Liam spoke with a cold tone and in the next instance, broke Mateo's arm.
"Arghhhhh.... " Mateo cried in pain, tears coming out of his eyes.
Liam too, at this point, let him go from his hold. "Make sure to remember this punishment before you dared to break the rules again." He spoke with a cold tone and expressionless face.
All this while, Ron didn't even moved from his place as he watched the spectacle with a small smile on his face.
'They have grown well...' He nooded inwardly.
This was the type of facility he wanted to create. Where children are honed into becoming powerful warriors who don't even bait an eye as they inflict pain on others and don't back down even when someone do the same to them.
In the first place, the purpose of the project wasn't to necessarily brainwash the children into feeling no emotions but to make sure their image and worldview about the surface are developed to their expectations.
And for that, the fact that only the strong have rights and freedom in this world needed to be ingrained into them from a young age.
'But still, Mateo should only be at the beginning of Corporal rank; the fact that he lasted this long is impressive.'
Ron appraised the skirmish that had just broken out. Although the battle itself didn't last for even 10 seconds, Mateo did made Liam put in a considerable amount of effort despite only being at the Corporal tank.
It had to be remembered that currently Liam is strong enough to defeat most of the Commander Rank individuals on the surface in a 1v1.
'But that too goes to show the power of his element... '
If Mateo's control over space was also something like a element, then it was without a doubt the most powerful of all the elements that Ron had seen.
The possibilities to how it can be utilised were endless.
Suddenly, the 'two things' Frank asked of him before running over towards his death came to his mind.
A determined look appeared on Ron's face as he remembered his Father's last request.
'I will achieve it without fail.' He vowed to himself once again.
"Liam, you... " At this point, Mateo too started getting up hold up his broken left hand with his right, while directing a threatening glare towards Liam.
"Just because you are the invigilator, it doesn't mean you can do whatever you like."
He said with his killing intent seeping out of him. Unlike many other children, he wasn't letting anger took over him and was trying to talk to the other party in a calm manner.
"Do you have a problem with what I did? It's my duty to make sure no one slacks of from their training. And you did it again despite prior warning. Be glad I only broke an arm. It will heal up by itself within a week or two." Liam too replied in a calm manner, unfazed by the glare directed at him.
Just as Mateo was about to speak again, he heard Ron's voice from the side.
"That's enough."
He moved towards Mateo with an expressionless face who paled after seeing his figure.
"M-Marshall" He stuttered on his words.
"Mateo, I am the one who has given Liam the authority to carry out punishments in case of breach of rules. If you have any problem with the rules, you can talk to me."
Ron said in a cold tone.
Indeed, the reason Liam can carry out punishments like this was because of Ron. Since he couldn't be present in the facility 24*7, he needed someone else to maintain the decorum.
The title of the invigilator wasn't just for show. Any opposition towards to the invigilator was also a challenge to his authority.
As strong as Liam was, he couldn't hope to battle against the hundreds of children present here all at the same time.
"N-No, there's just one question I want to ask. The title of the invigilator belongs to the strongest in the facility so if I defeat Liam in the future, the title will be transferred to me, right?" He asked with his head bowed.
"That's the rule." Ron replied in a monotonous tone but inwardly, he was smiling.
Instigating competition within the children. That was also something he hoped to achieve when he first introduced the concept of invigilator.
"Okay, thank you for your response." Mateo replied respectfully.
He actually didn't really cared about the position of invigilator but couldn't allow himself to come of as weak in front of others.
"That aside, have you made any breakthroughs with your element?" He asked one of the important things he was here to confirm.
"N-No, unfortunately, not for now. It's the same as before. Just as I can sense the mana in the surroundings, I can also sense the space there. I don't understand exactly how, but I can use this connection between the two to bend it according to my will and use it for short-range teleportation." He replied truthfully.
"I see." Ron replied promptly, his thoughts unknown to everyone other than him.
"Let's go see the others." He said and started walking with both Mateo and Liam trailing behind him.
The facility was filled to the brim and there were nearly 400 children present. Ron couldn't hope to meet with them all given the emergency but wanted to check upon some peculiar standouts.
There were nearly 400 children present in the facility but not all of them have awakened an element. In fact, the children with an element were in minority with only 100 or so with an element.
This newfound power of element first started to manifest in children under 13 years of age nearly six years back after the stampede.
They have made these children undergo numerous checks and experiments to try to learn more about this power but as usual, not much could be deduced.
And these children were also the 'new ones' that Orville mentioned in his report.
To be precise, the children that Orville mentioned were the orphans that have awakened an element and were trained in Apex Sanctum, since the children here in this facility are only allowed to train here and only occasionally went out to battle monsters to gain combat experience.
Many believed this emerging power to be another layer of evolution that the nature is going through after getting exposed to the mystical force of mana.
Ron too, somewhat agreed with the hypothesis but there were many other considerations in his mind.
