Rise of the Crusader
Chapter 49

49 New Classmate

In the classroom of the year one elite division, Edgar was standing in front of the students with his hands folded across his chest.

The students were in their seats, and as they stared at Edgar, a perplexed expression could be seen on a couple of their faces. The look was from the fact that they had been in the class for over thirty minutes, and all Edgar did throughout the entire time was stare at them.

“What is going on? Is he perhaps on something?” Xavier couldn’t help but ask, as the longer it went on, the more creepy it became.

Edward, who was beside him, shrugged his shoulder, and then glanced at his twin brother. “Oh, yeah. He is definitely high on something!” Ethan said with complete certainty.

It wasn’t only the male students who found Edgar’s action unusual, the female also did.

Edgar simply stood there with a smile on his face, he still didn’t utter a word and continued to stare at each student one after the other. The sequences continued, and it was only after a few minutes that his voice rang out.

“Good morning everyone!”

“I can see that you’re all tired, so I’m going to make this quick.” Edgar said, “As you know we still have a lot to cover up, but instead of going on with our fundamental psychology class, I will need you to open up with me, about what happened last night.”

As Edgar spoke, the expression on the student’s faces change very quickly. A few of them stared at Savannah and then the empty chair beside her, before moving their gaze back to Edgar.

.....

“Edgar, can we not talk about it!!!! This is meant to be a psychology class, not a therapy session, so can we focus on that, and let’s get things over with.” Edgar was about to speak when Savannah’s voice sounded.

There was pain and a tinge of anger present in her voice, and as Edgar saw those pair of eyes that were still red, he shook his head.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Savannah,” Edgar responded, “Psychotherapy and grief counseling are also part of my work,” Edgar said, and he then began walking towards Savannah.

“I read both of your reports, and just from a glance and the way the both of you act towards one another, I can tell that you and Alice had a deep connection.”

“When you lose someone that close, it’s of course natural to feel sad, and I’m certain that some of your friends might have told you to accept the loss, and move. Well, while that’s great advice, it isn’t the best solution.” Edgar said, “To move on, you need to deal with your feelings first.”

“Denial, anger, negotiation, and depression come before the last stage of healing, which is acceptance. It’s only after we have gone through all these stages that you will be able to get back on your feet.”

Edgar was rather very gentle to Savannah, and every word he spoke was at a smooth pace. There was even a tinge of pity contained in his voice as he spoke.

“Savannah, I’m going to be factual with you at this point, if you’re going to walk down this path, then you must be prepared to lose even more people. There are many more missions that you would be sent out on, and death might be inevitable.”

“You can choose to opt-out now, there is still time! So, Savannah, what’s your decision?!” Edgar asked in a neutral tone.

Every student in the classroom, including Raphael, had eyes on Edgar and Savannah. As Edgar spoke, Savannah bit her lips so hard that blood was oozing out, and both of her hands were clenched into a tight fist.

“What is it going to be, Savannah?!” Edgar repeated his earlier question.

The atmosphere in the classroom was a little intense as whether Savannah knew it or not, the answer she gave was going to determine, her fate not only in the academy but in fact in the world.

“I... I...” Savannah stuttered, “The academy is my home, and I don’t plan on ever leaving.” Savannah exclaimed.

Savannah’s response brought a smile to Edgar and a few of the student’s faces. “Very good!” Edgar said.

“The next few days would be spent working on your healing process.” Edgar said, “As for the rest of you, I would perform a test that would determine if the academy should consider you as a ticking bomb or not.”

Edgar then walked back to the whiteboard, he folded his hands across his chest and began to stare at the students one after the other. After a few minutes, he flashed a light smile and then said.

“Raphael, Aliyah, and Levi, the three of you are going to join Savannah in the session... Levi, I seem to recall you having the same sort of situation with Savannah, so you team up with her. And as for the both of you, see me in my office before the end of this week.”

Raphael’s eyes twitched when he heard Edgar, he glanced at the girl who was a few meters away from him, and his lips curved slightly.

