Chapter 208 — Revolution I

Damian nodded slightly, accepting their silence as agreement.

"Naomi."

"Yi!"

The Secretary yelped slightly, startled by being addressed directly, her timid nature making her visibly nervous.

But Damian’s next words were businesslike rather than threatening.

"You’re the Secretary of this Council, correct? Start taking detailed notes on everything I’m about to say. You’ll upload all of it to the Academy forum as official Council announcements as soon as this meeting concludes. Make sure the wording is exact – I don’t want any ambiguity."

Naomi nodded quickly, pulling out her tablet, her fingers already positioned to type.

Everyone else realized simultaneously that something major was about to happen.

These weren’t going to be minor policy adjustments. This was going to reshape the Academy.

"First order of business: resources."

Every eye in the room shifted to Gareth, whose Clubs Committee controlled the entire Academy’s resource distribution – money, skills, weapon arts, Aura potions, training equipment... everything.

Every decision related to student resources went through his committee.

Damian’s crimson eyes fixed on Gareth without emotion.

"Gareth Blackwood is hereby removed as Clubs Committee Chairman due to deliberate suppression of Mafia members and systemic denial of resources to commoner students based on bias rather than merit."

Gareth’s face went pale, but he said nothing. What could he say? It was true.

"Adrian Murdock will assume the position of Clubs Committee Chairman effective immediately."

’You are definitely my buddy!’

Adrian’s purple eyes widened slightly – surprised to be given such a critical position despite being a first-year – but he nodded with acceptance, secretly feeling happy to gain benefits from his friend.

Damian continued without pause.

"All resource distributions to student clubs are suspended effective immediately. No more funding. No more materials... Nothing."

"What?!"

The collective outburst came from multiple Council members simultaneously.

"You can’t just–"

"That’s every club in the Academy–"

"The backlash will be–"

Damian raised one hand, and they all went silent.

"..."

"I’ll explain their new allocation soon enough. For now, the suspension stands."

His expression showed he expected no further debate on this point.

Everyone’s faces became serious, realizing even their own resources were being swept away. Most Council members led major clubs that depended on Academy funding.

"All previous rules established by the Clubs Committee regarding resource access are null and void, effective immediately."

Damian’s voice took on an edge now, his words cutting.

"Previously, only the top three ranked students could learn any skill they desired. Only the first-ranked student could choose any weapon art. And only the top ten students could select S rank weapon arts."

He looked around the table.

"These rules are trash! Deliberately designed to maintain Noble superiority."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop.

"Commoners who enter the Academy are inherently not as powerful as Nobles at the start – they lack family training, inherited skills, and quality equipment.

And this system ensures they never gain advantages to close that gap. In the end, they’re forced to ally with Noble families for better arts and skills, becoming subordinates rather than equals."

"!!!"

Elizabeth’s breathing quickened, never expecting Damian to attack the entire system with such directness.

The other Nobles sat frozen, unable to deny the truth he was stating.

"So I’m abolishing it. From now on, all skills and weapon arts in the Academy’s collection are available to all students regardless of rank or background."

Silence!

Absolute and shocked silence!

Damian continued before anyone could process enough to object.

"Professors don’t actually teach skills anyway – students learn those independently. So what does it matter if they can select and study them?

Restricting access was never about concern for students. It was about maintaining hierarchy."

He shifted topics smoothly.

"Regarding weapon arts, yes, we need professor instruction for proper learning.

But here’s the new system: knowledge about all arts below SS rank will be made available to students. They can study the theory, attempt practice on their own and see if the art suits their fighting style and talent."

His voice became harder.

"If an art genuinely suits them and they show aptitude, they can apply to the relevant professor for formal instruction. I’ve heard from Professor Seraphina that professors have ’limited time’ for teaching. That’s bullshit!"

Adrian’s eyes widened slightly at the profanity, but nobody interrupted.