'I wonder how many more layers of evolution are we left to undergo with...Will I remain alive to witness them all?' He thought with a smirk.
"Umm"
Liam suppressed voice brought him out his thoughts as he looked at the teen with curiosity.
"What is it?"
"You see, Marshall....The scouts informed me about the emergency signal sent by you earlier this day, so I was wondering...
"Is everything alright above on the surface?" Liam asked with hesitation, not sure if Ron would answer his question.
'He has matured quite a bit and has also become sharper.. ' Ron thought but didn't say it out aloud.
"There's an emergency. That's also what I'm here to talk about today. Wait a bit and you will know what I'm talking about."
Ron gave an honest answer to his question. It won't be long before they will be on their own to survive in this world so there's no point hiding anything from them.
Liam, who was not only strong but also smart, sensed something amiss but didn't say anything.
They continued moving further. The facility was large and filled with children with all types of age groups. There were various sections for everything including training, sparring, eating and free area.
Soon, they entered a relatively quite section.
Moving their eyes, they soon identified a black haired boy with cyan colored eyes wearing glasses, who was sitting in a solitary corner all alone reading a book.
"Noah."
Mateo called out to the boy in question.
The boy moved his gaze from the book to the group of people. "What is it, Mat.. Oh!" He stopped midway his sentence as he saw Ron with his two colleagues.
He got up and hurriedly ran upto them. "It's been so long, Leader. I am glad to see you again." He bowed and offered his greetings.
Ron acknowledged his greeting with a simple nod. "You seem to be doing well, Noah. I can see that you're already at the later stages of the Corporal Rank."
"Come. I have something to inform you guys with. Let's meet up with chloe and fiona."
"Okay."
Noah's tone was mature and casual at the same time as he agreed to Ron's command. He joined the trio and started moving to the training area with them.
However, as soon as they entered the training section, they spotted a small crowd gathered around someone.
'Sigh' All of them, including Ron, collectively sighed as they knew what was going on.
Getting closer, they saw a girl with shoulder length grey colored hair and brown eyes performing in front of some 7-8 year olds.
In her right hand was a flame similar to the one Aiko produced but much larger in size while her left hand occupied a swirling gust of wind seemingly green in color.
"Hahaha, did you all saw? I am the only one with dual elements in this whole facility and will soon become the strongest. Praise me and I shall give you a position as my future subord- eh?"
She stopped midway, halting her ostentatious bragging, as she met gaze with two familiar piercing black eyes.
"L-L-Leader, you're here?" She stumbled on her words.
"Am I not supposed to be here?" Ron asked with a straight face but was laughing inwardly.
"No, it's absolutely okay, I mean, it's basically your own facility, why won't you be here hehe.. " She tried to hide her nervousness but failed miserably.
"Tch. She was also playing around. Why isn't she getting punished?" Mateo asked while clicking his tongue. Although he himself knew Chloe was trying to practice using both elements at the same time, he didn't want to voice it out.
All the children around her had already dispersed after seeing Ron.
"N-No, I wasn't playing around, I was ju-
"Chloe, you shouldn't lie like that. Leader will forgive you if you admit your mistake." A soft and charming voice interrupted Chloe's words as everyone turned their heads too look at the source.
There they saw a beautiful girl with blonde hair and green eyes approaching them with a small smile on her face.
"Fiona." Chloe called out her name and immediately rushed to hide behind her back.
"Help me, Fiona! Everyone's is bullying me!" Chloe said as she hide behind Fiona's back while faking her tears.
'The heck are we doing?' Mateo grumbled to himself, irritated at Chloe's behavior.
"Sigh" Fiona just sighed helplessly and shifted her attention ahead with a smile on her face.
"Leader, it has been a long time. It's good to see you again." She welcomed Ron with a soft tone.
Her voice was soothing to the ears and her presence exuded an unknown radiance that put everyone at peace.
"It seems you are as busy as always, Fiona. Babysitting others like this.. " Ron replied with a loose smile.
"It's nothing compared to you, who shoulders the burden of all of humanity alone." She replied with a kind smile.
"You don't need to worry about th-"
"Leader, you are here after a long time. Hehe, I have been itching for some action for a while now. And I also want to show you my power!" Chloe, who wasn't acting all innocent any longer, said out of nowhere.
She was the only one who had the guts to interrupt Ron like this in the whole of Earth.
Well, she was a outspoken an ignorant girl in the first place so it was natural. Even now, she was suggesting battling against Ron.
"Everyone, help me. Together, we should be able to land at least one hit!" She said in excitement and everyone complied with her words.
They too wanted to fight against Ron.
All 5 of them increased their distance from Ron at the same time.
'These brats have gotten quite daring.' Ron commented inwardly, amused.
'However' His expression turned serious as he saw the five of them channeling their Mana.
'Overestimating one's own ability is the easiest way to die on a battlefield.'
Just as he thought that, all of them simultaneously made their move.