177 Chapter 177

The fear was surreal. Being backed into a corner wasn't something Harry was familiar with. Most people never had the guts to mess with him like this. Especially after he had risen to fame by virtue of his accomplishments. He tried to worm his way out of this one, but he knew that Zavier had nothing to lose by outing him. No matter how he looked at it, he was screwed. Maybe indulging the boy wouldn't be a bad idea. The price to pay was too great. After all, what Zavier was asking wasn't unreasonable.

"Look like I have no other option here. Well, I guess we have a deal then."

"You guess? Harry I'm gonna need to be a little bit more definitive. Do we have a deal or not?"

Harry? He couldn't believe the fact that the teenager had really called him by his first name.

"Fine!" he snapped. "Deal!"

Zavier extended his hand for a handshake to seal the deal. Harry took his hand and shook him seriously. As soon as they let go of each other's hands, the illusion was lifted by Harry. And they both retuned back to reality. It was as if nothing had even happened in the first place. As Zavier found himself zapped back into reality after spending close to half an hour in the illusion, he was a bit taken aback by the time paradox.

It turned out that Harry had been telling the truth about just how different the flow of time in reality differed from that of the illusion. It was like comparing two different scales entirely. Half an hour might have elapsed in the construct, but when Zavier got himself back, he saw that barely a second had passed since then. It was a very interesting dynamic, and Zavier couldn't wait to abuse this skill thoroughly.

His mind was already brimming with the different applications of this particular technique. Of course he could easily invade anybody's mind at any given point in time to do what he wanted. In battle, this would come in very handy, especially when it came to communicating between team mates. Zavier flicked his eyes eagerly around the room, hoping to see if that had been any disruptions his reality while he was gone- there was none!

It was truly amazing to think that he had been gone for barely a second, and yet, time had passed so slowly on the quantum level which he had been subjected to for a full hour. No one noticed a thing. It really seemed like he had just blinked. Everything was exactly the same. Just as it had been before he had fallen into the illusion. But he was back now. And therefore, he needed to not only be physically present, but mentally present as well. So, he began to pay attention again.

Just as Calista had told him, this meet and greet was exclusive only to those who had made it to the finals. Eliminated candidates weren't eligible for this meeting. As he roved his eyes all over the place, Rebecca, the final piece of the puzzle arrived on site with a white bearded old man. With no other student or companion with her, it was evident that she was the only one representing her high school here. The old man standing beside her was clearly her teacher.

The old man with the beard was a very interesting sight. This made Zavier's focus to shift from the students to their lead teachers. Asides from Calista, the old man, and Wallice, there was no other teacher present. This was kind of strange considering that there were four teams present, and as such, there needed to be a fourth teacher. Zavier's eyes did a little bit more roaming and was a bit stunned to find out that Sabrina (the cute girl from the obscure high school) wasn't with any teacher at all.

Zavier couldn't help but stare curiously once more at the young girl. Truly, she was the black sheep of the group. Everything about her had just been downright odd. From her petite stature that almost made her look like a twelve year old, to the fact that she was the only one representing her school, made her the bunny in the group. Everything about her so far had been nothing short of red flags. There was also the glaring fact that she had somehow made it all on her own. If this wasn't a red flag, then nothing was.

She was truly a mystery. And every time Zavier was reminded of her or had to take a look at her, he saw something that made her look very conspicuous. Not that he was a bully or wanted her to be bullied, but Zavier wondered why she hadn't been subject to the harsh criticisms that was commonly associated with the teen angst of malicious gossip. He had half expected her to be picked on by the douchebags of this competition. But that hadn't been the case at all.

In fact, it looked like everyone had severely underestimated her by ignoring her completely. She seemed the least likely person that would make it to this stage. The odds hadn't been in her favor at all, and no one had expected her to achieve such fantabulous results. Galen's voice droning on in the background dragged Zavier out from his roaming thoughts. The president was patiently going through the works of introducing everyone again.

"Miss Calista, here is the princess of house Caesar; her royal highness- Princess Rachel!"

As soon as Calista heard royalty was present, she made a great display of saluting her. All her students followed suit in like manner and saluted the princess in the customary way. Well, all except Zavier. It wasn't like he had been purposely trying to ignore her, but this whole thing was extremely new to him. His original body had all of these memories of course, but he actually had to make a conscious effort to get to them. They didn't just flow naturally with his own.

Calista's face darkened with anger when she saw Zavier still standing as still and as unmoving as a great oak tree. She didn't rebuke him openly in consideration of the fact that he it might affect his chances of being admitted into this great citadel. So, she gently nudged him in the ribs with her elbows, and urged him to salute the princess.

But Rachel caught the show with her sharp eyes that had been trained to see through situations like this. She stepped in and absolved Zavier of his obligation to salute her properly now.

"It's alright miss Calista. Leave the student, this is an academic scene and not a palace. So, we can all ease up with the grand gestures and elaborate salutes."

Calista was a bit surprised. A royal that wasn't too hung up on ostentatious salutes was a sight that was as rare as a blood moon. By all count, they all lived for occasions like this. And they never missed an opportunity to lord their superiority over others. It seemed the other teachers were also a bit surprised. But of course, Zavier didn't see what the big deal was.

Now that the four teams had arrived, and after completing all the necessary introductions, Galen welcomed them all once again. In his magnanimous tone which he often tempered with a humble air, he continued his formal address;

"Having observed all due protocols, I would like to formally welcome you all again. To the brilliant students who have come this far under the exceptional tutelage of their respective teachers, I would like to say a hearty congratulations to you all. Excellence should be commended, and I am all for it, so CONGRATULATIONS to you lot once more!"

They all bowed slightly once again in deference to the old man. Once again, Zavier almost missed out on the collective display of respect to an authority figure. The first time could be considered a coincidence at best, but the second time would be seen as a pattern. He already had terrible results as it stood. He couldn't afford to add insolence to his already full plate. The painful part was he wasn't doing this on purpose. But that was no excuse. He had to step it up, or end up being stepped on by admissions.

Galen continued his speech;

"Finalists, I would like you to keep one thing in mind, take this as a piece of advice from an old soul…"

Harry chirped in at this point; "Sir, I assure you you're not old, you are actually very old."

It was a joke, but the way Harry had said it with his typical serious face made it all the more funny. A couple of people smiled in the background. But not the students though. They kept their faces locked like stone statues, not daring to laugh or smile at a joke that had been targeted at the most powerful person in the university. It was the smart thing to do considering the terrain they were all on.

But they know Galen wasn't a prude. He wasn't all tight and stuck up as most authority figures were. This was his regular rapport with Harry, so he boomed a soft retort;

"Ladies and gentlemen, please excuse my soon to be deceased protégé. Now as I was saying, one thing I would like you to note is that friendship should always come first before the spirit of competition. In your scramble to get to the top, you needn't necessarily hurt others in the next round of this competition. After all, this is just a competition, it's not a real battle. You have all proven to be the best of the best, and so, elite ones like you should be protected instead of being harmed unnecessarily."