Chapter 113 — Changes

One week had passed since the night of blood.

The Academy was in turmoil.

Five second-year students were dead. Brutally murdered in the Outer Region of Tranquil City, their bodies discovered in various states of dismemberment.

All of them had been Nobles or subordinates of Noble families.

The forums were exploding with panic, speculation, and paranoia.

[BREAKING: Five second-year students found murdered in Tranquil City - Serial killer targeting Academy students?]

[Families demanding answers - Why weren’t students protected in Core Region territory?]

[GRAPHIC: Victims’ hands were severed and taken as trophies - investigators calling killer "The Collector"]

[Academy lockdown discussions - Should students be forbidden from leaving campus?]

[Second-year battlefield deployment delayed indefinitely due to security concerns]

The comment sections were chaotic, filled with fear and anger.

"I’m not leaving campus until they catch whoever did this. Five students killed in one night?"

"My family is pulling me out of the Academy. This is insane. We’re supposed to be safe here."

"Why were second-years even in the Outer Region? That’s criminal territory. They should have known better."

"The killer took their hands as trophies. What kind of psychopath are we dealing with?"

"Federation news is calling it a serial killer on the loose. Every channel is covering this."

The Noble families were demanding accountability, threatening legal action and calling for investigations.

The pressure had become so intense that Headmaster Kaiser himself had been forced to issue a rare public statement.

His response had been characteristically blunt and politically devastating.

"The students in question died in Tranquil City, which falls under Federation government jurisdiction, not Academy authority. If the government cannot maintain basic security in their own territories, that failure belongs to them, not to this institution.

The Academy cannot be held responsible for students who choose to venture into dangerous areas against all safety protocols and common sense."

The statement had effectively thrown the government under scrutiny while deflecting blame from the Academy entirely.

News channels across the Federation were now discussing the "serial killer" narrative, debating public safety, questioning law enforcement effectiveness.

Nobody was connecting the murders to the Mafia. Nobody was even looking at the Outer Region’s sudden transformation. They weren’t asking the right questions.

****

But while the Academy descended into paranoia and the Federation media spun narratives about random serial killers, something far more interesting was happening in the Outer Region itself.

The police and government officials had finally noticed something strange.

Crime reports from the Outer Region, which had always been consistently high, had dropped to nearly zero almost overnight.

Robberies, assaults, drug arrests, gang violence... all the metrics that had defined the region for decades, had simply stopped.

At first, they’d assumed it was a reporting error. Perhaps victims weren’t filing reports for some reason.

But when investigators actually went to the region to check, they found something completely unexpected.

The Outer Region was completely peaceful.

Actually, genuinely peaceful in ways it had never been before.

Streets that had been dangerous to walk at night were now safe. Businesses that had operated behind barred windows were now open and welcoming.

Children played in areas that had previously been controlled by gangs.

The transformation was so dramatic, so sudden and so complete that it made government officials deeply anxious.

The Outer Region being chaotic and crime-ridden was expected, normal and manageable.

The Outer Region being peaceful and well-organized was suspicious, concerning and... potentially threatening.

Because peace didn’t happen naturally in criminal territories. Peace required power, organization, and control that came from somewhere.

Marco and the other Mafia administrators had been working nonstop for the entire week, implementing Damian’s vision with ruthless efficiency.

The photographs and videos from the Iron Barrel massacre had been distributed exactly as ordered, spreading through every communication channel in the region.

The images were horrific enough that many people couldn’t look at them for long. But the message accompanying them was clear and impossible to ignore.

The Mafia now controls the Outer Region. These are the rules everyone will follow:

No drugs. Manufacture, sale, or distribution results in permanent exile or execution. No traditional protection rackets. Businesses pay 5-10% profit-sharing in exchange for real protection and services. All crimes are handled by Mafia justice, not police. Come to us when you need help. We don’t charge for protection. Hospitals and orphanages are free to use. We provide the best care available. We are building a better region for everyone. Prosperity for the region means prosperity for all of us.

Follow these rules and your life improves. Break them and you end up like the gangs who tried to stand against us.

The identity of "Sir," the mysterious leader behind all of this, remained carefully hidden.

Damian had made it absolutely clear that nobody was to reveal his name, his age, his Academy affiliation, or any identifying information.

To the hundreds of thousands of people living in the Outer Region, "Sir" was a phantom. He was a concept... A force that had somehow transformed their entire world in a single night.

And as the days passed, as people saw that the Mafia actually followed through on their promises, as criminals were dealt with swiftly and fairly, as orphanages filled with street children who finally had food and safety and as hospitals treated people without demanding payment they couldn’t afford, the initial fear transformed into something else entirely.

Gratitude, support and genuine loyalty to the system that was actually improving their lives.

The foundation Damian had envisioned was taking root faster than anyone had expected.

The Mafia’s numbers were growing rapidly as more people volunteered to join, drawn by the vision and the results they could see with their own eyes.

