21 - Butterfly Effect [3]

Kenivale Alucard.

He was more informally known as "Kenny" amongst awakeners.

Granted a formidable S rank ability, Kenny is a member of the High Vampire family—the Alucards.

Carefree, and aloof. Traits that were particularly bothersome to House Alucard, but he didn’t care.

Instead of running the affairs of his family and playing the politics to keep them as an ascended house in the country, Kenny made an even more skin-crawling choice.

Kenivale chose to be an awakener true and true... and a professor at the Academy.

"Do we have all of the Essence crystals?"

The pale skinned vampire walked towards a group of awakeners who were gathering brightly shining crystals into a wooden box and loading them into a carriage.

They looked up, catching Kenny’s face as he stared down at them.

"Yes, Captain. This is the last batch."

Kenny nodded and gave them a thumbs up, his way of commending them for a job well done.

He looked to the sky and it was dark, with a full moon staring down at them.

"At least we get to go home earlier than planned," he muttered.

"It’s all thanks to you, Captain."

Kenny turned his head.

He didn’t think they would have heard him.

He smiled with shut eyes and clicked his tongue. "Tsk! I wouldn’t say that."

While he still spoke, I felt a sensation on his wrist.

The runes that allowed for long distance communication to take place shone lightly.

"I will be right back," he said to his team and walked away.

Having gotten away from eavesdropping ears, Kenny answered the call.

"Kenivale..."

"Dean Ambrose?"

There was a hint of surprise in the vampire’s voice.

"Forgive this late intrusion but it is an urgent matter."

Kenny’s expression straightened while listening attentively.

"I received news from Dr Grace that one of the final years might have re-awakened."

The vampire narrowed his eyes. "That’s some serious matter now."

The projected figure of the dean nodded in agreement.

"Regardless..." Kenny continued, clearly not swayed by the sentiment of the news he just received. "Has it been confirmed?"

Dean Ambrose Wells paused for a second. Then, he shook his head.

He understood where the vampire was driving at. Such news was enough to cause an uproar among awakeners and if it is not confirmed, it was no different from a rumour with a sour taste.

"Not yet. I have sent in the request for a re-assessment but you know how it goes."

Kenny rubbed his chin. "I understand. It will take some time before they send someone over to reassess him."

"That is why I am reaching out to you at this late hour, Kenivale."

The dean’s voice suddenly turned serious, causing Kenny to raise an eyebrow.

"I want you to oversee him directly."

There was silence for a few seconds before Kenny’s voice broke it.

"Are you asking that I train the boy myself?"

"You know what it means if we have a re-awakened under our nose and we did nothing about it. That will be a loss to humanity. According to the doctor, she says that he awakened an additional class as a caster and you, Kenny, are one of the best casters in our ranks."

"I’m the best... ahem!" the vampire stylishly tried to correct an impression made by the dean.

"Sorry? I didn’t catch that," Dean Ambrose digressed, leaned forward as if trying to hear what Kenny said.

"It’s nothing, sir. I’m just flattered."

Kenny thought for a moment, considering a few things before he could give a response.

"Teaching just one cadet out of many would raise eyebrows, even if he is a re-awakened..." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"Yes. You are right" Dean Ambrose cut him off. "And that is why you are not teaching him alone or in seclusion."

Kenny’s eyes narrowed again. This time, the suspicion that shone from them was glaring.

"What does that mean?"

Dean Ambrose looked directly at him and without mincing words, he said, "From tomorrow morning... you, Kenivale Alucard, will be in charge of the final year class of the Ivory Academy."

****

’That damned old man!’ Kenny cursed in his heart as he recalled the events that had transpired the previous night.

It was that one conversation between him and the dean that inevitably landed him where he was right now, standing in front of the final year class.

Kenny doubled as an awakener and a professor of the Ivory Academy but he mostly preferred to do the former.

His crimson eyes moved from side to side, scanning and examining the cadets as they all sat and watched him.

"As you already know, I’m Kenny Alucard," he introduced himself to them.

"Welcome to final year."

He removed his hat and placed it on the tall platform that also held the book he carried into class.

Kenny turned out, walked towards the board and stopped to pick a marker.

Before long, he had written down one word with a finely calligraphy-like pattern.

Gates. That was the word.

That was the topic he was going to teach them today.

"Today, we will be discussing the topic, Gates. I’d introduced this to you two years ago in a brief class but now we will go into details on it. However, before that, there’s something we must do."

Kenny stepped forward, flipping through one of the books he brought to class and from within the pages, he took out a few sheets of paper.

The papers had names and scores attached to them.

"Let’s look at the assessment of your holiday work."

Hearing this, many of the final years felt uneasy about it.

Many performed poorly in the mission that they had been assigned during the pre-final class break.

Kenny looked through the papers, shaking his head with subtlety.

’Were the tasks so hard?’ he thought, wondering why many of the students had poor remarks.

His eyes scrolled through the names until he got to the one that had gotten his eyes.

The name was familiar since he had recently learned it.

He smiled and raised his head from the paper to look around.

’Well, well... if it isn’t our newly re-awakened boy.’