While Raphael managed to keep a straight face, the truth was that at this moment he wanted nothing but to beat up Edgar. Raphael already knew that Edgar had this sort of weird theory about him right from the beginning, but never did he except that he was going to take it this far.

Among all the students in the classroom, Raphael found it bothering that the person Edgar had to set him up with was someone with whom he had no way of dealing it.

“I will also keep in touch with the rest of you, if there’s anything I discover, I will have you in my office...” Edgar said, “Now that we have taken care of that, let’s proceed.”

“Come on in!”

A second after Edgar’s voice rang out, a figure walked into the classroom. It was a girl with short, somewhat messy brown hair and brown eyes. She was putting on the academy uniform with a pair of glasses, and then two wristwatches were in both hands.

As the girl entered the classroom, a frown could be seen on the faces of the students, most, especially Savannah.

“This is Norma, your new classmate!” Edgar stated.

There was complete silence in the classroom with students staring at Norma, and Edgar.

“It has only been less than four hours since Alice died, and the academy is already replacing her with someone else. What the hell!” It was Jackson that spoke.

Norma’s mouth opened slightly when she heard Jackson, she seemed to want to speak, but after giving it a thought she chose not to, and instead flashed a light smile at the people staring at her.

“Hahaha hahaha!” Suddenly, Edgar’s laughter rang out in the classroom. “I can as well inform you now, the academy is ruthless... To them, life goes on, and as a matter of fact, there are replacements in place for some of you.”

“Norma, why don’t you show them a bit of what you’re capable of!” Edgar said.

Norma immediately raised her hand slightly, she began to tap on the wristwatch in her right hand, and after a few seconds, she stopped.

As she saw the stunned look on her classmate’s faces, the smile on Norma’s face widened.

When Norma began clicking on the wristwatch, the tv screen in the room turned on a brief moment after. It wasn’t the tv screen going on that made the students stunned, instead, it was what was being displayed.

“No way!!!!” Xavier, Jackson, and Mason soon leaped from the seats, with shock written evidently on their face.

There was a mini rocket project which the tech division was working on, and it was the rocket that was being shown on the tv screen. Once Norma gave her wristwatch another tap, the rocket launched forward.

“What the fuck!”

The students who were near the rocket when it launched were blown several meters, and the rumbling that culminated in a deep flapping roar left the others shaken.

“Who did this?!!!!!!!!” One of the students from the tech division exclaimed as she stared at the rocket.

The female student was none other than Aurora and seeing how furious she was, Raphael’s lips curved into a smile.

“How did you do that?!” Xavier’s eyes then glowed as he stared at the wristwatch Norma had on.

“Settle down!” Edgar exclaimed.

Edgar stared at the students, who all had a very curious expression on their faces, before then saying,” Norma is an unnaturally skilled cyberpathic hacker who has the potential to breach through any system in the world.”

“She can hack through any machinery and teleological system, also access any information that there is and was ever stored on the internet or technology at will, and can as well pull off any and every feat that involves tech.”

As everyone eyes shifted towards Norma, a dumbfounded look could be seen on their faces. They seized her from head to toe, and their mouth opened slightly.

“Ah-Ahem!”

The silence was, however, broken when a woman putting on a white skirt, black suit jacket, and pencil skirt with high black heels walked into the classroom.

“So fast,” Edgar said, staring at his watch, “I will see you all in the next class, and as for the people I told to come to my office, it best you do so, or else you can as well forget about the midterm test.”

“Have a wonderful day!”

On Edgar’s way out of the room, he gave Emily a slight bow and then walked out.

“Where did we stop,” Emily wiped the whiteboard clean, and then placed her book on the desk.

Meanwhile, the females in the classroom shook their heads as they saw how the boys were staring at Emily.

Emily’s bosom was something else, and as she placed her suit jacket on the desk, it was as though something was going to burst out of her clothes.

“Hello!!!!! I said, where did we stop!!!!!”