"They’re professors and they’re paid to teach. They’re not paid to act like they’re special and above their actual job. This Academy is the top institution in the entire Federation.

Everyone who enters here is an exceptional talent. If the professors can’t or won’t teach them properly, then they’re failed educators who don’t deserve their positions!"

The words landed like hammer blows.

"Students work desperately hard to enter this Academy. They overcome impossible odds to gain admission. And then professors just decide not to teach them because they ’don’t have time’?

Because teaching is beneath them? That’s not acceptable! That’s betraying the Academy’s fundamental purpose!"

Damian’s expression softened slightly, showing he wasn’t being completely unreasonable.

"Of course, there should be some restrictions. SS rank weapon arts are genuinely difficult to teach and require extensive one-on-one instruction.

Professors who can teach those are limited. So for SS rank arts specifically, we’ll set requirements: only the top twenty students of each year can apply for instruction."

He continued before anyone could claim this was still too generous.

"Additionally, all weapon arts have inherent requirements – specific attributes or capabilities needed for successful learning.

Those requirements must be clearly documented and made public. If an art requires something special, students need to know before investing time."

He used himself as an example.

"Take my Abyssal Slaughter art. It requires strong Willpower and genuine conviction to kill. Someone without those qualities would damage themselves trying to learn it.

So if a student who doesn’t meet the requirements still applies, the professor in charge has the right to refuse based on the student not meeting prerequisites."

His voice became steel.

"But those requirements must be made public and objective. And if any professor denies a student who does meet all stated requirements, appropriate action will be taken against that professor, possibly involving direct Headmaster intervention!"

Gulp

Everyone’s faces had gone pale as they listened, gulping involuntarily, becoming more scared as Damian’s revolutionary changes continued.

’He’s going after professors! Going after Nobles! Going after the entire established system! Fuck... He’s going after everybody! He is insane!

Damian leaned forward, his crimson eyes sweeping across all of them.

"You must all realize – the current system is a complete failure for humanity as a whole.

You bring in the Federation’s top talents and then deliberately don’t provide them with resources to actually compete? Don’t give them the tools they need to reach their potential?"

His voice dropped to something quiet and dangerous.

"Is this an Academy for developing humanity’s defenders? Or is this just a Noble recruitment center for selecting subordinates?"

"!!!"

The uncomfortable truth hung in the air.

Nobody could argue. Because he was right.

The system had been designed to maintain Noble advantage, not to maximize human potential against the Monster threat.

"But of course," Damian continued, his tone becoming almost conversational, "since professors will now be required to actually teach extensively, there needs to be proper compensation and incentives."

He smiled slightly, though the expression wasn’t warm.

"From now on, there’s a meritocracy system for professors as well. The funding that was going to student clubs will instead go to professors who perform well and successfully teach large numbers of students."

He let that sink in.

"They’ll receive resources not limited to money. High-performing teachers will also get Aura enhancement potions and access to select top-ranked skills from the Academy’s collection for their personal use."

"!!!"

Silence!

Another suffocating and absolute silence!

Damian had just implemented a carrot-and-stick approach for the entire faculty!

Currently, advanced skills and weapon arts were only available to students through the Academy.

Professors had to spend years accumulating teaching credits or vast amounts of personal money to access those same resources.

This was one of the main reasons top-tier professors accepted positions at Stormhold Academy despite better-paying options elsewhere.

The resource collection here was the greatest in the Federation.

The skills library was unmatched. The weapon arts repository contained techniques that most professors had never even seen, let alone learned.

Many arts in the collection were so rare or difficult that no current professor had mastered them.

They were the foundation the Academy was built on – knowledge collected when the institution was established during humanity’s greatest crisis, when all top talents were gathered and the founders had contributed their life’s work.

The Headmaster and other founders had retired from active teaching, but their skills, arts, and accumulated knowledge remained in the Academy’s vaults.

Locked away from professors by the same restrictions that limited students.

Until now!