The management team and combat team structure was working beautifully, with clear roles and responsibilities that made the organization far more efficient than traditional criminal enterprises.

Everything Damian had described in that blood-soaked meeting room was actually happening, working and really transforming an entire region.

The thirty-one students who’d participated in the sweep found themselves regarded with something approaching reverence by the Mafia’s city members.

These were the people who’d helped Sir build this new world. These were the ones who’d fought alongside him during the Night of Blood.

Their respect for Damian, their "Sir," had grown beyond simple loyalty into something almost religious.

But nobody discussed his ultimate ambitions openly. Nobody talked about replacing the Federation. Those words stayed locked away as a secret shared only by those who’d been in that meeting room.

****

While all of this unfolded across the city, Damian was inside a private training facility room on Academy grounds, completely focused on his breakthrough.

He’d been working on advancing to C- rank for the past few days, pushing his Aura core to its absolute limits, forcing it to compress and refine itself into the next stage.

The barrier between D+ and C- was significant. It wasn’t just about accumulating more Aura.

It required a fundamental transformation in how the core operated, how energy was processed and circulated.

Many awakeners got stuck at this threshold for years.

And after hours of waiting... he finally made a breakthrough.

BOOM.

The sensation inside his chest was like a dam breaking, energy flooding through channels that suddenly opened and expanded.

His Aura core pulsed with new power, denser and more refined than before.

C- rank! Achieved!

Kuro materialized from his shadow immediately, as if sensing the breakthrough, his red eyes glowing with what might have been pride or satisfaction.

The raven had grown noticeably larger over the past week, feeding on the death energy from the massacre.

He was now the size of a medium dog even in his normal state. But he could change his size whenever he wanted.

"Congratulations on your successful breakthrough as well, Kuro."

Damian smiled and reached out to stroke Kuro’s feathers.

"We’re getting stronger together."

He pulled up his status screen to examine the changes.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Name: Damian Valcor

Age: 15

Rank: C-

Talent: S

Core Attributes:

Strength: 165

Speed: 161

Stamina: 168

Vitality: 187

Aura: C-

Will: 215

Perception: 135

Intent: Slaughter

Skills: —

Shooting: A

Hand Combat: A

Telekinesis: B

Macro Vision: B

Sonic Blink: B

Self-Healing: B

Aura Control: B-

Aura Magnification: 2×

Weapon Arts: —

Omega Point - S: Level 3

Abyssal Slaughter - SS: Minor Success

Bond: Kuro (D+ Rank)

- Unknown Entity

- Talent Unknown

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The breakthrough had enhanced all his physical attributes significantly. His Aura control had improved dramatically during the intense cultivation required for advancement.

Kuro had also ranked up, now at D+ and continuing to grow stronger alongside him.

Before Damian could examine his progress further, the training room door opened.

Professor Seraphina entered, followed by Ariana.

Both of them wore complicated expressions that immediately put Damian on alert.

Seraphina’s violet eyes were serious, troubled in ways he hadn’t seen before.

Ariana looked nervous but also grateful, her hands clasped in front of her.

"Did you know that the five students who attacked Ariana were from Noble families?"

Seraphina’s question was direct, cutting straight to the point.

Damian’s expression remained perfectly calm as he responded with a soft smile.

"So what if they were?"

The casual dismissal made Seraphina’s frown deepen.

"Wasn’t killing them extreme? They were students, Damian. Talented awakeners who could have contributed to humanity’s defense after they matured and had their arrogance beaten out of them on the battlefields.

Death feels like excessive punishment for what they attempted, even if what they tried to do was unforgivable."

Damian didn’t respond immediately.

Instead, his eyes moved to Ariana, studying her face, reading her reaction to this conversation.

She wasn’t nodding along with Seraphina’s words. She wasn’t expressing regret or concern about the deaths of her attackers.

She just stood there quietly, her expression neutral, clearly not sharing her teacher’s reservations.

"How are you doing, Ariana?"

His voice was gentle, genuinely concerned.

"I’m well now, Sir. Much better."

She’d adopted the new title naturally, the word flowing easily.

She knew of the developments that had happened in the Mafia from others. She knew how terrifying Damian was, but she only felt more safe around him.

Seraphina raised an eyebrow at the title, but ignored it for now.

"I can start helping the Mafia with operations again. I’ve been training hard this past week. Professor Seraphina taught me a new katana weapon art, and I’ve been practicing constantly. I even managed to break through to D- rank yesterday."

Pride was evident in her voice despite the circumstances.

Damian stepped forward and gently patted her head, the gesture almost brotherly.

"Good. You’ve done well. Go meet with the others now and get caught up on everything that’s happened. But don’t tell anyone about what happened to you. That stays between us."

"Yes, Sir. Thank you. For everything."

The gratitude in her eyes was absolute, unwavering.

She bowed slightly to both of them and left the training room, closing the door quietly behind her.

Leaving Seraphina and Damian alone.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees as they regarded each other.