let out a mental sigh of relief. It appeared he would be safe for now.