Alex shot a look at Ace. He stopped, took a deep breath, and sat down slowly. William watched what was happening in shock.
Ace walked into the class and headed for William. He glanced at Alex and then focused back on William.
"I'm pretty sure you are mad at what Alex just displayed here, but he does have a good reason to be angry with what you said.
I was walking by the class when I heard the whole commotion, and I knew I had to step in and do something before the issue escalated.
Alex is the survivor of the very attack that you are speaking of. His father was killed by the Shadow. His mother was also injured in the whole thing, and she lost all memory.
She doesn't remember her own son at all, and to make matters worse, Alex blames himself for what happened," Ace said.
William listened. He could understand why Alex would lash out at the idea of the thing that killed his father and destroyed his life.
"Sigh, thank you for telling me. I would have taken rash actions without knowing what was really behind the whole issue," William said. Ace nodded and turned to leave the room.
He walked out and closed the door behind him. As soon as the door clicked, William faced the class.
"Mr. Alex, I'm sorry for the insensitive words I spoke, but regardless, disrupting the class in that manner is not allowed.
I'll let you off with a warning, but the next time it happens, you'll be running around the academy till night comes. Do you understand me?" William asked.
Alex looked at him but didn't speak. He just gave one straight nod.
William understood that Alex still didn't accept the fact that the Shadow was captured. He decided to try and make Silva motivated.
"I understand your rage, Alex, and I can make you a promise. If you come out exceptional and on top in all the classes that you offer, becoming the best student, I'll talk to some people.
And they will give you the right to kill that specific Shadow. Drive a blade through it and end its life. How does that sound?" William asked.
Normally, offering to allow a child to kill something would be frowned upon, but not in this world. After all, they are training them to become soldiers.
Alex looked up when he heard that. Was that possible? Would this man do as he promised? Alex could not allow this to get past him—the opportunity for some redemption for him.
"Yes, I'll do my best," Alex said.
William smiled when he heard that, and then he looked at the class.
"You all heard me, right? I'm not only extending this to Alex but to the whole class. In one way or the other, the Crawlers have made your lives difficult.
You wouldn't be here if not because of them. You would have been enjoying your lives as kids, but the Crawlers took that away.
So, become the top of the class, and you will have that chance—no special treatment," William said. His announcement made the class hyped. Some of them wanted to win because they wanted the opportunity to kill a Crawler.
But some others just didn't want Alex to get to the top of the class. They hated that he pulled so much attention and acted like he was above everyone else.
Without Alex even doing anything, he had made so many enemies that it was shocking.
Before William could continue, someone raised their hand to ask a question. William pointed at the boy.
"You have a question?"
"Yes, you said after the survival exams tomorrow, we will be in different classes. How will you conduct the competition after that?" the boy asked.
"Hmm, a smart question, and it has a simple answer. There will be four classes consisting of Class A, Class B, Class C, and the last, Class D.
According to the recorded first years that we have, each class will be having about 20 students, and they will be set according to how they pass the exams.
The best 20 will be sent to Class A, the next set to Class B—you get the idea. And then those that fall under Class D is the failed class, where everyone that didn't make it will be.
They will have only one year to get out of the failed class and get into one of the other classes, or they will be expelled, or have to start the year all over if they show potential.
But back to what I was saying. From the four classes, the person that scores the top will be the one to get the prize of killing the Crawler," William said.
"Alright, back to the class. We have gone way off track. Before you are all thrown into whatever classes call to you, you have to finish knowing what types of Crawlers exist." William returned to his topic.
"The best rank of Crawlers are the Abyss Crawlers. These Crawlers are not your normal Crawler; they are extremely terrifying.
Records hold what happened whenever an Abyss Crawler attacked. Towns were destroyed, and hundreds of lives were lost whenever they attacked.
They are the epitome of horror. Being within a hundred meters of them without protection is going to corrupt you.
That's how bad they are. Their skin is saturated with so much darkness that if a human touched it, their body would deteriorate in seconds.
And like the Shadows, they don't attack alone. They come with an army of Shadows, and the Shadows come with an army of Shades.
So, whenever an Abyss attacks, there are going to be about a hundred Crawlers in total. Whenever that happens, the survivors of that city are locked in their city, and the nearest city will have to help eradicate the corrupted and quarantine the rest.
Normally, very few people survive after an Abyss attacks. Though they are rare and hard to come by around settlements.
Now, that Abyss is the last Crawler that we will talk about in your class, though there are still more."